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Undoubtedly, the US military is trying to quickly assemble its forces to face a surprise attack. The expeditionary fleet is currently completely unaware of what's behind the smokescreen—even with airborne KMFs or similar systems providing intelligence, they cannot guide the warships' missiles to launch an attack.
Before the battleships' 16-inch shells could even hit, the torpedoes came first—the destroyers, which had been retreating with smoke trails, launched all the remaining torpedoes they had left, and it seemed that the US military was a little nervous.
So, just as the Duke ordered the entire fleet to make a circular maneuver, preparing to strike the American fleet once and then flee, the three columns of the fleet, which were flying the Stars and Stripes, turned into a scattered six-line formation and spread out towards them.
The three battleships were still arranged in a single column, while the light cruisers and heavy cruisers each formed a column. The remaining 10 destroyers, surrounded by the guns of the former, split into three groups and launched a counterattack. The battleship Vanguard had already raised its two twin 15-inch main gun turrets and, guided by the fire control radar, fired a salvo from the foredeck at a high angle onto a missile destroyer.
……
"Missile lauch!"
"Fire at will!"
The shouts of artillery and the roar of explosions crashed down between the sea and the sky like collapsing mountains. Before the second wave of US carrier-based aircraft could rush to the sea southeast of Denmark, another bloody battle of steel would ensue.
Missiles and anti-aircraft barrages obscured the sky over the Baltic Sea like a typhoon and thunderstorm. The collision between fighter jets and KMFs resembled apocalyptic lightning and thunder. Forty warships of all sizes were crammed into this 40 square kilometer sea of flames, cultivated by both sides.
The spray of shells mingled with the waves, the burning warships scalded the seawater, and one after another, the hulls of ships flying the Stars and Stripes and the Lion and Serpent Flag became new pieces of wreckage scattered across the sea. Some of the American and Britannian destroyers, which had initially been far apart, closed to within five kilometers of each other. The anti-aircraft guns and machine gun turrets, originally intended to counter the air force, now stabbed each other like two men who had fallen into the mud and pulled out daggers from their boots, drawing blood.
The smoke from the battleships obscured the battlefield like sea fog, but thankfully it did not extinguish the last vestiges of reason on both sides, who were fighting to the death.
In less than seven minutes, the USS Washington and USS Vanguard escaped greater disaster, but the USS South Dakota's No. 2 main gun turret was hit by three missiles and completely disabled. As for the cruisers, only the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans miraculously survived every attack, and even the USS Brooklyn, which had previously been injured but refused to leave the front line, was hit by four missiles indiscriminately this time and finally met its end.
Duke Rabinowitz had no choice but to order the entire fleet to withdraw from the battlefield to the east. This was not merely a matter of taking what was good and leaving – the American and British fleets, from battleships to cruisers and destroyers, could not be confused with the Soviet October Revolution.
The scenes of the Battle of Rügen seemed to be reenacted by the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack in a more brutal and ruthless manner. The structural collapse of the Ritzia was caused by the main guns of battleships smashing through its hull, and the Ezogon was instantly lost on the sea after its ammunition storage was detonated by shells or aerial bombs.
Before long, both sides, overwhelmed by the pressure, eventually and tacitly withdrew from the deadly naval battle to cover the rescue of their own heavily damaged, burning, flooded, and listing warships. What remained at sea were the shattered hulls of 13 warships.
……
"This is the report that Duke Rabinowitz has submitted to you, Your Highness."
The Baltic Sea returned to a brief period of calm. Before Elizabeth could even see the disheveled naval commander returning from Berlin, she received a message from him.
"If he can still write down the summary himself, then there's no need for such a long explanation." The princess's attitude was unusually composed. "To put it simply, how many warships do we have that don't need major repairs and are ready to launch another attack?"
"According to the Duke, apart from one submarine, there are only 11 missile destroyers. He concluded that it would be very difficult to carry out the mission of assisting the landing forces and suppressing the Scandinavian coast during the landing on Bornholm Island."
"That's alright. After all, I believe the Northern Alliance won't rashly send artillery and warships to obstruct us when we land on the island. While you're at it, please pass on a message to General Trossa: abandon the sea landing plan at Bornholm and focus all your efforts on an air assault landing."
Chapter 341, Section 434: Baltic Night
Fragments still reeking of gunpowder and blood are floating in the waters between Denmark and Germany, seemingly restoring the bustling activity of peacetime.
In reality, it was the Danes and Britannia's small boats that were coming and going, searching at sea for the surviving American and expeditionary force sailors—amidst the rising and falling waves, in front of guns aimed at each other, and beneath the silent aircraft crisscrossing the sky.
Admittedly, naval battles have claimed the lives of many young children, but ultimately they are wars between people, and will not escalate to the point where torpedo boats use machine guns to strafe lifebuoys, or Portman uses a grappling hook to drag a lifeboat into the sea.
……
The intense, chaotic clashes of just one day brought more suffering to Germany's coastal waters than just a day of chaos.
The Swedes wanted to flee west with their remaining forces, but this navy, accustomed to peacetime, abandoned four destroyers that sank to the bottom of the sea during their escape. The cruiser Gotland, along with two destroyers, anchored in Oslo, Norway.
This loss was extremely heavy for the US Navy and the Royal Navy as well. Each navy lost a cruiser in the naval battle, marking the first time they had lost ships with a displacement of over 7 tons in this war. As for the destroyers lost, a total of seven were lost.
The battleships were left with mixed feelings. HMS Vanguard was fortunate enough to avoid missing out on World War II and thus having no history of participating in any naval operations. HMS South Dakota, as always, returned with its wounds, but on the way to Scapa Flow, it managed to get the steer mechanism of its paralyzed No. 2 main gun turret working again.
The USS Washington could have continued its life with the honor of "no crew members killed in action during World War II," but this time it was ended by a missile that landed between the stern crane and the aircraft catapult. This sea-based air defense fortress also had two quadruple Bofors gun turrets at the stern, and most of their operators were unfortunately carried off the deck in coffins by their comrades after the missile exploded.
Even the US and British carrier battle groups failed to seize the opportunity to finish off their adversaries. Apart from the Britannian main force being in remote waters, the first wave of US carrier strikes was also too eager to achieve its goal, throwing all its ammunition at the non-main fleet. By the time the enemy's main force of 25 ships appeared, the first wave of strikes was forced to return to port for resupply. By the time the second wave of strikes arrived, the naval artillery battle was almost over.
As the saying goes, "you can't even catch the shit while it's still hot," the US Navy only received the three belated aircraft carriers—the Princeton, Randolph, and Wasp—in the North Sea the night after the Great Naval Battle. If these three hadn't been absent, the US military's two attack waves would have had one-third more carrier-based aircraft.
Now, Bornholm Island, 400 kilometers away, is in imminent danger, while these dozen or so aircraft carriers can only watch helplessly off the Baltic Sea—this is not the Leyte Gulf of 20 months ago, and Britannia is far from being in such a desperate situation that it cannot even muster 100 interceptors.
……
When Duke Rabinowitz returned to shore, he was reluctant to look back at the sea.
The American warships and aircraft did not break the backbone of his fleet, but what was left for the expeditionary force was the nearly destroyed Wismar naval port under the bombardment of aerial bombs and naval guns. Although Rostock was not completely destroyed, it once again brought a familiar defeat to every sailor.
The expeditionary force still has 11 missile destroyers that can go out to sea for combat. The remaining 10 ships floating on the water either survived the naval battle or were left with holes and blackened in front of their berths and dry docks, thanks to the fact that the Swedish and Soviet shore-based air forces did not kill them.
The naval port suffered a devastating blow, and it wasn't just the warships that suffered. More than half of the dozen or so transport ships originally intended to support the landing on Bornholm Island were sunk, their landing craft and supplies lying dormant in the bay. Then came the news that "Sweden and Denmark are deploying new minefields near the island."
The island will definitely be taken, but we may have to find a different way to do it.
A few days later, in the early morning, as General Trossa prepared to board a lone ship to cruise in the waters near Germany, the soldiers and civilians on Bornholm Island saw a corner of their nightmare—the roar of engines—between the sea and sky, facing away from the rising sun.
A large group of KMF aircraft and jet fighters roared across the island from varying altitudes, their guns whistling across the land before flying north. Following them, more than 200 troop transport aircraft and Nightbat VTOLs carrying KMFs, along with a large group of armed helicopters, were slowly approaching from the direction they had come from.
The forward crew included many veterans leading the team, as well as Juliet, who had just been transferred from the Knights of Agincourt. She sat next to the captain, while a group of new recruits who had recently completed their adaptation training were in the cabin further back.
"Is it really as you say, Sergeant Julie?" The corporal sitting opposite her was holding a new type of squad machine gun that was quite unfamiliar to the entire expeditionary force. This would be his first time using it in actual combat. "I haven't seen the horrors of Sector 45 yet, but I've certainly seen all the novelty."
Seeing that Juliet gave him a cold look and didn't say anything, he started talking to himself.
"I can see the island, but I don't see the 'terrifying anti-aircraft fire network' you mentioned. Similarly, the veterans say that the Expeditionary Force's every smile and gesture is completely different from before, but our current formation is no different from when we attacked 11 eight years ago! Instead, the vanguard of carpet bombing aircraft is gone, and we've been replaced directly? If we have to find a reason, perhaps the harmonious relationship between the Knights and ordinary officers and soldiers is one of them."
“You feel relaxed because your predecessors did everything beyond what you are currently responsible for.” Julie didn’t argue much, but simply caught the dagger sheath that was falling from the corporal’s side as they were being jostled around.
“We’ll be at the landing zone in two minutes, girl,” the captain reminded her, turning around. Looking up, he saw a large number of armed transport planes slowly flying overhead directly above the troop transport fleet.
Apart from the fact that the Swedish troops on the island were few and far between, the KMF and tanks were not suitable for fighting in large groups on this island where supplies were temporarily tight. Therefore, unlike previous operations, the main force this time was the infantrymen who were preparing to rappel down in these troop transport planes.
As for the armed transport planes, they were fully responsible for ensuring that hundreds of tons of supplies were delivered to the landing troops via airdrop, and that the infantry would take control of the island's airfield before discussing the aftermath.
Corporal and Juliet stood up and peered ahead, already seeing the island and the town of Lenne growing larger in their eyes. The KMFs and jet fighters leading the way had already cast green smoke screens outside the town, and armed transport planes flying overhead were pushing supply crates wrapped in parachutes out of their tail hatches.
"Watch out!" Suddenly, starlight appeared from several farmhouses outside the city. While helping the corporal in the cockpit as they dodged to the side, Juliet could vaguely make out tracer rounds flying out of the cockpit window—they seemed to be fired from a 20mm cannon.
Just then, a squadron of jet fighters and KMF aircraft arrived in response to the troop transport squadron's distress call. In no time, they targeted the farmhouses and unleashed rockets from under their wings or recoilless rifles from their shoulders, leveling them to the ground.
"Damn it, don't hit the supplies!" The captain was a little embarrassed by the large-scale operation, but fortunately, the plane hovered over the fields not far from the farmhouse without any major incident. "Sergeant, you can move out now."
"Understood, all units move out!" Juliet slung her bulletproof shield and assault rifle over her shoulder, preparing to push open the troop transport plane's hatch and throw down the steel cable, when she heard the sound of bullets hitting her outside.
Looking out through the small round window of the hatch, they saw two figures shooting back at them while fleeing into the woods with bolt-action rifles in their hands.
"Hmm, it would be great if we could set it up here." Juliet touched the round window, then looked back at the machine gun in the corporal's hand.
……
Troop transport planes flew overhead in droves, ready to pick up the next group of infantrymen to land on the island. Like Juliet, hundreds of soldiers who had rappelled down were now groping their way into the city after clearing the area outside.
The only obstacle they encountered was rifle bullets coming from distant houses, which made the corporal carrying the machine gun behind Julie complain. But soon, as they were about to step onto the road into the city, if Julie hadn't pulled him behind a broken wall, he and the young man carrying the rocket launcher behind him would have been blown to pieces by the tank's 7.92mm machine gun.
The corporal nearly flung his gun away, but Juliet remained calm. After all, she had been surrounded and chased by T-34s and M4s in the past, and the Swedes' M/40L, which they had been holding back like a treasure, seemed slightly inferior to the Stuart.
Fortunately, she could only lead everyone behind a safe cover until an armed helicopter arrived and used rockets and machine guns to drive away and destroy the tanks.
“Corporal, are you still going to say ‘nothing has changed’?” She gave the young man a cold look; he was practically huddled next to Juliet’s shield.
"Cough... I understand, I understand, I'll do it according to the recruit handbook." He spread the machine gun bipod on a pile of rubble, providing cover for the infantrymen with assault rifles advancing with Julie, and aimed at the distant window, where Swedish officers and soldiers in military uniforms and Danish residents in civilian clothes holding Mauser rifles.
……
The Karlsruhena naval base now exists only symbolically on maps. After the Gotland departed with its entourage, Vice Admiral Strombeck set sail for the eastern Baltic Sea with all his remaining assets: four coastal defense ships, one minelayer, and eleven destroyers.
Their first stop was the harbor of Kalmar. 5 kilometers away from the city, in the open sea, lies Öland Island. This territory, which belongs to Swedish sovereignty, is located 180 kilometers northeast of Bornholm Island. It has never witnessed any war, nor has it ever been visited by the war machines of other countries.
This time, however, the Swedish Navy anchored in Kalmar and looked out over the ferry crossing on the opposite Öland Island, where two huge Red Navy cruisers, the Kirov and Gorky, were moored.
This is precisely why the lieutenant general insisted on leaving so many high-speed ships in the Baltic Sea. No matter how weak the Baltic Fleet may seem compared to the Northern Alliance's carrier battle groups, its strength is still reliable and is essential for safeguarding the territorial waters of the Baltic states.
After setting some conditions, the Swedish high command finally agreed to the lieutenant general's proposal, allowing the Red Navy to resupply at Swedish coastal ports in preparation for future operations.
These days, while the Soviet sailors awaited orders, they spent most of their time on this side of the strait, watching the bustling activity on the outskirts of Kalmar in the distance—a hastily constructed makeshift airfield where, in the days following its completion, twin-engine bombers would continuously fly in from the north and land there, remaining stationary for a long time.
The Swedish Navy's docking this time also coincided with the first time these JU88s, which were taken over from Germany, were supporting Bornholm Island. Even though the island's fate was already decided, it still became a new sight in the skies over the Baltic Sea.
The JU88's emblem has been freshly painted—like a snow-white background of winter in the Karelian Isthmus, with a similarly blue circle replacing the blue swastika.
These are books written by my readers, entrusted to you by me. Please feel free to enjoy them.
On the Complete Victory over Collapse
The Commander's Work at the Time and Space Administration
The Forgotten Fleet's Fantastic Journey
Chapter 435, Part Nine: The Great Naval Battles of Southern Scandinavia
On June 5, 1946, the Britannian Expeditionary Force, with overwhelming naval and air power, launched a swift attack on the Swedish naval base and American-supplied warships, crushing the vast majority of the Swedish Royal Navy's fighting force: a total of 15 warships, including 4 American-supplied escort destroyers, were sunk or grounded, and the remaining 10 or so active ships were almost all damaged to varying degrees.
This battle marked the first large-scale military attack on Swedish soil since Sweden declared itself a permanently neutral country in 1905 and maintained peace throughout the two World Wars. It also signified that Sweden was completely unable to extricate itself from its role as a participant in the war against the Britannian Empire.
Due to Sweden's own strength and unique geographical conditions, the United Kingdom and the United States, as the leaders of the NATO, agreed to the Swedish military's request to cover the withdrawal of Swedish naval vessels from the Baltic Sea in order to further strengthen their cooperative relationship with Sweden.
However, due to some previous distrust of the West, the Swedish Navy did not choose to take all its high-speed main warships away. Instead, it left some destroyers in the Baltic Sea in preparation for future cooperation with the Soviet Red Navy in the Baltic Sea.
Similarly, after assessing the combat capabilities of the ships, the UK and the US did not place excessive emphasis on the necessity of the Swedish Navy's existence. Instead, they devised a large-scale maritime operation with the secondary objective of protecting Swedish warships.
The content is as follows:
1. The Receiving Fleet (RF) consists of 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers from the Royal Navy and 3 destroyers from the United States Navy. It is responsible for providing maritime cover for the Swedish Navy (SN) after they rendezvous in the Baltic Sea.
2. The Royal Navy Carrier Battle Group (RN CBG) consists of four Illustrious-class and HMS Unicorn aircraft carriers, carrying approximately 200 carrier-based aircraft. It is deployed in the coastal waters north of Denmark and is responsible for providing air cover for the supporting fleet and the Swedish fleet, and attacking the Britannian Navy when necessary.
3. The Assault Fleet (AF) consisted of three battleships—USS Vanguard, USS Washington, and USS South Dakota—three Brooklyn-class light cruisers, two New Orleans-class heavy cruisers, and fourteen destroyers. Except for the USS Vanguard, all were US Navy ships. Its mission was to attack Britannia's naval ports and maritime forces while the supporting fleet was attacking Britannia.
4. The US Navy Carrier Battle Group (US CBG) consists of five Essex-class, two Midway-class, and one Yorktown-class aircraft carriers, carrying approximately 600 carrier-based aircraft. It is deployed in the waters west of the Jutland Peninsula and also has the mission of providing air cover for strike fleets, bombing naval ports, and destroying Britannian warships within its operational range.
5. Land-based air power. In addition to West German field airfields attacking Britannian air power and naval ports from other directions, some US air squadrons equipped with SBD bombers were deployed to air bases in Denmark, and the Royal Air Force also deployed its Vampire jet fighters, which had not yet seen combat, to some coastal airfields in Sweden, with plans to attack the Britannian fleet and cover the Swedish fleet respectively.
6. Denmark and Sweden will also be required to cooperate with the aforementioned forces during this period, providing air cover for the receiving and assault fleets, as well as for the mission of attacking the Britannian Navy.
6月8日凌晨0:48分，瑞典海军1艘巡洋舰和6艘驱逐舰从卡尔斯克鲁纳海军基地起锚出发，经过四个多小时的航行抵达博恩霍尔姆岛北方60公里的哈讷湾，向皇家海军发出了就位的信息。
At 4:56 AM, Swedish and Soviet military reconnaissance confirmed the presence of the main Britannian fleet, consisting of 25 missile destroyers, in the waters near Rügen Island, while the Danish military confirmed a support fleet of 10 ships in southern Denmark.
At 5:32 a.m., three US destroyers belonging to the RF entered the Baltic Sea from the Øresund Strait to conduct anti-submarine and air defense reconnaissance missions.
At 6:04 AM, a Britannian Navy submarine spotted three ships in Danish waters, and the entire fleet went on high alert.
At 6:41 a.m., three US destroyers returned to the waters near Copenhagen to rendezvous with the main RF fleet. Three minutes later, the entire fleet entered the Baltic Sea and headed towards the southern waters of Sweden.
At 6:45 a.m., the assault fleet received a telegram from the receiving fleet in the Great Belt Strait and immediately set off south toward Wismar and Rostock. At the same time, the British and American carrier battle groups and various land-based air forces immediately entered combat status.
At 7:22 a.m., the Britannian submarine, which had returned after evading American sonar, discovered the movement of the supporting fleet and reported to the surface ships and Berlin. Ten minutes later, attack aircraft from the inland began to support the navy's missiles and launched an attack on the British and Swedish fleets.
At 7:32 a.m., the supporting fleet detected the Britannian aircraft group on radar and issued a warning to the Swedish side. The entire fleet of both sides immediately entered combat status, and the Battle of the Southern Scandinavia officially began.
At 7:43 AM, the Britannian forces launched their first wave of attacks with over 30 missiles from their main fleet. Due to the temporary numerical disadvantage of the Swedish Royal Air Force aircraft that came to their aid, approximately 70 jet fighters and most of their KMF aircraft were able to evade air interception and attack the fleet.
Two Swedish destroyers and one British destroyer were hit by a total of seven missiles in an instant and sank quickly. The two British cruisers, HMS Liverpool and HMS Cleopatra, were also hit by a missile. The latter was hit in the central area of the hull, causing the ship's electrical system to shut down and its speed to drop to 15 knots.
At 7:52 a.m., the Northern Alliance Strike Fleet passed through the Great Belt Strait and completed its formation of three battle lines. At the same time, the first wave of carrier strike groups of the U.S. Navy set off.
At 8:03 AM, Britannian forces launched a second wave of attacks with over 60 missiles. At this time, more Swedish fighter jets and Royal Navy carrier-based aircraft entered the battlefield, shifting from random attacks to focused attacks—directing all firepower at the heavily damaged anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Cleopatra. During this time, they encountered British Vampire jet fighters painted with Swedish insignia for the first time.
In a very short time, 13 out of nearly 20 missiles that broke through the air defense barrage attacked it and achieved a direct hit rate of over 75%. The entire ship immediately lost its combat capability. Two minutes later, an explosion occurred inside the ship, and it quickly sank into the sea.
At 8:14 a.m., as the Britannian aircraft group returned to prepare for the third wave of attacks, they spotted a group of American SBD bombers that had taken off from Denmark. Soon after, they also spotted a group of Royal Navy torpedo bombers that had circled over Sweden and joined the Swedish bombers, and immediately began to intercept them.
Due to insufficient escort, the two bomber groups failed to launch an effective attack after they joined forces. Under ample naval and air cover, the main Britannian fleet suffered only three missile destroyers hit by bombs, and the Royal Navy's torpedo bombers only managed to hit one of the destroyers, causing it to take on a large amount of water.
At 8:17 a.m., the Britannian support fleet discovered the presence of the Northern Union assault fleet and began to organize an eastward transfer and requested support from the main fleet and Berlin. The two fleets were about 31 nautical miles apart.
At 8:18, the battleships and cruisers of the Northern Alliance assault fleet formed a double column and began tactical maneuvers to the south of the battlefield, preparing to enter the artillery engagement course, while the destroyers, in their entire column, pursued northward at full speed of 37 knots, intending to cut off the retreat route of the Burkina Faso support fleet.
At 8:20 a.m., the main Britannian fleet, after leaving two destroyers to rescue heavily damaged ships, began to move toward the western sea area, but was attacked by Soviet air force from the direction of Poland and was tied down at sea for about 5 minutes.
At the same time, the support fleet, which had successfully received missile relay support, also launched an attack on the American forces. More than 40 missiles sank a destroyer, hit the stern of the battleship USS Washington, hit the bow of the light cruiser USS Brooklyn with two hits and one near miss, hit the midships of the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco with one hit, and hit the cruisers USS Honolulu and USS St. Louis with two near misses each.