Bismarck

Dawn has arrived and daybreak is approaching. Above the increasingly conspicuous patch of white in the east hangs the Morning Star, heralding the approaching dawn!

But this is definitely not good news!

When dawn comes, air strikes will surely come from the sky!

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On the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Zeppelin, Zeppelin in white was walking out of the standby room on the bridge with the pilots and walked to the front of the fleet, next to his own Edelweiss BF-109T2 fighter.

The fighter plane painted jade white with the Iron Cross emblem had only six or seven kill marks. Unlike other ace aircraft, it was not printed with dense kill marks representing achievements and glory. There was only a large wreath on the vertical tail, surrounding the number: 100!

One hundred and seven!

However, Zeppelin did not seem to want to board the plane. He just stroked his plane, stood for a while, and shouted to the ground crew: "Come here! Push my plane aside now! The others take off first. Before I join the battle, Grislavsky will be in charge!"

"Eh?" The people around were a little confused.

"Hey what? Follow the order! Also, put a 500 kg armor-piercing bomb on my fighter! Now!" Seeing that his men were all in a daze at this time, Zeppelin shouted angrily.

"Okay...yes!"

The ground crew hurriedly pushed Zeppelin's plane to the empty space in front of the bridge, and then looked at the deck of her main body and began to release the air control team led by Grislawski and composed of Marseille, Graf, Ehler and Wisenberg.

Zeppelin's thoughts have returned to Danzig a year ago...

Bismarck was fighting hard to protect Tirpitz and himself, as well as the African Corps behind him...

"Bismarck, hold on a little longer, I'll come over and help you blow one up!"

Qi Bolin's gaze suddenly became sharp!

The dawn in the east has illuminated nearly half of the sky. It will soon be bright...

Chapter 455: The Final Battle of Alamein

The Gulf of Alamein…

"Tizi, what's the situation with the British torpedo boats? The torpedo boats are too small, and our observers and radars can barely see them!"

Lindemann had already stood on the steering gear and was personally manipulating the huge and bulky Hamster battleship minesweeper to turn.

"There is a shallow beach 7.5 kilometers to the left, and 5 kilometers to the right... Lindemann! The torpedoes fired by their last team are still ten kilometers away from us! We have destroyed one of the three teams of torpedo boats following behind, and there are still two teams following!"

"Ten kilometers? Hey, Grapes, they seem to have underestimated you. Even if they use anti-navigation mines to restrict our movement, it will take ten minutes at this range, which is enough for us to turn around twice!" Lindemann patted the hamster's head with a sly grin, and said as he patted, "Grapes, they still have three teams of torpedo boats rushing - just now your sister dealt with eight torpedo boats in five minutes, don't tell me you can't deal with twelve torpedo boats in ten minutes?"

"I know, I know! Lindemann is annoying!" Tizi, grimacing in anger, waved his little arms, slapped Lindemann's dirty hands away and shouted angrily: "It's just twelve torpedo boats, I can hit them even if I face them head-on!"

"Just watch!"

Before he finished speaking, the secondary guns fired. A VT-fuzed 105mm high-explosive shell instantly blasted a torpedo boat full of holes, which sank to the bottom of the sea with bubbles and became food for the fish. At the same time, the observer of the army's artillery coordination shouted, "Hit it! Another British stronghold is under fire!"

"Yes, yes, our Grape is the best." Rubbing the swollen back of his hand and looking at the hamster with its fur standing on end, Lindeman, who had been slapped, could only smile bitterly.

The temper of a useless child...it turns out that it can only be fully exerted after being stimulated.

But why did I suddenly think of the word pseudo-LADY?

Looking at the plotter, while chatting and laughing, it seems that another torpedo boat has met with misfortune...

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Although the sky was already turning pale, the sea was still shrouded in haze.

But at five o'clock in the morning, at an altitude of six thousand meters, the dawn had already appeared above the horizon!

In the haze beneath our feet, we could occasionally see balls of fire that suddenly appeared and then flashed away - that was the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet, the battleship Bismarck, which was fighting hard with three British battleships!

And now, in the sky, Bal, who was leading a fleet of planes to attack the British airport, was also caught in a tough battle!

At this time, a group of planes had already taken off from Borg el-Arab Airport and Alexandria Airport to intercept him!

Twenty-four Spitfire V fighters!

Although compared to the Spitfire V, our BF-109T2 and FW-190T, no matter which aircraft, theoretically have certain advantages at high altitudes, but... a considerable number of FW-190Ts are carrying bombs and are destined to attack airports!

and……

Bal took a moment to check the pilot's watch during the fierce air battle. It was already five o'clock, and it would be dawn on the sea before half past five at the latest, which meant...

Their bombers! They are now on the runway and ready!!

Maybe it’s ready to take off!!

As a veteran flight commander, Barr knew very well that it was much easier to destroy enemy planes at the airport than to shoot them down in an air battle!

Alexandria Airport is still 190 kilometers away from here, and the current altitude is . If the FW is good at diving and accelerating...

"Let's fight! For victory, the worst that can happen is that I have to risk my life!" Bal made the decision secretly!

"Captain! There are enemy planes behind you!"

The wingman called over the radio, and Barr instinctively pulled the joystick, and the black Warhawk dodged the Hispano machine gun with a red tracer! After estimating the distance and speed of the approaching Spitfire from the rearview mirror (installed by Zeppelin), Barr used a skilled dive and roll to bring the Spitfire into the tactical rhythm unique to the FW-190 fighter!

Dive to induce the enemy plane to accelerate - Rolling scissors to throw the enemy plane forward - 20mm machine gun quadruple heavy firepower strafing! !

dead!

Without even bothering to watch the Spitfire turn into a ball of flames in the sky under the strafing of the four MG-151 cannons (which Zeppelin had requested), Barr looked back at his rear and the situation on the battlefield—Novotny's BF-109T fighters firmly grasped the altitude advantage at high altitude, while Rudolf's other team of sixteen FW190s carrying bombs had already rushed through the two interception lines of the Spitfires with a slightly better speed, and were beginning to lower their noses and start to dive and accelerate at a small angle—target: Alexandria Airport!!

Behind Rudolf, several Spitfires were running at full speed, trying to hunt down these FW190 fighters that posed the greatest threat to the airport!

"Brothers! Cover Rudolf! Follow me!!" The FW190 fighter plane with the number painted in bright red went full throttle, and led the other fighter planes to reinforce Rudolf. As for the Spitfires, except for some fighter planes that were desperately entangled with Novotny, the other British fighter planes followed and chased after him!

Behind Bal, in the northeast corner of the battlefield, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier was launching the second wave of anti-aircraft aircraft, and the British cruiser fleet and minesweeper fleet were chasing and retreating, heading northwest and west, against the wind!

At the same time, outside the outermost edges of the battlefield on the east and west sides, groups of fighter planes taking off from the airports on both sides have also appeared in the dim morning light in the sky!

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Although Mount Alanhafa is just a small steep mountain, the sound of shelling and explosions on the other side of the mountain is like an earthquake and seems to never stop...

Moreover, there seemed to be several earth-shattering explosions...? It was as if something had exploded collectively...?

"Commander, the British artillery position in the north seems to have been destroyed! And the 90th Light Division reported that the Indian th Division seems to have wavered! They are preparing to pursue with two divisions of their Italian allies!"

A communications soldier rolled into a bomb crater and reported to Rommel, who was squatting at the bottom of the crater, shining a flashlight covered with a red cloth on a map.

"Have you wavered yet?" He looked at his watch. It was five o'clock. Rommel looked up at the sky. Even the gunfire and smoke could not block out the starry sky. Although the dawn in the east had become more conspicuous...

It seems that today is another "good" weather that is conducive to plane bombing us!

But the intelligence we just received is that the British reinforcements deployed in Cairo and the heart of the Nile Delta have now begun to move towards this side!

Even if the Air Force is required to use BF-110 long-range fighters as much as possible to defend the bombers from bombing and obstruction, it is estimated that it will only take a few hours...

The British on the front side are still holding themselves up here!!

Rommel spat and asked the operations staff beside him, "Are you ready to pursue? Very good! That's it! We need them to strike while the iron is hot and cooperate with the Tirpitz to drive the Indians away and force them to abandon their positions and retreat. Then, we need to keep chasing them all the way. Don't stop! - By the way, how is the 15th Armored Division doing?"

"They have already repelled the Australians, and are now moving towards us with the 21st Armored Division..." The operations staff officer was halfway through his speech when he heard someone outside shouting, "Commander, Commander! The Chief of Staff is here with the brothers of the 15th and 21st Armored Divisions!"

"Are they coming?" Rommel jumped out of the bomb crater and saw two troops, riddled with bullets and covered in smoke, coming out from the darkness in the south of the position!

Sitting on the seat of a sidecar motorcycle walking in the front was the chief of staff who had just returned from a bloody battle!

1350 soldiers of the 50th Armored Division! anti-tank guns! field guns! Panzer III tanks with long-barreled mm guns! !

1200 soldiers of the st Armored Division! Five anti-tank guns! Twenty-one field guns! Thirty-three modified Panzer IV tanks!

Especially these tanks... Rommel couldn't help but walk out of the trench, walked to the front of the tank, stretched out his hand, and stroked the scarred, bloodstained, and rough armor plate on the tank...

Don’t be fooled by the scars and the bloodstains. You should know that whether it is the Type 3 or the modified Type 4, it can destroy the tanks equipped by the Allies like a dead tree or rotten wood! Moreover, there are still 63 of them in total! !

Behind them were 900 Italian Blackshirts from the Areate Armored Division who had also finished resting on the makeshift defense line! Nine anti-tank guns! Eleven field guns! Ten Carlo Amato light tanks!

And the thirty heavy artillery pieces of the Grati Heavy Artillery Regiment, which were already near the front line and were reorganizing the last remnants of the Littorio Armored Division!

and also…

There are more than 200 remaining people and 17 armored engineering vehicles from the African Corps Engineer Corps!

The African Corps Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment currently has twelve 88mm anti-aircraft guns, as well as thirteen 37mm and 20mm anti-aircraft guns on this battlefield!

The only vehicles that the German and Italian logistical forces could now concentrate here were 340 to 50, fully loaded with fuel and ammunition, equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns, and covered with camouflage nets!

Nearly 4,000 German and Italian soldiers! 17 armored engineering vehicles! 73 tanks! 32 anti-tank guns! 56 field guns! 30 heavy artillery! 340 vehicles and the supplies they carry! !

That's it! All the power Rommel has at his disposal now!

This is only equivalent to the strength of a regiment, but it is his last chance!

Rommel knew very well that Auchinleck had four divisions of troops in the rear! I'm afraid they have already been dispatched now?

Even if the Air Force has been asked to do its best to bomb the British roads in the rear, there is no guarantee of how long the delay will last! As long as Auchinleck concentrates all his main forces, he can easily stay in El Alamein!

There was no need to delay, and there was no need to escape! A hundred thousand troops fighting against a regiment, plus an absolutely superior air force. In this situation, there was really no way to escape!

So... let's turn the world upside down!!

Anyway, I already have a rough idea in mind!

"Brothers! I am the Afrika Korps, commander, Erwin Rommel!..."

Rommel grabbed a loudspeaker, climbed onto a tank, and began to give a speech to the soldiers who were gradually gathering.

The soldiers who were gathering, with their military instincts, even if they were extremely tired, even if their battle robes were stained with blood, after hearing these words, they instinctively stood up straight!

The swish sound of leather shoes as thousands of people stood at attention at the same time, amidst the morning star in the eastern sky and the flashes of artillery fire that appeared from time to time on the battlefield, this sound actually drowned out the rumbling of the artillery fire!

"I know everyone is working very hard! Moreover, the strength of our enemy is far beyond our imagination!" Under the starry sky, in the smoke stirred up by the cold wind of the desert night, the soldiers could not hear Rommel's voice clearly, but this did not prevent them from understanding their corps commander's thoughts: "...The enemy is very strong, but! It is precisely because the enemy is very strong that we cannot defend and retreat!!"

In the distance of the northern ocean, flashes of artillery fire could still be seen from time to time, and on the defense line not far to the east, rumbling noises could be heard continuously! But in this solemn gathering place filled with murderous aura, everyone was listening to the sound coming from the loudspeaker. Although it was not clear, all real soldiers could understand it with their hearts!

"…The enemy is very strong. There are two armored divisions and two motorized infantry divisions in front of us! And now, they have about three mechanized infantry divisions and one armored division, and they are reinforcing us!…All of us here now probably only add up to 4,000 people; and how many people do they have? They have 100,000 people!!…We can't withstand their defense, and the only result of our retreat is that we will be killed by them like hunting in the pursuit!"

"But! Although the remaining four divisions of British reinforcements are indeed on their way here, they have not yet reached the battlefield! We have gathered all our strength and still have one last chance under the cover of the naval warships! - We are all soldiers! We are all heroes! Tell me! Should we choose this last chance to charge heroically, or be chased and killed by them from behind?!"

Rommel shouted on the tank, almost roaring.

"charge!"

"charge!!"

"charge!!!"

The shouts of the soldiers even overwhelmed the roar of the heavy artillery on the battlefield! Even the Italian soldiers followed suit and shouted slogans!

"Very good! We are all heroes! We would rather die in battle than live in disgrace!" Hearing the soldiers' roars, Rommel's bloodshot eyes could not help but flash a red light with an iron will: "Since everyone has already awakened, then now, I give the order! Distribute the supplies to me! Tanks lead the way! Everyone else, get in the cars! I will contact the navy and the air force, and when daybreak comes, it will be our last fight! Long live the Great German Empire!"

"Long live the Great German Reich!"

ps: Happy Valentine's Day

Chapter 456: Reversal

"Bismarck!"

"War-weary!"

boom!

Under the starry sky, meteors are flying!

The dull sound of artillery fire from both sides from time to time pushed this originally peaceful sea area into a sea of ​​smoke.

Just like in ancient times, two swordsmen drew their swords against each other. The nearly one-ton artillery shell was their swords. Bismarck and Warspite said nothing except shouting each other's names with anger and hatred occasionally amid the roar of the artillery fire!

They are mortal enemies who will never stop fighting. There is no point in saying anything!

Even with Hood, they only had time to say a few words in the intervals between battles. In real battles, it was a life-and-death battle, not to mention with the old woman War-weary.

The two battleships, 20 kilometers apart, had almost the same idea! They aimed at each other almost at the same time! They fired at each other almost at the same time! They made evasive maneuvers almost at the same time! And almost at the same time, in the shower of tracer meteors falling from the sky, the fireballs burst into black smoke, adding another chapter of bloody battle to the scarred steel bodies!

"Report! The bow was hit! Anton's main gun turret is stuck and cannot be used! But..." Bismarck gasped in pain, but at the same time he proudly reported the results of the bombardment:

"Warspite's rear bridge was hit and an anti-aircraft gun was lost."

Although replacing a main gun with an anti-aircraft gun does not seem to be something to be honored.

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Of course, the Bismarck caused more than just this much damage to Warspite. In the face of Bismarck's counterattack and flagship killer, Warspite's injuries were no less severe than hers, and she was also hit to the point of breaking bones! Warspite, who was on the bridge, was also grimacing in pain beside his captain.

Bismarck still remembered the combat orders given by the captain!