814 Admiral's Decision: Fifteen Battleships for Aircraft Carriers!

November 20, 1938, 8 a.m.

The deck of the Frederick the Great was a busy scene, with a series of FW-190C (Navy) and Ju-87C (Navy) with folded wings slowly lifted onto deck. The ground crew of the aircraft carrier immediately pushed the aircraft to the take-off line on the deck of the aircraft carrier and parked them.

Other ground crews transported bombs weighing up to 1,000 kg by cart to the belly of the Ju-87C dive bomber, which was then lifted by hydraulic oil pump and mounted on bomb pylons under the belly. Since the torpedo bomber projects of China and Germany are somewhat backward at present, there are no suitable models available, so the plan of attaching a torpedo bomber squadron to the aircraft carrier was simply canceled, and the dive bomber was simply used as the main combat force.

However, the power of the JU-87C in this time and space is extraordinary, under the direct attention of Hitler, the super fat marshal of the Luftwaffe did not dare to slack off, so he had to install the latest Yumo-211J engine with 1400 horsepower on the JU-87C, so that this carrier-based aircraft can still have a range of up to 800 kilometers when carrying 1000 kg of bombs!

At this time, the dense fog floating on the surface of the North Sea finally dissipated, and a ray of red glow on the horizon also pierced through the clouds and sprinkled onto the rare calm sea. It seems that today is a good weather for the Air Force to make a sortie!

Looking at the busy scene on the deck and the red glow in the sky, Admiral Raeder, the commander-in-chief of the German High Seas Fleet on the island of Frederick the Great, breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the planes could be dispatched, the winner of that sea battle 70 nautical miles away must be the German High Seas Fleet! The shame of Jutland's defeat 22 years ago can finally be washed away with the blood of the British.

"Sir, Bismarck's telegram." The voice of the communications staff officer rang out.

"What's wrong?" Raeder immediately asked when he noticed that the other party's mood was a little abnormal.

"Sir, Vice Admiral Lütjans reports that the formation of the capital ship detachment has been disorganized, and at present each ship can only fight on its own. In addition......" The staff officer took a deep breath and gritted his teeth and said: "The battleship Mackensen lost power after heavy damage, Vice Admiral Lütjans has already ordered the ship to be abandoned, and the armored ship Deutschland was hit at the ammunition depot...... The explosion sank! The Chinese battleship Ningyuan was heavily damaged and incapacitated and had withdrawn from the battle, and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hippe, which had been torpedoed in a melee and was now being repaired. ”

"Damn! It's still for these Brits! Raeder scolded and asked, "How's the British doing?" Did General Lütjans say it on the telegram? ”

The staff officer took out another telegram and handed it to Raeder, "Sir, this is the report of the results received at the same time, they sank two more Iron Duke-class battleships, and severely damaged Jean. HMS Barr, HMS King, HMS Queen Elizabeth, among which Jean. The Barr has withdrawn from the battle. In addition, two Kent class ships were sunk ......"

Raeder counted with his fingers in his heart, the 19 British and French battleships and battle cruisers that participated in the war, and now the Hood, the Tiger and two Iron Duke-class have been sunk; Prestige, Richelieu, Jean. The Barr withdrew from the battle. That is, 12 more battleships are still fighting! On their side, they lost the Mackensen, and the Ningyuan withdrew...... Only 4 Zhenyuan-class battleships remained, and the British now had almost a 3 to 1 advantage! And they also have two powerful Nelson-class ships. If such a battlefield situation were placed in the First World War, it would have been a fiasco, right?

But now...... A sneer appeared on the corner of Raeder's mouth, and he glanced at the planes that were already lined up on the deck. Loud and loud: "Okay! Now the work on the battleship has been completed, and the aircraft carrier is on the field! Order the air groups to attack, and the target is within 70 to 100 nautical miles to the northwest! ”

As soon as Raeder's words fell, the chief of staff next to him asked, "Admiral, what about the main detachment of the High Seas Fleet?" Can they disperse and break through? ”

"Nope! They must hold on to the battlefield, because the planes of the British will definitely come, and once they disperse, we and the Air Force will not be able to provide them with air cover, which will be even more dangerous! Raeder said lightly: "The plane will definitely arrive in 30 minutes, and in 30 minutes, you can always hold on, right?" ”

……

With the right rudder full, full speed ahead, throwing off the Queen (Queen Elizabeth) and concentrating on the opposing Nelson. ”

On the sea, two battleships, Zhenyuan and Dingyuan, formed a team and rampaged on the sea, and next to them was the battleship Queen Elizabeth with a standard displacement of 27,500 tons. The battleship was now on the verge of being beaten, three of the four turrets were gone, and the remaining one seemed to have something wrong and stopped firing. A large hole was also made in the right side of the stern by a 380mm shell, and tons of seawater were rushing in. If the two Chinese battleships could give it a few more hits, they should be able to completely reimburse the British battleship!

However, Yu Yanshou decided to leave the "queen" aside for the time being, and first deal with the two Nelson-class ships not far away. Before the appearance of the "Zhenyuan" class, these two giant ships were ranked among the "Seven Great War Ships of the World in the Naval Holiday Era", and they were the same as the Nagato-class of Japan and the Colorado class of the United States. The 18 16-inch naval guns possessed by these two battleships are currently the largest naval guns in the world, and although they are not necessarily the most powerful, they have caused a lot of trouble for the German High Seas Fleet on the battlefield today. And the Nelson also has the flag of Admiral Forbes, the commander of the British Home Fleet, flying on it! If this battleship can be knocked out, it should play a decisive role in the current battle situation, right?

"Boom ......"

Presumably spotting that two Zhenyuan-class ships were heading towards it, the two Nelson-class ships immediately stopped bombarding the Bismarck in the distance, and turned their guns to bombard the Zhenyuan. However, the accuracy of the 16-inch gun used in this battleship is a bit problematic. At a distance of less than 10,000 meters, it still deviates by several hundred meters.

At the same time as the two Nelson-class ships opened fire, the main guns of Zhenyuan and Dingyuan also aimed their guns at the Nelson, the flagship of the British Home Fleet, and fired several salvos at the fastest speed.

At the same time, on the other side of the Zhending and Ding2 ships, the British battleships Barham and Warrior also aimed their guns at the Zhenyuan! Explosions and smoke appeared on the ships of both countries at the same time. A 15-inch armor-piercing shell from the Barham hit the No. 3 turret of the Zhenyuan, and the armor on the back of the turret could not stop the 15-inch shell at all, and it disappeared completely after a loud bang, but fortunately, the ammunition compartment under the turret was not affected.

The Nelson was hit in the stern, a 380mm armor-piercing projectile pierced through the 10-inch stern armor, and there was a large explosion inside the stern, which also ignited a fuel tank in the stern, and blue-black smoke rose from the stern of the Nelson and soared into the sky.

"Admiral! The damage tube reported that a fire broke out in the rear fuel tank, the fire was very fierce, and the damage tube was trying to extinguish it! "Inside the command tower of the Nelson, the communications staff officer is reporting the losses to the fleet commander, Admiral Forbes. At this time, another telegram was handed to him, and after he looked at it, he immediately shouted loudly: "The aircraft carrier Brave reports that the weather has improved, and the carrier-based aircraft fleet is taking off!" ”

Hearing that his plane was about to come to help, Admiral Forbes's face suddenly gloomy, as if this was some kind of bad news. The admiral ordered: "Let the light cruisers send seaplanes and search eastward, paying special attention to the range within 150 nautical miles." ”

As soon as Forbes gave the order, there was another loud "boom", and the entire battleship seemed to have been hit by Thor's giant hammer, and the violent vibration made everyone's hearts startled. Forbes looked up, and the commander of the home Grand Fleet gasped. It turned out that a 380mm shell had just hit the front of the B turret of the Nelson battleship, because the distance between the two sides had been reduced to less than 10,000 meters, so the 16-inch frontal armor could not block the 800 kg armor-piercing shell, and the shell came to a center in the B turret. Now, the Nelson has been hit hard again!

"Hell!" Forbes scolded hatefully, these old battleships of the British Empire are too unreliable! The accuracy of Nelson's cannons is too poor, the monarch and queen are too old, and the power of the main cannon is even less powerful, so the Iron Duke can only deal with the Polish Legion...... And those few battlecruisers are simply a tragedy! Today's naval battle is obviously their own advantage, but they have been unable to annihilate the battleship forces of the Germans, and they are about to fight an air battle! And the fighters and bombers of the British Navy are even more unreliable.

Just as both fleets in the North Sea were sinking into bitter battles, about 200 FW-190C fighters and Ju-87C dive bombers appeared in the eastern sky. Seeing these German planes coming in a neat queue at high speed, the muscles on Admiral Forbes' face trembled slightly.

The planes of the Germans arrived first! And now the scene of melee on the sea is the scene of chaos, and there is no way to form an air defense formation at all......

Raeder's first wave of air strikes was an all-out attack, sending a total of 200 aircraft, including 48 FW-190C carrier-based fighters and 152 Ju-87C dive bombers.

At 8:45 a.m. on 20 November, 40 minutes after the first carrier-based aircraft of the German High Seas Fleet aircraft carrier detachment took off, 200 German planes completed a 130-kilometer flight and flew over the two fleets that were fighting fiercely. Seeing the German planes covering the sky, all the Chinese and German sailors on the battlefield could not help but cheer, but the morale of the officers and men of the British Home Fleet fell to a low point.

……

"Admiral, the Germans have ambushed an aircraft carrier formation to the east." Lieutenant General Cunningham approached Forbes at this time.

"I know."

The Germans' planes have flown over their heads and are now circling, presumably in contact with the German High Seas Fleet below, to determine who to drop the bombs on (the battlefield is a bit chaotic)! And it was from the east that these planes came, and Admiral Forbes, of course, now knew that the German aircraft carriers were in that direction.

"Admiral, we also have an aircraft carrier group, and now their planes are on their way." Cunningham looked up at the JU-87C dive bombers that were forming a three-three formation in the air, and said, "Let our planes go around from our north and attack the German aircraft carriers!" As long as the German aircraft carriers can be taken out, no amount of loss of battleships is worth it. ”

"What?"

"Admiral, think about it." Vice Admiral Cunningham pointed to the German (Chinese) battleships that were also smoking in the distance and said: "They have lost two battleships, and the remaining four are also damaged to varying degrees, two of which seem to be seriously injured, and it is estimated that the battleships of the German High Seas Fleet will not be able to recover their strength in more than a year." And in the next year, the most powerful combat power of the German High Seas Fleet is those five aircraft carriers, and as long as we destroy them, Germany will not be able to seize sea supremacy in the North Sea, because even if our battleships are completely destroyed, we will still have Prestige, Counterattack, Malaya and Royal Oak available, and France will have five more battleships. In addition, we have 6 large carriers and 4 light carriers, and the number of heavy cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers far exceeds that of Germany, which is enough to suppress the German Navy. ”

"But is the price we are paying too much? The battleships here are all ......"

"As long as the goal can be achieved, the cost can only be bearable." Cunningham nodded to the hesitant Forbes, strengthened his tone, and said: "If we can inflict heavy damage on the German High Seas Fleet, then the next stage of the empire's battlefield should be the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, where there is not much room for battleships to play, and only aircraft carriers are the real masters of the sea." And after we have annihilated the German aircraft carriers, we can freely transfer the aircraft carriers in our hands to Australia or India! ”

"And now that the Americans have just suffered a crushing defeat in Hawaii and lost four aircraft carriers, it is precisely when the British aircraft carrier reinforcements are most needed, and the Americans may be able to pay a large price for the aircraft carriers in our hands."

Listening to Cunning's stable analysis, Forbes also secretly admired in his heart, this vice admiral and chief of staff of the home fleet is only afraid that he is another outstanding naval commander of the British Empire, right? In a few words, he clearly analyzed the current situation of the war, and proposed the most beneficial method for the empire.

It's just that...... Was it really necessary to sacrifice the precious battleships of the home fleet to attract the firepower of German aircraft?

Cunningham added: "Admiral, in order to ensure the annihilation of the German aircraft carriers, I propose to let Hugh . General Dowding sent at least 15 squadrons of Hurricane fighters and 10 squadrons of Blenheim bombers to the waters where the German aircraft carriers were located, and in addition, 8 squadrons of Brest "Beaufort" torpedo bombers of the Royal Navy also went to attack the German aircraft carriers! ”

At this moment, the communications staff officer suddenly shouted again: "Sir, the seaplane reports that the German aircraft carrier has been discovered!" There were five of them, about 70 nautical miles east of us! ”

……

9:05 a.m.

Scapa Bay, the RAF Joint Command, was already enveloped in the thick smell of gunpowder, the RAF staff officers were nervously carrying out their work at hand, the telephone rang one after another, and on the huge chart table in the middle of the headquarters, five symbols of German aircraft carriers had been placed about 100 nautical miles off the west coast of Norway.

"General, a telegram from Admiral Forbes, he asked the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy Aviation to attack the German aircraft carriers with all their might!"

"What? Bombing German aircraft carriers? "Hugh. Lieutenant General Dowding immediately walked to the chart table.

"The German aircraft carrier is here, about 260 kilometers from Scarpa Bay." The staff officer pointed to the aircraft carrier models on the chart table. "Just within the combat radius of our Hurricane fighters. Admiral Forbes ordered us to send at least 15 squadrons of Hurricane fighters, 10 squadrons of Blenheim bombers and 8 squadrons of Brest "Beaufort" torpedo bombers. In addition, carrier-based aircraft on aircraft carriers have already been dispatched for the first wave of attacks, and we will be responsible for the second wave of air strikes. ”

"And what about the air defense of the battleship forces?"

"We also have 10 squadrons of Hurricane aircraft." The staff officer reminded.

"How can that be enough?" Stop. Dowding lit his cigar and furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

There are also more than 100 Hurricane fighters in 10 squadrons, which can be held up for a while, but now the place where the British and German navies are engaged is still 17 or 80 kilometers away from the northeastern coastline of Scotland, and it will take at least 20 minutes to arrive at the cruising speed of Hurricane fighters, and if you count the time for planes to take off and land, and refill ammunition and fuel, it will take 40 minutes for each plane to reach the battlefield, and the range of the Hurricane is only 740 kilometers...... It is estimated that the time spent on the battlefield is only 30 to 40 minutes. In other words, more than 100 Hurricanes must be dispatched in two batches, so that the only ones that can be used to cover the home fleet are more than 60 Hurricanes in five squadrons. The performance of the Hurricane is probably slightly inferior to that of the BF-109, and it is even worse than the latest German FW-190! How can a mere 60-odd Hurricane keep the home Grand Fleet?

It seems that the tactics of Admiral Forbes were to sacrifice the battleships of the home fleet and destroy the aircraft carriers of the Germans!

This is also the only chance for Britain to maintain its supremacy in the North Sea after the decisive battle of the fleet last night and this morning did not achieve the expected results. And there is only one chance to attack! That was to take advantage of the German desire to annihilate the battleships of the Home Fleet, so that the main forces of the Home Fleet could act as a live target to attract the fighters of the German Navy and Air Force, and the fighters of the British Navy and Air Force would be dispatched to deal a devastating blow to the German aircraft carrier fleet.

Although the German aircraft carrier will definitely leave dozens of FW-190C carrier-based fighters to cover its own security, and the Luftwaffe will also send BF-109 or FW190 fighters to protect the aircraft carrier, but the number should not be too much...... It simply can't stop the raid of more than 600 warplanes of the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy!

Stop. Lieutenant General Dowding took a deep breath and waved his hand gently, "Okay! Just do what Admiral Forbes commands! ”

……