Bismarck

"The commander said that Bismarck encountered a large British interception fleet 500 nautical miles away from the Bay of Biscay. I'm afraid it's impossible for Bismarck to leave on its own. He hopes that we can go and pick it up..."

"What fleet is it that Bismarck can't escape from?!" Zeppelin wondered. "Her speed is 35 knots. If she wants to run, who can stop her?"

"It's Commander Hood... He informed me in the telegram that it has been recently confirmed that Hood also knows about your existence." Bangtai looked at the black and white words on the second piece of paper in disbelief.

"I see. Bismarck has been damaged by two waves of British warships, and its speed has been reduced to 33 knots. It has been caught up by Hood at high speed, and it is expected that the battle will take place in... four to five hours."

"Damn it, it's too late for us!" Zeppelin punched the wooden table, making a hole in it, showing how much force he used.

She immediately thought of that powerful warship. It was it that injured herself and Tirpitz in the last Battle of Newcastle.

"Given Commander Lütjens's character, he would never send such a telegram if the situation was not really urgent. Bismarck must be in danger." Zeppelin looked at Bonte.

"So we can't delay any longer." Bangtai made a prompt decision. "Zeppelin, go inform Tirpitz and let Lindemann and I go meet the port commander."

"Yes!"

Lindemann, who was flirting with Tirpitz in the room, was startled by the sudden news. He quickly put on his coat and walked towards the base. Even the usually lazy northern homegirl was so excited when she heard the news that her sister was in danger that she wanted to go out to the port to rescue people.

At once, all the offshore deployment signals on the two warships rang out.

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However, things are not always so smooth. Due to the lack of combat readiness, both Tirpitz and Zeppelin's oil tanks and ammunition depots are dissatisfied. Now the first task is to refuel - but this request was rejected by the commander of the port area...

In the office of the commander of the Brest port area, Bonte and Lindemann glared at the commander of the port area, a colonel, and the two captains became very angry.

"Let me tell you now, General Bonte, as the acting commander of the Atlantic Fleet, has ordered me to lead the battleship Tirpitz to sea to reinforce the Bismarck - but why not let us go to sea?! Are you in collusion with the British?" Lindemann slapped the table in front of the port commander and questioned.

"Bang" the cup on the table jumped suddenly and the tea splashed out.

Next to Lindemann, Bontai was staring at the port commander with a bad face, as if as long as he said no, he would use the simplest violent means to solve the problem.

"No, no, no, it's not happening." The commander of the port area on the opposite side hurriedly shook his head and said, he was just a colonel, and the person on the opposite side was a general, not to mention that the person waiting to be rescued was an admiral... Unless he really surrendered to the enemy and committed treason, how could he really dare to do this - of course, he would never dare to surrender to the British.

To be honest, he was a little panicked. As the port commander, he only had jurisdiction over the port's logistics and had no power to prevent the warships from going out to sea to perform their missions.

In fact, he didn't dare to do so.

Although no official notification has been received, high-power radio stations in Britain, across the sea, were reporting in succession yesterday how the pride of the German Navy, the flagship battleship Bismarck, was now fleeing in panic under the encirclement of the British Royal Navy's Home Fleet. Today it was even said that it had been caught up by the Royal Navy's flagship Hood... If he dared to obstruct the combat fleet from going out to sea on duty, the only result would be being sent to a military court.

But——heavy oil didn’t blame me!!!

"Then why is it that from the time we returned to the port to now, more than half a month has passed, and we have repeatedly urged you to report that our ammunition and fuel supplies have not arrived yet? Do you want us to go out with an empty ammunition depot or an empty fuel tank?!"

Lindemann yelled.

When he thought about the girl at home going to sea to fight on an empty stomach, he felt overwhelmed.

The port commander couldn't even cry anymore: "I really don't know this... I submitted the supply request report as soon as you gave it to me, and I have submitted it several times in a row, but the mainland has not transferred any ammunition and heavy oil to me... Only diesel and torpedoes, and that is the quota of General Dönitz's submarine force. I have no right to transfer the diesel to you...

"Without diesel fuel... Admiral Dönitz's submarines would not be able to go to sea."

Blame me...

Blame me...

The port commander must have been very angry. Who knew that the supplies allocated by the Navy Logistics Department were so slow?

"But..." Lindeman was about to say something else, but was stopped by Bontai. When he heard that no heavy oil was transferred from the mainland, he understood what had happened.

ps: Three updates today...you know what I mean!

Chapter 345: Hood's Questions (Second Update!)

"In other words, there is really no extra heavy oil for us?" After signaling Lindemann to keep quiet with his eyes, Bangtai turned around and asked the port commander calmly.

"Yes... yes, I'm sorry but I really don't have any extra heavy oil, General..."

"Well... I have a question. Since there is no heavy oil, your heavy oil tanks should not have been cleaned for a while, right?"

“…Yeah, what…?!” The port commander didn’t react for a moment, but only saw Bangtai’s unfathomable and sinister smile.

"Of course we are useful."

------

Having obtained permission, Lindemann and Bangtai immediately called all the idle crew members, and a group of people rushed to the heavy oil warehouse in a mighty manner.

Looking at the residual oil "scraped" from the bottom of the oil tank being transported into Tirpitz's fuel tank bit by bit, Lindemann couldn't help but grinning.

"That's a great move of yours! This way we'll have enough fuel for the voyage! Haha, the base commander must be deliberately making things difficult for us. I don't believe that the logistics director doesn't know about this." Lindemann cursed with a smile, "I'm going to smash his office when I get back! No, now!"

“…No, the base commander is just a colonel. He should not be involved in the affairs of the high-level officials.” Compared with Lindemann’s heartlessness, the more mature and steady Bangtai thought more.

High level...

Hearing this, Lindman seemed to have thought of something and frowned: "You mean... above... huh?"

"Well, that should be the case..." Bangtai frowned and nodded gently. "Without the obstruction from above, our heavy oil supply would not be cut off. Maybe Bismarck's departure to sea was also caused by the above."

"Is Reger crazy? If they sink us all, what warships will Germany have left?" Lindemann looked around and lowered his voice.

"It's not us, it's the Commandant and Bismarck," Bonte explained.

"This is simply... fighting among themselves in front of the British!"

"I'm now afraid that they will catch us going out to sea, saying that you attacked without authorization or for other reasons... In this way, even if the commander comes back, he will be in a passive position." Bangtai said worriedly.

"Then what should we do? Are we not going out just because of this?" Lindman asked back.

"Well, Zeppelin and I will stay here. The heavy oil here is not enough to supply two ships. We can just fill up Tirpitz. If it's not enough, we can pump it from Zeppelin's oil tank. In addition, as the acting commander of the Atlantic Fleet, I still have the power to order you to go out! If there is any investigation team from above, I will take charge. At the same time, I want Zeppelin to communicate with the Air Force to provide you with intelligence support... By the way, do you have enough shells?"

"We still have more than half of the shells left. If we just go out to search for the commander, there shouldn't be any problem." Lindemann nodded. It seemed like this was a good choice. "Then let's do this. I'll take the Tirpitz out. It's up to you to provide intelligence support and deal with the people above."

"Okay!" Bangtai nodded and took a deep puff of his cigarette. After all, it was very troublesome to deal with an investigation team sent by the superiors who were deliberately looking for trouble. But saving lives is like putting out a fire, and now he can only do what he wants.

Of course, check out the progress of scraping the bottom of the tank...

"Can't these guys who are scraping the bottom of the can be faster?!" the two people shouted at the same time.

----

The fierce westerly wind from the North Atlantic rolled up a gray sea fog in the sky. The pale sunlight penetrated through the sea fog and suppressed the five warships that were chasing each other towards Biscay Bay. It was an uncomfortable afternoon, and the air was so stuffy that it seemed suffocating.

Bismarck and the British fleet behind him—Hood to be exact—started a high-speed battle royale...

However, even if Bismarck's speed increased, the distance between the two sides was still getting closer...

"Report to the commander, the German ship is now located one and a half points (45 degrees) to the right in front of our ship, and the distance is 30000 yards (27450 meters)! Speed, knots, unchanged!"

On the bridge of the battlecruiser Hood, a staff officer was reporting to Admiral Tovey about the movements of the German fleet. After receiving the report, Tovey glanced at the sea chart, confirmed the positions of both sides, and said, "We cannot fully utilize the firepower of the rear main guns now. We need to get closer and strike again. First of all, make sure that Lütjens does not slip away!"

"Yes!"

Seeing the staff officer retreat, Tovey, who felt a little thirsty, picked up the cup and drank the tea in it in one breath. Because the speed of the warships of both sides was not much different, the chase on the sea was a long process. Tovey knew this very well, and he was not in a hurry. He was like an experienced hunter who watched the prey running desperately in front of him, but still gradually entered the range of his shotgun.

When he put down the cup, Tovey found that his secretary did not make him another cup as usual.

Tovey turned his head with some surprise and saw his secretary Elizabeth standing blankly by the porthole of the command tower, staring in the direction of the Bismarck.

Ever since seeing Bismarck, his secretary seemed to be in a bad mood and often in a trance, which was very strange.

"What's wrong? Are you nervous?" Tovey asked.

The British lady was almost startled when she suddenly heard her commander's voice. She quickly adjusted her glasses and explained in a panic, "No, no..."

"Haha, it's inevitable to be nervous. I'm a little nervous too. After all, the strongest battleship in front of us is Germany's." Tovey said nonchalantly. Seeing his usually beautiful and elegant female subordinate now in a panic and a little bit stupid was actually quite pleasing to the eye.

But at this moment, the secretary lowered her head, tugged at her skirt, and spoke with a slight stammer: "Commander, may I ask you a question?"

"What's the problem? Tell me. I'm also bored right now, so I can help you answer it." Tovey said with a smile.

"Commander, do you believe that warships... have life or soul?

ps: Second update... otz

Chapter 346: The Last Friend (Part 3)

Following this question, the secretary, who had been a little reserved, raised her head, and looked at her commander through her red-rimmed glasses with clear eyes that were slightly nervous, as if she was very concerned about this question.

"The life or soul of a battleship?" Hearing this question all of a sudden, Tovey, a veteran warrior, couldn't help but laugh. Was it really a girl?

He reached out and grabbed the secretary's soft hair and ruffled it hard.

"Elizabeth, are you reluctant to let us sink the Bismarck? She is our enemy."

"As for me, I definitely believe that battleships are alive." But before the secretary could say anything, Tovey started to talk nonsense again.

"Eh? Really?" Elizabeth said happily, "Then what do you think the life of a battleship is like?"

"The life and soul of a battleship is essentially the history and glory passed down from generation to generation by our Royal Navy! Their life is the foundation of the Royal Navy's existence, hahahaha~!"

"what···"

After rubbing his hair, Tovey laughed and returned to his command post. It was good to have a capable female secretary occasionally, he thought so. However, when Tovey turned around and walked away, he did not notice that the secretary lowered her head again...

"Is that so...Okay..."

I feel a little depressed... As expected, was it right for me not to tell the commander my true identity? Humans are always afraid of things they don't know, but why do I always feel a little uncomfortable in my heart...

What about the Bismarck on the other side? Did she tell her captain? Elizabeth wondered curiously.

Um...it seems that there was a rumor in Germany a while ago that Raeder used the gendarmerie to search for the ship girls...?

Could it be that Bismarck’s identity has already been known? So… if I reveal my true identity, I will really be regarded as an alien…

However... looking at the Bismarck in front of her, the secretary ship, whose hair was messed up, still felt angry.

After all, they are enemies!

But it’s always okay to ask...

Bismarck, who was preparing for war intensively, suddenly felt someone calling him.

"Hood, why did you come to see me?" Bismarck asked coldly.

"Nothing, I just came to chat with you." Elizabeth looked in the direction of Bismarck and began to daydream again...

"I don't think there is anything else we can communicate unless you turn around and leave now." Bismarck stood behind his captain with his arms folded across his chest.

"That's impossible." Elizabeth refused outright. Compromising with the enemy would be an insult to the Royal Navy.

Hearing Hood's voice, Bismarck immediately replied unhappily, "Then why are you here? Asking me to surrender? You think too much."

"Bismarck, we have no hatred against each other. We are just fighting for our own countries. Now it's still a few hours before I catch up with you. It's not a life-and-death battle yet. Let's be friends for a while." said the literary girl.

Bismarck suddenly wanted to say, have you read too many novels? Do you really think you can have friends when you are in a life-and-death situation?

But looking at Hood's pure eyes, he seemed to believe it.

Bismarck's heart suddenly softened. She didn't know why, but when she saw Hood's eyes, her heart suddenly softened. There was a deep loneliness in her eyes.

"Okay, whatever you want. I won't let you win anyway." The Persian cat pouted proudly.

The girl with glasses nodded happily, "Me too."

"Also, let me correct you. I am not fighting for Germany." Bismarck said, "I am only fighting for the captain and my two sisters!"

"Huh? What?!" Elizabeth's eyes suddenly lit up.

"how?"

"You mean your captain knows you are the Bismarck?"

"Yes, why not?" Bismarck said as a matter of course, "I told the captain my identity at the beginning."

"Then, then didn't he feel strange?" asked the girl with glasses.

"Don't you think Tovey still doesn't know your identity?" Bismarck asked curiously.

"I don't know." Elizabeth shook her head. "He doesn't believe in this kind of thing. I just asked him and he just treated it as a joke..."

"So you came to talk to me?" Bismarck seemed to understand something.

By the way, at that time, when Zeppelin was first found, Hood was probably in the same mood as he is now.

"Well... I just wanted to ask about your relationship with the captain."

"Let me tell you, my three sisters, their respective captains know their identities, and they are living well. Moreover, the captain and I like each other now."

"What is mutual liking?"

"It means that each party is willing to sacrifice their lives for the other party," said Bismarck.