The Rise of the Third Reich

Big trouble has finally come!

News that the battleship "Scharnhorst" and the aircraft carrier "Seidlitz" had left Wilhelmshaven reached the new flagship "Revenge" of the Home Fleet anchored in Portland Naval Port (in the English Channel) (because of the "Nelson" While on board the "Rodney" (which was being repaired), the commander of the Home Fleet, Admiral Charles Forbes, suddenly felt a pain in his brain.

Since the "Victory of Scapa Flow", the Home Fleet Command has been worried all the time that these two German battleships would rush into the Atlantic and do whatever they want. Although the German submarines had caused a lot of damage in September, the submarines had hurt the British Empire's "face", and the battleship fleet's rampage in the Atlantic had hurt both the face and the face.

Moreover, from the perspective of common perception, the activities of German submarines do not belong to the battle for sea control. No matter how many merchant ships they sank, it was an act of sabotage and sneak attack. The actions of German battleships and aircraft carriers in the Atlantic undoubtedly mean that the British Navy has lost part of its sea control.

If the British Empire can do nothing against these two German battleships that are about to break into the ocean, it will greatly damage the prestige of the British Empire!

However, in the view of Admiral Charles Forbes, it seemed difficult for the British Royal Navy to deal with these two difficult German battleships.

Not only because of their speed and formidable carrier-based aircraft that could fight the Spitfire (the Fokker Zero's performance at Scapa Flow shocked the RAF and Royal Navy), but the British also did not Thinking of the long range of the Zero, it was determined that they took off from an aircraft carrier), and also because of the lethal power displayed by the German shore-based bomber group in the Battle of Scapa Flow!

Currently, the daytime range of the Royal Navy's battleships in the North Sea is strictly limited to areas where shore-based Spitfire fighter jets can provide effective cover. After all, even the powerful "Spitfire" seems to be difficult to fight against the Fokker Zero, let alone other British aircraft.

Without adequate "Spitfire" cover, the British fleet would be massacred by German bombers and torpedo planes again.

This also means that the control of at least half of the North Sea has actually belonged to Germany!

"Admiral, the enemy will pass through the waters near Shetland tomorrow night. It is estimated that they will pass through the waters between the Shetland Islands and Norway." Rear Admiral Phillips, chief of staff of the Home Fleet, has already estimated the passage of the German fleet at this time. It’s about time we passed the Shetland Islands.

The Shetland Islands and the Onik Islands, where Scapa Flow is located, are two major British strongholds that block the North Sea-Atlantic shipping lanes. The Royal Navy has air stations in both places. After the "Scapa Flow Raid", one squadron of Spitfires belonging to the Royal Air Force was deployed at the airfields of the two naval air stations.

However, the Spitfire had a limited range, and German warships could use the cover of night to quickly sail through the waters near the Shetland Islands.

"They can travel at least 300 nautical miles in one night!" Admiral Charles Forbes shook his head. "Although they can't go beyond the range of the Spitfire, the opponent's aircraft carrier must have those Fokker Zero fighter jets. They are very difficult to deal with. , enough to cover the fleet away from the Shetland Islands, maybe before our reconnaissance plane discovers it, maybe... they will encounter a stormy weather. "

"Admiral, we should deploy an interception fleet to the south of Iceland and one to the north of Iceland. At the same time, we should also deploy an interception fleet to the northwest waters of Ireland..."

Charles Forbes immediately said: "Fleet F will be formed with the 'Reputation', the 'Sovereign' and the 'Hundred-Eyed Giant' as the core, and will be deployed north of Iceland; with the 'Hood' and the 'Royal Ark' as the core Form G Fleet and deploy to the south of Iceland; the Home Fleet flagships 'Revenge' and 'Resolution' form the core and immediately rush to the northwest waters of Ireland."

The consequences of losing three fast aircraft carriers have been revealed!

The British Navy currently has only four operational aircraft carriers. Among them, the 'Eagle', which was deployed in the Indian Ocean before the war, has just arrived in the Mediterranean, and the 'Arena', which was deployed in the Far East before the war, was on its way to the Atlantic when the war started. Therefore, Fleet I (the fleet commanded by Admiral Forbes) among the three squadrons sent by Charles Forbes did not have aircraft carrier cover.

Fortunately, the German aircraft carrier "Sekt" has not yet entered service. Otherwise, if a dual-carrier formation was dispatched this time, the I fleet without an aircraft carrier might be completely bombed.

"In addition, request the Mediterranean Fleet to send a squadron including the Eagle into the Atlantic Ocean." Admiral Charles Forbes finally ordered, "Now, hang up the flag: England needs everyone to perform their duties!"

…

"Marshal, weather report." Hans Speidel now hands over a weather report every two hours - not for Berlin, but for Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the Shetland Islands. Marshal Hessmann.

The "First Atlantic Fleet" now attacking basically depends on the weather. If the wind and waves are high in that area, then there will be no problem in breaking into the Atlantic Ocean. As soon as they enter the Atlantic Ocean, the British will be in big trouble, because this "break-up fleet" is accompanied by an aircraft carrier!

Although there are only 9 Fokker 99s, and the bomb load is not large, they can only carry one PC-250 bomb (250 kg armor-piercing bomb) or one SC-250 (250 kg high-explosive bomb). The threat to the battleships is limited, and it is estimated that the explosion will not be able to damage the "Ark Royal". But the British transport fleet would be in trouble if they encountered them - they could not only drop bombs, but also act as reconnaissance aircraft, with a combat radius of more than 400 kilometers. The search range is much larger than the radars on the Scharnhorst and Seydlitz.

Even if the British are lucky, the weather in the Atlantic is bad and the plane cannot fly. The Scharnhorst's cannons are no joke either. Any transport fleet without battleship escort is a dead end!

If the British cannot block the "Scharnhorst" and "Seidlitz" back to the North Sea, then they will have to use aircraft carriers and battleships to escort the transport fleet. However, the UK currently has only 4 available aircraft carriers, among which the "Ark Royal" has to accompany the "Hood" to act as a rapid strike force for the British Home Fleet.

The remaining 3 slow aircraft carriers, coupled with 3 equally slow battleships, can be used exclusively for escorting in the future!

Hersman looked at the weather report - it was raining continuously in Iceland, it was cloudy in the Faroe Islands, and the sea conditions were all level 4-5, which was not very good.

"Is there any latest news about the Soviet Union and Poland?" Hersman put down the weather report and asked about the situation of the second Soviet-Polish War.

It is now October 7, and the Second Soviet-Polish War has been fought for more than 20 days. The great Soviet Red Army certainly has the upper hand. On the Ukrainian battlefield, Kiev, the largest city in Ukraine in the past, has been besieged for 10 days, and the important towns of Vinnitsa and Zhitomir on the right bank of Ukraine have been liberated by the Red Army.

In the West Belarusian battlefield, red flags have been planted on most of the territory, and the main force of the Polish army has been compressed to the Brest Fortress area east of the Bug River. The battle to liberate Brest began on October 5th!

"Yes," Hans Speidel said, "Miss Leshinskaya just sent a telegram. This morning she just took our military observers to visit the battlefield of Tres Village on the front line on the north bank of the Mukhavets River. More than 100 blackened Soviet tanks were found, most of them T-26 and BT series light tanks, and 11 T-28 tanks were destroyed.”

The Battle of Tres Village was a fierce confrontation that took place on October 6. The Soviet Red Army dispatched a large number of tanks to cover the infantry and launched a fierce attack in an attempt to tear apart the Polish defense line. The Polish army mobilized a large number of 7TP tanks and 37mm guns (pulled by 7TP tanks) to reinforce the defenders of Tres Village.

"So the Poles really won?" Hersman picked up the cold coffee on the table and took a sip. "It seems that their 7TP tank is not bad."

"Marshal, I think it's not that the Polish tanks are easy to use, but that they adopt the correct tactics." Hans Speidel said, "The Poles regard the tanks as anti-tank guns that can move quickly. After determining The Red Army immediately deployed tank troops for reinforcements after the main attack direction, and they also built bunkers for tanks on the reserve position in advance, so they achieved good results.

In addition, the "killer" T-28 tank used by the Soviet Red Army in this battle was somewhat powerful but weak in appearance and had insufficient frontal protection. It was easily penetrated by the 37mm gun of the 7TP tank, which was also the reason why the Soviet Red Army's offensive suffered setbacks. If the frontal armor of the T-28 tank can withstand the 37mm gun, then the Russians will definitely win yesterday's fierce battle. "

"If the Russians fight a few more times, the Poles will be finished," Hersman said expressionlessly. "They must have suffered a lot of losses in the battle on October 6. The Soviets can produce thousands of tanks every year. How much 7TP does a Polish person have? "

"Marshal," Hans Speidel added, "Miss Lesinskaya hopes that we can give the Poles some assistance so that they can hold on for a while longer."

"Assistance?" Hersman smacked his lips, "Repair the 37mm guns and TKS tanks we captured and hand them over immediately... The TKS tanks can be used to tow the 37mm guns. As for other assistance, well, we After all, we have a special friendship with the Soviet Union and cannot directly provide military aid to Poland. However, if the Poles are willing to let our company take over their military factories, we can help them improve their technology and increase production. "