Rear Admiral Helmut Brinkmann, captain of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, welcomed his current guest, Admiral Guderian, commander of the armored group. In the armored command room of the Prinz Eugen, it was the armored group. The situation here at the temporary headquarters for the landing operation will determine the fate of 150,000 elite German Wehrmacht troops. After Guderian and a group of commanders boarded the warship, they watched the land getting farther and farther away from them until it disappeared. Indeed, most Germanic people still prefer to stay on land than on the sea.
The receding land seemed to make these people more focused. After a slight discomfort, the armored group's staff soon began to work. People studied today's sea conditions and wind direction. Although the English Channel is narrow, it is It has absolutely nothing to do with calm conditions. If this is the case, no matter how powerful the British navy on the island is, they will never be able to guarantee their own safety for thousands of years. Guderian looked through the window and said, "Today's weather is not the best for landing. We must be careful!"
Just as Guderian said, it is indeed not a wise choice to carry out the landing operation today. Although there is no heavy rain now, it obviously has nothing to do with the sunshine. The gloomy sky seems to indicate the coming war. cruel. On the one hand, this also affected the Luftwaffe's involvement in landing operations, making the armored clusters less willing. But even so, Goering still concentrated more than 500 Stuka dive bombers on standby. Even if weather conditions affected the performance of the Luftwaffe, Goering still had to show the presence of the Luftwaffe in the battle.
For this reason, Goering sent a special telegram to Jedinek, repeatedly emphasizing that the weather should not be used as an excuse to delay the Luftwaffe's actions. Regarding Goering's behavior, the Chief of General Staff, Major General Jedinek, could only smile bitterly. After all, today's weather conditions were not as bad as during the Battle of Dunkirk, and were still within the control of the Luftwaffe. Although it may delay the combat efficiency, the German Air Force can still show its presence when landing.
Marshal Redl fulfilled his promise and sat on the newly built aircraft carrier Zeppelin, observing the entire landing operation. Zeppelin was the first of four heavy aircraft carriers in the Navy's Plan S, Germany's first attempt at building an aircraft carrier. Because Germany's requirements for battleships far exceed those of aircraft carriers, the Zeppelin has only just entered service. It happened that at this time, all the heavy battleships of the German Navy were seriously damaged and overhauled. Marshal Redl could only allow this aircraft carrier to temporarily serve as a force to show the presence of the German Navy.
In fact, the Zeppelin class is not without merit. At least the data on paper is quite good. The length of the ship is 265 meters, the width of the ship is 45 meters (waterline 32.5 meters), the standard draft is 7 meters, the full load draft is 8.2 meters, and the standard displacement is 25,567 tons. , with a full load displacement of 32,895 tons, a power heavy oil boiler combined with a steam turbine unit output, a power of 180,000 horsepower, a maximum speed of 32.5 knots, an endurance of 10,000 nautical miles/17 knots, a fully enclosed armored flight deck, and heavy cruiser-level protective armor. It was only because Marshal Redl had always had a soft spot for battleships that he felt that this landing without a German battleship was very embarrassing. Another reason is that in most of the sea areas where the German Navy operates, battleships play a greater role than aircraft carriers. Of course, if the power of the German navy penetrates deep into the Atlantic Ocean, Marshal Redl will not miss the German battleships.
The straight-line distance at the narrowest point of the English Channel is 33.8 kilometers. It can be said that as long as this huge fleet increases its horsepower, such a distance can be reached in an instant. Dover Beach has now become the first line of defense against the German armored group expedition. More than 200,000 British troops are concentrated here. Now Churchill also knows that compared to the German Army, the British Army has no weapons. and combat literacy are at a disadvantage. Only by preventing the German armored group from landing at all costs can Britain's fate be saved. As a key area guarded by the British Navy, there are also thirty 380MM heavy guns here, which serve as an important fort to resist the combined fleets of France and Italy.
The defense area built by the British here is a typical fortress defense area, consisting of a main defense area and a peripheral defense area. The peripheral defense area is basically on the beach and consists of anti-tank trenches, trenches and protective embankments. The main defense area is built within a few hundred meters of the coast. It usually consists of a series of huge reinforced concrete fortresses. According to different purposes, they are large-caliber artillery fortresses, machine gun bunkers, communication centers, ammunition depots, food storage depots, and power supply depots. Facilities, personnel dormitories, etc., and even small field hospitals. There are mines and barbed wire between each bunker. Connected by hidden traffic trenches or tunnels. Each main defense zone is a unit that can fight independently for a long time and basically does not require any external support or supplements.
According to common sense, from the complete defeat of the British in the Battle of Dunkirk to the defeat of the British Air War, the British suffered huge losses and it was impossible to build a solid defense system in such a short period of time. However, Churchill and The British finally created a miracle. When the British Empire lost almost everything the British had created over the past few hundred years, they devoted the last bit of strength in the UK to building the defense line and completed it in just two months. This line of defense would have been impossible, because after all, Germany only gave them two months.
British troops at high? Various obstacles and anti-tank obstacles were arranged on the beach below the tide line. In order to prevent the German airborne troops from airborne, water was released near the coastal defense line to flood large areas of low-lying land; a large number of wooden logs were set up on the flat areas where the German airborne troops could land. Piles, strapped with shells and mines.
It can be said that although the time was short, Britain had done everything possible to build a steel line of defense in front of the German armored group. After Guderian, who was on the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, saw the defense system built by the British on the beach, he had to say, "I wonder how many of these soldiers who participated in the battle will return to Germany after this battle!"
At this time, Guderian was unsure about this operation for the first time. After all, landing operations are the most complex and difficult type of combat among the army, navy, and air force contract operations. Combat operations are greatly affected by the natural conditions of the sea area; forcibly crossing the sea area, landing in front of the enemy, and attacking from behind; the battle situation changes rapidly, the command coordination is complicated, and the logistics support is difficult.
The attack must be carefully planned and fully prepared; it must be concealed suddenly and take the enemy by surprise; it must concentrate its absolutely superior forces and carry out continuous assaults; it must master air and sea control to ensure freedom of combat operations; it must implement a highly centralized unified command and strictly organize the coordination of the army, navy and air force. Action; organize reliable logistical support.
But now Germany is indeed fully prepared and has a well-planned plan. But there is no concealment at all. After all, the two sides are only separated by a strait and cannot be concealed at all. As for the unified command of land, sea and air? Oh my God, the French and Italian navies are protecting their operations this time. The German naval warships are still lying in the ship for overhaul. Not to mention the issue of unified command, now Guderian just hopes that his armored cluster will not let him down, and he has already prepared for this battle.
Simply before this battle, Germany had successfully destroyed all the war potential of the British. Now the British mainland is full of scorched earth. As long as it breaks through here, the British will no longer have a chance to resist. Guderian deeply understood that, The first battle of the Battle of Britain was also the decisive battle between Germany and Britain. As long as it broke through here, Britain could no longer stop Germany's powerful offensive.
At 8:45, the Luftwaffe was the first to launch the first wave of offensive in the Battle of Britain. Five hundred Stuka dive bombers attacked Dover, the town closest to France in the UK, and bombarded the defense facilities here. Although the British Army fought back hard, Britain, which had lost its Royal Air Force, only shot down a dozen Stuka dive fighters. The disappearance of the Royal Air Force left the Luftwaffe no longer under pressure. The Luftwaffe only had more than a hundred aircraft. The escort fighters also participated in the battle, forgetting their duties of escorting the dive bombers.
Although the French Navy's "Gourba"-class dreadnoughts and Provence-class battleships have long lagged behind the times in terms of firepower and armor defensiveness, the 12 305mm guns of this old French battleship can deal with the British defense system on the beach. But it couldn't be better. The 305mm main gun is powerful enough for the British shore defenses, and the high rate of fire also allows these old warships to find their original position here.
The Provence-class battleship is also the same as the Guba-class battleship. It has 10 twin-mounted 340 mm/45 times caliber main guns and 22 138 mm/55 times caliber secondary guns. It has now become a super killer that ravages British defense positions.
Seeing that the French navy had begun to attack, the Italian navy was not idle either, and the Count Cavour-class battleship also poured its artillery shells at Dover without showing any signs of weakness. For a time, the combined fleet on the sea and the German dive bomber wing in the sky began a long and indiscriminate bombing of the place called Dover.
The British garrison on the coast rose up to resist, and twenty 380MM forts fought back against the powerful combined fleet. Although the Veneto-class battleships with a displacement of more than 40,000 tons do not have as powerful armor defense capabilities as the Bismarck-class battleships. But it is not inferior in terms of firepower. Even more powerful. The Veneto class is equipped with three triple 381 mm caliber main guns. The Ansaldo 1934 381 mm caliber main gun body has a movable barrel structure. It is an integral inner barrel from the inside to the outside and is divided into 2 There are two partial liner reinforcement layers, that is, two partial reinforcement layers covering the second half of the medicine chamber and the directional part and one reinforcement layer at the front of the bore. The outermost layer is a movable layer that accounts for about 72% of the total length of the gun barrel. Quilt barrel; there is a tight-mouth hoop structure with an outer diameter of 610 mm at the muzzle. The breech is installed on the barrel with a connecting ring.