The Rise of the Third Reich

September 3, 1939, 12 noon GMT - 1 pm Berlin time, Hitler received the ultimatum 2 hours ago.

British Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill was at the desolate and windswept Scapa Flow naval base. In two hours, at most two and a half hours, the British Empire will declare war on the most evil country in the world, the German Empire.

That's why Churchill will arrive in advance in the bay where the main force of the Home Fleet is located. After the official declaration of war, he will deliver an exciting speech to the officers and soldiers of the entire fleet on the flagship battleship "Nelson" of the Home Fleet.

Now, he was in the luxurious officer's lounge of the Nelson with Sir Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound, the First Sea Lord, and Admiral Charles Forbes, Commander of the Home Fleet. Have lunch.

Although the wind and waves in the bay are not small, sitting in a huge battleship with a full load displacement of 38,000 tons, you can only feel the slight ups and downs.

"Minister," Admiral Forbes had just finished enjoying the fragrant seafood soup. While waiting for the food to be served, he reported to Churchill the battle plan of the Home Fleet after the war.

"The Channel Squadron, consisting of HMS Hood, HMS Resolve and HMS Revenge, has headed for the English Channel under the escort of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, the light cruiser HMS Arora and two destroyers. Together with the French navy, they will be responsible for blocking Germany's sea lines of communication."

Blockade has always been the British Navy's weapon against Germany. In the last World War, the British Navy successfully blocked the German Navy at its doorstep. This time, Britain still wanted to use the blockade strategy to strangle Germany.

First Sea Lord Sir Pound added: "The current German navy is much weaker than it was in 1914. They only have two battlecruisers equipped with 280mm caliber main guns that can fight, so there are 'Resolution' and ' The two battleships "Revenge" are enough to block the English Channel. Moreover, we still have shore-based aviation in the English Channel, and the possibility of the Germans breaking through from there is extremely small.

The problem we are facing now is mainly the Germans' tactics of breaking diplomatic relations. Their submarines are probably already lurking in the Atlantic Ocean. After completing the task of blocking Danze Bay, their main ships may disperse and break into the Atlantic Ocean. "

Churchill hummed: "The escort system must be activated as soon as possible, as it is related to the survival of the empire. In addition, air and sea patrols must be strengthened to prevent German ships from breaking into the Atlantic from the North Sea."

It is not enough to see the two German "Scharnhorst" class ships pulled out for a fleet battle, but with their high speed, they will be two huge scourges once they break into the Atlantic Ocean.

"Don't worry, the Navy has a plan for a long time, now it's just a matter of following it."

First Sea Lord Sir Pound said: "We now have 74 old destroyers left over from the First World War, as well as new destroyers built after the war, including Amazon and Ambush (these are two trial-production ships). Ships), A-class, B-class, C-class, D-class, E-class, F-class, G-class, H-class, I-class (9 ships per class above), 'Tribal' class (16 ships), J-class (8 (ships)... There are currently 184 destroyers in service. Although it is much less than the 447 destroyers at the end of the last war, it is still enough to cope with escort missions. In addition, there are now K-class, N-class, L-class, and M-class destroyers. Eight of them are under construction or planned. If German submarine activities are rampant, "emergency construction" will be arranged. In short, there will never be a situation where there are not enough expulsions. "

This is the foundation of a century-old navy! Although the current number of British battleships (battlecruisers) cannot be compared with that before World War I (20 dreadnoughts, 9 battlecruisers, and 40 pre-dreadnoughts), there are only 12 battleships and 3 battlecruisers (and 5 "George" "King V" class battleships are under construction), and there are not too many aircraft carriers, only 6 (and several more are under construction).

However, the number of British cruisers and destroyers is still very large. There are currently as many as 184 destroyers and 64 cruisers in service - 15 heavy cruisers and 49 light cruisers. In addition, there are some left over from World War I. Older cruisers are available, plus there are plenty of cruisers under construction.

In addition, the British submarine force is not small, with as many as 57 submarines of various types.

In comparison, the strength of the German Navy's surface ships is far behind. Putting aside the quality, the quantity alone is at a huge disadvantage.

So far, there are only 2 battleships, 3 armored ships (comparable to British heavy cruisers in combat power), 6 light cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier ("Seidlitz"), and 21 Z-type destroyers in service. , 12 Beast-class/Raptor-class torpedo ships (over 800 tons, much larger than torpedo boats, barely capable of serving as offshore destroyers).

With this little stuff, it's not even qualified to serve as an "existence fleet." Therefore, Admiral Redl never thought about competing with the British Navy for sea control. All his thoughts were focused on the sea attack war. The route is good, but it is a pity that Admiral Redel in this time and space encountered a group of naval aviation commanders who had transferred from the air force and had very weird ideas.

At 1 p.m. on September 3, 1939 (Berlin time), Marshal Raeder and Admiral Otto Schneewind, commander of the Naval High Command (in charge of North Sea and Baltic Sea operations), drove from the headquarters in Wilhelmshaven to to the nearby Naval Air Base Wilhelmshaven.

When they arrived, the Naval Air Base was already at the highest state of combat readiness. On the huge No. 1 Airport (Naval Air Force No. 1 Airport), there were 56 Zero Fighters and 81 He-115C (shore-based) and 2 The Fw-200C long-range maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft are all ready for use.

Among them, two Fw-200Cs responsible for battlefield observation tasks are already waiting on the runway for takeoff orders - the mission of these two large reconnaissance aircraft is to "lead the way." There is a distance of nearly 900 kilometers from Wilhelmshaven Airport (there are three in total, namely HNA Airports 1, 2 and 3) to Scapa Flow, almost all of which are over the sea. This is a big deal for pilots. challenges.

All British carrier-based aircraft of the same era were equipped with navigators (so British carrier-based aircraft had at least two seats). The German naval aviation, which had not been established for a long time and had little experience in sea flight, took a different approach and came up with the "pilot aircraft" method. This time, one Fw-200C was assigned to each of the fighter formation, torpedo aircraft formation, dive bomber formation (Ju.88) and level bomber formation (He-111).

These four Fw-200Cs were all flown by experienced veterans of Hainan Airlines. In the months before the war, they had flown Fw-200Cs to and from Scapa Flow many times. In addition to piloting missions, these four Fw-200Cs also carry aerial photography equipment, which can film the battle process at an altitude of 5,000 meters. The image data obtained will become a reference for future combat training of the German naval aviation, and will also be released to the outside world at an appropriate opportunity in order to gain political and diplomatic benefits.

…

"Marshal, Commander Graeme will take the Fw-200C to the battlefield in person." In the naval aviation command building in Wilhelmshaven, Major General Wolfgang von Richthofen, chief of naval aviation staff, said to Marshal Redl, "According to According to the plan, the takeoff of all aircraft will be completed within 20 minutes. At 1:30, 56 Fokker Zeros, 84 He-115s, 110 He-111s and 86 Ju.88s will form an attack group. At 4 p.m. At 30:30, the fleet will fly to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, the northernmost point of Scotland in the United Kingdom. It will then take 30 minutes to complete the air strike and start returning at 5 o'clock at the latest. The fleet will return to Wilhelmshaven Airport at 8 p.m. All planes land at 8:30.”

This is a pretty challenging plan of attack! The continuous flight time alone is as long as 7 hours, and the average continuous flight mileage of each aircraft is more than 2,000 kilometers!

And when the plane returned, it was already 8 o'clock in the evening in Wilhelmshaven. Planes must land under the guidance of ground lights. At the same time, we must also pay attention to the retaliatory bombing by British aircraft - the Naval Aviation Command estimated that after being bombed, the British would probably become angry and send planes to attack Wilhelmshaven at night. Of course, it is also possible that the British will make the same calculation and attack German naval bases with air strikes!

Therefore, while carrying out this surprise attack, the Naval Aviation Command also mobilized 74 BF-110s and 36 Fokker Zeros (piloted by supplementary pilots) to stay at the three major airports in Wilhelmshaven. In addition, more than 100 anti-aircraft guns have been deployed around the three major airports in Wilhelmshaven for air defense.

"Okay, what a desperate move!" Marshal Redl and Admiral Otto Schneewind looked at each other. In fact, they were not opposed to the development of naval aviation. But we absolutely cannot agree with this kind of combat operation in which hundreds of advanced aircraft are used as bets.

"So, how many British ships are waiting to be bombed in Scapa Flow now?" Admiral Otto Schneewind asked.

Rear Admiral Wolfgang von Richthofen replied: "Currently, there are three battleships that can be identified: Nelson, Royal Oak, Sovereign, Reputation and Counterattack. Two battlecruisers, HMS Fury, HMS Brave, and HMS Glorious, as well as three aircraft carriers, including at least 10 cruisers and 20 destroyers, as well as dozens of various auxiliary ships and training ships. Ship..."

Marshal Redl nodded and suddenly said in a serious tone: "Now put me through Commander Grimm. I have the latest order from the Navy Headquarters to issue."

"Order?" Major General Wolfgang von Richthofen was stunned.

Redl said: "The plane can take off, but whether to conduct an air strike, I must personally give the order to attack or cancel the operation before 4:30 pm. This is an order from the Ministry of Defense!"