Bismarck

At this moment, there was a loud bang...

The British's various observation equipment were indeed paralyzed, but the Atlantic Fleet, which worked on a completely different principle, was not affected at all. While avoiding the mines, the two battleships also focused on the defensive fleet at the exit of the minefield - especially those battleships.

However, Tirpitz also had to take on the task of clearing mines and clearing the way, so the main attack was left to Bismarck.

In the rain and fog, her two gun barrels slightly adjusted the angle and locked the target on a British warship whose enemy was still unknown.

"Rest in peace, may God bless you." Bismarck stood behind her captain, opened her red lips, and whispered a word of comfort.

"boom--"

Because of the angle, the rear main guns did not work, but in the heavy fog, four shells were enough to deal with the old World War I ship that was moving slowly and was lost in where to go.

Four shells flew over Zeppelin in an instant, followed by Tirpitz's. The raindrops hit the surface of the shells and were vaporized immediately.

In this severe weather, almost no one was able to react in advance. Just like nails being hammered into wood, all four shells were embedded in the battleship that was unconscious until it died.

Then came the huge explosion that shocked the entire strait.

The sky seemed to brighten.

---------

All the people who heard the loud noise and crowded around the telescopes and observation ports were shocked to see a huge and bright fireball with black smoke flashing on the sea surface. It was so dazzling even in the thick fog. The flagship of the British H Fleet, the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship Lord Barham, which was at the forefront of the battle line, was completely covered by a salvo from the Bismarck. Two 380mm armor-piercing shells hit its vital parts. This ship, who made great contributions and made great achievements in the Battle of Jutland, tragically exploded with more than a thousand officers and soldiers on board in the dark rainy night of Gibraltar...

The terrifying fire only lasted for a short moment before disappearing on the water.

Everyone was stunned.

The morale of the British army plummeted to the bottom in an instant. No one knew how to fight this interception war. With the enemy in the dark and us in the light...

Even some rumors began to spread.

The morale of the army is weakened.

"The Barham is finished... How... How could this happen..."

A sailor at the battery observation post muttered to himself with a look of horror on his face.

He witnessed the appearance of a ball of fire in the fog that was even louder than the flares, and the sound of an explosion that hurt his eardrums.

"Barham... is it over?!" Although the sailors below couldn't see the battle situation, even if they listened to the live broadcast, their faces turned pale...

"Be quiet! Don't panic! Don't whisper! Go to your own position!" The commander of the artillery, a captain, began to suppress the rumors that were detrimental to the morale of the troops. However... under the dim explosion-proof lights in the artillery, the captain's face was as pale as paper...

"...You know, when Victor from the third squad accompanied the battery commander to the headquarters, he seemed to hear General Summerville saying in the headquarters that those German warships were the devil's warships, and even the ones operating the warships were witches or something..."

"The devil..." Seeing the German fleet charging through the minefield with strong winds and rough waves, and with such fierce firepower, as well as the sky covered with lightning and thunder and sea fog, some soldiers actually believed it...

The scientific literacy of ordinary soldiers is not very high, and although some grassroots officers have begun to suppress these rumors that "confuse the army", their eyes are full of fear...

Of course, they don’t believe in the so-called devil legends, but those three terrifying battleships. Can anyone stop them?

Thus, a legend that Lutjans was a demon gradually began to spread among the British army...

------

Compared to the British, who were furious and had their morale severely damaged, the Germans were jubilant, and the entire Atlantic Fleet was cheering. The observers on the warships could not see what was happening in front of them, they only knew that there was a big explosion in front of them, and it must be an important target that was hit. However, it was not until the news came from the flagship that they knew that a British battleship had been sunk.

There was naturally laughter on the bridge of Bismarck.

"What ship was sunk?"

"I heard someone on the radio say it was the battleship Barham."

Bismarck was answering Lütjens' questions from behind.

The British had many battleships in World War I, but not many were famous. She wouldn't know the names if she was asked to name them one by one. Usually, their identities were determined by their radio stations and other parts.

But this is a battleship.

"Yes, Barham." Lütjens repeated.

"Barham is finished. Next, you should aim at the Malaya, and then rush along the south bank out of the sight of the Gibraltar Fortress! Get through the minefield within 20 minutes! Use your secondary guns to deal with the charges of the remaining six cruisers and six destroyers in the Gibraltar port!" He said with high spirits in front of the rudder.

"I understand."

Today's Gibraltar Fortress is destined to be a sleepless night. Perhaps since its birth, it has never been shrouded in such fear. It has always played the role of a guard guarding the Mediterranean, and no fleet has ever dared to break in.

But today this history was broken.

The Atlantic Fleet will go down in history!

"Bismarck, Tirpitz, are your aluminum foil bombs ready?"

"Ready!"

"no problem!"

The most important moment has arrived, and all the hidden treasures have been taken out.

As the distance shortened, electronic jamming was likely to lose its effect, so Zeppelin and Professor Wolff commanded the two battleships to load the aluminum foil bombs prepared in advance.

At the same time, a small boat was lowered on the side of each ship, and the towing boats were hung with automatic inflatable corner reflectors. These corner reflectors can reflect radar signals to a great extent, making the radar reflection signals of these small boats equal to their own hulls.

With a hissing sound, the corner reflector unfolded.

---------

"Commander!" With a shout of surprise, the radar operator saw the target's position on his screen again.

"They showed up!"

"Hurry up, tell the battery the location, quickly!"

Overjoyed, Somerville almost shouted the order.

However, he soon discovered something wrong - why were there several "battleships" on it?

"What's happening here?"

"Commander, this is a false target!"

“Can you tell?”

Since these targets appeared at the same time, the radar operator could not identify the targets through memory, but Summerville thought about it and came up with a solution.

"First tell the artillery the location of the one in front, and concentrate fire on it first!"

Since we can't tell them apart, just destroy them one by one!

The first target is poor Grape.

Suddenly, the shells that were originally flying around like headless flies became accurate and flew densely towards Tirpitz in the front.

She was hit by several shells in the first round, and balls of fire exploded on her body.

"Ah, it hurts, what's going on?"

"Can't they see me?"

Tizi immediately asked Zeppelin and Bismarck, and the latter quickly realized that the electronic jamming had failed.

"It's time, Grape, fire the foil bullet!"

Zeppelin gave the order decisively.

Two 150mm shells filled with aluminum foil were fired from the secondary guns, exploding into a metallic cloud in the sky.

The British were very happy to have recaptured the Germans' traces and wanted to teach them a lesson with artillery shells. However, after just firing one round of artillery shells, they were confused again.

Following a counterattack by the battleship, a whole screen of chaff and false targets suddenly appeared. Sir Riddle, Vice Admiral Somerville and the British radar soldiers, who had just been happy, were dumbfounded.

---

A foil cloud can last for a period of time. Every ship carries enough foil bombs before going out to sea, so this is not a problem at all.

Then, following Lütjens' instructions, Bismarck aimed at the remaining battleship.

The Malaya was not as pitiful as its flagship, sinking to the bottom of the sea in a ball of fire, but it was also destroyed. After being hit by two salvos, it was completely paralyzed on the surface of the water and could no longer move. The conning tower was destroyed, the turret was opened, the main armor was penetrated, and the engine room was completely damaged. The two Fiji-class heavy light cruisers in the battleship formation also followed the battleship's footsteps. One sank and the other was paralyzed. These thin-skinned cans were too fragile.

After some targets at sea were destroyed, Bismarck pointed its guns at the fortresses on both sides. This time there was no need to worry about not being able to exert the firepower of the rear main gun, as eight shells could be fired in one salvo.

Deafening cannon fire exploded on the cliffs on both sides, followed by clumps of rocks or other parts rolling down.

"Tizi, how is the situation there?" Bismarck asked.

"Sister, I'm almost done here, wait for me for a moment, I'll join in right away."

It is impossible to use warships to fight against fortresses in an upright manner, but in such a situation, Lütjens is also happy to take advantage of the situation.

Soon, after clearing the debris and mines, the main guns of the Tiberian Navy also began to participate in the bombardment. Under the joint attack of Bismarck and Tirpitz, the Gibraltar Fortress, which had 14 380 guns, 24 234 guns, and 36 155 guns, suddenly burst into flames. Although the Gibraltar Fortress could not be completely destroyed, especially the sturdy 380 gun turrets, at most one or two were destroyed in the previous bombardment, the 234 gun turrets, which had only one layer of steel plate as a cover, were relatively weak in defense even in front of guided shells and were hit one after another!

The entire artillery position was filled with flames, thick smoke, and body parts.

In the midst of the bright light, the British were hit by shells that fell from the sky one after another and they fled in panic, crying for their parents.

This was probably the darkest day in the entire Gibraltar fortress.

The emotions in Summerville's command center were like a roller coaster, from full of confidence at the beginning, to confusion and panic later, to the inability to fight again, and then to seeing the light, but being stunned by aluminum foil bullets, and finally to numbness.

As reports of requests for help and damages kept coming in, it was too late.

The night belongs to the Germans, because they are demons!

-----

The power of guided shells is limited. After destroying some turrets, Bismarck was reluctant to use them again. For the sturdy 380 turrets, these shells undoubtedly did not have much lethality. Instead of wasting them on thick armor, it is better to do something meaningful - such as using thick tubes to poke into the elementary school students...

The junior high school student said that he could not bear the caress of such a big root.

The two Leander-class light cruisers of the British cruiser-destroyer formation on the south side were originally following orders to guard the periphery of the minefield, hoping to delay the Atlantic Fleet for the last time. However, when their colleagues began to explode and catch fire one after another, they didn't know what to do. All the battleships were destroyed, so would their light cruisers still be useful?

It's indeed useless.

But Bismarck would not give them the chance to retreat. The dense secondary guns and sturdy main guns attacked instantly and hit the target with one shot.

The little body only added a little color to this already hellish night.

The two Leanders of the cruiser-destroyer formation on the north side also met their end soon. It was tragic, but nothing could be done about it.

There were only three destroyers, and they rushed over and dropped a series of torpedoes while Bismarck's attention was elsewhere.

而此时的时间，是1941年4月26日晚23时26分——正好是吕特宴斯之前下的令：20分钟打穿直布罗陀！

ps: I heard you guys want to try the British cruiser's laser mines? My Bismarck was hit by all of them and exploded instantly.

Chapter 395: Mediterranean Fleet

The torpedoes of the three destroyers had been firmly captured by Tirpitz. After issuing the warning signal, she took the lead in evading. Then Zeppelin and Bismarck took action in turn and avoided the torpedo fire line. The final attack of the British destroyer also failed.

However, Tirpitz and Bismarck did not attack the frantically fleeing destroyers, because all their firepower was now directed at the Gibraltar Fortress.

Without interference, the Atlantic Fleet was like a fish in water, freely exerting its powerful firepower in the fog. This was a good opportunity to expand the results of the battle, so how could Lütjens miss it?

Lütjens knew very well that in this battle, his and Bismarck's names would be engraved on the fortress of Gibraltar!

"We don't have many opportunities to come to Gibraltar, Bismarck, so you'd better seize the time this time." He said with a smile to the secretary who had his eyes closed beside him.

Since they were out of the minefield, Bismarck no longer needed to control the ship herself, so Lütjens stepped down from the steering position and let the crew operate the ship, so that she could devote herself to the bombardment of both sides.

"This time I came to Gibraltar, I didn't expect that I would have the opportunity to destroy the fortress. This was also unexpected. I didn't specifically look at what the targets were. You can open fire at will." He said with a smile.

He had indeed never thought about it before. In his imagination, being able to get out of Gibraltar alive was already a good thing. Which fleet would dare to go against it?

As far as he knew, it was the first time for the Atlantic Fleet.

"I understand, Captain." Although Bismarck closed his eyes, in order to better focus his attention, he radiated his mental strength and searched for valuable targets over and over again.

Since there will be few opportunities to come again, let's do our best to destroy it.

There was no intention to look for the main battery. The previous bombardment made Bismarck realize that it was a waste of ammunition to attack the large battery of the fortress. It took several rounds of 380 to destroy a 380 coastal artillery. This was not cost-effective. The smaller 234 battery was easier to destroy, but it was not a big threat to them now. It would be a waste to attack it deliberately. Britain would recover quickly in the later period.

"Hey, there is a shipyard here?" Bismarck asked in confusion.

Looking at the buildings with blackout lights in the dark, they were indeed the docks, and there were some unfinished warships inside.

Hitting these targets is much more valuable than shore artillery.

Bismarck immediately informed Tirpitz and Lütjens, and at his instruction, they turned their guns around.

Under the sudden and intensive fire, the shipyard and some unknown warships under construction were engulfed in flames after several rounds of salvos. The raging fire was inevitable even on a rainy day, and no one dared to put out the fire amid the gunfire, so the fire grew bigger and bigger, and finally burned everything to ashes, including the shipyards and factories under construction.

The entire Strait of Gibraltar was burned red by the fire through the sea fog, and the clouds looked like a fire cloud!

The crew members of the Atlantic Fleet were all very excited as they looked at the spectacular scene outside. This was war, and naturally no one sympathized with the British as their enemy. Everyone had only one idea - to make the guns of Tirpitz and Bismarck more powerful and accurate!