Chapter 250: Catching a Big Fish
Raeder did not immediately agree with the Führer's judgment.
After thinking for a long while, he finally said, "Sir, should we notify Étretat and have the French fleet withdraw?"
Jörg shook his head.
He was preparing to use Étretat as bait to catch a big fish.
"No need."
His finger tapped lightly on the sea chart.
"Do not reveal the intelligence to the French. Avoid unnecessary leaks."
"Notify Kesselring. The Western Air Force is to enter full combat readiness."
"If the surprise attack is discovered, then it will become a trap."
Two days later.
Outside Étretat Port.
Colonel Aikar of the French Navy was inspecting the sailing condition of the Dunkirk-class battleship departing for Dunkirk.
There was a certain irony to it.
This battleship had still been under construction not long ago and had only barely been launched after the Franco-German War began. Who would have thought that, in just over a month, it would change masters?
Although the French still controlled the battleship, under the terms of the Franco-German peace treaty, they had to obey the orders of the German Navy during wartime.
Vichy France was still called France.
But in essence, it was no different from a German satellite state.
The only things it could decide independently were certain trivial diplomatic matters and colonial policies.
As Aikar stroked the rivets on the deck, his adjutant rushed over and reported urgently, "Sir! According to reports from two gunboats, a British fleet is sailing toward Étretat."
"Initial observation shows two battleships, one aircraft carrier, three destroyers, and one heavy cruiser."
The adjutant did not need to continue.
Aikar, who had already raised his binoculars, saw the shadow of that massive fleet on the horizon where the sea met the sky.
It was over.
Apart from the Dunkirk-class battleship, the entire Étretat Naval Base only had one destroyer undergoing radar modernization that could still move.
"Send a telegram to Germany immediately."
Aikar's voice became sharp.
"Tell them the British have launched a surprise attack. Request support."
Before the adjutant could deliver the order, the British sent their telegram first.
"Sir! The British have given us two choices."
Watching the fleet draw closer and closer, Aikar no longer had the patience to care about those damned choices.
"Hard to port. Prepare the guns."
His voice was full of fury.
"What choices? The Germans are not good people, and neither are the British."
No sooner had he spoken than twenty-five Swordfish torpedo bombers and ten Hurricane fighters flew toward the port.
Anti-aircraft guns roared.
Explosions sounded one after another.
Aikar no longer had the time to worry about the port.
The main guns of the British battleship fired in unison. One shell grazed the hull and plunged into the sea, throwing up a towering water column that collapsed into a curtain of rain.
Another unlucky shell struck the flank of the Dunkirk-class battleship.
Fortunately, thanks to its relatively thickened defenses, no serious damage was caused.
"Reduce speed. Open fire."
Bang!
A full salvo thundered toward the British battleship.
Unfortunately, the aim was clearly insufficient.
After three rounds of exchange, the Dunkirk-class only hit the British battleship twice.
The destroyer that came to assist was struck twice, and terrifying shell craters appeared across its hull.
The Dunkirk-class itself was in an even less optimistic state.
As the British battleship seized the moment when the Dunkirk-class changed speed, boom!
A main gun shell hit Turret Number Two directly, and the impact deformed the gun barrel.
After a thick cloud of smoke rose, Turret Number Two was reduced to a pile of scrap metal.
Black smoke poured from the fire, while large numbers of French sailors rushed over with hoses to extinguish the flames.
Almost every ship in the port was moored.
How could they possibly fight like this?
Looking back at the smoke rising from Étretat Port, Aikar felt his will to resist almost extinguished.
Just as he was about to order a retreat, a dense formation of German aircraft appeared in the sky like a swarm of locusts and engaged the carrier-based aircraft over the port in a fierce battle.
Thirty-five British aircraft quickly crashed under the encirclement of more than one hundred German fighters.
Burning wreckage smashed into the sea, while spilled aviation fuel spread across the waves.
On the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, British Vice Admiral Bimod, who was responsible for organizing Operation Black Lion, stared blankly at the countless German fighters.
The scene before him brought him back to Dunkirk.
That day had also been sea against air.
And that day had also been a massacre.
"Hard to starboard. Full speed withdrawal."
Bimod shouted loudly.
"Repeat, hard to starboard. Full speed withdrawal."
Although the British warships had begun to withdraw, the bombardment that had lasted less than ten minutes had still left Étretat Port in terrible condition.
A cruiser already moored for repairs had been destroyed.
The hull of the French aircraft carrier docked for expansion was in a miserable state, looking as though it might collapse and disintegrate at any moment.
The losses could only be described as enormous.
The harbor was in ruins.
But out on the sea, the German Air Force clung tightly to the Illustrious-class carrier and the two battleships, determined to swallow this big fish whole.
The three escorting destroyers fired their anti-aircraft guns into the sky.
But two Stuka bombers still braved the storm of shells and launched a dive attack against the Nelson-class battleship.
The piercing scream that accompanied the dive tore at everyone's eardrums.
Machine gun fire swept outward, leaving long trails of flame across various parts of the turret.
Realizing that the distance was close enough, one Stuka successfully dropped its bomb and suddenly pulled up, narrowly avoiding the rain of anti-aircraft fire.
The other was not so lucky.
Realizing that he could no longer escape, the pilot roared and crashed into the middle of the battleship.
The aerial bomb and the aircraft penetrated the central armor together, while another bomb was thrown into the warship through the opening.
The next moment, boom!
A violent explosion shook the soldiers on the deck who were preparing to carry out repairs.
In the blink of an eye, the explosion intensified.
Then came a mournful roar.
The hull began to disintegrate, breaking into two halves along its central axis in an instant.
On the bridge, Bimod stared at the Nelson-class battleship as it spewed black smoke and murmured, "My God."
Before his shock could fade, the next moment, the Queen Elizabeth IV battleship had its power system destroyed.
It lay paralyzed on the sea like a bloated, rotting seal.
Then came the hunt for the Illustrious-class carrier.
At the cost of ten Stukas, among the three destroyers, one was destroyed, one was paralyzed, and the last, seeing that the situation had turned unfavorable, began to withdraw.
But it ran head-on into the incoming U-boat fleet.
Only the Illustrious-class carrier, this great whale, remained on the sea.
The falcons had already descended with poisoned talons.
Boom!
Several incendiary bombs struck the carrier's flight deck, burning the aircrew to ashes.
Then an ace bomber accurately hit the bridge of the Illustrious-class carrier.
Its thickened armor gave it a certain degree of resistance against aerial bombardment.
But no amount of armor could compensate for endless bombing.
Bang!
The bridge was knocked crooked by the explosion.
The following bombs completely paralyzed the command system.
The U-boat fleet, which had failed to stop the last destroyer, surrounded the carrier like a pack of wolves and began feasting on its corpse. They prepared to sink the Illustrious-class with torpedoes and devour this big fish.
The surviving British naval officers stood on the deck and waved white flags.
This aircraft carrier became Germany's trophy.
The price of a surprise attack turning into an ambush was heavy.
Of the fleet dispatched by the British Royal Navy's Home Fleet, only one destroyer and one heavy cruiser that had temporarily turned back due to a malfunction returned alive.
The aircraft carrier became Germany's trophy.
As for the crippled battleship, after the German Navy assessed its value and determined that the cost of repair was too high, it was sunk in the Bay of Biscay.
Moreover, while the dispatched fleet was carrying out its attack, Germany simultaneously launched submarine attacks against several British military ports, sinking or damaging several large vessels.
And in the Mediterranean, Mussolini, who had trusted the British, sounded the death knell of the Italian Navy.
.....
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