The Rise of the Third Reich

Wilhelmshaven, located in northwest Germany and close to the North Sea, is a natural military port. The land surrounds the bay. The entrance of the bay is very narrow, with the narrowest point less than 4,000 meters. Several forts built before World War I line the east and west entrances to the bay, with cannons blocking the only entrance and exit. The interior of the bay is very spacious. Before 1918, the calm sea here was often filled with majestic steel giants.

But now, there are less than 10 warships in Nuoda's military port, all of which are docked at the berths of the port pier in the northwest corner of the bay and are closely protected by 88mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns. The sky was covered with clouds. Occasionally, two small light blue planes would emerge from the clouds, circling and chasing each other at low altitude. This is a Fokker Zero aircraft of the Naval Air Force conducting training.

"Rudolf, I've caught you again, haha, I've already taken aim, the distance is just right, I can shoot with the 20mm machine gun and the machine gun together. If it were an actual battle, you would be falling down with smoke coming from your ass!"

The voice of handsome Austrian boy Walter Nowotny came from Rudolf von Heinsberg-Hersmann's headphones. Although little Rudolf thought he was the most skilled supplementary pilot, he rarely had the upper hand during combat training with Nowotny, who was on the same team.

"It's not that my skills are not good, it's that this plane can't dive very well. If it were replaced by a BF-109, I would definitely be able to get rid of you, a follower." Little Rudolph defended, while gently pulling up the nose of the plane, and started to fly An aircraft carrier that is more than 200 meters long and looks a bit slender when viewed from the air is hovering above.

This is the "Seidlitz" aircraft carrier, with a standard displacement of 15,240 tons, a full load displacement of 20,500 tons, and a high speed of 31 knots. It is the best "breaking aircraft carrier".

This level of aircraft carrier can carry 36 carrier-based aircraft. The standard configuration is a squadron of 20 Fokker Zero carrier-based fighters; a squadron of 9 Fokker 99s (which is the 99th ship in the book, Anthony Fokker purchased the production license, and it is at the BF-FK factory in Baltica A production line was opened) for carrier-based reconnaissance bombers; there were also 7 reserve aircraft (4 Zeros, 3 99s).

Both Rudolf and Novotny were trained according to the standards of carrier-based aircraft pilots. In addition to the standard courses for Luftwaffe pilots, there are also carrier-based aircraft pilot courses of Japan Hainan Airlines. Therefore, the training has not been completed yet, so they cannot be the first batch to board the aircraft carrier. According to the plan, the two of them will be Fokker Zero combat pilots on the aircraft carrier "Sekt" (Seidlitz class) and will not officially board the ship until early next year. However, they have taken off and landed on the "Sedlitz" several times, and they know that this aircraft carrier can make people's blood boil.

"Walter, look below!" Little Rudolph suddenly shouted, "It's leaving the dock, it's about to attack!"

"Attack? Who?" Novotny also stretched his neck and looked down. I saw smoke coming from the chimneys of three warships on the dock in Wilhelmshaven, and the ships were slowly leaving the dock.

"That's... the light cruiser Seidlitz, Scharnhurst and Leipzig." Little Rudolf's voice came from the earphones, "They must have gone to the Atlantic to break diplomatic relations. I really want to set off with them!”

Little Rudolf guessed right. Seidlitz, Scharnhorst and Leipzig had formed the "First Atlantic Squadron", which was personally commanded by Lieutenant General Shamal, Commander of the High Seas Fleet. Ready to break into the Atlantic Ocean.

…

"Lieutenant General, weather report, the clouds over the North Sea are very thick today, and there are moderate to heavy rains in many places. The sea conditions are generally around level 4."

Rear Admiral Kurt Reifman, the fleet's chief of staff and captain of the battleship Scharnhorst, was reporting the weather conditions to Lieutenant General Machar, commander of the High Seas Fleet, who personally led the attack.

Although he carries the intimidating title of "Commander of the High Seas Fleet," Vice Admiral Machar does not have a few truly usable capital ships. The three "Deutschland" class armored ships were too slow to effectively carry out diplomatic breaking operations. Not one of the highly anticipated "Bismarck" class battleships and "Admiral Hipper" class heavy cruisers has been completed and put into service, let alone H, P, O and B class aircraft carriers.

Therefore, the only available capital ships of the high seas fleet are "Scharnhorst", "Gleisenau" and "Seidlitz". In addition, the aircraft carrier "Sekt" is in the Baltic Sea. After sea trials, it should be able to join the High Seas Fleet early next year.

But now, the "First Atlantic Squadron" composed of two capital ships has included most of the assets of the High Seas Fleet. That's why Lieutenant General Machar personally went to the "Scharnhorst" to serve as the commander of the squadron.

"The bad weather is good for us," Lieutenant General Machar sighed softly while standing in the command tower, looking at the empty Wilhelmshaven. "We don't have the strength to fight the British now... only HNA's Only a madman can imagine a decisive battle!"

Commander Graham, who had just been promoted to admiral, proposed another "decisive battle plan". He used all the assets of the High Seas Fleet as bait to lure the British Home Fleet to the North Sea, and then dispatched 1,000 aircraft to bomb - this time We really need to dispatch 1,000 aircraft! Because the Air Force has nothing to do right now, their He-111, Do-17, Ju88 and BF-110 can all be dispatched!

However, this plan of gambling with the fate of the German Navy was immediately strongly opposed by the navy's top brass. And the reason they put forward for opposition was also very reasonable - the winter climate in the North Sea is changeable, which is not conducive to the air force's attack.

"Admiral, although the weather is not very good, the Naval Aviation will still provide air cover as much as possible." Major General Leifman said, "In addition to the aircraft on the 'Sedlitz', the Naval Aviation can also dispatch Fokker Zero, BF-110, Ju88 and He-115, and Fw-200C will also be dispatched. Within 800 kilometers from Wilhelmshaven, the Naval Aviation can provide strong cover, and within the range of 800 kilometers to 1000 kilometers, the Naval Aviation can also provide certain cover. Beyond 1000 kilometers, we can only rely on ourselves."

"Nothing," said Lieutenant General Marshal, "Just pass through the waters near Scotland at night."

"It's 10 o'clock now," Major General Leifman looked at the time, "We need to sail out of the 800-kilometer safety range in 32 hours. In addition, the destroyer formation will escort us to the waters near the Faroe Islands (Danish territory). After that, we will rely on ourselves."

A destroyer formation is now circling outside Wilhelmshaven. Their mission is anti-submarine - the British also have submarines. However, the destroyer has a short range and cannot follow all the way, so it can only be sent to the Faroe Islands between the British Isles and Iceland, and then return immediately under the cover of night. After that, this commerce-breaking fleet can only rely on its own strength to roam the Atlantic.

"If everything goes well, we will arrive in Reykjavik, Iceland in 80 hours. According to the Maritime Neutrality Convention, we can stay there for 24 hours and add fuel and supplies." Major General Leifman said, "There will be a tanker flying the Swedish flag waiting for us there. We can fill up with fuel and supplies in a maximum of 8 hours, and then go hunting in the North Atlantic!"

The Maritime Neutrality Convention allows warships of belligerent countries to stay in neutral ports and add fuel, supplies and overhaul. However, the maximum number of warships that can dock in a country at the same time is three (this is why the First Atlantic Fleet has only three ships). The docking time is usually 24 hours. If the ship is damaged or malfunctions, the time can be extended to more than 24 hours. If no fuel is available within 24 hours, the port stop time can be extended to a maximum of 24 hours.

In addition, neutral countries can legislate to prohibit warring countries' ships from entering the port, but they must treat all warring countries equally.

In fact, the three German ships have a cruising range of more than 6,000 nautical miles and do not need to enter Iceland to refuel. This arrangement is just to lure Britain to actively destroy Denmark's neutrality.

...

"Your Excellency, the German's 'Scharnhorst' has left Wilhelmshaven!"

Wilhelmshaven itself is a medium-sized city with a developed shipbuilding industry and an important base for the German Navy. Naturally, it is the focus of British intelligence agencies, and they have planted many agents there.

Just 8 hours after the "Scharnhorst" left Wilhelmshaven, British Navy Minister Churchill received a report from the First Sea Lord Pound.

"The aircraft carrier 'Seydlitz' also left at the same time." Pound said, "They are likely to sail into the North Sea!"

"A battleship and an aircraft carrier?" Churchill turned his eyes away from a pile of war reports from Poland and looked at Pound, "These are two huge prey!"

"And hunters at the same time!" Pound said.

"How are we going to catch them?" Churchill asked.

"Let the Hood and the Ark Royal attack!" said the First Sea Lord, "Only these can catch up."

Due to the losses in the Battle of Scapa Flow, the Royal Navy now has a huge fleet, but few battleships that can chase the Scharnhorst and the Seydlitz... In fact, there are only two!

"In addition, several slower formations will be dispatched to intercept." Pound frowned and said, "The biggest problem now is that there is only one high-speed aircraft carrier, and... the Germans seem to have a very powerful carrier-based aircraft!"