"God, that's not true!"

The captain of the "Prince of Wales", John Brown. Colonel Richie witnessed the explosion of the "Hood" with his own eyes. www.biquge.info The aft ammunition depot of the 40,000-ton battlecruiser was apparently blown up. John. Colonel Ridge only saw the fire engulf the "Hood" in an instant, and vaguely saw a main gun turret flying into the sky. After the explosion, the hull of the "Hood" suddenly broke in two at the rear mainmast, and the broken stern had been blown into a pile of wreckage and soon sank into the sea. The first half of the building sank rapidly due to a large amount of water ingress at the fracture, and in less than 3 minutes, the giant ship that had brought countless pride to the British Empire sank into the sea!

Standing on the bridge of the "Prince of Wales" and witnessing this scene, John Brown. Richie was dumbfounded, the most powerful battlecruiser of the British Empire was actually killed by a battleship and two heavy cruisers with not outstanding firepower in a matter of minutes.

"Colonel, the Hood has sunk, what are we going to do?"

The first mate of the "Prince of Wales" asked loudly at this time, while turning the rudder to allow the battleship to avoid the wreckage of the "Hood".

Now the "Prince of Wales" is facing more than one "Gneisenau" and two heavy cruisers of the "Admiral Hippel" class. To the north, more than 20 German ships were heading south, and most of those 20 ships included the battleships "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz"!

And what made people even more desperate was that all three of the Germans' battleships were very fast, most of them faster than the "Prince of Wales". Therefore, it is impossible for the "Prince of Wales" to escape with the help of speed.

Could it be that the British Empire, after losing the Hood, would have to lose the Prince of Wales immediately after it?

John. Ridge's forehead was already covered with beads of sweat. After the loss of the "Hood" and "Prestige", the ratio of Anglo-German naval strength in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea was close to reversing. Now the Germans had 3 battleships already in service and 4 battlecruisers (in fact, P-class armored ships) that were undergoing sea trials, while the British home fleet had only 5 battleships left.

If the "Prince of Wales" were to be lost, it would be 7:4...... The British Empire is really coming to an end!

"Let's get out of here!" John. Richie had an idea, and he thought of a piece of vitality. "We went to the port of Lerwick and it was safe there. As long as the main force of Fleet A arrives, the 'Prince of Wales' will be saved. ”

Port Lerwick is the capital of Shetland and is located on the coast of the Strait between the islands of Meenland and Breset (on the island of Maynland). The strait in which the port of Lerwick is located is less than 5,000 meters long, the entrances at both ends are very narrow, and there are coastal batteries blocking the channel. Although the caliber of those shore guns was small and the range was limited, they were always a deterrent to the German battleships that dared to approach.

Moreover, the "Prince of Wales" itself has 10 14-inch cannons, which is not vegetarian! If the German battleships dared to come closer, these 10 14-inch cannons would have let them know how powerful the British Royal Navy was.

"What? What the? The 'Hood' was sunk by the 'Gneisenau'? How is this possible? ”

On the battleship "Bismarck", Admiral Lütjans was also stunned by the news. That's the Hood! If it was the "Bismarck" and the "Tirpitz" that sank it, it is better to say, how could it have been sunk by the "Gneisenor"? It is much more powerful than the "Gneisenau".

"Admiral, you can't be wrong, Major General Bei won't joke about this kind of thing." Colonel Lindemann also found it incredible, but he quickly accepted the good reality that the Hood was sunk by the Gneisenor.

"Admiral, the British still have a battleship, probably of the 'King George V' class, which has now fled into the port of Lerwick, and this is the best time for us to sink it!"

"I'm afraid it's not easy to deal with if I escaped into the port of Lerwick, right?" "We can only fire outside the strait, and it is difficult to observe where the shells land," said Admiral Lütjans. ”

"You can bomb with planes!" Colonel Lindemann said, "We just have to stay near the port of Lerwick and not let it go." ”

"Okay, that's it!" Admiral Lütjans smiled, "We have now captured the 'Prince of Wales', the British will definitely try their best to rescue them, we are here waiting for the British's rescue!" Tomorrow, there will be a big battle! ”

……

"The Hood was sunk and the Prince of Wales was surrounded......"

King Charles Street, in the underground headquarters of the British wartime cabinet, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill heard the latest war report, and immediately had a feeling that the end of the world was coming.

"We must save the Prince of Wales!" The British Prime Minister gritted his teeth and said, "Tell Admiral Tovey that the 'Prince of Wales' must be saved at all costs!" Give the Coast Air Force another order that the 'Prince of Wales' must not be sunk by the Germans under any circumstances! ”

Churchill's order was quickly handed down to the battleship "Nelson", and Admiral Tovey, the commander of the British Home Fleet, had at this time all the thoughts of slapping himself - luring the enemy into causing trouble! The enemy did not lure it, but the bait was eaten by the enemy. And it's still eating one and catching one!

The "Hood" could not be recovered, but the "Prince of Wales" had to be saved. If the "Prince of Wales" could not be rescued before dawn, Flotilla A would be exposed to the threat of a powerful German bomber group...... The bomber groups of the Germans were much better at dealing with surface ships than their battleships.

If you don't make it, even the A fleet itself will have to fold in......

"Give the C fleet electricity," Admiral Tovey circled around the commander of the USS Nelson, and finally thought that he still had aircraft carriers to use. "Let the C Fleet approach the Shetland Islands at full speed, and send carrier-based aircraft to bomb the German fleet near Port Lerwick as soon as dawn!"

"No, my carrier-based planes won't bomb any British battleships until the British aircraft carrier is sunk!"

The German aircraft carrier group commanded Helmut. Lieutenant General Heyer also received an order from Admiral Lütjans to dispatch carrier-based aircraft. However, he did not agree to the dispatch of carrier-based aircraft, on the grounds that he wanted to give priority to the use of carrier-based aircraft against British aircraft carriers.

"Call back Admiral Lütjens," Helmut. Vice Admiral Haye said, "British aircraft carriers are the biggest threat, and if the British want to save the 'Prince of Wales', there is a good chance that they will send aircraft carriers, and this is our chance to sink them!" ”

With that said, Helmut. Vice Admiral Hayes turned back to Major Max, an aviation staff officer, and said, "There will definitely be a chance to sink the British aircraft carrier after dawn, but we may also be sunk by the British carrier-based aircraft!" Therefore, I ask the carrier-based aircraft forces to be the first to discover the British aircraft carriers! ”

Helmut. Haiye has been commanding aircraft carriers since 1939, and after more than a year of fighting, he has already learned a little bit about it, and summed up the principle of "discovering (the enemy's aircraft carrier) first, striking first, and withdrawing after the fight."

And in his opinion, the "Prince of Wales", which was temporarily trapped in the port of Lerwick, was of little value. As long as the Fokker company changes the "Comet" carrier-based dive bomber imported from Japan to the Fokker 100 (in fact, it is to replace the liquid-cooled engine with an air-cooled type to improve the landing performance), the attack capability of the German aircraft carrier can be increased several times, and then a battleship like the "Prince of Wales" can be dealt with with 500 kg armor-piercing bombs.

In addition, Helmut. Heyer also knew that there were several other bombs that could be remotely guided by radio were nearing completion. By 1942 at the latest, the JU88 would be able to hang "remote-controlled bombs" against battleships. There is also a "remote-controlled bomb" with wings and thrusters, and maybe it can be mounted on a destroyer, and the battleship will most likely become an obsolete thing......

"Lieutenant General, if you want to make sure that the enemy aircraft carrier is detected first, then you can only let the Fokker 99 take off before dawn." Major Max soon came up with a plausible plan for the enemy.

"We can now sail west at full speed for 1 hour, release 12 Fokker 99s, and then let the carrier go east and return to safety. At the same time, all the remaining 36 Fokker 99s plus 24 Fokker Zeros for escort were all raised to the deck, and as soon as the British aircraft carrier was spotted, an air attack was launched. ”

Taking off and landing on aircraft carriers at night was originally a unique skill of British carrier-based aircraft, but now the rookie pilots in Britain who often crash planes during the day can no longer play this. However, the skills of carrier-based aircraft pilots on the German side are becoming more and more sophisticated, and they have mastered the ability to take off and land aircraft carriers at night.

"Okay, that's it!" Helmut. Heyer thought about it for a few minutes and immediately approved the course of action.

The two German aircraft carriers, which had been in the effective cover circle of Bergen's shore-based aircraft, had already escorted their ships and immediately began to turn around and sail westward. At the same time, on the USS Ark Royal, Vice Admiral Somerville was working with his staff on a plan for the air raid to be launched after dawn.

Throughout the day on June 10, Somerville's aircraft carriers were ready to go out and sink Germany's "only" aircraft carrier. However, neither British submarines nor British and American reconnaissance planes found any trace of this aircraft carrier.

So in the end, Somerville thought that the German aircraft carrier had already returned to its hometown -- it was more of a "lone aircraft carrier" of the German, Italian and French navies, and the Germans must be reluctant to take it out and fight hard. (To be continued.) )