In the icy North Sea, the British Royal Navy, which had already discovered the traces of the 1st Mixed Fleet of the German High Seas Fleet by seaplane, quickly threw the nearby large aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the battleship Hood into the 1st Mixed Fleet of the German High Seas Fleet, which had been discovered.

Lütjens's German First Fleet was a mixed fleet of 8 Z-class destroyers, 3 new cruisers, 2 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers, 1 new battleship, and 10 F-class frigates.

Cunningham used against them six battleships of the Royal Navy's home fleet, one of Britain's most advanced aircraft carriers, and more than 30 cruisers and destroyers.

In fact, this is the most advanced aircraft carrier in the United Kingdom, the second aircraft carrier in the history of the Royal Navy called the Ark Royal, which cost the British government about 3 million pounds, making it the most expensive warship of the British Royal Navy so far.

As the most advanced aircraft carrier in the United Kingdom, the Ark Royal has a total of 48 Swordfish torpedo attack aircraft and 12 "Osprey" fighter-bombers, that is, a total of 60 aircraft.

In contrast, the huge carrying capacity of 105 carrier-based aircraft of the German Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier can be described as a metamorphosis in this era.

On the other hand, although neither side has yet put the final force at the forefront. However, the most elite forward fleets on both sides were used as first-hand.

Strategically speaking, Cunningham used the main force of the British Home Fleet in the first batch. To do this, he assembled all the battleships he could deploy for this operation, as well as a state-of-the-art aircraft carrier. And what he left behind was only 3 aircraft carriers that were more backward than the Ark Royal, and some destroyers who stayed behind to protect the aircraft carriers.

In contrast, Raeder was more secure, putting nearly 70 percent of the main force of the German High Seas Fleet in the Second Mixed Fleet under his command, and only letting Ruetjens lead the First Mixed Fleet, which was less than 3 percent of the strength of the High Seas Fleet, to touch the fist of the British Fleet.

Of course, this is clearly an unfair matchup. Although Lütjans has 2 large space carriers, in terms of basic combat effectiveness, it is already equivalent to twice the strength of the British vanguard fleet. However, aircraft carriers that do not have enough battleships, cruisers, and destroyers to escort them, even if they carry a good load, are far less survivable in naval battles than those aircraft carrier formations that have sufficient escort fleets.

Once it is approached by a cluster of high-speed cruisers and destroyers, no matter how powerful the aircraft carrier is, it will be a death!

And more importantly, the naval warships of the German High Seas Fleet were generally one class lower than the British warships. In addition to the battleships that were not inferior to the British in quality, the German cruisers and destroyers were downgraded products with enhanced anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities, but the artillery combat power was weakened by a whole class.

In other words, even if the same number of German convoys met the British convoys, the Germans would be on average one level lower than the British in naval artillery bombardment. What's more, the current first mixed fleet of Lütjans is less than half of the number of frigates and battleships!

This can almost be said to be an asymmetrical power gap. The British army had a network of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers as a foundation, and as long as they were close to the German aircraft carriers, they could win with one move.

The Royal Navy had such overwhelming artillery firepower that almost from the outset suppressed the odds of victory for the Germans in a frontal battle to zero. Coupled with the Royal Navy's decades of uninterrupted artillery training, their artillery combat capabilities are a notch higher than that of German warships!

This is also an important reason why Reinhardt is reluctant to compete with the British, because it is too difficult to win against this group of naval veterans.

It was precisely because he knew that he could not compare, so Reinhardt would let the German Navy put all the bets on the strange trick. Ten years ago, he signed an agreement with Britain to limit the tonnage of German surface warships, deliberately lowering his posture and suppressing the amount of German battleships and cruisers.

At the same time, he also put all his bets on aircraft carriers, and pressed the hope of future naval warfare on aircraft carrier tactics, which were quite out of the way at the time, but were praised as classic aircraft carrier tactics in later generations!

In the cold and lonely waters of the North Sea, the first mixed fleet of Lütjans, led by the only battleship, moved in an inverted V-shape, advancing at a constant speed.

In the center of the majestic battleships, in the inverted V-shaped escort fleet, two huge Zeppelin-class large aircraft carriers were slowly moving.

On the aircraft carrier, the F-190, which was full of parking ten minutes ago, has now become bustling and no longer dense.

In the distance, on the endless sea, these fighters from Germany were forming a fleet to pounce on the oncoming British vanguard fleet.

This is the first battle, and it is also the decisive battle!

"If I were the commander of the German navy, I would just leave the warplanes behind, and then immediately withdraw all the warships to the port?" Standing on the flagship, Cunningham, the commander of the British Royal Navy, couldn't help but sigh: "They shouldn't have a hard fight with the Royal Navy!" ”

To be honest, after so many years of fighting, Cunningham is also experienced. However, from the moment he saw the mutual discovery with the German High Seas Fleet, he could not imagine that the Germans could win.

During World War I, he was captain of destroyers, and in 1938 he was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Navy. He then served as commander of the Mediterranean Fleet in 1939 and then returned to the home fleet as commander in 1940. Cunningham's insight is definitely one of the best in the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy of the British Empire, the most powerful navy in the world, this is not an exaggerated advertising slogan, but a fact witnessed by all other countries in the world.

The British navy not only has 400 years of noble blood flowing, but also saved Britain in crisis again and again.

When everyone sees the glorious side of the British Navy, they will not notice that its start is so difficult, at the beginning of its creation, even pirates can be compared with the British Navy, and the powerful Spain and the Netherlands ignored the existence of the British Navy in every way and humiliated, and the Royal Navy, which was born in the predicament, almost paid high tuition fees with blood chips, until they finally defeated Spain, the Netherlands, France, and China, which had despised their existence, and supported the unprecedented The sun never sets on the empire of no one else.

This is the capital of a maritime power. There is not only the glory after becoming famous, but also the struggle before becoming famous.

And it takes at least 100 years for a forest to form. The experience of a mature navy also requires countless hours.

In the Navy, a battleship is usually built for several years, perhaps longer. Soldiers in the navy, on the other hand, are more demanding, requiring not only physical fitness but also a strong level of education.

The navy needs to continue to explore and move forward, and according to the accumulated experience, the design of the hull, cabin, magazine, rest area, etc., as well as the fire control system is particularly high-tech. If Reinhardt hadn't taken shortcuts with the German navy and bypassed many detours, Germany would never have been able to compete with Britain on the sea.

Centennial Navy! Even for this alone, the German High Seas Fleet was no match for the British Royal Navy.