Bismarck

Another round of main gun shells from the battleships hit the gun positions around the Pembroke Battery, and a 152mm coastal defense gun was even blown away dozens of meters! In the basement bunker of the Bermuda Governor's Mansion, which was only a few hundred meters away from Pembroke, although it was safe, the secretary and the housekeeper were still frightened by the artillery fire that was so close that it even felt like an earthquake. Even Viscount Noylis, who had pretended to be as stable as a POI before, had now abandoned his aristocratic demeanor and shrank into the bunker of the Governor's Mansion with the others.

But even so, he did not give up monitoring the battlefield - although, at this moment, his voice was no longer calm and indifferent...

"Are you sure? The Bismarck and Tirpitz battleships have slowed down now?"

"Yes, sir, we have confirmed and verified that since 4:50 - that is, 20 minutes ago, both Bismarck and Tirpitz have slowed down to about 16 knots!"

"Humph, just as I expected, they are almost out of gas now - come on, call the fortress command post and tell them to let our cruisers and destroyers join the battle later!"

The dusty Viscount Noilles gritted his teeth angrily, then thought for a while, and as if he had thought of something, he raised his head again, showing a bit of ferocity in the flickering light of the basement: "...By the way, the fuel in the oil depot should not be burned out so quickly, the Germans will definitely find a way to rescue the oil depot...Now the artillery position is suppressed by the firepower of the German ships and crews, and there is no point in continuing to bombard the oil depot that has been bombed like this...So, pass on my order, let the fortress garrison bring anti-tank guns, rush to the bays and water jets around the oil depot to seize positions, and do everything possible to prevent the Germans from landing - tell everyone, as long as Lütjens cannot occupy the oil depot before the fuel is exhausted, victory will still belong to our British Empire!"

-----

As the cat's house was bombarded, another British position was seen in the telescope with a flash of light followed by thick smoke rising up. Soon the gunner reported that another artillery position had been destroyed.

After another round of air strikes by Zeppelin destroyed eight of the British's most threatening 381mm fortress guns, the rest of the time was basically spent on target shooting, except for some damage to the Prinz Eugen due to its insufficient range...

From 4:40 to 5:20, in addition to the two air strikes by Zeppelin with 18 planes that knocked out 18 of the most threatening heavy artillery, the desperate shooting of the three ships, Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Prinz Eugen, which were determined to join the battle and ignored the damage, knocked out as many as 28 gun positions in 40 minutes!

Seeing this, Lütjens wondered in his heart whether guidance was the future trend or something... Very good, he did guess right.

After all, it is an old saying that a hundred cannons that only hit the target once a hundred times are not as good as one cannon that hits the target 100% of the time, not to mention that the attack accuracy of both missiles and guided artillery shells is very accurate in this era. Therefore, the firepower efficiency of the Evil Spirit Fleet is simply abnormal!

But… no matter how abnormal the hit rate was, at this moment, in the German fleet, not only Admiral Lütjens, but also the other officers and soldiers around him, and even the captains and sailors of the other ships, were gradually unable to laugh…

Not enough fuel and too little time!

The German fleet did not know the Governor-General, who was a civil servant. They also did not know that although Viscount Noiles was ruthless, he had never seen the cruelty of a battlefield. He was now frightened by the artillery fire of the German Evil Fleet. However, the Governor-General was right about one thing - the German fleet's fuel was indeed about to run out.

Even though the fleet's firepower efficiency was incredibly amazing, the British, who were once wealthy and powerful but now were in a situation where a lean camel was bigger than a horse, were indeed a little abnormal - the Bermuda Fortress did not have much else, but it had enough fortress guns.

Up to now, the British still have 152 6mm coastal defense guns and 234 152mm fortress guns! Although the firing range of eight of the mm coastal defense guns does not seem to be facing them, there are at least fortress guns!

Moreover, Eugen's range was not enough, so if she wanted to participate in the bombardment, she had to get closer - not to mention that she was very vulnerable, the time it took to get closer was enough of a pitfall for the time that needed to be saved...

Not to mention, the American destroyers and cruisers have now emerged from the rear of their own fleet.

The current fleet speed has been suppressed to 16 knots by his own order - but even so, it can only increase the time by a very limited amount.

Before Lütjens could recover from his worry, he heard his subordinates shouting, "Commander! Prince Eugen has accelerated again. She is ahead of us!"

"What?!" Lütjens was also shocked!

Looking closely, the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen, which was trailing a trail of smoke, was rushing forward without paying any attention to fuel consumption, and seemed to be firing continuously in the direction of the British positions opposite!

Lütjens, who was unable to remain calm, quickly grabbed the microphone of the tactical radio and began to ask, "Top! What are you doing so far ahead?"

"Commander, we are out of time... If I rush to the front, at least I can still exert my firepower and take down a few more of their artillery positions!"

"Are you crazy?" Lütjens roared, "Prince Eugen can't withstand this firepower!"

"If we can take down their artillery sooner, we can... (BOOM!)"

There was an obvious tone of desperate gnashing of teeth in Top's reply, and even Lütjens was speechless after hearing such a reply.

But before he could finish his sentence, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which was exposed within the range of the British artillery, was hit directly by a shell in front of Lütjens! The raging fire and billowing smoke on her front deck made Lütjens' heart tighten immediately!

"Top! How are you!?"

"Hehe, it's nothing... The front main gun ammunition depot was hit, but the fire can still be controlled..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Lütjens on the opposite side had already shouted when he heard the news that the front main gun ammunition depot had been hit:

"Top! Get down here now!"

"Okay, I'll retreat after I take down this turret..."

"you!"

Although Top's heroic act was very morale-boosting, to the commander it was considered insubordination.

Lütjens could not afford the loss of any ship now. Eugen was small, weighing only 10,000 or 20,000 tons, and could not withstand a few large-caliber shells.

He doesn't believe Pu doesn't know!

"This is outrageous! Top, I order you! Get down here right now! If you don't, I will get rid of you!"

"Then you better withdraw me, Commander... But even if you do, I'll have to destroy a few more of his artillery batteries!"

"You...are you just going to carry Eugen in front of you like this?"

"Alright, Commander, stop talking... No matter what you say, we have to deal with the fortress quickly... This is what Eugen told me before, we have to get the oil no matter what... Besides, the American cruisers are still outside us, so we can destroy a few more turrets so we can deal with them later... Anyway, we don't need speed for the landing mission, and we still have you, Commander, for those destroyers..."

I heard Top directing the artillery fire and rescue operations again.

"You..." Lutjens felt hatred and anger in his heart, and he was unable to utter a word.

But at this moment, the signalman on the other side also shouted: "Report to the commander! 'Edelweiss' said that the American destroyers are still 225 kilometers away from us, in a trapezoidal formation, and are suspected of preparing to launch a torpedo attack; in addition, their cruisers are following behind the destroyers, only kilometers away from us... In addition, the Zeppelin aircraft carrier has now turned to the southwest at degrees, at a speed of knots, and has begun to evade the range of their cruiser gunfire..."

"Got it, keep monitoring!"

After hearing the battle report and thinking about the range of the enemy cruiser, Lütjens was extremely annoyed. He grabbed the microphone and continued to shout at Top: "You heard it too... Now withdraw and save fuel... Don't worry about the artillery and destroyers, just send the people up and land!"

"Okay, okay, since you said so, Commander..." Top didn't finish his words, there was another bang, and then Lütjens heard someone shouting "105 anti-aircraft gun was hit, damage control team..."

Unable to hold back any longer, Lütjens yelled, "Top! Get down here! Now! Immediately!"

"Okay, okay, then I'll withdraw first... Commander, I've destroyed three coastal artillery pieces, that's enough... Hahahaha..."

"Then get down here right away!"

That was all Lütjens yelled.

Top's joking voice came from the microphone. Seeing the heavy cruiser in front of him turning around and evacuating with billowing smoke, Lütjens, who had relaxed a little, hung up the microphone unhappily and looked in the direction of the attacking US fleet on the other side...

"The water depth in the shallows area is enough for American destroyers to come over and torpedo them. Moreover, these American warships are Benham-class destroyers with torpedoes on both sides, which can carry out two torpedo attacks... We are running out of fuel now, and we will have to turn towards the waterway at the entrance of the fortress, and we can't do much evasive maneuvering..."

"With the speed of the American destroyer, the draft depth, and the ability to take a shortcut through the shoal area, they will be able to launch a torpedo attack in about 20 minutes, that is, 5:50..." He looked at the time on the wall clock, and then looked at the situation and position marked by the staff on the nautical chart, and then calculated the number of artillery batteries on the opposite side. Although he had cursed and wanted to withdraw Topp before, at this moment, Lütjens felt a little moved for Topp! The more he thought about it, the more he felt guilty!

After Top destroyed three gun positions, the remaining gun positions could probably be dealt with before the American fleet launched a torpedo attack. Then they could turn their firepower to deal with the American fleet coming from behind - if Top hadn't done this, they might have taken advantage of the time difference between the fortress and the fleet to defeat them one by one, or they might have been caught between the two situations of being attacked from both sides by the British fortress and the American fleet. The only difference was time to destroy these three gun positions!

"This guy... if he destroyed three turrets... it would really be a big help..."

"Come here! Tell Lindemann that we should destroy all their gun positions as soon as possible, and then turn around to deal with the American fleet! Also, tell Zeppelin to send out the last plane for me before the fuel runs out - remember to remind her that this bombing will be at the 'opportunity' I told her about before!"

"Yes!" The messenger did not ask so many questions. As a soldier who faithfully carried out orders, he simply wrote down the orders given by his commander and then left!

After the messenger left, Admiral Lütjens, who was sitting upright in the main seat of the combat command center, continued to look at the sea chart, thinking about the final battle situation...

The situation is not optimistic... Now I only have this last chance to fight...

Although Zeppelin's missiles opened the way and bombed two light cruisers and two destroyers, the bombing of the airport was the main focus, and the bombing of the fleet was not the main focus! And now it seems that after nearly two hours of repair time, the four American warships that were bombed before still maintain their combat effectiveness!

With the fuel the German fleet currently has, it can only last until 6pm! Even if the speed is reduced to save as much fuel as possible, it can only last for a maximum of 20 minutes...

As he was thinking, the clock slowly moved to 17:50 in the afternoon. Almost at the same time when the last coastal defense gun of the Bermuda Fortress facing the harbor entrance was destroyed, the six Benham-class heavy torpedo destroyers of the U.S. Army had formed a blade-like left echelon at a speed of 36 knots, and had already approached the distance where there was no ship girl to provide secondary gun fire control command, and at this moment, there were only two German battleships and a severely damaged German heavy cruiser that were slowly moving on the sea at a speed of 16 knots, within the torpedo range! Behind the destroyers, four of them were pulled into a single column at a full speed of 32 and a half knots, and they were also following the destroyer echelon formation, rushing straight over while sounding a barrage of six-inch machine guns as dense as a storm!

On the flight deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, the last group of attack aircraft were ready to go...

Chapter 720

Ten minutes ago, on the flight deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier...

"Everyone, hurry up! Push the planes out, and attach the missiles and torpedoes! Our planes don't need to be refueled yet, so just attach the missiles and torpedoes...Everyone, hurry up! We don't have time!"

The officer in charge of flight deck dispatch and command is at the rear of the bridge, in the dispatch center with a commanding view of the entire flight deck. He is nervously directing the dispatch operations of the flight deck on a large dispatch simulation table with a picture of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier's deck parking space and a bunch of models.

An aircraft carrier is not like a land airport. The narrow flight deck has to serve as both a runway for takeoff and an apron. Perhaps it also has to be arranged for landing at any time... Not to mention the saying that every inch of land is valuable. Even the aircraft carrier commanders of various countries would like to have one square meter of area used as if it were ten square meters.

To achieve all this, apart from the deck positions predetermined when the aircraft carrier was designed, the only thing that matters is the management level of the flight deck dispatcher. Obviously, only by ensuring the operational efficiency of the flight deck can the aircraft carrier be guaranteed.

After all, this small flight deck is the guarantee of the entire fleet's air superiority.

Especially now, the dispatcher can be said to be very busy...

There are too many heavy artillery positions in the Bermuda Fortress and they are too dense. It is only thanks to the "FANJIANDAODAN" created by Instructor Zeppelin that the progress of the map is guaranteed. But even so, every now and then a squadron of planes takes off for bombing, and after landing they have to immediately mount bombs and prepare for the next wave of attacks... The small flight deck is now full of busyness.

Although the fortress artillery has been completely destroyed, new enemy forces soon appeared behind them. Ten American warships rushed out from behind them. Instructor Zeppelin, who had been monitoring the enemy in the sky, ordered his side to launch a new wave of attack as soon as possible.

But just 20 minutes ago, nearly 10 planes that had just been used to bomb the turret were still on the runway and had not yet been withdrawn to the hangar. Two of the three elevators on the aircraft carrier that had been severely damaged in the Battle of the Azores were still unusable. The only elevator that could be used was in the takeoff standby area on the rear deck. If you want to use this elevator, you have to move the planes that were ready to take off first. Although there is a small "nest" at the front of the flight deck for temporary parking, that "nest" can only hold half of the planes...

If the landing plane is not properly positioned, the take-off plane will not be able to take off!

The chaotic flight deck, the pressure of the enemy's constant approach, and the hot and scorching working environment of the dispatch center made the dispatcher sweat profusely. He felt his head swollen and dizzy, and veins on his forehead were popping out. He looked like a powder keg with a lit fuse, and his mentality could be unbalanced at any time...

The pressure on the battlefield was so great, and the cruelty of life and death made every soldier feel suffocated. Especially on the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, there was no backbone - Captain Bonte was loved by everyone, but he was seriously injured; and although Instructor Zeppelin had a high enough prestige, she had to go to battle frequently and could not stay on the warship all the time.

The situation on the battlefield changes rapidly, and the enemy doesn't care whether you are mentally broken or not...

Especially now that the fleet has placed all its hopes on the fuel in Bermuda Fortress, but the oil depot in Bermuda has been bombed, and it is already 5:40 in the afternoon - what did I say before? The fuel seems to only last until after 6 o'clock at most...

The situation has become so bad that under the pressure of despair, some people's mentality has begun to become unstable - obviously, the dispatcher is one of them.

Looking at the takeoff positions that were still not arranged, the dispatcher, with his fists clenched, pounded the windowsill in frustration, even though he tried his best to suppress his anger. Although he did not say it loudly, one could still hear his mutterings: "Damn it... Can't it be faster? We're out of fuel..."

"Don't worry, we still have enough time... Twenty minutes is more than enough to launch thirteen planes."

A weak but very familiar voice came from the direction of the door, and everyone in the dispatch room looked towards the door with joy at the same time - Captain Bangtai, still hanging the medicine bottle, looked pale and weak, half lying and half leaning on the backrest of the emergency gurney, and was pushed in by several military doctors and soldiers.

"Captain?! Are you finally awake?!"

A group of people were so excited that they almost jumped up.

But before they could rush over, they were stopped by the military doctor:

"The captain just woke up and said he wanted to come over to see you... The captain is still very weak and can't stand the torture... We are all soldiers, so please maintain some discipline! Be careful! Got it?"

"Got it!" Everyone, including the chief dispatcher, nodded and looked at their captain on the stretcher. Bangtai on the stretcher also waved his hand weakly and responded to everyone:

"I already know the current situation... Don't be anxious, don't panic, it's easy to make mistakes if you are in a hurry... Commander and his men have destroyed all the artillery batteries, and there are only a few light warships left. As long as the planes take off, it will be a piece of cake to face those... anti-ship... missiles..."

As he was talking, Bangtai seemed to be out of breath and his expression was a little gloomy. The military doctor who was following him changed his expression and hurriedly interrupted Bangtai's speech while he was catching his breath.

"Captain, stop talking... They still have work to do. Let's push you back and check again..."

Bangtai didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, but his weak and tired eyes were always looking at the people in the dispatch room. He even waved at the dispatch room in a naughty way when he was pushed out...

Seeing their captain being pushed out, they didn't know why. Although the dispatch room's work was delayed by two minutes, everyone now felt as if they had taken a reassurance pill...

"Brothers, don't panic, let's work hard and don't let the captain worry about us even though he is in this state!" The dispatcher was the first to shout, and after looking around at his subordinates, he even glanced at the wall clock:

"Tell the brothers that the captain has recovered! Come on, everyone... There are still seventeen minutes left. We can make it in time!"

"Yes! Don't panic! We still have time! Come on!"

Loud slogans rang out across the entire Zeppelin aircraft carrier.

With unity, everything can be accomplished. With morale high, everyone is full of energy. Under the command of the chief dispatcher and the dispatchers, the previously landed planes were moved aside. The last thirteen planes were also equipped with bombs and torpedoes and pushed onto the runway takeoff line...

--

In the Combat Intelligence Center (CIC) of the USS Helena, the flagship of the US garrison fleet, Captain Oliver Reed was also analyzing combat intelligence on the chart table and chart board...

"The left echelon of destroyers can only deploy to the right, but the entrance to Bermuda is in front of our left, and Lütjens and his men can only sail to the left... We were still a little far from the battlefield before..."

He looked at the evil spirit fleet on the opposite side which had already begun to turn its guns, and then looked at the destroyers on his side. Because they were too far away, and because the "evil spirit fleet" on the opposite side cleared the fortress too quickly, they were busy on the road and had no time to adjust their positions. As a result, the destroyers' positions were now in the left echelon, which did not quite match the enemy situation on the opposite side. He could not help but smile bitterly.

The current position was not ideal. Although the destroyer had a shallow draft, as long as it did not go to a place with many reefs, it could still carry out certain activities even in the shallows. Moreover, the destroyer was only a little over ten kilometers away from the exit, and a little over twelve kilometers away from the Lütjens fleet.

For a torpedo attack, this distance is neither far nor close!

With a torpedo at a low speed of only thirty knots, it would take a full fifteen minutes to travel fifteen kilometers. And given the legendary evil spirit battleship's ability to move freely through minefields even in the dark night and heavy fog, even if Lütjens maintained a speed of sixteen knots without accelerating, in such a short period of time, it would only take one turn to escape the torpedo's maximum range, and the probability of directly attacking the legendary "evil spirit battleship" is not very high!

Fortunately, the six Benham-class destroyers under his command had eight torpedoes on both sides. Moreover, the bandit Lu on the opposite side should be running out of fuel and can no longer dominate Akina Mountain as before.

In addition, also because of the fuel limitation, Lütjens' movements were predictable - although the speeding bandit Lütjens was less than seven kilometers away from the entrance of the waterway, compared to the speed and distance of the torpedo, it was entirely possible to drive the German crew further away before Lütjens entered the waterway.

There is a reef belt at the entrance of the waterway. The location and density of this reef belt can basically block the torpedoes! Once Bismarck and Tirpitz enter the Bermuda Channel, there is no need to worry about lightning strikes. The two German evil spirit battleships that can fully exert their firepower will definitely be able to easily cripple them alive.

But if the German ship crew cannot enter the entrance area for refuge, even if it is an evil spirit, after avoiding this opportunity, the second wave of torpedoes as anti-navigation mines has a very high chance of directly defeating the big bandit Lu Mei Huzi who has run out of fuel! Even if you can't be killed, you can force the bandit Lu and his gang to stay away from the entrance of the harbor, and at the same time consume your little fuel.

Thinking of this, Captain Reed, with a grin on his face, quickly issued a combat order:

"Order the destroyer fleet to turn left and form a single column. Then, according to the battle plan, start from the waterway entrance and launch a fan-shaped torpedo attack. We don't aim to kill the German ships and crew, but we must not let them get close to the port entrance... After the torpedo attack, immediately turn around and cooperate with the cruisers to attack the German fleet!"

"Yes, sir!"

Following the subordinates' response, the US destroyers quickly completed the left turn maneuver and fired torpedoes on the port side. Although they needed to enter the shoal area, everyone was very familiar with the shoals here. As long as they stayed away from the innermost reef belt full of reefs, there would be almost no danger in the rest of the situation.

Exercises in places like this are also part of their training...

However, at the same time that the American destroyers turned and fired torpedoes, no one in the oil depot area, which was completely covered by billowing smoke, knew that the fire in one of the relatively isolated oil storage tanks was getting weaker and weaker under the continuous shooting of three water cannons...

Watching the American destroyer launch torpedoes, the three ship girls, who were holding a water cannon and desperately dousing the collapsed oil tanks and isolation pools, all raised their heads at the same time and looked in the direction of the American destroyer fleet...