Bismarck

"Captain..." I didn't know what to say, and after a long while I managed to utter, "You have already compensated me."

"..."

"If you are as insensitive as the other ships, I don't need to apologize. I will just fix you up." The captain smiled and said to Lindemann and Lily, "I never said it during the nights when the Bismarck was hit by the torpedo, but it is true that I did not sleep at all."

He sighed and said, "I felt really guilty, especially when I saw Bismarck covered in blood and in pain. It was not good."

"I have been telling Bismarck to be brave and not to be afraid. It is glorious to die in battle. For this reason, I even reprimanded her for her hesitation during the sea trial..."

"Captain, I don't..." blame you, really.

He waved his hand to interrupt me and said, "But actually, it was during the Battle of Poland that I realized that I might be the one who is afraid of war in the future. Once the war starts, Bismarck will definitely be the one who gets hurt, no matter how serious it is. As a captain, seeing your own ship being damaged, you may not be able to understand that feeling now, so... Alas."

This was probably the first time the captain had revealed his true feelings. I thought to myself that it really felt good to be cared for by others.

Lindemann and Lily remained silent, staring at the captain.

I was very touched, but as a warship, how could I not have such awareness?

Actively clinked the wine glass

"Ding——" the red wine shook gently

"Captain, I have said before that Bismarck has such awareness. Although I was severely damaged in the Battle of Poland, don't you think I am stronger now? So, please don't worry about me."

I smiled and said, "Captain, in the new year, let's work hard together for our ideals!"

ps: I am updating this article at the risk of failing the exam!!! I will be unhappy if there are not enough recommendation votes!!! Football tickets

Chapter 53: Wolves

The captain informed Lily about our exercise after dinner, so Lily readily agreed to leave before that, without any hesitation.

As the daughter of a captain, I understand some things. Well, seeing this situation, am I the only one whose thoughts were childish?

The specific date of the exercise was soon announced, on January 22nd. So basically, the officers who went home did not stay at home for long before they had to rush back. Poor children, I wonder if their wives and children are warm enough to sleep in bed.

On January 7th, I officially entered a state of combat readiness. All the weapon covers were removed. The cannons were quietly pointing forward, and the anti-aircraft guns on both sides were also pointing obliquely at the sky, all emitting a chilling chill. This is my power.

In a state of combat readiness, all crew members were present, my organization was fully staffed, and they began to repair and maintain my various components. For a while, the whole ship was bustling with activity.

"Well, I'm leaving," Lily said with a smile as she stepped out of the car.

"Let me help you carry your luggage up." I took her suitcase and accompanied her to a transport plane that had already started in the distance. The four engines were making a whirring noise, which was deafening. It was difficult for Lily to take this plane.

"Okay, let's stop here," Lily said to me at the gangway, "You can carry the rest up by yourself."

"Well, OK, I wish you a safe journey."

"Goodbye"

I hugged her gently and turned to the car.

"Bismarck, you and my father must be fine," Lili said, but her voice was quickly buried by the noise and I couldn't hear it clearly.

I turned around and yelled "What did you say?"

Lily stood at the door of the cabin, her long hair flying wildly because of the propeller. She put her hands around her mouth and shouted with all her might, "I say, you and Daddy have to be fine!"

The sound waves broke through the obstacles and entered my receptors, and I immediately returned to

"I will! I promise!"

The cabin door closed and I watched the plane take off.

The New Year holiday is over...

Back on the ship, I told the captain that Lily had boarded the plane safely. The captain nodded to indicate that he already knew about it, and then he handed me a detailed exercise plan.

“The Port of Hamburg will be very busy these days,” he said with a smile

"What's wrong, Captain?" I asked as I flipped through the plans.

"In the next few days, three submarines and six destroyers will arrive in Hamburg from Kiel and Wilhelm Bay to conduct exercises with you."

"William? Where is my sister ship?" I heard a familiar place name

"Tirpitz? Yes, she is building it there" the captain nodded

"Captain, do you know the progress of her project?" I asked, putting down the plan. I was just letting others control the performance this time, so it didn't matter whether I watched it or not. Compared with the exercise, I was more interested in my "sister" Tirpitz

"It's progressing very fast," the captain thought for a moment and said, "maybe it will be launched in less than two years."

"Uh, two years..." Isn't that similar to what happened in history? I thought she would be like me.

"I'm looking forward to meeting her," I said with a smile.

"There's a chance," the captain said, "after this exercise you will go to William Bay for resupply. She is in the William shipyard."

"Oh, really? So we're going to the North Sea for exercises?"

"Look at the plan," the captain said helplessly, "it's all there."

"Uh...hehe" I embarrassedly picked up the information book again.

Three submarines, six destroyers, and a battleship, this is a very large formation - of course, compared with Germany's frequent two-ship formation, it is still far inferior to the fleets of Britain, the United States, and Japan.

The names of the destroyers that formed a formation with me this time all started with Z. I took a quick look and didn't have much impression of them. They all seemed the same. Was it because Germany didn't care about small ships? None of those names sounded as good as mine.

Well, luckily my name is somewhat readable, otherwise it would be very painful.

But when I read the submarine part of the plan, I found that the captains of those submarines were all famous figures later on - the aces of the German Navy. Like Otto Kretschmer, Karl-Heinz Muhle, as far as I know, their current record is already very dazzling, and they have sunk many ships. Letting these people participate in the exercise is really to improve the anti-submarine level of the destroyer... But I think when a fleet of ships is surrounded by torpedoes, this scene must be very beautiful, I dare not watch it.

On January 1500, the destroyer fleet arrived. In the morning sun, they sailed slowly into the port of Hamburg along the Elbe River. The six warships were in a line formation and docked in front of many onlookers, and then began the routine cleaning. Although the standard displacement was only tons, which was less than one-third of mine, the six-ship formation was still quite large. Given the long-term weakness of the German Navy, it brought a lot of excitement to the onlookers. There were people waving to us at the civilian dock all day long, including many blonde girls. Of course, the people they waved to were naturally handsome sailors. As far as I know, many people on my ship found local girls to keep them company.

The submarine fleet has also set off, but their slow speed is really not satisfactory. It is estimated that we will have to wait for a few more days.

The destroyer formation was led by Rear Admiral Frederick Bonte, who had been my captain Lütjens' deputy when he was the commander of the torpedo boats. He had outstanding personal abilities, so he took over the command smoothly after the captain arrived on my ship. This time, Frederick personally led the team to participate in the exercise and naturally came to meet his old boss. The captain asked me to accompany him at the gangway to welcome his arrival.

"Good day, General." Frederick walked up the gangway and saluted respectfully to the captain.

"Good day, Frederick, welcome to your arrival." The captain returned the greeting

"Thank you, General," and then he expressed his gratitude

After the ceremonial ceremony, the captain walked into the reception room with him to talk. The content was nothing more than understanding the current destroyer fleet and discussing tactics. However, the captain was no longer their direct superior, and talking too much would be suspected of being bossy. Even if the other party was his former subordinate, he could only make some suggestions. But Frederick was a serious person. I observed that he took out a small notebook and recorded the captain's opinions one by one. From time to time, he argued with the captain. According to our official words, the atmosphere was warm and the meeting was very successful... Although they were negotiating behind closed doors, it didn't affect me.

In short, the captain means one thing: destroyers must strengthen their training, preferably training to death. In the future, Germany's large fleets will rely on them for air defense and anti-submarine operations, and there must be no problems!

I nodded in agreement...it seemed like the captain was still angry about the torpedo attack I suffered last time.

What to do if a submarine is black all its life.

The next day, after Frederick, another big shot came onto my deck. This time, he was really famous, to the extent that almost everyone knew him. He was much more famous than the captain, even though he was only a brigadier general now.

General Dönitz... need I say more?

I learned from the captain that Dönitz would sleep on me during this voyage (what the hell?!) because Frederick could live on the command ship of his own fleet, but the space on the submarine was too limited, and we couldn't let an admiral squeeze together with the sailors, so I took on this glorious mission...

To be honest, Dönitz's appearance does not quite meet my aesthetic standards. His eye sockets are a bit sunken, and his ears are a little bigger, which makes him look very old, like an old man. But it is undeniable that he is a good man (this is not a good man card OTZ), whether in terms of ability or "morality" - of course, my morality only refers to his attitude towards his country. Dönitz is loyal and reliable. He is more trusted by Hitler than the Junker Officers of the Army and Goering's Air Force. In the last days of the Third Reich, Hitler believed that only the navy did not betray him - this is exactly the case. In the late stage of the war, the army and the air force more or less began to contact the Allies and were ready to abandon the country. Only the navy remained unified under the control of Dönitz. In other countries, he is a Nazi admirer, and his later order - submarines are not allowed to rescue enemy crew members who fell into the water, which is very controversial. But in my opinion, if it weren't for the Allied forces' extraordinary behavior, Germany's rescue operation would have continued. After all, there were many German officers who believed in chivalry, such as the captain... The Allies should have been the ones who should have felt the most ashamed for the issuance of that order, because it was because they brazenly launched an attack on the U-boat that was rescuing that Dönitz later ordered all submarines not to rescue the other side's crew for the sake of the submarine's safety.

Really, the Allies should be the ones who feel ashamed, but history is always written by the victors. I wonder how the history books will record me in the future, the devil of Germany? Or a brave and unyielding warrior?

Dönitz and the captain had a good relationship, and after the two met, they went to the conning tower together. After all, they would be staying there for several days, so there was no rush to discuss the issues.

Dönitz climbed up to my central agency with high spirits. The command tower was dozens of meters above the ground. He could even see a large area of ​​Hamburg from his ears on the bridge. Especially in this world where there are few tall buildings, it was a feeling of looking far away from a height, overlooking the earth. On the side, destroyers were neatly arranged, carrying the glory of steel.

"Captain, your Bismarck is truly a great battleship."

I have heard this sentence so many times that I don't feel anything anymore. My ears are getting calluses.

"Haha, Dönitz, there's no need for us to exchange such compliments," the captain said with a smile. "Tell me what you think of this exercise. I want to hear your opinion."

Dönitz nodded. "In my opinion, not only do destroyers and Bismarcks need to improve their ability to deal with submarine threats, but our submarine forces also need to pay more attention to the threat from destroyers. The smooth battles in the past few months have made those captains a little impatient. I also need an exercise to make them take it seriously."

"Haha, the achievements of your submarines were highly praised by the Führer. Raeder also mentioned it to me when I went to Berlin. You sank a lot of British and French transport ships, right?"

"Not worth mentioning," Dönitz said modestly, "the main output is still the surface force."

"Don't mention this," the captain shook his head. "Our surface forces are far behind those of Britain and France, and even inferior to the Italian navy. This is our current situation and there is no way to change it."

When Doenitz heard this, he smiled bitterly and nodded, "Admiral Raeder once said that no country's navy is as unprepared as Germany's to face war. I have to agree."

"But we will not retreat," the captain said calmly.

"Yes, for Germany," Dönitz said firmly.

"It is almost inevitable that our surface fleet will not be able to confront Britain and France head-on. The construction cycle of large warships is too long. We cannot wait. The only thing that can support the situation is your submarines."

"Captain, to be honest, I am currently researching a tactic, a method to unite the submarines. After all, the capability of a single submarine is too small, and only a sufficient number of submarines can cause significant damage to the enemy."

"Oh? What tactics?" the captain asked with interest.

"Submarines are a group of hungry wolves under the sea, so I need a wolf pack!"

Chapter 54: Questioning

Dönitz explained to the captain in great detail the wolf pack tactics he had conceived, from the formation of submarines to the way they were organized to the evacuation routes, and he gave a comprehensive introduction...it seemed that the captain was listening attentively.

"I have to say, your idea is really good..." The captain patted Dönitz on the shoulder, "But have you ever tried this tactic? All theories need to be put into practice."

"Not yet, I plan to use it in this exercise!" Dönitz shook his head and said

"That's a good idea." The captain nodded. "Do we need to inform the destroyers?"

"Tell them that they can better train our submarine boys." Dönitz also said with a smile

"Then I will inform Frederick. I hope you can perform better then." said the captain.

I listened to Dönitz's words all the way. I know that his tactics achieved significant results in the early stages of the war, but what about the later stages? When the Allied anti-submarine capabilities improved, the German wolf pack couldn't even step out of the port! In particular, the underestimation of air threats caused heavy losses to the submarine formation - although it was a common problem for my generation of warships to ignore air threats. After all, the naval battles before my "birth" were dominated by large ships and cannons, and aircraft carriers were only supporting roles. The mindset made designers despise the existence of aircraft - no one would have thought that in just a few years, small aircraft would have the ability to sink the giants at sea. I won't say much about how many submarines died at the hands of anti-submarine aircraft in the later stages.

Maybe I should do something, tell Dönitz something? My actions must be supported by submarines.

"Captain, I have something to say," I stepped forward and bowed slightly.

"Hmm? What do you want to say?"

Both Dönitz and the captain looked at me. I smiled and said to Dönitz, "General, I have some questions. I hope you can answer them."

"Captain? Who is this lady?" Dönitz looked at me puzzled and asked the captain

"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Bismarck, and I am the secretary of the battleship Bismarck."

"Bismarck?"

"What a coincidence, it has the same name as this battleship."

"Oh, Miss Bismarck, what's the question?" When Dönitz saw that the captain didn't say anything, he knew that the captain must have tacitly agreed to my question, so he said with a smile.

"I think General Dönitz is very familiar with the structure of submarines."

“Yeah, yes.”

"Then do you know how deep a submarine can dive?"

"Within 10 meters," Dönitz answered without hesitation. "What's the problem?"

"So my question is, General, have you ever considered the eyes in the sky?"

Dönitz was silent for a moment. "What do you mean by the eyes in the sky?"

"We all know that submarines have a narrow field of vision. If they want to attack a target, they must surface to measure the distance to the target. The periscope depth is generally within 10 meters. This period of time is when the submarine is most vulnerable to attack. If it is discovered by a destroyer, even if it dives urgently, it will be difficult for it to escape the attack of depth charges at its slow speed."

The captain and Dönitz nodded in agreement with me.

"But because of the angle, unless you are very unlucky and are directly seen through the periscope on the bridge of a destroyer, the chance of a submarine being discovered is actually very small. However, if the opponent has a reconnaissance aircraft, the situation will be completely different. The observation distance of the reconnaissance aircraft is completely incomparable to that of a destroyer, and the risk of the submarine being exposed will be greatly increased. Moreover, if it is a sunny day," I smiled, "I am afraid that at a distance of 10 meters, a large black shadow will appear under the water! What if the aircraft carries depth charges, instead of guiding the destroyer, it can attack directly. How can a submarine that cannot even dodge a destroyer avoid an aircraft?"

Dönitz frowned, but I hadn't finished my words yet.

"And General Dönitz, today's radar technology is developing rapidly. Maybe today's radar cannot distinguish the snorkel periscope in the clutter on the sea surface, but can you not consider the technology in a few years? I won't talk about sonar, the mortal enemy. Once the aircraft finds the target, it will directly drop sonar buoys... And if what I said is realized, your submarine formation will not be able to attack, and it will be a problem whether it can leave the port."

"Okay, I've said everything I wanted to say," I looked at him, "Of course I'm just putting forward my opinion. As for the rest, it all depends on your thoughts. I can't do anything about it."

Dönitz pondered for a while before speaking, "Miss Bismarck's words make sense, but it seems that no destroyer would carry a reconnaissance aircraft, right?"

"Do reconnaissance planes need destroyers to carry them?" I said. "Europe is a small place. Any plane taking off from a random shore base can cover a large area. There will be planes flying over the sky from time to time..."

"Okay, Bismarck," the captain interrupted me with a smile, "You make a lot of sense. This is a serious problem, but do you have any ideas?"

"Captain, who do you think I am?" I shook my head. "I said before, I am just giving my opinion. I have no idea of ​​the solution."

"But I know one thing. If a submarine acts alone, it may be able to take advantage of the enemy's inattention and achieve results. Maybe the results will be brilliant, but this is only temporary. If the enemy's escort comes, the situation will take a sharp turn for the worse. So I think that the submarine may be more effective if it attacks together with the battleship formation. Of course, this is just my opinion." I shook my head. "Don't take it seriously."

"But the submarine is very slow and can't catch up with the surface warship formation at all," Dönitz said seriously.