Bismarck

"Top Top, I can't hit him...what should I do..."

Looking at the fierce maid who continued to attack in front, and then turning his head to look at Eugen who had huddled behind his shoulders due to nervousness and fear, revealing only a pair of large eyes filled with fear, Top gritted his teeth and said, "...We will hold on for a few minutes, and when the Hipper withdraws, we will also withdraw..."

But at this moment, the ship under my feet suddenly shook! At the same time...

"Top! Take cover!"

A soft embrace pulled him down, and then another slender arm covered his head! Top was caught off guard and was pulled by Eugen into a crouching position with his head in his hands! Before Top could say anything, a loud bang came from under his feet in the next second!

The Prinz Eugen, which was famous for her luck, was hit by the attack of the battlecruiser HMS Renown, which was also famous for her luck!

Chapter 490: Counterattack!

With the blow to his reputation, Eugen fell to the ground holding his head in pain.

"Eugen! How are you?!"

Top didn't care that he was also shaken and fell to the deck, nor did he care that he could see the smoke and fire under the bridge from the bridge window. He quickly crawled to Eugen's side. But what he saw was Eugen, whose face was covered in blood, trying to get up!

The distressed Toph quickly hugged Eugen's petite body in his arms, took out bandages and hemostatic powder to bandage his warship. But it couldn't stop the bleeding at all!

Top, with red eyes, continued to pull the bandages in a hurry, and shouted to the back: "Medic! Where is the medic?!"

"Top, don't worry, I'm fine..."

Top, who was calling for the medical soldier, was surprised to find that Eugen in his arms began to stagger up.

"But, you're injured in the head..." Top was a little stunned, but he continued to bandage Eugen with the bandage in his hand.

"No need, my injury...actually just reflects the injury of my body..." Eugen covered his wound, wiped away the tears from the corner of his eyes, and helped Top to stand up.

"My main ship's bridge was damaged. It needs the damage control team to repair it... But it's okay!"

Eugen endured the pain and blinked his eyes, which were still sparkling: "We are still fighting... If we don't fight well, Bismarck will laugh at us... Wait, the shells are coming!"

Before he finished speaking, Top felt the Prinz Eugen tilt suddenly. Six golden lines of fire flew out from the engine room between the front and rear bridges, sticking to the deck!

so close!

Seeing that Eugen was not seriously injured, Toph was relieved: "Where are you injured? I'll go ask the damage control team to repair it."

"Well... the base of the bridge under our command post was hit, and a 105mm secondary gun was scrapped... In addition, many of our communication cables were damaged. If you need to notify others, I will convey it!"

"Well, okay, tell the damage control team to repair it quickly. Also... has the Hipper been withdrawn?"

"We're retreating. The Renown is coming towards us. The distance between us and Hipper is now 28 kilometers. We should be safe..." Eugen nodded while rubbing the bandage on his head. However, he pulled Top's sleeve with his other hand and shook it. "The Renown is only 23 kilometers away from us now. Top, can we retreat?"

She couldn't beat him, and being beaten hurt so much that she didn't want to fight anymore...

Looking at the pitiful expression of Eugen with a bandaged head, it was obvious that the threat to her reputation was too great for her. Knowing that even a ship girl could not overdraw her combat power limit, Top looked at Eugen and nodded: "Well, let's retreat too! Eugen, run out at full speed."

"Mmm Good!"

Eugen nodded happily, smiling in pain, and the 14,000-ton ship immediately began to turn and accelerate. Soon, the speed of the Prinz Eugen exceeded 37 knots, and soon it left the chasing Renown from 23,000 meters to 28,000 meters.

-

"Hipper! Prinz Eugen! No retreat!"

Admiral Kumets's exasperated voice was heard from the hoarse radio.

"I'm already here! Why are you running? They only have one ship, the Renown. What are you afraid of? I order you to turn around immediately! Why don't you get on board now!"

Accompanied by an arrogant roar, in Prince Eugen's field of vision, thirty-seven kilometers to the southwest, Kumets led two destroyers and rushed out recklessly from the night of the Arctic Ocean!

But... Reputation is now 28 kilometers behind Prince Eugen!

As soon as the position was marked on the chart, Eugen and Top were shocked to find that the Scharnhorst commanded by Kumets had actually sold itself to a position almost 25 kilometers to the right of the Renown, as if it had calculated how to die in the most comfortable posture. In other words... a natural and tacit cooperation...

Although the two cruisers were driven away by Top before, they have now rejoined the team and are acting together with Tovey - and, judging from the battlefield situation map, they should now be just behind the right side of the Renown!

In other words, in addition to being hit by Tovey in the front, there were also two cruisers and two destroyers on the side! Although Shane himself had two destroyers, Tove, who was a destroyer, knew very well that his destroyers were just giving away their lives in front of the other Royal Navy destroyers!

"This idiot!" Top cursed inwardly. However, as a soldier's responsibility and a subordinate's obligation, Top grabbed the radio and began to call Kumets: "Commander! You must pay attention to the current situation! 25 kilometers ahead of you is Reputation, pay attention to your situation is T inferior..."

"What do you mean T-inferior...wait?! You mean...reputation is 25 kilometers ahead of me, and I am T-inferior?!"

"Damn it...hard right rudder! Hard right rudder now!"

Kumets is not stupid, but he just realized this problem now...

Twenty-five kilometers away, they were already exposed to the guns and radar of the Renown! And turning around in the face of the enemy was even more unwise!

"This idiot, doesn't he know that there is a full two-minute delay when a large battleship turns, and that you can't fight back until the turn is completed..."

Top, holding his forehead, felt that he really couldn't say anything more about Kumets's command ability...

At this moment, the flash of light from the muzzle of the Renown reflected from the thick clouds in the sky once again illuminated the night sky of the Arctic Ocean...

"Everyone! Listen up! I'm Tovey... It's time to avenge the battleships that died for the British Royal Navy... Although I don't quite remember which German wildcat commander nicknamed the Renown the Nelson of Twenty-Nine Knots, but... let us defend the last glory of the Royal Navy!"

In the command room of the Renown, there was a roar from Admiral Tovey, who was already bloodthirsty!

"Order: Renown battlecruiser, load 'Green Boy' armor-piercing shells! Target Scharnhorst! Fire!"

In the face of the wrath of Admiral Tovey, who vowed to defend the last glory of the British Royal Navy, the 29-knot Nelson firmly locked the Scharnhorst battlecruiser that was turning hastily on the radar! Then in the next second, the head maid used a round of extremely accurate artillery fire to roar her revenge on the entire German Navy Arctic Fleet! !

"Give me, go to hell!"

-

Six rounds of the best armor-piercing blasting shells in the hands of the British Royal Navy, nicknamed "Green Boy", with golden tracers, were fired with great precision at the Scharnhorst, which was still turning clumsily and had no time to dodge! As the target of the attack, Vice Admiral Kumets, the commander of the Scharnhorst, even felt a sense of powerlessness as if time was imprisoned and he was completely unable to dodge...

Just over fifty seconds later, Scharnhorst, who was still trying desperately to steer the ship, was hit directly on the head by two shells whose crosshairs were as precise as well-trained throwing knives!

"The main mast was hit! The main director and all the radars on the main mast are no longer usable!..."

"Anton (A)'s main turret was penetrated! The ammunition silo was blown through! The propellant magazine caught fire! The automatic fire extinguishing and explosion-proof system is now urgently injecting water!"

The damage control team's report reached Kumets' ears, but the previously arrogant commander of the Arctic Fleet felt a burning pain on his face, as if he had been slapped in the face by someone...

But now is not the time to worry about this...

If the gunnery team of the Renown had to constantly consider corrections when dealing with a cruiser with a ship girl, then dealing with a large battleship that was foolishly turning in front of the enemy would be a one-sided destruction at the level of target practice!

After seeing the first hit, the blood-thirsty Tovey immediately ordered the gunnery group of the Renown to start firing! The Scharnhorst, which had fallen behind step by step after taking a wrong step, was determined to defend the final glory of the Royal Navy, and was inspired by the perfect and elegant maid who hit the first hit at the beginning. The 29-knot Nelson, which had been completely crazy, directly wove the firepower of its six 15-inch main guns into a gorgeous barrage of fire!

The Scharnhorst was hit repeatedly in the fire net. Although it could barely hold on with its battleship-level armor, the 15-inch battleship main guns were far from being defended by armor alone. For the firepower of aircraft carriers and battleships, even if it was theoretically enough to defend, the actual effect of armor was only to reduce damage...

And that's not all. The modified Scharn had no advantage in speed over the head maid! The British light cruisers and destroyers that were beaten by Eugen before have now rushed out! Under the guidance of radar, the British cruisers and destroyers easily defeated the two German destroyers following Scharn! They continued to chase after the modified Scharnhorst like hyenas chasing food over long distances on the African grasslands, relying on their speed that was better than the modified Scharnhorst! The distance between the British pursuers and Scharnhorst was getting closer and closer...

The situation on the battlefield was very clear on the nautical chart of Prince Eugen... Looking at Kumets' poor performance on the nautical chart, Top, who was furious, couldn't help but curse.

"This idiot... Never mind. Looks like I'll have to come out and rescue you..."

As he spoke, Topper was about to grab the radio microphone. But before he could reach out his hand, a small hand handed the microphone to him...

"Top Top, we have to cover Shane, right..."

Along with the cute voice of the girl, Eugen blinked his big eyes at his captain, as if asking something.

"Yes, it's a soldier's duty, I have to do it!" Although he felt that Eugen was a little afraid of his reputation, or had some opinions about Kumets or even the German Navy, Top still nodded at Eugen when he took the microphone.

But Top responded with a playful wink and a nod with a smile. Well, to be honest, Eugen didn't like that commander either.

But Scharnhorst is innocent, after all, they are both battleships.

"Yeah, I get it. Top, just give the order. Oh, by the way, I think... should we call the Hipper as well?"

Eh?

Seeing that his own Eugen was so well-behaved and sensible, Top was a little confused.

But...it seems like this is what makes us look more like a soldier, right?

Chapter 491: Damn this shit luck!

There are still three hours until dawn...

The night sky of the Arctic Ocean beneath the clouds was illuminated by the occasional golden muzzle flames. Moreover, there were occasional dim red flashes - that was the fireballs created by the shells exploding on the hulls of the warships, reflecting the brilliance on the clouds in the sky...

Although the heavily modified Scharnhorst commanded by Admiral Kumets had the same firepower as the Renown, a similar speed even after the modification, and better armor, the fire suppression of the Renown forced more than a thousand officers and soldiers on the Scharnhorst to squat on the ground and tremble with their heads in their hands.

The Scharnhorst itself was only barely able to survive the barrage of attacks woven by the perfect and elegant head maid...

In order to save the battleship Scharnhorst, under the command of Top, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen quickly turned around and, at the maximum speed she could maintain under the control of the ship girl - thirty-seven knots, she rushed towards the Renown "fiercely" along the strong east wind blowing over the dark Arctic Ocean!

On the bridge of the Prinz Eugen, Top was holding the radio, struggling to coordinate tactics with the Hipper.

"...This is my plan...Hello? Hipper, did you hear what I just said?...Um...Um...That is to say, you are 20 kilometers away from us, so you can't get here in a short time, right?...Forget it, then I will go first! If they catch up with us later, you also have to prepare...Okay! Okay! That's it!..."

After hanging up the radio, Top looked at the Prince Eugen beside him with a bitter face: "It seems that this time it's all up to you, Eugen..."

Looking at Eugen who was still a little naive beside him, Top explained with some embarrassment: "The maximum range of our torpedoes is only 14,000 meters at 30 knots, and the firepower density of the two triple torpedo tubes on one side is not enough, so we have to rush to a closer distance this time..."

"No problem! It's just a night assault~" Looking at the embarrassed Top, Eugen grinned: "Although we still can't beat Reputation... But, if it's just a sniper attack, it's not an impossible task!"

"Top Top, I won't. ~ Anyway, you are in command! When the time comes, leave the evasion of shelling, artillery suppression, torpedo attacks, etc. to me~!" Eugen, full of energy, jumped up and down, his two little fists clenched tightly, and in his nervousness, he looked at his captain with a hint of anticipation and excitement for the upcoming battle.

Looking at Eugen, Top couldn't help but laugh. Perhaps he was inspired by his own heavy cruiser, which was full of energy...

"Okay, fight hard!"

"I know, I know! If I don't fight well, Bismarck will make fun of me. If I'm not careful, Tirpitz will even look down on me, right?"

Eugen doesn't have to worry, because Tirpitz is... well, lazy.

Eugen put his hands behind his back, turned around, hummed an unknown lively tune, and looked in the direction of the Renown - because of Top's previous command, the Prince Eugen and the Renown were now almost in a head-on situation!

For a warship with a Dreyer fire control system, it is impossible to effectively and accurately calculate the key parameter of the range change rate for the target directly in front of it! !

Not to mention the closing rate of up to 2100 meters per minute...

"Top, give the order!"

...........................

Everyone on the bridge of the Renown, which was beating up Shane, noticed the heavy cruiser coming at them at a speed of 37 knots...

"Commander! The heavy cruiser we were chasing before has turned around and is heading towards us!!... It is about 29000 yards (26500 meters) away! Directly ahead! Situation: anti-naval warfare! The closing rate cannot be calculated accurately, but it is estimated to be about 2300 yards (2100 meters) per minute..."

"Such a fast speed, is this heavy cruiser really evil?" Tovey's face seemed to be a little gloomier than before. In fact, he was constantly thinking about what the Germans might do next and what countermeasures he should take...

"Prince Eugen has two triple-mounted 533mm torpedoes on each side, with a maximum range of 15300 yards (14000 meters) at knots, and we are facing the wind and current... If they rush over to attack with torpedoes, they will be within the torpedo range in five minutes at most, and it will take two minutes for Renown to turn..."

"…Although under normal circumstances, the chance of a single ship being hit by a torpedo at this distance is almost negligible, but if the enemy has evil spirits, will these evil spirits control the torpedoes…?"

"…Moreover, if we turn the rudder at a large angle, Shane, who was suppressed before, will be able to free up his hands and even suppress us in return…"

The pressure of the Arctic escort battle is enormous, and the only ship that can compete with the German battleships in the night battle is Renown!

The British Empire simply cannot afford the loss!

Tovey found that he really couldn't dwell on this battle situation. The more he thought about it, the heavier the shadow in his heart became...

But just as Tovey was still thinking about it, there was a vibration under his feet, and at the same time a loud bang echoed in his ears!

Soon, Tovey heard someone shouting: "The port side secondary gun deck was hit, come, put out the fire!..."

"What's going on?" Tovey couldn't help but ask.

Fortunately, the losses were reported quickly. A 203mm shell hit the port side secondary gun position, resulting in the loss of a 102mm gun.

The loss was not great, but... Tovey was shocked to find that the German Demon-class heavy cruiser was about to rush within 21000 yards! !

It takes two minutes to turn! At a closing rate of 2300 yards per minute, if we don't turn, we'll run out of time!

"Damn it... Order, Renown, turn full left. We will leave the battlefield and move closer to the transport convoy! Also, let Bonnet's cruiser use torpedoes to cover Renown's retreat first!"

Although he was very unwilling, Tovey could only grit his teeth and watch the Scharnhorst, which was already beaten to a pulp, fleeing the battlefield in a crooked manner, while he also gave the order to turn left and evacuate.

Soon, after firing the last salvo, the Renown began to turn left to disengage. Looking at the Renown turning left, Top and Eugen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

During the short eight minutes of exchange of fire, Shane was hit by five shells in a row by the Renown. Even the observation and aiming equipment on the main mast and a main turret were destroyed by the maid's barrage of bullets!

If the fight continued, Top really didn't know how to save Shane's life.

For example, Yue Mo Yi He Shao or something...

As for whether Kumetz had thought of counterattacking or not… As long as he saw that even after the Renown retreated, he was still commanding the Scharnhorst to flee towards the Norwegian coast, Top knew what kind of person he was…

Well, he couldn't hit anything even if he wanted to, so how could he fight back?

"Tsk... How did a jerk like this become an admiral..." Shaking his head, Top turned on the radio and began to contact the Admiral Hipper cruiser that was towing at the rear.