Bismarck

The merchant fleet that was evacuating towards Bear Island was only thirty nautical miles away! If we only counted the German crew on the heavy cruiser, it would be at most an hour and a half away in a straight line!

The Germans must have other fleets nearby! -- The intelligence said the Germans had two Scharnhorst-class battlecruisers, but I haven't seen any yet!

The experience of the veteran commander on the battlefield told him that he could no longer allow these damn German sailors to continue to run rampant!

He only had the Renown. If he could not get rid of this German ship and its crew immediately, when other German units rushed over from other directions in the dark Arctic Ocean and completed the tactical encirclement of him from all sides - no matter they attacked the transport ships separately or besieged him, the Renown would definitely not be able to withstand it alone!

The only way to break this situation is to take the initiative!

If we are lucky, we can defeat them one by one! Even if we are facing German ships and crews, even if our battlecruisers cannot defeat the heavy cruisers one by one, we can take advantage of the opportunity that the escort team has not yet been exposed and actively expose the Renown to attract the Germans' attention!

At the very least, if the battle drags on until daybreak, the aircraft carriers will send out air strike groups. Without a large-scale air defense formation and air superiority, the German crews will at least suffer a lot, right? !

Whether it's for the convoy, for the British Empire, or for...Hood!

This is my duty as Commander-in-Chief of the Home Fleet, John Tovey!

--

"Reputation! Turn! Target the German heavy cruiser! Tell everyone! Bet on the glory of the Royal Navy. Even if it means sacrificing the Reputation, we must kill these German crew members here!!!"

"Also, order Bonnet to reorganize and come closer to me! Also, have the PQ3 escort team send four destroyers to reinforce here, and the other warships to cover the transport team and continue to evade the direction of Bear Island! ... Oh, tell the aircraft carrier support formation to prepare for battle as soon as possible! Prepare to take off at dawn and attack the enemy fleet at dawn - wait, also tell the Raiders and the Centaurs that the enemy is very strong! Tell them to be mentally prepared: if there is any emergency in the war, even if I order them to force a bombing at night, they must complete the mission for me - execute it immediately! For the victory of the British Empire!"

The officers and soldiers in the command room suddenly felt that Tovey, who was originally so gloomy that even the snow wind in the Arctic Ocean would tremble, now seemed to be on fire...

"Why are you all looking at me? Go and follow my orders!"

Furious, Tovey punched the chart table, scaring the British officers and soldiers in the command room so much that they quickly turned around and went back to their work...

红着眼的托维回头看了一眼墙上的挂钟：1941年8月30日，晚22时30分……

ps: Anyone who has read Moegirlpedia knows Eugen's voice...so cute

Chapter 489: Lucky Ship, Doesn't Exist

The Renown was not far from the battlefield. Not long after it turned the rudder, the positions of Bonnet's retreating cruisers and destroyers appeared on the Renown's radar screen in the chaotic battlefield!

However, the Prinz Eugen was still at least 20 kilometers away from Bonette! The German battleship was not within the field of vision of the Renown.

"Bonnet, this is Tovey! Where is the location of the German battleships? Report quickly!" Holding the microphone of the radio, Tovey personally called Major General Bonnet of the cruiser fleet.

"…26,000 yards away, due east of our ship… Wait! Commander! The Germans have turned around!"

Rear Admiral Bonnet, who was reporting the location of the Prinz Eugen on the microphone, was shocked to find that the Prinz Eugen was turning around and running away...

This···

"Hmph, has it discovered us from such a distance? It's so slick to discover us from a distance, it must be an evil spirit..." Tovey had expected this in his heart, so he didn't find it strange at all. He would only find it strange if Prince Eugen would run into him head-on.

only…

"This place is not too far from the PQ-3 transport convoy on Bear Island. The transport convoy is still not safe enough... I have to continue the attack!"

Having made up his mind, Tovey began to issue new orders: "Pass my orders: First, Renown must continue the pursuit! Second, let the remnants of Bonnet's cruiser-destroyer mixed formation retreat if they are not combat-ready, and let the combat-ready ones move closer to me! In addition, send a telegram to the four destroyers dispatched from the escort team! Order them to set up a new cordon around the escort team, especially to the east and south. Remember to expand the cordon as much as possible!"

"Yes!!"

---

More than 32.5 kilometers southeast of Renown, the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen had turned around and began to retreat to the east at a speed of knots.

"Top Top, their battlecruisers are chasing us..."

Eugen was a little nervous and pulled Top's sleeve again. His silly expression made Top suddenly want to hold his forehead.

"Don't be nervous, idiot. Renown is not as fast as us! Besides, Renown is still thirty-five kilometers away. Why are you so anxious?"

"Oh... oh right... I was a little nervous and forgot about this ~ hehe..." Silly and cute Eugen was stunned for a moment, then stuck out his tongue slightly, blinked his eyes, and jumped away with a smile.

The only one left was Top, who was holding his forehead for his silly and cute ship girl, looking messy and depressed amidst the silver bell-like laughter.

"I say, although you shouldn't be nervous, you shouldn't be too relaxed either. After all, this is your first time participating in a battle."

"Got it~"

But soon, Top saw Eugen running back in a hurry again.

"Top Top, something bad has happened, something bad has happened!" Eugen ran back in a panic and grabbed Top's sleeve again.

"What's wrong now? If you make another stupid mistake, I'll hit you!" Seeing that his sleeve was pulled again and he couldn't pull it out, Top raised his other hand unhappily. He raised his index finger and made a gesture to hit Eugen's forehead covered by golden bangs.

Although he was reluctant to hit her too hard, it was not because he was reluctant to hit Prince Eugen, because her armored forehead had nothing to do with it, but if he hit her too hard, it would be his fingers that would be in trouble. But how could he not scare this girl? How could he not make her so jumpy all the time? Wouldn't he make her seasick again?

"Ah! Stop knocking, stop knocking!" Eugen, frightened by Top's "ferocity", quickly let go of his hands that were pulling Top's sleeves and covered his forehead with them.

"Okay, okay, I won't knock you anymore. What's the matter?" Looking at Eugen like this, Toph couldn't help but soften his heart. He slapped away the two hands that Eugen had put in front of his forehead and asked her in a slow tone.

It’s a good thing that they haven’t entered the encirclement yet, so they have this thought. If they were in the middle of a battle, it would be strange if they could laugh and joke.

The pitiful Eugen said aggrievedly: "...Actually...I discovered the Hipper! Now the Hipper is only thirty kilometers away from Renown, she will be discovered."

"What? Hipper? Are they here yet?" Top lost his composure after hearing the battle report.

"Hurry up and send a telegram to ask Hipper to move - by the way, what are their positions and situations? Mark them out for me immediately!!"

"Oh..." Eugen responded weakly while lowering his head and looking at his fingers.

Soon, the situation was marked on the automatic plotter. At Eugen's instruction, a telegram alerting Hipper was sent from the telegraph room...

"The Hipper is thirty kilometers to the north of us... beyond the normal search distance of our radar, so they didn't find us? But..." Top looked at the situation on the nautical chart, his face getting darker and darker.

"... Hipper and Renown are actually rivals... This is a relative speed of 64 knots!"

On the automatic plotter, the Renown's course had changed. With the rich combat experience of an old sailor like Top, it was easy to tell that the Renown, which was originally chasing him in the direction of due east and north, had now changed its course to due north and east! For the Hipper, which still knew nothing about the enemy, it was a textbook T-shaped situation!

Although there is a magnetron, it was invented by the Air Force, and the first generation of products has just gotten out of the "trial production" state, the power and detection range are not ideal! The maximum detection range is only a mere 25 kilometers!

Moreover, Hipper was a heavy cruiser, and its radar reflection surface was only slightly smaller than that of a battleship-class target! But as far as Top knew, the British radar on the other side was much better than his own!

Even if they couldn't spot the enemy at twenty nautical miles like their own ship, but even according to the most ideal estimate, the detection distance of the radar used by the British battleships for heavy cruisers like their own would not be less than thirty kilometers, and might even reach thirty-two kilometers!

As for the radio direction finder used to passively receive enemy electromagnetic waves to provide early warning...

Although this thing can detect the enemy's radar wave signal in advance, it can only predict the enemy's position, not the distance! It is necessary to continuously measure the position of the ship through several rounds of maneuvers, and then calculate the enemy's distance through drawing calculations based on the principle of parallel triangles. In a battlefield where every second counts, will the enemy give you this time?

What's more, the radio direction finder is useless if the channel is not in the same band as the enemy!

Although at this time, it was not known whether the telegram worked, or the distance was finally shortened to within the radar detection range of 25 kilometers, Hipper on the automatic plotter finally began to turn.

But... a distance of twenty-five kilometers is already within the effective range of the Renown!

And the warship that is turning sharply cannot fight back!

As Top was looking anxiously at the low clouds in the northwest of the Arctic Ocean at night, a flash of light like thunder appeared in the reflection of the clouds, shining brightly in the cold wind carrying snowflakes!

In less than a minute, six golden, meteor-like beams appeared in the north! Even though Top couldn't see it with his naked eyes, it was obvious that the meteorite that smashed through the rolling clouds must have hit the Hipper heavy cruiser that was dodging there in a panic!

There is no time to hesitate!

With the 227mm main armor thickness of the Renown and the main gun diameter of the Hipper being only 203mm, there was no way that the Renown battlecruiser could be a match! Although the Prinz Eugen could not penetrate the armor of the Renown either, at least with the gunnery and speed of the little Eugen, it could still cover the Hipper cruiser to escape!

In addition, according to Kumets' previous plan, no matter who found the enemy battleship, they had to desperately hold it back or at least keep an eye on it, so that other teams could continue to search for the escort team without any worries? !

So, what else is there to say?

"Level 1 alert for the entire ship! All personnel prepare for battle! Heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, turn the rudder! We are going to help the Hipper!" Gritting his teeth, Top stood next to the command instrument: "Also, send a telegram and tell the Hipper that we are coming to cover it!"

As the captain of a naval warship, this is my duty and decision!

"Ok!"

Although it was the first time that Eugen challenged a battleship more powerful than his own, seeing Top's determination, he put away his nervousness and nodded seriously!

"Although I'm not as powerful as Sister Bismarck, I'm still very strong!"

Staring in the direction of the Renown battlecruiser, Eugen looked "fierce" and clenched his fists!

------

"Commander! The German heavy cruiser in front began to turn and headed towards the heavy cruiser that appeared later!"

As the eyes and ears of the battleship, although Rear Admiral Bonnet's cruiser was seriously damaged by Eugen, it maintained a speed of 32.5 knots!

Bonnet, knowing full well that he was the only one who could provide Admiral Tovey with battlefield reconnaissance information, still followed Tovey with the damaged cruiser and two destroyers that were still capable of combat.

As soon as Bonnet discovered that Eugen had changed direction, he reported the information to Reputation.

On the Renown, Tovey, who was blinded by rage, immediately marked the location information of Eugen forwarded by Bonette on the map board!

"Humph... that damn German guy, is he finally not running away?"

Tovey glanced at the chart board, snorted with disdain, reached out his hand and tugged at his navy windbreaker.

"They are faster than us, but now is a good opportunity to close the distance by using anti-naval warfare... Send an order! Turn! Turn 180 degrees on the spot! The target is the cruiser reported by Bonnet!"

Just a few minutes later, the Renown, which had drawn an arc of several hundred meters, completed its U-turn. And less than a minute after the U-turn, the maid's radar finally found the Prinz Eugen.

"Distance 26500 yards (32.5 meters)! Anti-naval warfare! Enemy heavy cruiser speed knots! Range change rate XX, position change rate XX... Request to fire!"

"Very good, then let me see how powerful you evil spirits from hell are!"

"Reputation! Close the distance! Open fire! Tell the gunners to use all your skills! Even if the opponent is a real evil spirit crawling out of hell, you must beat her back!"

Tovey's roar, accompanied by the roar of the Maid Captain's main gun, brought with it six barrages of bullets like meteors, roaring in the war-torn night sky!

------

"Top Top! The British are firing!"

The nervous girl with twin ponytails hid herself directly behind Top's broad back.

But Top couldn't say anything. Eugen was just too nervous, but as a warship, she did a good job. Not only did the feeling from under her feet tell Top that the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen had already begun to evade, but even the firing parameters of the four main turrets had been set...

Six tracers came at him fiercely, but the nimble Eugen dodged them all! Instead, the 203mm main gun of the Prinz Eugen heavy cruiser also raised its barrel high - it was loaded with 122kg high-explosive shells!

"Eugen, relax, you can control your own body! Fight well - don't let Bismarck make fun of you!"

Knowing that little Eugen was just nervous, Top specifically spoke out to comfort her, and even used Bismarck to encourage her.

But the effect is still very obvious, after all, they are just children...

Eugen nodded after hearing the words of encouragement, "Yeah! Even if I can't beat Sister Bismarck, I will fight well!"

"But Top, will we be able to see Sister Bismarck in the future?" Eugen looked up and asked.

"There will be a chance, don't think too much now!" Top patted her head.

"Aim carefully...fire!"

The 203mm gun barrel held high was incomparable to the 381mm main gun of the Renown. However, facing a strong enemy, Eugen was still very nervous, but he did not want to be outdone and fired back!

The water pipe is definitely not as thick as the one on the opposite side, so the only thing Prince Eugen can rely on is the much higher rate of fire.

The 203mm cannon fired six rounds per minute at the maximum speed, and the machine-gun-like barrage of bullets instantly covered the area of ​​the Renown! Even in the dense barrage, a few shells actually landed on the Renown!

The high-explosive bomb exploded on the Renown instantly.

A few golden flowers blooming from exploding fireballs opened excitingly in the distance.

"Hit! Hit!"

Beside Top, Eugen was so happy that she almost jumped up. This was her first victory, and her excitement was of course self-evident.

However, Top's expression was still solemn, and he did not get better at all! In the blink of an eye, when the smoke cleared, the Renown, which had only suffered minor injuries, appeared in the sight of the Prinz Eugen again!

Moreover, because it was an anti-aircraft battle, even though the two sides were not facing each other head-on, in just one minute, the distance between the two sides had narrowed to a full 1500 meters!

"Why...why is this happening?" Eugen covered her mouth and stared at the terrifying sea beast with wide eyes!

"No harm done, Toph, what shall we do?"

They fired at full force right from the start, but the three 203mm high-explosive shells that hit the enemy only scratched their skin... For Eugen, who was new to the battlefield, this was a big blow to her confidence!

She wanted to severely injure the opponent with a few shots like Bismarck, but now...

Her sister Bismarck can paralyze the reputation in one fell swoop, and her sister Tirpitz can do it too, but her little water pipe is still a lot worse.

This is the difference between a heavy cruiser and a battleship.

And now, the sea monster, which has been completely enraged, has begun the next round of counterattack!

-------

"It's worthy of being a battlecruiser... Even if it was hit by a 203mm gun, it only suffered minor damage..." Top, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but spit.

A pair of small hands grabbed his sleeves and back again. Eugen, who was so nervous and even a little scared, hid behind him nervously like a panicked little rabbit: