Chapter 467: Chase and Intercept?

Helmut Haye and Fritz Hinze quickly walked to the map table placed in the bridge. Staff officers have already placed two model ships symbolizing "battleships and battlecruisers" in the northwest of the Faroe Islands.

"Is Bergen's shore-based aircraft within reach?" Haye asked Major Marks, the aviation staff officer who was on the bridge (also the flight control officer of the "Seidlitz").

"Barely enough," Major Marks looked at the model boat and replied, "The British know the combat radius of the Ju88 and S.M.79. They shouldn't get too close. After all, they just suffered a big loss in the waters near Ireland. ”

Haye nodded and recognized Major Max's analysis. "If the shore-based aircraft in Bergen can't go, then it's our turn... Is there still time to launch an air strike today?"

"It's too late today," Major Marks looked at the sky outside the bridge. "It will get dark soon, and we are too far away from them. Our Fokker 99 combat radius is not very large."

The Fokker 99 has a range of more than 1,400 kilometers and a combat radius of about 500-600 kilometers. The place where the "Hood" was discovered is about 800 kilometers away from the two German aircraft carriers.

"Then launch an attack tomorrow morning and let the 3rd Hainan Division in Bergen send out Fw-200C to track the Hood." Lieutenant General Haye thought for a while, "And we...should sail north now. This way The attack will be launched earlier tomorrow, and we will be less likely to be suddenly attacked by enemy aircraft."

It is the polar day period in the North Pole. The closer to the North Pole, the shorter the night time and the longer the day time, so it will be more advantageous for Haye's fleet to occupy the northern position.

However, sailing north also has a disadvantage, that is, it will be close to Iceland, which is controlled by the Americans. In this way, the "Seidlitz" and "Sekt" may be discovered by American reconnaissance planes.

"Lieutenant General, there is a US fleet near Iceland in the north." Major Marks reminded Lieutenant General Haye in a low voice.

Lieutenant General Haye crossed his arms and thought for a while, then said: "Go north, just a little further away from Iceland. We can't stop fighting just because they are coming."

When Helmut Haye said this, he certainly did not expect that his fleet had actually been discovered by a British submarine.

"Admiral, the German fleet has come out of Bergen!" On the battleship "Nelson", Admiral Tovey, commander of the British Home Fleet, received a report from the submarine. "At least 2 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers and 4 light cruisers."

"Are they two battleships?" Admiral Tovey asked, "Did you tell me what type of ship they were?"

"They are two Bismarck-class ships."

In fact, what the British submarine saw was the two heavy cruisers "Admiral Hipper" and "Blücher". However, German battleships and heavy cruisers have similar appearances, and it is easy to mistake them. In particular, the "Bismarck"-class battleships and the "Admiral Hipper"-class heavy cruisers, which have the same number of main gun turrets, are more easily confused. Moreover, the accompanying of two aircraft carriers also convinced the British that what they discovered were the "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz".

"Where is the position?" Admiral Tovey asked again. "Where is the sailing direction?"

"Latitude 60.5 degrees, longitude 4.2 degrees east, approximately this position. Sailing north."

"North of Bergen." Lieutenant General Fraser, deputy commander of the British Home Fleet, quickly found this location on the chart. "If you go all the way north, you will soon enter the Norwegian Sea."

"Norwegian Sea..." Admiral Tovey also walked to the chart table. "The Germans want to go to the Denmark Strait?"

The Denmark Strait is located between Iceland and Greenland. It is a waterway from the Norwegian Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is very wide, with a width of 290 kilometers at its narrowest point. It also has long nights in winter and frequent fog in summer, so it is very suitable for the German fleet to sail by. This breaks into the Atlantic Ocean.

"It is also possible that they want to attack the Hood. The German submarine may have discovered Fleet B." Lieutenant General Fraser quickly raised another possibility, "The German aircraft carrier must be heading north to occupy a favorable position." The northern position, so that their plane can take off at two or three o'clock tomorrow morning. "

"There is also this possibility." Admiral Tovey thought for a while, "Order C Fleet to also go north and get as close to Iceland as possible. If the Germans' purpose is to attack B Fleet, then we will attack eastward and ask American aircraft to fly Fleet C flew east to intercept the German reconnaissance aircraft. If the Germans wanted to break through the Denmark Strait, Fleet C would launch an air attack across Iceland's airspace."

Now that the United States has taken over Iceland, it has also manipulated the Icelandic parliament to pass a resolution turning Iceland into a U.S. territory. Therefore, Iceland is now considered a "neutral zone". German aircraft cannot fly over Icelandic airspace, but British aircraft can fly over Iceland if necessary and can even land in Iceland during wartime. In addition, U.S. aircraft stationed in Iceland could take off to intercept German reconnaissance planes trying to fly in airspace close to Iceland. So Tovey wanted Fleet C to attack the German fleet under the cover of Iceland.

"We can also ask our American friends in Iceland to send destroyers to search the Danish Strait to help us locate the German fleet." Vice Admiral Fraser then suggested, "At the same time, just in case, we can also let Fleet A attack to the waters west of Iceland. In addition, Fleet B should be 80-100 nautical miles south of Fleet C, so that the Faroe Islands' aircraft can provide direct cover to Fleet B. If Fleet C severely damages the German fleet, then Fleet B can attack eastward to intercept it."

When Vice Admiral Fraser spoke, he placed model ships symbolizing Fleet B, Fleet A, Fleet C and the German fleet at various locations on the nautical chart, and finally formed a situation of chasing and intercepting the German fleet.

"Admiral, all ships have completed the supply."

Just as the British were preparing to besiege the two German aircraft carriers and German heavy cruisers heading north, in the port of Bergen in Norway, Colonel Lindemann, Chief of Staff of the German First High Seas Fleet and Captain of the battleship "Bismarck", was reporting the fleet supply situation to Admiral Gunther Lütjens.

"In addition, the Marines have already disembarked and settled in the military camp in Bergen." Lindemann continued.

Occupying the Shetland Islands is also one of the options for this operation, so the transport ship that arrived in Bergen with the First High Seas Fleet carried 6,500 Marines. If a landing operation is to be launched, they will be the first troops to land.

In addition, in order to implement the plan to capture the Shetland Islands, the German army also formed the 21st Group with Admiral Falkenhorst as the commander. In addition to the Marines, this group also has 6 infantry divisions (including the Viking Division) and 1 airborne division, with a total strength of more than 100,000.

However, most of the troops have not yet arrived in Norway, and Admiral Falkenhorst's headquarters has just arrived. Moreover, the sea and air supremacy in the Shetland Islands area has not yet been obtained, so it is not the time to launch a landing operation.

After listening to Colonel Lindemann's report, Admiral Gunther Lütjens looked at the time. It was 8:10 p.m., but the sky in Bergen was still relatively bright.

"It's almost time, let's go to sea." Admiral Gunther Lütjens said, "We will sail along the tiny islands on the Norwegian coastline, and then let the Third Naval Aviation Division send planes to cover us. If Heyer's planes can damage the Hood and another British battleship tomorrow morning, then we will seek a decisive battle."

Gunther Lütjens had planned to lead the main force of the fleet to attack long ago, because he and Heyer believed that the destructive power of the Fokker 99 was insufficient and it would be difficult to sink the British battleships, and at most they would be damaged. As for the final sinking mission, it was either the Ju88 that took off from Bergen or Admiral Gunther Lütjens's three battleships.

On the evening of June 8, 1941, at 8:30, the main force of the German First High Seas Fleet began to set sail, leaving the port of Bergen and passing through the tiny islands on the west coast of Norway. Five hours later, it disappeared on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean under the cover of night. Because it was already dark when the First High Seas Fleet left, and there was a thin fog on the sea. Therefore, the British submarines ambushed near the Norwegian coastline did not find anything.

"Lieutenant General, the Coastal Air Force reported that one of their Short Sunderland seaplanes found the German fleet southwest of the Faroe Islands, with the coordinates of 62.2 degrees north latitude and 0.5 degrees east longitude."

At 1:30 a.m. on June 9, the battlecruiser Hood, which was slowly sailing on the southern edge of the Norwegian Sea, received a report from the British Coastal Air Force that a Short Sunderland seaplane equipped with an ASV search radar had discovered the German fleet - that was Heyer's aircraft carrier formation.

The captain of the Hood, Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland, who was also the commander of Fleet B, immediately walked to the chart table, where the navigator had marked the location of the German fleet.

"We are more than 200 nautical miles away from them," said Lieutenant Colonel Cook, the first officer of the Hood. "I just don't know if they have discovered us?"

"We must be careful," said Vice Admiral Holland, smoking his pipe. "They have two Bismarck-class battleships. We and the Prince of Wales are no match for them."

Lieutenant Colonel Cook said, "Lieutenant Admiral, we can ask the Coastal Air Force to send a few more seaplanes to keep an eye on the German fleet, so that we can be foolproof."

Lieutenant Colonel Holland nodded and said, "But we still have to keep a distance of 200 nautical miles from them. The Germans still have two aircraft carriers! By the way, where is Fleet C now?"

"Probably to our north," Lieutenant Colonel Cook replied, "Fleet C is now heading at full speed to the waters south of Iceland."

"Fleet C is to our north, and the German fleet is outside in the northeast..." Lieutenant Colonel Holland tapped the nautical chart with his pipe in his hand, "Let's go a little further east, so that we can form the three corners of an equilateral triangle with Fleet C and the German fleet."