The young Colonel Gorshkov had two beards like Lu Xiaofeng, and he looked so chic and graceful. However, the very handsome Colonel Gorshkov's face was tense at this time, as if something was bothering him.

What bothered Gorshkov was not other problems, it was precisely the "fishing law enforcement" operation. This combat operation led by a certain immortal to annihilate the Tirpitz is so unreliable that the name sounds frustrating anyway.

Of course, Gorshkov was not concerned with the question of names, but with his concern about the prospects of this program. If there is no miscalculation, the main force of the German Navy's surface ships will be dispatched this time, including the "very good and powerful" Tirpitz.

As an officer who had grown up with a traditional naval education, Gorshkov had a special affection for large ships, especially battleships with huge guns. In his opinion, the main battleships of the Red Navy lagged far behind the Tirpitz, and it can be said that almost none of the existing Red Navy battleships were the opponents of the Tirpitz.

There may be comrades who are strange, according to Li Xiaofeng's plan, should the aviation of the Red Navy aircraft carrier be the main force for the annihilation of the Tirpitz? What the hell is a capital ship? What are they making a fuss about?

This has to start again, after all, a certain immortal is not the chairman of the Military Commission, and even if he is the chairman of the Military Commission, he can't make a statement. Therefore, after the operational concept he put forward has been polished by Kuznetsov and Sukhoi, it will definitely be submitted to the Military Commission for re-discussion.

Frunze, Tukhachevsky, and Egorov were interested in someone's plan and believed that the probability of success was high, but the only thing they had doubts about was whether an aircraft carrier would really work.

Even if there were previous examples of Japanese planes sinking the Counterattack and the Prince of Wales. Even aviation has become more and more indispensable in this war. But the steel behemoths on the sea still left a deep impression on Frunze's generation. They subconsciously thought that only steel giants of the same grade could compete with them. As for aviation. It looks so weak and unreliable.

Therefore, in the opinion of Frunze and others, if you want to ensure that the plan is foolproof, it is better to go to a double insurance, not only to dispatch aircraft carriers, but also to dispatch capital ships, even if one of them drops the chain, even one can be on top, at least to ensure the safety of Type 36 anti-submarine frigates.

So. The Central Military Commission revised Li Xiaofeng's plan, and not only did the four aircraft carriers have to pour out of the nest, but the main ships of the Red Navy had better also have to be exhausted. However, this was strongly opposed by Li Xiaofeng and Kuznetsov, as well as Sukhoi. The reason is simple, so many main battle ships poured out of the nest, it is too conspicuous, I am afraid that the Germans will soon perceive it. In this case, will they still be fooled stupidly?

Under Li Xiaofeng's arguments, the size of the battleship formation was reduced, and two battleships were responsible for following the Type 36 frigates to provide cover, and the remaining six battleships and battlecruisers went to sea ahead of schedule. Stand by in the waters east of Iceland and defend the safety of the aircraft carrier group. As soon as the presence of German capital ships was discovered, reinforcements were immediately sent south. As for the formation of four main aircraft carriers. They will also depart early and stop in Iceland first. Only the Assault aircraft carrier will act with the Type 36, which will be used primarily to provide reconnaissance in order to detect the German capital ship formations in advance.

Truth be told, this tactical configuration is a bit of a legacy of the end of World War I. Battleship supporters stubbornly believed that aircraft carriers could only play the role of the eyes of battleship formations, mainly used to reconnoiter and dispel enemy reconnaissance planes, and then notify the battleships to go to the siege after discovering the traces of enemy ships. To be honest, in the era of low performance of carrier-based attack aircraft, there was nothing wrong with this, but in 1942 it was still holding this old yellow calendar, that is, it was destined to be eliminated.

As the captain of the October Revolution, Gorshkov will act with the formation of Type 36 frigates. And this is also the main reason for his pressure, as mentioned earlier, he still belongs to the old antique series for the time being, and he is very unimpressed with the increasingly powerful aviation faction of the navy. He still wanted to solve the problem with artillery instead of bombs and torpedoes.

In this regard, Kuznetsov, who has always admired him, is a little depressed, he has always cultivated Gorshkov as a right-hand man, and Gorshkov does have such potential, but what makes Kuznetsov speechless is that in order to make Gorshkov grow as soon as possible, he put him in the position of captain of the battleship, who would have thought that this young man would fall into that big pit. What is this? Bitter gourd on the peach tree?

Sukhoi smiled: "You shouldn't have let him go to the battleship in the first place, but you should have let him serve on the aircraft carrier." ”

Kuznetsov sighed: "I just wanted him to accumulate experience in commanding large ships, and you don't know that most of the aircraft carriers were being renovated at that time, so what was the point of letting him serve on aircraft carriers at that time?" Isn't it delaying! ”

Sukhoi said again: "Yes, but you don't have to worry too much, if everything goes well in this battle, that little friend of yours will intuitively feel the power of aircraft carriers and aviation." If he's as smart as you say, he'll soon be reformed. ”

At the moment when Sukhoi and Kuznetsov were talking, Gorshkov sailed out of Murmansk with the fleet, even in June, the ice floes on the Arctic Ocean are still visible everywhere, of course, the ice floes are not terrible, the terrible thing is that the icebergs hidden under the sea surface, especially the Norwegian line of icebergs are very many, and you must be especially careful when navigating here.

The fleet is led by the Type 40 destroyer Blazing, as the most advanced destroyer of the Red Navy, the ship has a standard displacement of 2,000 tons, a full load displacement of 2,900 tons, a maximum speed of 35 knots, and is equipped with eight 130 mm high-level dual-purpose automatic guns and six AK630 rapid-fire guns. This is an improved and perfected version of the Type 36 destroyer of the Red Navy. The most significant change is that it is equipped with a full set of radar and fire control equipment, and it is a professional air defense destroyer.

Under the command of Captain Zhdanov, the ship carefully bypassed an iceberg and carefully reminded the big ships behind to pay attention to safety. For battleships and aircraft carriers, which are huge and have poor steering capabilities, they have to avoid these "mines" in the sea from afar.

"Turn left five degrees." Gorshkov calmly ordered.

Under his command, the October Revolution drew an arc on the sea. Bypassed the iceberg. His manipulation is so delicate and effortless. It's a bit of a cow's relief. So much so that the fleet commander on the aircraft carrier Raider, Rear Admiral Megintsev, could not help but applaud Gorshkov: "Beautiful! ”

It was known from all over the fleet that Gorshkov was the target of Kuznetsov's key cultivation. There are not a few people who are jealous of him, and even more who secretly slander him. There is a strong opinion that the young officer was able to win the favor of Kuznetsov by slapping his beard, and at the age of 32 he became a colonel and commanded a battleship.

In the past, Rear Admiral Megintsev had a similar opinion, but judging from today's ability to operate ships, Gorshkov's basic skills are still very solid. Anyway, Major General Megintsev, who wanted to provoke a thorn, had to be praised.

Behind the Red Kharkov was the battleship Paris Commune, which, in the narrow waterways, did not perform as well as Gorshkov, and even a little worse. It is clear that the captain of the ship underestimated the size of the iceberg and the speed at which it moves underwater. When he tried to imitate Gorshkov's mastery in a way that was emulatory, it was almost self-defeating.

In order to avoid the iceberg, the ship had to make an emergency turn and awkwardly bypassed the iceberg in a rolling and climbing posture. And his embarrassment also caused a chain reaction of the entire formation. In order to avoid the Paris Commune, several Type 36 frigates also had to make an emergency turn, causing chaos in the center of the entire formation. Just a dozen seconds ago, a Type 36 frigate with an overly sharp turn directly crossed the course of the USS Raider, forcing the latter to make an emergency turn as well.

Major General Megintsev frowned, showing that he was quite dissatisfied with the Paris Commune. It's too dangerous, if you just missed a little. Wouldn't he have to lose a battleship? Just when Rear Admiral Megintsev's stomach was full of anger, suddenly the hull of the ship shook violently. With a loud bang, he was thrown out of the bridge and slammed into the chart table.

"What's going on!" Major General Megintsev roared angrily.

"It looks like it's hit a rock!"

Megintsev doesn't believe this kind of nonsense, this piece of nautical charts has only been updated this year, where there will be reefs, the most likely is that the Raider hit an iceberg hidden under the surface of the sea, and this is quite deadly!

"Immediately send out the damage management team to find out the damage!!" Major General Megintsev gave a series of instructions, and he seemed so calm. But only Major Megintsev knew that he was now in a cold sweat all over his body.

Why? Scared and angry. Needless to say, the importance of this operation was not to be mentioned, and he had no choice but to ask his father to worship his grandmother to seize this opportunity. Whoever wants to die before leaving the Arctic Ocean will be reimbursed for an aircraft carrier, what a bad impression this must leave on the command of the Navy!

At the first time, Rear Admiral Megintsev hated the captain of the Paris Commune, if it weren't for this fool's nonsense, he would have been so embarrassed! In fact, now the captain of the Paris Commune is even more worried than Rear Admiral Megintsev, who can be said to have been frightened. It is obvious that the main responsibility for this accident is entirely his, if he had not mishandled the ship, the Raider would not have had an accident, and his future would be doomed.

In fact, this cannot be entirely blamed on the Paris Commune, the Raider itself is also a little responsible, but the responsibility lies with the design of the Americans. In order to pursue the carrier capacity, the Raider will inevitably have to make other performance sacrifices. Moreover, the open hangar of the US aircraft carrier is not very suitable for the environment of the Arctic Ocean, and the resistance to the wind is very large, and it is more difficult to operate the ship in bad sea conditions. Therefore, when the Raider turned just now, it was actually in a semi-out of control state. The only thing that is more speechless is that if it were usual, this loss of control would not cause too bad consequences, and today, by chance, there is an iceberg hidden under the surface of the sea waiting for it.

"It is preliminarily estimated that a hole of about 10 meters has been torn in the middle of the port side, the hull is tilted three degrees, and the damage management team is rushing to repair ......"

Megintsev's face was ugly, and as a senior admiral, he knew very well what a breach of about ten meters and the tilt of the hull meant. It is obvious that it is impossible for the Raider to continue to stay in the formation to carry out the mission, and it must return immediately, otherwise the wind and waves in the Arctic Ocean will directly destroy the aircraft carrier.

Megintsev gave the order with a gloomy face: "The personnel of the command are immediately transferred to the October Revolution, Captain Shavlov, you are responsible for continuing the rescue." And immediately turn the rudder and return to Murmansk......"

Sirens blared aboard the Raider. There was some trepidation in the entire crew. The transport boat under the gangway was slowly lowered, and the commander headed by Megintsev prepared to transfer to the October Revolution to continue directing the formation.

It's just that Megintsev forgot to look at the yellow calendar when he went out today, and when he just boarded the transport boat and left the Raider, a surge slammed over, and he was thrown out immediately when he was not on a stable footing, and his brain hit the guardrail of the ship's side with a bang.

"Commander, Commander!"

The staff officers immediately went into disarray. Megintsev, who had fallen into the sea, was fished up, but the situation of the major general was not good. His skull appeared to be fractured and he had a large hematoma. At this time, his eyes were closed, and his pupils were gradually dilating......

Soon Megintsev was sent back to the Raider, and the ship's military doctor immediately pushed the rear admiral into the operating room, and it was said that the situation was not good, and whether the rear admiral would survive was a question.

It is a big problem in front of the formation, and it is not a good sign that it lost an aircraft carrier and lost the commander of the fleet before the division was successful. The leaderlessness of the dragons is a very fatal problem, whether this operation should continue or not?

When the Military Commission received that the Raider was seriously injured and withdrew from the formation. Major General Megintsev was also dumbfounded when he reported that he was in danger. This luck is too bad, isn't it? Some superstitious members of the Military Commission even directly suggested that the operation be cancelled. Because the omen is really bad. And the commanders of the formations are all hanging, how can this battle be fought?

However, Li Xiaofeng definitely could not agree, for this operation, the KGB and the navy had made a lot of preparations, and once they gave up like this, it would be impossible for the Germans to be fooled this time.

"The action must continue!" Li Xiaofeng said calmly, "The Megintsev formation was originally just a bait, and if everything goes well, they don't need to show anything at all." Megintsev could not command, so let the captain of the October Revolution or the Paris Commune take over. ”

After some discussion, the proposal was adopted, but there was still a bit of a hiccup in the choice of who would succeed Megintsev. Originally, the captain of the Paris Commune was older and more experienced, so he took over the command. But in view of his poor performance this time, all the members of the Military Commission agreed that this broom star could not be allowed to command the battle, and God knows what kind of bad luck he would bring. Not only should he not even be allowed to command the formation, but he should also be recalled immediately, and he must not be allowed to continue the "scourge" of this operation.

A moment of silence for the poor captain of the Paris Commune, who had a bright future ahead of him, and who, according to the above, would be promoted to commander of the battleship detachment in the second half of the year. But as soon as this matter happened, his future was completely ruined. Not to mention the commander of the battleship fleet, he probably won't be able to continue in the position of battleship captain.

Sure enough, when a seaplane picked him up from the Paris Commune, he was greeted by a joint review by the KGB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It must be established that he is not a spy for the enemy. After that, the poor creature was transferred to the logistics department of the naval base, and after the end of the war, was kicked out of the Navy with the climax of the first wave of demobilization.

Some people may think that this guy is wronged, he just did something that is not wrong in the wrong place. But it was ruthlessly pushed to the end, and the Red Navy seemed somewhat unkind. I can give him another chance!

The problem is that on the long road of life, opportunities or opportunities are quite rare. All people will not have too many opportunities to choose, and if you miss an opportunity, your life will be completely different. And the biggest problem with this poor creature is that he thinks he has seized an opportunity, but what he is holding in his hand is actually a bomb, so when faced with a choice, it is best to remain calm and careful!

Gorshkov was extremely lucky to be the commander of the formation, which made the young man excited, he thought about making a big move, but he didn't expect the opportunity to come so suddenly, and for a moment he was almost knocked down by great joy.

Fortunately, Gorshkov's super high quality saved him, he quickly controlled himself, although he still seemed a little excited, but his mind was still clear, after taking over the command, he began to give orders one by one, and sketched in his mind all kinds of combat strategies against the Tirpitz.

It should be said that Gorshkov thought through it comprehensively and carefully, taking into account all aspects of the problems and details, maybe when he really faced Tirpitz, he didn't say sinking the other party in one fell swoop, but he could always ensure the safety of the formation, and it was not a problem to get out of the formation.

It's just that Gorshkov never thought about it a little, and he couldn't touch Tirpitz? Or maybe he can't touch the enemy's main fleet? He hadn't thought about this question at all, and in his thinking, he took it for granted that this was his stage.

However, history has played a great joke on Gorshkov, this stage does not belong to him, nor to his fleet, he is always only a supporting role in this big play, and even this supporting role is not much better than the background board.

The real protagonists are in Iceland, the aircraft carrier formations of Kuznetsov and Sukhoi are ready to go, and just now the KGB sent valuable information: "The snake has appeared, ready to spread the net!" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to qq_1, SC-VX, holding the Poleon, Southern Rangers, Glorious Charter and Comrade Juventus!