Chapter 741 H-class battleship

"It can't be!" Baron Tovey's eyes widened with rage.

"Aircraft reconnaissance is indeed a fleet of Germans, led by two super-battleships. It's not a fantasy level, but the tonnage is probably more than 50,000 tons! The intelligence staff officers around him had no choice but to repeat it again. The reconnaissance plane was quickly dispersed by the German fighters, and could only detect a general information from a distance, but such a large tonnage was no weaker than the Yamato-class in visual inspection.

Admiral Tovey's mind was a little confused.

I had just received the news that none of the four German super-battleships had arrived, and I suddenly discovered that the Germans had newly emerged two super-battleships that were no longer in any of the British intelligence. This frustrated the British's plan to hunt Bismarck with more and fewer fights, and it is likely that they had fallen into the calculations of the Germans early, and he could not help but be full of worries.

"Sir?" The adjutant beside him reminded softly, and Tovey, whose brain was racing rapidly, made up his final decision: "Give up the hunting plan for the time being, and the fleet will go west to find an opportunity to contact the enemy's new warship!" ”

The British fleet's three Yamato-class ships were no longer much of a chance to win against the Germans' four super warships of almost the same class. It seems that the Germans had been prepared, and the British fleet had to withdraw during the war. It's just that whether you are unwilling or unwilling, or in order to obtain first-hand information, it is necessary to test the new warships of the German army.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on?" Marshal Pound said angrily, the hunting plan that had been prepared for so long had come to naught, and even the hunting fleet was blocked in the Skagerrak Strait, how could he not be angry?

"What about the guarantees of your intelligence services? Could it be that those two German super-columns came out of nowhere? "The plan has failed, and those who have made mistakes need to be held accountable, and it is clear that this time British intelligence has been the target of Churchill's wrath.

"The Germans also continued to refine their plans for the H-class battleships against our Lion-class battleships the year before last, and I think these two battleships with very German characteristics are likely to be the H-class!" The Naval Intelligence Department naturally has the Navy to deal with it, but such an intelligence mistake must also have the part of the British ** Intelligence Agency, and the director of the Bureau, Lord Menzies, did not shirk it, but also pointed out that the work of the Intelligence Bureau still has some gains.

Through data analysis from front-line reconnaissance planes and a somewhat similar style to Bismarck's, the British Intelligence Service quickly locked the two battleships of unknown origin onto the H-class battleships.

"I just didn't expect them to build it so fast!" Menzies points out the key point. * After realizing the power of the Yamato, the British redesigned the original plan of dismounted Lion-class battleships and increased the tonnage. Two of them are still in production, and even one of them, the Brave, was badly damaged by the German bombing of the shipyard and was interrupted from the production program.

The British did not finish even one battleship Lion, and even the Montana, the wealthy Americans, did not show up, who would have thought that the Germans would finish two at once? It's not just the intelligence guys' mistake anymore.

"The latest intelligence from the front, these two new battleships of the Germans may be 16.5-inch with eight main guns." The entire British top brass paid attention to this life-and-death naval battle, and intelligence snowflakes drifted to the center.

"Thankfully, it's not 18.9 inches!" The sneer of Marshal Fox next to him was not funny, and everyone's faces were still grim.

The plans of the H-class battleships of the Germans, they also somewhat understood. When Lao Xi saw the Yamato, he changed his mind and ordered the 406 mm to be changed to 480 mm.

The pride of the Germans was apparently unwilling to name the four Yamato-class battleships after the names of four German celebrities. They still stuck to the H-class battleship plan and built their own super-battleships for Germany.

Moreover, while Germany is purchasing from copycat companies, Germany's domestic warship industry may need to be supported, not only the interests of domestic industrial giants need to be balanced, but the construction of warships can undoubtedly provide many jobs and promote domestic scientific and technological development.

The down-to-earth Germans know very well that their own is the most real and safest.

But the Germans' current technical reserves could not play with the 480-mm cannon at all, and in the end everyone had to persuade Lao Xi. This time, the stubborn old Xi also listened to the opinion. Not to mention that the development of 480 mm is too delayed, and the 480 mm giant cannon may require nearly 100,000 tons of hull to support.

Not to mention that Germany does not have much experience in building a giant ship of this size, problems such as unstable power are also bottlenecks, and even if it can be built, it will not be able to pass through the German canals, or even operate normally in the North Sea.

Many parts of the North Sea are not very deep, and the vast area of the Dogel sandbar between the UK and Denmark is only 13 metres deep.

And the docking of huge ships, which are difficult to maneuver on the continental shelf, is also a troublesome thing, as the Yamato, which has more than 60,000 tons, has already demonstrated.

After all, it is also necessary to take into account that super warships need to play the role of giant artillery land attacks in many shallow waters, not just in the ocean.

"We can build two giant ships of about 70,000 tons to deal with the British first, and then build a 100,000-ton dominance of the Atlantic!" Dönitz's words of consolation were deeply approved by Lao Xi.

Although Dönitz was deeply dissatisfied with Lao Xi's tilting of a large amount of naval military spending to super battleships, and making most of the submarine forces rely on buying from copycat companies, his status is getting higher and higher, and his vision is no longer limited to submarine forces, and he also agrees with the status of super battleships in his heart. Raeder wished he had more giant ships at his disposal.

The others also considered the future war against Britain and the United States, and in the face of the increase in the number of British and American super battleships, they also had to deal with this arms race.

That's when these two super battleships with 420 mm guns appeared.

Meng Xiang also knew that Lao Xi needed the support of domestic arms giants, even if the machines and equipment they produced were supplied to Huaxia and did not waste production capacity, but they could not be compared with the huge profits of arms. Moreover, it is impossible for a country to rely on external forces, and when the Germans swept across Europe and eased the initial pressure, they began to shake off the influence of foreign powers such as copycat companies.

Meng Xiang did not force it, but just crammed many Chinese people into the research and development plan to learn and accumulate experience in the name of cooperation.

There are not many opportunities like this, even if Huaxia will not produce battleships in the future, but the huge hull, powerful power, solid armor, and even large-caliber artillery technology are all lacking in the Chinese. Through the physical technical reference obtained in advance from the base, the Germans also benefited a lot from the Chinese technicians and were willing to cooperate with the Chinese people.

For this cooperation, Meng Xiang even produced a roughly similar H41-class battleship, dismantled the parts on it and provided it to the German super battleship one after another.

After more than two years, two superships, named the Germania and Prussia respectively, were finally secretly born, much to the surprise of the unprepared British.

It seems that the 420 mm caliber of the Germans is much worse than that of the Yamato's 460 mm, but relying on the advanced artillery technology of the Germans, even Bismarck's 52 times diameter 380 mm naval guns are not inferior to Yamato's Type 94 naval guns, not to mention the larger caliber naval guns, the British did not dare to be sloppy at all.

It is true that the Germans used the armor on the Yamato-class battleships to conduct experiments, and after easy penetration, Lao Xi was reassured. Coupled with the armor that can defend against the guns of the Yamato-class ships, this super battleship built on the basis of the H41 plan with a full load of more than 75,000 tons is stabilized by the Yamato-class one.

When the British saw that the main guns of the Yamato-class battleships had fallen on the 420 mm thick main turret armor of the German, and that there was no expected breakdown, they immediately understood one of the reasons why the Germans had prepared this decoy plan. Then the 52-fold diameter 420-mm guns on the Prussia pierced the side armor of a Yamato 410-mm ship, and the fireworks set off by the detonation boiler made the British even more sure:

Two H41-class battleships were enough to hold three Yamato-class battleships.

The birth of the H-class battleship made the Yamato-class battleship lose its brilliance.

……

"The mission of the Yamato-class has also come to an end!" Meng Xiang, who was thousands of miles away, sighed early.

Stimulated by the Yamato-class battleships, the super battleship plans of various countries have been released, which has left the Yamato-class battleships without much room for export.

However, Meng Xiang also made a lot of money at the Yamato level.

The Germans were the biggest customers, and they bought four ships at once, which quickly swelled the naval strength.

Except for the one that the British bought from the Americans, the other three ships that were auctioned off were not like the Germans bartering, but paid the highest price.

The Americans, having referred to that one, sold it, and did not purchase any more even if the battleships of the Pacific Fleet after Pearl Harbor were completely lost.

After the Russians purchased 3 ships, because of the outbreak of war, money was needed everywhere, and even their Soviet and Russian super warship plans were temporarily stopped and no more purchases were made.

In order to deal with the United States, and the Yamato-class class is the most suitable for their appetite, the Japanese also purchased 2 ships one after another, plus the Yamato and Musashi built by themselves, there are already 4 ships.

In addition, either with land or barter, Italy, the Netherlands, Brazil, Australia, and Sweden each bought one.

The 18 Yamato-class battleships had already made Meng Xiang earn cramps.

"The great era of super battleships has just begun, and we still need to work hard!" But Meng Xiang, who had experienced the huge profits from the arms, still exhorted himself.