The Rise of the Third Reich

September 3, 1939, 4pm British time.

The surprise air raid on Scapa Flow has come to an end. Almost all He-111s, Ju.88s and He-115s have dropped bombs and torpedoes.

The entire Scapa Flow is now a sea of ​​fire, and the British warships inside are either on fire or firing! A nearby oil depot was also burning, sending thick smoke into the sky.

Air combat also began, involving all military airfields in northern Scotland near Scapa Flow. As long as there were fighter jets, whether it was a Spitfire, a Hurricane, a two-winged Gloucester Gladiator, or a Blenheim that could act as a fighter jet, they all rushed towards Scapa Flow.

The first ones to arrive were of course the Spitfires of the 18th Fighter Squadron from Holwark Highland Airport.

The first battle between British and German aircraft in this world war took place between the Spitfire and the Fokker Zero.

A four-finger formation led by Adolf Garland won the first leg. In a four-on-three battle, they took advantage of the Zero's excellent mid-low altitude hovering performance and the tactical advantages of the four-finger formation to easily shoot down three Spitfires.

But then the rapid climb of the other three Spitfires still made him impressed by the performance of this British fighter.

"Lieutenant General, the British have a great fighter, not inferior to the BF-109!" He used the intercom to report to Lieutenant General Graham who made a false alarm. The Fw-200C the latter was riding in was hit several times, but there was no The serious problem was leaving the battlefield under the escort of a formation led by Adolf Galland.

"Not under BF-109?" Lieutenant General Graham asked thoughtfully, "Why do you say that?"

"Because I have flown the Fokker Zero and fought against the BF-109 many times," Adolf Galland said. "The BF-109's mid-low altitude hovering performance may not be as good as that of the British aircraft. As for speed and climb, the two Both are similar. If the BF-109 fights that aircraft at medium and low altitudes, the BF-109 will have no advantage unless the pilot's skills are very different."

Adolf Galland flew the BF-109 in Spain and was one of the first pilots to fly the Fokker Zero. Moreover, the person who piloted the BF-109 against his Zero was also an ace pilot in the Naval Air Force, so when it comes to the performance of the BF-109 and the Zero, Adolf Garland can definitely be considered an expert.

"So how does Type Zero compare with it? Does it have any advantages?" Gram asked again.

"There are definitely advantages in mid- and low-altitude combat," Adolf Garland replied. "The Zero is the ultimate in mid-low altitude and mid-low speed combat. Those that are faster than it are definitely not as flexible as it, and those that can be compared with it in terms of flexibility are practical. It’s too slow. But the Zero can’t reach high altitudes. Its air-cooled engine performs poorly at high altitudes, while the British aircraft uses a liquid-cooled engine, and it’s very powerful!”

"I understand!" Lieutenant General Gram thought for a moment, "We must have the Zero and BF-109 cooperate at high and low altitudes to ensure that we can defeat the British aircraft!"

"Yes, that's it!" Adolf Garland said, "The BF-109 occupies a high-altitude position, and the Zero bombs that kind of aircraft upward at medium and low altitudes... If the British know enough about the Zero, they will definitely climb to high altitudes. ”

"Yes!" Lieutenant General Graham nodded, "But it is impossible for the British to figure out the performance of the Zero so quickly."

He took another look at the burning bay, and asked Major Franz Speer, the operational staff officer next to him, "Have the losses and results been calculated?"

"Preliminary statistics have come out," Major Franz Speer said. "The torpedo fleet suffered heavy losses. 33 were confirmed shot down and 9 were seriously damaged. It is estimated that they will not be able to fly back to Germany. They are all heading to Norway now." Went to Stavanger Airport. It seems we need to re-examine the tactics and performance of torpedo aircraft..."

Norway is a neutral country. Once these He-115s arrive there, they will be detained until the end of the war or Norway joins the war. It is also planned in advance for the severely damaged aircraft to fly to Norway.

"The He-111 had no battle damage, but one broke down on the way back and made an emergency landing at sea. The crew members are missing."

"Ju.88 has confirmed the loss of 4 aircraft, and the remaining 2 aircraft were seriously damaged and are flying to Norway."

"Two Fokker Zeros were shot down. It was done by British aircraft. The pilots parachuted out."

Major Franz Speer paused and then said: "All planes that fled to Norway have been calculated as losses. So far, we have lost a total of 42 He-115s, 1 He-111, and 6 Ju .88 and 2 Fokker Zeros.”

A total of 51 aircraft were lost, accounting for about 13% of all aircraft in combat. The losses were not small, but the results were still very significant!

…

September 3, 1939, 8:15 pm British time.

Whitehall Street, the Admiralty, the meeting room, the choking smell of cigarettes and coffee floating around. All members of the British Empire Cabinet, except Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, gathered here. Everyone was livid because they already knew the news that Scapa Flow had been hit by an air attack and suffered heavy losses, and the Second Sea Lord had already reported the heavy losses of the Home Fleet to the ministers.

The aircraft carriers "Glory", "Fury" and "Valiant" were severely damaged (not sunk) and completely lost their combat effectiveness.

The battleship "Royal Oak" sank and the training ship "Iron Duke" sank; the battleships "Nelson" and "Rodney" were moderately damaged and required major repairs to restore full combat effectiveness.

The battlecruiser "Repulse" was severely damaged, and its rudder and power system were damaged.

The heavy cruisers "Kent" and "Berwick" were sunk in the battle; the heavy cruiser "Devonshire" was seriously damaged.

The light cruiser "Dawn of Dawn" sank in battle.

The destroyer USS Somali sank.

A total of 3 aircraft carriers were damaged; 2 battleships were sunk, 1 battlecruiser was seriously damaged, and 2 medium-sized battleships were damaged; 2 heavy cruisers were damaged, and 1 was seriously damaged; and 1 light cruiser and destroyer were sunk.

This loss... is not very big at all. After all, the three damaged aircraft carriers are still floating on the water, so they can not be counted as sunk in battle, and one of the two sunk battleships was still a training ship.

But this loss is quite serious! Because three of the Royal Navy's four fast aircraft carriers are basically scrapped - repairing them requires about the same amount of time and energy as building a new one.

In other words, before the completion of the "Glorious" aircraft carrier, the UK will have only one aircraft carrier that can provide air cover for the fleet. And Germany has two!

This means that Germany can send two break-up fleets with aircraft carriers, while Britain can only send one fleet with aircraft carrier cover.

As for using a fleet without aircraft carrier cover to pursue a fleet with aircraft carriers... it sounds a bit like suicide!

And what's even more deadly is that the efficiency of a break-in fleet with an aircraft carrier in attacking merchant ships is definitely not comparable to that of a break-up fleet without an aircraft carrier. Because the aircraft carrier can not only carry fighter jets, but also dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Neville Chamberlain's ashen face. Britain is in trouble, that's for sure.

Now it was time for a truly powerful figure to lead the British Empire out of its predicament. And Prime Minister Chamberlain seems to be a little weak...

Heavy footsteps sounded, and then the door to the conference room was pushed open. A burst of fresh air rushed in, and then the Admiralty Minister Winston Churchill, whose head was wrapped in gauze, was limping on a cane. Came in.

He had just returned to London from Scapa Flow by seaplane, and then went straight to the Admiralty in Whitehall Street.

"Winston, we defeated..." Chamberlain looked at Churchill and said in a low voice.

"No, Prime Minister, the war has just begun!" Churchill walked to the Prime Minister and sat down on a chair reserved for the Admiralty Minister.

"We still have the capital to continue the fight!" Churchill said seriously, "Although the navy has suffered some losses, we are very strong and these losses are nothing at all. We still have 4 aircraft carriers and 13 available battleships and Battlecruisers, there are also five 'King' class and four 'Glorious' class fleet aircraft carriers under construction. And we also have two reliable allies, France and Poland, and Italy, a friend we can win over. We can also win over the Soviet Union..."

"But how are we going to win them over?" Chamberlain asked.

Anyone with some common sense in diplomacy knows that the Battle of Scapa Flow is not good for Britain in winning over its allies! If the Soviet Union and Italy knew the truth (Britain would certainly not admit defeat), both Stalin and Mussolini would definitely side with Germany.

"Of course it's a counterattack!" Winston Churchill had already figured out a way. "It's useless to just promote victory. The Germans will do it too. So we must use bombs and guns to tell the world who is the real one." winner!"

"Are you going to bomb Germany?" Chamberlain asked again.

"Yes!" Churchill thought for a moment, "The French also declared war?"

"Yes, war was declared in the afternoon."

"That's good," Churchill said, "We are going to launch night air raids on German cities! This will force them to withdraw their air force from the eastern front back to the west. In addition, we must also send the Mediterranean Fleet into the Black Sea to force Romania to interrupt its attack on Germany. of oil supplies, and also asked Romania to allow aircraft to pass through their airspace to Poland. The Poles will soon launch a counterattack, and we must go all out to support them! The British and French armies must also move towards Germany's western border. put pressure on!"

Chamberlain was stunned, "Asking the French to attack Germany's Siegfried Line?"

Churchill nodded, "Yes, this is what France must do now!"