At dawn on November 3, at an observation point outside the Bosphorus, the Turkish lookout post Ildire Basturk, who was on duty, suddenly exclaimed: "Boat! Lots of boats! ”

"Don't make a fuss, there are no ships in the strait any day?" The sleepy-eyed companion blamed him, "It's really disturbing people's dreams early in the morning." ”

"No, look at the warships, they're all warships, and they're all flying the Greek flag."

"Greece?" The companion was surprised, leaned over to the high-powered telescope to take a look, and was amazed, "Sure enough, one, two, three...... Damn, 19 warships, Greece is ready to hit the door? ”

"Hurry up, sound the emergency alarm."

The emergency alarm soon sounded, and everyone was alarmed, looking at the astonishing number of warships outside the strait, everyone felt incredulous: this huge fleet included 20,000 or 30,000 tons of battleships, 7-8,000 tons of cruisers, and 1-2,000 tons of destroyers, and the strength of the Turkish navy was completely overwhelming.

"Has Greece declared war on us?" A soldier asked, trembling.

"No...... At least he didn't notice" His companion didn't seem to react much better than him, and his whole voice trembled, and he didn't know if it was the cold wind of the early morning or the fear in his heart.

Soon the fear of the soldiers dissipated by more than half, as the opposite fleet waved the banner "Apply for passage through the strait". Hakan-Tilaf was the supreme commander of the Straits Defense Zone, and on the one hand, he ordered the batteries everywhere to be prepared for emergencies. On the other hand, he was going to send someone to understand the situation of the other party - since the other party had sent a message of "application approved" in a proper manner, he could not help but check and deal with it.

"Send a boat to inquire about the situation and find out what is going on......" he told his men in a self-muttering manner. Let them dispose of it if there is danger. ”

Half an hour later, the news from the transport boat made him laugh: "Report, this is the Greek fleet, preparing for a visit to Bulgaria, and the commander of the fleet has attached an official Greek document and wants us to release it in accordance with the convention." ”

"Hell, we've been neighbors with the Greeks for hundreds of years, how did I not know when the Greeks suddenly had such a huge naval fleet?"

It's good that his chief of staff is not stupid. While wiping away the cold sweat from his forehead, he was desperately flipping through the "Jane's Battleship Identification Manual", comparing the outline with the pattern on the manual, and finally found the clue. He exclaimed: "This is the battle cruiser Strasbourg, the old battleship Ocean, the former dreadnought Condorcet, the heavy cruisers Colbert, Algiers, Duplex...... Oh my God, it's all French warships. ”

"How could a French warship come to Turkey under the flag of the Greek Navy?" Hakan-Tiraf was puzzled.

That's right, this is the main force of the French Toulon fleet that Hoffman racked his brains to get from Petain and Darlan. Although he got a vote of French warships, including supporting facilities and equipment. But wounded and sick ships like the battle cruisers Dunkirk and Provence obviously could not be brought out for use again, and they had to stay in Italy for further repairs. In particular, the Dunkirk Cruiser and the Provence battleship were half repaired by the French, but due to lack of resources and the laziness of the workers, they were not completed, and the wounds left by the British in the Ballista operation are still clearly visible.

This time, both Hoffman and Raeder paid enough attention to the maintenance of French warships in Italian shipyards, and not only dispatched workers from domestic shipyards, but also prepared to allocate a large number of materials and equipment. According to the assessment of the naval command, the Dunkirk and Provence would have to undergo a major overhaul if they were to be returned to service. Considering that the Provence was, after all, a 30-year-old ship, Hoffmann eventually abandoned the idea of performing major surgery on the ship. Only the repairs were required to be serviceable, and the newer Dunkirk drew up a package of renovations and repairs:

First of all, the ridiculously funny main guns on the warship (2 4-pack 330mm) could no longer be used (some of the guns were damaged by the British in the ballista operation), and first of all, they had to be replaced with German-made 283mm guns (the same as the Scharnhorst), because neither the Italian nor German navies were equipped with 330mm guns, once the shells from France were finished, If you want to continue to use it, you have to open a new production line (the shells made by the French themselves know if they can be fired at that time), and it is more reliable to simply replace them with the familiar 283mm naval guns (2 sets of 3 units). As for the 330-caliber shells in the inventory of the Dunkirk, all the Strasbourg was brought with them when they were overhauled and resupplied in Italian ports. Although the proposed 283mm caliber gun is a little less powerful than the 330mm, its firing speed is much higher than that of the French product, and if measured in unit time, the ammunition delivery is not inferior to the original level (the factor of 2 fewer guns is not taken into account). And the level of artillery after the replacement is more realistic, because the Dunkirk is only 25,000 tons level, and the 330mm is a small ship pulling cannons, improperly stacking force, and what is worse is that the French also piled all the main guns on the foredeck, which aggravated the top-heavy situation. After the modification, the overall weight is reduced a lot, which is conducive to the downward shift of the center of gravity of the warship and improves the stability.

Secondly, the strange caliber secondary gun group at the rear of the warship was all removed (16 130mm secondary guns), the 130mm caliber is also the unique weapon of the French Navy, which is not common with Germany and Italy, and can only be ruthlessly cut down, and the Navy originally wanted to install 150mm caliber secondary guns in their original position (disassembled from the Zeppelin aircraft carrier), but Hoffmann waved his hand and said that these secondary guns were no longer needed, and the rear deck was designed to be completely emptied and make room for the installation of the aviation deck platform (itself as part of the horizontal armor protection) at his behest. The overall length of the Dunkirk is 215 meters, because the main gun and the bridge are in the front, and the length of the rear deck can reach about 105 meters after the installation of the aviation platform, if it is a new test Bf-119, it can carry 32 (28 + 4 spare), and if you consider the combination of Me-155 and Ju-87C, it can carry about 28 (22 + 6 spare).

This transformation was certainly not a boring act on the whim of Hoffman, on the contrary, he thought of the historical transformation of the Ise-class battleships into aviation battleships, both in terms of the overall length of the warship (209 meters for the Ise class and 215 meters for the Dunkirk class) and in terms of the superstructure deployment (the Ise class has a total of 6 main guns across the ship, while the Dunkirk class has only 2 and all are deployed in front), the Dunkirk has more room for modification than the Ise class. Considering that both Germany and Italy lack aircraft carriers, there is also practical value in changing it to an aviation combat cruiser.

Finally, a large-scale repair of the power system was required. The Dunkirk Cruiser was a product of the 30s, designed at a speed of 29.5 knots, and the level of the French boiler was still okay, but the damaged part had to be completely repaired with German products. On the one hand, the weight is reduced, on the other hand, the power system is strengthened, it is expected that after this new refit, because of the weight reduction, the maximum speed of the ship can reach 31 knots, barely enough for the side of the fast combat patrol (although it is the lowest limit), in Hoffman's mind, the ship will be a sharp weapon to accompany the aircraft carrier in the future, and the speed is not fast enough.

Raeder expected the overall construction period to be at least six months, and it would have to be German workers as the main work, and he didn't expect the Italians to think about it for a year, so Hoffmann gritted his teeth and agreed.

Rear Admiral Theodor Krank, who is currently operating on another ship of the same class in Dunkirk, the Strasbourg, is completely unaware of this major operation on the Dunkirk-class, and he is currently receiving Turkish officials who have come to inquire about it.

"Excuse me, what is the purpose of your fleet passing through the strait?"

"Contemptible people went on a goodwill visit to Bulgaria on the orders of the Prime Minister of Greece, Georgos Sorakoglou......"

"But this is not a warship of the Greek Navy, it is all French."

"It used to be, but not anymore." Rear Admiral Kränke proudly said, "These are the debts of the French, which have been transferred to the Greek side with the consent of the German Führer, and Prime Minister Georges Sorakoglou has specially arranged a friendly visit abroad to test the fleet's navigational capabilities." ”

Regarding the ins and outs of this navy, the Turks finally figured out what happened, this is the fleet that the Germans obtained from the French a few days ago, and as for the transfer to Greece, Yunyun is completely a pretext, but the problem is that the Greek government is currently under German control, and if Turkey asks, it promises not to say a word - have you seen that official document? That is the official endorsement of Greece.

According to the Montreux Convention of July 20, 1936, if Turkey is a neutral country during the war, warships of the belligerents are not allowed to pass through the straits, which is undoubtedly a wartime state at present, but Greece and Bulgaria (which did not declare war on the Soviet Union on the pretext of being Slavs, and the Führer agreed) are not belligerents, and Turkey itself is a neutral country, which is completely passable according to the regulations.

The flotilla of "ex-French" warships was clearly under the control of the Germans, and each of the flagpoles was flown with Greek flags, and the application to pass through the Channel was not at all a violation of the rules. Hakan-Tiraf was in trouble, but he knew he had to make a decision as soon as possible, and the ambassadors of Britain and the United States, as well as Germany and Italy, would soon stand on their own side, and if they were caught up in a protracted dispute, the ensuing pressure would be too much for Turkey to resist.

He did not dare to make his own decisions, so on the one hand, he had to use kind words to appease the "Greek" fleet, and on the other hand, he quickly reported the situation to the top management in Istanbul. (To be continued.) )