Imperial Overlord

The silent night, when the Royal Navy's Home Fleet arrived, was immediately less silent.

The huge warship moved slowly in the dark. In the English Channel, the operation codenamed Intercept made the British Navy dispatch almost all the warships.

Vengeance, the two battleships Barham led the way, followed by the battleship Rodney and the flagship of the Home Fleet, King George V.

HMS Sovereign and HMS Warspite followed behind the battleship HMS King George V, and looking back was the battlecruiser HMS Repulse.

At the end is the battleship Prince of Wales, which had just been commissioned, and the battleship Ramirez, which was pulled out to continue the battle after being half overhauled.

These two battleships were forced out to make up the number, in order to make the bombardment larger and cover a wider area.

According to the plan of British naval commander Charles, the two battleships were in the rearmost position of the fleet and were only responsible for the task of shelling ground targets without any danger.

Even if battleships such as the Hood were sunk by the German fleet, and even if it was weakened a lot by the German Navy, the British mainland fleet could still dispatch 9 battleship-level behemoths in one go, and its strength really tangled the German Navy.

It seems like a giant that will never fall. After losing several main battleships, the British fleet is still several times stronger than the German Navy...

With such a large-scale main fleet, plus the dozen or so cruisers escorting it, and the surrounding British destroyer squadrons, this time the local fleet can really be considered to be out in full force.

Charles put in all the troops he could find, ready to make all the difficulties he could for German troops in the Channel.

However, from the very beginning, the volley operation seemed to have not been smooth. German transport planes have been whistling in the sky, putting unprecedented pressure on the British fleet.

They didn't know whether the other party was taking off a transport plane or a bomber that came to attack them. So sailing became cautious, and the entire fleet went into radio silence after entering the English Channel.

In a state of war, it is very dangerous for warships to enter the English Channel. The dangers of doing so can be seen from Germany's valiant battle across the English Channel during World War II.

First, both the British and the Germans were laying mines on both sides of the English Channel, initially as a blockade of the strait, and later it became a defensive measure against each other.

After all, neither side would tell the other the exact location of the minefields, so the British did not know where the Germans were laying mines, nor did the Germans know the minefields laid by the British.

In order to land on the English Channel, the Germans carried out a long mine-clearing operation here. Because of the cover of fighter jets during the day, the mine clearance work went smoothly.

But the British did not have the habit of clearing mines. All they could do was mine the straits at night, and wait for the other side to dismantle them during the day.

There was no need for them to clear the Germans' mines, and until yesterday the Germans landed, the British had not cleared a single mine in the English Channel.

As a result, the temporary mobilization of warships into the English Channel is a very dangerous thing for the United Kingdom.

At the very beginning of the operation, a British destroyer collided with a mine laid by the British and sank on the north side of the English Channel.

It's just that the British army has no choice to back down, so their fleet can only move forward bravely and try their best to avoid the mine area they have laid.

Not only the danger posed by mines, but also the German torpedo boat troops ambushing in the dark near Dover, which is the killer of the German navy prepared in advance by Raedl.

Although Li Le, a traveler from later generations, has put forward his own opinions on the development of German torpedo boats, the time is still too short after all.

Before 1940, German torpedo boats were of various types and their combat performance was not very good. In fact, German torpedo boats such as the famous S-100 in the future are not yet in service.

The torpedo boats in the hands of the Germans today are moderate torpedo boats such as S-6, S-14 and S-18.

The latest in service is the S-26 torpedo boat. Although many improvements have been made, it is still a long way from the more advanced S-38 torpedo boat.

The appearance of Li Le allowed the S-series torpedo boats to develop faster, but the latest S torpedo boats still failed to catch up with the battle between the English Channels.

Now, the German Navy has to use speedboats such as the S-18 to face the British battleships like the Big Mac.

They are not without advantages. On the one hand, the British did not know of their existence, and on the other hand, there was no good way to deal with the attack of the torpedo boats at night.

If the British Navy turned on the lights and fired flares to find torpedo boats in the dark, they would also be attacked by shore guns and German aircraft in the Strait of Dover.

So, in the dark, the German torpedo boats, as well as the secret troops ambush here, will definitely give the British fleet a "surprise".

Dönitz, as commander-in-chief of German submarines, is now sitting in France personally, directing one of the most tense naval battles for him.

He will use a dozen small submarines with a displacement of less than 500 tons to attack the huge British battleships with a displacement of tens of thousands of tons.

Perhaps this is a naval battle with the most disparity in the balance of power between the two sides in the world. The two sides involved in the war are a huge fleet of battleships on one side, and a miniature battle group composed of torpedo boats and submarines on the other side.

The combined displacement of all naval battleships in the German Navy may not have the tonnage of a single British battleship.

However, even so, the soldiers of the German Navy bravely stood up, ready to use their own efforts to block the footsteps of the mighty former world maritime hegemon.

It is not an exaggeration to say that they are a man's arm and a car, and it seems accurate to say that they are over-the-top. But in fact, from a strategic point of view, it is Germany that is attacking, and the powerful Britain is defending.

"The position of the British fleet has not been confirmed yet?" In the bustling German Naval Operational Command, Dönitz and Redel were anxiously waiting for the news.

In order to prepare for this attack, Germany established two radar stations for sea search in the Strait of Dover. The detection distance of these two radar stations is 30 kilometers, which can cover almost all the nearby sea areas.

This is only the first alert prepared for the British fleet. In addition, the transport aircraft group responsible for transporting supplies to the German troops in the UK has arranged an additional search order.

As long as the flares were lit, these transports across the strait would look down for the British fleet, and if they could spot a target, would direct the night bomber swarm to attack.

A large number of planes with flares were at the ready, and as soon as the British fleet was spotted, they would take off to provide lighting instructions for the night bomber force.

Although attacking the fleet at night will basically not have much results, it can disrupt the artillery of the British Navy and minimize the interference of the other party.

At the same time, facing the British fleet, there are also nine K-series train guns gathered by Germany. These guns will also fire at the area where the British battleships are located to deter them!

All these arrangements were not prepared to sink the opponent's battleship, but to disrupt the opponent's actions as much as possible.

As long as the British fleet was forced to maneuver frequently to evade German fire, the amount of fire they could pour between units would be reduced,

Even if it weakens by 10%, it is a great support for the German army in the UK. That's all about how the German military is dealing with the British fleet, they will try to cause as much trouble as they can to make the British fleet have to adjust and eventually weaken the attack on the beachhead.

"The radar hasn't found the target yet, and it's too early. It is estimated that the British are still on their way." An officer replied.

Dönitz glanced at Raedl and nodded to signal the other party to continue to pay attention to the news of the radar station. The time is getting closer and closer to midnight, and the atmosphere is getting more and more tense.

The British certainly knew what would happen to their fleet. They had predicted that they would have to face countless greetings long before they acted.

The issue of mines alone was a headache for the British fleet, because all the way to the south, they had already had two warships hit by mines, one destroyer sank, and the other cruiser was seriously injured.

Such a heavy price was paid when the fleet did not enter the mine-intensive area. When they actually enter the Strait of Dover, it is estimated that more troops will be lost.

Standing on the deck of the flagship HMS King George V, looking at the dark sky and the stars dotted on it, Tom S. V. Phillips, Commander of the British Home Fleet, sighed.

The stars in the sky mean that tomorrow will still be good weather, and a good weather means that German aircraft will rule the English Channel again.

The British fleet had to avoid its edge, and the chance of artillery bombardment was only short-lived. All this is bad news for the UK, how not to make Phillips sigh?

The night sea breeze was blowing on his face~www.wuxiaspot.com~ A cold feeling spread all over his body. The sound of German planes could already be faintly heard overhead, which were all transport planes flying to the United Kingdom to drop supplies.

They shouldered the responsibility of replenishing material and ammunition at night, and also provided important material supplies for the German army.

On the night of February 14, 1941, the battle for the English Channel would break out immediately, and a fierce naval and air war would soon begin a tragic prelude as time went by.

"May God bless England... Long live His Majesty the King, use the lantern to signal, the battle begins!" Withdrawing his gaze from the sky, Phillips gave the order to start the battle——

Today, because of something, I will update a chapter. Please understand.

Tomorrow, Long Ling will go to other places with his family. The time is about two to three days. During the period, there may be no guarantee of updates. I will tell you in advance that if there is any interruption, it will be regarded as Long Ling's leave, and he will definitely make up when he comes back. superior.

Of course, if the environment allows, Longling will definitely be updated, please rest assured.

above……