Shocking news poured into the Prime Minister's Mansion of the British Empire: the Tirpitz had been dispatched, and the huge ship was in the ranks of the German fleet, and our troops suffered heavy losses......

Hearing the news, Churchill's hand trembled involuntarily, and the cigar fell on his clothes and burned a big hole, "Retreat!" He instinctively shouted.

He had been the Minister of the Admiralty, and of course he knew how powerful the Tirpitts was, and that the only reinforcements were a Sovereign-class, a treaty-type cruiser, and a few small warships, and he didn't think that the old planes on the escort carrier Active could play a decisive role. Battleships aside, the Germans with the Hipper and the Lützov had the upper hand in strength, and the Tirpitz had always been a terrible nightmare for the home fleet, and he never dreamed that the Bismarck had destroyed the best battle cruiser in Great Britain in just a few salvos, the Hood, and that the Sovereign class might be a little more resistant than the Hood, but he was obviously no match for Tirpitz because of his old and slow life.

"It's too late." Field Marshal Pound said dejectedly, "The Germans have sent out their planes, we have lost the Active, two auxiliary cruisers and five destroyers, and now the German warships are massacring the transports, and Rear Admiral Anderson has been compelled to order the disbandment of the fleet, and to face the attack of the German fleet and cover the retreat of the merchant ships as far as possible, and now it is five hours before dark, it is difficult to say what will happen." ”

"We're going to lose the Sovereign?" Churchill asked tremblingly.

"In all likelihood, he's no match for the Tirpitts."

"What other fleet do we have nearby?"

"Iceland still has a few more, the problem is ......" Tovey's face was full of bitterness, "Iceland is more than 1,000 kilometers away from the current war, we have no time to rescue, not to mention that the strongest warship there is a Mississippi, which is also no match for the Tirpits." However, we also have two squadrons of Barracuda bombers on the island, which are new aircraft that have just been deployed and are ready to be used to attack the Tirpitz. ”

"Then what are you doing in a daze, all into the attack." Churchill hated the iron and cursed, "A bunch of fools! - Do you think the Germans sent the Tirpitz simply to cut off the Arctic route? What to do with this guy rushing into the Atlantic? What can we do to resist him? ”

Tovey shrunk his neck, he didn't know if he was the character of the "stupid" that Churchill had just scolded, but he didn't dare to question the Prime Minister's decision, regardless of whether the bombers from Iceland could find the Tirpits, and whether he was responsible or not, immediately let the naval aviation squadron be notified to attack.

Ten minutes later, the phone on Churchill's desk rang, and seeing that the Prime Minister was still thinking deeply about some questions next to him, Tovey picked up the phone at Pound's signal.

Before he could open his mouth to ask who the other party was, a cannon-like voice had already arrived: "Prime Minister, we have just received a farewell message from Rear Admiral Anderson, the Germans have dispatched a large number of torpedo planes and bombers, the Sovereign has been hit by 4 torpedoes, which are completely irretrievable, and they are forced to announce the abandonment of the ship, and the Glasgow has been sunk 2 minutes ago......"

Tovey was stunned, his hands hung down weakly, Pound wanted to ask what was going on, but he knew everything when he saw Tovey like this.

Churchill knew the whole truth from the demeanor of the two men, and he gritted his teeth and said: "You go down at once and prepare a plan for blocking the Tirpitz from rushing into the Atlantic, and convene an emergency meeting in an hour, no, half an hour." ”

When Rear Admiral Anderson fired the farewell telegram, the battle off the coast of Norway was not yet completely over, and there were still quite a few torpedoes on the surface of the sea - some of them had been dropped by planes, and they had not yet found their targets, and they were still scurrying aimlessly, until they finally lost power and blew themselves up; The other part was launched by British destroyers while the situation was chaotic, and the target was directly aimed at the Tirpitts.

At 12:07, the Narvik Sea Strike Group returned to base after all the fighting, and at the cost of losing 2 aircraft, they sank the battleship Sovereign, the cruiser Glasgow, and the destroyer Fury (which belonged to the F-class), and the torpedoes fired by the destroyers Fatei and the destroyer Fox (also F-class) did not hit the Tirpitts, but allowed the destroyer Z10, which had been unlucky since the start of the war, to catch up - the ship had been hit by a 152mm shell from the Sheffield, and now it was completely sunk for reimbursement.

But the fate of the two destroyers, who had tried to escape after firing their torpedoes, was not much better, and the Hippers and the Lützov sank them all. At this point, the J fleet that came to meet them was completely wiped out, and they only bought more than an hour to escape for the remaining merchant ships of the JW-51A flotilla - but this was not enough, and the Norwegian cruiser, which had no combat mission, could finally begin to pursue the merchant ships without distraction.

"Führer, we succeeded!" Field Marshal Raeder, who was excited, turned red with an old face, and reported to Hoffman, "We have lost only 1 destroyer, but we have eliminated all British warships, and at the moment Vice Admiral Kumetz is directing the formation to pursue the merchant ships." ”

"Well done!" Hoffman read the telegram carefully, and although it clearly stated that most of the credit was given to the HNA and that the Tirpitts squadron had only destroyed a few merchant ships and transports, and had lost a destroyer, he still praised it for being a navy, too.

"Führer, what should we do next?"

"Marching south, posing for entry into the Atlantic, forcing Churchill to press the home fleet up, fully mobilizing enemy forces, and creating opportunities for the 'Tsunami' plan." Hoffman looked at the map, "The Tirpitts should go south as soon as possible after destroying the merchant ships, be careful not to break away from the cover circle of land-based aviation, if the weather permits, there must be Bf-219s covering the formation during the day, and the number must not be less than 16." ”

Now no one dares to say that the Führer does not understand naval warfare, at least the strategy he proposed to attack the escort warships first and then the transport ships is still very successful, and this Barents-Norwegian Sea Battle not only killed several capital ships of the Royal Navy in one go, but also almost wiped out all the merchant ships, which is a rare victory for the navy.

While the Germans were celebrating their victory, an emergency meeting of the British Wartime Cabinet was taking place to block the Tirpitz:

"Iceland was too far from the place of engagement, our planes did not have enough range, and we did not know where the Germans would slip away at that time, and after evaluation and research, we finally canceled the bombing program." "For the sake of safety, I have ordered the JW-51B flotilla on standby near Jan Mayen Island to turn back to Iceland as quickly as possible. ”

Churchill nodded, his strong request to dispatch bombers just now was his reaction in a moment of anger, he originally wanted to say that heavy bombers were dispatched from the mainland to deal with the German formation, but the people below were not yet dizzy, and tried their best to dissuade the Prime Minister's idea.

After this battle, everyone knew very well that the Arctic route could no longer be carried out, and they did not know how many survivors the JW-51A fleet would have.

"I have sent seaplanes from the direction of Jan Mayen to reconnoiter the movements of the Germans, to see if they will retreat back to Norway or continue south."

Churchill emphasized: "Whatever the enemy's final move, we must be prepared for the other side's entry into the Atlantic, and now is the time when the home fleet is at its weakest, and the Germans cannot be given any chance." ”

"There are three routes to get from Norway to the North Atlantic: the first is through the waterway between Greenland and Iceland - the Western Route; the second is through the waterway between Iceland and the Faroe Islands - the median line; The third is through the eastern route, the waterway between the Faroe Islands and the island of Meenland, and the third is closest to the mainland of Great Britain, and we have strong air forces to threaten it. Therefore, I think the Tirpitts is most likely to go from the Western Front or the Center Line. "Of course, there is also the possibility that the Tirpitz is going to return home, and then he will go to the coast of Norway into the North Sea." ”

"If only he was willing to go back to China." Churchill said indignantly, "I will at once mobilize all the bombers to sink him." ”

"Until the Far East forces arrive, for the time being, we can only rely on the home fleet to carry out the blockade operation, codenamed - Tungsten Plan." Tovey reported on the strategy of the staff officers after their urgent deliberations, "We have formed a total of two blocking fleets. One is the W Fleet, responsible for the western and central fronts, on standby north of Iceland, with Rear Admiral Lewis as the commander, under the command of the battleships USS Mississippi and USS Idaho (both of the New Mexico class, supported by the US Atlantic Fleet), with 4 escort aircraft carriers of the Marksman, Avenger, Deceptioner, and Catcher, and other warships include USS Newcastle (Southampton-class), USS Kenya (Fiji-class) and 8 destroyers; The other is the E Fleet, commanded by Rear Admiral Hamilton, responsible for the Eastern Front, on standby south of the Faroe Islands, including the USS Ramiri (Sovereign-class), USS Arkansas (Wyoming-class, supported by the U.S. Atlantic Fleet), equipped with USS Kopahi, USS Nassau (all of which are of the Borg-class, historically used by the United States for their own use, and have been used by the United Kingdom in this book), the USS Strider, and other warships including the USS Bermuda (Fiji-class) and six destroyers. ”

"The Ramiri has been repaired?" Churchill asked uncertainly, knowing that the Ramiri had been repairing at the shipyard after being torpedoed in the Indian Ocean.

"Basic repair, ready for urgent tasks."

"What about the North Sea direction?" Churchill frowned, "You can't ignore this." ”

"We have no more battleships available, they are still on their way to the homeland, and it is impossible to arrive in a month; Only the cruiser fleet of Sussex (London-class heavy cruisers) and York-class heavy cruisers can be called upon, but local air forces in the area can provide a lot of support. Tovey reassured Churchill and said, "In case of trouble, Fleet E can also provide support nearby." (To be continued.) )