Bismarck

"Let's go." Bismarck walked up to him.

"Well, I probably won't come again tonight. Well, we can take a rest now." Lütjens smiled.

"Captain, go to sleep. I'll stay here. It's okay."

"Thank you for your hard work." Lütjens patted her shoulder and said with a smile.

"It's what I should do." Bismarck smiled gently.

Lütjens would not do anything overly intimate, even when their relationship had become clear, the most intimate action was just an arm around the shoulder. However, this pat on the shoulder gave Bismarck great comfort, making her feel that everything she did was worth it.

The British fleet had already gone far away, and Lütjens decided to go back and rest for a while, leaving Bismarck alone on the bridge looking at the starry sky.

Watching the captain walk towards the officers' lounge, Bismarck leaned on the windowsill, looking at the starry sky under the moonlight, while thinking diligently as a secretary about what would happen to the escort mission after this air battle.

It looks like the nights these days will be quiet.

Bismarck was in a good mood and winked playfully at the twinkling starry sky.

The sea breeze is nice.

----------

"This operation failed. We lost thirteen planes, but the Germans suffered no losses, and..."

"...Is that so? I see...Humph, just as expected."

"Lütjens, Bismarck...you guys, just wait!"

ps: Please give me a reward~ Thanks to the big sister, I went to bed early last night because I had to practice driving today.

Chapter 430: A Group of Big Eaters

In the port of Benghazi under the setting sun, the last merchant ship that had unloaded its cargo untied the towline hanging on the dock and sounded the whistle for its return trip.

The night raid by British aircraft the previous night was the best example of losing more than gaining.

Not to mention how much the daytime harassment aircraft were defeated by Zeppelin's group of record-brush, the night attack team lost as many as 13 of the 44 aircraft that had just arrived in a blink of an eye, a loss rate of nearly 30%! The British submarines that had been tracking the transport team from another direction were also driven away by the Italian destroyers under the orders of Tirpitz, who was too lazy to move.

If Italy's sonar-guided attack training had not been so short and the hamster was too lazy to move, it would have been sent to the bottom of the Mediterranean to meet Poseidon, the god of the sea.

Although Lütjens turned a blind eye to it, after all, the fuel consumption of large warships... It is not as simple as it sounds to make them move. The fuel consumption is very painful. Unless it is absolutely necessary, Lütjens now hopes that they will stay still.

The only problem was that after his own radar had harassed him, General Cassady, who had seen the Bismarck and Grape main guns firing into the air, began to suspect that the Germans had "better performing" radars and sonars that they had not provided to him... So much so that during a meeting on the Bismarck, he specifically asked to visit the Bismarck's radar in the capacity of an Italian naval officer.

Although both Cassady and the Italian radar soldiers brought by Cassady could only find out in the end that the Bismarck's radar model was exactly the same as their own FUMO23 and Freya...

Same thing, different performance, it's amazing.

"It's obviously the same." General Casady thought very depressedly.

Of course, he would never have thought that the real trick was actually Lütjens' beautiful secretary who was always smiling and taking them to visit the Bismarck battleship.

---

"As of today, August 1941, 8, this escort operation is declared over... The operation lasted for thirteen days, with a total round-trip mileage of 6 nautical miles, and a total mileage of 1200 nautical miles including tactical maneuvers. The transport team and the escort fleet arrived safely, shot down 2200 enemy planes, and damaged 380... Our losses were minor, and the ammunition consumption was not large, only more than 5400 rounds of 520 high-explosive bombs. However, the three large warships consumed a total of tons of heavy oil in this operation, and another tons of aviation gasoline, and the fuel consumption was about a quarter of the rated base..."

The first thing they did after returning to the Athens garrison and stabilizing the ship was to hold a meeting. And the first thing they did at the meeting was to calculate the fuel consumption.

Due to Germany's limited total oil storage and transportation capacity, and of course due to Redl's excuse that 200,000 tons of oil had been approved, these oils could not be delivered all at once. Moreover, according to the agreement between Germany and Italy, part of the oil that arrived had to be shared with the Italians!

Forty percent of the first batch of heavy oil was supplied to the Italians. The remaining fuel for Bismarck and the other two was less than 3200 tons! In the previous Battle of Crete, the heavy oil consumed by Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Zeppelin was about 5400 tons, and the total consumption of the three ships was close to tons! Not to mention that for this escort, the three warships consumed another tons of fuel...

In other words, there were only less than 14,000 tons of supplies to make up for the consumption of more than 15,000 tons. If you calculate it this way, the heavy oil brought in after this escort battle can only barely feed the three ship girls...

As for the second batch of fuel and so on… Although there is a contract to supply the Italians, who can guarantee how much Redel will deduct given his integrity…

In fact, the main fuel consumption is not the propulsion of the main steam turbine in the cruising state, but the power consumption of the fans, instruments and equipment on the ship, and daily life. The endurance of Bismarck is 8500 nautical miles/19 knots or 9300 nautical miles/16 knots. The former seems to have a similar endurance to the latter, but the actual self-sustaining time is 447 hours: 581 hours! The self-sustaining time is longer, so the fuel consumption in power generation is actually much higher. For example, the fuel consumption of the King George V class in the cruise is 4.1 tons, which is nearly twice as high as the 2.4 tons of fuel required to directly drive the power system to propel the hull during cruising...

"It really isn't cost-effective to use a large warship for this kind of logistics transportation..."

Lütjens, who had no choice but to live frugally, pinched his nose and said with a headache, then looked at Bismarck with a reproachful look, leaving the latter puzzled.

What does it have to do with her... It's not like she wants to eat so much. The consumption is obviously very small. If it were the original hull, there would be more.

Also, she felt aggrieved that she was asked to do transportation. No wonder Tirpitz protested.

Fortunately, energy consumption was strictly controlled from the beginning. Of course, the consequence was that life became very hard for the sailors and officers. The ship was now like a big steamer, which was simply torture.

Basically, they would never turn on the air conditioner if they could turn on the fan, and strictly control the speed. Unless it was an emergency, it was never allowed to exceed 22 knots. Only then did they barely control the fuel consumption. Although the cost was that the temperature outside was as high as 40 degrees in the Mediterranean sun. All the cabins on the ship were hot and smelled of sweat... Even in this conference room, Bismarck had to spray perfume for a long time before letting anyone in...

I really can’t stand it anymore!

22 knots was the lower limit of the reserve steam pressure in the battleship's boiler at that time, which was sufficient to ensure that the battleship could immediately accelerate to the full speed of 30 knots and allow the battleship to continue operating at full power.

The feeling of being strangled by someone's neck is really a headache...

However, the next mission still needs to be carried out... Lütjens rubbed his temple and asked his secretary ship: "What is the situation in the African Corps?"

"They have received this batch of supplies (which are much more abundant than in history), and now General Rommel and the North African Air Force assigned to him are planning to launch a general offensive against Tobruk. However, they said that they are not sure about opening Tobruk's defenses on their own, and hope that we can help..."

"What do you think?" After Bismarck finished speaking, Lütjens did not answer directly, but asked everyone in the meeting room.

Bonte, Lindemann, Haye, Zeppelin, Bismarck, all looked at each other in bewilderment...

They are all family members, so there is no problem in talking about it, but...

This is not a good decision to make...

"Our current fuel is barely enough for one naval battle, and I contacted the Navy Headquarters, but they said that Britain is sending heavy troops to transport supplies to the Soviet Union through the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Fleet (composed of the Scharngen sisters, the Hipper Eugen sisters, the German Scheer sisters, etc.) is under great operational pressure, so it is not clear when the next batch of fuel we are expected to receive will be shipped..."

Haye, who is in charge of logistics, said with some embarrassment.

After all, I have been here for more than a month, and now I can see that the Mediterranean Fleet... Although it is nominally the main fleet of the German Navy on par with the Arctic Fleet, this treatment...

Like exile...

Lindeman and Bangtai looked at each other and nodded implicitly.

After all, Helmut Heyer was asked by Raeder to study the German naval strategy a few years ago, but the research report he submitted advocated the use of light commerce raiders or disguised attack fleets to harass British shipping lines.

Moreover, judging from the situation at the beginning of the war, with the United States not directly participating in the war, Britain does not have the ability to block the entire North Atlantic with escort aircraft carriers and long-range patrol aircraft - although everyone knows that the United States had sent aircraft carriers to participate in the patrol of the "Pan-American Neutral Zone" in order to deal with the current Mediterranean Fleet, which was called the Atlantic Fleet at the time, not to mention directly covering merchant fleets and calling on British aircraft carriers to come and round up or something...

However, the navy's tactical thinking is conflicting, so don't throw them here! Are you sure this is not retaliation?

Besides, he's not the only one who has an opinion...

"This is the hydrological situation around Tobruk Port that Rommel forwarded to me through Italy." Bonte opened a large file box and took out a very detailed sea chart and spread it on the table. While spreading it, he said: "The Port of Tripoli is a terraced terrain both above and below the water, and the average water depth near Tobruk is only 9.5 meters, which is lower than the draft of a Bismarck-class battleship..."

"The most crucial thing is that there are already three artillery batteries in the fortress area, and now the British have installed six additional 234mm fortress guns - the heavy cruiser's draft can be driven in, but it cannot hit these fortress guns..." Lindmann said with a headache.

"...That is to say, this time we may have to rely on Zeppelin's carrier-based bombers as the main force. But..." Lütjens gave a look, and Bismarck next to him handed a stack of reconnaissance photos to Zeppelin: "The British position is too hidden. Can your pilots... accurately bomb it?"

Lutjens originally wanted to ask Zeppelin directly "Are you sure?", but there was an "outsider" Haye in the venue, so he didn't want to expose the most important secret.

Everyone's eyes turned to Zeppelin - now, she was the only one who could participate in supporting the African Corps' offensive in Tobruk.

"Well..." After looking at the photos for a long time and estimating the abilities of his pilots, Zeppelin frowned.

Bismarck, who was standing by, thought to himself: Sure enough, if a normal pilot can't see the target, it will be very difficult...

But soon, Zeppelin's frown disappeared. After putting down the information and photos, Zeppelin raised her head, adjusted her hat, and seemed to have regained her usual strong woman attitude. She asked Lutjans, "Commander, General Rommel should have obtained some information about the British front-line positions, right?"

"Yes, General Rommel has already grasped the location of some of the British front-line positions. And in the memo he sent, he also mentioned that he would use smoke bombs to indicate the target location in accordance with the previous practice in Poland and France - but the specific ground-to-air coordination still needs to be coordinated. In addition, the more than 186 aircraft that the African Corps can still dispatch in North Africa will also be dispatched, but the British can have more aircraft to rush to the front-line airport east of Bardia to participate in the battle. If these aircraft of the African Corps want to break through the first line of defense, they are still insufficient. So General Rommel hopes to carry out further tactical cooperation with us - to be more precise, with the GR carrier-based aircraft wing of the Zeppelin."

Bismarck opened another document, which was a memorandum of cooperation proposals sent by Rommel. Speaking of which, this matter was the cooperation intention that Lutjans had discussed with him when he went to North Africa together. After looking at their captains, Bismarck and Lutjans knew very well that the relationship between the Mediterranean Fleet and the North African battlefield was essentially a battle to support the army's attack with sea control!

Although so far, the Mediterranean Fleet and the African Corps, as well as the air force units now in Crete and Greece, even the original Tenth Air Force, and of course "the Italians on our side"... the several forces have always been independent of each other, and there is no unified coordination mechanism to integrate the combat effectiveness of the Axis forces on the southern front!

Although from the current situation, Mussolini is very willing to cooperate with Rommel's command and provide logistical supplies to the best of his ability, and the Atlantic Fleet on his side has only the only chance to break out if it fully supports Rommel in conquering Egypt!

Although Bismarck also knew that it was early August, and just four and a half months later, another shocking raid would take away a considerable amount of energy and manpower from Britain and the United States in the far east. But after that, the United States, which had fully exploded its potential, would quickly turn the situation around with Britain, which had taken the initiative to surrender!

The last chance for him and the captain to break out of this deadly zone in the Mediterranean is within these four and a half months!

Bismarck clenched his fists secretly!

Lütjens looked at his secretary ship, which seemed to have suddenly become motivated, and was a little puzzled. However, the meeting had come to this point, and now the only decision was whether to fully support the African Corps.

Although they couldn't predict the future, except for the two ship girls, all the people sitting here were admirals! If Bismarck could see the problem, how could they not see it?

Soon, the resolution of the meeting came out...

"Since everyone has no objection, then it's settled!" Lutjens slammed the table, as if to make the final decision on the fate of the Mediterranean Fleet: "Then we will fully support the African Corps - fight our way out! Break through the siege!"

And all the people in the conference room stood up from their stools!

"clear!!"

Ps: Europeans are here to support Africans~ My new book will be on the shelves tomorrow, and I need support too~ Please give me a monthly ticket~

Chapter 431: The Problem of the Scapegoat

August 8, 11pm.

The deep blue sky has overwhelmed the last sunset glow in the sky, covering the ships in the dark Athens harbor with a natural camouflage. Under the deep blue dusk, the three ships implemented a full blackout. From the outside, it was almost impossible to see the huge figures with lights on. The ropes tied to the mooring posts on the dock were quietly released. Not to mention the sound of the whistle when the ship went out to sea as usual, even the boiler room and the engine room suppressed their output power as much as possible to avoid making more noise. The three warships quietly "drifted" towards the open sea, leaving only the melodious sound of waves hitting the hull.

Although it is not known whether it is possible to hide the information from the spies of the resistance organization who are harboring national hatred and fighting on their own soil and are omnipresent, there is no guarantee that they will not pass the information to the British army.

So is it very likely that this operation will be intercepted by the British Royal Navy?

This is really a headache.

Bismarck leaned on the railing, staring at the stars and thinking about his own thoughts.

Looking at the city of Athens which was gradually disappearing behind him, with almost no lights left, Bismarck couldn't help but wonder how the Greek people felt about him.

Athens had been occupied for four or five months, but it still looked like a pile of ruins. No one had repaired the water supply, electricity supply, and even the buildings that were crumbling in the war - except for the Greek civilians who originally lived here. They were pale and skinny and had to find some materials themselves to reinforce their dilapidated homes.

Just to survive.

The few times he went out to do some errands, he hardly saw any people. Moreover, he could sense that the Greek civilians hiding behind their windows looked at him with fear and hatred.

Bismarck certainly didn't think that these people would be a threat to her, but if she put herself in their shoes, she would feel uncomfortable being stared at with hatred every time she went out, at least that's how it felt in her heart.

After all, she was not like Tirpitz and Zeppelin, one was heartless towards people other than her own, and the other didn't care at all.

Although Bismarck was busy fighting all day, he had also heard some rumors. At present, Greece had been plundered by the Axis occupation military control committee and there were starving people everywhere.

Of course, this is what an invading army would do, and they know it.

Lütjens naturally knew this, and although he didn't like it very much, it was not something he could control, nor was it something Bismarck could control.

All the navy can do is to restrain its own men. But then again, how many German navymen would go ashore? They are not like the Soviet navy...

It's just staying in the port all the time.

As for the army's affairs, they can only watch.

Italy, which nominally occupied the largest area, Germany, which nominally sent the most troops, and small vassal states such as Bulgaria that took advantage of the situation to loot. The so-called Military Control Commission was a hodgepodge of occupying forces from various countries that manipulated the Greek puppet government.

Besides, they are an invading army. Forget about serving XX. Shattering the land is the norm.

Greece's agriculture had been devastated by the war, and other countries were only interested in plundering. Only Mussolini showed some humanity, claiming that he had shipped a small amount of grain from Italy, where most of the country was mountainous and agricultural conditions were poor, to "help the victims."

But soon, this pitiful life-saving food was also looted by the military control committees of the occupying forces of various countries. It is even said that a lot of this food was taken away by people to collude with profiteers and resell it on the black market for huge profits.

This is definitely the rhythm of the locust army of the Empire of Japan, right?

Anyway, there are rumors among the Greek people that the mustache guy is going to completely exterminate the Greek nation.

In this kind of atmosphere, one can imagine how intense the activities of the resistance organizations were. At least Bismarck knew that the German Military Control Commission had now stipulated that at least one squad must travel together when going out, in order to avoid being assassinated by the underground resistance organizations and having their weapons stolen.

The navy basically no longer goes out now, and the sailors' supplies are all delivered by the port troops, so no sailors have died.

Speaking of which, as the main battleship of the Nazi German War Navy and stationed in Greece, it seems that I am playing the role of an invader.

From the day it became a German battleship, Bismarck knew that he would become an invading force and was prepared for it, so it seems a bit inappropriate to be sad now. However, the feeling of being hated is still very depressing.

Bismarck was throwing a ball of paper into the water out of boredom. It was a used recording paper.

"What's wrong? Are you bored?"

Lütjens came out. Since the ship was no longer in his command, he simply came to Bismarck's side.

His secretary was looking at the sea and counting the waves. You could tell that he was bored without even looking at him. After all, they had been together for so long.

"It's okay, just a little depressed."

"Depressed, why?"

Lütjens asked curiously. He sometimes also worked part-time as a psychological counselor and was now very skilled at it. After all, his secretary really looked like a person.