Chương 276: Chapter 354 Maritime Plunder (1)
Early the next morning, Churchill convened a high-level meeting to discuss how to deal with the German super cannon.
Commander-in-Chief of the Home Defense Forces, Viscount Alan Francis Brooke, proposed, "We should immediately send bombers to destroy those cannons."
Commander-in-Chief of the Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Edgar Rainey Ludlow-Hewitt, coldly remarked, "How do we bomb them? The Germans are not fools; won't they be prepared? There might be hundreds of fighter planes guarding the area. Sending our bombers there would be walking into a trap."
Viscount Brooke frowned. "We still have to bomb them; otherwise, we'll just take hits without retaliation, right?"
Marshal Hewitt spread his hands. "In any case, the air force doesn't have the capability to execute such a mission. Should we send infantry to cross the channel and bomb them?" He certainly didn't want to see his capital bombed day after day, but he would unhesitatingly send bomber squadrons to destroy the German cannons if there was even a slight chance of success. The problem now was that even if he was willing to pay a heavy price, it might not necessarily achieve the objective.
As the discussion grew more intense, several shells fell into the London city area again. Churchill's expression became even more grim. After all, just yesterday at noon, he had solemnly assured the nation through the broadcast that not a single bomb would fall within the city of London. Now, the citizens of London were shivering in air-raid shelters, and even he and his colleagues were conducting meetings in an underground bunker.
Crushing the cigar in his hand, Churchill issued a command with an unquestionable tone. "The German cannons must be destroyed. We cannot allow them to continue bombing recklessly. The Air Force will be responsible for this. I want to see results within three days!"
Since the Prime Minister had spoken, Commander-in-Chief Hewitt could only reluctantly agree. "Yes." He thought to himself that it seemed the bomber squadrons would suffer heavy losses this time.
As Churchill was about to adjourn the meeting, a panicked secretary rushed in. "Prime Minister, the Admiralty is calling. One of our convoys has encountered a German fleet."
"What?!" Churchill was greatly surprised, standing up abruptly. "Which convoy is it? What are the losses?!"
The secretary replied, "It's Convoy 415, mainly transporting food and steel. Their last message was that the Germans are boarding the ships."
"Boarding?" Churchill furrowed his brows in confusion. While sinking could be understood, what did boarding mean?
In the vast Atlantic Ocean over 1500 kilometers away from the United Kingdom, the German fleet received information from reconnaissance aircraft. "According to the speed of this convoy, they will enter the attack range of our carrier-based aircraft in thirty minutes."
The United Kingdom, being a resource-scarce island nation, heavily depended on overseas supplies for its daily life and production materials. Despite its relatively large land area, the natural conditions and geographical factors couldn't sustain a population of over forty million people. Many essential goods and production materials relied almost entirely on supplies from overseas colonies, with an annual shipping volume exceeding 68 million tons and over 2500 ships transported daily.
The former Secretary of the Navy in the original timeline, Pound, once said, "If we lose the naval battle, we lose the entire war!"
Under the guidance of the submarine genius Dönitz and his invented "wolfpack tactics," a small number of U-boats caused unimaginable trouble for Britain. Between September 1939 and May 1940, German submarines sank over 240 merchant ships, totaling 850,000 tons, with only 24 submarines lost. By 1942, Britain's imports had dropped to 28.5 million tons, equivalent to only 42% of the pre-war level. Churchill later recalled, "The only thing that truly frightened me during the war was the threat of German submarines... their attacks were the most devastating disaster."
Despite the effectiveness and elusiveness of submarines, this weapon was limited by its own capabilities and couldn't completely strangle Britain's transport fleets. Even with Dönitz's wolfpack tactics improving the efficiency of hunting, it still couldn't compare to the effectiveness of aircraft carriers.
Carrier fleets with carrier-based aircraft could control tens of thousands of square kilometers of sea, launching rapid strikes on targets within this area using air power. Coupled with carrier-based reconnaissance planes, there were rarely any escaping targets, effectively strangling Britain's shipping lines and completely cutting off its maritime lifelines.
In the bridge of the Graf Zeppelin carrier, Admiral Lütjens issued the order. "Prepare to dispatch attack aircraft."
The current German carrier was equipped with the A-1 attack aircraft, originally the successor to the main US Navy attack aircraft SBD during World War II, now claimed by Wilhelm. The manufacturing process of this attack aircraft wasn't overly complex but had many distinctive features. For instance, its range could reach an astonishing 2500 kilometers; it had a terrifying payload, with 14 underwing pylons and one central fuselage pylon capable of carrying up to 3036 kilograms of bombs. This didn't include the four 20mm machine guns with 200 rounds each, making it much more formidable than the liquid-cooled and short-legged Stuka.
A staff member spoke up, "General, is it a bit wasteful to just sink them like this? Can't we capture this fleet? After all, there are war supplies on board."
Upon hearing this bizarre idea, everyone looked at each other. Lütjens nodded thoughtfully. "In the past, submarines have sunk countless ships, even if they wanted to capture them, it was impossible. Now we have speed, firepower, and advanced radar. Even at night, we're not afraid of them escaping. Alright, that's the plan. Order the Marine Corps to prepare for boarding."
Half an hour later, a shrill combat alert sounded over the British transport convoy. Captain Hamilton furrowed his brow, muttering in dissatisfaction, "Damn it, weren't German submarines supposed to avoid daytime attacks? His ship wasn't carrying any critical strategic materials, so it couldn't be sailing in the core area. On the contrary, it was closer to the periphery. If it really was a German submarine, his ship would be susceptible to attack.
"Henry, your eyes are sharp. Go out and keep an eye on things to avoid getting hit by torpedoes."
The recent encounter was still vivid in everyone's memory. The last transport convoy had also been attacked by a wolfpack. Many ships were sunk, and those remaining were busy trying to escape, paying no attention to the compatriots in the water. No one knew if the Germans bothered rescuing them. If even the Germans didn't care, they would die out there.
Although he had been drifting on the sea for a lifetime, Captain Hamilton didn't want to die at sea. He still wanted to see his son and hug his grandson.
Henry quickly pushed open the iron door of the bridge, standing on the iron ladder outside the island, gazing at the distant sea.
Soon, he shouted, "Captain Hamilton, Captain Hamilton, it's not a submarine, it's German planes!"
Planes? Captain Hamilton instinctively crouched down and looked out. He happened to see two German planes flying across the sky from the front.
This place was thousands of miles away from mainland Europe. How could German planes fly here? What was going on?!
Before Captain Hamilton could think too much, the planes in the sky made a provocative dive and flew over the convoy.
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