Chapter 590 Operation Sea Lion End

"It's the Germans, it's the Germans who are coming!"

"Oh my God, what came out of the belly of the plane was a tank! German tanks have arrived in Ireland!"

"Now Ireland can finally become independent, and Northern Ireland can definitely come back..."

"Quick, quick, quick, raise the white flag, we can't fight the Germans, Germany is not Ireland's enemy."

When the first 38t tank drove out of the opened nose door of the Me323 transport plane, the raid on Dublin was already a complete victory. Because the last doubts in the hearts of the Irish have been completely dispelled by these tanks brought in by air.

Even the terrible German tanks were flown in by plane. How could these German supermen not be able to defeat the British guys in Northern Ireland? If Germany wins in Northern Ireland, then the British Empire is dead. Once the British Empire is dead, what else can the United States and Germany have to fight across the Atlantic Ocean? No matter how rich Americans are, can they fill up the Atlantic Ocean?

If the Americans wanted to land on the coast of Europe, it would be impossible to win without tens of thousands of aircraft to provide cover and hundreds of thousands of soldiers armed to the teeth at once. And to carry tens of thousands of aircraft on an aircraft carrier, at least one hundred or dozens of big ones like the Essex would have to be built. With so many aircraft carriers, even if the Americans were to build them, it wouldn't take ten or eight years to build them. By then, the Germans would have already turned Europe's western coastline into an insurmountable line of defense.

It seems that Americans can no longer come to Europe now, and the Irish must embrace the thick legs of the Germans!

So when Lieutenant Otto Skorzeny and his soldiers got off the Me323 plane and followed the 38t tank in a posture to attack the Presidential Palace, they were greeted by dozens of white Irish flags waving in the wind.

News that the Irish were happy to welcome the Nazis quickly reached London. Although the British do not have troops stationed in Ireland, they still have many official agencies there, and there are also pro-British factions in Ireland. Although they are not the mainstream and cannot change the general trend of pro-Germany and anti-Britishness in Ireland, they can still give the British Tell the news.

So the arrival of the Germans and the "surrender route" of the Irish authorities was known to the British government from the beginning.

At 6 o'clock in the afternoon on May 2, the situation was completely clear. In addition to the 12 large planes that first landed in Phoenix Park, hundreds more planes flew over the open area north of Dublin and dropped bombs. Tens of thousands of heavily armed German Nazis. They all received a warm welcome from the Irish people!

In addition, more than a dozen transport planes landed directly at the heavily guarded Dublin Airport. Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera personally went to the airport to welcome a certain German general.

"It seems that it is definitely Ireland!" British Prime Minister Winston Churchill exhaled softly, his tone seemed relatively relaxed.

It is better to fight on Irish soil than on English soil.

"The President and Prime Minister of the Irish Free State betrayed the Empire and their people." Churchill said in a dignified and serious tone. "As the sovereign state of Ireland, the British Empire has the obligation to defend Ireland from the ravages of the German Nazis."

After Churchill said this, he looked at the Imperial Chief of Staff, Viscount Brooke, and the First Sea Lord, Dudley Pound.

The chiefs of the British Army and Navy knew that Churchill wanted a full understanding of the plans for the war in Ireland.

Viscount Brooke said: "Mr. Prime Minister, the 12th Army in Montgomery, Northern Ireland is ready and ready to move south to launch an attack on Dublin at any time."

Churchill nodded and said: "Very good, let Montgomery command the troops to march into Dublin immediately! While the Germans have only a few airborne troops arriving, catch them by surprise!"

"The Royal Navy will also attack from the Firth of Clyde!" said First Sea Lord Dudley Pound. "It is only 200 nautical miles from the Firth of Clyde to the sea off the Gulf of Cork in Ireland. Our battleships spend more than ten It can be reached in an hour, and the heavy cruiser can arrive faster. If nothing happens, the home fleet will encounter the German fleet trying to enter Cork Bay early tomorrow morning. If the Germans avoid fighting, then we will be in Cork. Mines were laid outside the bay and the port was shelled, making it temporarily impossible for the Germans to use Cork Bay.”

"If they don't avoid the battle, it will be a decisive battle between the fleets!" Churchill took a puff of his cigar and frowned, "Can the local fleet defeat the European combined fleet?"

Of course this is impossible! According to reliable information, even excluding the Richelieu and Barbarossa, which are undergoing overhaul, there are currently 2 Hindenburg-class, 2 Bismarck-class, and 2 Scharnhorst-class battleships available in the European Combined Fleet. (The British regarded Scharnhorst's No. 2 ship Gneisenno and 2 Barbarossa-class ships as the "Sharn" class), 2 Richelieu-class ships and 4 Veneto-class ships, a total of 12 ship.

On the British side, two of the King George V-class ships have lost their combat effectiveness. Among them, the Prince of Wales is still rusting in the Shetland Islands and is basically a pile of wreckage, while the King George V was towed to the United States not long ago along with the hulls of two newly launched Lion-class battleships. . In addition, the Duke of York, also belonging to the King George V class, is still stranded in Canada, while the Howe and the Anson are escorting two Queen-class ships and several other cruise ships transporting troops and "non-combat important personnel" on their way to Canada.

Therefore, the battleships available to the British Home Fleet now are 7 battleships, including 5 Queen Elizabeths, 1 Repulse and 1 Ramillies. They are no match for the 12 German, Italian and French super battleships.

Dudley Pound said: "Prime Minister, we have deployed a large number of submarines in the waters west and south of the island of Ireland, and sent Sunderland "Short" seaplanes to conduct a large-scale search, and no trace of the European Combined Fleet was found. If the destination of the German fleet rushing out of the English Channel is Cork Bay on the island of Ireland, the Home Fleet should have a chance."

"It seems to be a trap!" Fat Qiu smoked a cigar and thought, "My intuition tells me that this is a trap! The Germans must have some way we don't know to attack the Home Fleet..."

"Maybe," Dudley Pound shrugged and said, "But the Home Fleet should still attack! Because... We must find out what other killers the Germans have. If they really have it, I would rather lose two 1 Queen Elizabeth class, and would rather lose the Lion and the Daring. "

Churchill smoked his cigar in silence for a while, and finally nodded slowly, "Okay, let the Home Fleet try... Maybe the Germans are just bluffing, they are best at this."

...

"The North Sea was hit, the Danube was hit, the Z48 destroyer sank, and 4 freighters and 2 T-type ships were lost. In addition to the previous losses of the Norwegian Sea and Z44, the Theresa Maria and Rhine were hit... Our 5th Fleet has suffered heavy losses this time."

On the Friedrich I missile cruiser, Colonel Gerhard Wagner, Chief of Staff of the 5th Fleet of the European Combined Fleet, took the loss report that had just been counted and reported to the fleet commander General Rolf Karls with a painful face.

The 5th Fleet was once again bombed by nearly 1,000 aircraft sent by the Royal Air Force on the afternoon of May 2. Although Jeschonnek also sent more fighters to support, the losses were still not small.

"Has Vice Admiral Paulus been found?" General Karls asked about the situation of Paulus who fell into the water.

"They have been found. He, Colonel Alborg, the chief of staff of the 1st Marine Division, and Colonel Attenborg, the captain of the Norwegian Sea, were all salvaged by the French." Colonel Wagner said, "But Vice Admiral Paulus caught a cold after soaking in the water for too long. He was already having a fever when he was fished out. He has now been sent to Paris for treatment. It seems that he will not be able to catch up with the Irish campaign."

"It's really unlucky," General Karls shook his head. "Then send a telegram to express condolences. After all, he is an alumnus of our Naval Academy."

When General Karls was feeling sorry for Paulus, someone knocked on the door of his commander's cabin. A fleet staff officer came in and reported to him the urgent military intelligence report he had just received.

"Commander, the British Home Fleet is leaving the Firth of Clyde!"

General Karls and Colonel Wagner looked at each other. Now there is a big battle to be fought!

"Can the Maria Theresa participate in the war?" Admiral Karls asked.

"The main gun turret at the stern of the Maria Theresa was blown up, but the two V3 missile catapults in the middle of the ship are intact."

The V3 missile that Colonel Wagner mentioned is of course not operated by humans, but a fully mature wire-controlled model that can be used in actual combat. Its control principle is the same as that of the wire-controlled gliding bomb, but it has an additional piston engine and a set of propellers, all installed in a pod at the tail of the missile, the same layout as the V1 missile that is still under development.

In addition, in order to facilitate the remote control of the V3 missile at night, 6 light bulbs are installed on the tail of the missile. In this way, the missile controller in the remote control room on the top of the bridge can determine the position of the missile by visual observation at night.

In fact, this V3 wire-controlled missile is a remote-controlled unmanned aircraft. The German military began research in this area as early as the 1930s. The process of this time-space missile is almost exactly the same as in history, but the focus of German missile research and development in history was long-range bombing. In this time and space, because of the vision of later generations, Hersman determined the two major principles of cruise missiles for short-range attacks and remote control guidance from the beginning. In the end, this short-range wire-controlled missile for anti-ship was taken out. It was launched into the sky by a wire-controlled missile catapult modified from a seaplane catapult. It can fly 20 to 30 kilometers at a speed of 600 kilometers per hour. It also has an armor-piercing warhead and 850 kilograms of explosives in the warhead. The entire manufacturing difficulty is much smaller than the historical V1, and the project has been waiting for priority supply, so it was put into actual combat 2 years earlier.