Bismarck

Although it was true that in the Navy Ministry, Raeder, at least in front of himself, the Führer, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, did draw up a transportation plan that would be provided by the Air Force, with the Navy sending an escort team from southern France, and finally having himself to pick up the transport.

But the same thing applies - there is not enough power, so nothing you say will be of any use!

"Forget it, I'd better be honest and do the math to see how long it will take to gather supplies before I can launch a maritime operation." Lütjens covered his eyes with the brim of his hat, glanced at the silly and cute ship cat next to him who was in a daze with its ears drooping, and pinched his eyebrows speechlessly.

"Stop being in a daze and come with me to settle the accounts."

only……

After carefully checking the accounts, a bandit leader whose bounty had long exceeded ten figures suddenly felt like a complete pauper!

I am so poor that I want to sell myself to raise money to support everyone. How can I do it? Urgent, waiting online...

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Just when the roar of iron wings and the continuous artillery fire over the Gibraltar Fortress had just died down, in the distant Berlin Air Force Headquarters, a battle report sent in real time from the Air Force carrier-based aircraft unit was delivered to the desk of Imperial Marshal Goering.

"The situation is not very optimistic..."

A fat man who was worried about his daughter, after reading the battle report, took out the previously planned air transport supply plan for the Gibraltar Fortress, frowned and pinched his chin, and fell into deep thought.

Because the strategy for the Battle of Gibraltar was decided by the navy, and even though Goering's power had declined in the past two years without Himmler, he was still a powerful person with too many things to handle. So, since he was not there, Jeschonnek (the chief of staff of the Luftwaffe who did not commit suicide because of the sharp deterioration of the air defense of the homeland) directly agreed to the plan.

It was not until Goering had finished celebrating with the Führer that Franco had finally "opened up military passage in a timely manner" and then had finished having fun with the Führer that he had time to carefully review the transportation and supply plan that had actually already been implemented.

"With 52 JU-183 sorties a day, it wouldn't be a problem to support a Ta-323 reinforcement squadron. But... if we also need to support Me-, then this amount of transport capacity is not enough..."

In other words, in this case, the transportation arrangement of Me-323 must be based on a transportation cycle of three days.

Even if the Me-323 can carry eight engines protected by special racks, there are more than aircraft here. Just relying on transport planes, sorties are needed - the Transport Command can only dispatch a dozen or twenty heavy transport planes every day, and sorties will take more than two days! Then, if the remaining day is used to transport missiles... Based on the calculation of four missiles per transport plane, more than missiles will hold out for three days... For the frequency of Allied air strikes and increasingly dispersed air attacks, this amount of missiles is not enough.

The straight-line distance from France to Gibraltar is 880 kilometers, and the theoretical performance of the Ju-52 transport aircraft is that it can fly 1.5 kilometers with 1600 tons of cargo, and the corresponding fuel consumption is about 2400 liters (about two tons). Even considering the problem of more fuel consumption when the transport aircraft takes off, it is enough for the "Junkers" to transport about kilograms of supplies to Gibraltar and then return directly to the French airport.

八百公斤的吨位就是一千升航空煤油——也就是一架Ta-183不挂副油箱时的机内燃料量；或者1200发20毫米炮弹和48发80毫米火箭弹——也是一架Ta-183四个架次的弹药；除此以外，一些反跑道布撒器啊，250公斤和380公斤的轻型航空炸弹啊，也可以这样运输。

According to this calculation, the transport capacity of 52 Ju- sorties a day can theoretically guarantee the ability to dispatch to sorties a day. In theory, relying on air transport can independently support the daily operations of the Gibraltar Fortress.

However, the actual situation is much more complicated than theoretical calculations!

Although theoretically both Gibraltar and Tangier airports can land Me-323s, and it is not impossible for a lightly loaded Me-323 to take off here, the density of transport aircraft takeoffs and landings a day is too high - on average, a group of aircraft takes off and lands every five minutes! It has to run hours a day without interruption, and there can be no mistakes!

In other words, if there is even the slightest disturbance, and considering the time required to maintain the airport, the efficiency of air transport will plummet.

But at the speed of a transport plane, it would take at least four or five hours to fly from France to Gibraltar - with a circle of Allied airports around and the Allied forces eyeing them covetously, how could they "guarantee" the safety of the airport and the safe landing of the transport plane five hours in advance... ?

You are probably talking about me!

Not to mention, the Me-323 is a gas guzzler! But it is indispensable - it is the only one that can transport those heavy loads.

If air transport is unreliable, we can only rely on Spain's railways and roads. But the speed is too slow and even more unreliable!

Spain has high mountains, long roads and deep potholes, so the efficiency of road operations can be imagined. Not to mention that Germany's current cars are basically concentrated on the Eastern Front except for domestic industrial transportation. There are simply not many vehicles that can guarantee the transportation of 100,000 tons of supplies a month.

The Spanish railways are meter gauge and broad gauge, which are not compatible with each other. The nearest train station is 100 kilometers away in Gibraltar.

Not to mention, Franco has always been a fence-sitter. How can you expect him to help Germany and ensure the efficiency and safety of land transportation lines? Unless he directly joins the Axis Powers, forget it!

"That won't work. Air transport alone is definitely not enough! And it's too dangerous for an aircraft carrier to stay within the combat range of an airport for a long time!"

Goering would never admit that when he thought of the Battle of Gibraltar, the first thing that came to his mind was an aircraft carrier!

Under the deep starry sky, it was not just the dim lights in the office windows that were completely blocked.

After carefully reading the air supply plan, the somewhat infuriated Imperial Marshal grabbed the plan in his hand and slammed it on the desk. After thinking for a while, he rummaged through the file box containing the battle plan on the desk and found a thick document with the title of the German War Navy General Headquarters. After reading the navy plan, he turned to the end of the file and opened a large-scale battle map attached to the end, which was stapled together and folded into a small square.

"Raeder's sea supply plan for Gibraltar... Using the merchant ships and destroyer fleets received from France and Italy, we will reinforce Gibraltar from the ports of Marseille and Toulon (in the Mediterranean Sea in southern France). If this is the case, the airports in North Africa are a bit annoying... No! For the safety of this supply line, I have to go there myself!"

Goering frowned after looking at the document and flipping through the map, and his eyes quickly fixed on the locations of several coastal cities in Algeria in North Africa.

The dim light shone on the large-scale combat map. In the gaps between the dense contour lines of the Atlas Mountains that ran across North Africa, the signs of several towns and airports could be seen dotted on it.

However, there are still more than a dozen airports from eastern Morocco to Algiers (the capital of Algeria)!

The straight-line distance from Gibraltar to Marseille and Toulon is 1300 to 1400 kilometers, but this road that does not seem very far is actually very difficult to travel!

The merchant fleet's speed was only 20 kilometers per hour, so it would take 1400 hours to travel 70 kilometers. Moreover, this route was kilometers away from the airports in France and Gibraltar in the central section. Although Zeppelin and Gneisenau were not afraid of Allied air raids, there were more than airports in North Africa close at hand, so the risk of accidents still existed!

Aircraft carriers are characterized by their mobility and flexibility, and can rely on their combat mobility to preemptively suppress airports - but the routes here are under the threat of shore-based airports throughout, and no matter how powerful Zeppelin is, he cannot "stably" suppress dozens of airports by himself!

The airports on the west coast of Morocco are quite dense, and they are basically within 400 kilometers of the Gibraltar Fortress. If the two land airports in Gibraltar and Tangier plus two aircraft carriers, a total of four "aircraft units", can still suppress it, then relying on the two aircraft carriers of Zeppelin and Gneisenau to confront more than 20 airports head-on and cover the escort fleet is really risky!

Goering himself estimated that even if he sent long-range bombers from bases in southern France and had Zeppelin cover them in their bombing, because the bombers had too far a range to travel back and forth, they could only suppress a few airports for a while and cause a little trouble to the enemy, that's all...

Thinking of the Zeppelin he saw at the shipyard's launching ceremony, Goering's brows raised slightly, but he soon became worried again.

In addition to this, the Allied submarines that were previously off the coast of Gibraltar may have retreated into the Mediterranean Sea. The threat they pose to the merchant fleet is no less than that posed by air strikes.

It is true that the German submarine force had made great achievements, but the German Navy's destroyer fleet was notoriously incompetent! Even if the training was strengthened after the spring of 40 - oh, let me think about it, it seems that the emergency training of the destroyer fleet was strengthened when Lütjens and Bonte watched the German submarine force "playing" with the destroyers like fools?

The problem is that even if the destroyer fleet has strengthened its training, its combat effectiveness is still just that. Moreover, even the destroyer fleet in southern France was snatched from the ports of northern Italy and southern France - some were even salvaged!

This hastily assembled destroyer fleet can properly escort a merchant fleet? I'm afraid it's because Goering has something on his mind!

However, the fat and kind-hearted old father not only did not take the food to heart, but was even racking his brains to think of a solution.

Goering even began to suspect a certain guy with a lot of "thunder" in his head - he destroyed the aircraft carrier and got rid of Lütjens, who had been kind to his daughter and had made great military achievements. Goering didn't know what benefits and advantages it would bring to him, but he had a previous record of abandoning his daughter to the timber dock as a warehouse and even causing her to live on the streets!

Although several years have passed and he hasn't made any big news in public, he has heard her tell about everything that happened to Zeppelin before!

No matter how much Raeder boasted that "I was the one who made the final decision to launch the aircraft carrier", as the Speaker of the Imperial Parliament, he personally issued the order to build the aircraft carrier, and he knew better than anyone who Zeppelin's real "father" was!

Anyway, it’s definitely not the stepmother named Lei!

How could he not be worried when his "biological" daughter was in such great danger!

After thinking it over and over again, Goering, who was overwhelmed with emotions, quickly made up his mind!

"We can't go on like this! If we want to know what's going on there, we have to go to Gibraltar and see for ourselves! Then we can come up with a solution!"

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After a hard day's battle, there was still no time to rest. The German carrier-based aircraft commander, Rear Admiral Zeppelin, who was leading two squadrons to conduct night patrols over the Strait of Gibraltar, received a communication request from the Gibraltar Airport Tower:

"Edelweiss One, Gibraltar air traffic control reporting: reinforcements from JG-5 'Arctic' wing will take off from France shortly."

"Oh? It's Wiesenberg. There shouldn't be any problems at the airport now, just make the arrangements."

"Wait, General, it's not just them... the one coming with them is also... His Excellency the Imperial Marshal!"

"what?!"

Zeppelin never expected that the Imperial Marshal and his adoptive father would come in person! And he didn't even say hello!

My godfather came in such a hurry that neither I nor Commander Lütjens had prepared anything!

Without caring about that, Zeppelin gritted his teeth and said, "You! Go and notify the others immediately. In addition to arranging for the landing of JG-5, make preparations for the reception. Also... (Hermann) Graf, you organize the patrol, and I will prepare to welcome the Imperial Marshal!"

“…Ah? Yes!”

"Captain, Zeppelin just came to me and said that His Excellency the Imperial Marshal will be here soon!"

"What?... Cough cough!" After hearing Bismarck's report, Lütjens, who was in the operations room with bloodshot eyes, smoking heavily and drinking coffee from a large cup, thinking hard about how to break the deadlock, choked on a puff of cigarette in his trachea and almost coughed out an asthma.

"Captain, I told you to stop smoking!" Bismarck, who was half annoyed, patted the captain on the back, snatched the cigarette from his hand, and threw it directly into the ashtray.

“Hey, hey, you… cough cough!” Lütjens, who was coughing so hard that tears were streaming down his face, finally caught his breath. He stretched out his hand and pointed at the desk, “Hoo… hoo… help me over there. Let’s quickly revise that battle report you wrote!”

For a moment, the secretary ship of the evil spirit fleet was in chaos.

Three hours later, Goering's private plane, escorted by a large number of Wraith Crows of the JG-5 Squadron, landed shakily on the runway which still had some potholes.

The Imperial Marshal, who was forced to take an overdose of drugs due to a gunshot wound in his early years and whose entire body was filled with fat, trembled with every step as he staggered down the gangway.

Meanwhile, the members of the Evil Spirit Fleet, led by Lütjens, were already waiting on the tarmac.

"Salute! Welcome His Excellency the Imperial Marshal!"

Looking at Lütjens and his group in front of him, Goering raised his hand to return the greeting. His eyes, which were somewhat cloudy due to the constant political struggles in the Berlin court, swept across Lütjens and his group one by one. Finally, after looking at the face of the last person, he turned back from the back of the queue and turned to Zeppelin, who was standing shoulder to shoulder with Vice Admiral Bonte, the fleet's deputy commander, behind Lütjens.

The summer light flight suit had long been removed. Zeppelin was now wearing a light-colored African tropical uniform with a waistline. Under the light, it was hard to tell that the base color was desert yellow. A pair of loose high-waisted pants pulled to the bottom of the ribs and flight boots that went over the calves and reached the knees perfectly outlined her seemingly soft but energetic waist curve and highlighted her slender legs. However, because it was loose enough, it even looked a bit like a pair of breeches. It didn't look sexy at all, but rather had a heroic, powerful and capable feeling that was unique to female soldiers. If you knew about her illustrious military exploits and the great contributions she and her companions had made to Germany's air power and national strength, it would be enough to make anyone - whether friend or foe - dare not underestimate her and her "evil fleet".

But such a Zeppelin stood straight and straight in front of him, meticulously. Under the iron-blooded and resolute temperament, the shining eyes seemed like a little happy daughter, waiting for the praise and smile of her serious father.

Even the imperial marshal, who usually had a stern face and was nicknamed "Iron Man" like the Soviet man across the street, couldn't help but smile slightly.

After all, the reason why he came here in person this time, besides for official business, the most important thing was that he also wanted to see his own daughter, right?

After returning the greeting with Lütjens, Goering, who was once an ace pilot, took the lead and walked towards the meeting room of the Gibraltar Fortress. From the corner of his eye, he actually saw that a happy smile broke out on the face of his goddaughter, who was also a ship girl.

It was the excitement and satisfaction of having the hard work and dedication all along being recognized in person by the most important person in your life.

An aircraft shelter that had apparently been emptied only recently had been used as a meeting room.

There was no time to rest due to the series of fierce battles and the tidying up of the base. With dark circles under his eyes, Lütjens glanced at his secretary, who was holding a pen beside him and looking a little depressed because of the sudden uninvited inspection by the superior. His face also looked a little helpless - wasn't the battle report in his hand something she and himself had put together in a hurry?

Things like the boss suddenly attacking you... Not only is it more annoying than having your period, but even if he just does it on impulse, you can't say anything!

While he was complaining in his heart, he personally handed the battle report to Goering. It was just mimeographed and still greasy.

"Your Excellency, the Imperial Marshal, this time we are fighting..."

He had just read half of the opening sentence of the report when he was interrupted by a fat hand.

"Forget it. It's war time now. I won't play those empty games." Looking at Lütjens who got stuck just after he started speaking, Goering smiled and rolled up the report with ink marks in his hand into a paper tube. "I'll look at the battle report later. The key point now is whether your logistics can hold up. How about this? Tell me how much strength you have left and estimate the amount of supplies you need now. I want to see how much it is compared to what the transport aircraft can carry - that's why I came here today."

Hearing what the imperial marshal on the opposite side said, Lütjens, Bonte, Zeppelin, and Bismarck looked at each other in surprise.

Are we going to waste the battle report that we spent three hours working on?

Although the battle report mentioned the logistical needs and the data on the existing troop strength, but... if we only listen to this part, you should have said it earlier!

"Okay, then I'll introduce it." After a round of staring at each other, it was finally Lütjens who was in charge who spoke up. He flipped through the second half of the report in his hand, found the content related to logistics, and began to report.

Goering listened quietly, expressionless, without saying a word. He only tapped his fingers on the notebook, as if he was silently calculating the logistics in his mind. After Lütjens finished speaking and saw that the shorthand secretary he brought with him and the secretary ship girl sitting opposite him had taken down the minutes of the meeting, he thought for a while and then spoke: "In other words, even if our transport planes can theoretically transport about 300 tons of supplies every day, it is not enough for actual combat?"

"It is indeed not enough, but you, Marshal, also know that we cannot put all our hopes on Spain."

After taking a look at Zeppelin's face and knowing that Zeppelin had the kind of feeling for Goering like a daughter towards her father, Lütjens chose his words for a moment and said with a wry smile.

"You are right not to rely solely on Spain, and you cannot be tied down by the Gibraltar base now! An aircraft carrier that has lost its maneuverability is a sitting duck. Even I, who comes from a fighter background, understand this." Goering subconsciously glanced at the Zeppelin next to him, and his tone, which had been a little cold due to the current battlefield situation, unconsciously "warmed up" a little.

"Lütjens, tell me, what problems will there be if we want to transport supplies from Toulon according to Raeder's plan?"

In front of Goering, Lütjens nodded silently, opened his briefcase, took out another document and handed it to Goering:

"I do have a plan for an escort team, but now I really need to ask for the help of His Excellency the Imperial Marshal..."