The sharp bow of the destroyer split two white waves on the water, and a German destroyer moved slowly on the calm sea, not yet in the cold North Sea, because the destroyer had just sailed out of its harbor, Wilhelmsport.

The waves that parted the water were not yet calm, and in the distance they were cut by the bow of another destroyer, and behind this destroyer, there was a third destroyer, these German warships with the start of Z were all 10-year-old new ships, equipped with a new sonar system, and the most advanced search radar.

Behind these destroyers is a huge battleship, on which the triple 280 mm cannon stands out, this is a Lützov-class armored ship, the German Navy at this stage except for aircraft carriers, the largest tonnage and the most powerful gunpower warship.

With such a large fleet in German ports, it must be the German High Seas Fleet, that is, the most elite German naval fleet, a terrible force that makes the British Royal Navy shy away.

Sure enough, in the inner circle of the fleet, the huge aircraft carrier showed its tall figure, and the huge freeboard and the command island on the deck made the barge that followed it look very small.

A full 16 destroyers and 8 cruisers with 3 armored ships and 4 large fleet aircraft carriers slowly sailed out of Wilhelmsport, so that the soldiers on the gunboats and torpedo boats in charge of the surrounding vigilance watched attentively, which was the hope of the German Navy and the future of the German Navy.

Standing on the bridge, looking at the huge naval fleet under his command, the pride and superiority in his heart made the corners of his mouth rise a little. He was now the de facto commander of the fleet like Dönitz, and thanks to their efforts, the German Navy achieved impressive results that their predecessors had not.

Since the beginning of the war, they have sunk the British aircraft carriers HMS Eagle and HMS Valiant, the battleships Malaya, Barham and Sovereign, the heavy cruiser USS Norfolk and the light cruiser USS Penelope, captured two British destroyers, and sank another 29 destroyers and 1 submarine. And itself lost only 1 destroyer and 1 submarine, as well as several aircraft.

The four aircraft carriers, Reich, Zeppelin, Bismarck, and Tirpitz, sailed out of the port at once, and each carrier had a dozen planes parked on its deck, and crews were inspecting the equipment so that they could be used to their best in future battles.

Lütjans looked at the sea in the distance and did not speak for a long time. Not far behind him, a huge chart table sits in the operations command room, where there are also Air Force reconnaissance reports stacked on the intelligence analysis table and the latest meteorological analysis provided by the Weather Bureau.

"Keep course!" The first mate stood behind Lütjans's side and loudly gave the follow-up order, this is still the core range of the Luftwaffe's control, so the command of the fleet was handed over to the adjutant, and Lütjans was also happy to relax, calming down and thinking about how to complete the task to be carried out on this voyage.

This time, the Navy was ordered to complete the operational plan drawn up by the Führer himself, that is, the so-called, the content of this plan was very huge and complicated, and it was a huge joint naval and air combat plan. The navy and air force mainly cooperated to eliminate the British and French navies involved in the Battle of Dunkirk in the English Channel, and the air force and army cooperated to eliminate the Anglo-French forces on land, and used this as bait to severely damage the British navy and air force.

In order to ensure the success of this plan, Accardo ordered the High Command to mobilize almost all the forces it could concentrate on -- including 4 air groups with a total of 2,100 combat aircraft of various types, the Navy's only fleet, the High Seas Fleet, and all of Army Group B and half of Army Group A for a total of 550,000 troops.

Fifteen hours earlier, 4,000 sorties had been carried out by Air Force planes on air attack missions, and Stuka bombers dropped bombs on coalition positions as if they were not paying for money, and bombers dropped hundreds of tons of bombs, bombing Dunkirk, a previously unknown corner city in northwestern France, into almost rubble.

Garand, who is now a colonel, commanded the hunting plan of the fighter unit as the front-line commander of the Air Force, and beat the Allied forces into a sieve in the sky over Dunkirk, and these ten hours of combat allowed the Air Force to give birth to 12 ace pilots in one breath, and the fighter unit of the French Air Force that took off bravely experienced a real life of nine deaths. Only 37 of the 300 fighters were slaughtered by the Germans, and 259 pilots died heroically.

The naval aviation units used for the subsequent two aircraft carriers to serve as carrier-based aircraft were all transferred to the field airfield near Dunkirk, and for the first time they went to the battlefield as the main force for the bombing of British naval ships. They were asked to train in actual combat on how to efficiently sink the opponent's ships and lay a good foundation for future operations.

With these special Stuka and Navy FW-190s, the destroyer force that had ventured to rush the troops back home was devastated. These carrier-based aircraft units, which delivered bombs accurately and had first-class techniques, sank three British destroyers and a light cruiser in one go in the waters off Dunkirk, forcing Britain's plan to withdraw troops on a large scale and delaying it again and again.

Now that the air force has calmed the scene, the navy's sortie this time is completely a failure, and the task they received is also very simple, to sink a British target that Qiē encounters, destroy the British beachhead and harbor, and prevent any retreat plan of the British army.

Of course, there is another task, which is to attract the British Navy and Air Force to fight a battle of annihilation off the coast near Dunkirk, completely destroying the main fleet of the British Royal Navy and inflicting heavy damage on the British Air Force's native air defense.

Lütjens was well prepared for the mission, for he was not alone in the English Channel, but was on a route close to Dutch waters, close to a dozen Belgian air bases, where the Luftwaffe ambushed a full 300 fighters and bombers, just waiting for the Royal Navy and Air Force to take the bait.

In order to obtain early warning, Germany even dispatched submarines to transport a group of observers carrying radio stations to lurk near the British coastline to provide early warning for Lütjens. If you include the 50 standing fighters that keep patrolling the skies and the fleet's new radars, this preparation can be said to be seamless, just waiting for the British to fall into the net.

That's why the Navy sent the most precious high seas fleet out and placed it as bait in this dangerous location in the English Channel. On the one hand, the Führer felt that it was very important to prevent the retreat of the Anglo-French forces, and on the other hand, because the operation could be said to be completely dangerous.

These Anglo-French troops, who were already in their pockets, had long since become fish on the board in the eyes of the Germans, and they were slaughtered by others. From the earth-shattering artillery fire near Dunkirk, you can hear how unsatisfactory the life of these poor British and French people in the encirclement is.

So Lütjens is in a very good mood now, because what he is doing now is something that his predecessors in the First World War did not dare to dream of. If they could have known that the German fleet could appear in the English Channel, lure the British fleet into battle and annihilate the main force of the British navy, they would have woken up laughing in their dreams.

Thinking of this, he even handed over the command to the deputy commander of the fleet with great interest, and took a few guards to the deck to breathe. The deck of an aircraft carrier is not as spacious as an ordinary warship, and the sea breeze blows on the deck made of steel armor, carrying the cold and gloom.

Two sailors on duty on the deck saw their commander, and immediately cheered up and saluted, they carried Mauser 98K rifles, because of the priority, most of the second-line combat units can only be equipped with Mauser 98K bolt rifles, and the saved MP-44 assault rifles and G43 semi-automatic rifles are given priority to the army.

Of course, each aircraft carrier is equipped with a special team of 12 people, equipped with sophisticated MP-44 assault rifles, which is used as a special situation handling detachment under the direct jurisdiction of the captain. Of course, such elites are not needed for duty in peacetime, so what Lu Teyans encountered was just ordinary guards on duty.

"Long live the Führer!" the two soldiers said loudly.

"Long live the Führer!" said Rutjens, who replied, and walked on, his navy coat curled up by the sea breeze, looking in high spirits. He walked with two guards to the bow of the aircraft carrier, where he had to take a look every time he set sail, a habit he had developed over the years.

The huge radar antenna on the destroyer not far away began to rotate slowly, and since the fleet had completely left Wilhelmshaven, the alert began to be activated step by step. Behind Lütjans, on the deck of the USS Zeppelin, two carrier-based reconnaissance fighters were taking off, and the first plane quickly rushed out of the deck, swept over the sea at high speed, and whistled over Lütjans's head, followed by the second, and then the third and fourth from the Bismarck.

These planes will soon fly in all directions, providing the entire fleet with the longest-range real-time reconnaissance intelligence, and with these extra-long eyes that can observe 200 kilometers away, the defensive depth of the German fleet has increased from tens of kilometers in the traditional fleet to at least 130 kilometers, a distance that the British Navy's naval guns cannot cross, and a death distance that makes the British Royal Navy grit its teeth with hatred.

"General. An officer came running from behind Lütjans, who had come all the way from the bridge, with a telegram in his hand that seemed to be very important.

The officer ran to his position and saluted, and then respectfully handed the telegram to Lütjans: "The Führer is calling, I wish you success!"