Iron Cross

At 11:37, just as the first wave of reinforcement destroyers of the JW-51 escort formation was approaching, Shelbrooke, who had been observing the surrounding enemy situation on the bridge, suddenly changed his face - a German seaplane appeared in the distance, with a bright iron cross logo painted under its wings and a huge float.

Although the destroyer in the previous battle reported that only two enemy ships were found, he was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat - at least there were cruiser-level enemy ships in this sea area, otherwise it would be impossible for a German seaplane to appear. He didn't know whether it was Hipper or Lutzow, and he just hoped that it would not be too close to his side. So he sent a radio call to the cruiser formation for help, while asking the transport ship formation behind him to change course and leave the battlefield. Considering that the enemy cruiser had not yet appeared, he gritted his teeth and asked the Zhongshun destroyer to join the battle group, striving to form a 5V2 advantage and solve the German destroyer as soon as possible.

His judgment was very accurate. What he saw was the seaplane launched by the Hipper. After technical exchanges with Japan, the German Navy had begun to phase out the Ar-196 seaplane reconnaissance aircraft and gradually replaced it with the German version of the Japanese Zero three-seat reconnaissance aircraft. After the improvement by the Arado Company, it was called the Ar-272. The new seaplane reconnaissance aircraft had three members, one for driving, one for navigation and observation, and one for sending telegrams. The combat effectiveness was doubled. The maximum speed of the aircraft was 400 kilometers per hour, and the range was up to 3,000 kilometers. It was better than the Japanese original and far exceeded the performance of the Ar-196. It was deeply loved by the fleet. The progress of this model far exceeded any other imported carrier-based aircraft, so this time the carrier-based high-speed reconnaissance aircraft project (Caiyun) was taken away by the Arado Company in advance, with the project number Ar-352.

Just when Shelbrooke was determined to send five destroyers forward quickly and try to eliminate the German destroyers in one fell swoop, the telegraph operator on the Hipper also received the enemy situation report sent by the Ar-272: "9 small ships, more than 10 merchant ships, roughly 130-170 kilometers east of Bear Island, current route 305 degrees." The report of the reconnaissance plane was generally accurate, but they only saw the British destroyers and the JW-51A formation itself, and the British cruiser formation farther away was still not discovered due to visibility.

After the reconnaissance plane arrived at the scene, the British transport fleet and the merchant fleet moved in two directions. The reconnaissance plane could only keep an eye on some warships. Since Hoffman's instructions to attack the escort warships first had been issued, the reconnaissance plane did not hesitate to target Shelbrooke's destroyers and called other companions to come to support as soon as possible-the Hipper brought a total of 3 reconnaissance planes, and now all of them have been released in all directions.

Colonel Hans Hartmann, who received clear intelligence, was overjoyed: "Inform General Kumets and the Norwegian base that this ship is ready to press forward - we have caught a big fish."

Under his order, the Hipper suddenly accelerated, and the style of a fast commerce destroyer jumped out on the sea, and the speed suddenly increased to 30 knots.

At 12:05, the first wave of British destroyers rushed to the scene of the exchange of fire. At the beginning, the Tenacious and Obedient had exchanged no less than 30 rounds of artillery fire with the two German destroyers, and the engagement distance was shortened from 15,000 meters to 8,000 meters. However, both sides had poor accuracy, and both were high-speed destroyers. After 30 rounds of shooting, there was no record of direct hits. Each was hit by some near misses. Z16 lost 2 sailors, and Obedience lost 1 sailor and a 2-pound gun.

Seeing that another British destroyer had joined the battlefield, forming a 4:2 advantage over the German destroyer, the German destroyer did not dare to rush forward, but retreated while fighting, slowly moving towards Hipper. Shelbrooke knew what the Germans were up to, but he could not just turn his head away - because his cruiser formation had not arrived yet, and the transport fleet had not yet pulled out of sight, he had to pretend that he did not know that there were cruisers following the German destroyers, and continued to command the troops to beat up the two German destroyers.

U-354, which had been lurking on the seabed, also surfaced to join in the fun, but it was too slow and far away from the battlefield, so it could not help at all and could only serve as an observer. Captain Herbschleib immediately sent a telegram to Berlin: "From the situation on the scene, the war has begun. I saw a red patch from afar."

"The enemy is bitten!" With the shout of Lieutenant General Frick, the Chief of the Navy General Staff, everyone in the headquarters was alarmed.

He excitedly waved the telegram and walked towards Hoffman and others, saying flatteringly as he walked: "Führer, your inference is correct. The reconnaissance plane discovered nearly 20 enemy ships - the overall scale is indeed larger than what U-354 reported."

"Z16 reports that they are exchanging fire with four British destroyers and have called for reinforcements from the Hipper..."

"Is Hipper alone enough? Where is Tirpitz?" Hearing that only Hipper was going to reinforce, Hoffman frowned - in history, Hipper was scared away by a British destroyer.

"Tirpitz is also on his way, but the distance is a bit far, and he may not arrive before 3 pm."

After Frick's explanation, Hoffmann understood that Kumetz had set up a chain defense formation: he arranged all the warships from south to north, with the Tirpitz in the center to provide support, and the Hipper in the center. Hold the position with the Lützow from the north and the south. Kumets made two bets here: first, when receiving an enemy report that the naval command believed that the enemy's strength was insufficient, he bet that other British warships were lagging behind rather than east of the chain defense line; Second, each ship in the chain defense system can only maintain a distance of 15-20 nautical miles. No matter how far it is, it cannot be controlled. Due to the small number of the Norwegian fleet, it can only control a lookout range of less than 200 nautical miles from north to south. , not enough to cover the entire sea area, he gave up the southernmost part near the coasts of Norway and Finland - he bet that the British transport team would not dare to follow the coast.

It seems that he made both bets right, but due to the chain defense layout, Tirpitz is at least 100 nautical miles away from the nearest British warship at this moment, and the southernmost Lützow is more than 180 nautical miles away. . After receiving the enemy report, Kumets immediately asked other warships to move closer to the fighting area, and Tirpitz headed northwest at a speed of 25 knots - unless the British took the initiative to ram Tirpitz, the sky would be Before the black, it was difficult for both sides to get angry.

Seeing Hoffman's gloomy look, Frick explained cautiously: "Führer, U-354 reported that the two sides have been engaged in a fierce battle. The outcome of the battle is currently unknown. The approximate location of the enemy fleet has been determined. They cannot escape - at most they will give way." They survive one more night."

Hoffman nodded to express understanding and asked, "Can the air force be dispatched?"

"JG5 wing reported that all North Cape bases were dispatched 15 minutes ago. A total of 24 He-218s were escorted by 10 Bf-219s. However, due to the distance, it will take at least more than an hour to arrive at the scene."

"It doesn't matter, I can wait. Let Hainan Airlines seize the opportunity. If there are warships, they will bomb the warships, and if there are no warships, they will bomb the transport ships." Hoffman calculated that the enemy was only discovered at nearly 12 o'clock, and the distance was more than 600 kilometers, so the aviation force only had A chance to strike.

Raeder and Frick nodded. There was nothing wrong with the Führer's instructions, and the navigation at the North Cape base was indeed not controlled by Kumetz.

At 12:19, the German destroyer Theodore Riedel (Z6), which was fighting and retreating together with the destroyer Z16, was hit by the Tenacious and a fire broke out on the rear deck. The damage control team was unable to put it out for a while. The fire caused the warship's position to change. The exposure was very eye-catching, and four British destroyers began to attack it with concentrated fire. Within 5 minutes, 3 shells fell on Z6. Although Z6, which fought back, also hit one of the shells on Obedience, it was obvious that it was in a very embarrassing situation. After seeing that its companion was shot, Z16 slowed down its retreat and took advantage of the favorable opportunity when the four British destroyers were focused on Z6 to start a fierce counterattack, which also hit the Obedience at the forefront.

The red-eyed British destroyer ignored Z16's bombardment and rained shells on Z6's head. The closest distance was even within 2,000 meters. Within 7 minutes, the superstructure of Z6 was beaten to pieces, and more than 40 people were killed. The sailors were killed, thick smoke billowed out of the ship, and the ship began to tilt due to water in many places. The captain had no choice but to abandon the ship.

The battlefield result was 1:0, and the British army took the lead!

Seeing that nothing could be done, Z16 released the smoke screen and escaped as quickly as possible. As he ran, he anxiously asked how long it would take for the Hipper to arrive.

Sherbrooke commanded the warship to rescue the German sailors who fell into the water, and had the Z6 sunk with torpedoes. At this time, the fifth destroyer Zhongshun, which came for reinforcements, also arrived at the scene. Now the destroyers of both sides The ratio was 5:1. Just when he was hesitating whether to continue chasing Z16, shocking news suddenly came from the Obedience: "Hipper! That guy is here, I saw him."

"Retreat!" He gave the instruction without hesitation.

Hans-Hartmann rushed over with the Hipper aggressively. He had learned about the battle just now in the telegram, and fired directly with the 203mm main gun at a distance of more than 20,000 meters, causing ten The water column was several meters high, and Z16 was saved. The captain had no time to cry out about the misfortune of Z6 being sunk, so he immediately turned the ship around and followed his eldest brother to avenge his companions - now it was the turn of the five British destroyers to retreat.

"Five minutes ago, the destroyer Z6 was sunk by the superior force of five British destroyers. Currently, the Hipper has arrived at the scene and is launching an attack. The bomber group is expected to arrive on the battlefield in eight minutes."

The combat staff reported the latest enemy situation, and the faces of Redel and others suddenly turned gloomy. They had such a huge advantage, but the British sank a destroyer first. Everyone's expressions were very ugly. Frick secretly glanced at Huo Huo. Fuman saw that the head of state looked calm and showed no signs of anger.