Chapter 359: The Surprise Attack

A brand-new British destroyer was cutting through the waves. This I-class destroyer was the British Navy’s newest heavy torpedo destroyer. Both its speed and firepower were very powerful.

This I-class destroyer was the newest generation of “torpedo boat” in the British Navy that used torpedoes as its main means of attack. It was equipped with two torpedo tubes that could simultaneously launch five torpedoes each.

But although this destroyer could be considered a rather distinctive new type, and its speed exceeded 30 knots, because of its inherent design flaws, this class of destroyer could only be forced to huddle within the fleet and was unable to operate independently.

The main reason was that the elevation angle of this destroyer’s main guns was only 40 degrees. In other words, the anti-aircraft capability of this destroyer was more than a little weaker than that of its “peers” of the same period—the German destroyers’ guns, both large and small, were all capable of anti-aircraft combat, and their anti-aircraft fire density was almost three times that of a British destroyer.

And this destroyer was expensive to build, and its anti-submarine capability could only be said to be average. Although it was installed with Britain’s first sonar detection system, its practical combat use was disappointing. Therefore, it was not more suitable for anti-submarine warfare than the old American destroyers and other British destroyers, so it could only serve as a fleet destroyer, tagging along beside some large capital ships.

But the good days had finally arrived. This somewhat wasteful-looking destroyer had finally received its most suitable mission. This mission was to follow the main fleet south and to launch a night raid on the German High Seas Fleet.

For this plan, Britain had brought out all the strength it could muster, including the two battlecruisers Hood and Renown (the third, the Repulse, was also in the British mainland, but was currently undergoing an anti-aircraft refit), and the two fastest battleships, the King George V and the Howe.

In another timeline, all of Britain’s King George V-class battleships had entered service after 1940. The reason for the slight advance here was because the Royal Navy, in order to cope with the war with Germany, had accelerated the construction speed of some of its warships. Apart from the King George V and the Howe, which had entered service first, the remaining three ships of the same class had not yet been able to enter service due to the strengthening and modification of their anti-aircraft firepower.

If one were to also count the three accompanying cruisers and seven destroyers, the British Royal Navy could be said to have brought out all its assets for this night raid on the German Navy’s carrier fleet.

To cooperate with the actions of this fleet, the remaining pitifully few older battleships, the Revenge and the Resolution, with the carriers Argus, and the Glorious-class carriers Glorious and Furious, a total of three carriers, had gone north to Norway to be used as a feint. And the most elite carrier, HMS Ark Royal, and the newer carrier HMS Hermes, would lead some cruisers and destroyers as a support force, to arrive at the battle location on the second day to clean up the mess.

So for this one battle, the Royal Navy had brought out its four fastest and newest capital ships, as well as two older capital ships with slower speeds, all of its aircraft carriers, and a large number of cruisers and destroyers. It could be completely described as a naval battle that would decide the future ownership of sea power.

And this Battle of the English Channel between the navies of Britain and Germany, which would be called the “Battle of Destiny” by later historians, was slowly drawing back its great curtain. The battle that would decide the position of the maritime hegemon of the North Atlantic had begun!

In the captain’s cabin of this I-class destroyer, two officers were standing and sitting quietly, not speaking. The seated commander, in his forties, was reading a book he was holding, without looking up. The content of this book was not special; it was a not-so-famous suspense novel.

And standing opposite the officer in his forties was a burly man in his thirties. Judging by the rank on his shoulder, he should be the subordinate of the reading commander. After a long while, he finally spoke in a muffled voice, asking a question. “Are we just going to sit here and wait to die?”

“Sit here and wait to die? I think if we hadn’t been called for this, that would be truly sitting here and waiting to die,” the commander who was reading said with a cold laugh, still not looking up. “This is war! You’re allowed to punch people, but they’re not allowed to hit you back? If the Royal Navy of the great British Empire doesn’t even have the courage to fight with all its might, then the seventeen years you and I have spent cooped up here would have been for nothing, wouldn’t they?”

“Then what do we do? Break radio silence? Send a warning to the High Seas Fleet in plain code?” the adjutant said through gritted teeth, as if he had already put his own life and death out of his mind.

“And then what? The British fleet nods and goes back, and everyone on this ship will be investigated. All these men we’ve had so much trouble placing together—do you think every one of them can be seamless? Do you really take the British intelligence department for fools?” The commander, who was the captain, closed his book and stood up. “We’re almost there. Let’s go to the bridge. It’s not that we can’t sacrifice ourselves, but the sacrifice must be a meaningful one. I don’t know what you think, but my life has long belonged to the Führer.”

The two men walked up to the bridge. Through the spacious glass windows, they could see the large warships, one after another, on the sea not far away. These warships were sailing close to the coast. The British fighters were patrolling not far away, on guard against any of the German carrier-based aircraft that might attempt to approach for reconnaissance.

The sun was about to set. Its round bottom was already resting on the distant mountains. Once it sank and the world was shrouded in darkness, then this incredibly important naval battle would begin. Countless people were looking forward to it, looking forward to the outcome of this epic showdown, looking forward to an uneasy result.

“Order our men to begin changing shifts! Replace the British and send them back to the mess hall. Keep a close watch on them,” the captain commanded. An officer on duty on the bridge silently nodded, then opened a door and walked out. The others, as if they had heard nothing, continued to be busy with their own work.

“Are you really not going to send a telegram to warn them?” The adjutant still seemed a little worried.

“I will only do what I can be responsible for! As for the High Seas Fleet, if Lütjens were really such a fool, the Führer would not have entrusted the entire naval power of the Reich to him!”

“Then we now…?” the first mate asked softly.

The captain raised his binoculars, glanced at the huge warship not far away, and replied, “Do what we’re supposed to do, and leave the rest to fate!”

On the command ship of the German High Seas Fleet, the bridge of the aircraft carrier Imperator, Lütjens was staring at the map with his operations officer, deep in thought. Reliable news from the reconnaissance aircraft in the afternoon had reported that they had risked entering the British coastal area and, before being driven away by the enemy’s fighters, had discovered a British destroyer and a battleship heading south at high speed.

But when Lütjens had sent out fighters again to confirm, they had been met with a no-holds-barred interception by the Royal Air Force. An air battle had broken out in the suspicious airspace. Two German fighters had been shot down, and the British had lost four of their new Hurricanes.

This was not good news for Lütjens. The British were hiding this fleet so tightly, which gave him an unprecedented sense of a terrible crisis. He had suspected more than once that this southward-bound fleet was a massive battleship fleet, and that the purpose of this fleet’s southward journey was precisely to deal with his own High Seas Fleet.

After a comparison of the photos, the pilot on the reconnaissance plane had confirmed that what he had seen should be Britain’s newest battleship, the HMS Howe. This huge battleship could be said to be one of the most advanced battleships in the world at this stage, and this battleship was also one of the most dangerous opponents on the German fleet’s list.

The super-high speed of the Howe simply made Lütjens extremely wary. After all, if it were an old-fashioned battleship with its pathetic speed, his fleet could have shaken off the other side with its radar if it wanted to. But the new capital ships like the Hood and the Howe were different. Once they found an opportunity, it was possible for them to chase down and destroy the German fleet in one go.

“Has the last batch of reconnaissance planes returned yet?” Lütjens asked the air arm liaison officer on the side.

“Reporting, they have already returned. They brought back definite probing information. From 10 AM this morning, when our army’s reconnaissance plane was first driven away by the enemy’s air force here,” the air arm’s liaison officer pointed to several positions on the sea chart. “The second time they were driven away was here. The third air battle occurred here. The last time, the reconnaissance plane was discovered here. The enemy’s fighters came, and our army’s plane was forced to return.”

“No matter how many British warships are in this air defense circle, there is no doubt that these warships are heading south!” Lütjens said, knocking on the table covered with the sea chart and then speaking again. “Have the planes that were air-raiding the ships at Dunkirk returned yet?”

“They are currently attacking the enemy’s surface ships. The news just came in that this batch of planes has sunk about seven ships. Including the previous ones, today we have already sunk 71 ships of various sizes, including fishing boats and warships,” the air liaison officer replied.

“Order them not to delay any longer! Return to base at once,” Lütjens commanded without hesitation. “All fleet, change course. After the last plane has landed on deck, the entire fleet will advance at full speed toward the waters off the Netherlands.”

“Yes, sir!” Several officers immediately began to act, starting to issue orders to the various ships to turn. In an instant, the entire High Seas Fleet immediately became busy.

“Report! We have intercepted a telegram sent to Britain, an encrypted file. After analysis, it was sent from within our fleet, from a destroyer. I have already ordered that destroyer to be placed under martial law and for suspicious persons to be investigated,” the first mate reported from behind Lütjens.

“The impressive British intelligence service. Planting a nail and only now letting it sting us!” Lütjens said, looking at the coded message. “As expected, our current position, speed, and heading have all been exposed.”

“Then what do we do?” his first mate asked with a frown.

“Everything proceeds as before! Now it’s a contest of fleet speed and the will to fight! Coincidentally, I am not weak in these aspects either!” Lütjens said fiercely.

“All ships of the fleet, begin the attack run!” On the bridge of the British battlecruiser HMS Hood, Vice-Admiral Holland gave the attack order loudly.

A dozen or so minutes later, on the bridge of the German High Seas Fleet’s aircraft carrier Imperator, Lütjens, seeing the last Stuka land on the deck, took his eyes back and gave his own order. “All ships of the fleet, begin the return to base at full speed!”