On September 4, 1939, although the British Royal Navy suffered a disastrous defeat the day before, the British Isles were immersed in excitement and joy.￥f.￥f Because all newspapers reported two great news in bold and enlarged black words.

The first good news is: the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy taught the German planes that came to the air strike in Scapa Bay, shot down 132 planes, captured 18 pilots, and 11 German planes forced landing in Norway.

The second good news is: at 9 pm on September 3, the American passenger ship "Athena" carrying more than 1,000 passengers was sunk by a German submarine in the northwest waters of Ireland!

It is also good news for an American passenger ship to be sunk? It depends on who it is definitely not good news for the United States, but it is also bad news for Germany, because the incident of sinking the American passenger ship is likely to become an excuse for the United States to interfere in the European war. However, for Britain, the participation of the United States in the war undoubtedly means the inevitable victory of the war.

Therefore, the "Athena Incident" occupied a larger and higher-level page in major British newspapers on September 4 than the "Scapa Bay Victory".

"The cruelty and shamelessness of the Germans were once again shown in the incident of sinking the Athena!" British Foreign Secretary Viscount Halifax told the Soviet envoy Livinov who visited Whitehall Street. "They sank the passenger ship and dare not admit it! This is the behavior of a coward, and a coward... cannot win the war!"

"Of course they can't admit it," Livinov shrugged, "but the Americans would not declare war on Germany because a passenger ship was sunk. After all, all the passengers on the ship were rescued."

This is a shortcoming point. The Athena was hit by a German torpedo. The power compartment was flooded and the mainframe was destroyed, but it did not sink immediately. There were also many passing merchant ships and tankers nearby. They rushed to rescue and rescued most of the passengers. For the United States, the loss was only a passenger ship worth millions of dollars. Even if President Roosevelt wanted to fight, he could not declare war on such a reason. After all, isolationism and anti-war sentiment in the United States were still very high.

"In fact, we don't need the United States to join the war," said Viscount Halifax, smiling, "because we and France, Poland will soon defeat the Germans! Their air force just suffered a heavy blow in Scapa Bay."

A stack of newly printed black and white photos were handed over to Livinov, which were filled with wreckage of German planes, captured German pilots or German pilots who died in battle.

"We shot down more than 100 German aircraft, and 11 other planes were forced to land in Norway, and some of them fell at sea." Viscount Halifax said with a relaxed look on his face. "They lost planes and pilots account for more than 5% of Germany's total number. With their losses in Poland these days, the Germans lost 10% of the planes and pilots in just 3 days."

"What about your losses?"

"A battleship and a large training ship were sunk, and there were three aircraft carriers and a battlecruiser severely injured." Viscount Halifax smiled bitterly, "This is a military secret and cannot be announced to the public."

He looked at Livinov, "The Germans actually did a good job, but we still have 15 battleships and battle cruisers to use... This does not include the French battleships and battle cruisers. The Germans only have two battleships to use, and the comparison of strength at sea will not change because of this air strike."

"But you have three aircraft carriers that have been severely damaged," said Livinov. "If I remember correctly, you only have seven aircraft carriers."

"Aircraft carrier?" Viscount Halifax smiled, "Find some merchant ships, like the Athena, to remove the superstructure and lay the flight deck, and that is the aircraft carrier. The Admiralty decided to start construction and renovate 20 aircraft carriers last night, and it will be completed in a few months at most."

The escort carrier that can be completed in a few months is the fastest escort carrier that can only run more than ten quarters. On the night of the "Scapa Bay Air Raid", the cabinet meeting held at the Admiralty Department decided to immediately modify 20 escort carriers for future Atlantic escorts.

Because members of the British cabinet have realized that Britain has no power to prevent the German fleet with the "Shankhorst" and "Sedelize" as the core to enter the Atlantic Ocean!

To maintain British maritime transportation when Germany broke the warships entered the Atlantic Ocean, it was possible to send an escort fleet composed of battleships and escort aircraft carriers to protect the transport fleet throughout the journey. For the Royal British Navy, such a mission is not only dangerous, but also extremely arduous. For this reason, the number of ships in the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans must be reduced...

However, the Viscount Halifax will not tell the Soviet envoy truthfully the dilemma faced by Britain. Now Britain must disguise itself as a winner and show aggressiveness.

"But I doubt whether the Royal Navy can really use those aircraft carriers, because most of the Germans cannot insist on the completion of those aircraft carriers," said Viscount.

"Is that?" Livinov asked without comment.

"Yes," said Viscount Halifax, "I will reveal some military secrets to you. The French will soon launch an attack on the Western Front. Now the German army is concentrated on the Eastern Front. Their Western Front is so empty. As long as the French make up their minds, they can break through the Ziegfé line, so that the Rhine Zone will be occupied by France and Germany will lose the war. And the brave Poles will also launch a counterattack on the Eastern Front at the same time to restrain the main force of the German army."

Livinov asked: "When will the counterattack start?"

Stalin needed to know that the exact time was not to remind the Germans, but to observe the situation... If France and Poland achieved a decisive victory in the counterattack, then the Soviet Union could only temporarily forget Comrade Lenin's will.

But if the counterattack between France and Poland is ineffective, then I'm sorry, the Soviet Union will submit an ultimatum to the Polish government.

"Before the end of September, the Germans will once again taste the disastrous defeat!" replied Viscount Halifax.

...

"End of September?"

In the Kremlin, Joseph Stalin's desk was placed on a photo of an air strike on Scapa Bay just delivered from Germany by "air express".

Of course, the photos are all about British ships catching fire and sinking! Just as Britain announced the victory news, Germany also announced the results of the battle: sinking three British aircraft carriers, sinking two battleships, severely damaging three battleships, and sinking five cruisers.

Each result has at least 3 different photos as evidence!

Stalin has seen all these photos now, but he doesn't know whether the photos are true or not.

The People's Commissar of Diplomatic Affairs, Molotov, is now sitting opposite Stalin's desk. In addition to these photos, he also brought Livinov's secret telegram.

In the telegram, Livinov reported on the rescue of the "Athena" passenger ship and the plans of counterattacks from Britain, France and Poland.

"Does the British want us to sit still until the end of September?" Stalin said while stuffing tobacco into his pipe.

"Comrade General Secretary, I think that's what they planned." Molotov said. "If their counterattack is effective, the action to recover Ukraine on the right bank may be..."

"Will it work?" Stalin shook his head. "In the Marina of Poland, the German armored troops had crossed the Vistula River, and a German team drove into the city of Danze. The Poles played badly, which is certain."

"But France's offensive may be successful!" Molotov reminded, "this way, the war on the Western Front will last for a long time."

"That's for sure!" Stalin lit his pipe and took a sip of his cigarette, "And this is very good for the Soviet Union!"

Stalin obviously did not want to sit idly by Germany's "complete failure". If that were the case, the Soviet Union could be besieged by imperialism.

"Pseudo-socialism still holds the sign of socialism after all," Stalin said, "its existence can always attract some imperialist firepower."

"You said it is absolutely correct," Molotov complimented, "so how should we answer?"

"Answer?" Stalin snorted softly, "The Soviet Union does not need to reply to imperialism! In addition, tell the Germans the news that Britain and France were about to launch a counterattack."

Molotov understood what Stalin meant. Although Stalin did not believe in Germany, he did not trust Britain, France and Poland. If Britain, France and Poland agreed to "Ukrainian independence", then the Soviet Union might be able to limit the scope of military operations to Ukraine.

But Britain adopted a policy of perfunctory and procrastination, which Stalin could not accept!

...

The news that the British and French waves were about to launch a counterattack was transmitted to Stettin's Eastern Front headquarters through various channels. General Hessman's reaction was to breathe a sigh of relief, because he was not worried about the enemy's counterattack, but the compromise between Britain and France. The scale of the bombing on September 3 could have been larger. Although Hessman does not have the authority to interfere with the Navy Air Force now (he is not the Deputy Chief of Staff now), his influence is still there.

Thousand-machine bombing cannot achieve the Eastern Front. Every army on the Eastern Front requires more and stronger air support, but there is still a possibility of dispatching 500 aircraft, because every aviation regiment now has a brigade of additional pilots and aircraft available.

But Hessman did not end up exerting influence on the Navy Air Force because he was worried that the British might compromise because of the tragic losses. With Hitler's current position of making peace with the UK, temporary compromise is very likely!
Chapter completed!