Bismarck

Speaking of which…if Zeppelin goes to the battle personally, her safety and the safety of the transport team will probably depend on me, Tizi, and Eugen…

only…

After issuing the order, Bismarck looked at the sea chart and silently calculated the distance in his mind - at the speed of the transport team, it would take at least two days to reach the Maldives Islands controlled by Japan...

When she looked away, she saw her own captain, who was also looking at the chart table with worry and smoking again. It seemed that her captain was also silently calculating the corrupt war situation...

The Persian cat, knowing that his captain was under the most pressure, sighed slightly, gently picked up the empty coffee cup beside the captain, turned around and walked towards the water room...

I don't know if there is enough coffee on the ship, because there needs to be someone on duty at night, so coffee is a necessary supply, but at this consumption rate...

Bismarck decided to first protect his own captain, and as for the crew, he could only apologize.

-

The reconnaissance and attack on the British escort carrier search team did not go smoothly...

As early as when Zeppelin began to search the surrounding airspace and intercepted the fulmar reconnaissance plane that took off from the British escort aircraft carrier, the Allies roughly deduced the approximate direction of the German fleet through the enemy contact report sent by the reconnaissance plane. After discovering the approximate whereabouts of Zeppelin, the British escort aircraft carrier search teams, knowing that they were no match for the opponent, simply turned around and, according to their own internal combat plan, began to sail in the approximate direction of the Allied battle fleet scheduled to sail from Goa Port.

Three hundred kilometers southwest of this group of British escort carriers, another search team centered on an escort carrier also began to adopt coordinated tactical countermeasures. This escort carrier formation turned directly to the east and began to move toward the position where the British battleship fleet might arrive. On the other hand, it took advantage of the headwind when turning east and sent out a group of fulmar reconnaissance aircraft to the approximate position predicted by the first escort carrier formation.

Although the enemy was the legendary evil spirit warship, even the "evil spirit" could move and retreat. The British pilots had made up their minds: even if the enemy was the legendary evil spirit, they would try their best to find out the position of the Lütjens fleet as clearly as possible before they died in battle. ——Anyway, the enemy contact report from the reconnaissance planes of the first group of aircraft carriers was sent from two directions. As long as there was a triangulation method, even if they did not send anything before being shot down, they could already find out the approximate position clearly. .

In fact, in addition to simply getting closer, this tactical action also allowed the two British escort aircraft carrier formations to always keep themselves 109 kilometers away from the Zeppelin - not to mention the simplest truth that the farther the distance, the harder it is to find. Even if they were really discovered by Zeppelin's reconnaissance aircraft, it would be impossible to launch an attack with the range of BF-190 and FW-...

So, until the sun rose at six in the morning, the Zeppelin attack group was still depressed and stayed in the standby area on one side of the flight deck...

At this time, Tirpitz decoded the Allied communication telegrams he received and conducted radio direction finding on the source of the telegrams. He found that an Allied fleet had appeared 87 nautical miles ( kilometers) in front of him and was waiting for him leisurely. According to the JU report sent by Zeppelin for detailed reconnaissance, they were three heavy cruisers and four anti-aircraft light cruisers. And according to the calculation of the ship positions, their positions were already within the protection range of the two escort aircraft carriers that had set up the blockade before.

The two British escort aircraft carriers have at least twelve fighters each, plus four anti-aircraft light cruisers. I'm afraid that Zeppelin's carrier-based aircraft will have to work hard to attack this fleet.

and……

According to various circumstances, there was probably another fleet following closely behind this Allied fleet - obviously, this was an interception operation that was determined to succeed. In fact, the enemy cruiser was now directly intercepting their route. Under the premise that the transport ship could not outrun the cruiser, they would meet in four hours at most.

Lütjens flipped through the intelligence collection compiled by his secretary ship twice, and threw it on the table. Bismarck, who was afraid of disturbing his captain who was racking his brains to think about the battle situation, stood quietly aside, looking at his captain's face without daring to breathe - he saw that his captain's gloomy brows were like dark clouds that could rain at any time, so dark that water could be squeezed out.

"Tsk... As expected, intelligence is the essence of war. Without a large-scale theater reconnaissance force, it is still a bit too passive... If it is like this, it will only lead to more trouble if it is dragged on. Why not just fight it out..." Thinking that he was just the passive party in any case, Lütjens gritted his teeth, turned to Bismarck and began to give orders: "If Zeppelin hasn't taken off yet, just let her organize an attack team as soon as possible, take the initiative, and destroy their cruisers - let her hurry up. Otherwise, there will be more trouble..."

"Okay, I'll go find Zeppelin right away."

---

The order was given, but even the assembly of the attack wave was not so smooth...

It is actually very difficult to put together an attack wave on the aircraft carrier deck - especially in the current situation where the enemy situation is unclear and the reconnaissance aircraft and escort aircraft groups are forced to maintain shifts, and there may be temporary aircraft take-off and landing operations that need to be performed at any time. On the busy aircraft carrier flight deck, it is really difficult to find enough manpower and gap time to complete the organization of the attack group...

The flight deck has been busy all the time, from the flight deck dispatcher to the ordinary ground crew, all are busy like gyroscopes. Now, the refueling and loading of the attack aircraft, the emergency combat plan arrangements... all have to be moved to the hangar - very dangerous. But there is nothing they can do...

It was not until more than an hour later, at 7:30, that Zeppelin stumbled together a fleet of only twenty or so carrier-based aircraft, carrying bombs and torpedoes, and began to attack the British cruiser fleet, which was only 200 kilometers away from them.

But even so, the effect of the attack was extremely unsatisfactory - the attack group, which was already seriously understrength, was intercepted by 18 fighters from two escort carriers, and had to launch attacks under the fierce anti-aircraft fire of four anti-aircraft light cruisers around the three heavy cruisers. These cruisers themselves had better maneuverability than large battleships... Even the fleet led by Zeppelin himself, after paying the price of losing four fighters and another being declared seriously damaged and scrapped after landing, only severely damaged one heavy cruiser and slightly damaged two enemy ships - and when the fleet returned, it was already half past nine.

Because the German fleet and the Allied intercepting cruisers were sailing in relative motion, less than a quarter of an hour later, Prince Eugen, who was leading the formation, was shocked to see six Allied cruisers in front of her, with a T-advantage posture, and they deployed a single column towards her that was most conducive to shelling.

At this time, the distance between the two Allied escort aircraft carriers, whose maximum speed was only 16 knots, and the German fleet, which also had a speed of only 16 knots, was still about 160 nautical miles...

"Tsk... this is really troublesome..." Looking at the faint black smoke coming out of the chimney of the British cruiser fleet in front of him, Top muttered and spat, then grabbed the radio microphone from Eugen's hand:

"Commander? I'm Top... They only have cruisers now... Yes, I have an idea..."

ps: I recommend a novel "Anyway, I am an Agent", Synopsis: I was accidentally involved in a game of gods and demons, what should I do? It doesn't matter, just rush through it! (Thumbs up

ps: This article is about a female protagonist... Guys, why do some people say it is a transformation... Although in a sense it is

Chapter 644: Six against one!

Prinz Eugen, who served as the vanguard for the entire formation, was more than 30 kilometers away from Bismarck, Tirpitz, Zeppelin, and auxiliary cruisers (transport ships) that were huddled together behind him.

This kind of fighting at this distance can not only provide the main force with at least half an hour of warning time and cover barrier, but even if something really happens, they can just turn around and quickly reunite with Bismarck and the others.

Moreover, both Lütjens and Top were very familiar with naval tactics. The British cruisers were most likely the same as Prinz Eugen, acting as search and surveillance vanguards. And behind these vanguards, they would definitely be their main force.

Whether from the perspective of seizing the initiative on the battlefield and preventing the enemy from joining forces to attack, or from the perspective of weakening the enemy's combat effectiveness as much as possible, fighting between vanguards is inevitable.

However, although Lütjens is always strict, he still has to remind his subordinates:

"They are six cruisers after all, so be careful."

"Commander, look at what you said. You have to believe that Eugen and I can drive them away. If we don't drive them away now, won't it be even more troublesome when something happens later? - I won't say anymore, Commander. The British are about to enter Eugen's range. I'm going to deal with them first, and we'll talk later. (Boom)... Click..."

Along with the roar of Prince Ougen, the sound of hanging the microphone came out of the radio.

Next to Lütjens, Bismarck was communicating with Ou in front of him via WIFI about the situation on the battlefield, and at the same time, he was leaning over his own chart table, plotting the enemy situation on Eugen's side, which had already started an artillery battle with the enemy. In this way, the captain could see the latest battlefield situation at any time if he wanted to.

Unconsciously, Bismarck found that he could now proudly say that he was a qualified naval officer. Speaking of which, it seemed that he had been through life and death with his captain for five years...

Five years have passed in the blink of an eye. Time flies.

But Bismarck had no time to be sad about the passing of time. She didn't need to be sad about her youth and gray hair now, because she was no longer a human being anyway.

After putting on the headphones, Lütjens looked at the enemy and friendly position marks on the nautical chart.

He looked at the markings and distances on the chart table, then walked to the window and looked at the transport ships not far behind the Bismarck battleship - the maximum speed of these transport ships was only sixteen knots, which was barely thirty kilometers per hour. At this speed, it would be impossible to get rid of the enemy.

"...The cruisers are the vanguard, and there has been no air strike so far... So the ships coming here can only be battleships... It seems that we have no choice but to attack them..."

After thinking about it, Lütjens finally made up his mind:

"Bismarck."

"Here I am..." Hearing his captain calling him, Bismarck, who had just finished marking the sea chart, stood up quickly and answered loudly: "Captain, is there a mission?"

Hearing the cute voice of his secretary ship, Lütjens couldn't help but smile even though the situation on the battlefield was grim. He glanced at Bismarck who was looking at him waiting for orders and said, "There must be an order... Bismarck, tell Tirpitz that our two ships will go ahead and form a battle line. Also, tell Zeppelin not to attack again. Let's release the fighters on duty while we have time, and then let her assist Bonte in leading and commanding the transport fleet."

"Also, we must all be on guard against their submarines. In particular, Zeppelin should tell Bonte that if she encounters an enemy submarine, she should use her 105mm anti-aircraft guns to indicate the submarine's location, and then guide the auxiliary cruisers' 127mm and 150mm guns to fire!"

To be honest, in broad daylight, Lütjens is relatively less worried about submarines - Zeppelin's perception ability can theoretically detect submarines from a long distance, and centimeter-wave radar can also detect submarine periscopes and snorkels. And submarines of this era can only attack surface ships at periscope depth at most if they want to attack without surfacing and exposing themselves - but the speed of submarines in periscope state is only eight to ten knots at most, and if the fragile snorkel is extended to save precious electricity and oxygen, the speed must be less than six knots. Otherwise, the snorkel will be flooded or broken.

In other words, the only way to intercept a submarine in this state is to attack head-on. However, if they attack head-on, Bismarck and Lindemann's hamsters will be watching them. Which submarine dares to say anything under the guns of the two ship girls?

Although... this can only be done if the formation is not messed up...

The battlefield changes rapidly, and everything is possible. The enemy's cruiser is only the vanguard, and when their follow-up main force arrives, whether my position can be maintained until the end of the battle under the enemy's multi-pronged siege and various emergencies, I still don't have much confidence in my heart...

I hope Bangtai can do a good job of commanding...

Lütjens was thinking about the battle situation with some worry.

but……

"Okay. I'll tell them right away."

Hearing her captain's order, Bismarck, who felt that she could help her captain again, was somewhat heartlessly happy. She nodded gently, saluted coquettishly, and the secretary ship, who was only concerned about the overall situation, began to contact her sisters.

Seeing this still energetic ship cat, Lütjens seemed to feel that his psychological pressure was not as great as before.

After all, she, who had been through life and death with him for many years, was the pride of the Greater German War Navy.

Being the captain of Bismarck was something he should be proud of for the rest of his life. Even at the end of his life, he probably would not forget the days they fought together.

These days of blood, iron and gunpowder.

------

"…Distance 28000 meters. Bearing 90 degrees port. Target enemy heavy cruiser…Fire…"

"Eugen understands...fire..."

On the bridge, Top was indicating the target for the artillery attack. Next to Top, on the fire control console, Eugen, with twin ponytails, was holding the periscope, firmly pressing the target on the aiming line, and slightly turning the rangefinder knob on the periscope handle, measuring the distance with the left-right combined aiming method...

After the measurement is accurate, it is time for the cannon to speak...

Boom! Boom 1

At the end of April, under the easterly winds of the Indian Ocean's equatorial trade wind belt, the Prinz Eugen, which had increased its speed to 203 knots, had turned to a direction parallel to the British fleet. The eight mm main guns, relying on the gunnery bonus of the ship girl, began to spit out balls of fire crazily.

Although the British had six cruisers, only two of their heavy cruisers had a range that could theoretically threaten Prince Eugen, who was 133 kilometers away. The remaining four light cruisers were not regular light cruisers equipped with six-inch main guns, but Dido-class anti-aircraft cruisers equipped with only 114 or 23 mm anti-aircraft guns. In fact, even regular light cruisers equipped with six-inch guns had a maximum range of only 33500 kilometers, which could not threaten Prince Eugen, whose maximum range was meters.

On the other hand, there was not enough space in Prince Eugen's 203mm main turret to install automatic loading equipment. There was only a simple semi-automatic equipment that mainly relied on manual loading. Moreover, the main gun had to be lowered to a fixed loading angle of 3 degrees each time before it could be pulled back to a shooting angle of more than degrees to fire again.

But for some reason, the sailors always felt that operating the crude semi-automatic loading equipment on this battleship was inexplicably not very strenuous. They even felt that the turret rotation angle and gun elevation angle of this battleship were definitely much higher than the 8 degrees per second stated in the gunnery manual.

Even in the turret, which was supposed to be filled with the stench of sweat from the burly men loading shells, the exhaust fan, which was probably turned up high, was somehow cool and refreshing. Even on this hot tropical day, it felt a bit chilly...

However, if the sailors think back to the farce of "the captain beat up the deputy ship, causing the warship to appear" when they were in the Arctic Fleet half a year ago, they will be used to it. Anyway, this feeling is actually quite comfortable, isn't it?

With such handy weapons and equipment, wouldn't it be a waste of this battleship if we don't achieve good results?

Whenever they thought of this, and the inseparable little tail beside their captain, the muscular sailors in vests, sweating profusely as they struggled to carry the shells, couldn't help but smile, feeling somewhat amused. They even felt that even their own work, which had been inexplicably reduced to a bearable level of physical labor, seemed to have become a little lighter...

"Hehe, there can't really be an evil spirit..." A sailor who was carrying artillery shells wanted to say something else, but he was glared at by the supervising officer next to him.

"Stop talking nonsense! Get to work! We still have to fight the British, and there's no more shells on the turret!"

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything... But that's true, since they are taking care of us so much, I should do my best." The sailor who dared to continue talking after being glared at by the officer was obviously a slick old soldier. But even so slick, thinking of a cute little rabbit, even he felt that he should work harder.

The supervising officer originally wanted to continue glaring at him, but when he heard the second half of the sentence, he somehow started to laugh.

Seeing this scene, the bunch of unscrupulous brothers smiled at each other and moved the shells even more happily.

On the other side of this group of happy brothers, the British gentlemen were not happy at all...

In just less than twenty minutes, the British were unable to gain any advantage, even against Eugen, who fired slowly and sparingly in order to save shells.

instead……

"Damn it! Full left! Quick!"

"I've already turned the rudder to the left... It's too late to avoid it!"

boom--

"The bow! The bow is taking water!"

"The speed has dropped by two knots. We are only at thirty knots..."

"What? Bastard! Gunner, what are you still standing there for?! Fire!"

"But, Captain, the Germans are faster than us... We can't get any closer at 31,000 yards. Our hit rate at this distance is, oops."

A flash of fire once again accurately hit the middle and rear part of the British heavy cruiser. The huge vibration caused the gunner to fall directly to the ground. The room was in chaos for a while.

"Captain! We've been hit again. The port deck and the rear bridge are on fire..."

"Put out the fire immediately... Gunner, you bastard, don't worry about your hit rate! Fight back. Otherwise, we'll be in big trouble."

"Okay, Captain, I'll try my best, but I can't guarantee whether I can defeat her or not..."

"Whether you promise or not is none of your business, just fire your cannons immediately. If you don't fire your cannons, we'll all be beaten to death by that evil spirit!"

"Captain, the flagship has given the order. Order everyone to turn left 30 degrees immediately. The single column (suitable for artillery battles) will be transformed into the left echelon (suitable for close-range assaults) to directly attack the German fleet..."

"What? Direct assault—wait... I get it."

The captain quickly realized that the flagship wanted them to force them to turn and shorten the warning distance of the Eugen heavy cruiser, which meant that their battleships would catch up soon!

Another shell hit the Allied heavy cruiser, and the rear main gun turret with only weak protective armor was pierced on the spot, and then a large hole with a radius of half a meter was blown open in the violent explosion, and flames flickered out of it with billowing smoke. Fortunately, after Jutland more than 20 years ago, the British attached great importance to the fire and explosion prevention of the main gun turret, and the desperate rescue of the damage control team that rushed over did not cause a major crisis such as the explosion of the ammunition depot.

However, the British captain was also a man of strong will. He didn't even blink when his warship was seriously injured. In the bridge tower, the captain was heard holding the microphone and roaring loudly, issuing combat orders and cheering his men: "Broadcast to all ships, tell all crew members that our battleships will be here soon. Now we have to follow the formation to turn and attack the German fleet, and cover the battleships to join the battle... Gunner, use all your firepower to keep shooting. Navigator, you will steer the ship yourself and execute the orders!"

"Target German cruiser, full speed ahead!"

"Yes!"

The British fleet, from top to bottom, from the "boss" in the command tower on the main mast to the "old ghost" at the bottom of the ship, hundreds of sailors on board roared in unison. And on several other British cruisers, there were also faint roars, as if they were fearless in the face of a powerful enemy.

Amid the roar of unity, the British cruisers slowly began to turn. In the hands of well-trained officers and soldiers, the original column battle line was transformed from a column suitable for artillery warfare to an echelon suitable for assault with just a collective turn. Then all the warships pushed their clocks to the maximum speed limit, and with the strong pressure ventilation, it could be said that they were speeding two cars into five, and like their predecessors, they formed a neat cruiser assault echelon and pressed towards the direction of Prince Eugen.

Even though all the British officers and soldiers knew that their six cruisers, even if combined, would not necessarily be a match for Prince Eugen, as long as they could squeeze the German ships and crews to the point where they had to retreat, they could successfully compress the distance between the German ships and crews, allowing their battleships to participate in the battle more advantageously.

It was true that the enemy was strong. But even if he died in the end, as long as everyone played the predetermined tactics and coordinated with each other, as long as they could firmly hold on to the German fleet, sink their supply ships, and consume their oil and ammunition... the German evil spirit, which was now alone, would eventually run out of ammunition and food even if it was strong.

England is expecting everyone to do their duty.

ps: Recommend a novel "I, Type-Moon, Cartoonist"

Chapter 645: Where is your guided torpedo?

"Eh? What is this?!"

"What's wrong, Eugen?"

Top, who was plotting the battlefield situation on the nautical chart, heard the puzzled voice of his little Eugen and couldn't help but ask.