bullyxtreme Chapter 821 The Perilous African Route: Encounter with the German Warship "Atlantis"
Chapter 821 The Perilous African Route: Encounter with the German Warship "Atlantis"
To ensure the safe return and return of the cargo ship to and from Africa, Fang Wen made a special trip to the British Far East Naval Command before the ship departed to learn about the German Navy's operational situation on the African route, so as to make targeted arrangements.
Upon Fang Wen's arrival, the British Far East Naval Command sent a staff officer to explain the situation to him.
In the conference room of the British Far East Naval Command, a large nautical chart of the waters surrounding Africa hangs on the wall, densely marked with red attack points and blue British escort routes.
An officer dressed in a British Army staff uniform with the rank of major on his shoulder boards stood in front of the nautical chart, holding a baton, and spoke to Fang Wen.
“Mr. Fang, thank you very much for taking the initiative to come and understand the situation. The African route you are going to take is exactly the area that the German Navy has been focusing its attacks on for more than a year. From the beginning of 1940 to now, we and our allies have suffered heavy losses on this route. I will explain to you, starting from 1940, the German attack operations, the participating troops, and their combat characteristics one by one.”
Fang Wen listened attentively and even took out his notebook to take notes. Even if they had superpowers, he dared not be careless, after all, this was the regular German naval force.
The officer pointed to a location off the coast of West Africa on the nautical chart: "Last year, when the Germans first began deploying along the African shipping routes, their main force consisted of disguised raiding ships, what they called 'auxiliary cruisers.' The most rampant of these was the HSK 2 'Atlantis,' captained by Bernhard Rogge, an extremely cunning fellow. This ship was originally an ordinary cargo ship, but after being modified by the Germans, it was equipped with six 150mm guns, four 533mm torpedo tubes, and carried two He-114 seaplanes, as well as 92 mines. Disguised as a neutral country's cargo ship, it was elusive and difficult to identify."
"Last March, the 'Atlantis' departed from Germany and sailed south, reaching Cape Agulhas near South Africa in May. There, it laid 92 mines, causing several of our merchant ships to sink and temporarily blocking shipping lanes off the coast of South Africa. On May 3, it directly sank our British cargo ship 'Scientist' in the South Atlantic, with a displacement of 6199 tons. In addition, it roamed between West Africa, South Africa, and the western Indian Ocean throughout the year, specifically hunting unescorted merchant ships, sinking or capturing a total of 12 ships with a total displacement of approximately 80,000 tons, causing considerable trouble for our supply lines."
The staff officer paused, then pointed to the location of the Gulf of Guinea:
"Besides the Atlantis, in late 1940, German U-boats also began entering West African waters, most notably U-69. This vessel sailed south along the west coast of Africa, laying numerous mines near Lagos and the port of Takoradi in the Gulf of Guinea. Several merchant ships struck and sank, forcing us to temporarily close these two ports until the mines were cleared. Lagos was an important transit point for supplies in West Africa, and this blockade directly affected our resupply to the British forces in North Africa."
"In addition, in December 1940, the German heavy cruiser 'Admiral Hipper' sailed south and entered the waters off West Africa. On December 25, Christmas Day, it attacked our WS 5A convoy, damaging two transport ships. We dispatched cruisers to intercept it and drove it away. It eventually returned to the port of Brest, France. However, this attack was just the beginning. This year, the German offensive became even more intense."
As the officer spoke of this year's situation, his tone grew increasingly grave, and he pointed his baton towards the waters off Cape Verde:
"At the beginning of this year, the German army intensified its attacks on the African shipping routes. According to our intelligence, from January to March, Vice Admiral Günther Lütjens led the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, along with two supply ships, to form a fleet that broke through the Denmark Strait and entered the Atlantic Ocean, heading south towards the West African waters."
"On February 3, this battleship squadron broke through our blockade and officially entered the waters surrounding West Africa; on February 22, in the waters northeast of Cape Verde, they discovered five unescorted merchant ships and sank them all, with a total tonnage of 25874 tons, all of which were our cargo ships transporting supplies; on March 7, they encountered our SL 67 escort squadron north of Cape Verde, which included the battleship 'Malaya'. The Germans, wary of our firepower, did not engage in battle rashly and chose to evade; from March 9 to 16, in just one week, they went on a killing spree between Cape Verde and the Azores, sinking or capturing a total of 22 ships, with a total tonnage of approximately 116,000 tons, many of which were our oil tankers. The fuel for the North African battlefield relied entirely on these oil tankers, and this loss directly led to a shortage of fuel for our North African forces."
"On March 22, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau returned to Brest, ending Operation Berlin. However, this did not mean the West African route would be peaceful, as the Admiral Hipper was back. From early February until the end of the month, this heavy cruiser sailed south, focusing its attacks on merchant ships off Freetown, Sierra Leone. On February 12, it attacked our unescorted convoy SLS-64, which consisted of 19 ships. It sank 7 of them, totaling 32806 tons, including merchant ships from Britain, Norway, and Greece. However, it also paid a price. On February 28, due to running out of ammunition and engine failure, it had to return to Kiel, Germany, for repairs."
"At the same time, the 'Atlantis' did not stop its sabotage. Before April 1941, it roamed the waters near the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, and the western Indian Ocean, continuously hunting our merchant ships. It sank or captured a total of 16 ships, and even captured an Egyptian passenger ship with a tonnage of 8299 tons. Just last month, we tracked its movements. It is still active in the western Indian Ocean, but we have dispatched cruisers to intercept it. We believe that it will be sunk soon."
The staff officer then pointed to the Gulf of Guinea and the waters off South Africa on the nautical chart, adding:
"In addition to surface ships, German long-range U-boats also began to enter the African shipping lanes on a large scale in March of this year. These were mainly Type IX U-boats, such as U-105 and U-124. They departed from the bases of Brest and Lorient in France, sailed south across the Atlantic Ocean, and attacked our SL 67 escort convoy near Cape Verde, sinking five merchant ships with a total tonnage of 28488 tons. In May, U-69, U-71, U-94 and other U-boats launched operations in the Gulf of Guinea and off the coast of South Africa. Some hunted alone, while others formed wolf packs, causing huge losses to our merchant ships and forcing us to deploy more cruisers, destroyers and anti-submarine aircraft to strengthen our anti-submarine and escort forces in the waters off West Africa and South Africa."
U-boats are short for German U-boats, which were a powerful weapon in German naval warfare as early as World War I and once again demonstrated their combat effectiveness in World War II.
Hearing what the staff officer said, Fang Wen frowned and interjected, "Do these German troops have fixed supply points? How are their supplies guaranteed while they are fighting in the open sea for extended periods?"
The staff officer replied, "Mr. Fang's question is crucial. The German military has a secret supply system with hidden supply points in the waters surrounding Africa that we are unaware of, as well as dedicated supply ships that work in conjunction with U-boats and disguised attack ships. This is key to their ability to operate for extended periods in the open sea. In addition, the German military also has Fw 200 'Condor' long-range reconnaissance aircraft that take off from Bordeaux, France, to scout the shipping routes from West Africa to the Central Atlantic. Once they spot our merchant ships or escort convoys, they will guide U-boats and surface attack ships to attack them, which has brought great difficulties to our escort operations."
"Okay, thank you for providing the information. I need to organize this data."
Fang Wen remained in the conference room, looking at the information he had recorded in his notebook, and then at the map.
Although the officer only said it once, he had already memorized it all.
In summary, the German raids on African shipping routes were mainly concentrated in the Gulf of Guinea, Cape Verde, the waters off Sierra Leone, the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and the western Indian Ocean.
Their main targets are the trunk lines from Freetown in West Africa to the Cape of Good Hope, and then to the Middle East and the Far East.
This is precisely the route that Taishan's cargo ships will take.
Many ships were involved.
Including the auxiliary cruisers 'Atlantis' and 'Admiral Scheer', the heavy cruiser 'Admiral Hipper', and the battleships 'Scharnhorst' and 'Gneisenau';
Underwater, there were also long-range U-boats that had departed from the French base to harass the area. In addition, the German Navy had deployed Fw 200 reconnaissance aircraft for reconnaissance and guidance, and had established a secret supply base in advance.
It seems that the Germans had been secretly operating in Africa for a long time, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to launch such a long-range attack that made it difficult for the British fleet to cope.
This is precisely why the Germans were able to completely blockade the transport of British goods from their overseas colonies to their own country, whether it was through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea or the African shipping routes, all of which were intercepted by the German Navy.
Fang Wen stopped thinking, his brows furrowed. The Germans were now in a bloodthirsty frenzy, and any ship that appeared on the African shipping route would become their target.
This puts immense pressure on Fang Wen!
But for the sake of that batch of high-purity uranium ore, this sea voyage had to proceed no matter what.
In mid-May, the sea breeze from the southern Indian Ocean, carrying humid air, swept across the sea near the temporary pier on Little Andaman Island.
Taishan Group's semi-aircraft carrier was moored below the deep-water cliff, its hull painted in dark gray maritime livery. All preparations were complete, awaiting entry into the open ocean. An encrypted telegram arrived from the mining area in the Belgian Congo in Africa. The cipherman quickly crossed the deck and handed the telegram to Fang Wen.
Fang Wen glanced at it.
The goods have been securely transported to the port warehouse, but cannot be stored securely indefinitely; they need to be picked up and shipped off the port as soon as possible.
This batch of high-purity uranium ore is the lifeblood of the entire nuclear program, and there is no room for error.
Fang Wen immediately ordered anchor to be raised and the ship to set sail. The roar of the engines instantly broke the calm of the sea, and the semi-carrier slowly turned its bow and sailed away from Little Andaman Island.
On the spacious semi-carrier deck, five domestically produced Taishan seaplanes are lined up, with aerial torpedoes and heavy bombs mounted under their wings, ready to take off at any time to carry out maritime reconnaissance, escort, anti-submarine, and anti-ship missions.
These fighter jets are modified from the first-generation Taishan aircraft, and have undergone a complete set of targeted modifications to meet the take-off and landing conditions of semi-carriers and the needs of long-range operations:
The fuselage has been fitted with lightweight, streamlined floats made of aviation aluminum alloy, which balances buoyancy and flight speed. The floats are designed to be semi-retractable, and can be folded upwards and close to the fuselage after takeoff to reduce air resistance and avoid affecting high-speed flight.
At the same time, the landing gear spacing was shortened, the load-bearing structure at the bottom of the fuselage was strengthened, and it was adapted to the relatively narrow deck of the semi-carrier. It does not require a long runway and can take off by relying on the wind power of the deck and its own power, thus adapting to the shortcoming of the semi-carrier without catapults.
In addition, there is the addition of shipborne special equipment: the excess ballast of the land-based version is removed, and a maritime navigation compass, a shortwave ship-aircraft communication radio, and a simple acoustic detection and switching device imported from the British Navy are added, which can be used in conjunction with an underwater listening device to detect the movement of underwater U-boats.
The first stop on the shipping route is the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka.
The second stop was Victoria Harbour in the British-controlled Seychelles Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, where a half-day resupply was arranged.
The choice of the third stop is somewhat delicate.
The port of Moroni on Comoros Island is on the Mozambique Channel, which runs between the east coast of Africa and Madagascar; this is also a traditional shipping route.
After docking at Port Louis in Mauritius, the ship will sail along the coast of Madagascar directly to South Africa.
Therefore, Fang Wen chose to go to Mauritius, as this would reduce the probability of encountering an attack by the German Navy.
Even so, Fang Wen entered a state of high tension after the ship departed from Mauritius.
To ensure the safety of the flight path, he took off in a seaplane to conduct aerial reconnaissance over the surrounding sea area.
Radar detection devices have radio wave feedback.
It is a ship at sea, located 150 kilometers to the southwest.
Fang Wen's heart tightened, and he immediately steered his fighter jet toward the direction of the feedback appearing on the radar.
Twenty minutes later, the plane arrived at the target area.
High in the sky, Fang Wen activated his mechanical perception ability to observe what was below.
A grey cargo ship was sailing slowly, its hull bearing the flag of a neutral country, but suspicious devices covered by tarpaulins could be seen on the deck.
Fang Wen immediately activated the X-ray vision ability of the Vertical Eye Gem, which allowed him to see through the canvas and see what was underneath.
It contained artillery, mine launchers, and two seaplanes.
Then he saw what happened.
The crew went to the stern deck, opened the canvas to reveal the mine launch tubes underneath, and placed the mines into the water.
This sea area is located at the southern tip of Madagascar and is one of the shipping routes for cargo ships bound for South Africa.
It appears that this is indeed the Atlantis, commanded by Bernhard Rogge.
Fang Wen's expression turned cold. The Atlantis was blocking the path of the Taishan half-aircraft carrier, and this battle was unavoidable no matter what.
He then piloted the plane back to base and used the radio to order his men to take off and rendezvous with him.
Ten minutes later, the five seaplanes rendezvoused in the air, and Fang Wen picked up the microphone.
"The German warship 'Atlantis,' disguised as a cargo ship, has been spotted to the southwest. It is specifically designed to attack cargo ships. It is patrolling the nearby waters, and our ships cannot bypass it. Therefore, I order an air raid on the German 'Atlantis.'" (End of Chapter)