The Rise of the Third Reich

"What General Weygand called the 'War of France' is now over. I expect the 'Battle of Britain' to begin. ... Let us therefore bear our responsibilities with courage, and let us bear them with such courage, So that after 1,000 years of existence the British Empire and its Commonwealth can be said to have been: 'This was their finest hour.'"

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sat in the often haunted (legendary, but Churchill has never seen) Pillar Hall in No. 10 Downing Street, delivering a speech into a Shure microphone produced in the United States. It was another inspiring speech, like the previous ones. However, Churchill himself felt extremely heavy now because the French delegation signed the armistice agreement (just an armistice) in Geneva.

This means that the Battle of France has come to an end...but this is not the reason why he feels heavy, and he is not too worried about the "War of Britain" now. Because there was no sign that the Germans were preparing to invade Britain, they did not even send a large number of aircraft to drop bombs on the British mainland. There were only a small number of night harassment air raids, which were carried out in retaliation for the night harassment of British aircraft.

Moreover, the German government also invited Britain through the League of Nations to send peace negotiators to Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss the armistice and peace treaty...According to the leaflets the Germans threw in London every day (night air raids were mostly paper bombs), it said: What Germany demands is just Roughly restore the European structure of 1914, so the war can end as long as Britain agrees to abrogate the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Trianon, Sèvres and Lausanne, Moreover, Germany also welcomes Britain to join the European Community. From now on, Britain and Germany will be one family, coexisting and prospering together!

Although Fatty Qiu does not believe in "British and German families, coexist and prosper together", he also believes that as long as Britain is willing to abrogate those treaties, Germany will happily cease the war... and many people in the UK advocate that it should end the war with Germany. Armistice, which also included a former king, the Duke of Windsor! This is what makes Fatty Qiu feel heavy.

In addition, there was another thing that weighed heavily on Fatty Qiu's mind, that is, the French agreed to leave their fleet in Toulon. This meant that Germany could negotiate to get them - Churchill did not believe that the French would scuttle their own fleet for British interests!

The speech ended, and as the microphone was turned off by the secretary at No. 10 Downing Street, Churchill stood up holding on to the table, and then walked to the cabinet meeting room with some staggering steps. In the cabinet meeting room, Navy Minister Alexander and First Sea Lord Admiral Pound were waiting for their prime minister with solemn faces.

"How does Sir Cunningham plan to fight?" Churchill asked.

Sir Cunningham is the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet. Dealing with the French fleet in Toulon Port is what he wants to do now.

"Launch an air strike," Admiral Pound replied. "It will be a surprise attack!"

"Surprise attack?" Churchill asked, "It seems that the port of Toulon has been heavily guarded for a long time, right?"

"Yes," Pound said, "Not only are there French D.520 fighter jets, but the Germans have also deployed a large number of Fokker Zero fighter jets in Naya, which can support the port of Toulon at any time."

After France signed an armistice treaty with Germany and Italy, this kind of support was entirely possible. If necessary, the Italian Air Force may also send aircraft to support Toulon.

"Then our air raid can still be successful?" Churchill frowned. Now the Royal Navy does not have a "Sea Spitfire", their best fighter is the F2A. Although it is also very advanced, the results of the battle with the Fokker Zero on the European continent were very bad, and it was no match at all. Moreover, this kind of aircraft cannot defeat the BF-109, and it certainly cannot defeat the D.520, which can compete with the BF-109.

"Prime Minister, Sir Cunningham will not send out F2As." Pound said, "He will send out Swordfish aircraft, 48 from HMS Ark Royal, 24 from HMS Glory... They will launch Night attack!"

"What?" Churchill was very surprised. "Night attack? Taking off from an aircraft carrier? How is this possible?"

This can simply be described as incredible! In this day and age, tactical bombing is almost always conducted during the day. Not to mention that this attack will be launched from an aircraft carrier - taking off from an aircraft carrier at night is already very difficult, and landing an aircraft carrier at night is simply acrobatics.

"Prime Minister," Sir Pound said to Churchill very proudly at this time, "except for the Royal Naval Aviation, no naval aviation carrier-based pilots in the world can complete night take-off and landing, night search for enemies and night attacks! So this It’s an unexpected surprise attack, and we will definitely succeed!”

Churchill breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said: "Well, now I have to make the most painful and cruelest terrible decision in my life... I hope our French friends will not hate us for this for too long."

…

When Churchill made up his mind to deal with his former ally France in a cruel way, three Sean "Sunderland" seaplanes (this is a large four-engine seaplane) taking off from the island of Malta used the cover of clouds to fly from the island of Malta. Breaking into the heavily guarded Port of Taranto at an altitude of 5,000 meters. Since there were no radars installed on the Port of Taranto or the Italian ships in the port, the sirens in the port did not sound until a formation of three large seaplanes suddenly appeared over the Italian fleet.

The air raid launched by three British seaplanes did not achieve any results, because the Italians deployed at least 100 anti-aircraft guns in Taranto Port, and there were Cr.42 and G.50 fighters in the air for direct cover, and there were anti-aircraft balloons around the port. So the British Sean "Sunderland" seaplane just randomly dropped a few tons of bombs at an altitude of 3,000 meters, and then pulled to 5,000 meters to escape quickly with the help of cloud cover.

However, this air raid launched by three seaplanes was not pure harassment, but a fire reconnaissance to attract the attention of the Italians. Just as the three Sean "Sunderland" seaplanes were returning, a telegram about the situation in Taranto Port was sent to the Mediterranean Fleet flagship "Warspite" battleship anchored in Alexandria, Egypt.

"Sir, the main force of the Italian fleet is in Taranto." The chief of staff of the Mediterranean Fleet said to Cunningham while looking at the copy of the telegram, "Two 'Count of Cavour' class and two aircraft carriers are all there."

At this time, the two "Duilio" class were still undergoing modernization, and none of the "Vittorio Veneto" class was in service, so the "powerful" Italian Navy had only two battleships available. However, these two "Count of Cavour" class battleships, which underwent large-scale modernization between 1933 and 1937, were very difficult to deal with. Their speed was as high as 28 knots, which was faster than any battleship currently in service in the Mediterranean Fleet. And their two triple-mounted and two twin-mounted 320mm main gun turrets were also powerful enough. Although they could not beat the British battleships equipped with 14-inch and 15-inch main guns, if the "Ark Royal" and "Glorious" accidentally encountered them in the middle of the night, they might be sunk.

Although these two aircraft carriers are of course protected by battleships, it is always reassuring to see the Italian battleships lying still in the port of Taranto.

Moreover, the two Italian aircraft carriers, the Aquila and the Sparrowhawk, are also very troublesome. According to intelligence, the Italians have equipped their aircraft carriers with two-seat G.50bisA/N fighter-bombers. Although this aircraft cannot deal with the F2A Buffalo, it will still make Major General Lister, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet's aircraft carrier formation, nervous.

"That's great," Cunningham breathed a sigh of relief, "The Italian fleet did not go out, and the French fleet could not go out. Now there is only our Royal Navy fleet in the entire Mediterranean."

However, Cunningham's face was still full of worry, because France had two "Richelieu" class ships about to be commissioned, and Italy had two "Vittorio Veneto" class ships about to be commissioned. If these four super battleships all become accomplices of the Germans, then the days of the British Mediterranean Fleet will probably be very difficult.

Therefore, the only chance for the British Mediterranean Fleet is to deal a fatal blow to the French and Italian fleets in the Mediterranean before these four giant ships are put into service!

But why hasn't London issued an order to start the operation? Do they still have illusions about the French?

"Sir, a telegram from the Admiralty!"

Just as Sir Cunningham was anxiously waiting, the fleet's communications staff shouted, "Operation Crossbow Begins!"

...

"Major General, Operation Crossbow Begins!"

In the command tower of the "Glorious" aircraft carrier in the waters near the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean, Major General Lister, the commander of the L Fleet, finally waited for the order to start "Operation Crossbow".

"Okay," Major General Lister looked up at the clock hanging on the bulkhead. It was 4:40 p.m. now. "We are going to position X now. We must be in place before 7:30 p.m. The first attack wave will be dispatched at 7:45 p.m. and the attack will be launched at 11 p.m.!"

After speaking, he swept his eyes around the command tower. Everyone knew that the French fleet was going to be bombed this time, so the morale did not seem very high. Major General Lister said: "This is a difficult mission. Not only is it dangerous, but the target of the attack is our former ally. But for the benefit of the empire, I still hope that everyone can perform their duties conscientiously!"