At noon on February 12, British Navy Secretary Winston Churchill was driving on the streets of Paris. He came for the battleship "Richelieu". The super battleship with eight quadruple/45 caliber main guns is now being outfitted and will be completed in June or July 1940.

The Royal Navy hopes that this super battleship can be transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in France after completion to cooperate with the operations of the British local fleet.

Because a few days ago, British agents discovered a huge super battleship that looked like a floating city appeared in Wilhelmshaven (actually not finalized yet)! It should be the first battleship of the legendary German-class battleship "Bismar".

The emergence of the Bismarck immediately caused panic in the British Admiralty. Because the battlecruiser of the Hood is still lying in the dock for overhaul, and it may not be able to be discharged from the dock in 1940. Because engineers from the British Admiralty warned after a comprehensive inspection and research on the damage of the Hood: There are major problems with the ship's protection, the horizontal armor is not strong enough, the lightning protection design is outdated, and the air defense firepower is seriously insufficient. If it is not strengthened, it will easily suffer severe damage in future operations!

So the British Admiralty had to let the Hood stay in the dock for a few more months to strengthen its defense.

Several "George V" class battleships have not been built yet. On the books of the Royal Navy, there are only two "Nelson" class battleships that can fight the Bismarck on the books.

However, the theoretical maximum speed of the "Nelson" class is only a pitiful 8 knots, and it is impossible to catch up with the "Bismarck".

Although the British did not know the speed of the Bismarck, they knew the German navy's tactics, so they guessed that the Bismarck had a speed of more than 30 knots. Apart from the "Reputation", there is probably no battleship/battlecruiser in the current British Royal Navy that can catch up with it. However, the "Reputation" cannot beat the Bismarck in any case.

Therefore, the British Admiralty, a little desperate, thought that their French friends owned the Richelieu-class battleship. According to the plan, the battleship will be in service for a few months (and perhaps even earlier). Before the Hood completes overhaul and modification, it will be the main force against Bismarck and its sister ship Tirpitz.

Churchill's brows were twisted when he thought of the breaking fleet consisting of Bismarck, Tirpitz, Gneisenau and two German aircraft carriers that broke into the Atlantic Ocean in the second half of 1940. At this time, General Verick, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, spoke and interrupted his thoughts.

"Sir, look there!"

Churchill heard the sound, then looked in the direction of Admiral Verick's finger, and saw a pile of twisted, charred metal on the open space at the door of a department store, and the mark of the "Iron Cross" could be vaguely seen.

"Is it a German plane?" Churchill said.

"It's a he-111," said Admiral Verick. "Last night the Germans bombed Paris again, and it seems they didn't get any advantage."

The military operation of "Planning Paris" finally began! There are no 1,000 aircraft and 10,000 tons of bombs. However, dozens or 100 medium-sized German bombers will visit Paris every night.

Those who come are usually he-111 and ju88. They break in from an altitude of 6,000 meters, throw bombs and flyers at will, and they are rarely shot down, and they can rarely blow up any valuable targets.

However, the French authorities still made 120,000 efforts to defend the airspace of the great capital Paris. Not only did Paris become the city with the most dense anti-aircraft guns in the world, but also came from the UK with the "Local Chain" radar and many squadrons equipped with "Spray Fire" fighters and Blenheim night fighters, plus 20 squadrons equipped with MS.406 fighters and -2 night fighters.

"The Germans dare not come here during the day?" Churchill took out a custom-made oversized cigar. Admiral Verick took out a lighter and lit a cigarette for the future British Prime Minister (Prince Chamberlain was exhausted and in poor health for a while, Churchill was about to become the Prime Minister soon).

"The Germans are bombing airports west of the Magino defense line during the day, and sometimes dropping a few oversized bombs on the Magino defense line." Admiral Verick replied, "Our 'Hurricane', 'Speed ​​Fire' and French ms.406 aircraft are mainly concentrated in military airports near Metz, Arnold, Nancy and Verdun. As long as the weather is good, there will be air combat. Until they have completely grasped air supremacy, there should be no possibility of a large-scale air strike on Paris during the day."

"Oh," Churchill took a sip of his cigarette, "Who has the advantage?"

"German," Admiral Verick said with a frown, "It's obviously German! They have two very good aircraft, B-109 and Folk Zero, which is really hard to deal with. Even if the planes destroyed on the ground are not counted, the exchange ratio between the two sides is close to 1:3... In order to shoot down a B-109 or Folk Zero, we have to lose 3 ms.406, ‘Hurricane’ or ‘Breaking Fire’."

"It sounds so scary!" Winston Churchill sucked a cigar. "Fortunately, we can buy planes from the United States to replenish them."

The United States' "****" (i.e. p-36) and 2a have arrived in Europe one after another and will soon be equipped with British and French troops. However, the performance of these two aircraft is not very good, and they are not rivals of the B-109 and Folk Zero.

"Sir, what is really terrible now is not the loss of the aircraft, but the loss of the pilot!" Admiral Verick said, "Although most of the battles are carried out in French airspace, considering the casualties of pilots in German aircraft bombing, the exchange ratio of front-line pilots is still around 1:2. The Germans lose 1, and we French lose 2 or even more... Minister, such a war of attrition is very dangerous to Britain!"

"I get it." Churchill said lightly, but instead of continuing the topic in the air, he turned the topic to the ground. "So, how is General Ganmolin ready to defeat the Germans?"

Admiral Gan Molin is now the commander-in-chief of the British and French coalition forces, and it is his duty to lead the British and French coalition forces to defeat Germany. Although no major war occurred on the ground during this period, Admiral Gan Molin did not intend to let the more than 100 divisions under his command sit still like now until victory.

"General Ganmolin is preparing to form a huge armored force," said Admiral Verick. "He studied the situation of the Polish battle and believed that the key to the Germans' victory was to have a strong armored force. The Germans concentrated the tanks, rather than dispersed them to infantry divisions. This is their trick to win! So Admiral Ganmolin is preparing to learn from the Germans, organizing 24 armored divisions before 1942, and then using them to crush the Germans!"

"24 armored divisions?" Churchill smoked, "It sounds like a lot... But where are we going to attack? Are we going to break through the Ziegfee defense line?"

"No, of course not," said Verick. "Admiral Ganmolin believes that when necessary, it can destroy Belgium's neutrality."

Churchill shook his head and said, "If we have to wait until 1942 to launch a counterattack, it means that the Royal Navy will fight the Bismarck, the Tirpitz and several other more powerful super battleships!" The British Navy Minister said in a heavy tone, "According to information, the seven major German shipyards have a total of 9 large ships with a capacity of 60,000 tons or more. Now these ships are starting to build ships, and it doesn't think they are super cruise ships... Some intelligence shows that the Germans have a large-scale shipbuilding plan, and it is likely that they are already building battleships with a tonnage of larger than the Bismarck, which may be giant battleships with a capacity of 60,000 tons!"

The British also obtained some information about Germany's construction of "H"-class battleships and "O"-class battleships. Although they didn't know much, they also knew that these two battleships must be more powerful than the "Bismarck" class.

If you want to deal with them, it is not possible to rely on the existing battleships of Britain. Even the "George V" and "Lion" class may not be their opponents.

"In addition, according to reliable intelligence," Churchill spat out, and said, "the four Soviet-class battleships of the Soviets will also be put into use in 1942. By then, Germany and the Soviet Union will have up to 15 (9 60,000-ton ships each built one giant battleship, plus two Bismarck and four Soviet-class) super battleships! This is something that the British Royal Navy and the French Navy cannot resist..."

The British Navy obviously overestimated Germany's shipbuilding plan. Currently, the construction of two H-class and three B-class ships on the 9 60,000-ton ships (one of which was the one that was only laid after the launch of the water), two O-class and four P-class ships (two P-classes share a 60,000-ton ship). However, even the combined fleet of 2 Bismarck, two H-class, two O-class, four P-class and one Gneisenau, plus four Soviet-class ships, are not something the British and French navies could deal with in 1942.

"Sir, what should we do?" General Verick asked with a frown. In fact, he was also skeptical about the plan of Ganmolin's 24 armored divisions to crush Germany. Because the Germans would definitely form a new armored division. By 1942, there may not be 24, but there will always be no less than 20, right?

British and French armored divisions cannot have an overwhelming advantage in number!
Chapter completed!