Bismarck

She just didn't say anything and lurked, but no one noticed that she was also on the Internet.

"Oh? What are they going to do?" Cunningham asked immediately.

"Lütjens is about to turn! Their new course is 045 degrees northeast, with a speed of knots, with the Tirpitz (which was relatively on the outside of the original formation) leading the way, and Bismarck trailing behind on the right echelon. Bismarck told Tirpitz that they should focus on dealing with us now..."

While reporting to Cunningham, Warspite did not stop working. He drew out the expected situation of the German fleet with just a few strokes using the most standard naval skills. Warspite had also experienced a long period of battle and knew a lot about these things. He was not necessarily worse than Bismarck.

"Oh? That's good. If they come to focus on dealing with us, then the cruiser will be completely safe." Cunningham, who was always smiling, glanced at the nautical chart and almost laughed out loud.

"They couldn't catch up with the cruiser (that entered the shoal), so they came to deal with us. Then the Germans in Tobruk will have something to do~hahahaha."

"Their two battleships are here to deal with us, and you can still laugh." War-weary looked helplessly at his commander who was not in a proper state, and was so angry that he wanted to smash his ashtray on his nose.

Which is harder, the nose or the ashtray?

Probably a broken nose.

Well, Cunningham would feel bad about the injury to his nose, so he might as well just twist his waist.

War-weary glared and stretched out his hand where the crew couldn't see. Cunningham almost suffocated.

Although it does not have the hundreds of thousands of horsepower of Bismarck, it is still the power of a battleship.

Ignoring the grinning expression, Yan Zhan regretted marrying such an unruly commander. She rolled her eyes at the unreliable guy in her family and asked unhappily, "Tell me, what should we do now!"

"Okay, okay... I'll tell you, I'll tell you..." Cunningham, who was in so much pain that tears were streaming down his face, rubbed the place where his waist was pinched. Then he looked at his wife Jian's unhappy face. As a man who loves his wife very much, Cunningham became shameless and cowardly.

"Okay... I mean, they don't know that you can eavesdrop on their internal communications, right?"

"They probably don't know... Speaking of which, it's a good thing that the Germans exaggerated Lütjens's experience at the Gibraltar Fortress as an electronic warfare expert. The problem is that the three ship girls under his command don't even have the most basic anti-eavesdropping methods..." The Warspite was speechless about this, and was completely unaware of her lurking.

"Really? Haha..." Cunningham continued to look at the chart. After thinking for a while, he raised his head and said, "Then just pretend you don't know."

“?!” War-weary was stunned.

"Anyway, we just need to pull away the German battleships. Besides, even if we continue to sail on the current course, they can only go from being at a disadvantage to fighting on the same side as us - they are all new ships, and their speed is much faster than ours. It is only a matter of time before they can seize a more advantageous position. Then, according to the plan, we can have the destroyers cover our retreat..."

War-weary lowered his head for a moment, but immediately looked up and glared at him fiercely.

They are all new ships...so what this means is that you despise yourself for being an old ship?

"What's wrong with you?" Cunningham asked when he saw that there seemed to be something wrong with War-weary's expression.

"What do you mean by new boat and old boat?" she asked unhappily.

"Ahem, that's right, they are sailing at a faster speed..."

Well, I said the wrong thing again, and Cunningham saw that War-weary's expression was not very happy.

In fact, War-weary sometimes worries that his ship is really old. Even if it has rich combat experience, it is still not enough for a new ship like Bismarck.

Even for ship girls, their projections will not appear to age, but the age of the ship is always increasing. By this calculation, the life span of ship girls is actually shorter than that of humans - provided that they are constantly maintained.

However, how many warships can be preserved for a long time? Probably their final destination would be the shipbreaking yard.

What would Cunningham and she do then?

"I'm really old. I can't even run anymore." Yan Zhan said self-deprecatingly.

"That's not what I meant! Hey, hey, hey, don't say that!"

"Report! The Germans have turned! Northeast 045 degrees, speed 29300 knots, with the Tirpitz (relatively on the outside of the original formation) leading the way, and the Bismarck trailing behind on the right echelon. The current distance is meters, please give instructions!!"

Just as Cunningham was frantically trying to comfort War-weary, the observer's report began to sound. Both the frantic Cunningham and the mixed-up War-weary raised their heads at the same time, looked at each other, and then looked at the wall clock: 7:35 p.m.!

After all, he had been a tough soldier for many years. War-weary looked at Cunningham and said, "Commander, let's get rid of these German sailors first and go back to talk about other things!"

"Okay, I'll listen to you. Let's get rid of the Germans first and then go back and talk about it."

War-weary didn't say anything and nodded as well.

Cunningham smiled, as if the young and promising officer of that year had returned again, and stood up in high spirits.

"I, Andrew Brown Cunningham, Commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet, order the battleship HMS Warspite, as well as the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Warrior to keep moving forward! Keep attacking!!"

"Also, order the destroyer squadron 1, which is covering the cruiser, to move closer to the battleship formation; and the destroyer squadron 2, which is supporting and covering the rear, to move towards the designated sea area No. 2!!"

"The above orders will be executed immediately!!"

Watching her commander giving orders with high spirits, she felt as if she had returned to the days many years ago when she first met him... Wiping her eyes and adjusting her hair, War-weary stood up from Cunningham's seat and saluted neatly:

"YES! MY LORD!!"

Chapter 443: Old Witch...

Twenty kilometers behind Bismarck, a huge ship 262 meters long with a full load displacement of more than tons was slowly turning and heading northwest.

The surging waves burst at her feet.

On the bridge of the Zeppelin, Bonte in the command room was standing in front of the nautical chart and instruments, comparing the situation marked on the nautical chart with the data displayed on the instruments, and directing the warships under his feet to find a safe direction to evacuate the battlefield.

"Order: Steering gear returned to center!... Current course is three hundred and thirty degrees northwest by north, maintain speed at twenty-four knots!" In a corner of the command room, the navigator of the Zeppelin was giving orders to the helmsman on the navigation bridge into the microphone.

For well-trained naval personnel, it is not new to drive a ship just by looking at the instruments. Although, it requires rigorous training to do this...

Soon, the helmsman's loud answer came from the microphone:

"Steering gear back to center, speed 24 knots, heading 330 degrees northwest by north, over!"

Glancing at the instruments on the wall, an officer of Bangtai's rank could certainly tell at a glance that the helmsman's execution was accurate.

Bangtai didn't say anything, but nodded slightly with satisfaction.

He did not allow Zeppelin to join in these manipulations. Zeppelin was not like Bismarck and Tirpitz. The battlefield was above the main body, and she had a wider world to fight.

Although there are ship girls, we cannot rely on them for everything. If that were the case, what would be the point of the navy?

After all, as the commander of carrier-based aircraft, Zeppelin often has to go into battle. What if something happens to the main body of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier while she is in battle?

So it’s no wonder that I was chosen to be the captain of the Zeppelin... After all, for the commander of the destroyer fleet, forced observation and forced retreat are almost instincts that have been trained for more than 20 years.

In fact, Bonte had always had a premonition: maybe because the Mediterranean was too small, or because it was strategically important but remote, or because of some other reason, Bonte had always felt that the Zeppelin, or even the entire Mediterranean Fleet, might face a really tough battle in the near future...

“…Maybe, if that time really comes, the winner will be decided by us navy sailors in addition to the battle power of the ship girl herself!!”

Bangtai couldn't help but take a deep puff of his cigarette while thinking.

Then, the next second, as he put down his cigarette, he felt like someone was looking at him… He turned around and saw Zeppelin staring at him with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" Bangtai asked.

Zeppelin said nothing, but pointed at the wall behind him. There was a sign on the wall: Command Area, No Smoking...

Even in this era, the idea of ​​fire prevention and theft prevention still exists.

Awkward……

Bangtai quickly put out the cigarette butt and changed the subject in an embarrassed manner: "Zeppelin, what's the matter?"

He continued to give a dead fish eye to Bangtai who was becoming more and more unruly. Zeppelin didn't know if it was his illusion, but Bangtai was becoming more and more unruly...

In peacetime, soldiers who came from the central government, perhaps because they were suppressed by the bureaucracy for too long, most of them behaved in a very rigid manner. However, soldiers who were sent out during the war or were sent out were a bit unruly. Unlike the seemingly arrogant soldiers who bullied the weak and feared the strong, real soldiers were either indifferent to life and death, or cynical and witty... Not to mention Bangtai, even the more serious and rigid Lütjens, even Zeppelin himself had seen the commander lying on the sofa like Ge You several times...

But now is not the time to think about these feelings, there are still real things...

"If Commander and his men go and hold back the British battleships now, their cruisers will have no obstacles..." Zeppelin was not a polite person and he spoke his mind right away.

Bangtai is indeed an old partner. As soon as Zeppelin opened his mouth, he knew what Zeppelin wanted to do...

If the cruisers were not an obstacle, they could launch an attack on them. If that damn old woman was not there, the pressure on Zeppelin would be really small.

"You are more knowledgeable than me about this~"

He raised his eyebrows, grinned, and showed off his big teeth...

Zeppelin nodded, "Then I'll go give the order."

"Go!"

-----

"Course turn to due north completed, distance 23000! Our fleet has turned into a single column, with Tirpitz in the lead, 1800 meters apart! Enemy speed and course unchanged! Closing rate 565 meters/second... Artillery fire! Attention!!"

The Bismarck battleship suddenly tilted and used its main armor belt to catch a shell that fell at a large angle!

Amid the harsh sound of steel rubbing against each other, the unfortunate shell grazed the Bismarck's main armor, but because the angle of contact was too large, it was impossible to penetrate the armor. The entire shell flew into the sea not far away and exploded.

However, Bismarck still felt a little pain, but he was not scared at all.

Apart from the fact that the outermost layer of the Bismarck's mine protection zone was opened by the impact of 27 kg of explosives during the explosion in the water, which caused some water to enter and resulted in the contamination of 200 tons of heavy oil in an oil tank, there was no greater loss.

The lightning protection zone is not a key protection point.

But later on I still felt a little worried...

That haircut just now was such a fluke.

Strictly speaking, the trajectory of this shot was slightly off, so as long as the main body was tilted slightly, the shell would have left a mark on the 320 mm main armor and bounced off, which could even be considered a near miss.

But... the problem is not the shell, but the ship that fired it.

"Damn it, why does the war-weary artillery fire seem to be more fierce than before..."

Another round of shells flashed by, and Bismarck, who had already turned, manipulated all eight of his main guns to turn in the direction of War-weariness. While correcting the sight deviation caused by the turn, he loudly reported the battlefield situation amid the deafening roar of the artillery:

"The fleet has completed its turn! The current heading is 045 degrees northeast, the speed is 2000 knots, Tirpitz is in the lead, the interval is 29491 meters, right echelon! The enemy fleet is 1328 degrees in front of our right, the distance is meters, and the distance change rate is meters/minute!"

Lütjens said calmly, staring intently at the tactical map of the east and west lines drawn on the chart table, and continued to ask: "What time is it now?"

"Nine forty, Captain!"

"Any more information on the tactical situation?"

"Yes, Captain! The British cruiser fleet is at our 34000:225 direction, 315 meters away, heading 31250 degrees due southwest, and has entered the shoal area... The destroyer fleet is turning and heading towards their battleship fleet, at our o'clock direction! Heading degrees due northwest, speed knots, distance meters!"

While reporting, we also have to quickly draw these out!

Bismarck felt a little flustered. He had to observe the battlefield situation, plot and report, and confront the Warspite head-on...

"I'm so busy, I'm dying..." She complained while working.

"There's nothing we can do about the cruiser. Don't worry about it... They're planning to have the destroyers and battleships meet up, using the high-speed destroyers to cover the slow old battleships!" Lütjens estimated Cunningham's tactical intentions, and after a moment's hesitation, he quickly issued a tactical order: "Release smoke and electronic jamming, and we'll keep moving forward! Turn due north in five minutes, and try to quickly defeat their battleships at medium range."

"Yes!" Bismarck responded with gritted teeth, and at the same time as her voice rang out, the roar of the main gun of the Bismarck battleship.

War-weariness...is indeed difficult to deal with!

As expected of an experienced elder, Warspite's artillery accuracy is indeed impeccable. Warspite's mobility is definitely not as good as his own at close range, but now there is still such a long distance, and his own mobility cannot be fully utilized under Warspite's prediction, which is also a disadvantage.

It had only been seven minutes, five rounds of shelling, and he had been hit by two shells. Although the location that was attacked did not suffer much damage: one of the shells was the first shell that penetrated the anchor chain at the bow, and the other shell that came down at a large angle was the one just now!

Fortunately, the accuracy of the other two sister ships of the Warspite was only satisfactory. After all, they were old battleships, and the mechanical computer fire control system of this era was limited by many factors such as parts wear, installation errors, and manufacturing accuracy, so the potential for modification was limited. Although the two Queen-class ships had been following behind the Warspite, transmitting firing information according to the Warspite's firing clock or other devices, and were also desperately pouring out fire at a rate of one round per minute, if an amateur came, he would basically be scared to the ground on the deck by the terrifying momentum of the joint shelling of the two battleships.

But… for the Persian cat who can already mock himself as a veteran and talkative cat…

Not to mention that it was a night battle, and that both he and Tizi had turned on the electronic jammers, and at the same time filled the air with smoke... Moreover, the huge shooting dispersion more than 20,000 meters away, coupled with the inevitable errors in the sailors' manipulation, made it almost easy for him to dodge these seemingly fierce but inaccurate artillery fire.

only…

"Damn it! It hurts! Damn Queen Elizabeth! Take my shot!!!"

On the WIFI, a hamster that was accidentally injured was screaming with gritted teeth.

The Persian cat, who was concerned about his sister, quickly used his mental power to scan his hamster - well, it was okay, the upper deck was hit by a bullet, but the damage was not serious. Only one 150 turret was stuck in the gap between the turret and the gun mount by shrapnel, but except for a little water from time to time due to the high-speed waves, there was no bigger problem.

But hamsters are afraid of pain, so after this, their fur would probably stand on end.

Bismarck could even think maliciously that a hamster who wanted to turn the gun barrel to shoot the Queen Elizabeth would be slapped by Lindemann first to obey the shooting discipline, and then fed and played with to comfort her...

I just don't know if there are any silly and cute grapes raised high or something...

"boom!!"

I ate another one.

Bismarck couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Damage control team reporting! The rear bridge was hit, and two 37mm anti-aircraft guns were destroyed. The fire is now under control!"

"Got it." Lütjens calmly dismissed the person who reported it, and then gently pulled the slightly dazed Bismarck aside and said, "How is it, can you withstand those war-weary people?"

"Um... Fortunately, these are just minor injuries. I can still handle it!"

Fortunately, the three old battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet should all be equipped with the old CRH4's stockpile of ammunition, and the trajectory is obviously somewhat curved - at this distance, the probability of hitting the deck is much greater than hitting the waterline!

You know, under the detonation and uncapping effect of the 50mm top deck additional armor, the prematurely exploded British penetrating shells have a very low killing effect on the (improved) 160 dome armor pressed at the waterline position...