Bismarck

With Rudel's plane landing, the air raid finally came to an end. Soon, Bismarck compiled a report on the losses and handed it over to Lütjens...

The attack group lost ten of its sixteen FW-190s and three of its ten BF-109s; the fleet air defense lost six of its fourteen BF-109s and three of its twelve FW-190s, plus the planes damaged in the previous fierce battle, and the GR-186 wing was completely injured again. Now, except for the last eight FW-190 fighters that had not been deployed before, the remaining aircraft on the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, including those that had been repaired since the first air battle in the morning, only had eleven BF-109 fighters and eight FW-190 fighters left. If you don't count the few remaining JU-87s that have been trying every means to evade the escort carrier's carrier-based aircraft and are doing their best to monitor the escort fleet...

On the contrary, the fleet's losses from the previous bombing were still within a controllable range. The Bismarck was hit by a torpedo in the middle of its hull, and its speed was temporarily reduced due to the resistance of the underwater breach. Fortunately, that torpedo was an aerial torpedo with a small charge, and the mine protection area was relatively thick, so it only caused partial water ingress. Now, with her self-repair ability, the damage has been controlled, and her speed has been restored soon.

Besides her, the battleship Tirpitz was hit by three bombs, with three large holes blown into its superstructure. The Zeppelin was hit by a water-floating bomb in the standby area next to the rear elevator, which had a small hole. A 105mm anti-aircraft gun turret in front of the bridge was smashed into scrap metal by a Spitfire, and a torpedo was also hit in the front of the hull.

Even the lucky Prinz Eugen was badly damaged - her bridge was hit by a water-drifting bomb, the waterline at the bow and the right side of the hull were each hit by a 454 kg (1000 lb) high-explosive bomb. The powerful shock wave caused a lot of water to enter her hull. In addition to the speed dropping to 34.5 knots, the whole ship looked quite embarrassed.

In addition, some anti-aircraft guns of all the warships were damaged by the fierce 20mm machine guns during the British attack... But the most fortunate thing is that although they all suffered serious injuries, the damage to their combat effectiveness was not too great!

At least, except for the fact that Zeppelin's GR-186 squadron only had a dozen combat aircraft left, the main guns and torpedoes of Bismarck, Tirpitz and Prinz Eugen were still basically intact.

only……

"It's almost four o'clock now, right?" Lütjens looked at the bulletproof glass windows that were blurred by the rain because they had entered the rainstorm area, and there was no expression on his face. The secretary standing next to him hummed softly and lowered his head in a somewhat unhappy mood...

The wind was not strong, but the rain was heavy, as if God was crying for the soldiers who died in the battle. Right at her and his feet, on the deck of the Bismarck battleship that was blackened and tattered by flames and bullet holes, the medical team and the damage control team were cleaning up the bodies of the sailors in the rain that seemed to chill people from body to soul. The tragic situation of the sailors, who were strafed by 20mm machine guns, was truly shocking. Nearly two hundred sailors were killed or injured... all in the air raid just now!

As for her younger sisters, I'm afraid the situation isn't much better...

Moreover, in this kind of weather, they could only bury the remains of the bodies as much as possible. The sailors killed by the 20mm machine guns were almost all blown to pieces. Except for those who were lucky enough to see their faces or pick up dog tags, it was impossible to tell who was who...

He sighed deeply in his heart. Even Lütjens couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he turned around and walked to the side of the chart table. Bismarck, who saw his captain walking away, also followed.

There were many people in the bridge, but they were all silent.

The casualties were heavy, but...

The mission has not been completed yet - about 200 kilometers to the south or southwest of them should be the location of the two Allied escort teams!

More than seventy transport ships were divided into two teams, seemingly silently mocking their own incompetence two hundred kilometers away!

Although Lütjens did not speak, his forehead was already covered with sweat, and his hands were clenched into fists, so tightly that one could even see the veins throbbing! Seeing his captain like this, the well-behaved Bismarck ordered a cup of coffee, but the captain did not even look at it!

She knew her captain was angry and anxious, but...

She was also anxious, but she didn't know what to do. She could only silently watch the captain standing in front of the chart table, thinking about the chart, and silently turned up the air conditioner, hoping that her captain would feel a little more comfortable while thinking...

The cold air from the air conditioner blew on Lütjens' body. The captain knew that Bismarck had always been concerned about him, and even glanced at his well-behaved secretary cat.

However... now is not the time to be sentimental. As an admiral and fleet commander, he must be responsible for the sacrifice of the sailors and the victory or defeat of the battle.

According to the pilots' reports, the Indefatigable, which was hit by three water bombs and a ramming plane on the side and had almost all its carrier-based aircraft destroyed, should have been severely damaged, but after all, it was an armored aircraft carrier with strong survivability and probably would not sink. The most important thing was that there were a total of 14 Allied battleships in the two escort fleets! In addition, there were seven anti-aircraft cruisers, three heavy cruisers, and nine escort aircraft carriers.

Although twelve of the fourteen battleships were old-style iron bastards, and the only "external" Warspite was probably also severely damaged, as long as she was still in the ranks of the old battleships, the old battleships of the other side would definitely be able to withstand the Bismarck and Tirpitz on their side. And judging from the Allied posture, the battle line of the iron bastards was firmly held in front of the transport team! However, the remaining armor-piercing shells on their side were not enough to deal with so many battleships!

And if she and Tirpitz can't do anything together, then Eugen, who is much weaker than her and Tirpitz, will have no way to fight against the old warships led by Warspite together with them, not to mention the two cutting-edge American battleships!

In the previous Battle of the Faroe Strait, Eugen took advantage of its high speed and the US Navy's lack of understanding of ship girls in night battles. Otherwise, if this "Black Storm" really wanted to fight the Washington head-on, except for being able to escape by relying on its high speed, its chances of winning would not be very high... wait!

Fight head-on... and still be defeated...?!

In other words, what if Eugen didn't fight them head-on? !

The cold air from the air conditioner blew on Lütjens's head, but Lütjens, who was burning with passion, seemed to feel a bright light bulb suddenly light up in his heart...

(PS: Historically, Rudel switched to flying the FW-190 at the end of the war, and in the last year of the war he had nine air combat victories: seven fighters and two IL-2s!)

Chapter 629: Another Burial at Sea

The tropical rainstorms in the Indian Ocean came and went quickly, and by the evening, the weather had finally improved.

On the rear deck of the Bismarck under the sunset, it was customary to hold a mourning ceremony attended by the captain and presided over by the ship's chaplain. After the solemn farewell ceremony, the honor guards raised their rifles and bid farewell to their fallen comrades in a military way!

Captain Lütjens, Secretary Bismarck, First Officer, Second Officer, Third Officer... All officers and soldiers saluted silently and watched the surviving soldiers. In the traditional naval burial at sea, they lifted the skateboard and sent the bodies and wreckage of the dead sailors into the ocean. In the twilight of the sunset, they merged with Mother Ocean forever...

"May God bless your souls into heaven... Amen."

Following the priest's prayer, everyone made the sign of the cross on their chests. Even though Bismarck was not a believer until now, it did not stop her from joining everyone in expressing her condolences to the dead soldiers...

Although it has been called the Evil Spirit-class battleship, but...

If people can have a final resting place after death, that would be great, right?

Deep down, the Persian cat was praying for the soldiers who died in the battle.

At this time, the three sisters, Zeppelin, Tirpitz and Prinz Eugen, also heard bursts of volleys of gunfire, bidding farewell to their comrades who had become one with the sea...

The solemn and respectful people are mourning these respectable soldiers!

Everyone, including Bismarck and Lütjens, had only one belief in their hearts at this time:

After the memorial ceremony, their unfinished combat missions will be...

It is up to those of us who are still alive to continue completing it!

………………

By the time the solemn memorial service ended, it was already six in the evening. At about this time, the reconnaissance plane that had been sent out when the rain had just stopped began to transmit its intelligence back...

"...Combined with the reports from several previous reconnaissance planes, their previous high-speed transport fleet is now closer to the slow transport fleet that the Warspite was protecting - the current location is probably... only fifty or sixty kilometers away from the slow escort fleet! Moreover, the speed of the high-speed transport fleet has also slowed down to 11 knots, which is about the same as the previous slow escort fleet... In addition, several British fleets have now divided into several squadrons in front of the left side of the two transport fleets, and it seems that they have also begun to dispatch destroyers for reconnaissance and surveillance in our direction..."

Bismarck, holding a telegram in one hand and various signs in the other, marked the preliminary summarized intelligence sent back by each reconnaissance plane on the chart table one by one, like an extremely skilled staff officer. It was obvious that the Allied intention was to make the two transport convoys more concentrated, so that they could better concentrate their forces to protect these transport ships, and then head east all the way and directly to the port of India!

but…

Looking at the distribution of enemy forces on the nautical chart, Lütjens was not moved at all.

After all, it was already evening, and the sun outside the porthole had already set below the horizon, leaving only a faint red twilight in the west. Apart from that, the entire sky was already dotted with stars and dark, with only a crescent moon hanging in the east of the dark blue sky.

It would be easy for the two separated transport teams to reunite at night under their watchful eyes, which would cause chaos! However, if they maintained a distance of several dozen kilometers, under the cover of fourteen battleships, there would be no big problem!

It seems that this old guy Cunningham is still very wary of taking advantage of the situation during a night battle...

After all, nighttime observation capabilities were directly limited, the merchant fleet was only temporarily assembled, and the civilian crew's daily operating environment was fundamentally different from the battlefield. Moreover, the oppressive dark night environment and the already threatening enemy pressure would inexplicably increase people's fear - there was even a phenomenon called "camp howling" in ancient armies, which was caused by this reason!

Moreover, even a high-speed convoy would definitely not be able to outrun the German evil spirits! And if they were too scattered, it would be impossible for them to be defeated one by one!

So, since Cunningham and Somerville were so afraid of night attacks and the collapse of the merchant fleet, it is understandable that they took such measures.

But...

Comparing with the previously predicted position of the high-speed escort team, we have traveled at least 100 kilometers less!

As for the absolute strength of the fourteen battleship escorts...?

Lutjens suddenly felt like laughing.

………………

Under the long sunset, on the other side of the sea, the deployment adjustment of the Allied forces was nearing completion.

The Indefatigable aircraft carrier was escorted by four destroyers and evacuated the battlefield because it was hit by three bullets on the side and hit by an airplane, causing water ingress and fire. The hull tilted and aircraft could not take off and land normally. Most of the carrier-based aircraft had been destroyed.

And now, after repairs, the battleship HMS Warspite, whose stuck turret A had been restored, was rushed from Somerville's formation to Cunningham's side under the escort of three heavy cruisers, and in accordance with naval regulations, it hoisted the flag of the Admiral again - this meant that Cunningham had moved his flagship, which was also the flagship of the entire British Royal Navy, from the Indefatigable back to his wife's ship.

The reason for transferring the Warspite back here is obvious - the formation of three battleships, the Warspite, North Carolina, and Washington, is the only mobile force in the entire fleet that can now reach 28 knots!

At 7pm, the sky had completely darkened, and the crescent moon hung high in the night sky. In the officer's lounge of the battleship HMS Warspite, Secretary Bailey was planning the next step of the operation with Cunningham.

"…So now we have to let Somerville and Giffen defend their transport convoys, and then see where the destroyers you sent 50 kilometers away for guard duty find the target. If it's harassment, forget it. If it's a real attack, we will act as a mobile force and attack them together with the battleships guarding the transport convoy…right?"

Secretary Ship Bailey held the preliminary summary of the battle plan in her hand. She looked at her admiral with a pair of eyes that seemed to be able to speak, smiling and not smiling. She gently rolled up the battle plan and patted her palm twice: "Well, my dear First Sea Lord, can you explain why our fleet is so far out?"

"...Well...I'm just worried about those destroyers that are out for reconnaissance. I'm afraid they'll be ambushed by German ships and crews..." Seeing the half-smile and fierce eyes of his own Hedong Lion, Cunningham, who was in the late stage of bronchitis, looked away out of habit.

"So you put our formation, which was originally the general reserve, so far forward for the sake of the destroyers...?!" War-weary glanced at them, and approached them with a fake smile, looking at Cunningham, his nose almost touching Cunningham's nose: "I didn't expect you to care about them so much!"

"Um, yes... yes..." Looking at the expression of his wife in front of him, Cunningham felt that he was stuttering for some reason. However, such a Cunningham made War-weary chuckle.

"Hahaha, you're killing me. I just wanted to ask you why you placed our formation a little to the outside. Why are you so nervous?"

“Haha…haha…” Cunningham, who had become so afraid of his wife that it had become a conditioned reflex, didn’t dare to say anything. He just touched the back of his head with some depression.

Why is it that after all these years, my wife always likes to tease me with awkward chats...

Moreover, he was injured at noon, and he teased me right after...

Although he said that he was absolutely innocent, but looking at her like this... those who knew him would know that this was her favorite way to grab him and scare him when no one was around, or to tease him. Those who didn't would think that he had done something that he could confess to in the gendarmerie and get a life sentence, and that he was being interrogated by his own wife...

But even though he thought so, seeing his wife teasing him and laughing happily, Cunningham, who was teased by his wife, touched his nose and continued to do what he wanted according to the custom of henpecked people.

War-weary just teased his old man a little, and then continued to discuss business:

"…The adjustment of forces and positions has been basically completed…There are now eight destroyers on guard in the periphery. Somerville and Giffen also have eight destroyers each. The three anti-aircraft cruisers transferred from the slow transport fleet to Giffen for reinforcement have also arrived…It's just that the high-speed oil tanker fleet that was originally estimated to arrive in India at 12 noon tomorrow may not arrive in India until tomorrow night…That's roughly the situation!"

After finishing his report, War-weary closed the folder in his hand and sat down next to Cunningham. Cunningham nodded, then leaned back and leaned back on the sofa cushions.

"That's good. Even if the Japanese army really joins the war tomorrow, we can be more relieved. Speaking of which, we still don't have enough destroyers..." Cunningham, who was lying on the ground with Ge You, sighed weakly.

War-weary didn't say anything, but just nodded with a sense of sympathy.

Military command changes rapidly, especially the Lütjens fleet on the other side is also a very difficult opponent. Orders, enemy situation, situation assessment, superiors' requirements... Not to mention that as the highest commander of the navy, in addition to the Indian Ocean "Bearing" operation that he personally supervised, all kinds of troubles of the entire Royal Navy were piled up in front of him, and Cunningham felt a little exhausted.

Seeing Cunningham's tired face, his red eyes with dark circles under his eyes, and the faintly throbbing veins on his forehead, War-weary beside him knew how hard her admiral worked. She didn't say anything else, but just came over and gently massaged the temples of her old man who looked like he had failed in his attempt to cultivate immortality.

Even though she had just made fun of Cunningham, she just wanted to relax this old man who worked until two or three in the morning every day, had not had a good sleep in the past few days, and whose eyes were already full of bloodshot. After all, compared to the tense and depressing combat command, the boring copywriting work, and the pressure of being questioned by the Prime Minister and the Parliament at any time, being joked by herself was a little bit of psychological relaxation...

However, this is a battlefield after all...

"Report to the commander! There is an urgent report of a destroyer cordon!"

The door of the lounge was not closed, and an adjutant knocked on the door and came over to report that he had discovered urgent military intelligence!

Whether it was War-weary who was massaging his own admiral's temple, or Cunningham whose nerves had just been slightly relaxed by War-weary's massage, they felt nervous again when they heard this voice!

Shouting for a report at this critical moment...I'm afraid it's not...

The adjutant who was called in to report the military situation also confirmed their concerns:

"The German fleet's movement has been detected! ... Heading southeast by south, speed 33.5 knots! It is estimated to be about 60 kilometers northeast of our ship, and may be trying to outflank and intercept our fleet in front of it! ..."

Is he going to block him right in front of me and intercept him head-on? !

Cunningham and War-weary looked at each other, and after seeing the reactions in each other's eyes, they nodded almost at the same time:

"Inform all formations of Operation 'Support'! Everyone prepare for battle!!"

ps: Actually I don’t want to update, I can’t complain anymore...

Chapter 630: Harassment

"…They have separated from the team…Wait! They are firing!…(BOOM!)…Oh my God! What a fierce firepower (BOOM!)…That's…Prince Eugen! They are chasing us! (BOOM!)…(BOOM!) Oh no! We are hit again!…Oh God, save me…(BOOM!!)…Zizi…Zizi…Zizi…"

In the radio microphone, the destroyer that had previously discovered the German fleet disappeared in less than three minutes after being hit by Prince Eugen one after another...

After hearing with their own ears that a destroyer had sunk in such a battle, Cunningham and War-weary's faces turned pale.

However, there is something I can’t help…

After continuing to observe the sea chart for a while, War-weary and Cunningham discussed with the staff officers and came up with a countermeasure:

"Give orders to the destroyers on guard outside! The three remaining destroyers in front of the German fleet continue to monitor the German ships and crews. Pay attention to monitoring them as dispersedly as possible, and try not to engage in fire with the German evil spirits! The four destroyers on the flanks will assemble immediately, merge with Somerville, and accept Somerville's command!"

The boss gave the order, and none of the staff dared to neglect it. Someone immediately stood up and said "Yes!", then ran into the telegraph room to send a telegram.

Meanwhile, beside the chart table, Cunningham and War-weary were still looking at the chart and thinking hard about countermeasures...

"...Now I don't know whether Lütjens has sent submarines to ambush...Now each of the two escort teams has only eight destroyers and three or four anti-aircraft cruisers, and Somerville's seven battleships have even withdrawn the escorting destroyers to be on alert...Fortunately, the destroyers have finally caught up with Lütjens. Our destroyers are still a little too thin..." Looking at the stretched light battleship force, Cunningham sighed.

"Now we still have an absolute numerical advantage in terms of battleships at least. The distance between the two escort teams is fifty kilometers... Should we let them get closer? In this way, Somerville's formation can cover the two escort teams at the same time." Seeing that his own admiral was always worried about the problem of insufficient number of escort fleets, War-weary stepped forward and suggested.

"It still won't work. The chart says 50 kilometers, but the actual distance is much closer!" Cunningham thought for a moment and shook his head. "You know, a merchant fleet, including the surrounding destroyers' alert circle, can be more than 10 to 20 kilometers wide! Moreover, a large group of merchant ships has poor maneuverability. It's night time now, and Lütjens is still around... If something really goes wrong, we might be able to handle it ourselves without them having to do anything!"

After hearing what Cunningham said, War-weary thought about it and nodded helplessly, agreeing with his own admiral's judgment. After all, merchant ships are not warships. It's okay that their performance is far inferior, but the most important thing is the quality of the personnel. The merchant fleet can't compare with the army. Even if the merchant ship crew who have only received temporary military training are not lacking in courage, they have not received standardized naval training. Their ability to respond to surprise attacks and execute combat plans cannot be compared with the strictly trained naval fleet sailors.

Military operations are a very systematic thing. Even the smallest details must be strictly regulated to ensure overall operational efficiency. This gap in professional quality cannot be made up by just the courage of a passionate man...

but……

"Your Excellency Marshal! Urgent report!"

An officer rushed out of the telegraph room, gritting his teeth, "Report to the Marshal, one of their destroyers we were tracking was bombed by their night bombers!"

"What?!" Cunningham and War-weary were in disbelief when they heard the news.

"Night bombers? Did the Japanese send long-range bombers?"

"It's not the Japanese... It's like this, the message sent back by the destroyer said that the other side only had one BF-109 - their captain swore that everyone only saw one BF-109, and it was carrying a bomb that directly blew off their bow! And... and they were immediately bombarded by the Prince Eugen, and the captain said they would fight to the last man..." the officer said gritting his teeth.

Cunningham and War-weary looked at each other, both of them had gloomy faces...

"This must be the guy on Zeppelin's ship!" War-weary said hatefully.