Bismarck

"What should we do? I'm afraid we can only keep charging... I estimate that we will encounter their battleships in at most an hour, and there are still three hours before dark... Can you fight against battleships?"

Eugen shook his head self-awarely.

"So I say, wake up today! It seems like we are going to die here."

"Ahhh! I don't want it, I don't want it..." Eugen quickly shook her head, rejecting this consequence. She still wanted to play with her sisters...

She threw herself on Top, waving her arms and shaking her head with her braids like rattles: "Top Top, think of a way quickly, I don't want to sink..."

Looking at Eugen who was scared like a little rabbit, and looking at the subordinates around him who either had FFF on their faces or looked like they wanted to die, Top was a little confused.

Chapter 532: Battle Line Encirclement

More than half an hour later...

Top was in a panic, and he finally managed to calm the crying Eugen down amid the confused eyes of the sailors who were chewing dog food and watching the fun.

"So you're just scaring me? Badass Toph!"

Eugen pouted and turned his head away, sulking and not looking at Top. Top on the other side could only smile wryly and say nice things along.

Fortunately, I have already thought of a way to break out, so I am not worried.

To put it bluntly, it is still reckless, but what else can you do if you are not reckless?

"Okay, okay, I'm not angry anymore." Top stretched out his hand with a smile on his face, touched the top of Eugen's head to express his comfort, and then scratched her nose bridge.

The little nose bridge is really upturned, so beautiful.

It was only after his nose was shaved that Eugen reacted. He is indeed the epitome of cuteness.

"Top, you are so bad. Why didn't I realize how hateful you are before..."

Top, who succeeded, didn't care about Eugen's scolding. He continued to make Eugen laugh, and even felt a little proud in his heart. Although this was because Eugen was more well-behaved and would not lose his temper or even slap his own claws...

After a lot of effort, I finally made Eugen laugh.

After all, this is a battlefield. It's not nice to fight for so long. The captain still needs to be dignified.

The wind speed outside has increased to level 6, with level 4 waves, and it seems to be increasing further.

And I don't know what the enemy situation is like... As expected, I'm afraid I have to ask my own secretary ship...

"Eugen, what's the situation with the enemy now?"

Speaking of business, Top put away his playful smile and looked at his own secretary ship. Being looked at by Top, Eugen puffed up his cheeks and pouted his lips and rolled his eyes at Top, but still grabbed a ruler and pencil and started marking on the chart...

As Eugen marked, Top's expression became more and more ugly...

"The two heavy cruisers 30 kilometers to the left have been haunting us, and now the two destroyers that were on the cordon 25 kilometers to the right have also retreated... The Americans are moving so fast, we're almost surrounded..."

And now the weather is gradually getting worse...even the instantaneous wind speed has occasionally reached level 7. Although British and American planes cannot take off in this weather, their own navigation performance and artillery bombardment have been greatly improved.

However, there is a saying in the East: Misfortunes never come alone...

"Top Top! In front, twenty miles ahead of us, two battleships and four destroyers have emerged!"

"What? Two battleships and four destroyers?" Top, who was looking at the nautical chart to judge the situation, couldn't help but shrink his pupils, and a few drops of cold sweat began to appear on his forehead: "My goodness, the Americans think highly of me..."

Looking at the situation on the sea chart, it does look good. Basically, it is surrounded on three sides.

There is no way out in front, and being attacked from both sides from behind.

Eugen had already put his pencil on the table, and then he grabbed Top's sleeve again. He looked at Top with his big watery eyes, and the meaning in his eyes was clearly written on his face: "Top Top... You give the order, Eugen will fight well... Just don't let me sink..."

Fortunately, the girl had already turned her main guns towards the American battleship ahead. Although Top didn't know until the end whether she was preparing for a fight to the death or was acting like a frightened little animal trying to protect itself...

She was aware of the gap between her own strength and that of American battleships.

Top, who was pulled, slapped his forehead in frustration... If he had known that this girl was a little scared, why did he scare her before...

Top himself knew that if this wasn't the cute little Eugen, but an ordinary sailor who was nervous and scared, he would have probably called him a "coward" or even slapped him - but for some reason, every time he saw Eugen nervous and scared but still forcing himself to raise the cannon and wait for his orders obediently, he would always feel comforted instead of angry...

After all, cuteness is justice.

Surrounded on three sides, and there are still two battleships... Last time on Bear Island, a battlecruiser was enough to leave Eugen helpless, but this time there are two real battleships.

Although Eugen theoretically had six guided torpedoes on each side that she had secretly modified, although this thing could guide and ensure the hit rate, its range at the slowest speed of 15000 knots was still only yards, which did not improve much.

And how far is the range of the guns of the American battleships on the other side?

"Just fight well, and I'll take charge of the breakout."

Toph patted Eugen's little hand.

"Hahaha~" Top, who had successfully teased his own ship girl, laughed unscrupulously. Looking at Eugen, whose nervousness had been diluted by anger, he continued to reach out and pull Eugen's pigtail: "Okay, okay, if you are not nervous anymore, then get ready. We are going to start fighting - remember to listen to my command."

"kindness."

Eugen, who was still angry a moment ago, was stunned for a moment when he heard that a fight was about to start, and then nodded obediently. Top stretched out his hand and wiped his nose, and ordered: "Okay, turn left now, heading 80 degrees east by north - now we are facing the wind from the left rear, and there will be a period of time when we turn that we will be facing the wind and waves from the side, Eugen, stabilize your own body and pay attention to safety - understand?"

"Understood, Eugen, get ready now!"

The shipgirl next to him pursed her lips and nodded vigorously. After all, she was a shipgirl, and she was confident in controlling the main body. And Top also nodded in response, turned his head, and secretly looked down at the hand that he had wiped his nose with behind Eugen's back...

"Fortunately... I haven't had a nosebleed or anything like that in public on the bridge because of this girl..."

------

"Sir. Salt Lake City and Portland were spotted to the right. They report that the enemy heavy cruiser is less than 20 miles due north of us."

On the bridge of the USS Washington, the communications officer was reporting the situation to Wilcox.

"Are they here? Very good!" Wilcox, who was secretly calculating the battle situation while watching the increasingly strong wind and sea conditions outside the porthole, stood up suddenly and gave a loud order: "Order Washington and North Carolina to prepare for battle. Also, the destroyer squadron following us will move forward immediately. Be ready to launch smoke and torpedo attacks at any time..."

"Yes." The communications officer had just written down the order, but at this moment another communications officer ran in: "Report to the commander! The Germans have turned. Now their course is 80 degrees east by north."

"What?! Turned?" Upon hearing the report, Wilcox rushed to the chart table, marked Eugen's new track with a few strokes, and slammed the table on the spot: "The Germans are trying to escape. Pass on my order: our team should head northeast at 045 degrees and pursue at full speed. Also, Portland and Salt Lake City, go and stop it immediately."

"Yes!"

Following Wilcox's order, several US squadrons quickly adjusted their course. Although the two heavy cruisers and two destroyers that had been following Eugen had a difficult time turning around in the strong winds and waves, they still managed to move forward from the left and right wings in the winds of level 6 or 7 and the waves of 3 or 4 meters. Together with the two battleships and four destroyers that were already charging forward in the wind and waves, the entire US fleet moved towards the Prinz Eugen like a net bag.

In particular, the two cruisers that were blocking Eugen head-on, the Salt Lake City and the Portland, were full of anger.

Although it had powerful performance, it was inferior to the enemy in artillery range and speed, and was dragged by the Prince Eugen at a distance of 30,000 yards and unilaterally bullied.

American cowboys couldn't tolerate this.

Now it was all right. The two battleships were only thirty kilometers away from them, and now the German heavy cruiser was turning in their direction. After closing the distance, their artillery fire could be brought into play. To be honest, if they were not afraid of the threat of the German cruiser charging at close range and then firing torpedoes in close combat, the two American heavy cruisers would have rushed directly towards Eugen.

After all, the closing speed of anti-naval warfare - whether it is the closing speed of ships or the closing speed of torpedoes and ships, is very fast... You should know that although this kind of weather is bad, it does not mean that torpedoes cannot be launched. At most, the torpedo hit rate and track will be affected.

But... is it really that easy...

"The enemy battleship fleet is turning... The destroyers beside the battleships broke away from the battleships and started rushing towards us... The two destroyers on our right are turning parallel to us... Wait! Top Top! The enemy cruiser has also turned, heading 60 degrees northeast... Ah wait! Let me mark it first!"

As the US fleet began to move, Eugen, who was responsible for observing the US fleet, was a little flustered. Fortunately, with long-term strict training and her instinct as a warship, she was able to mark the latest movements of the US fleet and the possible positions after a while. Top, who was standing on the side, was also smoking a cigarette, looking at the positions and tracks marked by Eugen on the nautical chart. However, after looking for a while, Top raised his head, turned to Eugen, and began to ask about the navigation parameters...

"Eugen, what is our closing rate, enemy angle, and position change rate with the two American heavy cruisers?"

"The closing rate is about 45 meters per minute, the enemy angle is 0.5 degrees to the right front, and the position change rate is expected to be - degrees per minute... What's going on? Is Top going to attack the American cruiser?" Eugen reported the parameters without even thinking.

After all, Top had to keep an eye on it himself before.

"Not bad. I asked you to keep an eye on these two American cruisers. It seems that your observation and calculation are quite accurate. That's right! Now we are ready to fire." Top nodded and raised his eyebrows: "... The distance is a bit far now, 27,000 meters... And now it's a force 7 wind and a force 5 wave... Are you sure of your hit rate with conventional armor-piercing shells?"

"Uh... let me try..."

As time went by, the wind on the sea surface had increased to 12 meters and the waves were 3 to 4 meters high, blowing up waves like walls and flying water foam on the sea surface. Looking at such sea conditions, without the need for guided shells, Eugen was a little unsure...

After all, in terms of seaworthiness, she is only over 10,000 tons, and is not a battleship like Bismarck and Zeppelin, which can rely on stability and tonnage to offset the impact of bad sea conditions to the maximum extent...

Not to mention, she had been locked up in the port before. Although Top had taught her relevant knowledge, it was her first time to face this kind of sea conditions in actual combat...

Chapter 533: Twin-tailed Paras!

The strong northeast wind blowing from the Arctic Circle rolled up wave after wave of roaring waves under the iron-gray clouds, which slammed heavily on the hulls of the Prince Eugen heavy cruiser and ten American battleships, making loud bangs.

Even though the warships were only a few hundred meters long and weighed tens of thousands of tons, they were rocked by the might of nature. Even with the shipgirls stabilizing the ship, the Prinz Eugen had to keep steering, even at the cost of a reduced speed, to ensure that it would not be pushed off course by the strong tide.

Many people may not have an intuitive understanding of the power of waves, and think that these surging things do not have much lethality. In fact, it is just the opposite. The density of water is very high. One cubic meter of volume weighs one ton. The amount of water contained in a big wave is amazing. Although most of it is scattered and split, the force of hitting the ship sideways is still very terrifying. A ship with poor strength may even be broken in two.

The American fleet sailing against the wind, in the face of fair nature, except for the two battleships that could still withstand it due to their tonnage, the other cruisers and destroyers did not perform much better in the face of such fierce winds and waves...

Nature's debuff is a full-game skill.

Even so, facing the American fleet that was chasing in a straight line, although the Prince Eugen could still maintain a speed of 34 knots, the distance was gradually getting closer and closer...

Although, this is a blessing for the Prinz Eugen with its shipgirls...

After all, the closer the distance, the more accurate the shot, which is normal.

"The enemy is 622 degrees to the left of us. The distance is 20.3 meters. The bombardment parameters are azimuth and elevation degrees. ... High explosive bombs! Start firing!"

----------

Following the parameters reported by the gunner of the Prinz Eugen, and accompanied by the flash and roar of the muzzle, a round of eight 203mm high-explosive shells blasted towards the target in the distance that was obscured by the mist rolling up from the waves.

In the fierce battle, some people may have felt it, but no one noticed that at the moment when the Prinz Eugen fired, the posture of the 14,000-ton heavy cruiser seemed to pause for a moment. This is the advantage of the ship girl's control over the ship...

However, just this moment of pause and adjustment was enough to allow Prince Eugen to achieve an artillery hit rate far exceeding that of the opposing American heavy cruiser.

At the same time, under the control of Eugen, the Prinz Eugen slightly changed the angle of the steering gear. Thirty seconds later, a round of main gun salvos from the American heavy cruiser flew directly over the top of the Prinz Eugen's mast and fell into the sea dozens of meters away. The tall water column splashed was majestic and spectacular, but unfortunately, it had no effect on the Prinz Eugen.

"Top Top, we dodged it again!"

In the Commander's Tower, Eugen, who had two ponytails, pulled at Top's clothes, jumping with excitement. Her golden ponytails bounced with the girl's joy, like a little rabbit shaking her two big ears.

She is just that little girl who gets really excited about hitting an enemy and is just as happy about dodging an attack.

With her around, the battle became much less tense.

In addition to jumping up and down, Eugen changed the steering gear that had been slightly changed before. Relying on the inertia of the warship's course change, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen drew a beautiful S-shaped arc in the waves of the North Atlantic, and quickly avoided the bombardment of another American heavy cruiser.

Top, whose clothes were being pulled by Eugen, also had a relaxed expression, and even held up a telescope with a hint of contempt, looking in the direction of the American heavy cruiser opposite. In the telescope's sight, seven of the eight ordinary high-explosive shells fired by the Prince Eugen were accurately covering the center of an American heavy cruiser with billowing smoke. The eighth shell, with a speed of 353 meters per second, hit the bridge of the American heavy cruiser, and then was directly blown up by nearly nine kilograms of high explosives.

"Eugen, good fight, keep fighting."

Looking at the American heavy cruiser that had been hit hard and was already emitting thick smoke, Top was grinning and praising his own little ship girl. At the same time, he glanced at the American warships in the distance through the telescope with contempt, and complained venomously:

"I thought these guys were so powerful, but it turns out they are just a bunch of fakes."

Eugen and I were so embarrassed before, but once we fought... we were really shocked. The artillery skills of these Americans were much weaker than that of their old rival, the British Royal Navy.

It had been nearly a quarter of an hour since the battle, and he had already turned the leading American heavy cruiser into a live target with billowing smoke, but what about the other two American heavy cruisers? They only had eighteen MK12 203mm guns, but their range finding accuracy was really poor.

So far, judging from the landing points of their artillery fire, they have not yet found the correct distance.

Even if the Americans used the clumsy method of firing at intervals to find the target, it was useless. Under Top's command and Eugen's control, the Prinz Eugen had been using its course and the angle of the wind and ocean currents to constantly adjust its course, disrupting the Americans' distance measurement.

Just like the last round, Eugen adjusted his course to let an American shell accidentally pass over his head, and he continued to adjust his course - if the Americans followed the parameters of the previous round to command the artillery fire, Top dared to say that there was a 100% probability that it would hit the Atlantic Ocean directly, and with a little luck, it might even kill a few tuna.

Just as Top was thinking this, the shells of two American heavy cruisers also hit the Prinz Eugen one after another. But now, even Eugen didn't feel nervous anymore - looking at her excited face, she probably thought that this game of dodging shells was fun...

In this respect, he is somewhat similar to Tirpitz.

----

In front of Top's calmness and Eugen's excitement, eighteen shells from the two American cruisers, dragging red and blue tracer bullets, hit the sea one or two hundred meters around Prince Eugen one after another... and just over ten seconds later, a salvo fired by the Prince Eugen, with flames and smoke from the explosion, added a new wound to the already scarred American heavy cruiser.

Although at this distance, the velocity and kinetic energy of the 203mm shells of the Prinz Eugen are the lowest in the entire firing table, but a high-explosive shell with a charge of 9 kg does not care about penetration.

The explosion alone can penetrate 50mm of homogeneous armor. It is not a pleasant task to deal with American cruisers whose defense area and armor thickness are very fragile...

However, while Top and Eugen were happy, the battleship division of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet on the opposite side was not happy at all.

"Report. The Salt Lake City has been hit by six bullets, the conning tower has been hit, the captain is seriously injured, and the engine room has just been flooded. The speed can no longer be guaranteed. Request evacuation..."

Looking at the communications officer opposite, Major General Wilcox's face was already livid. After walking around the command post in a rage for a few times, Wilcox forced himself to calm down a little before glaring at the communications officer who dared not even breathe:

"Tell the Salt Lake City that they are allowed to retreat, and also tell the Portland. Also, tell me how far our squadrons are from that damn German cruiser. Report it to me immediately."

"Ah… yes. Sir."

The communications officer rushed down to issue the order as if he had been pardoned. And within a few minutes, the new situation was already marked on the chart table...

"The two destroyers to the northwest are the closest to them, but they are also 22,000 yards away. All other ships are more than 26,000 yards away from them... and now we are on the same course as them, and their speed is too fast, even almost as fast as our destroyers... so it is difficult to close the distance..."

The staff officer lowered his head and reported the situation on the battlefield. Although he could see that Major General Wilcox's face was extremely dark, as a staff officer, he had to tell the truth.