Bismarck

So this time, we are ready to turn left!

"What's going on! The steering wheel is out of control!" The first mate panicked.

"Captain! If we turn at this distance, we will be too close to the Bismarck!"

"Elizabeth... who are you? Someone come here!" Tovey was the first to react. There was no doubt that this matter was related to her. Tovey directly pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the mysterious female secretary.

Hood never imagined that one day his commander would point his gun at him.

Although the pistol did not cause any harm to him at all, a feeling of sadness emanated from the bottom of his heart.

What if I were Bismarck... and what if the commander was Lütjens?

"Commander, I..." Hood was about to make an explanation, but was rudely interrupted by Tovey.

"I don't care who you are, even if you are a witch! But... I won't let you stop us from sinking the Bismarck!"

At Tovey's roar, some sailors and officers outside rushed in with fire axes, sailor knives, pistols and even rifles, surrounding Hood.

But in Hood's eyes, only Tovey's sharp eyes were the most hurtful...

Torvey continued to yell at the witch Elizabeth: "I order you to regain control of the battleship immediately! Otherwise I will kill you!"

“…Commander, there is a submarine ahead, I can’t do this…” Facing the commander’s gun, Hood smiled sadly.

But at this moment, her face changed: "Torpedoes! Four to the left front! Thirty-six knots! Two thousand seven hundred yards! Only one and a half minutes left!"

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Tovey became even angrier.

However, at this moment, a loud noise came from the rear of the battleship...

At the same time, "Elizabeth, the witch with great magical powers who can control battleships," fell to the ground with weak legs.

But no one cared about her now. Two soldiers were watching her while Tovey hurried to deal with the situation.

"What's going on?! Damage control team! Report the situation!"

"Report! The underwater part of the steering gear was hit! The rudder was blown to pieces. The only good news is that our course has returned to normal... We just need to use differential steering... Maybe it will be slower, but it can still be controlled."

"No need to turn now, turn later, that's it!" Tovey hung up the phone, walked over and glared at Elizabeth fiercely: "What a good thing you did!"

However, Elizabeth just sighed: "It's too late. I'm really... incompetent..."

At the same time, the observer on the bridge shouted at the top of his lungs: "Torpedoes! Four! Half past ten to the left!"

Tovey, the first mate, and the sailors looked at Elizabeth in shock...

Just over ten seconds later, three or four consecutive violent explosions were heard on the port side of the Hood...

The sound of the explosion was not loud, and even seemed a bit muffled due to the obstruction of the sea water. However, this sound seemed like a death sentence to the people on the bridge.

Almost in an instant, a series of large holes were opened on the left side of the Hood, and seawater rushed in frantically at a speed that made it almost impossible for the damage control team to do anything.

Everyone felt it.

But at this time no one paid attention to the secretary - she fainted in an instant.

-------

"Hit! Three torpedoes!"

"All hit the target!"

"Well done, brothers in the submarine force!"

"Keep attacking! Don't let Hood get away!"

More than 16,000 meters away, Bismarck reported the situation to Lütjens, and the commander was immediately jubilant.

Bismarck himself even shed tears of joy.

It’s great to be alive.

That's great...

In Bismarck's perception, a U-boat was lurking under the sea surface to his right front.

The ambush just now was caused by it!

And if Bismarck's perception was correct, that submarine was actually the U556 that had left itself a big flag of broken leg and serious injury.

Although U556's prophecy came true to a large extent, she didn't expect that it would be the one who came to save her in the end.

The "broad-minded" Bismarck said that he would not bear grudges and would let bygones be bygones.

But Bismarck himself was also confused. The anti-submarine search range of the ship was several nautical miles. Why did Hood fall into such a low-level ambush?

But this is not important anymore. Who doesn’t like this feeling of being saved from a desperate situation?

If you can survive.

Bismarck, greatly encouraged, immediately showed her only remaining hind paw, and her two rear main guns continued to bombard the suddenly seriously injured Hood.

She still really likes to do things like kicking a man when he's down.

Although, the Bismarck's course was actually starting to slowly turn towards France in the southeast.

After all, only the rear main gun was left, and Hood's firepower was still stronger than his own. Most importantly, the Bismarck's own injuries made it difficult for her to hold on, and at most he could only hit her a few more times.

Although the submarine caused a heavy blow to the Hood, it took half an hour to reload the four torpedoes of the submarine. After launching the torpedoes, the submarine was very self-aware and dived deeper while turning to disengage...

U556 was immersed in joy, but she didn't know that she had just been through a near-death experience. If Hood hadn't been hit by a shell on the bridge and was dizzy - there were examples of naval guns using anti-submarine weapons.

We must bring everyone back to France...

Seeing the seriously injured and dying Hood slowly turning towards the direction of departure, the Bismarck, which was also seriously injured, wanted to pounce on Hood and bite him to death, but it still started to fight and retreat, slowly heading towards France...

And on the other side…

The originally aggressive crowd in the Hood's commander's tower was stunned by the violent explosion and fell to the ground. Then they rolled to the side in a panic on the deck which began to tilt violently.

Tovey was struggling to get up from the crowd, but the Hood was already tilted 20 degrees due to a large amount of water! With such a large slope and a lot of people pressed together, everyone wanted to get up, but it was not easy for people entangled together to stand up.

It's good enough to be able to stand firmly on the bridge.

Hood was squeezed into a corner and woke up slowly after a while. She was the first one to stand up.

But the pale face and lifeless eyes are heartbreaking.

Hood looked around in confusion and saw his commander lying on the ground.

The water continued to flow in, so Hood simply ignored it. She didn't have the energy to repair such a large wound.

Everything can only be left to fate.

Tovey tried to climb up several times but failed. Instead, he was exhausted and could only breathe. But at this moment, a slender hand with a blue and white sleeve stained with blood reached out to Tovey.

Tovey looked up in surprise. Who else could it be but his "former" secretary Elizabeth?

When he saw his female secretary again, he remembered that just a few minutes ago, she was warning him about the submarine ahead, but he didn't listen.

No one would have thought that in just five minutes, fate could change so drastically!

Originally they had the upper hand in the battle, but now they were on the verge of collapse.

Such a life experience...

Is it a matter of time?

Tovey suddenly laughed, looking at the messy bridge, but that laugh really sounded weathered.

Tovey could also feel that the battleship was turning away from the battlefield without anyone operating the steering gear...

"Who's at the helm now?" Tovey asked hoarsely.

Due to the roll, there was no one at the steering console.

"No one." Hood was silent for a moment and then replied.

"is it you?"

"kindness."

They looked at each other in silence again.

"Commander, please stand up first."

Seeing the female secretary again, Tovey felt mixed emotions as if he were in another world. He was so ashamed and annoyed that he didn't know what to say.

After all, it was because I didn't listen to her warnings that I ended up like this.

"You... I should have listened to your advice... Alas." Tovey felt that he was too embarrassed to be helped up by her, so he did not reach out his hand.

However, even though she was scolded and doubted like that before, Hood, who came out to fight, was still the gentle and kind literary girl.

She took the initiative to extend her hand further and pulled Tovi to his feet.

Then, she took the initiative to help up the other officers and soldiers one by one.

Although it was still difficult to stand on the tilted deck, at least after standing up, I could move freely by holding on to the equipment and railings.

Looking at the still quiet and gentle secretary ship, Tovey felt ashamed. However, the secretary ship lady spoke first, although there was an inexplicable weakness in her words...

"Commander, this battleship... the front boiler room, the front main gun ammunition depot, and the bow are all flooded. Add to that the water that has been damaged in other places before, and our displacement speed of 2000 tons per hour... is no longer sufficient..."

Hood slowly reported his injuries.

The displacement is not as much as the water intake, and the ship is slowly sinking.

"It's all my fault! Alas!" The dejected Tovey, of course, understood what this meant. He punched the armored bulkhead of the command tower and then leaned his head on his arms.

The bridge gradually resumed operations, but Tovey was no longer in the mood to command. He looked much older in just a few minutes.

A few minutes ago, he was still full of energy and ambition to sink the Bismarck in this sea area, but now...

In the current situation, he could not avoid his responsibility. He closed his eyes tightly, and the resentment in his heart was beyond words.

The Hood was brand new when it came out to sea, but now it was covered with scars. So many warships were severely damaged, but the Bismarck still escaped. He felt sorry for the Royal Navy...

He felt that he was a joke, a huge joke!

"God, is he on Lütjens' side?" Tovey murmured, "I can't accept this, I really can't accept this..."

How much sadness does it take to make a soldier shed tears?

Hood saw his commander crying.

But, is it flowing for yourself?

"Commander, this is not your fault." Hood comforted him softly.

It’s really not Tovey’s fault, it’s really not his fault.

Is Tovey wrong?

He was not wrong. Anyone who saw a man rushing forward to seize the control of the battleship would think that Tovey's reaction was very normal. Who would believe that an ordinary person would know that a submarine was lying in ambush several miles away?

"I was wrong." Hood whispered, as if he was regretting or apologizing, but the words were blown away by the wind as soon as they were spoken.

If she had told Tovey her identity earlier, if she could be like Bismarck, if -

Will the ending be the same?

Bismarck, you win after all.

I have no regrets.

"Commander, we are only traveling at 20 knots now. Let's take everyone home first..." The secretary's voice seemed even weaker. It was not clear if it was an illusion, but Tovey seemed to feel that Elizabeth's figure seemed to be a little transparent...

Hood understood that his fate of destruction might be unavoidable, but at least he could let the crew leave.

A speed of twenty knots was no longer enough to support us in reaching the port, unless a miracle happened.

unless···

But miracles are not that easy.

"Are you okay?" Tovey was stunned for a moment and looked at Hood worriedly.

But when Tovey was about to ask something else, the gentle secretary gave him a weak but healing smile:

"I'm fine. I just sent a message to the Dawn Goddess. She's on her way."

"...Commander, let's go back to the port..."

The severely injured HMS Hood, dragging more and more water, gradually disappeared into the darkening night...

ps: I suddenly thought of Hood... Oh, this is two chapters combined into one. In total, three chapters have been updated today, totaling 9,000 words!