Capture Gibraltar (above)

  During training of Irish Republican Army under German instructors.

  The German Navy, however, had anticipated this and produced a thick dossier of evidence which they handed over to the German Foreign Ministry. The evidence suggested that the French Navy had indeed intended to scuttle their fleet.

  The Vichy French government saw the tens of thousands of words of evidence, including photos and interrogation records of relevant personnel in the French Navy. They couldn't help but sigh, Germans are indeed meticulous and serious. They actually made these evidences so detailed. The German government said that the Vichy French government had a tendency to be uncooperative, according to the treaty, Germany could occupy the territory under the jurisdiction of the Vichy French government. This time, not following the treaty was because the German leader valued "Franco-German friendship" and gave them a break. You still dare to come and protest? Don't drink the wine if you don't want to, but you'll be punished if you don't drink it. The Foreign Minister of the Vichy French government listened to the scolding from the German Foreign Minister and couldn't say a word, so he left in dismay.

  On the third day of German control over French naval vessels, Admiral Raeder arrived at Toulon to inspect the port. He was briefed by accompanying naval officers on the number of ships seized and their quality, as well as the possibility of forming a German Mediterranean fleet with French warships. Then he went to the Atlantic shipyard in France, where he observed the French aircraft carrier 'Panthère' still under construction on the slipway. He was told that the completion rate of this aircraft carrier is currently 28%, and thanks to the timely arrival of German troops, some sabotage by French shipyard workers against the warship was prevented. There was also a plan for another aircraft carrier under construction, he said: "We need these two aircraft carriers in the German Navy, they must be launched at the beginning of '41, as for the cost of building them is not a problem." He demanded that work on the two aircraft carriers be resumed as soon as possible.

  Then he immediately arrived in Lorient, where his former superior D?nitz was presiding over the construction of a German U-boat bunker. He thought to himself that this body of his had originally been a star of the German U-boat base in Lorient. The French Lorient German U-boat base was also known as the 'base of the submarine ace'. In Lorient, he met D?nitz, who told him: "There are two submarine berths here that were specifically built for our new submarines." He took Zhou Tianlei to the two submarine berths that were still under construction. Zhou Tianlei asked: "Can we separate these two berths from the other submarine berths? I think it's best if our new submarines are different from the ones we've built before, and now there are too many people watching them." He told D?nitz about the two Japanese spies who had tried to steal the new submarine technology. D?nitz frowned as soon as he heard this, paused for a moment, and said: "It's really that serious, it seems that keeping their secrets is going to be very difficult. Alright, I'll build an isolation wall between them and the other submarine berths, and their maintenance personnel will be special, not participating in the maintenance of other submarines. We'll also establish a strict confidentiality system to ensure that only people within our control can access it." The two men left the U-boat bunker and arrived at an ancient castle in Lorient that D?nitz had taken over, which he had converted into his U-boat fleet command center. Inside the castle, Zhou Tianlei saw the famous globe with a diameter of 0.7 meters in D?nitz's command center.

  Zhou Tianlei knew that when D?nitz was planning the U-boat activity route, he felt it was difficult to see the influence of the Earth's curvature on the map. So D?nitz took this large globe and planned the U-boat activity route on it. After pouring a glass of wine for himself and Zhou Tianlei, D?nitz picked up his cup and took a small sip. Putting down the cup, D?nitz asked: "I heard you're getting married recently, your fiancée is that Chinese woman you met that night." Zhou Tianlei nodded and said: "Yes, in a few days I will have a wedding ceremony, but I haven't thought about whether to follow Eastern or Western customs for the ceremony. However, after the wedding, I will return to Germany immediately. Now we need to take control of the Strait of Gibraltar, and when I get back, I will organize an exercise, with the exercise area set in the Atlantic Ocean outside the Strait of Gibraltar."

  "Are you not afraid of the British Mediterranean Fleet coming?" Zhou Tianlei said, "The goal of this exercise is to test the ability of our aircraft carrier formation to control the ocean, as well as to test our small-scale amphibious combat capability. Of course, if the British Mediterranean Fleet comes, I also have confidence in defeating them, let alone the fact that the British Mediterranean Fleet now faces not only us, but also the French fleet and Italian fleet that we have just received from Toulon port. Moreover, the situation on their home soil is also quite dangerous at present, so I think the British will not dare to challenge us. Besides, I got some intelligence that the British have decided to divide their Mediterranean Fleet into two parts, one part will be sent back to their homeland to rebuild their homeland fleet, and the remaining part will stay in the Mediterranean to support their ground troops deployed here. Moreover, the British are now planning to get closer to the United States, they will definitely go to the United States to apply for more American aid. The United States, I think, will not stand idly by, it will definitely try to keep Britain safe, after all, they are of the same bloodline, and if America keeps Britain safe, it may be able to pose a threat to us. Without Britain, across such a vast Atlantic Ocean, what actual threat can he pose to us?" D?nitz fell into deep thought after hearing Zhou Tianlei's words. Zhou Tianlei saw this and hurriedly bid farewell. After returning to Paris, Zhou Tianlei held a wedding with his fiancée, which was a Sino-Western style wedding. Those who attended the wedding were not only high-ranking German officials in Paris but also ordinary Chinese people from Chinatown.

  After the wedding, Zhou Tianlei quickly took his new wife and her brother back to Germany. Since he was now a German general, he no longer lived in the barracks provided by the army, but instead bought a villa in the suburbs of Berlin as their new home. A few days later, Zhou Tianlei learned that the German High Seas Fleet had been prepared, so he bid farewell to his new wife and went to the port where the German fleet was stationed, ready to embark on his first mission as commander of the German High Seas Fleet. Just as the German High Seas Fleet was preparing to set sail for the Atlantic Ocean outside the Strait of Gibraltar under the guise of an "exercise", British Prime Minister Churchill also boarded the newly launched British warship "Prince of Wales" and began crossing the Atlantic to seek aid from the United States. Zhou Tianlei arrived at the base of the German High Seas Fleet and began discussing with his staff how to get the fleet through the English Channel to the Atlantic Ocean outside the Strait of Gibraltar. A German naval officer said that since the British defeat in the Battle of Dunkirk, Britain had deployed radar on its coast to prevent a surprise attack by Germany. These radars could monitor both air and sea, and if the German High Seas Fleet were to pass through, it would definitely be detected by British radar. The British could infer the purpose of the German fleet's actions from their movements and send out ships and planes to intercept them. Although the German High Seas Fleet was not afraid of the weak British naval forces at home, it would still be a headache if they were intercepted. On the other hand, taking a detour through the North Sea to avoid British radar and long-range aircraft reconnaissance would take too much time, making it difficult to respond quickly to events in the Strait of Gibraltar.

  Zhou Tianlei said at the meeting, "Didn't we capture a British mobile radar car on the coast of Dunkirk? How's the research on that thing going?" Roge, the chief of staff of the German Ocean Fleet, who had just returned from Spain, said, "Our scientists think that thing is technologically backward and there's no need to study it carefully." Zhou Tianlei looked unhappy and said, "Tell them not to think that we Germans are the best in the world. There are many people in this world who are stronger than us. How can you say it's not necessary to study it carefully? The British army has equipped themselves with such equipment, so we need to find a way to counter them, rather than saying that thing is inferior to Germany's and not worth studying. These people are really too intellectualized." "However, I can propose a way to counter the British radar deployed on the British coast," Zhou Tianlei said. The naval officers immediately perked up their ears, eager to hear what their commander had to say.

  Zhou Tianlei coughed and cleared his throat, saying: "When we were manufacturing aircraft, didn't we have a lot of leftover aluminum foil? We can turn these foils into strips of varying lengths and scatter them using our planes. What do you think the British radar will react to?"

  "The British radar will definitely be jammed and unable to identify targets," said a German military scientist who was attending the meeting.

  Zhou Tianlei looked at him with approval, then continued: "To prevent some British radar stations from being unaffected by our interference, which would render our efforts useless, we should send out our special forces and planes to destroy those important British radar stations. This will ensure that our fleet can pass through the English Channel without interference. Now let's analyze the intelligence we've gathered and identify the radar stations where our jamming measures are weaker."

  On a pitch-black night, off the coast of Britain, a periscope suddenly emerged from the surface of the sea. A German naval commando reconnaissance unit was on board this submarine, preparing to sabotage two British radar stations located in Area III on the German map. The commander of U-52, Bollmann, carefully observed the lighthouse on the shore through the periscope and then checked his nautical chart, confirming that he was now less than 500 meters north of his target. He ordered his deputy to inform the German naval commando reconnaissance unit configured on his submarine to leave the submarine and sabotage the British radar stations in Area III.

  The commander of the German Navy's amphibious reconnaissance unit, Dinak, after receiving notification from Commander Bormann of U-52 that they could leave the submarine, ordered his own troops to quickly gather their weapons and ammunition and wait in the torpedo launch chamber. After the troops of the German Navy's amphibious reconnaissance unit arrived at the torpedo launch chamber, Commander Bormann of U-52 was already waiting for them there, and he ordered the sailors to open the torpedo tubes.

  The commander of the German Navy's amphibious reconnaissance unit, Dinak, was the first to exit. He put on his underwater breathing apparatus, grabbed his weapon pack and hugged U-52 submarine commander Borman before entering the torpedo tube. The crew inside the submarine closed the hatch of the torpedo tube and opened the pre-launch cover of the torpedo tube. Dinak struggled out of the torpedo tube, swam into the water, then pulled out his frogman knife and gently tapped on the hull of the submarine to indicate that he was out. Then other team members began to crawl out through the torpedo tube. After all members of the German Navy's amphibious reconnaissance unit under Dinak's command had exited the submarine, Dinak signaled the submarine that they were all safely outside the submarine and ready to launch a surprise attack on the British radar reconnaissance base.

  As Dinak and his men swam closer to the shore, Dinak took out a small periscope to observe the situation on the water's surface. When he confirmed that everything was normal on the beach, he ordered the vanguard of his troops to go ashore first to establish a position. Then the main force followed. After the vanguard sent back a signal that everything was normal, the remaining members of Dinak's assault team stood up in the water. They quickly opened their weapon packages, took out the pre-loaded weapons inside, formed a patrol formation, and marched towards the radar station they planned to attack, holding their weapons at the ready.