Chapter 472 Hood's Fate (Part 1)

In the North Sea, east of the Shetland Islands, a huge fleet was sailing westward quickly under the cover of 20 to 30 Fokker Zero and Fw-190 fighters.

2 Bismarck-class battleships, 1 Scharnhorst-class battleship, 2 Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruisers, 6 Berlin-class light cruisers (M-class with a standard displacement of 7,800 tons), 3 Vienna-class fast light cruisers (SP-class with a standard displacement of 5,700 tons), 20 1938B-class destroyers and 8 Danzig Bay-class fast minelayers (displacement of 5,800 tons, capable of carrying 400 magnetic mines).

There were 42 combat ships, and the billowing smoke almost covered the sky. Such a spectacular scene not only excited the sailors and young officers who were born or raised after the First World War, but also made it difficult for Admiral Gunther Lütjens to suppress his excitement.

These 42 combat ships are not the full strength of the German Navy's surface ships. The German Navy's active ships now also include 2 aircraft carriers, 2 heavy cruisers, 5 K-class light cruisers, 1 Emden-class light cruiser, 18 destroyers and 40 thousand-ton torpedo boats, as well as a large number of torpedo boats, gunboats, minelayers, minesweepers, etc.

After years of hard work, the German High Seas Fleet has been completely revived, and its strength is even better than before. And now shipyards in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and even France are working at full capacity to build various ships for the German Navy!

If it can continue to develop at this speed for a few more years, the German Navy will undoubtedly be able to crush the British Royal Navy in terms of total tonnage. However, Admiral Gunther Lütjens is not sure whether the German Navy's combat effectiveness can crush the British Royal Navy.

Of course, this is only a comparison between surface fleets, and does not include those "navies" flying in the sky.

Although the total tonnage of the German Navy is now rising rapidly, experienced naval officers and sailors cannot be quickly trained. In this regard, the difficulties faced by the German Navy far exceed those of the German Army.

Because in the era of mechanized warfare, the source of the German armored corps is based on engineers and technical workers. As the first industrialized country in Europe and the second in the world, Germany has a very obvious talent advantage. This is also the reason why the German Wehrmacht can complete the upgrade in a very short time and master the essence of mechanized warfare.

But the basis for the rapid expansion of naval personnel is merchant seamen! And Germany lost not only the fleet after the last world war, but also lost most of its merchant ships. Although efforts were made to rebuild the fleet after the war, the scale is still not comparable to that before the last world war. Therefore, the average quality of the rapidly expanding German naval officers and soldiers is not only inferior to that of Britain, but even France and Italy!

However, the quality of the officers and sailors on the two Bismarck-class, two aircraft carriers and the Gneisenau battleship is still first-class, which is why Admiral Gunther Lütjens dared to pull out the fleet to challenge the British Royal Navy.

Yes, bombarding Shetland is challenging the sea control of the British Home Fleet!

As a maritime hegemon that has dominated the ocean for hundreds of years, if a foreign navy openly bombards its offshore islands and dares not fight back, it will not lose face, but maritime hegemony.

And once the British home fleet shrinks in the Firth of Clyde as a fleet of existence, the Shetland Islands will become an isolated island. According to the plan, if the British home fleet becomes a turtle, then the First High Seas Fleet commanded by Gunther Lütjens will not only bombard the Shetland Islands, but also lay a large number of mines in the waters west of the Shetland Islands to block the waterway between the Onyx Islands and the Shetland Islands. Then it will escort the landing troops and start landing operations in the Shetland Islands.

Although the Shetland Islands have become quite strong after more than a year of painstaking management by the British army, it is only a matter of time before they fall after being surrounded and attacked by German warships and aircraft after becoming an isolated island.

The Shetland Islands fell into the hands of Germany, which means that Germany's shore-based aircraft can cover the entire sea area between Iceland and northern Sogler. This means that the British mainland will be completely blocked! This is tantamount to a catastrophe for an island country that relies on overseas resources and markets for survival!

So as long as the battleships of the First High Seas Fleet start shelling the Shetland Islands and laying mines west of the Shetland Islands, the British Home Fleet will have to bite the bullet even if it doesn't want to fight.

"Where is Vice Admiral Heyer's aircraft carrier force now?" Lütjens turned around and asked. Heyer's two aircraft carriers are the key to this decisive battle!

Although the Shetland Islands are only three or four hundred kilometers away from Bergen and Stavanger, they are completely within the combat radius of the Fw-190. However, the role of aircraft carriers is still very huge, because aircraft carriers are mobile airports that can strike the enemy unexpectedly and pursue the defeated enemy fleet. Moreover, they can also sail to the sea area far away from the main force of the First High Seas Fleet and provide air cover to the First High Seas Fleet nearby.

"Admiral, Vice Admiral Heyer's fleet is about 220 nautical miles away from us and has now entered Bergen's shore-based aircraft protection circle."

Lütjens breathed a sigh of relief and was about to walk to the chart table to see the specific location of the aircraft carrier unit marked by the staff when an alarm came from the radar room.

The radar officer reported: "Admiral, the radar detected enemy aircraft, about 80 aircraft, 50 kilometers away."

Lütjens smiled coldly: "Okay, now it's our turn to fight the British turkeys! Order the fleet to form an air defense formation!"

...

"Admiral, 85 aircraft taking off from Scapa Flow have just attacked the main force of the German fleet."

On the battleship "Nelson", Admiral Tovey was closing his eyes to rest while listening to the staff report on the latest battle situation.

"Coast Air Force reported heavy damage to two German light cruisers, inflicted with aerial torpedoes."

Admiral Tovey did not open his eyes, but simply asked: "What's the damage?"

"Loss of 11 Spitfires, 10 Hurricanes, 8 Beauforts and 6 Wellingtons..."

35 aircraft were exchanged for two German light cruisers that were severely damaged... Even if this result is not watery, it is nothing to brag about. Because the current German Navy has long been short of ships and artillery a few years ago, their Z plan has been fully promoted for nearly three years.

Although the battleships and aircraft carriers have not yet been completed in large numbers, the number of light cruisers and destroyers is already large. Moreover, the Italian and French fleets have also joined the German Navy. The total number of light cruisers and destroyers in the three countries is probably more than that of the United Kingdom!

"Where is Fleet C?" Admiral Tovey asked.

"About 100 nautical miles west of the Faroe Islands."

"Where's the Repulse?"

"In the sea off northwest Scotland."

"Fleet B?"

"Near the Onik Islands."

Admiral Tovey suddenly opened his eyes, and his piercing eyes swept across the faces of everyone in the command tower of the "Nelson".

"Gentlemen, the British Empire has reached its most dangerous moment, and all must fight with all their strength. The Royal Air Force and the Royal Naval Air Force have made great sacrifices and achieved the result of sinking a German aircraft carrier. Now it is our turn to surface The fleet goes to fight the enemy!"

He paused for a moment, and his tone became more solemn: "The main force of the German High Seas Fleet is approaching the Shetland Islands. It is expected that they will bombard targets on the Shetland Islands with large-caliber naval guns, and will also bombard targets on the Shetland Islands with large-caliber naval guns. Mines to the west of the islands. All this is to finally capture the Shetland Islands, and that will mean that our homeland will fall into desperate isolation and starvation. So as the commander of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, I feel that we must assemble the fleet and fight the enemy. Battle!"

Assembling the fleet for battle is also part of the Home Fleet battle plan, provided it is determined that the main force of the German High Seas Fleet has begun or is about to attack the Shetland Islands.

As Lütjens believed, the British Home Fleet would not watch the Shetland Islands fall into German hands under any circumstances. But Admiral Tovey would not fight a battle without certainty.

"Use the Faroe Islands as the rendezvous point!" Admiral Tovey took a breath and ordered, "Fleet A, Fleet C and Fleet E (referring to the Repulse and several escorting destroyers) all headed to the Faroe Islands for re-formation... …”

The formation must be reorganized before the decisive battle. According to Admiral Tovey's plan, four battleships/battlecruisers including "Nelson", "King George V", "Repulse" and "Ramillis" will become The core of the new A fleet, the mission of the new A fleet will be fleet decisive battle.

The two aircraft carriers "Ark Royal" and "Formidable" will become the core of Fleet C. The mission of Fleet C is to air attack the main force of the German High Seas Fleet and the German aircraft carrier formation that is hiding somewhere.

Fleet B remains unchanged and is still responsible for the task of luring the enemy. They will use the cover of darkness to engage the German fleet bombarding the Shetland Islands from the night of June 10 to the predawn period of June 11. Then try to lure all or part of the German fleet between the Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands.

Finally, Fleet A and Fleet B will join forces to fight against 3 German battleships with 6 battleships/battlecruisers.

"Lieutenant-Admiral, telegram from the Nelson."

On the battlecruiser "Hood", Vice Admiral Lancelot Holland received a copy of the telegram from the communications officer. This is an order sent by the commander of the Home Fleet - ordering Fleet B with the "Hood" as the flagship to perform a very dangerous task of luring the enemy.

This time, the opponents of the "Hood" and the "Prince of Wales" will be the three powerful German battleships such as the "Bismarck", "Tirpitz" and "Gneisenau"!