Chapter 224 Danger in Scapa Flow

The blue sky, blue sea and white clouds make it a good day for a trip. A new Fokker F.37 passenger plane is soaring in the air three or four kilometers above the North Sea. This Fokker F.37 is the civil aviation version of the Fokker F.36, equipped with four BMW300 engines with excellent fuel-saving and reliability.

This is a "small double-row" engine with horsepower between single-row air-cooled and large double-row air-cooled. The 14 small cylinders are arranged in a double-row star shape. It weighs only 520 kilograms, but can provide a maximum stable output power of 980 horsepower at an altitude of 4,200 meters. It is an excellent civil engine.

The Fokker F.37 equipped with four BMW300 engines can fly continuously for 8 hours at a stable speed of about 300 kilometers per hour while carrying a load of 2,000 kilograms. Its performance is extremely excellent. If it were not for the upcoming war, this aircraft would definitely be another overlord in the civil aviation market.

The cabin of this Fokker F.37 is also very sophisticated, with good sealing and sound insulation performance, comfortable sofa-type seats, and very spacious, not crowded like the economy class of later civil aviation.

The "Lufthansa" logo is painted on the outer shell of the aircraft - this is the world's largest airline, with a fleet of hundreds of passenger and cargo aircraft. However, the aircraft that Hersman is riding now is a fake "Lufthansa" aircraft. Its real owner is the Central Security Bureau of the German Empire. This is a spy plane!

"The biggest risk for the P-class commerce raiding formation comes from Scapa Flow," Canaris sat opposite Hessman. There was a table between the two of them with a North Sea map spread out on it. He pointed to the location of Scapa Flow and said, "To break into the Atlantic Ocean, it is not possible to go through the English Channel. You can only go through the North Sea and bypass the back of the British Isles. And Scapa Flow is located in the northwest corner of the British Isles, only 460 kilometers away from Norway. The British only deployed the main force of the Home Fleet and naval reconnaissance aircraft there, and the P-class commerce raiding formation is very dangerous when passing through."

"What is the defense situation there?" Hessman stared at the map, his mind full of the "Pearl Harbor Incident". If he could come to Scapa Flow, he would not ask how many battleships he could sink. As long as he could injure the battleships, battlecruisers and aircraft carriers of the British Home Fleet, he could let the German Navy gain the initiative for a period of time.

"There is a naval air station," Canaris said, "The British Air Force has no airport there. If we want to dispatch aircraft, we have to take off from the airport in northern Scotland. As for the anti-aircraft firepower, it is also weak. There are only old-fashioned anti-aircraft guns left over from the last World War, which pose no threat to our aircraft."

"Is there a radar?" Hersman asked again.

"There is no radar," Canaris shook his head and said, "but the British battleships have radar."

"You can fly low over the sea to reduce the distance of being discovered." Naval Air Force Commander Graham interrupted, "Even if you don't do this, the British radar can only see a few dozen kilometers at most, which is only a few minutes for the aircraft. If the combat readiness level is not high, there is no time to react."

"It's useless even if the combat readiness level is high," Canaris said with a smile, "The British naval air station doesn't have many fighters, and they didn't think Scapa Flow would be attacked by air. And the planes on the aircraft carrier can't take off at all when the aircraft carrier is anchored. The only thing that can threaten the aircraft is the anti-aircraft guns on the ships, but the fleet will not form an anti-aircraft formation when it is anchored in the harbor, and it is not easy to maneuver."

"Basically, you can only stand up and be bombed!" Vice Admiral Graham laughed, "I can't wait for the war to start."

Why didn't they bomb in time in history? Hessman suddenly found that it didn't seem so difficult for the Germans to win the world war. Sometimes they just needed to be more resolute.

In fact, they bombed in history, but not at the beginning. Instead, they bombed Poland after the German Air Force showed its might. At that time, the British were frightened by the German Air Force and evacuated the fleet...

"Have you chosen the aircraft?" Hessman thought for a while and asked again.

"There is already a plan," Graham replied with a smile, "Ju.88 can perform dive bombing, He111 can perform low-altitude horizontal bombing, these two aircraft have a long range, can be modified to increase the range, and can fly 2,000 kilometers without any problem. There is also a He115 that can be used, which is an existing aircraft."

"Seaplane?" Hessman was stunned.

"Just remove the floats," Graham shrugged and smiled, "This can also reduce some weight. I have asked someone to do experiments, and it is completely feasible."

The He115 is a seaplane with quite good performance. It can fly at a speed of 355 kilometers per hour with two floats, and the range is as high as 3,350 kilometers! The weapons are 2 machine guns, 1,250 kg bombs or torpedoes...

Moreover, this aircraft was designed in 1937 and finalized in early 1938. That is to say, in September 1939, Field Marshal Goering could theoretically have an air force that could turn Scapa Flow into Pearl Harbor!

He didn't even need to use the golden finger! No, replacing the air force commander from Goering to Kesselring would probably be the biggest golden finger.

"What about the torpedo nets?" Hessmann asked again, "The battleships will be protected by torpedo nets, right?"

"No, generally not." Canaris said, "That thing is very expensive and troublesome to use. I estimate that the British will lay out anti-submarine wire mesh at each entrance to Scapa Flow instead of giving each A capital ship lays out mine protection nets...because that's not necessary."

Graeme explained with a smile: "Theoretically, airplanes can't reach it, and submarines can't get in."

Take it lightly! This is a common problem among all armies in the world in a state of peace, and the transition from a state of peace to a high level of combat readiness cannot be accomplished with just one order and a few hours.

"For 120 shore-based improved models of He-115," Hersman stopped discussing and began to "place orders" directly, "120 Ju.88 extended-range models, 120 He-111 extended-range models." Model, plus 100 Fokker Zeros, will be in place by the end of May next year.”

It is difficult to assemble 1,000 aircraft. Now each air force is short of new aircraft, and after the war in September 1939, the mission of bombing Poland will definitely be heavy. But 460 can always be made up!

"Be prepared to attack immediately after the war begins!" Hessman thought for a while and then said, "Can the intelligence control the movements of the British fleet?"

If you want to go bombing, you must first find out whether someone is there. Although the British Home Fleet will definitely be concentrated in Scapa Flow amid tensions between Britain and Germany, who knows whether they will go to sea for exercises?

"We have agents already lurking in Scapa Flow," Canaris assured. "That person has become a British citizen and has lived near Scapa Flow for many years. In addition, we can also send submarines for surveillance. It’s guaranteed to be foolproof!”

"Okay! It's decided!" Hersman clapped his hands excitedly. These are 460 aircraft! During the two series of air raids on Pearl Harbor, only 371 aircraft were dispatched, which paralyzed the U.S. Pacific Fleet for several months.

At this moment, the loudspeaker in the cabin suddenly rang: "I am the captain, we are approaching Scapa Flow. The aircraft will lower its altitude to 1000 and pass over the sea east of Scapa Flow. Please pay attention."

…

Outside No. 77 William Street, several black Mercedes-Benz 770K and Mercedes-Benz W07 luxury cars were parked. A group of officers and soldiers wearing armed SS uniforms were waiting there.

"Hi! Our leader!"

"Hi! Hitler!"

Some Berlin citizens passing by saw Adolf Hitler quickly walking out of the Chancellery surrounded by several officials, and they all raised their hands to salute him.

Hitler smiled and raised his hand in return, then got into his Mercedes-Benz 770K, started the car, and drove away under the attention of everyone.

"Leader," Ribbentrop, who got into the car with Hitler, said in a somewhat sad tone, "the Poles are very tough and refuse to give in no matter what. The British Prime Minister Chamberlain blamed us for annexing Bohemia. Asia, to restore the Hohenzollern dynasty. And the Italian leader, Mr. Mussolini, is also very dissatisfied with our proximity to the Soviet Union...The current situation in Europe is not very favorable to us."

"What if..." Hitler thought for a moment, "if we just go back to Danze and don't want the Polish Corridor for the time being, can peace be achieved?"

Hersmann would have been shocked if he had heard Hitler's question. Adolf Hitler, the war madman in history and the number one sinner of mankind, is now working hard for world peace.

While people like Hersmann and Schleicher were busy preparing for world war!

Because the current situation is very different from that in history. Historically, the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact was only officially signed on August 23, 1939. Before this, Germany always appeared as "anti-Soviet" and "anti-G".

This gave Hitler the illusion that Britain and France would continue to appease Germany because of Hitler's anti-G and anti-Soviet attitude. If Britain and France really wanted Germany to fight the Soviet Union, it seemed that Germany should be allowed to take over Poland.

After all, only by winning Poland can Germany attack the Soviet Union.

However, in this time and space, under the auspices of Marshal Schleicher (historically a pro-Soviet faction) and General Hersmann, two pro-Soviet German military leaders, Soviet-German relations had been very good. By the end of 1938, the two sides The 10-year "Socialist Axis Treaty" was signed.

Under this situation, Britain, France and Poland took a very tough stance, and Mussolini, who had always regarded himself as anti-German, was not as pro-German as in history. When the overall situation of the Spanish War had been decided, he began to Alienated Germany and moved closer to Britain and France.

At this time, leader Hitler also began to hesitate - Britain, France, Italy and Poland looked very powerful together! And it also surrounded Germany on all sides...