Chapter 269

In London, in the office of the Royal Navy Secretary, Churchill and his officers are discussing the next battle plan. If we can say which department of the British side is the most troubled at present, it is undoubtedly the Navy.

In the recent naval battle just ended in the Netherlands, 14 warships of the Royal British Navy were defeated by a sub fleet of the German Navy. One battleship and one aircraft carrier were lost. If cruisers and destroyers were included, Britain has not suffered such a tragic defeat since the battle of Jutland.

So this time Churchill intends to give Germany the harshest revenge. He ordered the Royal Navy to assemble the largest fleet and completely blockade German waters. As in the first World War, Germany was trapped in the narrow continent of Europe. Then, relying on the absolute superiority of resources, we can bring down the aggressive Challenger Germany.

As the British Navy minister, Churchill's idea is more radical. He hopes to fight a decisive battle at sea when the German Navy goes to sea next time, and use his superior power to defeat the newly established high seas fleet of Germany.

"The hood is coming back from the Mediterranean. The Italians are very honest this time. They didn't even send planes to follow our ships." An officer pointed to the huge map of the sea with a pointer and said, "Spain has no courage to attack us. The German naval base there is not perfect. They have no strength to intercept our battleships in the Strait of gibraltarian."

Another officer took a look at the report in his hand and reported to Churchill: "on the other hand, in order to support France's frontal operations, our transport fleet is constantly travelling to and from the English channel, and plans to transport at least 100000 soldiers to France within this month. Finally, we will deploy 300000 soldiers on the frontal battlefield. "

"From the news of the United States, they have no interest in participating in the war, and they are not even willing to mobilize. In the U.S. Congress, the mainstream idea is still the policy of isolating Europe. Although President Roosevelt was very willing to provide support for us, under pressure, the support was not free. " An official in charge of foreign affairs gave a brief introduction to the Allies: "on the other hand, the US side is very interested in the war off the Netherlands. They hope to send officers to our side to study the specific process of the whole war."

"You can operate this aspect! In addition, we need to produce several types of fighters at the same time when we hire American technicians to come to the UK, which is a bit stretched. " Churchill said this with his forehead, and then he stopped talking.

The plan to withdraw the fleet from the Mediterranean was a helpless move, because Britain found that its fleet had no good way to deal with German aircraft carriers. The short board of carrier based aircraft can only give a big discount to the combat capability of the British aircraft carrier. Moreover, in terms of the quality of the aircraft carrier itself, the new aircraft carrier of the German Navy is slightly better.

The only aircraft carrier that Britain can hold is the Royal ark, which has been launched into service recently. Others, such as the braves and the glories, do not have as many aircraft on board as the German warships.

"Our army will deploy a fleet between the waters off Denmark and the Baltic Sea to lure the German Navy out. We will deploy two support fleets here and here, which are composed of destroyers and light cruisers. These warships are all warships with strong air defense capability. Once they are combined, they can temporarily protect themselves. " An officer pointed to the map and said the whole battle plan again.

Then he pointed to Scarpa Bay and said with pride, "then the main force of the Navy's local fleet will come out and fight directly. Although our army is at a disadvantage on the aircraft carrier, this time we have gathered a total of five battleships, and we have an overwhelming advantage in this respect. "

"All right! So far as the statement of the operational plan is concerned, we have repeatedly demonstrated it twice, and there should not be too much problem. " Churchill interrupted the officer's talk and turned to look at the two men in suits without saying a word.

He forced out a smile and said to the two men, "the Navy needs a brand new warship, an aircraft carrier capable of fleet air defense. Referring to the German aircraft carrier model, at least 30000 tons should be guaranteed to carry at least 65 advanced carrier based fighters - similar to the Royal ark. "

"The production of this kind of aircraft carrier is very time-consuming. If the union is held immediately, it will delay the production of other ships, and it will not be able to serve this year." A man in a suit replied that he was a communication officer between the British navy and the shipyard manufacturer and spoke with great weight.

"No matter how fast we rush, we can't finish it? I've heard that the German new shipbuilding technology has greatly increased their shipbuilding speed. " Churchill frowned and asked, "and this technology has been copied back by our spies. Is it so difficult to copy it?"

"The German manufacturing technology is very high, and we don't have a lot of experience in building their segmented construction technology, so even if we use it, we can't build warships within a year." The official sighed and said, "I heard that Germany was using this method to build Hercules class transport ships after 1925. They have accumulated for more than ten years, and our technology is not as mature as theirs."

"And if the quality of the Royal ark is such, will the new warship be able to serve at the end of 1939?" Churchill finally asked helplessly“ Try our best. If we can start work together, we should be able to build three similar aircraft carriers at all costs by the end of 1939. " The man thought about it and said. Churchill nodded: "then do it quickly! The future of Britain depends on these warships. " He knew that it was just a word of comfort, comforting others as well as himself. According to the German construction speed, they will soon launch the fifth and sixth aircraft carriers, followed by the seventh and eighth... By 1940, Germany will have a terror fleet of eight aircraft carriers, and the United Kingdom will only be able to keep the number of aircraft carriers at seven to eight with all its efforts, which is obviously what he does not want to see. After a few seconds of silence, he cleared up the declining mood of the Royal Navy and looked at another man: "how is the development of new fighters?"“ All of them have been completed. The new fighters are divided into two types and put into production. At present, more than 100 fighters have been equipped. " The man was very proud and said: "the Navy model is named Dapeng, and the army model is called Wuwei. After testing, this kind of aircraft can completely replace the Navy's Gladiator fighter, and has a very powerful air attack capability. " Seeing Churchill's bright eyes, he continued to boast: "this kind of aircraft has a flight speed of 480km / h, which is completely comparable to the me-109c fighter exported by Germany, and its firepower is also very strong." On the other hand, of course, this fearless fighter also has some defects that it can't make up for. Generally speaking, there are three major design defects: first, it is blocked in the cockpit, and the shooting angle in front of the machine gunner is only 19 degrees. It is difficult for machine gunners to see the target clearly in a short time when air combat is going on rapidly. The driver does not have a special sight. Second, the space in the turret is insufficient. The gunner could not carry the parachute, and when the machine gun pointed to the rear of the aircraft, the turret door was sealed, which hindered the escape. Therefore, when the fighter is shot down, the gunner must first point the turret in the direction of the pilot, so as to drill out of the turret, and then go to the aircraft cabin to escape with a parachute. There are many difficulties. The third is the weight of the turret and the gunner, and the air resistance caused by the turret. The flight performance of the two seat design is not as good as that of the general single seat fighter. This one is also the most lethal, because as an air fighter, it can't catch up with others and its flexibility is not as good as others, which is very deadly. But the military has been very satisfied. After all, this kind of plane is better than the fighter's biplane. I don't know how much. So almost without hesitation, Britain began to mass produce this kind of fighter to fight against the increasingly terrible fighter force of the German air force. The good news came that this kind of aircraft with turret and very strange attack angle won a French air battle. Relying on the sudden fire, the British pilots shot down two patrol fw-190d fighters, sweeping away the fear and haze of the Allied air force to the German fw-190d. Of course, the navy is only equipped with a few such aircraft, because the narrow deck of the Navy aircraft carrier is not suitable for the take-off and landing of such aircraft. So Churchill said, "we should also pay close attention to the experimental work of new fighters! I heard that you have found a brand new design scheme... At least at the end of 1939, we are going to catch up with the gap with Germany in fighter planes! "“ Yes! Oh, I see! I will urge the designers to complete the design of the new fighter as soon as possible. " The man nodded and agreed“ Lingling! Bell The phone on Churchill's desk rang, a little harsh in the middle of the night. Churchill frowned, remembering that the Secretary of the Navy's office phone had not been recalled at this late hour“ Hello? Hello... "Churchill picked up the phone and had a hunch that something big was going to happen tonight“ The big deal is not good! Churchill! The fleet in Scarpa Bay has been attacked by Germany The hysterical mourning on the other end of the phone said: "monarchy... Monarchy is silent! God“ What's going on in the middle of the night? How could the German fleet attack Scarpa Bay? I also confirmed yesterday that the carriers Empire and Zeppelin are indeed maintained in Port William! " Churchill said, "are you stupid?"“ It's over! It's over! Brave is burning! You are ready! This time we're done! It's really over! Doo... Doo... "They said the last two sentences and hung up.