Chapter 249 Surprise Attack 4

The plane can fly, but can bombs and torpedoes be dropped without Raeder's personal order before 4:30!

This is probably the most ridiculous order Robert Ritter von Greim has ever heard since he joined the army. If your Excellency Raeder's order doesn't come, will everyone make a wasted trip? Is there a war like this?

But no matter how ridiculous it is, it is still an order, the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy! As a soldier, you can only choose to obey. Thinking of this, Greim was a little resentful of Hessman. Can't his air force be assigned to the Air Force? The Air Force is under the control of the General Staff, and Admiral Kesselring of the Air Force is his own man, so he won't give such a ridiculous order.

"General, the plane is about to take off." An operational staff officer who had interned in the Japanese Navy, an aviation major named Franz Speer, walked from the cockpit to Greim's side, then sat down in the seat with his back against the bulkhead and fastened his seat belt.

Four 1,200-horsepower BMW323 air-cooled engines roared, and the sound in the cabin was very noisy. Graham was even more irritable. Probably to divert his attention, he suddenly asked the aviation major beside him, "Say the air raid plan again!"

"Okay, General." Franz Speer said loudly, "According to intelligence, the British only have one naval airport near Scapa Flow and have very limited fighter planes. 56 Zeros are responsible for dealing with them. So during the air raid, there is no need to consider the interference of enemy aircraft."

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Graham thought: It would be a crime to miss it!

"The bombers and torpedo planes will be classified by type," Major Franz Speer continued. "The first to attack are 110 He-111s, which will form 22 5-plane formations, break through from a low altitude of 500 meters, and conduct horizontal bombing. Each He-111 carries 4 SC-250 high-explosive bombs. This bomb basically has no armor-piercing ability, so the primary target of these He-111 bombers is the ground anti-aircraft artillery positions and the ground facilities of the naval base; the second target is the oil depot at the Scapa Flow base, where at least 100,000 tons of fuel are stored according to intelligence; the third target is the auxiliary ships in Scapa Flow."

At present, German aerial bombs are named according to type and weight, such as large-charge bombs named SB, high-explosive bombs named SC, fragmentation bombs named SD, anti-armor bombs named PC, and armor-piercing bombs named PD. Adding a few numbers after these names means how much weight a certain bomb weighs.

Although the weight of aerial bombs is very large, many of them have not been put into practical use. Now there are two types of bombs that are really equipped in large quantities by the troops: SC high-explosive bombs, which are actually ordinary bombs. The other is PC anti-armor bombs, which can actually be called armor-piercing bombs. The difference between it and PD is that the latter has extremely thick walls and a slender body, which is used to deal with armored bunkers

--it is used to bomb the Maginot Line.

The SC-250 is a 250-kilogram ordinary bomb. A He111 bomber can carry up to 8 SC-250s, but because the range is increased, the bomb load is reduced, and only 4 bombs are carried. However, 110 aircraft can also carry 440 bombs, which is enough for the British at Scapa Flow Base.

Major Franz Speer went on to say: "The next attack is the 86 Ju.88s with specific dive bombing capabilities. They will use shallow dive bombing to drop SC-500 bombs. Although this bomb is a high-explosive bomb, it also has the ability to penetrate 35 to 50mm horizontal armor. Therefore, the Ju.88 fleet will attack aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers in Scapa Flow." In fact, the difference between the SC and PC bombs is quite large in the level below 500 kg. At the levels of 500 kg, 1000 kg and 1400 kg, the difference between the two is not very large. Because the shells of heavy bombs are relatively thick and not easy to break, installing a delayed fuse and replacing a solid warhead can use the SC as a PC. As for the serious PC-500, of course, there are also, but the armor-piercing performance is only about 70mm80mm, and it is also very difficult to deal with the thick-skinned British battleships/battlecruisers. As for aircraft carriers, treaty heavy cruisers and destroyers with only thin armor, the SC-500 has a better strike effect because of its large charge - at least that's what the German naval aviation team thought.

So the staff of the Naval Aviation Command calculated accurately that 86 Ju.88s were equipped with 172 SC-500s to kill "lightly armored" or "unarmored" targets such as aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers and auxiliary ships.

Because the Ju.88 has a certain dive bombing capability and a relatively high degree of bombing accuracy, 172 SC-500s should be able to overturn most of the "British boats" in Scapa Flow.

As for the battleships and battlecruisers in Scapa Flow, they were all handed over to 84 He-115 torpedo attack aircraft.

Major Franz Speer said: "84 He-115 torpedo bombers will attack at the same time as the Ju.88 dive bombing, taking the form of low-altitude horizontal penetration, forming a five-plane formation to attack the battleships and battlecruisers in Scapa Flow."

The torpedo launched by the He-115 torpedo attack aircraft is called the F5 450mm steam gas aviation torpedo. The torpedo weighs 737 kilograms and has a warhead charge of 200 kilograms of Hexanite explosive. This kind of torpedo is not very powerful (an aviation torpedo, just give it a nod). For cutting-edge battleships with mine protection compartments (for example, the Bismarck can protect against 300 kilograms of Hexanite explosives), it is impossible to penetrate the soul with one shot. , it takes more than a dozen rounds to defeat him.

However, dispatching 84 He-115s with 84 F5 torpedoes should have enough firepower.

"General," Major Franz Speer finally said confidently, "Theoretically, the force we dispatch this time is enough to sink all the British ships in Scapa Flow!"

"Theoretically..." Graeme scratched his head and glanced at the powerful airborne radio installed in the cabin. "Now let's see if the higher-ups can be so cruel!"

Historically, when Hitler was attacking Britain, he actually lacked everything, including planes, submarines and troops, everything! What is really missing is an eye, a ruthless heart!

…

"Leader, it's war now! If I defeat you, I'll be on the gallows!"

General Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann is now ready to rush back to Berlin to launch a coup! He doesn't care about the Polish campaign now - anyway, with the two chiefs of staff, Manstein and Rommel, nothing bad will happen. So from 1 o'clock in the afternoon, he was in his office, holding a phone and arguing with Hitler.

Because Hitler had serious doubts about dispatching 340 aircraft to attack Scapa Flow - he believed that this bombing would completely break up with Britain, and there would be no possibility of compromise between the two countries.

But Hessmann knew very well: It is impossible for Germany to compromise with Britain! If Germany wants to win, it cannot show mercy to Britain.

"You can't be merciful! If you are kind to the British, you are cruel to the Germans!" Hessmann said loudly, "You are the leader and prime minister of the German people, not the British prime minister! If the British want to fight now, it will be life or death. No way. There is no room for compromise, and Britain must perish! Otherwise, Germany will perish!”

"But Ludwig, we are almost the same race as the British." Hitler was a big devil who was poisoned by racism. He talked about everything, and as a result he harmed the German people and himself. "If there is any country in the world that can partner with us to rule the world, it is Britain!"

"Leader, if there was such a good thing, the last world war wouldn't have ended like that!" Hessman shouted, "And even if you want to negotiate peace with the British, you have to hurt them first! "

Hessman thought to himself: 340 aircraft alone would definitely not be able to hurt Britain, although the HNA Command had made a good calculation and believed that it could destroy the local fleet. But refer to the Pearl Harbor incident - the Japanese were much better at bombing ships than the Germans - it was just a battleship sunk and three damaged.

There may be 5 battleships/battlecruisers in Scapa Flow now, as well as three old aircraft carriers. Even if it hits four sinks and four wounds, it is not a fatal injury to the powerful British Navy. Most of them are still unwilling to negotiate...

Hearing Hitler's silence, Hessmann knew that the other party still couldn't bring himself to break with Britain completely - if Hitler had been half as cruel as he was in beating the Soviet Union when he beat Britain, the world war would have been won!

So he could only persuade according to Hitler's ideas: "Leader, the Polish campaign is going very well now. Our army will be able to attack Warsaw in a few days. There will be another airdrop to Lviv on the 6th. If today If the air strikes are successful, Stalin will definitely join the war, and then it will be the Soviet Union and Germany against Britain and France... This is a war that Britain cannot win, and maybe they will consider peace talks. "

There was another long silence on the other side of the phone, and then Hitler said: "Okay, I approve this operation.

However... any such large-scale action against the UK in the future will have to be planned and deployed with my consent first. Because the war against Britain was not only a military issue, but also a diplomatic and political issue. Ludwig, you must understand that we have no way to use military means to solve Britain. We can only win a more favorable peace from Britain by promoting peace through war. "