Iron Cross

"I don't remember assigning you the task of landing and seizing Jan Mayen Island..." In the Berlin Admiralty, Hoffman was also furious about this. "What on earth are you thinking? The entire action plan has been changed again and again. Does anyone remember what the true essence of the Channel Project was?"

"Führer." Redl spoke with difficulty, "In the afternoon, the artillery formation and the aircraft carrier formation rejoined. The position was about 100 nautical miles southeast of Jan Mayen Island. Since it had been besieged by the British all morning, the fleet commander was afraid that it would continue We were attacked by air attacks from the island and were determined to attack first. We found that there were only a very small number of aircraft and personnel on the island, and there were also a few merchant ships that had been avoiding us. Therefore, we immediately dispatched the Europa and Scharnhorst. The core, a fast fleet including two destroyers and more than 10 torpedo boats, attacked together and took control of the entire island in just 4 hours, eliminating all enemies and capturing those ships, but we suffered no losses and no one was even injured. one."

"But you wasted a whole 4 hours! Last time you wasted 5 hours chasing the enemy's cruiser fleet. In the end, you couldn't execute the original plan smoothly. Now..."

"There is something special about this time..." Reider explained patiently. "The weather conditions allowed for the dispatch of aircraft that afternoon, so the fleet could not continue to march south - then it entered the Icelandic air defense patrol circle, but from then on Starting tomorrow, the weather will turn bad in the Denmark Strait, and we will have enough time to cross the strait. In addition, controlling Jan Mayen Island is not without gain. The gasoline, fuel oil stored on the island and the supplies of captured ships provide us with a lot. Conveniently, the fleet was undergoing large-scale replenishment. The fleet decided to dispatch 2 destroyers and 15 torpedo boats to escort the captured ships back to the country, and transport back the British officers and soldiers captured in this battle and the supplies that were originally intended to be shipped to the Russians. According to complete statistics, the ship carries at least 5,000 tons of armored steel, 6,000 tons of aluminum ingots, more than 1,000 vehicles of various types, canned meat and numerous military supplies..."

Upon hearing such a huge profit, Hoffman's face looked much better, but he still asked uneasily: "In this way, we have clearly told the British their current location, and also hinted that the fleet will pass through Denmark. The enemy will definitely be waiting for us at the necessary place in the strait... This island is so close to Iceland. Once the navy withdraws, it will definitely not be able to hold it, and no amount of land troops will be used. "

"Jan Mayen Island is about 600 kilometers away from Iceland and about 1,000 kilometers away from Norway. The Royal Navy is now eager to deal with us and cannot spare any time to deal with Jan Mayen Island. The fleet does not intend to leave many people on the island, at most 4- Five tanks and an army of about 50-60 people. As for the aircraft, they will be transferred from Norway after the weather improves. It will not affect the follow-up operations. "The old marshal's eyes were bright, "But the island is of great value, if we can control it. , not only can it provide a foothold for entering and exiting the Atlantic Ocean in the future, but it also has a strong deterrent effect on the Arctic routes, and can exert a value similar to that of the Azores Island - in terms of cutting off routes and providing early warning, I think Jan Mayen Island and Azores Island The status of the Zore Islands is the same.”

There was one sentence he did not say: If the naval power of the Third Reich withdraws, even if the army occupies the Azores Islands, it may not be able to hold on for a long time.

Hoffman was silent. He was thinking carefully about Redl's words. After thinking for a long time, he thought that the explanation and analogy of the Navy Marshal were reasonable. He nodded: "Okay, you have convinced me. What are you going to do next?"

Redel and Frick were obviously relieved. They were prepared to be punished for changing the plan without authorization, but the head of state was so reasonable now, and they relaxed immediately. The old marshal waved his fist: "Fleet Start crossing the Denmark Strait tonight! If there are enemies who intercept you, destroy them without hesitation!”

I don’t know if Machar was emboldened by the lightning strike tactic last night, or if it was because of the sinking of two battleships. Now the German fleet has become bolder. They decided to intercept the North Sea Fleet in the Denmark Strait. The Royal Navy will not have more than 3 capital ships - the North Sea Fleet is now capable of fighting. At worst, it will retreat with speed and repeat today's actions during the day.

"I heard that you are now fond of those torpedoes and S-boats?" Hoffman asked.

"The fleet feels very useful and powerful from top to bottom. How can I put it..." Frick gestured, "Even Tirpitz can't guarantee that he can survive Article 4."

"If I remember correctly, there are two heavy mine-armed cruisers in the Japanese fleet. They are both in Italy now. You can check it out. If you like it, contact General Horikichi and we can buy them. Anyway, Japan is now People don’t need them, but they are suitable for breaking up relationships.”

"Heavy mine equipment?" Frick felt confused, "What kind of heavy weapon..."

"Each cruiser can be equipped with approximately 40 torpedoes."

Frick was shocked and stammered: "Führer, did I hear you correctly?"

"Of course, and it's a 610mm caliber torpedo tube." Hoffman said with a smile, "The things the Japanese come up with are crazy, right?"

"I'll go to Italy tomorrow." Redel quickly agreed. Are you kidding me? If two of them are launched together, there will be 80 torpedoes. How many fleets can withstand this shocking blow?

"What do you think of Iceland's defense strength?" Another sentence came out of Hoffman's mouth unexpectedly.

"It won't be very strong. As long as we have the appropriate army and navy, we can completely occupy it with arms." Redel became excited, "Führer, do you want to attack Iceland?"

Hoffman nodded: "The Battle of Gibraltar will be launched soon. If it goes well, after the axis naval power in the Mediterranean enters the Atlantic, we will have the upper hand in naval power. Attacking the east coast of the United States will not be realistic in the short term. Landing The British mainland is temporarily very difficult, but I don't think it will be difficult to land in Iceland - at least the British didn't spend much effort when they controlled Iceland. In fact, I don't even think it is necessary to land on the British mainland - as long as we can cut off the British. Transportation lines, Japan will occupy India again, I wonder what this damn fat man Churchill will do to feed 40 million hungry Britons.”

Frick nodded quickly: "The Naval General Staff will complete the relevant plans as soon as possible."

At nightfall, after occupying Jan Mayen Island and seizing relevant materials and supplies, Machar led the rested and resupplied fleet to get back on the road. One thing Redl said is quite right. It is unclear whether the military significance of capturing Jan Mayen Island is important, but at least it gave the fleet great psychological satisfaction, especially the frightened army troops who were bumpy along the way. It was even more relaxing. Mashaal originally thought that not many people would be willing to take on the task of staying on Jan Mayen Island, because it was a life-or-death situation. However, the result was far beyond his expectation. Nearly half of the people were willing to sign up to stay. In the end, he selected 2 infantry platoons and 6 tanks to stay on it. He also dismantled all the artillery and anti-aircraft guns from the captured merchant ships and left them for the defense forces.

While Hoffman was listening to the tsunami action plan, Churchill was also giving instructions at the Admiralty in London.

"The weather forecast says that the weather in the Denmark Strait from tonight to tomorrow will not be very good. It will be cloudy with rain and snow at times. The weather will also be very bad tomorrow morning. It may stop in the afternoon and evening, but there is uncertainty..."

After hearing such news, he issued the instruction without hesitation: "Let Fleet E intercept them. The Germans cannot be allowed to rush into the Atlantic Ocean smoothly like this."

"But Prime Minister." Tovey said awkwardly, "E fleet is not strong enough, even weaker than W fleet. We cannot fight against the main force of the German fleet."

"No, they have great potential! Because they can get the support of Icelandic aviation power, try not to turn into a surface ship artillery battle. We must be good at giving full play to our own advantages, especially those escort aircraft carriers must bring their value into play. Time is of the essence. On our side.”

Pound interjected: "Although we have repeatedly urged the United States to speed up the repair progress, it will take another week at the earliest for the Elizabeth and Indomitable to be completely repaired..."

"There is no need for the Elizabeth, Endurance, and Warrior to return home so quickly. It is recommended that they return together with the George V-class battleships and Glorious-class aircraft carriers returning from the Far East." Churchill said, "The biggest mistake we made in this battle That is to say, the division of forces. The W fleet and the E fleet should not have been divided into guarding the relevant waterways. Instead, they should have combined their forces to find the right time to intercept and surround the German fleet. These new supporting forces must form a combined force to the greatest extent before dealing with the Germans. ”

"What about the Independence and Pennsylvania?"

"It's an American ship..." Churchill thought for a while, "Let them act according to the original plan, and it is natural to add some troops to Fleet E."

Tovey was speechless, with only a wry smile on his face: The Prime Minister had fully approved and promoted the division of the fleet, but now he said that the division was wrong and reckless. He seemed to have seen that the label of failure would be placed on his head in the future - just like North Africa. After the defeat of the war, the hat was placed on General Alexander's head, just like the hat was placed on the head of Lieutenant General Cunningham after the failure of the Egyptian landing campaign.

At 10 a.m. on February 14, after a 13-hour journey and more than 500 kilometers to the southwest route, Machar led the North Sea Fleet once again boldly entered Iceland's 200-nautical-mile air defense circle. The one who walked in front was Shell. The artillery formation led by the major general, and the aircraft carrier formation followed unhurriedly behind, the distance was no more, no less, still 35 nautical miles.

At this time, the Denmark Strait is the time when the wind is howling and white waves are crashing on the shore. Even the Europa's open-air moored aircraft is swaying a little. Sea water is constantly hitting these guys covered with tarpaulins to wet them. The weather is not fixed at all. Wing planes, even seaplanes don’t dare to bother.

So, the journey was uneventful.