Three Hundred Fifty One Sail

The sharp bow of the destroyer split two white waves on the water, and a German destroyer was slowly moving forward on the calm sea. It had not yet entered the cold North Sea, because the destroyer had just sailed out of its harbor— —Williams Harbor.

The wave that the destroyer cut through the water and separated was not calm, but was cut by the bow of another destroyer in the distance. Behind this destroyer, there was the first destroyer. These German ships starting with z are all The 10-year-old new ship is equipped with a new sonar system and the most advanced radar.

Behind these destroyers is a huge battleship with 80mm caliber cannons on it, which is so outstanding. This is a Lützow-class armored ship, which is the largest artillery force of the German Navy in addition to aircraft carriers at this stage. The strongest battleship.

With such a huge fleet in a German port, it must be the German High Seas Fleet, which is Germany's most elite naval fleet, a terrifying force that even the British Royal Navy shuns.

Sure enough, in the inner circle of the fleet, the huge aircraft carrier showed its tall figure. The huge freeboard and the command island on the deck made the barges following it look extremely small.

A total of 16 destroyers and 8 cruisers led 3 armored ships to protect 4 large fleet aircraft carriers and slowly sailed out of Wilhelm Naval Harbor, making the soldiers on the surrounding gunboats and torpedo boats who were in charge of guarding all around wait and see. It is the hope of the German Navy and the future of the German Navy.

Standing on the bridge, Lütjens looked at the huge naval fleet under his command. The pride and sense of superiority in his heart made the corners of his mouth twitch uncontrollably. He is now the actual commander of the fleet like Doenitz, and with their efforts, the German Navy has achieved impressive results that their predecessors did not achieve.

Since the war began, they have sunk the British carriers Eagle and Valiant; the battleships Malaya, Barham and Sovereign; the heavy cruiser Norfolk and the light cruiser Penelope, and captured two British ships. Destroyer, sank another 29 destroyers and 1 submarine. And it only lost 1 destroyer, 1 submarine and a few aircraft.

The four aircraft carriers Imperial, Zeppelin, Bismarck, and Tirpitz sailed out of the military port at one time. There are more than a dozen aircraft parked on the deck of each aircraft carrier. The staff is checking these equipment for future use. Let them play the highest combat power in the battle.

Lütjens looked at the sea in the distance and didn't speak for a while. Not far behind him, a huge chart table was placed in the combat command room, where there were also Air Force reconnaissance reports stacked on the intelligence analysis table and the latest weather analysis provided by the Meteorological Bureau.

"Keep the course!" The chief officer stood behind Lütjens and loudly issued follow-up orders. This is still the core area controlled by the Luftwaffe, so the command of the fleet was handed over to the adjutant, and Lütjens was also happy. Leisurely, calm down and think about how to complete the tasks to be performed on this voyage.

This time the navy was ordered to complete the battle plan drawn up by Yuan himself,

Also known as "Operation Blackout", the content of this plan is very complex, and it is a huge joint sea, land and air combat plan. The navy and the air force mainly cooperated to eliminate the British and French navies participating in the Dunkirk battle in the English Channel. The air force and the army cooperated to destroy the land forces of the British and French allied forces, and used this as a bait to severely damage the British navy and air force.

In order to ensure the success of this plan, Akado ordered the Supreme Command to mobilize almost all the forces it can concentrate-including 4 air armies with a total of 2,100 combat aircraft of various types, the Navy's only fleet "High Seas Fleet", And all of Army Group B of the Army and half of Army Group A total 550,000 troops.

The "Blackout Plan" was fully launched 15 hours ago. The Air Force took off 4,000 sorties of aircraft to carry out air attack missions. Thousands of tons of bombs blew the originally unknown corner city of Dunkirk in northwestern France into almost ruins.

Garland, who is now a colonel, as the frontline commander of the Air Force, commanded the fighter jet unit's hunting plan, and smashed all the Allied aircraft that could fly into the sky above Dunkirk. During these ten hours of combat Let the Air Force give birth to 12 ace pilots in one breath, and the fighter unit of the French Air Force who took off heroically experienced a real narrow escape. Only 37 of the 300 fighter jets were slaughtered by the Germans, and 259 pilots died heroically.

The naval aviation units used to serve as carrier-based aircraft for the subsequent two aircraft carriers were all transferred to the field airport near Dunkirk, and they went to the battlefield for the first time as the main force bombing British naval ships. They were required to train in actual combat, how to efficiently sink the opponent's ships, and lay a good foundation for future operations.

With these special Stukas and Navy Type Fs, the destroyer force that ventured to rescue the troops back home suffered a devastating blow. These accurate bombing and first-class carrier-based aircraft units sank three British destroyers and a light cruiser in the Dunkirk waters in one go, forcing the British plan to withdraw troops on a large scale to be delayed again and again.

Now that the air force has calmed down the scene, the navy's dispatch this time is completely worse. The mission they received is also very simple. They sink all the British targets they encounter, destroy the British beachheads and ports, and prevent the British from attacking. any evacuation plans for the team.

Of course, there is another task, which is to attract the British Navy and Air Force to fight a battle of annihilation in the offshore near Dunkirk to completely wipe out the main fleet of the Royal Navy and severely damage the British Air Force's local air defense force.

Lütjens is naturally confident about this mission, because he is not a naval force penetrating into the English Channel alone. His route is close to the waters of the Netherlands, close to more than a dozen air force bases in Belgium-where Germany The Air Force ambushed a full 300 fighters and bombers just waiting for the Royal Navy and Air Force to take the bait.

In order to obtain early warning, Germany even dispatched a submarine to transport a group of observers carrying radio stations, lurking near the British coastline to provide early warning for Lütjens. If you count the 50 standing fighters and the fleet's new radars that keep patrolling the sky, this preparation can be said to be seamless, just waiting for the British to throw themselves into the trap.

That's why the navy sent out the most precious high seas fleet and placed it in the dangerous place of the English Channel as a bait. On the one hand, Yuan felt that it was very important to prevent the British and French allied forces from retreating, and on the other hand, it was because this combat operation could be said to be completely accident-free.

These British and French allied forces already in their pockets have long since become fish on the chopping board in the eyes of the Germans, ready to be slaughtered. From the shocking artillery fire near Dunkirk, it can be heard that these poor British and French people in the encirclement have a very unsatisfactory life.

So Lütjens is in a very good mood now, because what he is doing now is something that his predecessors never dreamed of during World War I. If they can know that the German fleet can appear in the English Channel, lure the British fleet to fight and then annihilate the main force of the British navy, then they will wake up from their dreams.

Thinking of this, he even handed over the command to the deputy commander of the fleet with great interest, and took a few guards to the deck to get some air. The deck of an aircraft carrier is not as spacious as ordinary warships. The sea breeze blows on the deck made of steel armor, which is cold and bleak.

The two sailors on duty on the deck saw their commander and immediately got up to attention and saluted. They carried Mauser 98k rifles on their backs. Because of the priority, most second-line combat troops could only be equipped with Mauser 98k rifles. A bolt-action rifle, the saved mp-44 assault rifle and g43 semi-automatic rifle are given priority to the army.

Of course, each aircraft carrier is equipped with a 12-member special team, equipped with sophisticated mp-44 assault rifles, used as a special situation handling team directly under the captain's control. Of course, such elites are not needed for normal duty, so Lütjens encountered only ordinary guards on duty.

"Long live Yuan!" The two soldiers said loudly.

"Long live Yuan!" Lütjens saluted back, and then continued to walk forward. The hem of his navy coat was rolled up by the sea breeze, and he looked very energetic. He took two guards to the bow of the aircraft carrier, and every time he sailed, he would go there to have a look, which seemed to be a habit he had developed over the years.

The huge radar antenna on the destroyer not far away began to rotate slowly, because the fleet had completely left Wilhelmshaven, so the precautionary measures began to be activated step by step. Behind Lütjens, on the deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, two carrier-based reconnaissance fighter jets are taking off. The first plane quickly rushed out of the deck, skimmed the sea at high speed, and roared from above Lütjens' head It passed, followed by the second, then the first and fourth from the Bismarck.

These planes will soon fly in all directions to provide the most long-range real-time reconnaissance information for the entire fleet. With these super long eyes that can observe 200 kilometers away, the defense depth of the German fleet has changed from tens of kilometers of the traditional fleet to It has been raised to a level of at least 130 kilometers. This distance is a long distance that the British Navy's naval guns cannot cross, and it is a death distance that makes the Royal Navy hate gnashing its teeth.

"General." An officer ran over from behind Lütjens. He came running from the bridge, holding a seemingly important telegram in his hand.

After the officer ran to the position, he stood at attention and saluted, and then handed the telegram to Lütjens respectfully: "Yuan called, I wish you success!"

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