Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 88: Home Fleet

"Churchill, is this what you want to see? You are pushing the Royal Navy into hell. Net", admiral John Cronin Tovey murmured during the war.

The 55-year-old general is in the golden age of a fleet commander. He is physically strong, mentally flexible, energetic and has a wealth of experience and experience.

Twenty-four years ago, Tovey participated in the Battle of Jutland as a destroyer captain, and showed excellent quality and command ability in the battle. His career started from this, and he was sent to the Naval Academy for further study. , And then steadily climbed step by step from the commander of the squadron. He was taught by several of the top commanders of the Royal Navy. He worked hard for many years, worked hard and performed his duties, and finally stood out from many competitors and boarded the United Kingdom. The throne of the commander of the Royal Navy's home fleet, at least in the eyes of outsiders.

In the past, this position was the lifelong dream of all Royal Navy officers. To be able to enter this position at this age, in addition to having a strong network, you must also have outstanding performance beyond others. This is the best personal ability. prove. More importantly, only those generals who have served as commanders of the three major fleets can be qualified for the higher ranks of the navy, and finally enter the core leadership of the navy, grasp the direction of naval development, and be recorded in the history of the Royal Navy.

However, when Tovey took over the appointment letter from the Secretary of the Navy, he did not feel the slightest excitement and pride at all. He knew very well that his commander was picked up.

Those strong competitors have not sunk into the sea. There is already an important task in the body, and the rest is the old and the weak who cannot serve. He is actually the last candidate in the ranking list. He also served as deputy commander in the Mediterranean Fleet in Cunningham last week. This week, he became the enviable commander-in-chief of the local fleet of the Royal Navy. There was no review or test. There was only a simple signature of Churchill. In Tovey's view, this was like a comedy.

Rather than serving as the commander-in-chief of the local fleet, Tovey is actually more willing to squat in Egypt to bask in the sun. The commander of the local fleet is no longer a hot potato, but a hot potato. But Tovey has no choice at all. He can only accept the appointment honestly, otherwise he will have to be sent to a military court. During the war, there is no reason to say.

The British mainland fleet now has only one name left. The huge fleet that once made the world tremble, Dunkirk's battle was severely interrupted by the Germans. The British battle fleet that once scorned Qunlun. There are only two old ships that were launched before World War I, and the battlecruiser fleet, regarded as the pride of the navy, was destroyed in that battle.

In the months after the war, there were several squadron-scale naval battles between Britain and Germany, but luck was always on the German side. In every battle, the British navy broke into sand and feathers. Categorized as the end. Take the Faroe Islands naval battle, in which the British navy was sunk four cruisers at a time, which was unprecedented in the history of the British Royal Navy. The Orion sunk during the naval battle. The ship that used to be Tovey had just been transferred from the Mediterranean Destroyer Unit to the mainland less than two weeks ago, and it turned into a pile of wreckage under the gunfire of the German Navy. Tovey was able to call out the names of every officer on the ship and most of the crew. The sinking of this battleship made him depressed for a long time.

Due to the frantic ravages of the German Navy’s submarines, aircraft, and surface ships, the British Royal Navy’s Atlantic and home fleets have never stopped losing blood. Several or even a dozen destroyers are lost every week. The reasons for the loss are varied, mines , Air strikes, submarines and German assault ships. Accidents caused by fatigue caused by long-term continuous work and the deterioration of the quality of supplementary novice sailors also accounted for a certain share. Accidents such as rocking, grounding, and collisions did not occur in the Royal Navy for several years before. It will happen frequently, and the number of destroyers damaged due to man-made damage in the last half month has reached 22.

Because of *, in the eyes of British civilians, the Royal Navy is still powerful and invincible. This is an important psychological pillar for the government to maintain the normal life and order of society. They convince people that as long as the Royal Navy is still there, the United Kingdom Will not be invaded. But as a senior general in the Royal Navy, Tovey had long known that the current Royal Navy was actually on the verge of collapse.

Destroyers and light cruisers are exhausted on various routes in the Atlantic. If you want to maintain the normal operation of Britain, the Navy must ensure that three **** formations can reach the port every day. On important Atlantic routes, about 20 to 30 **** formations shuttle between the two continents every day. In addition to braving the wind and rain, the crew is also tortured by German navy submarines and attack ships.

In each port, there are still a similar number of fleets being formed. Each **** formation needs four to six **** ships to defend. The Germans have proved with facts that British ocean-going **** gunboats and ocean-going armed fishing boats are simply unable to protect the safety of the fleet. They can't even protect their own safety. For German submarines and large assault ships, these **** gunboats can only be considered A small snack before appetizer.

The British Navy can only put most of the regular destroyers into **** missions. The oldest of these destroyers can be traced back to the middle of World War I. Both speed and firepower have long been inadequate, and the cutting-edge destroyers have It has the latest deep bomb equipment, but lacks detection methods. Due to the insufficient number, each group could only obtain two or even one destroyer. When the German submarine attacked, the performance of these destroyers was disappointing, and they were almost helpless in the face of the German submarine's companion attack from several directions. In the Atlantic, the transport ships were still sent to the bottom of the sea by German ships one after another, often with one or two unlucky destroyers.

In the past few months, the number of destroyers in the Royal Navy has dropped from 183 at the start of the war to a sad 46. A full three-quarters of the destroyers have been lost. Most of the remaining destroyers are minesweeping models. There is neither resources nor time for retrofitting. In the end, only a few deep bomb throwing racks were welded hastily and they were caught on the **** of no return.

And the huge cruiser fleet has become a yellow flower yesterday. There are 38 light cruisers of two types and ten grades, which seem to be huge in number. However, these warships are scattered and distributed in addition to the three fleets of the Royal Navy, and they must also take into account the maritime defenses of the British Empire's colonies. Each base will be put on one or two, and they are scattered like sesame seeds. Due to weak defense and firepower, these light cruisers suffered heavy losses in the **** and previous combat missions. Since the start of the war, 17 light cruisers have sunk to the seabed or lost their combat effectiveness, and five light cruisers are awaiting repairs. Two of the remaining light cruisers are still pure air defense cruisers, and their combat effectiveness is almost negligible.

Tovey felt embarrassed. Even at this time, Churchill still had to play tricks, launching a surprise attack on the French warships anchored in British ports, and the result was that he stole chickens and failed to lose money. Not only did not seize any French ships, but also took in some of the remaining elite of the British Royal Navy's home fleet.

The light cruiser squadron parked in Portsmouth suffered unpredictable disaster. The defenseless Shijo Linsen-class light cruiser was broken into pieces by the main guns of the French battleship. This ship class was destroyed in one night, and it was unfortunate at the same time. There were also two Southampton-class light cruisers. The Southampton and Newcastle light cruisers, which were resupply in the harbor, suffered heavy losses. At last, they were docked in shallow water and the ship sank on the seabed. The navy was preparing for salvage. However, due to lack of equipment and materials, it is difficult to complete in a time. Tovey jokes himself, if the action before him fails. Then the salvage work may have to be left to the Germans.

Tovey now holds the last strike force assembled by the British Royal Navy, and it is also the final essence of the three major fleets. Tovey looked at the list of ships compiled by the fleet, and couldn't help feeling a desolate feeling of crying without tears.

The only remaining battleship in the local fleet is the Queen Elizabeth. This battleship that served in 1915 was once the pride of the Royal Navy. It was the first major battleship to use all-oil boilers and install a 15-inch main gun. The Queen Elizabeth became a star in the eyes of the world and was appointed as the flagship of the Royal Navy's Ocean Fleet.

All her sister ships participated in the magnificent Battle of Jutland. In the fierce battle line bombing, she showed strong defense and offensive power, but she happened to be refitted on the slipway and failed to catch up with that battle. During the Battle of Dunkirk, her sister ship was sunk in the German Army's heavy-caliber artillery and bomber torpedo attacks. She happened to be refitted on the slipway at the time and failed to catch up with that battle. In a sense, this is a lucky ship with strange luck.

In the end, the Queen Elizabeth failed to completely complete the modification. Due to time constraints, after the Battle of Dunkirk, the Navy ordered the cessation of subsequent modifications and the completion as soon as possible. At that time, the battleship had completed the strengthening of the horizontal armor and the replacement of the new boiler, and was preparing for the construction of the new bridge. As a result, it had to dismantle and build the general bridge, and reinstall the old equipment that was removed and replaced. However, the subsequent improvement of the antiaircraft artillery was also delayed because the replacement antiaircraft artillery could not be delivered. As a result, the original antiaircraft weapons could only be used.

Queen Elizabeth hurriedly and finally returned to the fleet in mid-July, but at this time she became the only battleship in the local fleet. If she wanted to gather a battleship squadron, she could only expect George The V-class will soon be launched into service.

Alongside the Queen Elizabeth, there are three Kent-class heavy cruisers. At the beginning of the war, the British Royal Navy had a mighty five-tier and eighteen heavy cruisers. Up to now, only these three were able to be dispatched. The rest were sunk and captured in previous naval battles. There is a batch of wounds to be repaired.

Originally, the Mediterranean Fleet also had a London-class heavy cruiser, but the attempted attack on the French fleet resulted in annoyance to the French. Now the French naval fleet is patrolling the coast of North Africa, and forced the Mediterranean fleet back to its homeland alive. Until the French are relieved, the Mediterranean fleet seems to be unable to get out of the Strait of Gibraltar.

In the end, the local fleet was able to find out, only one battleship, three heavy cruisers and seven light cruisers, four J-type destroyers and the latest four n-type destroyers. It is said that the new ones are because these destroyers have just launched less than three. Zhou did not even conduct sea trials a few times. The sailors on it were newer than the ships, and the average age was only seventeen.

Nineteen battleships, with a complete range of battleships, powerful firepower, and extraordinary strength. Wherever they are placed, they are sea forces that cannot be ignored. They can already surpass the entire naval power of some small countries. But looking back and comparing with the original Royal Navy’s native fleet, one has a sense of sadness that the yellow leaves are everywhere and the heroes are late. The once sunless empire, the world’s No. 1 navy, will actually be reduced to such a point. Can't help but sigh that the world is impermanent, there is no city that does not fall, and there is no dynasty that will last forever.

Tovey didn’t have time to express his feelings. His task was to take this last fleet, break through the German interception, reach the Strait of Dover, strike a fierce fire on the anchorage of the German landing fleet, and then pass through. Crossing the strait and detouring to the western port of England for resupply, if the first attack worked well, he considered that he could turn his head and come back again.

As for whether he will encounter the German Navy, Tovey does not make any guesses at all, because it is inevitable. The Royal Navy has its own intelligence system. Although the intelligence network in Europe has been severely damaged, there are still some The personnel are preserved and can obtain sporadic information. The main fleet of the German Navy has left its home port and has entered the North Sea in terms of time. The Naval Command judged that one part of it should be entering the Atlantic Ocean to continue the attack, while the other part was entering the strait to **** the landing operation.

Churchill believes that relying on the existing fleet of the British Royal Navy, it should be possible to break through the defense line of the German Navy. The German Navy also suffered a lot of damage in several operations, and it is impossible to maintain its original combat effectiveness. The Royal Navy is well-trained and experienced commanders. Even if it cannot defeat the enemy, it can at least retreat. This action of the Royal Navy also carried the meaning of a declaration of existence, letting the Germans know that their Royal Navy had not been overthrown, and that the German Navy could not do whatever it wanted in the strait. Churchill tried to use this method to undermine the confidence of the Germans, shake the Germans, and possibly delay the landing time.

Nineteen warships, one attack on the harbor is enough, but Tovey feels a little unsure about fighting a naval battle.

Tovey stood on the nautical bridge of the Kent heavy cruiser and looked towards the side, only to find that he seemed to have forgotten a warship, or that he had been subconsciously trying to ignore this warship. In front of Tovey's eyes, less than 500 meters from the port side of the Kent, an odd-looking warship was struggling to move forward, trying to keep up with the formation, and the swell from the bow was almost overwhelming. deck.

The Dark Boundary shallow-water heavy gunboat, a flat-bottomed ship with 15-inch guns. The coast of Dover is in urgent need of heavy artillery support. The Royal Navy decided to transfer it from Portsmouth to Dover, so it was ordered here. Chu merged with the local fleet~IndoMTL.com~ Everyone who didn't know thought she was about to sink, and we couldn't do this anymore. We would be killed by this burden. "Tovey turned angrily and said to the captain.

"Send a signal to the Dark Boundary and let it choose its own route, suggesting that she sail along the British coastline. We will speed up, this **** twelve knots."

"The radar room report found an enemy plane, fifty in number, seven kilometers away, flying towards us!" The deputy captain suddenly shouted loudly.

"Raise the alarm and prepare for air defense operations." Tovey had anticipated this situation a long time ago. The fleet has maintained a tight air defense formation since entering the strait.

"Well, now let's see if the miracle Churchill said actually exists." Tovey walked to the side of the bridge and looked into the sky with a telescope. (To be continued)

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