Chapter 358: The Fate of the Nation

“A weakness?” A glint of light flashed in Churchill’s eyes. He needed a victory so badly. He needed a great victory to continue the myth of the British Empire’s invincibility. Hearing Vice-Admiral Holland say this, he felt as if he could see the future, as if he were already standing on the monument of a won war.

“After repeated research and discussion, I have confirmed that although the German High Seas Fleet is powerful, it has a fatal weakness,” Vice-Admiral Holland said, looking into Churchill’s eyes. “This is also a fatal weakness that has been confirmed after our disastrous defeat two days ago.”

“Let’s hear it!” Churchill was already a little impatient. He was very eager to know what this weakness that Holland was talking about was, and if it could be successfully exploited, whether it was really possible to defeat the German High Seas Fleet in one go.

“The German carriers cannot fight at night!” Holland did not beat around the bush, but very straightforwardly stated his own idea. “I have asked the technical personnel on the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. They all say that to take off with naval fighters on a windy and rough night is a suicidal act. And this is in the case where our army is using a large number of two-seater fighters and bombers! The German army, in pursuit of performance, has all its fighters piloted by a single person, so the possibility of them being able to fight at night is even lower!”

“Continue,” Churchill said. He also seemed to have thought of something, but he was, after all, not a professional naval fleet commander, so he still intended to listen to the opinions put forward by Vice-Admiral Holland.

“And we can notice that in the execution of the Operation Dynamo mission in the last two days, the losses of our army at night were basically caused by three things: the first is mines, the second is submarines, and the third is large bombers,” Vice-Admiral Holland said, holding up three fingers. “This explains one problem, that is, their navy and air force fighters are the same as ours! They are unable to sortie at night! Or even if they are forced to sortie, they have no ability to attack!”

“And apart from the aircraft carriers, which have super-strong attack capabilities during the day, the German naval fleet is all composed of insignificant small ships. As long as our fleet can charge into the enemy’s carrier fleet, in just half an hour, I am confident I can sink all the German ships!” Vice-Admiral Holland said finally, full of confidence.

Indeed, if any one of the British Navy’s battleships were to charge into the German naval formation, those fragile carriers and the escort fleet with their clearly insufficient cannon caliber would just be a small dish under the muzzle of the battleship’s guns.

And in the British Navy’s weapons catalog, there was just such a type of warship that was world-famous for assaulting and bullying small ships, and that was the battlecruiser of the Royal Navy. And at this very moment, in the British mainland, there were the battlecruisers Hood and Renown. If one were to add the cruisers and destroyers with similar speeds, they would definitely be sure to sink all of the German naval fleet within two hours.

“This method is not without thought, but the entire plan has a congenital defect,” a naval admiral said, seeming to sneer at this plan. “The reconnaissance range of carrier-based aircraft is quite far. If nothing unexpected happens, they will definitely discover our fleet at a distance of at least 150 nautical miles. Even if it is not enough to launch an attack, this distance is still enough to escape. The navy sending out warships and the other side running away—this kind of thing has happened more than once or twice.”

“This time is different. Their attention is all on the English Channel. Our fleet can get closer to the enemy!” Vice-Admiral Holland said resolutely. “And we can lie in wait in our own coastal waters in batches and slowly approach the German fleet! No matter how many reconnaissance planes they have, it’s impossible for them to risk being shot down to get close to our coastline!”

“In addition, the number of Hurricane fighters has accumulated to a certain number recently. It should be possible to send out 30 to drive away the German reconnaissance planes in the coastal waters, right?” Vice-Admiral Holland asked, looking at the several air force generals.

“If it’s just to drive away the German navy’s reconnaissance planes, then if we concentrate our forces, it should still be possible to complete,” an air force general said, glancing at Churchill. Only after seeing Churchill nod did he reply. “But once this mission is carried out, then our army’s only 35 Hurricane fighters can only be concentrated near the coastline. At that time, the air defense over the whole of Britain will be equivalent to being undefended.”

During the day, use the land-based air arm to cover a quiet approach to the target. At night, suddenly appear and charge toward the German fleet. In a state of night gunnery battle, which the Germans are not good at, destroy the German naval fleet. This plan—is feasible!

After a brief thought, Churchill immediately came to this conclusion. As long as he could solve this big trouble at sea in one go, then the remaining Dunkirk would be very easy to handle. Even if 200,000 of the army were to be lost at Dunkirk, with the navy as a barrier, the Germans would not be able to cross the channel for a while.

It was just that this time, the navy had to risk its most elite warships to fight to the death. The outcome was also unpredictable. If they won, they could beat Germany back to its original state. If they lost, they would be unable to recover. This was the legendary battle for the fate of the British Empire!

He thought of this and then nodded, giving the final word on this emergency meeting. “Like this! Arrange for the main fleet to go south! Stand by near the English Channel! Then, with a fleet composed of the Hood, the Renown, as well as three cruisers and six destroyers, look for an opportunity for a decisive battle!”

He paused and then continued to give his orders. “To confuse the Germans, continue to evacuate the Dunkirk troops for the next few days! As bait to lure the German High Seas Fleet! In addition, the air force is to draw on its elite forces, concentrate the Hurricane fighters, and ensure the absolute air security on the day of the operation!”

“Yes, sir!” everyone stood up at attention and responded to Churchill.

“What are the chances?” After the meeting was over, Churchill kept Vice-Admiral Holland, who had provided this operational plan, behind and personally asked about some of the operational details.

“If there are no accidents, the chances are at least seventy percent! As long as the German navy takes the bait this time, it won’t be able to escape!” Holland said with full confidence. “I have assessed the German navy’s night combat capability. It’s about the same as the firepower of three cruisers! Even if you count their three so-called armored ships, they are no match for the Renown and the Hood!”

“Moreover,” Holland thought for a moment and then added, “once our fleet has entangled the German carriers, the battleships following behind just have to catch up…”

“A battle for the fate of the nation! It all comes down to this!” Churchill said bleakly. He looked full of heroic spirit, but it was a pity that to bet the entire fate of the nation on a single battle was in itself a tragedy for a great power.

At the same moment as Churchill was deciding to go all in, on the runway of a German air force airfield in the Netherlands, in a secret and important military base of the German Air Force, a large number of German bombers were preparing for a sortie.

“One, two, three, push! One, two, three, push!” The ground crew were using a special loading vehicle to install high-explosive ammunition on the Butcher bombers. One by one, 250-kilogram heavy bombs were hung in the bomb bays of the Butcher bombers. The airfield was brightly lit, and searchlights were providing illumination for the night loading work.

On both sides of the airfield runway were, in fact, a dark mass of Butcher bombers, one after another. After several days of accumulation, these German strategic bombers that had bombed London had already accumulated an astonishing number. Compared to the time they had gone to London, this time the German strategic bomber group already had a massive scale of a full 80 aircraft.

“After taking off from the Netherlands, we will fly in a northwesterly direction. I understand,” not far away, several pilots were confirming their flight route with the navigators and ground commanders. They were pointing at the route map and repeatedly confirming it, because taking off at night to carry out a bombing mission was not an easy matter.

“I wonder if this bombing mission will be smooth,” on the airport command tower, the person in charge of commanding this bombing mission was still the commander-in-chief of the German bomber force, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Dick. He was frowning at the combat target and asked his adjutant.

“General, the Führer has said that ancient China has a art of war, which is called ‘When you are real, feign being empty; when you are empty, feign being real!’ I think this sentence is very well said. It is simply a military maxim.”

The adjutant proudly pointed to the map and comforted Dick. “We bombed Dunkirk for two days, so tonight they will think our strategic bomber group will fly to Dunkirk! But tonight, we are going to bomb the British mainland instead!”

“I hope that this time, we don’t go to bomb London, and we won’t encounter those fighters called the Hurricane. This way, there won’t be any major losses,” Dick also relaxed a little and said, staring at the map.

“Don’t worry! The intelligence department has given us the news that the British fighter units are all moving south. They are trying to ensure air superiority near Dunkirk. General Kesselring analyzes that the British probably have some designs on our carrier fleet,” the adjutant said after a moment’s thought.

“Whatever the navy is up to, it has little to do with us in the strategic bomber force! We just need to complete the attack order given by the Führer! This time, we will let the British have a real taste of what we Germans are made of!” Dick said through gritted teeth. “As for the navy, let’s leave that to General Kesselring and General Lütjens!”

“Strategic bomber formation requesting takeoff, General!” an officer from the command tower came to Dick’s side, stood at attention, and saluted.

“Cleared for takeoff! All bombers, target Manchester! The second British mainland bombing plan begins!” Dick pointed the pen in his hand to a large map of Britain, to the industrial city called Manchester—there, Britain had a newly built Hurricane fighter production line.

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