The Third Reich in Desperation

Everyone knows that the first marshal of Poland, Joseph Piłsudski, used the re-trained Polish army to defeat the Soviet Red Army commanded by Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevski in 1920. Western Front.

However, few people know that before that, it was the French military guidance mission in Poland that helped Piłsudski to train the army.And the head of the French guiding mission at that time was Wei Gang!

Afterwards, Wei Gang successively served as chief military advisor in Syria and Lebanon, director of the French Military Research Center, chief of staff, vice chairman of the Supreme Military Council, and director of the Army.It can be said that Wei Gang has really come to today step by step, no matter his record or resume, he is impeccable!

Moreover, Wei Gang opposed the appeasement policy of the French government from the very beginning, and disapproved of pinning national security on a Maginot line of defense. He was a rare and sensible person in France.

If it hadn't been for the outbreak of the German-French War, Wey Gang, a real French general, should have continued to serve as the commander-in-chief of the French French troops stationed in Syria and Lebanon, organizing the Eastern Army, and preparing to attack the southern part of the Soviet Union.

However, the German attack made this famous French general, who was determined to defeat the Soviet army again, stand on the opposite side of Germany.

"Because the rest of our army is poorly equipped and lacks air support, I can only concentrate them on the Somme and Aisne Rivers to build a new line of defense, taking advantage of the river's favorable location and defending against danger. At the same time, I will put the Maginot Line From the garrison in the center, draw about 8 divisions to strengthen the new line of defense."

At the end of the meeting, Weygand took the telescoping pole from Berante, stood in front of the map and announced loudly: "Whether the British succeed or fail in Dunkirk, the fate of France is still determined by us French. For once, we will not let the Germans bypass the lines again! Long live France!"

"Long live France!"

Everyone responded loudly.

Text Chapter 381 Centennial Navy

In the icy North Sea, the British Royal Navy, which had discovered the traces of the first mixed fleet of the German High Seas Fleet through seaplanes, quickly under the command of General Cunningham, the nearby large aircraft carrier Ark Royal, and the battleship Hood and other 6 A battleship was immediately thrown at the first mixed fleet of the German High Seas Fleet that was discovered.

The German First Fleet of Lütjens is a mixed fleet with 8 Z-class destroyers, 3 new cruisers, 2 Zeppelin-class aircraft carriers, 1 new battleship, and 10 F-class frigates.

What Cunningham used to deal with them was 6 battleships of the Royal Navy's home fleet, 1 of the most advanced aircraft carriers in the UK, and more than 30 cruisers and destroyers.

In fact, this is the most advanced aircraft carrier in the UK. It is the second aircraft carrier named HMS Ark Royal in the history of the Royal Navy. It cost the British government about 2 million pounds, making it the most expensive warship in the Royal Navy so far.

As the most advanced aircraft carrier in the UK, HMS Ark Royal's carrier-based aircraft includes 48 Swordfish torpedo attack aircraft and 12 "Osprey" fighter-bombers, which means a total of 60 aircraft.

In contrast, the huge carrying capacity of the 105 carrier-based aircraft of the German Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier can be described as abnormal in this era.

On the other hand, although the finale force of both sides has not yet been put into the forefront.However, the most capable vanguard fleets of both sides were taken as first-hand.

Strategically speaking, Cunningham used the main force of the British home fleet in the first batch.To this end, he assembled all the battleships that could be dispatched for this operation, as well as a state-of-the-art aircraft carrier.And what he stayed behind were only three aircraft carriers that were more backward than the Ark Royal, and some destroyers who stayed behind to protect the aircraft carrier.

In contrast, Raeder appeared to be more secure. He assigned nearly 7% of the main force of the German High Seas Fleet to the second mixed fleet under his command, and only let Lütjens lead less than 3% of the High Seas Fleet. The first mixed fleet, to touch the fist of the British fleet.

Of course, this is clearly an unfair matchup.Although Lütjens has two large space carriers, in terms of basic combat effectiveness, they are already twice as strong as the British Vanguard Fleet.However, an aircraft carrier that does not have enough battleships, cruisers, and destroyer groups to escort it, even if its carrying capacity is high, its survivability in naval battles is far inferior to those aircraft carrier formations that have sufficient escort fleets.

Once approached by a group of high-speed cruisers and destroyers, no matter how powerful an aircraft carrier is, it will die!

And more importantly, the naval warships of the German High Seas Fleet are generally one level lower than the British warships.Except that the battleships were not inferior to the British army in quality, the German cruisers and destroyers were all downgraded products with enhanced air defense and anti-submarine capabilities, but the artillery combat power was weakened by a whole level.

In other words, even if the same number of German escort formations encounter British escort formations, the German army will be one level lower than the British army on average in naval bombardment.What's more, Lütjens's current first mixed fleet has less than half of the British vanguard fleet in terms of escort battleships!

This is almost an asymmetric strength gap.The British army has battleships, cruisers, and destroyers as their firepower. As long as they get close to the German aircraft carrier, they can win with one move.

The Royal Navy possessed such overwhelming artillery firepower that it suppressed the German army's chances of winning a frontal battle at zero almost from the beginning.Coupled with decades of uninterrupted bombardment training by the Royal Navy, their artillery combat capabilities have been abruptly higher than that of German warships!

This is also an important reason why Reinhardt is unwilling to compete with the British on giant cannon ships, because it is too difficult to win against these veteran navy birds.

It was precisely because he knew that he was no match that Reinhardt asked the German Navy to put all their bets on strange moves.Ten years ago, he signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to limit the tonnage of German surface warships, deliberately lowered his posture, and suppressed the number of German battleships and cruisers.

At the same time, he also placed all his bets on the aircraft carrier, putting his hopes for future naval battles on the aircraft carrier tactics, which were considered unorthodox at the time, but were hailed as classic aircraft carrier tactics in later generations!

On the cold and lonely surface of the North Sea, Lütjens's first mixed fleet, led by the only battleship, formed an inverted V shape and advanced at a constant speed.

In the center of the majestic battleships, the inverted V-shaped escort fleet lined up, and two huge Zeppelin-class large aircraft carriers were slowly driving.

On the aircraft carrier, the fw-10s that were parked full 190 minutes ago have become bustling and crowded.

In the distance, on the endless sea, these fighter planes from Germany are forming to rush towards the oncoming British vanguard fleet.

This is the first battle, and it is also the decisive battle!

"If I were the commander of the German navy, I would just leave the fighters behind and immediately withdraw all the warships to the port?" Standing on the flagship, Cunningham, the commander of the Royal Navy, couldn't help feeling: "They Shouldn't be head-to-head with the Royal Navy!"

To be honest, after so many years of fighting, Cunningham is considered experienced in himself.However, from the time he saw each other with the German High Seas Fleet, he couldn't imagine the possibility of the German army winning.

During the First World War, he served as the captain of the destroyer and in 1938 as the deputy chief of staff of the Navy.Then in 1939, he served as the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, and in 1940 he was transferred back to the Home Fleet as the commander.Cunningham's insight is definitely one of the best in the Royal Navy.

The Royal Navy of the British Empire is the most powerful navy in the world. This is not an exaggerated advertisement, but a fact witnessed by all other countries in the world.

The British navy not only has 400 years of noble blood flowing, but also has saved Britain in crisis time and time again.

When everyone sees the glorious side of the British Navy, they don’t notice that it started so hard. Even the pirates can be compared with the British Navy when it was founded, and the powerful Spain and the Netherlands ignored the British Navy. There are all kinds of humiliation, and the Royal Navy, which was born in a difficult situation, paid high tuition fees almost with blood chips, until they finally defeated Spain, the Netherlands, France, and China, which once underestimated their existence. Supported the empire on which the sun never sets like no one before and no one to come after.

This is the capital of a maritime power.Not only the glory after becoming famous, but also the struggle before becoming famous.

It takes at least 100 years for a forest to form.The experience of a mature navy also takes countless hours.

In the Navy, a battleship usually takes several years to build, maybe longer.The requirements for soldiers in the navy are even higher, not only physical fitness but also a strong cultural level.

The navy needs to constantly explore and advance. Based on accumulated experience, design reasonable hull cabins, magazines, rest areas, etc., as well as fire control systems with particularly high technical content.If it weren't for Reinhardt who took the German navy to take shortcuts and bypassed many detours, Germany would never be able to compete with Britain on the sea.

Centennial Navy!Even for this alone, the German High Seas Fleet is inferior to the British Royal Navy.

Chapter 382 Soviet battleships outside of intelligence

The quality of the British warship itself is enough to resist the siege of twice the number of German warships of the same level. Not to mention, the battlefield chosen by Cunningham for the decisive battle is even more difficult to get out of the central waters of the North Sea. Once encountered, the German High Seas Fleet can only be stubborn. Scalp down.

In the sea area where the two sides are about to contact, each side puts a vanguard fleet, just like putting a grain of rice on the dinner plate!Naval battles are different from land battles, and there are not so many terrain advantages to rely on.Especially when fighting on the surface of the North Sea, it was a purely tactical duel without any fancy skills.

Apart from defeating the opponent head-on, neither side has any escape route.Of course, if you are willing to constantly accept the artillery fire from below on the long escape route, you can also turn around and run away regardless of your escape.It's just that, the loss is even less worthwhile.

The North Sea is an important defense chain for Britain to block the German sea transportation line.Regarding how to use the geographical environment of this sea area, how to arrange scheduling, and how to reinforce the defense, the British Admiralty's simulation deduction has almost never stopped, so that in this actual battle, they can act perfectly according to the combat target table with their eyes closed.And this kind of interlocking combat action table has also been formed through countless deductions and cannot be more mature.

With a new fleet that has been rebuilt less than 20 years ago, the German army relies on an aircraft carrier with almost zero melee combat capabilities. It is a joke to escape the skilled and persuasive pursuit of the British navy.

Even though Cunningham and the officers on the flagship HMS Ark Royal knew that the Germans had used aircraft carrier tactics to win a battle at Narvik Hill in Norway, they couldn't believe that the High Seas Fleet could survive under such circumstances today. , again to win.

"According to intelligence, not only does Germany's High Seas Fleet not have enough surface warships, even the existing warships are generally weak in firepower. With only four aircraft carriers, I really can't figure out what they can win?" Standing on the Ark Royal On the most advanced aircraft carrier in the UK, Cunningham smiled confidently.

........

"What chance do we have to support the High Seas Fleet to boldly take on this duel? I believe the commander of the British Fleet must be very confused now." At the same time, Raeder, the commander-in-chief of the German High Seas Fleet, couldn't help expressing emotion: " This group of conceited British people have been proud for too long. They just stand on the shore all the time, but they will never understand what is happening under the water, and it is even more impossible to understand the true strength of the German navy. point!"

German destroyers and cruisers generally have smaller artillery calibers, which are not as good as British warships of the same class. Such news was actually deliberately released by Reinhardt for the British to spy on.

Raeder is very clear that the inductive intelligence that the British have at the moment has reached the point where they can seriously affect their judgment, allowing the mighty Royal Navy to quietly step into a huge grave in the North Sea in a daze!

The British thought that Germany only had 2 aircraft carriers.But they don't know that Germany's Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier has almost twice the number of carrier-based aircraft than their most advanced Ark Royal aircraft carrier. Even if only two are needed, it is more than the four of the British home fleet. The total number of large-scale carrier-based aircraft is even more.

Moreover, the number of aircraft carriers in the High Seas Fleet is 6!

So when the British still think that the Royal Navy has more aircraft carriers than the High Seas Fleet, Raeder knows that the number of aircraft carriers in his hands is not only 2 more than the British, but also in terms of quality. All of them are much higher than the aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy.