My German Empire - Chapter 30:

Lütjens, the most outstanding surface ship commander of the German Navy of World War II.

On May 24, 1941, under the command of Lütjens, the battlecruiser Bismarck, the symbol of the British navy, was sunk. This incident greatly stung the British navy so the British fleet moved from all directions and ambushed them.

Everyone knows the final result. The Bismarck sank under the full attack of the British Navy. In the final battle, Lütjens left his last memory to people: “Our ship is no longer maneuverable, we will fight until the last bomb…” It was May 27, 1941, and he was 52 years old…

Such an excellent soldier, Wilhelm must of course use him. He sent his secretary to the Admiralty to find Gunther Lütjens, who is now the captain of a small frigate.

Lütjens just didn’t go out to sea that day, and he didn’t dare to delay when he heard that the royal prince had summoned him, and immediately came to the palace. “Salute to you, your royal prince.”

Wilhelm went straight to business after a few words of greeting. “Major Lütjens, I have a new task for you to complete.”

Although the imperial power was severely weakened after the defeat in the last war and was checked and balanced by the parliament, how could William II be willing to give up those rights? After ten years with the support of those royalists, he gradually regained a lot of power, and now the parliament has been gradually suppressed by the imperial power, especially in the military.

“His Royal Highness please do not hesitate to give orders,” Lütjens said respectfully.

After thinking about it, Wilhelm asked. “A question for you first, Major Lütjens, how do you think we can defeat the fleet of the British Empire?”

Lütjens thought for a while before he replied. “His Royal Highness, forgive me for being stupid, I really can’t think of a good way. Let’s not say that the ‘Versailles Treaty’ restricts us from building warships, but even if there was no treaty restriction, His Majesty had tried it ten years ago, using surface ships, I am more optimistic about underwater submarines. If the speed of the submarine can be made faster and if it can dive deeper with an improved torpedo, there may be a battle we can win.”

Wilhelm was stunned when he heard this. Isn’t this what Dunnitz should say? A surface battleship captain is more optimistic about underwater submarines?. Should I switch you with Dunnitz and let him command the aircraft carrier group and let you command the submarine group? Then he dismissed the idea again to avoid any other problems. But speaking of Dunnitz, what is he doing now? If he remembers correctly, he should be the captain of a torpedo ship, right?

After recovering, Wilhelm saw Lütjens looking at him with a bewildered face, smiled apologetically, and continued. “Yes, it is difficult for us to gain an advantage with traditional naval guns over enemy naval forces. To be precise, there is no chance of defeating the fleet of the British Empire. The submarine you mentioned is one way, but I am more optimistic about aircrafts.”

“Aircraft?” Lütjens’ first reaction was to use land-based aircraft to attack naval ships, which was impossible, but he immediately reacted. “Are you talking about an aircraft carrier?”

Wilhelm nodded. “Correct.”

Lütjens pondered for a while and shook his head. “With all due respect, even if the aircraft carrier can bring the aircraft to a distance sufficient to attack the enemy ship, the loss will be considerable if the aircraft is used to attack the battleship. If you want to sink a battleship, even if there is no interception by the destroyer frigate, just The battleship’s own air defense capabilities can cause heavy losses to aircrafts, so the gains outweigh the losses.”

Most of the current fighters are biplanes or triplanes, and the maximum flight speed is difficult to exceed 300 kilometers per hour. If you want to use this kind of “slow” aircraft to attack a warship, it will be a huge loss. “With the current aircraft, of course, the loss is not small. But I have already heard some news from the scientific research department. Judging from the current technological development trend, in less than ten years, advanced engines can enable a single-engine bomber to carry 500 kg bombs, flying at a speed exceeding 400 kilometers per hour, and some fighter jets will even exceed flight speed of 600 kilometers per hour.”

Lütjens’ eyes widened in surprise, and he dared not say anything. “Really?” After all, the maximum flight speed of the “cockfighting” fighters currently in service in the UK is 250 kilometers per hour. If the bomber’s flying speed exceeds 400 kilometers per hour, the enemy fighters will not be able to catch up even if they want to. The flight speed will also seriously test the anti-aircraft gunner on the battleship.

Seeing Lütjens’s shocked expression, Wilhelm couldn’t help being a little funny. He really wanted to tell him that only thirty years later, the first supersonic fighter would come out, and fifty years later, the Soviet fighters were equipped with even more speed. And If you live long enough, you can even see the first stealth fighter.

“Of course, with the advancement of science and technology, the performance of fighters will become more and more outstanding. Then which country will build battleships that are equivalent to moving targets?”

So after World War II, battleships were basically eliminated by aircraft carriers. After all, battleships are about the same size as aircraft carriers, and require more air defense and escort ships. They are not cheaper to use than aircraft carriers, with far inferior combat capability.

After that, the rapid development of missile weapons completely dealt a fatal blow to the battleship.

Imagine that a battleship worth billions with thousands of well-trained crew members can be sent to the bottom of the sea by a few missiles worth millions of dollars. How sad is that.

“We have ordered a lot of supplies from China, and these materials will continue to be shipped in the next few years. I will use an aircraft carrier to escort each convoy. You will use the next few years to become familiar with the operation of the aircraft carrier and train a group of carrier-based aircraft pilots. “Generally, pilots only need to fly on land, and carrier-based aircraft pilots are required to complete normal take-off and landing in a complex ocean environment, which is more demanding, and it is impossible to be competent without a lot of training.

“As I said just now, I am not optimistic about battleships. Even if the Treaty of Versailles is loosened in the future, I am not planning to build more battleships. Even if a few are built, they will either escort aircraft carriers or I will use them to bombard the ground. The main sea force of the future Empire will be the aircraft carrier group. Whether the empire can defeat the British fleet and dominate the vast ocean in the future depends on you.”

Hearing what Wilhelm said, Lütjens felt the burden on his shoulders become heavier, he straightened his waist, and said solemnly. “His Royal Highness, please rest assured, I promise to complete the task!”

Wilhelm nodded and handed a few transfer orders to Lütjens. “Here are a few orders signed by the emperor. You will find a few like-minded people to take care of each batch of aircraft carrier training. I will send a group of pilots to follow you. Before the construction of the small aircraft carrier is completed, you should practice aircraft carrier take-off and landing on land.” Although according to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany cannot have an air force after the war, we played a trick and included some of the pilots of World War I into the army, so we still have a group of pilots.”

“Yes!” Wilhelm ordered again just as Lütjens was about to leave. “Also, don’t talk to others about what we just discussed.”

“Understand, Your Highness!”

Then Wilhelm found Dunnitz , and sent him to Holland to discuss cooperation in the construction of submarines.