Bismarck

Tirpitz closed his senses and stayed by Lindemann's side every day, even turning a deaf ear to his sister's calls.

She felt that she was old, and during the battle she even had the idea of ​​dying here, and that idea spread like wild weeds.

But she did not forget Lindemann's words before his death...

live.

Suddenly her eyes became moist as she recalled the helpless expression on Lindemann's face when she had quarreled with him and made him angry.

At that time, I found him annoying, but it was not until I lost him that I truly regretted it.

When did she start to rely so much on Lindemann? Was it her sister who asked him to teach her about the human world when she was little?

Haha, humans, humans who kill each other, she raised the corners of her lips in sarcasm.

Do their warships like to be used as weapons of war? Isn't it all because of the supreme operator?

A teardrop solidified into ice crystal before it even fell.

After a while, her low laughter was heard in the room. Under the dim light, the girl slowly fell down beside Lindman. Her elegant posture seemed as if there was not a corpse beside her, but a living person, still the captain who would feed her.

The black skirt and white icicles are so obvious.

"Tsk, Lindeman, you're so cold. It's not comfortable to hug you. I don't want you anymore."

"Don't worry, I will live and avenge you until the last moment..."

"Everyone is going to die——"

Chapter 861: Personnel

When Hitler woke up from a nap on his camp bed in the Wolf's Lair, he had just opened his eyes and hadn't even taken off his nightcap when he was shocked by the tragic news that the Navy of the Greater German Empire had suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Biscay.

Two aircraft carriers were sunk in the battle, two pocket battleships were completely sunk, and only three ships were left in the entire destroyer squadron, and all the remaining ships in the entire fleet were also severely damaged... The battle report sent by Raeder was written in black and white, and it was shocking!

After this news came out, although he knew clearly last night that the situation on the opposite side was that the British and American combined fleets plus the Royal Air Force were three against one, and the US Navy also had three aircraft carriers and so on, but he couldn't help being furious and was still furious. He angrily pulled off his nightcap and threw it to the ground, then started to curse.

-

New Year's Day in the "Wolf's Lair" in 1943 was a gloomy dawn amid Hitler's roar.

After all, this time it is not just a matter of heavy losses for the navy’s surface fleet, the impact on the entire war situation cannot be underestimated.

The 100,000 American troops that landed in North Africa were no longer able to resist, and with the navy's shipping capacity, they could reach Tunisia and the Italian colonies in North Africa in a blink of an eye. The main Italian forces in the North African battlefield were already struggling to confront Auchinleck on the Suez Canal line, and if they were stabbed in the back by the United States, they would probably be like grasshoppers in autumn - they wouldn't be able to jump for a few days!

Moreover, although Vichy France has repeatedly declared their neutrality, the attitude of this government, which is considered a German puppet state, is also extremely suspicious. Although it has only been 24 hours since the landing in North Africa, the American occupation area is now expanding rapidly! In the battle report just received, the vanguard of the US military is almost driving a Willys Jeep, turning on the stereo and speeding all the way as if they were in their own Nevada desert. They are almost at the border of French Algeria!

Hitler, who was so angry that his face turned red and his neck became thick, then he changed his mind and realized that it seemed that when the Americans landed yesterday, the 200,000 French troops in North Africa, apart from symbolically firing a few shots on the artillery platform during the landing, the French troops after the Americans landed... seemed to have not put up any resistance!

"If that's the case, not only will Mussolini be unable to hold on, but Vichy France may also be unreliable. It looks like I have to prepare more backup plans to deal with the war on the Western Front... But the Eastern Front is not stable yet, and I don't have any troops at hand..."

The gray eyeballs rolled around twice, and Hitler's head also swayed twice. You know, when he found out that the Soviet Union had increased its troops in the Battle of Moscow, he had already pulled all the troops that were resting and training in China and France - whether they were "recovering from the wounds" on the Eastern Front, or "newly built" troops that were hastily assembled into a large sealed carriage, stuffed each person with a set of military uniforms and a gun, and sent them to the Eastern Front. As a result, now the Russian offensive on the Eastern Front has not been suppressed, and the Allied forces on the Western Front have risen again...

Why did the Allies rise to prominence? It was because Lütjens lost the battle!

"This damn Lütjens, how could he beat me like this just 200 kilometers from my home..."

Although he knew that the Allied forces were too strong, and that Lütjens had done his best, and that it was Hitler himself who forced Lütjens to attack, at this time, such a result would bring about this or that consequence and problem... The mustache man, who was upset and a bit angry about venting his anger, was mumbling and cursing, and he also wanted to have a good discussion with Raeder about naval personnel.

However, he did not know that at that moment, Redel was also having a headache on the plane flying to Brest.

Don't say Hitler wants to change people, he actually wants to change people too! Do you really think he doesn't covet the combat power of the evil fleet?

The battle report in his hand clearly recorded in black and white that at 3:20 in the middle of the night, before the three US warships formed a joint air strike group, although the German Navy had encountered at least five or six rounds of "ordinary" air strikes, and even these "ordinary" air strike groups had stronger manpower and attack firepower than the "US warships". However, even so, under the command of Zeppelin, the three aircraft carriers and the Brest Fortress aircraft group cooperated with each other, and Lütjens commanded the surface fleet to flexibly organize air defense formations, the losses after five or six large-scale air strikes were not that serious.

--------

"Hey, so, this time the failure was actually due to the three carrier girls from the other side joining forces..."

After all, Raeder was a naval marshal with fifty years of military service, and his understanding of the navy was far beyond the reach of Hitler, an army private.

Only the Ship Girl can fight against the Ship Girl. This is basically a tacit agreement among the navies of the participating countries. In other words, as long as the evil spirit fleet is controlled, the German Navy's surface fleet will still have a certain strength - both tactically and politically.

However, he had no reason and no authority to suppress the ship girl to replace Lütjens!

After all, Lütjens tried his best in this naval battle.

Three aircraft carriers fought against the enemy's nine aircraft carriers and six light carriers, and sank two of the enemy's heavy carriers and five light carriers, and severely damaged three American aircraft carriers - the ship girl of the aircraft carrier was three against one! With such a comparison of the enemy's strength, it was already good enough to bring back the remaining fleet!

Besides, he and Lütjens had "reached a reconciliation" in public before, so even if he had some ideas now, he had to be reasonable.

What's more, even Kumets was killed in this battle!

No matter how good Kumetz was, he was one of the three admirals of the navy that he had promoted. Although Raeder had many confidants, most of them were not as capable as Kumetz! Moreover, now that Kumetz was dead, the only people in the German Navy who were qualified to continue to command the surface fleet, including the Ship Girls Brigade, were Lütjens and Raeder himself! Even Dönitz, because he had been commanding submarines for a long time and was completely different from the heavy surface main fleet, did not have enough convincing prestige to command the ship girls with great military achievements for a while!

As for myself...

Raeder looked down at the military badge on his chest and touched his gray hair - he was already 67 years old and the commander-in-chief of the navy. He couldn't move out of the naval headquarters and go back to the fleet to live in the open air, right?

"Forget it. Lütjens's behavior won't have any impact. He's just a pure soldier and won't make any big news with me. But in this case, the matter of selecting a new captain for the Tirpitz must be done as soon as possible."

Raeder felt a headache when he thought of Lindemann's death.

The biggest problem with the evil spirit fleet is that the warships have their own will and soul. Originally, the Navy Department only needed the personnel department to recommend candidates, make their own decisions, and then go through a process with the head of state to confirm the matter. Now, the will of the warship itself must also be considered.

They even "were spoiled because they were the strategic weapons of the country" and had a history of daring to dismiss captains officially appointed by the Navy! Wasn't the man recommended by Kumets to be the captain of the Prinz Eugen a precedent?

And as we all know, the four ship girls of the German Navy are obviously a small group within the army, and Lütjens has become a "lord who listens to orders but not announcements within the navy"! In other words, Lütjens himself is honest and does not make trouble, otherwise his authority will be gone sooner or later!

Not being able to control subordinates is a very dangerous thing for the superiors - this has nothing to do with character, but only with power and the integrity of the military system! There is a name for those who have their own troops and factions, and they are called warlords!

(Although Redel also knew that he was not much better)

In order to win over the people, Lindemann was awarded the rank of lieutenant general posthumously, and he was also awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross posthumously - this was nothing to Raeder, as he didn't care about such a little "meaning" since the person was dead. But who would replace Lindemann next?

According to the information he had obtained, Tirpitz's ship girl was very willful in her daily life, and after Lindemann's death, she was now a bit isolated and rebellious - this kind of "thorn" was the character that Lei hated the most, but at the moment, he had no other good solution.

"Forget it. Let's find someone who has a better relationship with Lütjens to buffer the relationship, and then we can take it slowly. Even if Tirpitz makes trouble, Lütjens will suppress it. When her temper is not so volatile, I will think of some way to make her..."

Raeder quickly thought of a way to expand his influence without provoking opposition from the ship girls.

Besides, under the current circumstances, the head of state will also put more pressure on the navy. As the admiral of the navy, in addition to ensuring the "order" within the navy, he also has to find a way to ensure that the navy can be "united".

Chapter 862: Some are happy, some are sad

"Hans Erich-Voss?"

In the port of Brest, where plumes of smoke were still rising, Lütjens and his companions looked at each other in bewilderment at the candidate proposed by Raeder for the new captain of the battleship Tirpitz.

"What do you think of this man?" Bismarck gently pulled Lütjens's clothes under the table and asked in a low voice.

After all, she is my sister's new captain, and as her elder sister I have to get to know her better.

"Voss...Is he okay?" Lütjens did not avoid Reder and nodded slightly, his face thoughtful.

The reason for all these thoughts is not because there is anything special about this person, but because this person is very normal, even too normal.

The overall size of the German Navy is only this large. After all, there are only about forty destroyers launched so far. Although the number of large surface ships (light cruisers and above) has been reduced from sixteen in the original plan to twenty-one, this scale is definitely not too large - even this navy has almost more generals than ships.

However, the overall size of the navy is here, and the number of officer positions and officers that can be provided is also here. To put it bluntly, even if the German navy is a shallow pond with many turtles, at least many people know each other. Even if they have never met each other for various reasons, at least they will have heard of such a person somewhere.

The circle is so small, how can anyone not recognize anyone else?

Even if the ship girls are not familiar with Hans Erich Voss, the captains here all know him! Not to mention, when he was in the gunnery department, he and Lütjens were superiors and subordinates, and their relationship was pretty good.

He joined the navy in 1915, two years younger than Lindemann. When the navy was rebuilt after the war, he served in the gunnery department of the training institution, and then he was promoted step by step without any special performance. Although he did not have any outstanding performance in the past ten years, he could be regarded as a senior naval colonel to some extent, and he was indeed qualified to serve as the new captain of Tirpitz. Speaking of which, Lindemann's resume before serving as the deputy captain of Bismarck was also a career that he had climbed up repeatedly in various levels of communication classes and staff offices.

Besides, come to think of it, Lindemann is basically a nerd in the communications class.

Apart from participating in Operation Albion in 1917 (an amphibious landing in the Gulf of Riga, followed by a direct march to St. Petersburg, which led to the loss of prestige and eventual collapse of the Kerensky Provisional Government in Russia), and several shipping operations in the Spanish Civil War, Lindemann actually did not participate in many front-line combat operations.

So from this perspective, there is nothing wrong with Voss being the captain of Tirpitz, and he is surprisingly a good fit.

only……

When the superior appoints a new captain, he has to "seek opinions" from his subordinates. I always feel something is wrong when I tell them about it. What the hell is going on?

When he thought of this, Top, who was sitting next to him, twitched his mouth secretly.

After all, he and the Prince Eugen did have a previous record.

Although this matter is actually not a secret, but looking at it in this kind of situation...it just feels so awkward!

"So, Marshal, you intend to make him the new captain of Tirpitz?"

They were all old partners who had fought together for many years. What Top could think of, Lütjens and Bonte naturally thought of as well. The three of them looked at each other, exchanged opinions with their eyes, and finally Lütjens asked.

"Yes, I think he is the most suitable for now - what do you think? If you think he is not suitable, I will help Tirpitz pick a few more when I return."

Redel said this with a smile on his face, and his expression was as sincere as possible.

But in his heart... it was really embarrassing to tell others that letting a battleship choose its captain. In the history of the development of the world's navy, this was probably the first time that personnel appointments and dismissals had to be approved by the battleship itself. He, as the naval marshal, was going to lose face.

But who can blame this battleship for being so special? Raeder sighed secretly.

"This……"

Lütjens and his companions all thought that something was wrong, but Raeder was the Admiral of the Navy, and it was only natural for him to appoint the captain. If there was anything wrong, it was probably the attitude of the battleship itself...

Several people looked at each other again, and then collectively turned their heads to look at the corner at the edge of the table. There was a lonely seat there, where sat a Deep Sea Tirpitz who looked so lonely that he even seemed to be dying.

Deep Sea Tirpitz just sat there motionless, dressed in black, with white hair, looking indifferent and lonely.

The little hamster, who originally seemed to be uninterested in big or small things but actually had a radar of hair on his head that was always turning left and right, betraying his curiosity, has now become as cold as an iceberg in the Arctic Ocean, full of indifference that keeps strangers away.

Her warmth and happiness had been buried in the cold bottom of the battleship along with Lindemann in her heart.

Looking at Tirpitz in front of them, and thinking about the proud and happy little hamster before, several people couldn't help but feel a pain in their hearts.

"Grapes..."

Bismarck gently stretched out her hand, but she didn't want to be so cruel as to disturb her sister's sorrow.

She could guess why Tizi had that expression.

After all, on the one hand, the Navy Department was making personnel appointments in accordance with wartime regulations, but on the other hand, Lindemann's body was still warm.

However, it was part of the cold-blooded military order that the successor captain would be appointed when the previous captain died in battle.

Not only did she have no way out, her own captain, Lütjens, also had no way out...

but……

Just as Bismarck was still considering how to continue speaking, Deep Sea Tirpitz, who had been sitting there, finally moved his eyes a little. His expressionless face did not change at all, and he did not even turn his neck. Only his cold and indifferent dead fish eyes glanced at this side of the conference table. His blue-gray lips, which seemed to be cast in steel, pursed slightly, and only a few mechanical and emotionless words came out like an order to expel a guest:

"New Captain, I have no objection."

As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes turned back, his lips continued to be tight, and the corners of his mouth with sharp angles as if cast in steel continued to sink, and he once again returned to his previous expression of being silent and dazed.

The corners of her eyes were as dry as cast steel or iron, icy cold, without even a trace of tears.

"This……"

Seeing this, not only Bismarck felt a tightness in his heart, Zeppelin and Eugen felt uncomfortable, and even Lütjens, after looking at Bonte and Top, could only sigh silently.

However, Redel looked calm and collected, drinking tea from the cup while looking at this side, without any expression of impatience.

"Tirpitz, this is Colonel Voss's information. Do you want to take another look at it?"

"No, I don't mind. You guys can do whatever you want."

"Oh well……"

After asking several times and sighing, Bismarck and Lütjens nodded to each other, confirming that Tizi had indeed repeatedly expressed that she had no objection to the new captain named Voss. Lütjens and Bontetop also looked at each other, and finally could only nod to Raeder, who looked relaxed and seemed not impatient at all.

Seeing Lütjens nod in confirmation, Reder's expression was as gentle as usual.

Voss is not his confidant, but this is exactly the effect he wants!

Lütjens and his group "re-accepted" his appointment as the captain of the warship, so the purpose of his visit this time was achieved! Raeder, who felt that the overall situation was settled, immediately confirmed the end of the topic:

"Since everyone, including Tirpitz, agrees, I will appoint Colonel Voss to serve here. I hope you can cooperate with him happily. Then, let's move on to the next topic: repairing damaged warships and modifying the 'ship-borne anti-aircraft missiles', and how the surface fleet should maintain its combat effectiveness in the next step..."

"Marshal, we only have one shipyard right now, Saint-Nazaire, and we can only repair and modify two ships at the same time..."

"I have asked Tot to dig a new dock in Bordeaux. Our warships have some self-repair capabilities. For those ships that are not seriously damaged, we can repair the above-water parts first, and then send divers to repair the underwater parts. The damage in this battle is basically caused by missiles, and the underwater damage is not very serious. So, I plan to arrange it like this..."

"Marshal, Commander, on behalf of the Prinz Eugen, I apply for priority modification of anti-aircraft missiles..."

"Gneisenau was badly damaged this time, and now her damaged 380 turrets are no longer in stock, and the extra guns are now pulled to the Atlantic Wall... My opinion is that you can consider converting her into an aircraft carrier."

"If that's the case... I also have a suggestion: the main offensive force of this naval battle is heavy anti-ship missiles, but now it seems that we may need new long-range heavy anti-ship missiles. I suggest investing in research and development..."

"Oh? Bismarck, what bold ideas do you, Dr. Weird Cat, have?"