Bismarck

After making his judgment, Cunningham looked at War-weary with a smile, a look of confidence on his face.

"Well... okay." Yan Zhan lowered her head a little, and stood in a standard aristocratic posture of a military secretary of the Navy Department, perfectly and elegantly concealing her mood. It must be said that although this old man is very bad on weekdays, as long as he is confident, even Yan Zhan will feel a little more confident in his heart.

only……

Right next to her, there was a vanguard secretly listening. She seemed to be an honest person, but in fact, her secretive listening and glances could not be hidden from the perception of a veteran ship girl from World War I.

Looking at Qianwei's little movements, Yan Zhan, as a senior, always felt that his moral integrity had been lost to Java.

After glaring at Cunningham, the great battleship, which had thick armor but unexpectedly thin skin, began to grit its teeth secretly.

"It's all because of this damn old man. He always teases me no matter what. Humph!"

More than a thousand kilometers away in Brest, at the headquarters of the German Fifth Submarine Fleet, Marshal Dönitz, who came to inspect, was looking at the icons of the Fifth Submarine Fleet's ambush area near the Gibraltar Fortress, as well as the British and German fleets on the automatic mapping board of the large mechanical command computer with the commander of the Fifth Submarine Fleet, Colonel Karl-Heinz Much. From time to time, he would reveal the legendary Hyogo Kita look, and he would look at me, and I would look at you...

"Alas, it's hard to repay a favor."

After a long time, Dönitz's sigh with a wry smile interrupted the silent puzzle.

The boss was sighing, and as a subordinate, Mu Hyul could only nod and bow, and smile bitterly.

After all, now, his submarines were about to ambush (hard) attack (attack) Cunningham's main fleet including the two ship girls in the waters of Morocco, right under the nose of the anti-submarine aircraft squadron of the shore-based airport only a few hundred kilometers away.

Just thinking about it is exciting! As the saying goes, rushing the tower is fun, so it is really fun to keep rushing the tower! (Ugh!)

No wonder Commander Dönitz had a wry smile on his face - if it were me, I would have the same expression o(▼皿▼メ;)o

Except for that ally Japan who wouldn't even use the submarines they were given, whose submarines are the main weapons used in decisive battles!

but……

"Anti-submarine aircraft and destroyers are surrounding them, and they have two ship girls... Hey, submarines are fighting ship girls."

For some reason, although the situation on the battlefield was somewhat unfavorable to his submarine force, the first thing that came to Colonel Muh's mind was not the brothers who might be fighting hard under the joint siege of anti-submarine aircraft, destroyers, and the enemy's main fleet, but the submarine-destroyer joint exercise after the Polish Campaign...

And the beautiful battleship that "played the role of VIP target" in the exercise, and the big-eyed cat wearing a wide-brimmed hat on the battleship that looked silly and naive, but actually had a slightly sinister smile.

Mu Hyul, who was only a captain at the time, still clearly remembered that he suddenly took a cold shower in such cold weather.

I still remember vividly the situation I faced in the second round when I personally participated in the exercise!

The joint anti-submarine tactics of aircraft and destroyers had suppressed the four submarines on our side, leaving them with no way out. And we don't know if she had personally taken action or used any underhanded tricks at that time... Isn't this the current situation?

Could it be that she knew this, so she asked her boss to take her, Prien, Kretschmer and others to practice some exercises... ?

As for the fact that I actually had the idea that "a little girl could actually talk about naval technology"...? Speaking of which, I was really naive at that time!

Although he was also an ace captain who had sunk 120,000 tons of ships in four voyages, compared to this guy...

In the past few years, he had experienced many stories and his military rank had been raised from captain to colonel. Mu He snorted self-deprecatingly, shook his head, and his mentality instantly became Buddha.

There is even a bit of a thankful mentality of "others may have foreseen the future, but I will take a step ahead."

"Luckily, when I was the captain of U-123, I participated in the submarine exercise with Prien and Kretschmer, so I learned what air power is in advance... Coupled with the high-tech XXI submarine, those bastards should be fine. After that, it depends on how many 'fish' they can catch in the muddy water."

Holding a cigarette in his mouth, he tilted his head back and gently blew out a donut. The weather on Mu Hyul's face suddenly changed from gloomy to cloudy.

Thinking about it carefully, Muhle's confidence came: whether it was the submarine that was decades ahead of its time, or the various ideas and predictions about "future tactical developments", he even strengthened targeted training because of preparations made through "early experience".

Come to think of it, it can really be said that... it’s all thanks to them!

Even though the British had already set up various blockades all over the Atlantic Ocean, and even though the iron wings of anti-submarine aircraft had begun to block the sunlight in the Bay of Biscay, the Type XXI submarine still had a chance of survival, thanks to its low noise, long underwater duration, maximum underwater speed of 17 knots, and oxygen torpedoes with a range of more than 20 kilometers that could be launched directly from the deep sea. Even if it was targeted by the enemy's anti-submarine aircraft and destroyers, it still had a chance of survival.

and……

Submarine sneak attacks on fleets with shipgirls? It seems there is a precedent... At the end of the Battle of Biscay Bay last year, the captain of the submarine that ambushed and sank Yorktown and Hamman in front of three American shipgirls, isn't he now the idol of the entire submarine force, the Diamond Knight?

He glanced at the face of his immediate superior, the famous "Sea Wolf King", and it seemed that he was not really angry. He just seemed to have a little complaint at most... right?

Come to think of it, it seems that our BOSS has a pretty good relationship with the evil spirit lord over there?

................................................

"Is everyone here? The meeting is starting now."

Taking advantage of the break after repelling a round of attacks, two groups of reconnaissance planes took off from the flight decks of Zeppelin and Gneisenau and searched in the direction of Cunningham's main fleet. These were four of the last five reconnaissance planes of the German fleet. Their mission was to confirm the latest movements and positions of Cunningham's fleet in order to determine some details of the next fleet combat plan.

However, now only the fleet commander has a rough idea of ​​the German fleet's next combat direction.

Therefore, the order was quickly issued to "Send a helicopter to the Gneisenau to pick up the captains of each ship and bring them to the flagship for a meeting."

Following the order, two FL-282 "Hummingbird" helicopters quickly took off from the deck of the Gneisenau with a buzzing sound, and then used their rotors to create strong updrafts, and landed gently on the narrow helicopter pads on the decks of each warship one by one. After carrying the captains of these warships, they took off again gently, and after filling a cabin with the captains one after another, they landed on the rear deck of the Bismarck battleship one after another.

As for the ship girls? Who doesn't know how plastic the sisterhood between the four ship girls is? Do they have to fly to visit?

"But this helicopter is really a good thing..."

The captains who jumped off the seats in the rear cabin instantly reached a consensus on this.

Historically, the "Hummingbird" was originally a lightweight helicopter with very low requirements for take-off and landing. Even though it suddenly received funding from the German Navy and Air Force after the Battle of Newcastle 40 years ago and was equipped with a larger engine with more horsepower, which greatly increased the load, its excellent take-off and landing performance was not affected much - because the newly added tail rotor controlled the torque balance of the fuselage very well, its stability was even better than the previous prototype that used a small engine but no tail rotor!

Besides, even if the take-off and landing performance will be affected to some extent due to the increase in weight, the newly installed "harpoon" with a universal joint, locking mechanism and air spring buffer on the belly of the helicopter, and the specially made "grip floor" covered with honeycomb-like holes on the apron, if coordinated with each other, are enough to lock the helicopter firmly on the helicopter deck at the moment of landing and touching the bottom.

Moreover, the improved FL-282, due to the replacement of high-horsepower engines, has a wider fuselage and a maximum transport load that has increased from only kilograms, which is the weight of an adult and a temporary seat, to nearly kilograms, which is the weight of four fully armed soldiers! With such a load, as long as the seat belts are fastened, it is no problem to transport a few officers over short distances for meetings.

However, many people had basically never ridden in such a thing before. As a result, everyone had already entered the meeting room, but they still couldn't help whispering and marveling at it.

For example, in a certain corner… “General Bangtai, have you sat on this thing before?”

"No, it's my first time too. Even for Zeppelin, I don't think I've ever ridden this thing before."

"Tsk, you are kidding!"

"What are you looking at me with? Am I the kind of person who would keep all the benefits to myself?"

"(Glancing in Zeppelin's direction) Hum, Bonte, what do you say?"

"Get lost! If I say I don't know, then I don't know. If you want to ask, go find the commander's secretary ship and ask. Let me make it clear first, this thing was tinkered with by the 'Navy Black Technology Research Group'. I will not be responsible for any consequences you may suffer after asking!"

"grass……"

The chattering and whispering did not stop until the fleet commander, Admiral Lütjens, with the aura of a veteran military man, and his secretary ship - which is also the flagship of the current Greater German War Navy surface fleet - walked into the conference room one after the other and announced the meeting.

But it was obvious that this arrangement would not last long. Less than two minutes later, Lütjens had just said something, and the next moment the conference room exploded:

"What?! The American reinforcements have arrived, and now we still have to attack Gibraltar!?"

"We don't have any landing ships, right? How can we attack the Gibraltar Fortress? Like last time, let the ship girl carry a big iron stick and fight directly in the battlefield? It's been a year since Bermuda, the British can't be unprepared, right...?"

"We can't use the Hummingbird airborne commandos, can we? They have such a large fortress, more than 10,000 people, and so many anti-aircraft guns. With the speed of the Hummingbird, it will be a sitting duck if it encounters the anti-aircraft guns."

"This... Commander, isn't this a bit too risky? Our jet fighters don't have a very long range, and they can only stay in the air for about one class period... Such a short time in the air will already have a great impact on the fleet's operating cycle..."

An idea to create a new article has attracted a lot of opposition.

That is, the experienced and experienced Bontai, Top, and the ship girls could barely sip their substitute coffee and keep their faces calm in the shock. But the faces and expressions of others...?

Not to mention that the three captains of Hindenburg, Ludendorff and Gneisenau were more stunned than each other, even the captain of Tirpitz, Colonel Voss, was confused and expressed his objection.

Although they were selected as the last captains of the German Kriegsmarine after the death of the nepotist Kumetz, they were considered to be the most elite officers of the German Navy. Moreover, they joined the Evil Fleet as assistants and captains, and they naturally knew how powerful the ship girls were and the Evil Fleet's outstanding military exploits, but this was almost a battle for their lives...

We, your servants...are also feeling very uncertain!

Chapter 885: The purpose of the battle!

The conference room was in chaos. The voices of doubt filled the churning room and turned into bubbles floating on the surface of the pot. It seemed that there was a plywood-like atmosphere slowly forming, saying "Don't let them turn this battle into a sandwich."

Although he had discussed this with Bonte, Top and Voss through Bismarck as usual on the Wifi dedicated to the ship girls, Voss still objected to this crazy battle plan.

Even though Rivers and the captain had a very good personal relationship, this was a serious battle decision...

Lütjens was a little distressed - if Tirpitz was the messenger and he still didn't accept Voss, then he would be even more dissatisfied with the other three captains. Although he was the commander, there were many things that needed to be understood by his subordinates before they could be implemented, not to mention that there were a series of tactical operations that needed to be explained and improved.

It is now six o'clock in the afternoon and the enemy's air raid may start at any time - time waits for no one!

If he could not convince everyone within half an hour, he would have to turn around and retreat with the fleet, and resume the stalemate with Cunningham - and even if he retreated, he would not be able to get out of the combat radius of the British and American bomber groups!

Then, they would neither be able to capture Cunningham nor escape the bombing range of the British and American forces. They would be in an even more passive position at that time!

But, these old brothers under me...

He looked at the four people of Voss who were expressing their overwhelming opposition, and then looked at Bontai and Top who were watching their commander perform all kinds of magic operations and pretending to be deaf and dumb, and drinking coffee calmly, as well as a giggling Persian cat, a serious Zeppelin, a lazy hamster like a salted fish, and silly Eugen who looked mysteriously excited...

Lütjens wondered if he was having a heart attack.

Especially this lazy and greedy cat! He glared at her fiercely.

It's fine for others, but seeing me, the captain, standing on the stage and being surrounded by them, I didn't even come out to help? !

Do you have any eyesight?

Ignoring the secretary who was shrinking his neck and sticking out his tongue, Lütjens, who was gloomy and a little depressed, stood up straight, grabbed the pointer and knocked on the chart table. After everyone quieted down, he spoke:

"Everyone knows now that according to aerial reconnaissance, the main British and American air forces in the Mediterranean have now moved to the airports in Morocco. Even the Tangier Port at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, which was originally the neutral zone of Spain, now has American aircraft fleets. And the range of American aircraft is well known to everyone who has been bombed and harassed every few days - so, we have no way out now!"

"I also know what you think now. After all, this battle was so difficult. Under the attack of Gibraltar Fortress and Cunningham, we fought with them for almost a whole day at Cape St. Vincent. And now their reinforcements have arrived, why should I take everyone to send them? Right?" While talking, he looked around. Bontai's calmness, Top's resentment, Voss's doubts and objections were all seen by Lütjens. Especially after seeing Voss and others showing an expression of "asking for explanation", Lütjens no longer had the patience to hide the answer. His voice suddenly raised several degrees, and he shouted to everyone: "That's because this time the mission was assigned by the Führer himself! Let me be frank - our breakthrough this time is not only about our current battle situation, but also about the overall strategic situation of our country!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room was shocked.

Lütjens stood in the center, scanning the expressions of everyone in the meeting room. In addition to himself and his secretary cat, there were also Rear Admiral Bonte, the deputy commander of the fleet, and Rear Admiral Zeppelin, the commander of the German Navy's carrier-based aviation force. As insiders, they looked calm. Not to mention Voss and others, even Top, an old man in the fleet, raised his head in surprise: "Broken strategic situation? What does that mean?"

"I'll tell you the truth. When I went to Berlin to report to the Marshal and the Führer about the establishment of an anti-submarine aircraft base by Britain and the United States in the Azores, my original idea was to take everyone to the Atlantic Ocean - maybe the North Atlantic Ocean or the direction of Gibraltar - but mainly to conduct disruptive activities, lure out the British fleet and then defeat them. However, the Führer told me that I can't just think about the Atlantic battlefield." Lütjens' tone became gentle again, recounting his situation in front of Hitler.

"The Führer told me that the situation in the Third Reich is very serious now - our army is in Ukraine, fighting a decisive battle with the Soviet Union. But at this time, Britain and the United States stabbed us in the stomach in the direction of Italy! Even though we were well prepared and sent a commando to rescue Mussolini when the King of Italy decided to surrender, the situation on the southern front is still very serious. Now the Empire's general reserve has already filled in six divisions and it is still not enough. If the situation over there gets worse, it is likely that we will have to withdraw troops from the Eastern Front to support - and doing so means that it is completely impossible for us to defeat or even repel Russia! And if we cannot at least repel Russia, then we will inevitably lose this war! Precisely because the situation has become so bad, the Führer gave me a death order, which is to take Gibraltar at all costs! Because only in this way can we cut off their logistical supplies in the Mediterranean for at least three months! Buy time for the Empire's war situation!"

Lütjens' voice as he narrated the battle situation began to rise higher and higher, and the expressions of the people listening below became increasingly nervous.

Especially Bismarck, with her head down and her big eyes blinking - in this day and age, who else would know her secret except the captain who shared life and death with her?

Lütjens noticed Bismarck, who seemed to be losing interest, from the corner of his eye. He remained calm and expressionless and continued to narrate.

Lütjens sighed slightly in his heart, and continued to scan the meeting room with a solemn look. He looked at the captains who raised objections with a look that was more like confirmation than inquiry: "This is roughly the situation, but because it is related to the overall situation and must be kept confidential, only Bonte, Zeppelin and I know about it. But now that the battle is about to begin, it is necessary to tell you these things - then, do you have any opinions on the battle objectives?"

The four Voss looked at each other, the doubts in their eyes gradually faded, and turned into the same firmness as Lütjens: "No more, we will follow the order!"

Seeing that Voss and others, who were old friends in private but more importantly the captains of his battleships, had implemented their determination to fight, Lütjens nodded with satisfaction, turned his head to look at the secretary who was still in a daze beside him, snorted, and kicked his foot lightly: "Since you have no objection, then let my secretary Colonel Bismarck arrange the specific combat tasks."

As the secretary of her own captain, she could act silly and cute in front of the captain without restraint, and she could ignore it among a few acquaintances. But in a formal occasion, how could she lose face for her own captain?

Besides, it's time for her to get serious!

"Yes! Captain!"

After responding promptly, Bismarck picked up the memo and stood up in a flash. As she stood up, a strand of her long bangs slipped down from under her hat brim, gently covering her pointed nose. After standing at attention, she raised her head slightly, shielding the light on one side behind the hat on her head. The sudden change of light and shadow not only made the original color of her military uniform darker, but also seemed to have a bit more iron-blooded glow.

The Iron-blooded Battleship distributed the memorandum in his hand to everyone, and then spread out a detailed map of the Gibraltar Fortress. As he spoke, he used two-color pencils to draw the latest enemy and friendly positions on the map in front of everyone, which looked clear at a glance: "According to the intelligence we just sent from the reconnaissance plane and the communication with the Brest Fortress, the comrades of the submarine force are now desperately trying to delay Cunningham's steps. At present, the Cunningham fleet is retreating to the southeast, and the distance from us has widened to more than 450 kilometers. It is estimated that it will take at least four hours to send a fleet for shuttle bombing, and it will not pose a direct threat to our army within six to eight hours. So now the only enemies we have to deal with are the Gibraltar Fortress and the reinforcements of the American fleet."

"Everyone can see that our current position is a little bit east of Cape St. Vincent. This is the opportunity we finally got after frequent maneuvers. It is also a headwind position that is suitable for attack but not for retreat. With Cunningham's retreat, there is no better time to fight now!"

The captains looked at each other and nodded, indeed.

"In fact, this plan is still the draft that was sent to everyone before we set sail. Although the enemy has sent a large number of reinforcements from the Mediterranean, one basic situation is certain: the garrison of the Gibraltar Fortress itself has not changed! Although their reinforcements can hinder us with numbers, they cannot directly prevent us from using helicopter commandos to occupy Gibraltar according to the 'predetermined plan', nor can they organize enough ground forces to counter-rob in the short term."

"Helicopter commandos... are they reliable?" Captain Ludendorff couldn't help asking, but before Bismarck could say anything, he shrank his neck awkwardly - just kidding, he just came here in this thing! A helicopter after the magic modification can carry four soldiers. This time, the fleet has collected all 109 helicopters of the entire navy, which is easily a company, okay? Besides, the "predetermined plan" was shown to everyone at the beginning, and the plan was vicious - Zeppelin personally drove the BF-12G reconnaissance aircraft to conduct several reconnaissances on Gibraltar, and the defense map drawn was fresh and hot! And thinking of some rumors that the Lütjens fleet looted the Bermuda Fortress during the breakout, who in the entire German Navy has not made some strange and reasonable associations?

Not to mention……

"In fact, the plan for attacking Gibraltar this time has already taken into account that 'they will most likely not expect us to capture the Gibraltar Fortress', so our operation has a more than 90% chance of taking advantage of the surprise attack. In addition...if you are still not sure about the airdrop surprise attack plan, then I will ask an expert to come out - Captain Skorzeny (SS Major General), can you please come out for a moment?"

As soon as Bismarck finished speaking, accompanied by the heavy footsteps of special combat boots, a tall, fierce-looking man with a scar on his cheek, wearing a paratrooper uniform and holding the rank of SS walked in leisurely. He raised his eyebrows at everyone with interest. On his villain-like face, a dangerous and bloodthirsty smile appeared, like a lone wolf.

"Oh? Miss Bismarck, do you want me to explain to everyone in more detail the assault plan of 'artillery cover, airdrop landing, blow up their ventilation holes and ammunition depot elevators, and then use helicopters to transport gasoline to pour it in'?"

"This one?" Voss looked at the tall and fierce man with a scar and couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

"Oh, this is Otto Skorzeny, the SS Brigade Captain, the Führer's chief of guard, and a special assault expert specially assigned to our operation." Bismarck smiled, even a little cunning on his face: "In addition, the operation to rescue the Italian leader Mussolini that the captain mentioned before was done by this Brigade Captain Skorzeny who personally led the commando team."

Seeing this, Voss and his men looked at each other again, and instantly estimated the success rate of this airborne assault. After all, not counting the more than 30 helicopters, the Führer even sent this kind of wolf destroyer, so it seems that it should be a sure thing, right?

only……

"What about logistics? If we want to occupy Gibraltar, it should be a protracted war. But from what I know, the railways in Spain are incompatible with our railways in France - the north is narrow-gauge, the south is wide-gauge, and their railways only go to Malaga, which is more than 100 kilometers away, and there is no large port in Malaga... In this case, the efficiency of transportation itself is very problematic..." Voss said, pointing to the location of Tangier Port on the map: "Besides, everyone knows that Franco is a fence-sitter. Look at Tangier, it was originally a free city in the Spanish colony, theoretically a neutral area, but now the two airports here are probably full of American planes - the coastal airport alone can accommodate at least more than 300 planes, and I don't know if there are any of their people at the inland airport..."

"The initial idea for this problem is air transport. The distance from Gibraltar Fortress to southern France is only 900 kilometers. Not only can Ta-183 fighters be transferred directly to this distance, but our transport aircraft can also fully maintain air transport of large fleets."

"According to the Air Force's calculations, 200 Ju-52 transport planes, assuming one flight per day, can transport 200-300 tons of supplies per day, which is enough to support a fighter squadron of about 323 to aircraft operating here for a long time. In addition, the Air Force's th Special Transport Aircraft Regiment also has a batch of Me- Goliath transport planes with a single aircraft transport capacity of tons. They were also mobilized this time."

"As for the interception by enemy fighter planes? Not to mention whether Spain is a neutral country, the Gibraltar airport itself is enough to provide cover for this air transport route!" At this point, Bismarck secretly glanced at Zeppelin, who was sitting next to Bonte with the rank of major general on his shoulders. If there was anyone here who had such a big face that Goering could agree to dispatch such a "big guy", it must be this plastic sister with the rank of major general, who had to be saluted by himself before meeting her.

Zeppelin, with an expressionless face, calmly took a sip of coffee, saying that he would not be bothered by the dead cat.

"Of course, in addition to air transport, we can also take advantage of the Strait of Gibraltar's advantageous position of dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. After curbing the supply organized by Britain, the United States and North Korea in the Mediterranean region, we can launch our own sea transport along the eastern coast of Spain. The navy has always maintained a number of merchant ships in southern France and northern Italy. These merchant ships can provide supplies to the Gibraltar Fortress by sailing from Marseille or Toulon. In addition, except for the middle section of this route, which is within the attack range of the enemy's airports in the Algiers-Olan area in North Africa, the other two-thirds of the route can be covered by air. In addition, the coastal areas of Portugal have been in a headwind for a long time, so we can also reconnect with the Port of Brest and even transfer a group of troops from the destroyer unit there to station there, which can greatly ease our combat situation..."

As Bismarck described and introduced the logistics issues, they gradually became clear. Except for the calm Bontetop, the other four captains, including Voss, whispered to each other for a while and finally agreed with this statement. The last question, which the captain of the Gneisenau asked with the mentality of being cautious, was: "What if they send the Mediterranean Fleet to obstruct us?"

Hearing this question, before Bismarck could even open his mouth, Tirpitz on the side could no longer hold back his indifferent expression. He snorted, rolled his eyes, puffed up his cheeks and started mockingly: "Hey, think about it, if we block Gibraltar, we can block their necks, right? Even if they want to build railways and ports in Morocco, we can still attack them. If we don't have supplies, will they stop us from transporting goods in the Mediterranean?"