Bismarck

"Captain, you..."

"Bismarck, this is for you, happy holidays." Lütjens said somewhat embarrassedly.

Although I know I should say this, I still feel a little uncomfortable when I really face it.

"Really? Thank you!"

Bismarck was like a little girl at this moment. She rushed over with joy, took the rose from Lütjens' hand, and sniffed it with satisfaction with her pretty nose.

"Ah, it smells so good, thank you Captain, I like it very much."

A big battleship is sniffing flowers. Isn't it like the saying, "A tiger at heart sniffs the roses"?

"As long as you like it." Lütjens put his arm around her shoulders and walked into the house.

"I thought you had forgotten what day it was today." Bismarck said angrily, thinking of Lütjens' confused expression this morning.

"Don't deny it. You certainly didn't expect that this morning."

Lütjens touched his nose, a little gesture he would make when he was embarrassed.

"Indeed, I only remembered it after the driver told me about it later. Sorry," he apologized.

"It's okay, just think about it." Bismarck said generously.

Walking into the house, Bismarck took off the captain's coat, hung it on the hanger, and then tied on an apron.

"Captain, please wait a moment. I made something delicious today. I'll go make it now."

"What? Let me help you too."

"No, no, just sit on the sofa!"

Bismarck pushed Lütjens onto the sofa and closed the kitchen door.

---------

"I didn't expect that the commander, who is so dull-headed, could have such a romantic feeling?" The four people in the attic watched Lütjens walk out of the car with a bouquet of red roses, and then walk into the house shoulder to shoulder with Bismarck. Lindemann said in disbelief.

"After all, he has a girlfriend." Zeppelin looked at Lindemann and Tirpitz meaningfully.

"Ahem" Now it was Lindman's turn to be embarrassed.

"The commander has entered the house, and my sister has also entered the kitchen. She has no mental scan. Should we take action now?" Tizi felt that his saliva was about to flow down...

"Yes, yes, let's go and find the commander!" Lindemann said quickly, then pulled Tirpitz downstairs.

"You guys are really... Alas." Bangtai looked at them helplessly and could only follow them.

Tizi knocked on the door. Lütjens, who was reading a newspaper, got up and opened the door. He was stunned when he saw four figures standing at the door.

"Why are you here?"

"Hello, Commander!" Tirpitz called sweetly. "My sister asked us to come for dinner!"

Grapes assured him that he could smell the delicious food.

"Yes, Bismarck told me today that he would come over for dinner tonight. Look, I don't even have any food cooked at home." Lindemann laughed and lied with his eyes open, as if it were true.

Zeppelin also nodded innocently, indicating that it was Bismarck who said it.

Only Bangtai followed silently at the end.

Lütjens did not suspect anything and opened the door to welcome them in. The three captains sat on the sofa and chatted about military matters. Zeppelin walked around the room with grapes.

Bismarck carefully placed the bouquet of roses in the most conspicuous place, and Grape went up to smell it curiously.

"Captain, it's time to eat!" Bismarck happily opened the door, holding a plate of dumplings.

Then I was shocked...

"You, when did you get here?!" she said in disbelief.

"Sister, didn't you ask us to come for dinner?" Ti Zi said while chewing a rose petal and tilting her head innocently.

"When did I..." Bismarck was about to retort, but when he saw the smirks of Zeppelin, Lindemann and Tizi, as well as Bontai who had a helpless look on one half of his face but also a smirk on the other half, he understood all at once.

"I shouldn't have let you see..." Bismarck felt like crying but had no tears as he watched Tirpitz approaching with drooling, fangs bared, and claws bared.

When did Tirpitz become a bad person?

"Sister, it smells so good~" The hamster quietly stretched out its claws towards the dumplings on the table.

"Pah!" The cat's claws hit him mercilessly. "This is not for you to eat!"

"Woo... Commander, my sister won't let me eat." Ti Zi quickly complained.

Lütjens already knew what was going on. Bonte told him when Bismarck came out. He was both angry and amused.

"Okay, okay, Bismarck, do you have any extra dumplings?" he asked. "Take them out, and we'll have a dinner together today."

The captain had spoken, what else could Bismarck say... He had to take out the remaining dumplings.

It’s definitely not enough for just two people, but luckily there are still raw materials, so Bismarck brought out the dough and stuffing at the same time.

"Want to eat? Make it yourself!"

"Great! Long live!" Tizi cheered, and then looked at Lindemann with hopeful eyes...

Well, she can't pack...

Although Zeppelin knew a little bit, he also looked at Bangtai with the same look. After all, if you don't use the able-bodied man, he will be useless after the expiration date.

Lütjens didn't care. He had been alone for so many years, and he had done this before. He put on his sleeves and apron skillfully and walked to the rolling table. But the other two men had no choice... They had agreed to eat for free, but how did they end up working hard to make something and then feed it to their own ship girls?

After looking at each other depressedly, Bangtai and Lindemann had no choice but to walk over with helplessness and do it themselves (for the sake of their own ship girls) to have enough food and clothing.

Only Bismarck squatted on the side with tears on her face, using the lid of a teacup to print circles on the dough that her captain had rolled out... They had agreed to spend Valentine's Day alone... but it was ruined by her own sister.

Just wait for me!

ps: I updated five chapters today, 11,000 words! Please give me a reward~ I'll be sad if you don't~ I've been sitting in front of the computer all afternoon, my back and waist are sore...

Chapter 354: Unstable Situation (Double Update)

Although time is so beautiful, it is unwilling to stay for anyone even for a moment.

Before we knew it, after that special Valentine's Day, the clock had ticked to early March 1941.

For Bismarck, basically nothing changed during these days. He ate when he should eat, studied when he should study, and was not vague when he should act coquettishly. He occasionally visited the shipyard, where his hull was being repaired at a rapid speed. The days just passed like this.

Zeppelin was busy with training every day, and Valentine's Day was just a diversion from her boring life.

But the hamster said, what are you talking about? A month has passed in the blink of an eye - I slept.

Of course, this is just the view of these three ships. For the world, it is different.

A lot happened in those three months, but it could also be said that nothing happened.

The situation between Germany and the Soviet Union was still calm before the storm, and the war of breaking ties between the raging waves of the North Atlantic was still going on as usual. Elsewhere... Italy in the Mediterranean was still being beaten and fleeing as it had been in history, and nationalists in some semi-colonial countries in the Middle East were secretly planning to take the opportunity to resist the colonizers. And China in the far east was still putting up a hard resistance amidst the shattered mountains and rivers, the destruction of the country and the loss of families. The resistance was becoming more and more intense, and the casualties were increasing.

On the American continent, isolated from the Eurasian continent, there is a country that looks like a whale and has the ambition to devour others. The lower class people are still living in peace and prosperity, but the upper class members, politicians, lobbying groups and oligarchs often gather together to plot when to participate in the war and which countries to sacrifice in order to gain the greatest benefits...

But compared to history, there are still some things that happened...

Although forced by the dire situation in which Britain's ships were once wiped out in the Atlantic, the United States not only immediately "leased" the Ranger and its carrier-based aircraft units to the British Royal Navy, but also urgently transferred a large number of warships from the Pacific to reinforce the Atlantic Fleet, and repeatedly announced to the world (in fact, it was a warning to Germany), dispatched more patrol fleets, and raised the alert level of the Pan-American Neutral Zone.

Although there was no formal hostilities between them and the German Navy's warships and submarines, it was already a very blatant act of taking sides.

With the repair of the damaged HMS Illuminati and HMS Formidable, and the commissioning of the fourth ship of the Illuminati class, the HMS Indomitable, as well as the light carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Eagle, which were leased from the United States and showed no signs that the United States wanted the United Kingdom to return them, the strength of the British aircraft carrier force quickly recovered. Moreover, the large number of F4F fighters (called European Swallows in the United Kingdom), SBD dive bombers and TBD torpedo bombers ordered by the United Kingdom from the United States soon replaced the outdated Fulmars, Skuas and Swordfish on regular flights (only light carriers and escort carriers with insufficient tonnage and deck length still retained these outdated old aircraft), and the combat effectiveness of the British aircraft carrier force became stronger than before...

At this time, the US Navy showed no signs of restraint. The patrols of the Pan-American Neutral Zone and the Atlantic Fleet's escort operations were not reduced, but were unscrupulous! This behavior naturally aroused the vigilance of the mustache.

But at this time, the mustache man had no way to deal with the United States...

After much research with his staff, the only thing that the little mustache could confirm was that the United States was still not prepared enough for war, and indeed had no plans to directly participate in the war for the time being. However, with the current situation of the United States building up its industry and military, it was estimated that it would only be a matter of time before it joined the war. It was estimated that the United States would complete its war preparations and start large-scale participation in the war around the end of 1942 or the beginning of 1943.

Operation Barbarossa has reached the final stage of preparation. However, unlike the historical line, the mustache who visited the Soviet Union seems to have a glimpse of the Soviet Union's true potential. In addition to the potential pressure from the United States, although they hope to defeat the Soviet Union before the end of 1942, they also know that Britain and the United States actually hope that they and the Soviet Union will suffer losses, so Germany will be relatively safe in the early stage of the fight against the Soviet Union.

However, it is an unstable factor after all, and the man with a mustache does not want to continue to maintain this situation of being used and threatened by others. After all, the security of a country cannot be built on the assumption of the "goodwill" of other countries!

This time, Germany finally began to seriously prepare for a long war. In order to prevent Germany from suffering a defeat like the First World War, the mustache man was determined to fight with all his strength!

Under the order of the mustache, Speer was appointed as the new German Minister of Industry on New Year's Day in 1941. With the full support of the mustache, he began to promote three shifts, production lines, production management and basic parts standardization. Investment in German heavy industry also began to increase significantly. In addition to building a batch of new weapons production lines, several large coal chemical plants were built around the coal mines in Ruhr and Belgium. Moreover, Speer also exerted his talent in architectural design. Semi-underground bunkers were built for the core workshops and core equipment of these factories, and they were arranged as dispersed as possible. For industrial raw materials and scarce resources, they also began to reserve as much as possible. Some resources that were considered difficult to obtain in the future were even imported from the international market at high prices. In addition, the Nazi Party also began to hoard and reserve basic living materials such as food and clothing. Large cities also began to build air-raid shelters and prepared for population evacuation.

Although many people had complaints, Goebbels, Speer and others still tried their best to stabilize Germany's supply of materials. There was no inflation or uneven distribution, and the living standards did not decline significantly. In addition, Goebbels' propaganda agency spared no effort in propaganda, and finally the situation in Germany was basically stabilized.

As for how to break the deadlock...

"The situation in the Atlantic is too bad now. The presence of the Americans means that it would be a waste of time for the Atlantic Fleet to stay in France. But we just need these large warships in the Mediterranean! So, Führer, I suggest that the main force of the war navy, including the two Scharnhorst-class ships that have been modified, be stationed in Norway to contain the British and American navies in the North Atlantic. As for the Atlantic Fleet, I think they should advance to the Mediterranean as soon as possible to help our Italian allies stabilize the situation. Only by ensuring the safety of our southern wing can we open up the situation in other strategic directions as soon as possible and get rid of the current passive strategic situation!"

Reger was speaking at a meeting to formulate Germany's next strategic direction.

After all, Barbarossa's preparations had been going on for so long that there would always be some clues known to the public. Although Reger did not know the more detailed situation, he was a marshal after all, and he could guess a rough idea based on the country's strategic situation.

and...

"Now that the British Navy's aircraft carrier force has recovered, the Italian allies in the Mediterranean will have a harder time. If they can't hold on, we can only allocate more troops to passively defend against the British attack on the southern front, so we won't have enough strength to deal with other fronts..."

"Now our African Army and the 40th Air Force of the Air Force are ready to go to North Africa to support the Italian allies, although those allies are too bad. troops are chased by thousands of British people everywhere, and they are running from Egypt to Libya..." The representative of the Army, General Halder, the Chief of the General Staff, curled his lips contemptuously, and did not hide his contempt for the combat effectiveness of the "allies". When Goering, who had been sitting next to the mustache, heard this, he also arrogantly raised his Imperial Marshal's baton and patted his chest to guarantee that his th Air Force was the most powerful unit in the German Air Force in sea combat capabilities, and would definitely be able to help the Italians and the army and navy stabilize the situation in the Mediterranean.

but...

"However, the African Army also has to cross the Mediterranean to reinforce its allies in North Africa. Moreover, as far as I know, the Italian situation in the Balkans has become a mess, and the railway line in the Balkans is crucial for our country to obtain chromium ore resources from Turkey. Although the diplomatic department has now won over Prince Paul, the regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, it is also necessary to prevent the possibility of the British using naval forces to further interfere in the Balkans by supporting Greece... After all, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia is right next to the Austrian region, and it is very threatening to our country both from a resource perspective and a geopolitical perspective..."

"...In short, although the southern line may not be the main direction of our country's next strategy, it is definitely an important auxiliary direction. If this place is completely controlled by Britain, our country will have to withdraw more forces from the main direction to defend against possible problems in the south, and it will have a major impact on our strategic situation... Therefore, we must consider transferring Bismarck, Tirpitz and Zeppelin from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean to stabilize the situation in the Mediterranean - these three warships, plus the African Army, are the minimum manpower investment we need to stabilize the situation of our Italian allies, and the effect is also predictable."

After all, he was once a top student, and Reger's serious analysis still reflected his insight and strategic vision as a marshal. Whether it was the mustache, Halder from the army, or the representatives and heads of other departments, they all nodded repeatedly.

Looking at the huge world map on the wall, especially the direction of the Soviet Union and the United States, the mustache man knew very well that the Soviet Union and the United States would be enemies of Germany in the foreseeable future, and there was almost no possibility of compromise. As for the so-called Tripartite Pact last year? In the eyes of the mustache man, Japan was not trustworthy at all! It was just to win over the "enemy of my enemy" because of the common threat of the United States, that's all.

The mustache had a clear judgment on the future war situation in his mind: Germany must defeat the Soviet Union in the shortest possible time, or at least occupy the main resource production areas of the Soviet Union before the end of 42, obtain enough resources to fight and support the war, and abolish the Soviet Union's war potential and even combat effectiveness. Only in this way can Germany defend against the (already seriously injured) Soviet counterattack when the United States joins the war, and then draw out enough strength to deal with the US attack on the European continent! Finally, keep their victory!

But how easy is this?!

Based on the intelligence collected from the Soviet Union, the initial judgment of the little mustache and the German General Staff was that the Soviet Union would not surrender until at least the AA line (Arkhangelsk-Astrakhan, which is almost the entire European part of the Soviet territory, including the Soviet core industrial area with a range of 1000 kilometers: the Ural Industrial Area!) was captured. Although the specific deduction of the Barbarossa Plan could only be deduced to the end of the border battle, it could not be deduced further because the combat scope was too large. However, the General Staff still easily judged that this was beyond Germany's current national strength, and this did not include the situation that the head of state saw when he visited the Soviet Union, which might reflect the Soviet industrial production efficiency, social sentiment and morale!

Then they could only implement the alternative plan: concentrate their forces and attack the southern line where the Soviet resources were most concentrated! Obtain Soviet resources to feed Germany's war potential and eliminate the Soviet Union's war potential. Although the officers of the General Staff wanted to set the main attack direction as the Soviet capital Moscow - capturing the enemy's capital is a supreme honor for soldiers - but this time, because they realized that Germany's strategic situation was too bad, the General Staff had to listen to the instructions of the "war economics" of the mustache and focus on formulating the battle plan for the southern line.

In fact, in history, the mustache realized the gap in resource potential between the Soviet Union and Germany as early as August 41, and proposed his theory of "war economics" to the German military. But that time, the German military suppressed the mustache's opinion, and the general offensive direction in 8 was set to Moscow in the blizzard. In fact, from Napoleon's failure, it can be seen that even if Moscow was really captured, the Soviet Union was still far from surrendering! In 41, the German army finally began to focus on the resource production areas on the southern line. By occupying the Donbass coal and iron mines and the Dnieper aluminum mines, it even suppressed the Soviet Union's industrial strength from a powerful force equivalent to 42% of Germany before the war to a level equivalent to only 75% of Germany! But after all, the main force of the German army suffered heavy losses in Moscow. In 20, the southern line could only withdraw two armies, 42 tanks and 1100 people. In addition, by the end of the campaign, the cover of the flanks and rear had to be filled with vassal countries. After the German army had exhausted its fighting spirit at the foot of Stalingrad and the Caucasus Mountains, it was finally defeated by the Soviet Red Army's counterattack codenamed "Uranus". After this battle, the two countries' national strengths grew and waned, and the German army never regained the strategic initiative in the Soviet-German War...

But before that...

Although Reger did not know about the Barbarossa Plan, the strategic situation of Germany was just as Reger said, and the stability of the southern front must be guaranteed as much as possible! Otherwise, heavy troops must be transferred from the eastern front to the southern front to help stabilize the situation in Italy. If they had known that this pig teammate would be so dragging, they might as well have declared war on Italy directly!

I don't know who said, "It only takes five divisions to defend against Italy's attack, and only fifteen divisions to defeat Italy, but to form an alliance with Italy, at least fifty divisions must be invested..." It's really true! The mustache frowned, silently complaining to his stupid teammates in his heart.

Everyone's speech had ended at this time, and now everyone in the conference room was looking at the man with a mustache, waiting for his decision.

After thinking for a long time, the mustache man finally spoke slowly: "... In this case, I agree that Lütjens' Atlantic Fleet can enter the Mediterranean and be renamed the Mediterranean Fleet. However, the entrance to the Mediterranean, the Gibraltar Fortress, is a very easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack key point, and it is too far away from our country. Spain is unwilling to form an alliance with our country, so it is out of reach... Reger, do you have any ideas?"

"This... It is precisely because of the dire situation that I think we should authorize Lütjens, the direct commander, to make specific decisions. After all, he is at the front and must know the situation there better than we do. We can wait for him to make a plan before allocating the resources he needs, and give him the power to make decisions on the spot..." Reger's eyes rolled, and the bad intentions began to emerge: "Our naval intelligence department has been collecting detailed intelligence on Gibraltar, and we can give him a copy of this information. As long as he can rush over with his fleet, the navy guarantees that the resources he needs will be met!"

Listening to Regel's remarks, the mustache frowned, but there was no better way... After thinking for a while, he could only nod and agree to Regel's proposal...

"...Okay, when the battle plan comes out, I will review it myself. That's it! Now let's discuss the next topic: our country's resource reserves, resource development, and industrial production expansion. Speer, tell everyone about the situation..."

"Yes, my Führer, the current industrial situation in our country is like this..."

The meeting room had just finished discussing the next plan for the German Navy, but discussions on new topics were still ongoing...

ps: Everyone knows about the Dao coins after Shuke’s update, right? It will take effect on the 4th~ Then I just need to ask for more Dao coins in the future, and urge for updates!

Chapter 365: Night Raid (Part 1)

Falmouth Harbour, South West England…

Under the setting sun, at the edge of the dock, the former U.S. Navy's World War I Vickers-class flat-deck destroyer Buchanan, which has been modified beyond recognition and is now the British Royal Navy destroyer Campbelltown, is quietly docked at the dock along with a bunch of other ships, waiting to carry out a special mission - the fearless collision code-named "Operation Chariot"!

The most notable feature of the original flush-deck destroyer was that two of the four side-by-side chimneys were cut off, and the other chimney was also shortened by half. The hull was also repainted in the style of the Royal Navy, deliberately imitating the German Navy's "large torpedo boat". In order to avoid being stranded on the shoal when performing this special mission, except for the only front main gun and several self-defense machine guns, almost all the heavy weapons and redundant superstructures of the ship were removed and replaced with commando cabins and explosives cabins (!), reducing a lot of draft. However, in order to still be able to withstand the German Navy's artillery fire in case of an emergency, the bridge, bow and power area were equipped with armor that can withstand direct attacks from light artillery, and even a sharp steel plate was added to the bow waterline - a cutting knife used to cut the arresting net... In short, this former US Navy destroyer is now completely unrecognizable. At first glance, she looks a bit like a German Navy "large torpedo boat" - although in fact she is still a lot bigger, after all, it is a 1200-ton ship pretending to be an 800-ton ship...

In addition, there are several other destroyers and more than a dozen specially modified motorboats, which serve as cover forces and tools for carrying commandos to raid port facilities and assist in evacuation.

Meanwhile, at the dock, hundreds of commando officers and soldiers ready to go were receiving final instructions from Lord Mountbatten and Admiral Tovey.

Unlike the previous raid in history where only the Commander Special Forces were interested and the Royal Navy was not interested, this time Tovey became very interested as soon as he learned about the Commander Special Forces' plan...

In fact, Tovey had a hunch that this might be his last chance to personally avenge the Hood... According to the analysis of the British high-level officials, as the situation in the Atlantic stabilized, the Lütjens fleet, which was isolated in France, was likely to move. Although he was not sure where it would move to, Tovey always had a thorn in his heart: his suspicion and stupidity killed the Hood, so he had to destroy the Bismarck in his own hands! Otherwise, even if someone else commanded the destruction of the Bismarck, he would feel sorry for the Hood...

If he misses this opportunity, he will regret it for the rest of his life.

Therefore, this time, in order to avenge Hood personally, Tovey not only actively supported the plan of Commander's special forces, but also took the initiative to allocate ships for the special forces to use. You know, even if the Americans joined the war and provided escort, and even if it was just an old-fashioned destroyer, in front of the German submarines in early 41, it was very precious to the British Royal Navy, whose escort force was still short of manpower. He also actively participated in planning and sought sponsorship from the Air Force, and even prepared a larger support fleet in addition to the assault forces in the port.

Even so, everyone, including Mountbatten and Tovey, knew very well that the German Atlantic Fleet was stationed in the port of Saint-Nazaire, and the strength of the defense was terribly high. Not to mention, Tovey, who had some idea of ​​the abilities of the ship girls, was still very worried and suggested, "Be careful about the possibility of being discovered by the Germans at a very early distance."