Bismarck

The veterans, with red faces, pointed at the direction of the enemy planes and shouted desperately - although the sea breeze was accompanied by smoke, except for the electromechanical data receiving system of the ship-borne anti-aircraft guns that was still automatically pointing in the direction of the guns, it was actually completely hazy. However, this kind of shouting that was fierce on the outside but weak on the inside, the new recruits all understood. After all, even the oldest "sea dogs" have to save face, right?

"Sister, Eugen, keep an eye on them, some of them seem to be doing radio direction finding!"

With the professional skills of a technical geek girl like Grape, she saw that several British planes were able to sway their tracks left and right even in the smoke, as if they were detecting the signals of her radar and jammers, so she just shouted over the WIFI.

"Yeah, got it. Everyone, turn off the radar and jammers and use chaff flares!"

Bismarck responded on the WIFI, shutting down his radar and jammer, and notified the Zeppelin aircraft carrier on the tactical radio. And Eugen with twin ponytails also shut down his radar and jammer immediately.

"Tsk, the British really have so many tricks up their sleeves..." On the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, Bonte, who was sitting weakly in the main seat, spat lightly, put down the headset of the tactical radio in his hand, turned around, and also issued combat orders: "Continue to turn, release chaff, and shut down radar and jammers."

"Yes!"

With this operation, the British soon became blind!

The interference signals and radar signals of those British aircraft that originally intended to use the radar direction-finding mode disappeared instantly, while those Mosquito fighters that continued to turn on their radars were shocked to find that their radar screens were densely packed with pieces of snowflakes!

Moreover, before the British pilots and radar soldiers could recover from their shock, they suddenly saw a flash of white light in front of them - six flash bombs converted from 380mm high-explosive bombs from Tirpitz. And they were directly sent to the enemy planes with the most dangerous course and track!

Six flash grenades were fired in front of them, blinding a bunch of people instantly!

"Fake!"

The British aircraft, which had already entered the attack route and were unable to adjust their course in time, and were dazzled by the light, immediately cursed. Moreover, before they could react, the anti-aircraft guns of the German evil warships here also opened fire under the control of the "automatic command system"!

"Enemy planes are within range, everyone listen to my command - anti-aircraft machine guns fire! Sailors, load the shells!"

Boom boom boom——da da da da da——

The "Automated Fire Control Command System" is indeed worthy of its reputation, after all, it is a response to the warship's own will. Although the Royal Air Force fighters have a very high assault speed, they cannot avoid the dense anti-aircraft artillery barrage fired from the smoke in front of them.

Although its penetration capability was much stronger than the aircraft it had encountered before, in the face of the "automated combat command system" that was at full power, the number of only twenty Mosquito fighters was still insufficient.

For the ship girls, the smoke environment did not have any bad effects! As long as the target within the range was not a friendly force, it would be immediately attacked. Especially those targets in the most dangerous positions - whether it was against themselves or their sisters - all of them were the priority targets of the "automatic fire control command system"!

In addition, Zeppelin was chasing after him with a dozen FW-186 fighters from the GR-190 Wing. Although their speed was still not enough to kill these mosquitoes that were also fighting desperately, they forced the enemy to readjust their attack route.

Although the flashbangs barely recovered their effect, the British fighters, who had become helpless in the anti-aircraft fire net, gritted their teeth and persisted. However, if they could not see the enemy's position accurately, they could not see the enemy's position accurately. If they did not even know where to drop the bombs, how could they attack?

Seeing that the distance was obviously very short, but they could no longer find their position or even maintain their formation, the British pilots were a little frustrated: "Captain, what should we do now?!"

"Let's fight! Order everyone to drop bombs towards the smoke!" The two remaining squadron leaders of the British army gritted their teeth and issued an order to drop bombs, which was basically a gamble, with feelings of unwillingness and despair.

Anyway, the German ship's hull is more than 200 meters long, and it is difficult to turn, so there will always be a few that can be hit...

Leave everything to God...

The sparse bombs were dropped from the planes, making a series of water ripples on the water and flying into the thick smoke layer. The British pilots gnashed their teeth and cursed, holding their joysticks tightly, rubbing their eyes that were still stinging and tearful under the illumination of the flash bombs, and flew their planes through the smoke screen area in a panic, leaving the battlefield airspace.

Although these bombs may have hit the German ships and crews, it is more likely that they did not hit them, but for them, this wave of attacks was over. Now they only had to think about getting rid of the German fighters, and then return home to calm down with a bag of cod chips and whiskey...

but……

Among the bombs dropped, a few still hit the evil warship! Thick smoke billowed from the right side of the bow of Bismarck and the hull to the right of the rear bridge of Tirpitz.

And, that’s not all yet!

In the eyes of Bismarck, Tirpitz, and even Zeppelin himself, a Mosquito fighter-bomber that had already bypassed the front of the fan-shaped formation and whose left engine was already dragging thick smoke, somehow saw the slightly tall body of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier that was clumsily turning behind the formation! Knowing that they could not go back, the British pilots, who had to achieve a victory at all costs, seemed to ignore the fire net and the low hit rate of the anti-aircraft guns of the ship girls, and directly pressed the joystick, with a speed of 600 kilometers per hour, dragging smoke and fire, close to the sea surface, and rushed towards the position of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier!

"I'll have enough money after I kill the Edelweiss Witch!"

In the British pilot's eyes, which were already red from killing intent, the only thing left was the vague silhouette of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, which was turning clumsily in the smoke!

He didn't even pay much attention to the other evil warship in front of him!

"With me here, you can't attack Sister Zeppelin!!"

The two 50mm and 37mm machine guns on the right rear of the turning heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen suddenly started to turn. Several sailors who were standing in front of the gun firing range suddenly lost their balance, as if they were pushed by the power of the warship itself, and were pushed to a place that was far enough away from the machine gun firing position.

The next second, the anti-aircraft guns fired a volley, bursting out instantly...

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

At the same time, the eighteen Blenheims, still more than ten or twenty kilometers away, were being chased by the BF-109 fighters in the rear, and being attacked from the front and back by the FW-190s that turned their noses around and rushed straight at them. They crouched down and trembled...

Chapter 734: The Dawn That Never Sets

The battle is over.

Despite the cover of smoke and foil, Bismarck and Tirpitz were each hit by a water-floating bomb, and when the remaining Blenheims of the second batch of the British launched an onboard assault, everyone was still injured again: a front main turret of Tirpitz was hit and immobilized by a 500-kilogram armor-piercing shell; Bismarck was also hit by two near misses and some water took in.

The worst was of course the Zeppelin, which was huge and inflexible without a shipgirl in charge. It was once in danger of being attacked by two Blenheims on the left and right. Fortunately, the calm Bonte played his ability as an elite commander, and with the cover of Eugen's anti-aircraft guns, he finally found a gap between the two Blenheims, which were already hysterical and even somewhat irrational, and therefore uncooperative. He mobilized anti-aircraft fire to counterattack and drilled through the gap. Even so, the shock wave of the suicide bomber that was determined to die and exploded in the water a hundred meters away still caused the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, whose hull structure was already fragile, to have water ingress in the damaged hull again. Fortunately, after the damage control team repaired it, it was just a false alarm.

The last 186 fighters of Zeppelin's GR-190 wing also suffered losses - although the Mosquito fighter-bombers that were trying their best to penetrate the defense had no way to cause damage to the FW-190s due to the lack of rear machine guns, in order to catch up with the equally high-speed Mosquitos, all the aircraft were almost overloaded and accelerated, which still caused considerable wear and tear on the engines of these FW- fighters. As soon as the plane landed, it was sent to the hangar by the ground crew for a thorough inspection!

The Blenheims that were lagging behind, their rear machine guns were fighting back desperately! The nearly three-to-one advantage in force allowed these Blenheims to huddle together and defend themselves. In front of such a low-profile version of "a group of machine gunners in the sky shooting crazily", the German aces who always regarded themselves as sky knights were obviously not used to it!

In addition to the Zeppelin chasing the Mosquito, the remaining six BF-109s were also seriously injured this time - one was shot down, and the three super aces Walter Novotny, Theodore Wiesenberg and Heinrich Eichler were seriously injured along with their planes! When these warhawks with billowing black smoke stumbled and landed on the flight deck of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, the three were carried out of the cockpit by the ground crew and medical soldiers, and then sent directly to the temporary hospital, where they lived together as comrades and friends who ate sick meals together.

As a result, the fleet's remaining capable aircraft were reduced to just three BF-109 fighters: Zeppelin, Alfred Grieslavsky and Hermann Graf.

After going back and forth like this, the fleet was delayed for more than an hour.

The only good news was that of the thirty-two Mosquito fighter-bombers that had attacked them before, which were known in Europe for their speed, fourteen were shot down in this air battle. The eighteen Blenheims that followed were intercepted by BF-109s, FW-190s and fleet anti-aircraft guns during the final breakthrough and suffered heavy losses. In the end, only six or seven Blenheims flew back in a panic. This number basically meant that if there were no reinforcements or spare aircraft that had not yet been dispatched at the Icelandic airport, it would be unlikely for the Allied-controlled Keflavik Air Force Base in Iceland to put together an air strike of this scale.

However, the whereabouts of the Tovey fleet that was chasing them closely was still unclear. Now Lütjens and Bismarck had to rely on the intelligence points last discovered by the submarine to guess the enemy's position.

Although according to the calculations of Lütjens and Bismarck, with the speed of only 27 knots, Tovey's fleet could not get into the combat radius of the carrier-based aircraft in this time. However, if Tovey really abandoned the slow-speed American battleships and rushed over at a high speed of 30 knots, then by now, it should be close to the 200 nautical miles - the maximum combat radius of 200 nautical miles is 370 kilometers. Even considering that Tovey had to take off against the wind to launch his carrier-based aircraft, the distance could still be extended a little further!

Moreover, even if there were no air strikes by carrier-based aircraft, it did not mean it was safe. Because if there were no air strikes by carrier-based aircraft, it meant that Tovey and his men were more likely to take a shortcut through the Faroe Islands. The distance between Iceland and the Faroe Islands was 400 kilometers shorter than the Denmark Strait between Iceland and Greenland.

The more than 14,000 officers and soldiers remaining on the four ships of the Greater German Empire's Eastern Expeditionary Fleet, who had just emerged from the false alarm of the bombing of Iceland Airport and were still somewhat frightened, had no time to put down their fire hoses, wipe their sweat and take a breath before they heard the command of their own fleet commander from the battleship's broadcast:

"Head due north and continue on our way. We must get out of here as soon as possible and pass through the Denmark Strait at night."

There was a hint of anxiety in Lütjens' words that could no longer be concealed.

And the calmness along the way seems to be just like this...

Since they were on the road again at 7pm, they did not encounter any air raids or interceptions along the way until the sun set at 10pm and rose again at 6am on June 18th. However, it was this calm before the storm that made it clear that the enemy was most likely ahead of them at this time.

When the morning light rose from the east on June 18, the fleet had left the Denmark Strait and entered the waters near the Arctic Circle - from now on, this place no longer belonged to the North Atlantic, but the Arctic Ocean!

Blowing from the northeast, the wind of the East Greenland Current, which can only be felt in the Arctic Circle, brought with it the cool breath of Greenland's remaining ice sheet, blowing on the faces of the fleet sailors and the men (and girls) of the battlecruisers' crew.

To the west of Jan Mayen Island is the cold current on the east side of Greenland. To the southeast of Jan Mayen Island, in the Norwegian Sea north of the Arctic Circle, there is the remnant of the North Atlantic warm current, which puts the German fleet in a state of sailing against the wind.

In theory, the launch of carrier-based aircraft no longer needs to evade and delay time.

However, even after all-night, sleepless repairs, basically all the aircraft that could be repaired were repaired. But even so, Zeppelin only had the last 109 BF-190 and FW- fighters left...

Moreover, sailing against the wind and the current would also slow down the speed of the ship. Not to mention that the impact of sailing against the wind at full speed on the wounded warships would also affect their injuries.

Every time they were shaken from the crest to the trough and then from the trough to the crest, by the impact of the waves of nature and their own speed, even though the bodies of the four warships had been reinforced by the damage control team and the warships themselves, if you listened carefully, you could always hear the slightest and lingering cries of steel coming from the deepest parts of their steel bodies at the damaged parts of the warships and the hidden injuries of metal fatigue.

Facing the biting cold wind and looking at the rising sun almost in front of their fleet, Lütjens and Bismarck, Lindemann and Tirpitz, Top and Eugen, even Bonte on the hospital bed and Zeppelin in front of the bed, all covered their eyes, and then looked at each other with worry, without saying a word.

If I am not mistaken, the sun will not set again in the next few days!

This is the dawn of the Arctic Ocean, the sun never sets...

Without the cover of sunset, the German battleships' proud night combat capabilities would be greatly reduced, their concealment would also be reduced, and this was also a familiar place.

Bismarck felt a sense of foreboding in his heart, and he frowned as he looked out at the choppy sea.

"It's the Denmark Strait after all." She sighed slightly. Perhaps ordinary people would think of beautiful scenery when hearing this place name, but she is Bismarck, and she has to walk through the place where she was buried in her previous life again...

She leaned her ear against the bridge and suddenly felt someone looking at her from below. She lowered her head and found that it was the soldiers from the sail and cable department on the deck who were fastening things on the hull with ropes tied around their bodies, regardless of the strong wind and rough waves outside.

One of the young sailors was looking at him with fiery eyes.

Although the sail and cable department was responsible for deck operations, since Bismarck often appeared on the bridge, they had very few opportunities to see the secretary. This time, when they happened to see Bismarck's secretary standing outside, the young men stared at her in amazement.

Well, Bismarck was still very friendly to the cute guy on his body.

When their eyes met, she put away her worries, smiled again, and nodded at the young man.

Unexpectedly, the young sailor blushed in embarrassment after being looked at by the secretary, and turned away shyly to do other things.

Bismarck seemed to hear him mutter, "The secretary looks so good even when she frowns."

The Persian cat was immediately in a much better mood after being praised, and even the wind and waves became much more pleasing to the eye.

…………The other side of the sea…………

"We can determine Lütjens's direction before he leaves the range of Iceland's reconnaissance aircraft. Judging from his current direction, he is likely to leave for Jan Mayen Island. We can catch up with Lütjens by 6 p.m. at the latest, or even earlier."

In the headquarters of the battleship Duke of York, Tovey, Warspite, and the staff of the Allied Combined Fleet were also racking their brains to think of a plan of interception based on the course and track of Lütjens' fleet marked on the nautical chart.

"It seems that they have taken into account the possibility of our interception and plan to return against the headwind south of Jan Mayen Island..." said a staff officer.

"Not only that, you should pay attention to the reconnaissance position of our reconnaissance aircraft, and the position of their airport in Norway - please note that this is the Arctic Circle, and it cannot be seen on conventional maps, but the actual map here is a shrinking circle." Another officer said: "Jan Mayen Island is only 1,000 kilometers away from Narvik, and there are more than 300 kilometers inside that is the combat radius of their fighter jets. In other words, as long as they pass Jan Mayen Island, they only need to go another 600 to 700 kilometers to enter the protection range of the shore-based airport."

"And their reconnaissance planes can also find out our location and tell Lütjens." The previous staff officer nodded and said, "Although the map range of the Arctic has been reduced, the width is still not small. If they know our location, they will have enough space to evade us."

"Besides, this is within the combat radius of their twin-engine bombers. We only have one aircraft carrier. If we engage them here, we will be under pressure from both the Zeppelin and the German airport. We will be attacked from both sides and lose sight of one thing while focusing on the other!" Upon hearing this, even War-weary stood up and expressed his opinion: "So, I suggest that we give up the second interception point and intercept at the first interception point."

"First of all, this place is still within the reconnaissance range of the Icelandic airport.

Then, this place is closer to our sphere of influence, so if anything happens we can get support and cover from the base nearby.

In addition, the distance here is shorter. Even if something happens, the American battleships that were left behind by us will have time to rush over to reinforce us - it's about two hours away, and if they take a shortcut, they can get even closer!

Finally, even though the headwind south of Jan Mayen Island is more favorable to the Lütjens fleet and Zeppelin, this is the Arctic Ocean after all, and the climate conflicts between several ocean currents are difficult to grasp! And for us, this is also the headwind of the Icelandic cold current!

Even if we really want to fight against Lütjens on the aircraft carrier, even if Zeppelin now has anti-ship missiles, we are the dealer aircraft carrier with 186 aircraft, which is stronger than Zeppelin's now disabled GR- wing. Besides, even if we fail in the air battle, we are in this position, and we can continue to advance and launch a surface artillery battle, or retreat to the mainland under the cover of the base!

Therefore, I think it is more appropriate to intercept here!"

Following War-weary's words, Tovey, who was sitting in the main seat, gently closed his eyes, as if he was lost in thought. However, a moment later, Tovey fiercely opened his eyes - everyone, including War-weary, could see clearly that in Tovey's blue-gray eyes, there flashed a fierce light called revenge!

"Come here, tell the whole fleet: Intercept! Intercept at the first interception point! I will use the blood mist of the sonata to send Lütjens' evil spirit army back to the hell filled with the sighs of the dead!"

(PS: In this battle, the Duke of York obtains the following BUFFs: (Ship R) Revenge, (Ship R) Glory of the Royal Navy, (Ship B) Blood Mist Sonata, (Ship B) Death Sigh... At the same time, because Warspite uncovered the German guided artillery shell technology, the Duke of York is deemed to have obtained an absolute hit bonus in this battle - absolute hit, super high critical hit, each hit reduces the enemy's firepower by 20%, speed 40 and infinite stacking, the first round of each wave of artillery fire achieves 150% damage and infinitely stacks 3% damage increase...)

Chapter 735: A sudden turn of events

The cold wind from the Arctic Ocean seemed to carry the scent of ice crystals, and the unique salty and fishy smell of the ocean - just like the most famous dish in Nordic countries, salty and cold, with a hint of bitterness - blowing on Lütjens, who was standing in the corridor outside the bridge, drinking the northwest wind as if to relieve his depression, and the fleet under his command.

"It's a bit cold..." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Lütjens sighed.

Bismarck, who was standing beside him, thought that his admiral was cold. After hearing his sigh, he trotted into the cabin, took out a windbreaker, and swiftly put it on Lütjens.

Lütjens was stunned when he suddenly found an extra piece of clothing on his body.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm not cold."

Looking at Bismarck who obviously misunderstood him, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

After all, it is the polar day in summer, and the temperature in the Arctic is not very cold - especially now that it is twelve o'clock noon, when the sun is at its highest position in the Arctic.

Besides, even if it’s cold, the salty sea breeze can’t be as chilling as the pressure in my heart.

But Bismarck didn't think so.

"Captain, you'd better put it on," she said with concern.

Looking at the people around him with concerned faces, Lütjens' heart was in a mix of thoughts, and he even felt some regret and self-blame for his "incompetence".

The fleet had already broken through to the last thousand kilometers of its home, but the enemy's pursuers were about to arrive. After sailing for 42 hours, the fleet only had enough fuel to go full speed for 18 hours...

Now Zeppelin has mounted the auxiliary fuel tank and is driving her Edelweiss to scout the location of Tovey's fleet. However, the 186 aircraft carriers on the opposite side, the Vengeance, are four times the number of aircraft carried by the now dilapidated and wounded GR- wing!

If he was unlucky, six intact battleships with at least thirty-six sixteen-inch main guns would appear in front of his injured fleet...

On my side, only half of the main turrets of Tirpitz and Prinz Eugen were usable! Even the Bismarck battleship, which was in relatively good condition, had its superstructure and secondary guns mostly destroyed. With my many years of naval experience and understanding, when I inspected deep inside the hull, whenever I heard the faint creaking sounds on the hull structure, I felt a pain in my heart: Bismarck and the other girls were ignoring their own injuries and struggling to get on with their journey...

In the past few days, Lütjens had a feeling that the more he retreated, the closer the enemy would press!

In order to avoid the enemy, extra fuel is consumed, and in order to obtain fuel, more ammunition is consumed, and the battleship's endurance is consumed...

Sometimes Lütjens would think that if he had brought a supply ship with him in the previous naval battle in the Indian Ocean to intercept the enemy's transport operation, and had not failed in the end due to lack of ammunition...

Although, Lütjens himself knew that it was totally unrealistic to fight a naval battle with a supply ship...

Forget it... now that things have come to this, I might as well finish the rest of the journey... He can't just give up before he even sees the enemy, that's definitely not his style.

Do your best and leave the rest to God.

"Bismarck, what do you think about what will happen next?" Lütjens cleared the haze in his mind and said with a smile.

Bismarck certainly knew what he meant, but what good suggestions did she have?

So he just smiled easily.