The Red War God of Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 375 The sun never sets on the sinking of the empire 2

The return of the Doenitz submarine formation is a signal that the German offensive in the English Channel is about to escalate.

Wu Aihua's trip to Germany sent Germany 10 battleships, 10 light aircraft carriers, and 2000 combat aircraft (ordered twice), allowing Germany not only to strengthen its naval and air forces, but more importantly, to win at least two months of preparation time.

After the Germans acquired these warships and aircraft, they quickly formed new troops and quickly became familiar with the new equipment. At the same time, the German High Command was also formulating a "sunset plan" to occupy the British mainland at one time.

According to this plan, the German landing operation on Britain would be divided into Portsmouth, Bristol Bay and Newcastle coast.

In the direction of Portsmouth, Germany concentrated all the offshore fleet, French fishing boats, 1000 German-made aircraft, and 5 light infantry divisions as attacking forces.

In the direction of Bristol Bay, the Italian Navy, the German U-boat formation, 3 light infantry divisions and the same 1000 German self-produced aircraft are the main attack force.

In fact, after Germany occupied the European continent, the British built a large core defense circle with London as the center, with the urban area of ​​London as the final defense circle, and about 40 kilometers from the suburbs as the middle defense circle. The Foll Strait and the coast south of Norwich constitute the third level of defense circle.In this defense circle with a thickness of hundreds of kilometers and a length of 800 kilometers, 65% of the British mainland army, 70% of the air force and the entire British mainland fleet are concentrated.There are nearly 10 cannons and more than 8000 permanent fortifications distributed along the coast, islands, ports and suburbs.

Bristol Bay is also within the core defense circle of the United Kingdom.

In order to avoid too much damage to Germany, the observation (staff) group of the Chinese National Defense Forces in Germany suggested that Germany take the 100-kilometer frontal width along the coast of Newcastle as the key attack direction for this landing operation, and strive to succeed in one fell swoop.

The German General Staff opposed this plan.They believe that Newcastle is far away from the core area of ​​London, England, and even if the landing is successful, it will not be able to annihilate the main British military force.

"May I ask, are the Germans willing to fight the British on land, or to fight the British on land at sea?" the Chinese National Defense Force observation group asked rhetorically.

"In terms of strategy, this is called a detour, it is also called an attack from the east, and it is also called surprise. The British believe that even if the Germans occupy other places except the core defense circle, the United Kingdom still has resistance. Their idea is wrong. Just imagine, the enemy has landed on the territory of their own country, wouldn't the morale and morale of the army not be affected? Just imagine, in the villages around Newcastle, the Germans have concentrated several armored groups and even have an airfield. How can the British fight this battle? ?”

The Wehrmacht staff's rhetorical questions were very forceful, and the Germans finally had to agree to this plan.

The Germans, and even the Europeans, are very direct in their military thinking. All the famous battles in European history were used to crush the opponent with strong military power, and the absolute supremacy of strength.The lesson taught to them by the Chinese staff is equivalent to opening the door to their thinking.

Previously, if Germany had this kind of thinking of "avoiding reality and attacking fiction", it might have occupied the British mainland long ago, but it is a pity that they did not have this kind of thinking; of course, the German navy was relatively weak at that time. The strategy of defeating falsehoods is detected by the British, and it may also fall into the encirclement of the British and lead to failure.

When the Germans obtained a series of equipment such as Chinese battleships, the German air force and navy were already ahead of the United Kingdom.At this time, what are you worried about?At this time, if the strategy of "avoiding reality and attacking fiction" is adopted, even if the British know it, they can only stare blankly.Because Britain is a small island that can be landed from all directions, when the naval power is weaker than others, the island is destined to be undefendable.

When the British learned that Dönitz's submarine formation had returned to Germany and the strength of the submarine formation, the British also knew that the Germans' general offensive was coming, so they quickly mobilized the main force of the British Atlantic Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet to protect the British mainland. .

It's just that the British did this and fell into the trap set by the Germans.Dönitz's submarine fleet is indeed 70 submarines, but how could Dönitz drive all the submarines back to the German mainland? At this time, North Africa is the territory of Germany and Italy.

As early as drinking beer in the Indian Ocean, Wu Aihua discussed with Doenitz how to lure and annihilate the British Mediterranean Fleet. The best place to annihilate the British Mediterranean Fleet with a simple submarine formation is the Strait of Gibraltar.There are bell mouths on the left and right, and the narrowest point in the middle is only 10 nautical miles. It is a natural battlefield for annihilating the enemy.The German submarine went away with one blow. The outside was the vast Atlantic Ocean, and the inside was the same vast Mediterranean Sea. The British had nothing to do with the submarine.The only danger may be that the British have obtained accurate information on the submarine attack, otherwise, the submarine will surely make great achievements.

Therefore, when he reached the coast of North Africa, Dönitz left Colonel Karl Tonide behind, and at the same time left him with 20 "Yulong 1" submarines.

On the afternoon of March 1941, 3, the main force of the British Mediterranean Fleet, 7 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships and more than 2 other warships, set off from the Malta base and began to return to the UK.

In the early morning of the next day, the Mediterranean Fleet quietly passed through the Strait of Gibraltar, and the German submarine team commanded by Colonel Karl Toned, who had been lurking outside the Strait for a long time, rushed forward quickly.

It's just that the British learned smart this time, with destroyers clearing the way in front, destroyers in the rear, and frigates on the left and right, guarding several big British ships over [-] tons very tightly.

Seeing this situation, Karl Tonide immediately had a short meeting with his assistants, and proposed two plans: one is to pounce on them and bite them hard, no matter how many ships are sunk by large and small ships; One is to send a death squad to lurk in the middle of the strait and directly attack the British aircraft carrier or battleship when the British ship is in place. However, in this case, the submarine responsible for the attack is very likely to be in danger.

"Colonel, what do you think?" an assistant asked.

"I'm going to lurk below the channel." Karl Toned said casually.Karl Tonide was not just for show, but out of his true state of mind. There were almost no German generals in World War II who were afraid of death.As long as the enemy of Germany can be destroyed, what is death to fear!

"Let's go too." The assistants saw that the chief officer had a choice, how could they be afraid of dying and attacking those small fish and miscellaneous fish, if they want to catch, they must catch the biggest fish.

In this way, Karl Toned's submarine formation changed from an assault fleet to a death fleet, and their heroic spirit will always shine over the German land.

At 8 o'clock in the morning on the 4th, the British frigates began to poke their heads out of the strait. Perhaps they were afraid of the attack of German submarines. From time to time, these frigates fired a shot at the sea or dropped a depth charge. Tony De and others were not moved by it.

At 5 o'clock in the morning, the main force of the British fleet began to appear within the attack range of the submarine.

"All float up and attack with all your strength!" Carl Toned adopted an extremely bold tactic, which was to float up to the surface of shallow water and launch torpedoes at close range.

For Admiral Brown Cunningham, commander of the British Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, he has not returned to London, England for a while.Originally, the fleet returned to the British mainland this time, and he could have returned to London on a plane escorted by the Royal Air Force formation. However, he changed his mind before departure and decided to return to the UK on his flagship HMS Barham.

HMS Barham, one of the "Queen Elizabeth-class" battleships, was manufactured by John Brown Shipyard in 1913 and participated in the famous Battle of Jutland in 1916. At the beginning of World War II, HMS Barham was taken Incorporated into the Mediterranean Fleet, in parallel time and space, the battleship Barham will be sunk in the Mediterranean by three German U-boats on November 1941, 11.

Perhaps, because of the emergence of Chinese submarines, the history of the Barham will also be rewritten.

Last night, the fleet was sailing in the Mediterranean, and Admiral Cunningham slept peacefully; at this time, dawn was already visible on the sea, and Cunningham came to the deck early to breathe the fresh air on the Mediterranean.

"General, good morning!" A soldier passed by and greeted.

"Good morning, private." Cunningham looked at the lighthouses on both sides of Gibraltar and replied easily.

"Good morning, General. This is the latest military information from Marshal Rogers Pound." Rear Admiral Robert Norman, Cunningham's assistant, Fleet Chief of Staff, stepped onto the deck and handed several documents to Cunningham.

"The base camp suspects that a German submarine is going to ambush us?" The document placed on the top is an intelligence analysis by the Ministry of the Navy, saying that at least 20 submarines purchased by Germany from China have not returned to Germany. Cunningham's Mediterranean fleet pays attention to safety on the road.

"General, we'd better be careful." Robert Norman also knew that it would be difficult for the Germans to attack the main force of the fleet when the fleet sailed in such a formation.

"Let the peripheral ships step up their vigilance!" Cunningham said.It's routine for him.Because it has never been heard that a German submarine dared to attack such a powerful fleet in broad daylight.

Cunningham was right. In the past, German submarines mostly attacked solitary British warships, small fleets, or fleets moored in ports. He had never seen German submarines dare to attack such a large fleet of warships.Of course, although the transport fleet is huge, it is not included in this list.Because of the combined firepower of the transport fleet, even a light cruiser may not be comparable.

"Boom—" As if mocking Admiral Cunningham, before he finished speaking, a huge explosion sounded from a warship behind.

"What's going on?" Cunningham asked aloud, because he couldn't see the ships behind him because of his position.

"Boom—" Suddenly, a battleship in front of him also heard a huge explosion.

"General, it's a German submarine!" Robert Norman saw a large amount of water splashing suddenly from the side of the aircraft carrier in front, and, judging from the sound of the explosion, it should also be a torpedo attack.