Bismarck

Hearing his sister's shouting and the report, Tirpitz suddenly woke up!

What the hell, why is it so troublesome?

Didn't you say that I would just fire the artillery?

Forget it, tell Lindemann and let him make the decision... Of course, this is not Tirpitz being lazy, but the best way to make someone take the blame.

"Lindemann! Sister has found the enemy."

"A bunch of torpedo boats came out from Alexander's side, twenty-four, forty knots, in formation, heading towards us."

Compared to Bismarck's anxiety, Tirpitz's report was quite calm, but Lindemann suddenly exploded.

"What? What did you say?"

"Damn it! Twenty-four torpedo boats?! Forty knots?!"

Lindemann didn't react for a while. When he realized that there were 24 torpedo boats, he was so angry that he cursed!

You know! The width here is less than 15 kilometers, and you also have to pay attention to the water depth!

More importantly, this is a dead end!

The forty-eight torpedoes from the twenty-four torpedo boats could be adjusted to a slow speed of thirty-five knots at the maximum range of 13700 meters, and could easily kill the big hamster in this narrow harbor with no room to avoid!

There is no way to avoid it!

Moreover, the army brothers on the shore, the artillery support cannot be interrupted at all! Otherwise, all the previous efforts will be wasted. The most important thing is that the 4,000 German and Italian Axis troops and less than ten tanks near Alamein on the shore are the last attack force of the African Corps in this area, and they can absolutely not afford any losses!

"hateful!"

Furious, Lindemann slammed his fist on the chart table.

"Level 1 combat alert! Everyone, get to your combat positions! We are on our own now! Get moving!"

The battleship Tirpitz was soon fully operational. With a powerful enemy at hand, even the lazy and trouble-averse Grape began to prepare for the arrival of "trouble" with a depressed and irritable look...

The shrill alarm sounded throughout all the Axis warships...

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The three old battleships, Warspite, Queen Elizabeth, and Warrior, and four destroyers were located on the shoal area in front of Alexandria Harbor, the innermost part of the British fleet. They were on the left wing of the entire formation, which was also the innermost and shortest route of the entire British fleet's encirclement route, and obviously avoided the fatal weakness of slow maximum speed!

In the middle of the British fleet, the four cruisers Kent, London, Penelope and Aurora, as well as six destroyers, were rushing towards the direction of the "advance" of the Zeppelin's planned return north at a speed of 32.5 knots!

As for the outermost layer of the British fleet, which was also the right wing, there were three fast minelayers of the God Servant class that rushed to the outer edge of the German fleet's planned return direction. They had a speed of up to 40 knots and weak firepower, but they were fully loaded with 450 mines that could be thrown as they went. Even though Zeppelin had been rumored to be an evil aircraft carrier within the British Royal Navy, the maximum speed of Zeppelin was not necessarily much faster than these three God Servant class ships! With the speed of the God Servant class, even if Zeppelin abandoned the Italian fleet and escaped alone, it would never be possible to evacuate the battlefield before the God Servant class sealed the German fleet's retreat with mines!

"Bismarck! You wait! Revenge for the Hood, today!"

The battleship HMS Warspite was the first to charge at the front of the British fleet! On the bridge of the HMS Warspite, Warspite was staring at the direction of Bismarck with gritted teeth, his teeth grinding loudly...

-

Looking at the suffocating encirclement that was coming like a tsunami, an atmosphere of despair instantly filled the command tower of the Bismarck battleship...

"Commander, in this situation...should we retreat?" Some staff members have already suggested that they retreat before the British fleet's encirclement closes. And many of the officers around them also have mixed expressions of fear and hope...

But Bismarck really didn't want to do that!

You know, Tirpitz, her sister, is still behind, in the Gulf of Alamein! And she has a full 24 torpedo boats on her side!

If he and Zeppelin retreated, Tirpitz, who was isolated and helpless, would surely die!

Looking at his captain anxiously, Bismarck hoped very much not to hear the word "retreat".

In Bismarck's heart, there has never been a time when he was looking forward to seeing a resolute, even stubborn Lütjens more than now...

But in Lütjens' heart... the pressure is actually even greater.

The Tirpitz battleship and Lindemann, if they were abandoned... what a joke! There is no reason to abandon your men and escape alone! Moreover, if the Mediterranean Fleet retreated...

What about the African Legion?

Thinking of the dirty tricks of an old boss whom I used to respect and admire, but now I only despise...

"Captain, what should we do now? Should we retreat now? Is it still in time?" Some of the staff officers below still said this. Bismarck stared at this guy fiercely, thinking in his heart how to deal with this guy who dared to ask the captain to abandon grapes and move in alone!

but…

In fact, what Bismarck was most concerned about was how Lütjens would express his opinion.

Finally, the captain raised his head...

"No! We can't retreat!" At the center of everyone's attention with various purposes, Lütjens' face was solemn, but there was only determination and persistence in his eyes!

He glanced around and waved his hand, interrupting the officers around him who wanted to speak.

Looking at his followers, Lütjens said in a deep voice: "The Suez Canal is the only way out of the Mediterranean theater, but Raeder is blocking our supply. If we drag it out and cut off the supply, we will have no hope at all!"

At this point, Lütjens turned his head slightly and looked at Bismarck, who was standing beside him with a look of understanding and comfort. But he continued to say to the people around him: "Do you remember what happened to our once powerful high seas fleet after the Battle of the Skagerrak?!"

Speaking of what the Captain mentioned...

The Battle of Skagerrak (Jutland) will definitely be an eternal pain in the hearts of all German naval soldiers who still have conscience and fighting will!

Due to various reasons and causes, such as "the enemy is too strong", "there is no hope in being blockaded", and "it is in the interests of the fleet to protect the ships and avoid fighting", the German High Seas Fleet, which was once the second largest in the world, did nothing after the naval battle, and even organized anti-war activities due to low morale. By the end of 1918, when the country needed them to go to sea again, the sailors, whose willpower had been completely worn down by years of numb port life, collectively chose to mutiny, which directly led to the collapse of the Second Empire.

Ironically, the interests of the German Junker warlord group were not harmed at all. After driving away the emperor as a scapegoat, in the sorrow and anger of the country's destruction, they successfully climbed to the throne of supreme power in Germany by selling out national interests in exchange for international support as a "government of a free and peaceful country recognized and accepted by all countries in the world"...

The once powerful high seas fleet “chose” to end the war without firing a single shot… Later, the fleet, which had no role or value on the battlefield, was easily dragged to Scapa Flow by the British like a prisoner, waiting in humiliation for the division of the great powers. In the end, it was only because some diplomatic twists and turns in the final negotiations of World War I were over-interpreted by the remaining sailors that the desperate sailors opened the sea valves and sank the warships… Ironically, the last bit of face of the Second Empire Navy was finally saved by the overreaction caused by misunderstandings about the negotiation twists and turns…

Another round of artillery fire poured down. Bismarck stopped thinking and began to deal with this round of bullet rain with all his strength. The meteor-like shells grazed the hull, turrets and bridge of the Bismarck battleship, smashed into the water around the battleship, and exploded into tall water columns one after another. But although the battleship that turned to evade was tilted irregularly, and the shock wave of the explosion also shook the battleship, the captain over there did not seem to stop, and even the speed of speaking and the clarity of his words were not affected at all, and he continued to lecture the left and right. The only change... probably due to excitement, the captain's voice became louder and louder, but also more and more firm:

"So, if we don't dare to fight the British to the death while we still have the fighting power, then we won't even have the last chance to fight for hope! Retreat means failure, and victory can only come from moving forward! Not to mention, it's not time to despair yet!"

"Does everyone understand?!"

"Understood!".

"Louder! Show the German Navy's spirit and willpower!"

The captain seemed unsatisfied, and even put his hand to his ear. This time, the whole headquarters shouted in unison, an octave higher than the previous one.

"Understood!"

"That's good to understand! Everyone, get ready, we have to keep fighting!" The captain stood by the steering gear, raised his telescope and looked straight at the enemy from the porthole: "Order: Request the friendly fleet of General Dazzara to use anti-navigation torpedoes to obstruct the British cruiser fleet and cover the Zeppelin to break out of the encirclement! At the same time, order Haye, who is in charge of a temporary Italian fleet, to turn the two destroyers over there to the north and use anti-navigation torpedoes to drive Warspite away!"

"Also, order Bonte to make sure the Zeppelin breaks out of the encirclement! Then freely choose the target to attack! Bismarck, tell Bonte not to worry about us! Let the Zeppelin attack freely! An aircraft carrier can only achieve the greatest combat efficiency when it is completely free to maneuver!"

While issuing orders, he stared deeply at Bismarck...

It seems that among the next missions, Bismarck will soon undertake the most stressful task.

Bismarck thought so in his heart, but his expression did not change at all...

"Finally, it's the battleship Bismarck!" After staring at Bismarck for a while, Lütjens looked around fiercely. Even without saying anything, the subordinates, including Bismarck, understood the captain's eyes...

As the fleet commander and flagship, you should stand up at this moment!

"…Now, only we can hold back Warspite! Only we can protect Tirpitz and Zeppelin! As the commander of the German Mediterranean Fleet and captain of the Bismarck battleship, I order: Bismarck battleship, course 050 degrees, speed knots! Aim the main gun at Warspite, and the starboard secondary guns at the British torpedo boats! In addition, the two Italian light cruisers under the command of Heyer will follow our ship! Keep the formation in a single column! - Action!"

"Yes!!"

(PS: Historically, even when being chased around by the "29-knot Nelson" in Narvik, Lütjens did take away the reputation that posed the greatest threat to the destroyer fleets for four hours. Therefore, the German destroyers had time to transfer the landing troops and prepare for battle. In the end, the German destroyer fleet led by Bonte and Erich Bey fought a - battle in the fjord with the British destroyer fleet led by Warburton Lee of the British Navy, which directly broke into the fjord without the cover of large ships. Although Bonte and Lee were both killed in this battle in history, the last remaining German destroyers could not be transferred because they did not have enough fuel to return, and were completely wiped out by the destroyer fleet led by Warspite three days later...)

Chapter 451: Mistake

"That's what we'll do! Zeppelin, you try to break through, and then maneuver on the periphery. The captain asked me to send a message to Bonte, saying that the aircraft carrier can only achieve the greatest combat efficiency when it is free to maneuver... As for Grapes, you can fire the main gun at Lindemann later, but remember to operate the secondary guns and dodge the torpedoes! And remember to bombard the Borg el-Arab airport at five o'clock! Without air superiority, the African Corps will be in danger!"

In the WIFI space, Bismarck was issuing a battle plan to the hamster and Zeppelin.

The situation was serious. Not only was Zeppelin very serious, but even the hamster pricked up his ears.

However, no one noticed that in the WIFI space, there was a pair of pointed ears sticking out from the gaps, secretly eavesdropping in the British way...

Soon, behind the bridge of the Warspite, light signals began to flash continuously, and radio communications also began to increase suddenly...

But at this moment, the German fleet led by Bismarck did not know...

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"Where are the nearest British torpedo boats?" asked Lütjens.

"The closest ones... are due east, right in front of us at one o'clock and one thirty, two groups of eight lines, 16.5 kilometers away! The rate of change is 1853 meters per minute (60 knots)!" Bismarck sensed the position of the British torpedo boats and marked them on the nautical chart. "In addition, between us and the British torpedo boats is the British minefield. It is about eight kilometers wide, with three groups of mine lines, two rows in each group, and about one mine every to meters. The depth is five to seven meters underwater..."

"Three groups? These are temporary mines laid by the servants of God!" Lütjens snorted.

"Captain, the minefield is still five kilometers away from us. I wonder if we can get a little closer." Bismarck said with a little hesitation.

Her idea was to get closer and destroy more mines for Tirpitz, or attack more torpedo boats.

Of course, this is inconsistent with the combat rules. Generally, other warships are used to block danger for the flagship, and the flagship is used to avoid risks for the others, but this is rarely done.

Lütjens immediately knew what Bismarck was thinking, but he had nothing else to say. Bismarck was the elder sister, so it was understandable that she did these things for her sister, and getting closer would not increase the already high risk factor.

In short, don’t worry about having too much debt.

It doesn’t matter. We won’t be able to escape if we move one or two kilometers closer.

"Well, that's it!" Lütjens said nothing, but just nodded to show that he agreed with Bismarck's proposal.

"But please pay attention to your own safety." Despite this, Lütjens still reminded.

Bismarck nodded immediately.

"Hurry up and get into position, the battlefield is still bad! There is a large area of ​​shallows twelve miles ahead of us, there is a mineline on the left, and there are three battleships and four destroyers on the right. How much you can do depends on you... By the way, tell the two Italian cruisers to focus on torpedo boats and be ready to turn the formation on the spot at any time. Wait for me to give the specific direction of turning!"

"I understand!" Bismarck immediately conveyed Lütjens' order to the Italian ship.

At the same time, the huge Bismarck battleship turned slightly and moved closer to the British torpedo boats on the opposite side of the minefield. The 150mm twin secondary guns on her starboard deck were already loaded and ready to fire.

Although this 150mm water pipe is small, it should feel pretty good when used against the more delicate body of the torpedo boat.

The four Italian warships behind Bismarck also followed Lütjens' previous plan. The two Italian cruisers, the Prinz Aosta and the Prinz Eugen, followed Bismarck's path closely and turned their 152mm main guns towards the torpedo boats. The two destroyers further behind, the Blackshirt and the Aviator, kept sailing in a straight line, preparing to launch a torpedo attack on the Warspite...

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On the other side...

The deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier was already busy...

The huge aircraft carrier had begun to turn at high speed, and the tilted deck made it difficult to walk steadily. However, even on the flight deck that was tilted due to the turn, the ground crew still checked it nervously.

After all, the current battlefield environment is too harsh...there is really no time.

Especially in terms of air power, even including the carrier-based aircraft of both sides, the Allies have an absolute numerical advantage of 780 aircraft. Not only is the number more than double the 376 aircraft of the German side, but even the combat distance is absolutely close!

The combat distance of air power is inversely proportional to the cube of combat efficiency! The nearest Allied airports, Borg El-Borg El-Arab, and Alexandria Airport, are only 40 and 70 kilometers away from the Alamein battlefield respectively! For a fighter jet that can reach a speed of more than 300 kilometers even at cruising speed, this distance is just a stroll around your own doorstep!

The nearest German airport was 200 kilometers away, in Matruh, which had just been captured a week ago! Due to the constraints of transportation capacity and gasoline, it was difficult to move the airport closer.

Now... the only "airport" that the Germans could approach to fight at a closer distance was the "aircraft carrier" Zeppelin...

All bets were on Zeppelin.

"...The British airport is definitely preparing to take off! Therefore, we must try to suppress the British airport as much as possible in the first place!"

Using aircraft carriers to suppress the British land-based airports seems like a crazy move, but there is no other way.

In the combat mission room, Zeppelin was explaining the mission to his subordinates. Although he glanced at these young but experienced pilots, even Zeppelin felt uncomfortable...

I don’t know how many people will be able to come back after this battle.

Zeppelin would think this before every attack, but he had to give the order to attack.

Although it was obvious that some of the mischievous and careless guys were still hiding at the back, they were whispering to each other, "Well, I'm going to risk my life too!" or something like that...

I don’t want to think about it anymore. I still have to assign tasks... I put the idea aside for the time being and continued to assign tasks verbally:

"...Borg el-Arab Airport is too close to the coastline and within the range of Tirpitz's main guns, so our main task is to forcibly assault Alexandria Airport despite the firepower of Alexandria Fortress!... I have already contacted the Air Force. After our assault, the Air Force's BF110 fighters will come over for the second wave of suppression. So this time, all of our fighters will be deployed! The BF-109 will control the high altitude, and the FW190 will dive and drop bombs, and then immediately switch to air combat!"

"The Zeppelin aircraft carrier must evade to the northwest. The distance when returning will be much farther than it is now! Everyone should pay attention to the fuel level. The air combat time should be controlled within fifteen minutes as much as possible, and must not exceed twenty minutes!"

"The enemy must be ready! They have absolute air superiority and the cover of the Alexandria base! Our assault will definitely be a tough battle! But only by suppressing the Alexandria Airport can we have a slight chance! - Don't forget, except for Borg el-Arab Airport and Alexandria Airport, the other British airports are all 130 kilometers away! Rashid Airport 130 kilometers away, Birma Airport in Tanta area 160 kilometers away, Benha Airport nearly 200 kilometers away, and Kafr Al Amshuti Airport in Mansoura area 200 kilometers away, and the airport in the western suburbs of Cairo. The other airports are all 200 kilometers away!"

"And what about us? Although the Matruh Airport is 250 kilometers away, we have another airport in Debba, which is only 100 kilometers away! Plus our own Zeppelin! So as long as we can suppress their Borg el-Arab aircraft and Alexandria Airport, which are closest to the battlefield, we may be able to fight them by relying on distance and combat efficiency! Now the Borg el-Arab Airport is suppressed by the battleship Tirpitz, so we must suppress the Alexandria Airport from the beginning! - Do you understand?!"

"Got it!!" In response to Zeppelin, the pilots roared in unison.

"Well, that's good! The whereabouts of the British aircraft carrier are unknown, and the British air raid after daybreak will be a great threat to our fleet. So I will stay on the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, and Bar will be in charge of leading the battle!"

"Now! For the Greater German Empire! Attack!" Zeppelin's voice suddenly rose octaves, and the cold but firm voice echoed in the mission room.

"Yes! Guaranteed to complete the mission!!"