Helmut Haye and Fritz Xinze quickly walked to the next to the map platform placed inside the bridge. A staff officer had already placed two model ships symbolizing "battleships and battle cruisers" in the northwest of the Faroe Islands.

"Is Bergen's shore-based aircraft accessible?" Haye asked the aviation staff officer Max Max, who was inside the bridge, who was also the flight control officer of the USS Seedlez.

"It's barely accessible," Major Max glanced at the model boat and replied, "The British knew that the combat radius of 88 and 79 should not be too close. After all, they had just suffered a big loss in the waters near Ireland."

Haye nodded and agreed to Major Max's analysis. "If Bergen's shore-based aircraft cannot go, then it's time for us to board today, is it still time to launch an air strike?"

"It's too late today," Major Max looked at the sky outside the bridge. "It's going to be dark soon, and we're too far from them, and our Fokker 99 combat radius is not very large."

The Fokker 99 has a range of more than 1,400 kilometers, with a combat radius of about 500,600 kilometers. The place where the "Hood" was discovered is about 800 kilometers away from the two German aircraft carriers.

"Then let's launch an attack tomorrow morning, and let Bergen's 3rd HNA Division send 200 to track the Hood." Lieutenant General Haye thought for a while, "and we should sail north now. In this way, we will launch an attack sooner tomorrow, and the possibility of our sudden attack by enemy planes will be smaller."

It is now the polar day period of the Arctic. The closer you get to the Arctic, the shorter the night time and the longer the daytime, so it is more beneficial for Hayes' fleet to occupy the northern position.

However, there are disadvantages to sailing north, that is, it will approach Iceland controlled by the Americans. In this way, the Seedlez and Seickt may be discovered by American reconnaissance planes.

"Lieutenant General, there is an American fleet near Iceland to the north." Major Max whispered to Lieutenant General Haye.

Lieutenant General Haye held his arms and thought for a while, saying, "Let's go north and just be a little further away from Iceland. We can't stop fighting just because they come."

When Helmut Haye said this, he certainly did not expect that his fleet had actually been discovered by the British submarines.

"Admiral, the German fleet came out of Bergen!" On the battleship "Nelson", Admiral Tovey, commander of the British local fleet, received a report from the submarine. "There are at least 2 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers and 4 light cruisers."

"Are they two battleships?" General Tovey asked, "Did you tell me what kind of ship it is?"

"It's two Bismarck class."

In fact, what British submarines saw were two heavy cruisers, Admiral Hippel and Blüchel. However, German battleships and heavy cruisers looked similar in appearance and were easy to admit mistakes, especially the Bismarck-class battleships with the same number of main gun turrets and the Admiral Hippel class heavy cruisers are more likely to be confused. Moreover, the accompaniment of the two aircraft carriers also made the British believe that what they discovered was the Bismarck and the Tirpitz.

"Where is the direction?" General Tovey asked again. "Where is the direction of navigation?"

"North latitude 60.5 degrees and east longitude 4.2 degrees is about this location. Sailing north."

"North to Bergen." Lieutenant General Fraser, deputy commander of the British local fleet, quickly found this position on the chart. "If you go all north, you will soon enter the Norwegian Sea."

"Norwegian Sea" Admiral Tovey also walked to the chart table, "Want to go to the Denmark Strait?"

The Denmark Strait is located between Iceland and Greenland. It is a waterway leading from the Norwegian Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It is very wide, with a narrowest point of 290 kilometers wide. It also has long nights in winter and often fog in summer, so it is very suitable for the German fleet to break into the Atlantic Ocean.

"It is also possible that they want to attack the Hood. The German submarines may have discovered the fleet." Lieutenant General Fraser quickly proposed another possibility, "The German aircraft carrier must have headed north to occupy a favorable northern position so that their aircraft can take off at two or three o'clock tomorrow morning."

"There is also a possibility." Admiral Tovey thought for a while, "order the fleet to go north and as close as possible to Iceland. If the Germans' purpose was to attack the fleet, then we will attack east, and at the same time ask American planes to fly east of the fleet to intercept the German reconnaissance planes. If the Germans want to break through the Denmark Strait, then the fleet will cross Icelandic airspace to launch an air strike."

Now, since the United States took over Iceland and also mandated the Iceland parliament to pass a resolution, turning Iceland into an American territory. Therefore, Iceland is now considered a "neutral zone". German aircraft cannot fly over Iceland airspace, but British aircraft can fly over Iceland if necessary and even land in Iceland during wartime. In addition, American aircraft stationed in Iceland can also take off and intercept German reconnaissance aircraft trying to fly from airspace near Iceland. So Tovey wants the fleet to attack the German fleet under the cover of Iceland.

"You can also ask American friends in Iceland to send destroyers to search the Denmark Strait to help us determine the location of the German fleet." Lieutenant General Fraser then made a suggestion, "At the same time, in case, the fleet can also attack the waters west of Iceland. In addition, the fleet should be 80,100 nautical miles south of the fleet, so that the aircraft of the Faroe Islands can provide direct cover to the fleet. If the fleet damages the German fleet severely, the fleet can attack eastward for interception."

When Lieutenant General Fraser spoke, he placed model ships that symbolize the fleet, fleet, fleet and German fleet at various positions on the chart, and finally formed a situation of pursuing and intercepting the German fleet.

"Admiral, all ships have completed the supply."

Just as the British were preparing to siege two German aircraft carriers and German heavy patrols to the north, Colonel Lindermann, chief of staff of the German First High Seas Fleet and captain of the battleship "Bismar" was reporting to General Gunther Lütjens on the fleet's supply situation.

"In addition, the Marines have already disembarked and settled in the barracks in Bergen." Linderman continued.

Occupy Shetland Islands was also one of the options for this operation, so the transport ships that arrived in Bergen with the First High Seas Fleet were carrying 6,500 marines. If a landing operation was to be launched, they would be the first troops to land.

In addition, in order to implement the plan to capture the Shetlands, the German army also formed the 21st cluster with General Falkenhorst as commander. In addition to the Marine Corps, this cluster also has 6 infantry divisions, including the Vikings and 1 airborne division, with a total force of more than 100,000.

However, most of the troops have not arrived in Norway yet, and General Falkenhorst's headquarters has just arrived. Moreover, the sea control and air supremacy in the Shetlands area have not yet been obtained, so it is not the time to carry out landing operations.

After listening to Colonel Linderman's report, General Gunther Lütjens looked at the time. It was 8:10 pm, but the sky in Bergen is still brighter.

"It's almost time, let's go out to sea," said Admiral Gunther Lütjens. "We sailed against the tiny islands on the Norwegian coastline, and then let the Third HNA Division send planes to cover us. If Hayes's plane can damage the Hood and another British battleship tomorrow morning, then we will seek a decisive battle."

Gunther Lütjens led the main force of the fleet to attack, because he and Haye believed that the Fokker 99 was not destructive enough, and it was difficult to sank British battleships, and at most they were injured. As for the final sinking mission, either the 88 that took off by Bergen or the three battleships of Admiral Genser Lütjens.

At 8:30 pm on June 8, 1941, the main force of the German High Seas Fleet began to set sail, left the Port of Bergen, and traveled among the filthy islands on the west coast of Norway. After 5 hours, it disappeared on the Atlantic Ocean under the cover of night. Since it was already dark when the First High Seas Fleet left, and there was mist on the sea, the British submarines ambushed near the Norwegian coastline did not find anything.

"Lieutenant General, the Coast Air Force reported that one of their Short Sunderland seaplanes discovered the German fleet southwest of the Faroe Islands at 0.5 degrees east longitude."

At 1:30 a.m. on June 9, the battlecruiser "Houd" which was sailing slowly on the southern edge of Norway's Hainan received a report from the British Coast Air Force. A Short Sunderland seaplane installed with a search radar discovered that the German fleet was Hayes' aircraft carrier formation.

The captain of the Hood and the commander of the fleet, Lieutenant General Lancelot Holland, immediately walked to the chart table, where the navigator had marked the position of the German fleet.

"It's more than 200 nautical miles away," said Lieutenant Colonel Cook, the first mate of the USS Hood. "I just don't know if they've found us?"

"We have to be careful," said Lieutenant General Holland, smoking his pipe. "They have two Bismarck-class battleships, and we are not against each other with the Prince of Wales."

Lieutenant Colonel Cook said: "Lt. General, we can ask the Coast Air Force to send a few more seaplanes to stare at the German fleet, so that it will be foolproof."

Lieutenant General Holland nodded and said, "But we still have to keep a distance of 200 nautical miles from them. The Germans still have two aircraft carriers! By the way, where is the fleet now?"

"Probably north of us," replied Lt. Col. Cook, "the fleet is now heading for the waters south of Iceland."
Chapter completed!