Early morning March 22, 1942. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Suddenly a noisy sound broke the tranquility of Wilhelmshaven, who had lived near the military port for 10 years and had long integrated into German society, Preston Preston, who had lived near the military port for 10 years and had long been integrated into German society, was actually a British MI6 agent with sleepy eyes, and pushed open the window of his residence facing the port, only to find that four huge light gray figures and a large group of smaller ships appeared in the distance.

Long ammunition supply convoys sailed into the hitherto heavily guarded harbor, and booms on the docks were swinging back and forth, hoisting heavy shells onto deck.

Thick pipelines stretched from underground oil depots to warships, where high-quality heavy oil from Romania and the Middle East was continuously pumped into the tanks.

After 10 years of lurking in Wilhelmshaven, with the only task of observing the German Navy, Preston raised a small telescope and began to look at the four new large warships with a somewhat sad gaze. He was an elderly man, a former officer in the Royal Navy, who had fought in the Battle of Jutland and witnessed the end of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Bay!

But since he was sent by MI6 to open a bakery in Wilhelmshaven 10 years ago, he has witnessed the rebirth of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet. From almost non-existent, to initial revival, to growing into a fleet that can compete with the Royal Navy, and now it has become a powerful fleet that can crush the British Royal Navy in terms of strength and achievements!

Preston, a naval officer himself and a veteran of the German High Seas Fleet in the port of Kiel for more than 10 years, was essentially a naval expert. Just by a few glances from afar, he knew that the four large warships that had now entered Wilhelmshaven were more powerful than any British warship of the same kind!

These are 2 battleships with at least 55,000 standard displacement and 2 aircraft carriers with at least 30,000 tons of standard displacement! The former should be the legendary "Hindenburg" and "Ludendorff". Their main guns are supposed to be 406mm, which is powerful enough to compare with the main guns of the "Nelson" class. Although there is no way to tell from the appearance of the armor, it should be quite good.

As for those two aircraft carriers, they should be Zeppelin-class...... Judging by its size, if it is contained in a full hangar, it should be able to carry 70-80 carrier-based aircraft.

The thought of carrier-based aircraft makes Preston feel like crying. I don't know how many brave Royal Navy pilots that Fokker Zero has knocked out, and one of them is his son! And Preston also knew that the Germans had recently been frequently testing a new carrier-based dive bomber that was superior to the Fokker 99 dive bomber...... In several carrier-based aircraft pilot schools near the port of Kiel, all Fokker 99 trainers have been replaced.

"The attack power of the squadron of carrier-based dive bombers on German aircraft carriers will be more powerful than in the past, and the future of the Royal Navy ......" Preston no longer dared to think further.

Now that 2 Hindenburg-class battleships and 2 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers have gathered in the port of Kiel to refuel ammunition and fuel, it is likely that the next sortie will be to attack the Danish Strait. If they break through into the Atlantic, German sea power in the Atlantic will have an overwhelming advantage.

The End of the British Empire...... It's near.

……

"Standard displacement of 56,000 tons; 63,000 tons of full load displacement; 12 Wagner high-pressure heavy oil boilers, 3 Blom. The Fuchs steam turbine, with a maximum power of 150,000 horsepower, can reach a maximum speed of 28 knots......"

High Seas Fleet Commander Gunther. Admiral Lütjans, like a few treasures at this time, introduced his new flagship to the Chief of the General Staff, Imperial Field Marshal Hirschmann, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Field Marshal Raeder, who had come to inspect him.

The design of the Hindenburg-class battleships underwent significant changes during their construction. The reason was that the sinking of the "Scharnhorst" gave Hersman a reason to suspend the tactics of "battleship breaking".

Therefore, the H-class, which was being built at that time, abandoned the more fuel-efficient but heavy and bulky diesel engine (using a diesel engine can increase the range) and replaced it with the same power system as the Bismarck class, although the maximum speed was reduced by 2.8 knots, but it also saved a lot of space and tonnage that could be used to increase the thickness of the armor. Therefore, the "Hindenburg" class has a stronger 150mm-330mm side waterline armor (20 degree bevel) and 80mm-125mm deck armor than the Bismarck class, and the armor thickness of the mine armor, mine protection compartment, main turret, auxiliary turret and command tower is the same as that of the Bismarck.

In addition, this class of battleships also retained the "German characteristics" dome armor design, wasting a lot of tonnage. As a result, with a total weight of more than 20,000 tons of armor, only a so-so level of defense was obtained on paper, and the theoretical defense capability was even inferior to the Iowa class of the Americans under construction.

As for the main guns of the "Hindenburg" class -- the eight 406mm DRHC/34 main guns, because they still use high-speed light bullets, they have two major weaknesses: insufficient long-range accuracy and insufficient overall power, and their power is inferior to that of the 16-inch (406mm) main guns of the United States and the 410mm main guns of the same period in Japan. But no matter how bad these 8 main guns are, they are 406mm caliber, which is more than enough to fight the 14-inch "toothpick cannon" of the King George V class and the Nelson, which also uses high-speed light bullets, and the 5 15-inch cannons of the Queen Elizabeth class.

Moreover, the Americans now have a powerful 16-inch cannon on the USS Washington, and they are also fighting against the Yamato in the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, as long as these two "Hindenburg" class ships with not very satisfactory performance enter the Atlantic, they can still claim hegemony.

Besides, it's past the equinox. As soon as the vernal equinox passes, the climate in the North Atlantic becomes milder, with longer days and shorter nights. It is very suitable for aircraft carriers to exert their power, so the "Hindenburg" class is just a matter of putting on a show in Hersmann's opinion, and most of them have no chance to fight with British battleships.

As for the war, two "Zeppelin"-class aircraft carriers and three cruise ship converted aircraft carriers "Europa", "Bremen", and "Potsdam" are enough to cope with it -- the three cruise converted aircraft carriers are now not in Wilhelmshaven, but are anchored in the Norwegian port of Bergen, together with the battleships Barbarossa (Class O) and the battleships Schlieffen and a dozen other small and medium-sized ships, waiting for Gunther. The main force of the fleet led by Lütjans went to converge.

The two aviation regiments of the "Zeppelin" class (according to the latest regulations, the aircraft carrier aircraft units with more than 60 aircraft units in common use are all reorganized into aviation regiments) have 72 commonly used aircraft, the aviation regiments on the "Europa" and "Bremen" each have 60 common aircraft, and the flight group on the "Potsdam" has 36 common aircraft, a total of 300 common aircraft, which is enough to deal with the British home fleet.

Follow Gunther. Senior Admiral Lütjans circled the deck of the battleship "Hindenburg," and Hersmann smiled with satisfaction -- although he was not really satisfied with the "Hindenburg," he would not show such "dissatisfaction" when he saw off the main force of the High Seas Fleet on behalf of the base camp today.

"Admiral, this is the most powerful battleship in all of Europe," Hersmann said to Gunther in the luxurious officer's lounge aboard the Hindenburg. "It is enough to be the nucleus of the combined European fleet!" ”

The Combined European Fleet is a multinational combined fleet that includes the main forces of the navies of Germany, Italy, France and Spain!

Hersmann and Hitler had been pushing for the creation of a "combined European fleet" since the campaign on the Western Front. But after knowing about the battle of Hawaii not long ago, I was able to get my wish.

Because the Battle of Hawaii severely damaged the U.S. Navy, it sank and destroyed 10 U.S. battleships, 1 aircraft carrier, and occupied the Hawaiian Islands (the American resistance continued, but the main islands of Hawaii are now occupied by the Japanese). This completely disappointed those who had thought that the United States could be the key to the outcome of the war, and the force that prevented France from turning to Germany no longer existed.

French President Petain and French Navy Commander-in-Chief Darlan, who had been watching for a long time, finally made up their minds to let France board the German warship and officially declare war on Britain. After France joined the German camp in declaring war on Britain, Admiral Darlan also agreed to let the French naval fleet fight alongside the German and Italian navies.

Hitler and Hersmann struck while the iron was hot, convincing Mussolini and Darlan respectively to form a united European fleet. And Gunther. Admiral Lütjans will be the commander of the combined fleet.

"Admiral," said Hersman, "the formation of the Combined European Fleet has now been officially announced, and I know that the British have agents lurking in Wilhelmshaven...... So as soon as your fleet goes to sea, London will know. They will also guess that your destination is Gibraltar, because the Hindenburg and Ludendorff are the most powerful battleships in all of Europe, and the flagship of the European Combined Fleet must be one of them.

So the British will know that the destination of your fleet is Gibraltar, and the General Staff thinks that there is a possibility that they will use aircraft carriers to set up ambushes in the middle of the way...... This is the British's only chance to turn the tables! ”

Gunther. Admiral Lütjans nodded and replied with a smile: "Your Excellency the Imperial Marshal, as you know, our High Seas Fleet has already formulated a complete penetration plan, which can ensure that the British aircraft carriers and shore-based aircraft will not cause too much damage to the fleet. (To be continued.) )