Bismarck

Moreover, as a necessary part of "wiping XX", and also an important step to avoid arousing suspicion from the mustache, he had to do his best to repair the Bismarck without any small stumbling blocks...

After all, when reporting or confronting, the Führer will definitely suspect certain issues. Although I can be sure to bring them over, at worst I can just blame it on the British spies or find a scapegoat. But after all, the Führer is not a fool. If he can barely make up a lie once, he will not be able to justify himself if he does something else...

never mind...

Anyway, Hindenburg and Ludendorff are speeding up the construction, and I have some other strategic ideas. When the time comes, let Lütjens take his ship girls and go to "there" - that kind of place is not easy to go to. The entrance alone is a dead end!

By then, it won’t be too late to settle the score with Lütjens!

Thinking of this, the gloomy expression of the North Sea hero improved a little.

However, he still had to find a way to deal with Lütjens' "report" or confrontation tomorrow... After thinking for a long time in the office, confirming again and again that he could get away with it, and preparing himself for a scolding, Reger, who felt a little dizzy due to overwork, took a pill, then pressed the button on the table and summoned his secretary with a bell.

Seeing his secretary come in and stand at attention, Reger, who was resting on the back of his chair, instructed his secretary in a slightly unhappy tone: "Go, inform Lütjens and ask him to come to the Chancellery tomorrow morning. The Führer and I want to hear his combat report..."

The secretary, who knew who her boss was, didn't dare to say anything more. She saluted and walked away...

--------

Lütjens, who had just arrived in Berlin, was supposed to report to the Navy Ministry first according to the plan. Unfortunately, as was expected, Reger did not see him, so he simply went home with Bismarck.

Lütjens still didn't know what Lily said when Bismarck was on the verge of life and death. She was afraid that if she went home alone, Lily would scold her again. Bismarck was already so seriously injured, it would be wrong for her if she couldn't take good care of her.

Got home and got off the car.

Krupp was stunned when he saw the two people in front of the door.

Didn’t Miss Lily say that the general had...had... He rubbed his eyes again, making sure he wasn’t seeing things.

That’s right, the man in navy blue uniform is indeed Lütjens, and the cute girl next to him is also Bismarck…

"General? Miss Bismarck?"

"You...you are all right?"

The first sentence was a question of disbelief, and the second was a trembling of excitement.

"Is Lily still home?" Lütjens asked with a smile as he opened the door.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll go tell her right away!" Krupp was so excited that he spoke incoherently for several sentences in a row, then turned around and ran into the house.

"Miss Lily! The General and Miss Bismarck are back!" He abandoned the butler's etiquette and shouted loudly.

"It seems that this matter was really not mentioned in the news?" Bismarck said in a low voice, looking at Krupp's excitement.

"How do you want to report? Our flagship Bismarck battleship was severely damaged by the British?" Lütjens said with a smile.

"I clearly dealt a heavy blow to Hood," Bismarck boasted.

"Okay, let's go in." Lütjens said, patting her head and then holding Bismarck's hand.

Big hands hold small hands.

She was startled and turned to look at him.

"It's okay, let's go."

Bismarck felt warm in his heart and rubbed his head against the captain's clothes "shyly".

As soon as they entered the door, a man in pajamas with disheveled hair appeared in front of them.

Her eyes were red and her face looked bad, and Bismarck almost didn't recognize that this was Liliana.

Lily didn't say anything, but just stared at them blankly, as if she couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes.

She looked them up and down, and her complex expression swept over their clasped hands.

"You're back." Lily spoke, but her voice was no longer as sweet as it was then. One could tell from her hoarse voice that she had been crying for a long time.

"Lily, we're back."

It was Bismarck who spoke, his voice gentle.

Almost at the same time, Liliana's tears rolled down uncontrollably.

Hot tears flowed across her face, leaving two tear marks, accumulated on her chin, and then fell down, accompanied by Lily's sobs of joy.

"You...you are finally back."

Bismarck felt a pain in her heart. Seeing Liliana's aggrieved look, she took two steps forward and hugged her tightly in her arms.

"Yes, Lily, we are back, and I have brought the captain back safely." She murmured.

"I knew you wouldn't just die like this!"

The soft sobs soon turned into loud howls. Lily cried and pounded Bismarck's shoulders with her pink fists, tears streaming down her face.

"I have been praying these days, praying to God to let you come back. Finally, you are finally back..."

"Bismarck, I was wrong. Woo... I shouldn't have done this to you. Go ahead and hit me..." Lily raised her face, tears streaking down her face.

"It's okay, it's okay." Bismarck quickly stroked Lily's cheek to comfort her. "Lily, don't be excited. We are back safely. It's my fault. I shouldn't have told you at that time and made you worry."

"I know you must have thought you would never come back..."

Bismarck had become very adept at comforting Zeppelin. She kept patting Lily's back and whispering softly.

Lütjens walked over, sighed, and hugged them both in his arms. These were the two women he loved most.

In her father's broad arms, Lily suddenly felt at ease. Smelling the familiar scent, the worry and fear she had been feeling over the past few days gradually eased.

She didn't mention Bismarck and his father, because she knew Bismarck knew her attitude.

After what happened in the past few days, she just felt that as long as the three of them were together, nothing else mattered.

After a long time, Lily's sobbing finally subsided.

"Luckily, Lily, you just got up, otherwise it would be terrible." Seeing her expression relax, Bismarck was in the mood to make a little joke. When comforting people, making them happy is actually the best way.

The latter looked at her in confusion.

"If you've put on makeup, it must be smudged." Bismarck pinched her nose.

"I'm crying for you, okay? Be serious..."

"Okay, stop crying. Lily, go wash up. Look at how you look now." Lutjens frowned. Although he could understand his daughter's feelings, he still said this as a lady's request.

"It's okay, it's okay. We're at home anyway." Bismarck persuaded quickly, and glared at Lütjens at the same time. Lily had finally stopped crying, but what should she do if she started crying again after his rude words?

Plop.

"Bismarck, you haven't even married my dad yet, but you look like my mom so soon." Liliana said.

But she still felt a little sad... But seeing Bismarck and her father live and die together, she couldn't say anything sad...

only…

But what was unexpected was that as soon as this sentence was spoken, Bismarck blushed:

"Hey!!!"

"Hehe~"

Looking at the red-faced Persian cat, Liliana ran up with a smirk, ignoring the two embarrassed people below.

Although I agree, it’s okay to take a little revenge.

My mood improved instantly.

"Captain...this...Lily was just saying it casually." Bismarck explained embarrassedly.

"If you want a wedding, I will give it to you." Lütjens looked at her seriously.

"Hehe, there's no rush, Captain, the time is not right yet..." Bismarck said quickly.

I am still a girl in my twenties, and I don’t want to become a young woman so early... People say that marriage is the grave of love, so why get married so early? It would be better to date for a few more years...

She was so scared that she refused immediately.

"Captain, the British have not been defeated yet, and the Americans are eyeing us covetously. We still have a lot to do."

Lütjens nodded without comment.

Although what happened in the end was a bit unexpected, the good thing was that his relationship with Lily at least seemed to have returned to normal. Bismarck breathed a sigh of relief.

But after all, marriage is not just a matter between two people. Bismarck also admitted that he was not ready for marriage...

I hope the captain doesn't think I'm shirking my responsibility...

ps: By the way, today is another 7,000 words~ It's the end of the month, please give me a monthly ticket and reward~ I and the big sister have been very productive these days! Please subscribe automatically!

Chapter 362: Hood is Hood?

Berlin, Chancellery building...

Lütjens walked out of the Chancellery with a stern face and angrily got into his car. After signaling the driver to drive home, he leaned back in the back seat with a dark face and said nothing.

He did not bring Bismarck with him for the morning questioning. On the one hand, he did not know what role the mustache played in the Rhine exercise, and on the other hand, he was also considering that Raeder would also come. With Bismarck's uncontrollable personality, he might start a quarrel right from the start...

If you start a quarrel when the mustache guy is questioning you formally, then even if you are reasonable, it will become unreasonable...

Maybe Raeder was just waiting for Bismarck to make trouble in front of the mustache? If he didn't take the opportunity to make trouble, it would be strange if he didn't add insult to injury!

It's just... even I underestimated Redel's ability to shift the blame with specious arguments, and his thick skin...

After the report was finished, as soon as he mentioned why the Rhine exercise was a single-ship voyage, Raeder actually brought up the fact that the battleships were unilaterally suppressed by the aircraft carriers in the Mid-Atlantic naval battle that he had fought, and made specious arguments that speed was of the essence and that they should "go on the road early" before the American aircraft carrier USS Ranger was leased to the UK... Then he said that the British's strict deployment was the fault of the Royal Navy's own defense or the intelligence department. When the order said that he should go through the Denmark Strait, he shamelessly said that it was just a suggestion. As for the supply problem of Tirpitz and Zeppelin, he actually used the fact that "Bismarck was towed back by Tirpitz" and guaranteed to repair the Bismarck battleship within three months to prove that he did not withhold supplies. In the end, he even put on a hypocritical face and pretended to suggest to the Führer that "Admiral Lütjens should be awarded a medal higher than the Knight of Oak Leaves to commend his military exploits and contributions"...

After all, it was a professional fighter who met a professional talker. Raeder shirked all the problems and responsibilities without hesitation. Even his expression fooled the mustache man who didn't know anything about the navy. He said on the spot that for a national hero like Lütjens, a higher-level medal should be created...

Just like that, Redel, in front of me, took the opportunity to give me a medal and acted cute in front of the little mustache, and I actually became his tool to act cute and cute to win his favor...

After all the trouble, the Iron Cross medal hanging in front of my collar was inexplicably supplemented with two kitchen knives, a bag of cabbage, and a handful of "salt" (also pure white crystals, although one is sodium chloride and mine is pure carbon)... And this thing is not in stock yet, it has to be made to order, and it will be delivered to me in a few days...

Looking at the paper with the signature and seal of the mustache man in his hand: the certificate of awarding General Lütjens the first Diamond Knight's Medal of the Greater German Empire (which had not yet been officially established)... Lütjens became even more depressed...

Although it sounds like the "First Diamond Knight Medal" is very glorious, but the feeling of being gagged and used as a cute prop...

One, you can't eat it, two, you can't wear it, three, you can't improve the fleet, four, you can't use it in war...

What do I need this thing for...

Looking at the certificate of honor in his hand, Lütjens somehow felt like crying but couldn't...

------

Meanwhile, in the UK, the senior officers' quarters at Scapa Flow Base...

The ashtray beside the bed was filled with cigarette butts and ashes, and the floor was covered with empty bottles. Tovey was holding a half-empty bottle of wine in one hand, with a cigarette that was about to burn out. He was sitting silently on the bed, with no expression on his wooden face. It was not that he wanted to cry but that he had run out of tears...

It has been three or four days since the Hood sank, but Tovey still seems to have not gotten over the sinking of the Hood. He was originally fifty years old, which is the prime of life for an admiral. He was full of vigor and vitality, but now he seems to be ten years older, like a dying old man...

Tovey locked himself in the room all day and had no communication with anyone else. The smell of cigarettes and alcohol filled his surroundings.

He is in deep regret.

From time to time, Hood's gentle voice would appear before his eyes, and he would speak softly.

"Good morning, Commander."

Although the military court investigation team believed that the sonar at a speed of 23 knots was completely ineffective, and no one could detect a submarine 5000 yards away with the naked eye on a dark and windy night, and considering the poor underwater speed of the submarine, the military court investigation team determined that the sinking of the Hood was an accident, and did not prosecute or remove Tovey from office.

Moreover, in the eyes of Churchill, the Admiral, or other British high-ranking officials, Tovey's performance was already good enough: he was able to lead the Hood in pursuit when Lütjens temporarily changed course, and he was able to almost sink the Bismarck, the number one enemy of the British Royal Navy, led by Lütjens himself, in the Atlantic Ocean... In the end, encountering a submarine or something, at most, could only "show that Lütjens had a more devout belief in God than Tovey, so he had better luck, that's all..."

However, Tovey refused to forgive himself, and could not forgive his own stupidity and suspicion...

After all, it was because of me that the Hood sank. And my secretary ship, the Hood, even though I suspected and blamed her, still held on until the rescue ship came and sank. Even before she died, she came to take me out...

And after he woke up in the lifeboat, the first mate on the Hood told him that Elizabeth had never blamed him...

If I had listened to Hood's advice, perhaps everything would be different now.

He didn't need any leniency, nor did he need the military court to not pursue the matter. What he needed was Hood to come back and make him a cup of fragrant black tea!

However, it's too late now.

He slammed the table hard, causing his hand to ache. It seemed that the pain was the only way to numb himself.

He tried to tell everyone around him that Elizabeth was the Hood, she was their battleship.

However, except for himself and the first mate, no one else believed what he said, that his female secretary was the soul of the Hood, and that the German battleship on the other side might also have such a "battleship soul in the shape of a girl". Although many people knew that Lütjens had a female secretary as a means of gathering intelligence on the opponent, many people even knew that "Deputy Commander of the Atlantic Fleet" Bonte also had a female secretary.

But this is the 20th century! Although some people believe in ghosts and gods, for this kind of thing... Tovey, you should go talk to a priest! Maybe you can ask the priest to perform a ritual to help your little secretary's ghost go to heaven or something! God bless, Amen~

Besides, as a Christian country, it is a common view that all souls should return to the arms of God. So the saying of "battleship soul"... The members of the investigation team looked at each other and almost laughed out loud: "Towie, are you seeing ghosts on Christmas? Or is it that your own secretary is gone, so you are unbalanced looking at Lütjens' secretary?!"

There was even a general in the investigation team who was not on good terms with Tovey. He even said maliciously that Tovey should go to a sanatorium and take a "long-term rest" like Marshal Pound (the former First Sea Lord who had retired due to a brain tumor and cerebral hemorrhage)...