March 26, 1942, dusk.
"Boom" The earth-shattering roar of naval guns, with the salvo of 16 406 cannons and 12 380 cannons, echoed round after round in the Norwegian Sea.
The shelling began on the night of March 25, 1942 and continued until the next day, near dusk.
Twenty-eight large-caliber guns roared for almost a whole day, knocking out no less than 3,000 super-large-caliber high-explosive shells.
At the same time, planes taking off from Bergen and aircraft carriers poured countless bombs on the heads of the British troops in the Faroe Islands.
Heavy shelling and bombardment razed the island's airfields and coastal defense batteries, and even the garrison's barracks and all exposed warehouses were reduced to rubble.
However, the capital and main port of the Faroe Islands, Tórshavn, was unharmed by German shelling and bombardment, and not a single shell or bomb fell in the small but quiet port city.
However, the commander of the British defenders of the Faroe Islands, who had been a pioneer of British armored forces, had become the commander of the 1st Tank Brigade as early as 1934, but he had been unlucky, and Paresi Hobert, who was still a major general until 1942, did not think that Germany could not bear to hurt the Danish citizens of the Faroe Islands without shelling and bombing Tórshavn.
The reason why the Germans did not shell and bomb this small port was obviously to use it immediately after the occupation of the Faroe Islands and to immediately send engineering equipment and airfield equipment to the islands, so that the airfield could be repaired as soon as possible and the Faroe Islands would be turned into a large blockade of the British.
"Sir, this is the latest damage report."
A staff officer rushed into the British headquarters on the back of a hill more than 300 meters high near Tórshavn, and handed over the report of the damage that had just been counted to Paresi Hobert.
Hobart took the report and read it cursoryly, and the damage was neither big nor small.
The ground forces on the island are well hidden, and the British troops have not been deployed in the Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands for a day or two.
Moreover, although Major General Hobert's official fortune is not good, his military level is not low.
After taking over the defense of the Faroe Islands, the defense was carefully arranged.
The troops were ordered to dig a large number of tunnels on the island, and a large amount of supplies and ammunition were accumulated, which could fully meet the needs of long-term holdout.
However, the airfields and shore defense artillery belonging to the island have been almost destroyed, because there are not many flat lands on the Faroe Islands, and there are only a few places where airfields can be built, and now they have suffered a lot of bombs and shells, which have blown up more like the surface of the moon.
As for the shore defense artillery, as long as it was exposed, it was basically destroyed.
Due to the fact that there were too many places to be armed, the British Royal Navy really could not transfer many large-caliber guns to the Faroe Islands, so the heaviest shore guns on the island were 10-inch 254 cannons, which were of no use against the Hindenburg and Barbarossa classes, and almost all of them were destroyed without any success.
"Send the damage to the base camp," Paresi Hobert shook his head as he heard the sound of the cannon roaring, "and tell them that the airfields, batteries, and barracks on the Faroe Islands have almost been blown up, but the ground forces have suffered little losses."
In addition, the Germans still show no signs of leaving, and the shelling continues, maybe the Germans really want to land here, I think this possibility exists, and it cannot be ignored. ” When Pareshi Hobert's report arrived in London, there was a gloomy cloud of gloom in the wartime Cabinet command, and everyone was depressed and anxious.
The German shelling and bombardment of the Faroe Islands had been going on for a day and a half, the airfields and shore defense guns on the islands had already been devastated, and the four battleships had not left the Faroe Islands.
This seems to indicate that the Germans really wanted to occupy the Faroe Islands "Gentlemen, we must not lose the Faroe Islands, otherwise the time of sunset in the British Empire will come" As long as Churchill fell asleep in the past two days, the scene of the sun setting always appeared repeatedly in his dreams, which was obviously an ominous omen, indicating that the sun would never set on the empire and the sunset of the empire was coming.
"Prime Minister," Viscount Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, barely squeezed out a wry smile, "the situation in the Faroe Islands is not so serious, the main force defending the island is the army, we have deployed 2 divisions on the island, and we have also built many strong fortifications, which are not so easy to capture. ” "2 divisions" Churchill frowned, "there are also 2 divisions on Oahu, do we have 200 tanks on the Faroe Islands" "Nope."
The British Army, of course, was not as local as the U.S.
Army, and now only a small number of infantry divisions are equipped with tank battalions.
However, these infantry divisions with tanks were located on the island of Britain, and there was not a single tank on the Faroe Islands.
Churchill asked: "So if the German tanks go to the island, maybe 100 or more No. 4 tanks will rush to the beachhead, and will Major General Hobert's 2 divisions be able to resist it?"
Viscount Brooke said: "This, according to the reconnaissance of the intelligence services, the Germans did not have amphibious tanks. ” "If the Japanese don't have it, the Germans won't," Churchill shook his head repeatedly, "we can't take such a risk, if the German fleet doesn't leave the Faroe Islands by tomorrow morning, let the coastal air force go out, as long as it can blow up and sink one or two German capital ships, it should be able to drive the German fleet back home." ” "What sortie of the Coast Air Force is nonsense" Cunningham on the battleship King George V received the news that the Coastal Air Force would be dispatched tomorrow morning, and his face suddenly became ugly.
Although the Faroe Islands were bombarded a bit badly by planes and naval artillery, it was not so easy for the Germans to really capture it.
Even if you put in any amphibious tank troops, you will have to fight for a month or two.
Even if you want to put in the coastal air fleet, it is not too late to wait until the Germans start to land, even if you send battleships to fight a decisive battle with the German fleet But now what are you anxious about, isn't it just that 4 battleships fired 3,000 shells, the service life of the main guns of battleships is limited, and such bombardment will not last for a few days at all, so what is there to worry about "Did you let us strike," Cunningham asked.
"No, the First Sea Minister has left the decision to us."
The Chief of Staff of the Home Fleet, Lister, replied, "But I think we should strike and cooperate with shore-based aircraft to destroy the German fleet near the Faroe Islands." ” "Cooperation," Cunningham glanced at Lister ster, "we should let the Coastal Air Force cooperate with us, not let the 4 precious Radiance class ships risk if we sail into the strike radius of the German shore-based air force in Bergen, even if we have 51 cover, it will be difficult to ensure that we do not lose the Radiance class, they are too precious, as long as they exist, we can block the Danish Strait before the autumnal equinox." ” Lister frowned and reminded: "But if our four Glorious Class ships are not dispatched, the coastal air force alone may not be enough to defeat the German fleet, and the anti-ship capabilities of the Beaufort torpedo bombers, Boston attack aircraft A20 and Mosquito reconnaissance bombers they are equipped with are not strong, and it is difficult to pose a mortal threat to the main force of the German High Seas Fleet." ” The British Coastal Air Force is now imitating the Germans and also wants to create its own "anti-ship trio".
However, in addition to the outstanding performance of the 51 for air combat and the Mosquito aircraft, which were mainly responsible for reconnaissance, the Beaufort torpedo bombers and Boston attack aircraft, which were responsible for attacking surface ships, performed unsatisfactory and could not be compared with the German JU88 and the Italian S79.
"Hell" Cunningham knew that Lister was right, and since he was going to attack, he should go all out.
He took a sharp breath, gritted his teeth, and said, "Then the B fleet will retreat, and our A fleet will go up" "Commander, are you going north tonight?"
"Why go north" "We have been wandering around the Faroe Islands for almost 24 hours, knocking out 3000 rounds of super-caliber high-explosive shells, and the British have not done a thing.
Obviously, they have seen through our intentions" On the battleship "Hindenburg", Gunther Ruetjens, who was having dinner, was discussing the battle situation with Vice Admiral Erich Bey, chief of staff of the fleet.
Today's performance of the British army also exceeded the expectations of the two of them, they had expected that there would be a fierce air battle today, which should be able to inflict heavy damage on the 51st fleet of the British Coastal Air Force.
However, the British Coastal Air Force and the aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy did not react as if they did not know that the German fleet was bombarding the Faroe Islands.
"If our intentions are recognized, then it will not be easy to break through the Danish Strait."
Gunther Ruetjens gently turned the tall glass in his hand, his brow furrowed slightly.
The current Royal Navy is not yet a paper tiger, although their battleship forces are no longer worth mentioning and are not at all an opponent of the German High Seas Fleet, which has 2 ships of the "Hindenburg" class.
But the 4 Tejas class aircraft carriers are still a force to be reckoned with, if they can't be knocked out, the European Combined Fleet may be attacked by the British aircraft carriers at any time, and the British have now obtained really useful carrier-based aircraft from the United States, such as F4F, SBD and TBD, which makes the attack power of their aircraft carrier aircraft force greatly enhanced.
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"Erich, let's wait another day, and if tomorrow the British planes don't come, then we'll go to the Danish Channel."
Gunther Rutte Yans thought about it for a long time, and finally made a decision.
Nor could his fleet linger around the Faroe Islands all the time, and a breakthrough through the Danish Strait was a task that had to be completed.
Moreover, in the battle of the Danish Strait, he also had in his hand an unexpected trump card in his hand, 60 108S heavy bombers that could drop "human eye guided bombs". t1706231537: