afterglow

Chapter 413 Chapter [-] What are we waiting for?Faroe-Iceland waterway naval battle
More than two months is not a short period of time. It is enough for France to surrender twice in history. These days are also enough for the top leaders of the United States to coordinate their internal differences.

Senior officials and politicians have their own thoughts. Some are ardent patriots, some firmly pursue isolationism, some believe that we only need to follow the Monroe Doctrine, and some are ambitious and hope that the United States will dominate the world...

How to unify the opinions of these guys and get everyone to reach agreement on major decisions is the huge test facing the President of the United States.

Even if it is Franklin, his attitude and views are very different from those in history.

France, as a long-standing power, collapsed far faster than expected, and Tsarist Russia was in chaos. No country in Europe could restrain the Germans, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

If the German Society is not substantially suppressed, it is certain that they will really be able to establish a huge collection from Iberia to the Urals, and Europe will be unified in such an unimagined way.

It is precisely because of this that the German Society's threat to the world structure and the hegemony of the great powers was much higher than that of the Soviet Union in the same period in history, so Franklin was also seriously considering how to deal with the German Society.

In other words, what is most beneficial to the United States now is to try to weaken Britain so that it can never rise again, and suppress the German society so that it can no longer unify Europe. It is both.

In the 1000th year of its original history, in order to help Britain protect sea transportation lines, the U.S. Navy had actually begun patrolling the Atlantic Ocean within a range of 2300 nautical miles; and in 740, the patrol scope of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet was further expanded. , already [-] nautical miles away from New York, and only [-] nautical miles away from the European continent.

Within this scope, the Americans not only cooperated with the British to protect their transportation lines, but also directly tracked the discovered German submarines and communicated their coordinate information to the British escort ships.

However, due to its strong isolationism, the federal government did not actively seek opportunities to participate in the war, but it did make many attempts to provoke excuses.

It is roughly the same now. Starting from mid-August of the 39th year of Zhichang, the Atlantic Fleet began to conduct large-scale patrol operations in accordance with the orders of the Navy Department.

However, there are also big differences in some aspects - because of the series of changes caused by the assassination of General Hu Datong, the United States is more to the right than at the same time in history, and public sentiment and public opinion are quite radical.

This undoubtedly lowered the threshold for participating in the war. As president, Franklin no longer had to try every means to persuade those members of Congress.

One member of the House of Representatives even had no qualms about promoting his ideas in a speech:

"We have a steel production of 5000 million tons a year. We make more cars in a month than they make in a year. What are we waiting for? Do we have to wait until the whole of Europe is shrouded in the terror of autocracy and surveillance?"

As the time came to September, the opinions of the upper levels have gradually unified - war against Germany is inevitable, the only question is when should we enter the war.

Those who support entering the war later argue that the current army is not large enough and they still need to wait for the completion of a new round of military expansion to have enough troops to deal with the German army of one million.

Those who support entering the war earlier argue that Britain, Spain, and Portugal have not yet fallen. If it is delayed any longer, it will be bad when the Germans cross the Pyrenees and attack Iberia.

While the politicians are still bickering, the real people are doing their best.

The U.S. Department of War announced the establishment of the General Headquarters, abolished the standing army and reserve army, and transferred them all to the General Headquarters; the Army Command and Staff College and the Army War College stopped teaching, and the trainees were dispersed to various newly established units middle.

The U.S. military now has 15 infantry divisions, and it expanded again at the turn of spring and summer. Now a total of 12 new infantry divisions are being reorganized and trained. However, according to their training efficiency, they may not be able to form combat effectiveness until the end of the year.

In the past few years, the image of U.S. soldiers in the eyes of the American people was like this - "panting, wearing ill-fitting military uniforms, carrying old rifles crookedly, endlessly fighting on the vast and boundless ground." walk around."

Things have improved a lot now, at least... the military uniforms now fit, and the new M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle has begun to be equipped with troops in small batches.

The anti-tank artillerymen were surprised to find that the targets they used during training had changed from trucks imitating tanks in the shape of wooden boards to real tanks.

The roars and roars of the instructors filled all the bases, and the banging gunshots never stopped from morning to night...

This is the scene in the United States, and at this moment in London, the British Isles, an ominous atmosphere has enveloped the hearts of the powerful people in the British Empire.

According to aerial reconnaissance, three battle cruisers and one heavy cruiser of the Workers' Navy have left the port of Kiel and are rapidly passing through the Kattegat Strait.

"We have no choice but to try our best to stop the Germans. If that fails, we can start considering the terms of conditional surrender."

The rain is continuous, just like people's mood.In the Prime Minister's official residence in Downing Street, Winston explained the seriousness of the matter straightforwardly.

"But Mr. Prime Minister, the Germans have four routes to choose from, and we only have the Hood that can catch them." Admiral Dudley Pound, Chief of Staff of the Royal Navy, said somewhat bitterly.

To the north of the United Kingdom are the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. The straits between the three of them can be passed through. Therefore, if the Royal Navy wants to intercept the break-up fleet, it must accurately determine the location and set up an ambush in advance.

Once the judgment is wrong, the low-speed capital ship will no longer be able to catch up, and ordering the Hood battlecruiser to pursue a single-ship pursuit is simply equivalent to asking the sailors to die.

"I guess that's not a problem, this is our last chance, the Royal Navy has no other choice. Stop those ships!"

The seriousness of the situation is beyond imagination, and the situation that the Royal Navy fears most has come to pass.

The Royal Navy's Home Fleet immediately prepared for action according to the plan. The fleet located at the Scapa Flow anchorage immediately entered the highest combat readiness, and the warships were ready to go.

They planned to track the route of the German break-up fleet through continuous aerial reconnaissance, and the fleet would set sail for the only route to intercept after ascertaining the enemy's situation.

The commander of this operation was Admiral Rudolf Burmeister. Carrying such an important responsibility gave him the pressure of "the empire will rise and fall in one fell swoop" - the shaky Atlantic route was finally stabilized and could never be restored. It can no longer withstand the torment of surface ships.

He ordered the heavy cruiser Norfolk and the heavy cruiser Dorsetshire to go straight to the northernmost Denmark Strait to patrol; Vice Admiral William Whitworth commanded the battlecruiser Hood and the heavy cruiser Sussex, as well as Several destroyers patrolled the Shetland-Faroe waterway.

Rudolph himself personally commanded the three low-speed battleships Rodney, Nelson, and Barham, as well as the support fleet composed of the aircraft carriers Arenas, Fury, and ten destroyers and cruisers.

"Britain has violated many treaties, but it has abided by the most important naval treaty." Rudolph sighed: "It would be great if the KGV (King George V class) could start construction earlier."

Even though Vickers-Barrow Shipyard is already working overtime, the George V will still need another six months to complete, and it is not ruled out that problems may be discovered during sea trials.

At the same time, the Germans are also strictly executing the "Baltic Ice Breaking" operation.

Unlike in history, since Norway and Sweden are now under the control of the German Agency, at least there is no need to worry about the Norwegian and Swedish navies leaking information to the Royal Navy.

Four destroyers and two minesweepers were ordered to escort the break-up fleet. After cautiously arriving at the west coast of Norway, the escort operation was completed and several warships turned around and returned.

At 9:1 noon on September 11, the breaking fleet arrived in Bergen in western Norway.

Subsequently, four warships anchored in Grimstafjord one after another.The German sailors moved quickly to change the painting of their respective warships, removing the original strait camouflage, and began to paint the blue-grey colors used by German warships when they performed break-up missions in the Atlantic.

[Picture] On the flagship Franz, the commander Rear Admiral Hubert clearly announced the goal and significance of the mission to the fleet officers and soldiers through the radio.

"...The British must be busy trying to intercept us, but that is destined to be useless. We will achieve our goal with surging enthusiasm and energy."

"...This is not only a glorious mission, but also a cold revenge. Let them be afraid, and let them cry blankly looking at the empty port in the future."

Due to the need for confidentiality, everyone originally left the port without knowing it, thinking that it was just an ordinary transfer from one port to another.

After learning of this mission to break diplomatic relations, the fleet was delighted. After all, this was not only the first expedition of surface ships to the Atlantic since the outbreak of the war, but it was also equivalent to hammering the last nail into the coffin lid of the British.

During this period, the Franz's radio monitoring team intercepted the British communications and initially deciphered the general content - the British reconnaissance aircraft were ordered to search north of the Norwegian coast.

Sure enough, at 17:03 that afternoon, when the painting of the Atlantic Ocean was about to be completed, the air defense observation post discovered several unidentified aircraft approaching quickly.

A group of Bf-109 and Bf-110 fighter jets from the German Air Force were ordered to circle over the fleet in rotation to provide cover.

Seeing an unknown enemy plane approaching, the pilots immediately flew to meet it.

"It's the British Spitfire!"

"They are still maintaining their course, following me, and after climbing, they will cut in from the four o'clock direction."

Two Spitfire PR reconnaissance aircraft were attacked and had to turn around and accelerate away.

Unlike other countries, British reconnaissance aircraft are unarmed. The Spitfire PR has one aerial camera with a 5-inch focal length and two 8-inch focal lengths.

Although the two reconnaissance planes returned without success, another reconnaissance plane quietly slipped into the Grimstafjord from an altitude of 10 meters 7000 minutes later.

After taking continuous photos of the German fleet below, the Spitfire PR flipped its fuselage and performed a beautiful breaking S maneuver, accelerating and flying westward.

Although it has been exposed, the operation must continue.

Next, the fleet would have to fight alone to break through the blockade without air cover.

After leaving the west coast of Norway, the fleet continued to sail northward and continued to fine-tune its course to the northwest. The entire route track was a multi-section polyline that was approximately an arc.

At noon the next day, Major General Hubert officially issued an order to enter the Atlantic Ocean via the Denmark Strait.

Because it is located in the Arctic Circle, the days are long and the nights are short at this time, and the sun does not set until 08:30 in the evening.

The breaking fleet was unlucky to be discovered by a British Wellington PR long-range reconnaissance aircraft at 19:42 that night.

"Franz discovered! Three battlecruisers and one heavy cruiser are sailing towards the Denmark Strait, coordinates 11°1' west longitude, 67°3' north latitude, course 265, speed 25 knots."

"What should we do, Comrade Commander, it takes 12 hours to cross the Denmark Strait. The British may have enough time to rush to the exit to intercept." The adjutant said nervously.

"Does what they saw must be real?" Major General Hubbet replied.

He immediately issued an order for the fleet to adjust its course to 180 degrees, increase its speed to 26 knots, and sail due south.

In this way, the breaking fleet left just as it was about to enter the Denmark Strait, just like a person suddenly turning to the left when they reach the door.

It was dark, and four warships were speeding through the vast darkness of the Arctic Circle, passing by the east coast of Iceland.

They encountered an Icelandic whaling ship at midnight. Because it was a bit far away, the Germans had no time to take care of it.

the next day.

9月3日凌晨4：15，浓雾让能见度降低到了3000多米。随后海面上又出现了一些大块的浮冰，破交舰队不得不将航速降低至22节，并歪歪扭扭地航行以躲避浮冰。

At 17:47 p.m., the radar operator of the heavy cruiser Peake found regular clear signal feedback on the oscilloscope - the ship's FuMo radar detected a large unidentified warship about fifteen kilometers away.

"Unidentified ship found, prepare for battle!"

The Peake sounded the battle alarm, and the other three battlecruisers also learned of the situation. The radio silence between the breaking fleets was immediately lifted.

The Germans had no time to think about why the British were able to stop them in time despite a false shot.

In fact, this encounter was unexpected by the British. According to aerial reconnaissance before sunset yesterday, the German break-up fleet was preparing to enter the Denmark Strait.

So Vice Admiral William Whitworth led the Hood and other battleships to sail northwest to prepare for support.

However, when they were about to reach the predetermined sea area, they received instructions from the headquarters - an Icelandic civilian ship discovered four unknown ships passing the east coast of Iceland.

Therefore, the British fleet could only change its course and rush to intercept the Faroe-Iceland waterway.

The thick fog has dissipated, but there are still wisps of light mist on the sea.

At 18:03 in the afternoon, the lookout post of the Hood used huge binoculars and discovered the looming German fleet nine nautical miles away.

The distance is so close, every second counts!
Lieutenant General William Whitworth issued an order to increase the speed to seize a favorable position and focus the fire on the Franz first.

The heavy cruiser HMS Sussex opened fire first, and eight 203mm high-explosive bombs flew towards the German warships more than ten kilometers away.

24 seconds later, the Hood also fired its first salvo. Dazzling flames erupted from the muzzles of the four twin 381mm main guns, causing ripples on the cold sea.

[Schematic diagram of routes for both parties]

(End of this chapter)