Chapter 248 Surprise Attack 3

September 3, 1939, 12 noon Greenwich time - 1 pm Berlin time, Hitler received the ultimatum two hours ago.

British Admiral Winston Churchill was in the desolate and windy Scapa Flow naval base. In two hours, at most two and a half hours, the British Empire would declare war on the most evil country in the world, the German Empire.

That's why Churchill arrived in the bay where the main force of the Home Fleet was located in advance. After the official declaration of war, he would give an exciting speech to all officers and soldiers of the fleet on the flagship of the Home Fleet, the battleship "Nelson".

And now, he was having lunch with the First Sea Lord Sir Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound and the Commander of the Home Fleet, Admiral Charles Forbes, in the luxurious officers' lounge of the "Nelson".

Although the wind and waves in the bay were not small, sitting in the huge battleship with a full load displacement of 38,000 tons, only slight ups and downs could be felt.

"Minister," Admiral Forbes, who had just finished enjoying the fragrant seafood soup, reported to Churchill about the Home Fleet's combat plan after the war while waiting for the dish to be served.

"The Channel Squadron, consisting of the Hood, Resolution and Revenge, has already headed for the English Channel under the escort of the aircraft carrier Royal Ark, the light cruiser Alora and two destroyers. They will be responsible for blocking Germany's sea routes together with the French Navy."

Blockade has always been a powerful weapon for the British Navy to deal with Germany. In the last World War, the British Navy successfully blocked the German Navy at its doorstep. And this time, Britain still wants to use the blockade strategy to strangle Germany.

First Sea Lord Pound added: "The current German navy is much weaker than in 1914. They only have two battlecruisers equipped with 280mm main guns, so the two battleships "Resolution" and "Revenge" are enough to blockade the English Channel. Moreover, we still have shore-based aviation in the English Channel, and the Germans are unlikely to break through there.

The problem we are facing now is mainly the Germans' commerce-breaking tactics. Their submarines are likely to be lurking in the Atlantic. And their main battleships may also disperse into the Atlantic after completing the task of blocking Danze Bay."

Churchill hummed: "The escort system must be started as soon as possible. This is related to the survival of the empire. In addition, air and sea patrols must be strengthened to prevent German ships from breaking into the Atlantic from the North Sea."

The two German "Scharnhorst" class ships are not enough to fight a fleet decisive battle, but with their high speed, once they break into the Atlantic, they will be two huge disasters.

"Please rest assured that the Navy has already had a plan, and now we just need to follow it."

The First Sea Lord, Sir Pound, said: "We now have 74 old destroyers left over from the First World War, as well as new destroyers built after the war, including the Amazon, the Ambush (two trial ships), the A-class, B-class, C-class, D-class, E-class, F-class, G-class, H-class, I-class (9 ships of each class), the Tribe-class (16 ships), the J-class (8 ships)... There are currently a total of 184 destroyers in service, which is much less than the 447 ships at the end of the last war, but it is still enough to cope with escort missions. In addition, there are 8 ships of the K-class, N-class, L-class, and M-class each under construction or planned to be built. If German submarine activities are rampant, "emergency construction" will be arranged. In short, there will never be a shortage of destroyers."

This is the foundation of a century-old navy! Although the number of battleships (battlecruisers) in the UK cannot be compared with that before World War I (20 dreadnoughts, 9 battlecruisers, 40 pre-dreadnoughts), there are only 12 battleships and 3 battlecruisers (and 5 "King George V" class battleships are under construction), and there are not too many aircraft carriers, only 6 (and several more are under construction).

However, the number of cruisers and destroyers in the UK is still very large. There are currently 184 destroyers in service and 64 cruisers - 15 heavy cruisers and 49 light cruisers. In addition, there are some old cruisers left over from World War I, and there are also a large number of cruisers under construction.

In addition, the size of the British submarine force is not small, with as many as 57 submarines of various types.

In comparison, the surface ship strength of the German Navy is far behind. Let alone the quality, the quantity alone is at a great disadvantage.

So far, there are only 2 battleships in service, 3 armored ships (with combat power similar to that of British heavy cruisers), 6 light cruisers, 1 aircraft carrier ("Seydlitz"), 21 Z-type destroyers, and 12 beast-class/raptor-class torpedo boats (more than 800 tons, much larger than torpedo boats, barely able to serve as offshore destroyers).

With this little stuff, it is not even qualified to be a "fleet of existence". So Admiral Raeder never thought about competing with the British Navy for sea control, and all his thoughts were on sea raids. The route is good, but it is a pity that Admiral Raeder in this time and space met a group of naval aviation commanders who were transferred from the Air Force and had very strange ideas.

At 1 pm on September 3, 1939 (Berlin time), Admiral Raeder and Admiral Otto Schneewind, commander of the Navy Supreme Command (in charge of North Sea and Baltic Sea operations), drove from the Wilhelmshaven headquarters to the nearby Wilhelmshaven Naval Aviation Base.

When they arrived, the naval aviation base was already in the highest state of combat readiness. On the huge No. 1 Airport (Naval Aviation No. 1 Airport), 56 Zero fighters, 81 He-115C (shore-based) and 2 Fw-200C long-range maritime patrol reconnaissance aircraft were all ready to go.

Two of the Fw-200Cs that were responsible for battlefield observation were already on the runway waiting for take-off orders - the mission of these two large reconnaissance aircraft was to "lead the way". There is a flight distance of nearly 900 kilometers from Wilhelmshaven Airport (there are 3 airports in total, namely Naval Aviation No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3) to Scapa Flow, almost all of which is flying over the sea, which is a big challenge for pilots.

In the contemporary British carrier-based aircraft, there are navigators (so British carrier-based aircraft have at least two seats). The German naval aviation, which was established not long ago and has little experience in maritime flights, took a different approach and came up with the idea of ​​"pilot aircraft". This time, each of the fighter formation, torpedo formation, dive bomber formation (Ju.88) and horizontal bomber formation (He-111) was equipped with an Fw-200C.

These four Fw-200Cs were all piloted by experienced old naval aviation officers. In the months before the war, they had driven the Fw-200Cs to and from Scapa Flow many times. In addition to the navigation mission, these four Fw-200Cs also carried aerial photography equipment, which could film the battle process at an altitude of 5,000 meters. The obtained video materials will become a reference for the future combat training of the German naval aviation, and will also be announced to the public at an appropriate time in order to obtain political and diplomatic benefits.

…

"Marshal, Commander Graham will take the Fw-200C to the battlefield." In the Naval Aviation Command Building in Wilhelmshaven, Major General Wolfgang von Richthofen, Chief of Staff of the Naval Aviation, said to Marshal Raeder, "According to the plan, all aircraft will take off within 20 minutes. At 1:30, 56 Fokker Zeros, 84 He-115s, 110 He-111s and 86 Ju.88s will form an attack group. At 4:30 pm, the group will fly to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, the northernmost tip of Scotland. Then it will take 30 minutes to complete the air raid, and the return flight will start at 5 pm at the latest. The group will return to Wilhelmshaven Airport at 8 pm, and all aircraft will land at 8:30 pm."

This is a very challenging attack plan! The continuous flight time alone is as long as 7 hours, and the average continuous flight mileage of each aircraft is more than 2,000 kilometers!

And when the plane returns, it is already 8 o'clock in the evening in Wilhelmshaven. The plane must land under the guidance of the ground lights. At the same time, we must also pay attention to the retaliatory bombing of British aircraft - the Naval Aviation Command estimated that the British would be angry after being bombed and send aircraft to attack Wilhelmshaven at night. Of course, it is also possible that the British will make the same calculation and attack the German naval base!

Therefore, while carrying out this surprise attack, the Naval Aviation Command also mobilized 74 BF-110s and 36 Fokker Zeros (piloted by supplementary pilots) to stay at the three major airports in Wilhelmshaven. In addition, more than 100 anti-aircraft guns were deployed around the three major airports in Wilhelmshaven for air defense.

"Okay, it's a desperate action!" Marshal Raeder and Admiral Otto Schneewind looked at each other. They actually did not oppose the development of naval aviation. But for this kind of combat operation that put hundreds of advanced aircraft on the line, they absolutely could not agree.

"So, how many British ships are waiting to be bombed in Scapa Flow now?" Admiral Otto Schneewind asked.

Major General Wolfgang von Richthofen replied: "At present, we can confirm that there are three battleships, namely the 'Nelson', the 'Royal Oak' and the 'Royal', two battlecruisers, namely the 'Reputation' and the 'Repulse', three aircraft carriers, namely the 'Wrath', the 'Brave' and the 'Glory', and at least 10 cruisers and 20 destroyers, as well as dozens of auxiliary ships and training ships..."

Marshal Raeder nodded and suddenly said in a serious tone: "Connect me to Commander Greim now. I have the latest order from the Navy General Headquarters to issue."

"Order?" Major General Wolfgang von Richthofen was stunned.

Raeder said: "The planes can take off, but whether to launch an air strike must be ordered by me personally before 4:30 pm to attack or cancel the operation. This is an order from the Ministry of Defense!"