Iron Cross

At 9:14, the distance between the British and German fleets narrowed to less than 19 nautical miles, and the visibility on the sea seemed to have improved. The lead ships of the two fleets discovered the target invariably.

When the German warships, which were very slender in pursuit of higher speeds, appeared in the field of view of the telescope, the hearts of all the British officers and soldiers were in their throats. One ship, two ships...8 ships, as the distance increased. Recently, the outlines of warships have become clearer and clearer. The latest Jane's Warship Identification Manual is placed in front of the officers for them to check one by one. The senior petty officers have begun to visually identify them based on experience.

"One Scharnhorst-class battlecruiser, one Deutschland-class heavy cruiser, two Hipper-class heavy cruisers, and four destroyers..."

"Two Hipper-class ships instead of two Scharnhorst-class ships?"

The sailors hesitated for a moment, then carefully identified it in the telescope again. Two minutes later, they confirmed again: "Yes, it is the Hipper class."

"It seems that another new Hipper-class ship has been built..." A combat staff muttered to himself, and immediately reported the enemy situation to the formation commander, Colonel Christopher.

He asked with concern: "You said there is a fleet behind you?"

"The lookout soldiers vaguely observed that there seemed to be another force 10 nautical miles behind the German leading fleet. However, the distance is too far now and the number and ship type cannot be seen at all. The radar room also reported that there are bright spots behind it."

Christopher was very nervous but vaguely excited: the Home Fleet Command sent a clear instruction to the fleet last night, asking him to make sure to find out the situation of the two German aircraft carriers. Now it seems that the enemy aircraft carrier is likely to be following this leading fleet. The specific model and technical parameters of the warship cannot be detected by radar. Under the premise that the aircraft cannot be used, he must rely on the most traditional visual recognition. Obviously the Germans would not foolishly place the aircraft carrier at the front. If they wanted to observe clearly, they had to get close enough, so he had to risk getting closer.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Let the Watch and Loyalty go up and have a look. Pay attention to safety."

Watch and Loyalty are newly built L-class destroyers with a displacement of about 2,000 tons and a maximum speed of 36 knots. After receiving the order, the two ships immediately broke away from the formation and pounced behind the German formation at the fastest speed.

At the same time that Christopher issued the reconnaissance order, the alert level in the Zeppelin's command tower was also raised to the highest level: "Sir, there is a report from the front, the target has been confirmed, it is a British cruiser formation, there is a London-class heavy cruiser, Novo There is one K-class heavy cruiser, one Linxian-class light cruiser, and four destroyers, whose models cannot be identified at the moment.”

"There's no battleship behind?"

"Nothing has been found yet, and the radar has not detected any suspicious targets!"

Machar breathed a sigh of relief - no battleships would be fine! He turned his head and asked Richthofen in a questioning tone: "Are carrier-based aircraft still unable to dispatch?"

Richthofen spread his hands and shook his head helplessly.

"Well, whether they are a pure cruiser formation or the vanguard of the main fleet, once we encounter them, there is no reason to let them go easily. Let us have a traditional artillery battle and kill them with naval gunfire." The British Navy confirmed in advance After all the George V-class battleships were dispatched, the German naval command, which formulated the tsunami plan, breathed a sigh of relief from top to bottom - the Admiral Scheer heavy cruiser, the slowest in the North Sea Fleet, could reach 26 knots , as long as the George V class is not around, it can still escape if it cannot defeat other "Iron Turtles" of the Royal Navy. Now there were only three cruisers, and the artillery fleet had an overwhelming advantage. Machar's enthusiasm was suddenly aroused.

"Tell the Scharnhorst to fight quickly..."

Seeing four warships including Scharnhorst, Admiral Scheer, Seydlitz and Prinz Eugen approaching menacingly, Christopher had no choice but to give the order to fight, but the four German ships opposite him All were equipped with artillery with a caliber of 203mm or above. The tonnage of one Scharnhorst alone was equivalent to all the cruisers in his hand. However, in order to cover the smooth advance of the destroyer, he had to bite the bullet and fight the Germans in order to provide the destroyer with Create opportunities.

Rear Admiral Eric Bay, commander of the artillery fleet commanding the Scharnhorst, also saw two destroyers coming from the left and right wings. As a destroyer fleet commander for many years, he certainly understood what the British wanted to do, but he Unmoved, he focused his attention on the several British cruisers in front of him. Except for notifying Machar to mobilize light cruisers to deal with the British destroyers, the formation and speed of the bombardment fleet were not affected at all.

At 9:28, the fleet approaching at high speed was less than 26,000 meters away from each other. Scharnhorst's main gun fired first, and one minute later, the guns of Admiral Scheer also opened fire - the guns of both ships opened fire. The caliber is the same 283mm, but at the current firefighting distance, firing first is not so much to hit the target as to deter. In order to interfere with the aiming of the German ship's artillery, Captain Christopher decisively ordered the fleet to release smoke. Soon, thick smoke billowed on the sea, shrouding the entire British cruiser formation.

At this time, the distance between the two British destroyers behind the German artillery fleet and the Seydlitz and Prinz Eugen on both wings narrowed to less than 15,000 meters. The latter's main guns all turned to one side and fired at the destroyers. At this distance It is the effective coverage range of the 203mm naval gun, and the British destroyer's artillery cannot fight back. Their only advantage is the maneuverability brought by high speed. In the end, their risky strategy was obviously successful. In the battle that lasted more than 5 minutes, During the shooting process, the latest shell fired by the Seydlitz and Prinz Eugen only caused minor damage to the Watch - the shrapnel from the near-missing shell wounded a British soldier.

Seeing the British destroyers leaving the effective firing range and rushing towards the rear, the ships Seydlitz and Prinz Eugen could only turn their guns angrily and follow the Scharnhorst again towards the main formation of the British cruiser formation.

Christopher, who was under the cover of the smoke screen, wisely did not choose to fight back - once fired, the muzzle flash would easily reveal his own position, so the other British warships strangely did not fire a shot, and only the huge water column caused by the German shooting was seen on the sea. Not only did the British formation not fight back, but after confirming that its reconnaissance destroyer had successfully broken through, it also took the opportunity to quietly adjust its course under the cover of smoke, from 120 degrees to 90 degrees, which meant that the German formation was still heading northwest, and the British fleet changed from southeast to southeast. In order to move eastward, the gap between the two sides will be slightly shortened and then gradually widen. As long as it lasts for more than 15 minutes, he can slip away from the sight of the German fleet even without smoke cover, and then he can rely on 5-6 knots of The speed advantage quietly disengages.

But today's luck did not seem to be on the British side. Although Scharnhorst and Admiral Scheer fired blindly in vain for 10 minutes, the radar of the Seydlitz, which had caught up again, was firmly locked on The British fleet, after discovering the British fleet's turn, immediately reported the information to Major General Eric Bay.

"A bunch of cowards! Where is the Royal Navy's courage to fight the enemy when it sees it?" Major General Bei was so angry when he learned that he was pursuing in the wrong direction, he immediately changed course and pursued him. If Lieutenant General Kumets is famous within the Navy for being particularly cautious, Rear Admiral Bei is a particularly famous general within the Navy - he is tall, has a high nose bridge, a thick neck, and his blue eyes always sparkle with aggression. Fierce Light looks like a boxer at first glance, and his colleagues call him "Ferocious Bei".

However, he also had a rough-and-tumble character, and in less than 15 seconds he issued a second supplementary order: "Admiral Scheer will maintain its current course, and the other warships will follow me to pursue the British cruiser, increasing the speed to 31 knots." ”

The starting point for his issuing this supplementary order was obviously that the Admiral Scheer could only run 26 knots, and he believed that the British fleet could not go east forever, because going further east would hit the Norwegian mainland. , the enemy ship will inevitably turn - that's when it's a good opportunity to intercept.

"You guys pounced on me so easily?" Looking at the German artillery formation that was chasing behind him, Christopher said angrily: "If I were following Fleet E, all the aircraft carriers behind you would be dead by now!"

Unfortunately, he only has one cruiser formation in this sea area. Not to mention battleships, there is not even an extra destroyer. He can only accelerate the entire formation to a maximum speed of 32 knots, then change course again and slowly sail off the coast of Norway. After drawing a large circle, the ship changed its course from due east to heading north. Major General Bei, who was following behind, also adjusted the course to due north without hesitation.

At 9:45, the two British destroyers HMS Watch and HMS Loyalty finally approached less than 10 nautical miles away from the aircraft carrier formation. Although the specific design is still very little known, at least the outline and general appearance of the ships can be seen clearly. The two British destroyers initially believed that at most one of the ships behind them was an aircraft carrier, and the other should be a ship of the same class as the Scharnhorst class, because only one ship appeared in the front bombardment fleet. However, after getting closer, they discovered that this judgment was wrong. , the two giant ships have typical characteristics of aircraft carriers. The displacement is estimated to be at least more than 40,000 tons from the appearance, and the speed is about 27 knots. It seems unlikely that any oil tanker can reach this speed, so the evidence of "aircraft carriers" is conclusive. undoubtedly.

"Sir, German cruisers and destroyers are coming towards us, we have to leave quickly..."

"Prepare torpedoes!" the captain of the Watch looked at the two aircraft carriers carefully with his telescope, and explained without looking back, "Get closer, get closer, take some photos and then go - Admiral Tovey and Prime Minister Churchill was waiting to see these things."