Bismarck

"Captain, we have crossed the strait and are approaching Stavanger."

"Stavanger? Very good, we will separate from the fleet here and use flag signals to tell Bonte that we are moving forward. They are starting to head north!"

"Yes, Captain." Lindemann agreed, but he soon hesitated, "Captain, we have been discovered. Is it necessary to continue this feint?"

"Go on, why not?" Lütjens asked with a smile. "According to my guess, although the reconnaissance plane found our tracks, it certainly did not confirm the number of our ships, so it approached to continue the reconnaissance. As long as our number is not confirmed, the British dare not be completely sure of our destination, which is already our advantage. In this case, as long as we continue to move forward, we can still confuse them."

"But what if our numbers are confirmed?" Lindemann asked.

"This is just a hypothesis, but even if there is a 30% chance, it's worth a try." The captain said calmly.

"Okay, I understand. I'll go tell you right away."

What Lütjens didn't know was that the British High Command already knew that "all" of the German fleets were crossing the channel and heading towards the North Sea. In some ways, he really had to thank the dead pilot...

In the British Admiralty, a group of generals are still arguing in the meeting room.

"The Germans' target is most likely Norway!" A lieutenant general pointed at the nautical chart. "They want to bypass our blockade from the north and head to Narvik to ensure the safe transportation of their strategic resources, iron ore and molybdenum!"

"But it is also possible that they will attack our transportation lines in the Atlantic, or at least send some of their warships to attack the transportation lines..." A man who seemed to be a senior staff officer retorted, "The pilot reported that all the big warships crossed the strait and headed for the North Sea. If the Germans want to attack Norway, how could they not send part of their fleet to Oslo?!" (Oslo is the capital of Norway)

"What's the situation in Norway?" another general asked a civilian.

"The situation is fine. We have informed them to be on guard against possible attacks," the civilian said. "The Norwegian government said they will continue to support us..."

"But we don't have enough troops now!" Another admiral said worriedly, "We don't have enough troops now. In order to fight against the Bismarck battleship, the Hood just entered the factory for a major overhaul last month. The latest King George V will not be completed until October at the earliest, and it will take some time to form combat effectiveness. Now all we can use are reputation and counterattack, but the Germans are estimated to have at least three high-speed battleships, Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. We have a lot of those outdated battleships, but we can't catch up with them at all. What's the use..."

"Now we can only rely on sending battleships to escort the merchant fleet. Those old battleships are good enough for escort, but our home fleet only has two battleship squadrons with six battleships. To deal with the Germans, we have one battleship and two battlecruisers. An escort fleet needs at least two to ensure safety. Canada still has two R-class battleships, but those two are used to escort the returning fleet..."

"What about the French? They said they also want to maintain Norway's international order. Why don't they bring out their Dunkirk-class ships for a spin?" A general said dissatisfiedly, "Why are we the only ones worrying about this?"

"You'd better not count on them. They said they want to defend against the Italians, so they don't want to move... Besides, let alone whether Dunkirk can defeat Bismarck, I don't really trust them based on the quality of the French Navy..."

Well, after all, they have been enemies for three hundred years and were defeated by the British... It is normal for the British to look down on the French.

"But how should we allocate our forces? Bismarck's high-speed warships are threatening enough, and the German attack ships mentioned in the intelligence have also gone out, and they must be trying to attack our transport fleet. We have sent cruisers to patrol several straits for these "pirate ships". But we haven't caught any so far. They should have left the Atlantic by now, and there is Norway here. We don't have enough troops!"

The once glorious Royal Navy of the British Empire is now indeed on the decline. This is the feeling of all the generals present. At least in the past, such a situation of being stretched everywhere was unlikely to occur.

Listening to the noisy voices in the meeting hall, an old man who was leaning on the main seat and seemed to be resting with his eyes closed finally spoke.

As soon as the old man spoke, the vegetable market below immediately became quiet.

"Those German high-speed warships are definitely a big problem. We don't know where their fleet is going, but I don't believe the information collected by the Military Intelligence Department that they are going to attack our homeland." The old man spoke in a weak voice, but with a strong majesty. "Even if our current situation is not as good as before, it is unrealistic for the German fleet to confront us head-on."

"The only possibility is to destroy our transportation lines." The old man said lightly.

"So, no matter what, there are only two directions to go: Norway and the Atlantic Ocean."

"Let me talk about Norway first. They are going to land in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, and of course the most important port of Narvik. The Germans have to go to Narvik, especially! As long as this port is not guaranteed, Hitler's lifeline of resources will be in the hands of our British Empire! When the time comes, he won't dare to go west if he is asked to go east! So they will definitely go! Our two battlecruisers, Renown and Repulse, and the aircraft carriers, Glorious and Ark Royal, must go out immediately. No, they must go out now! Renown and Repulse will work together to focus on searching Narvik. Glorious and Ark Royal will use planes to search the North Sea separately. We must find them."

"Is the pilot sure they didn't send a fleet toward Oslo?" the old man asked.

"He said this..." a general replied.

"What about others?"

"It has been shot down."

The old man sighed.

"As for the battleships on the Atlantic side, we have Resolve and Revenge in Canada, Rodney, Nelson, Sovereign, and Warspite on the mainland, and we can also take one from the Mediterranean - let's take Ramirez! For escort, we can let Sovereign and Ramirez do it. Although they are slow, they can provide escort. So the remaining Rodney, Nelson and Warspite can go and cause trouble for the Germans. This force is more than enough! Haha, just Bismarck (Cricket Persian Cat)..."

"So even if we fail in Norway, at least we don't have to worry about the lifeline of the Atlantic Ocean, right?"

"So let's do it. God bless England!"

All the generals in the venue stood up and saluted in unison.

"YES SIR!!!"

The wily old man couldn't help but reveal a typical old fox's sly smile.

Admiral Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord of the United Kingdom, is in poor health, but he is a shrewd and scheming "old fox"!

At dusk on April 4, a large number of British warships set out from Scapa Flow.

ps: We will see you next year after this chapter ends~ Happy New Year everyone! Wish you good luck and prosperity, and give me the red envelope~

Chapter 81: Firefly Light

At 8:00 a.m. on April 8, the Firefly, which had completed its search and rescue mission, began to return. It was patrolling near the North Sea at the time. After receiving the rescue order from the headquarters, it set out to the Skagerrak Strait overnight to rescue the pilot Edward who was shot down by the German army. Unfortunately, they searched the crash site but could not find any trace of the pilot. Only the wreckage of the plane was found by chance. In addition, the sea conditions in the strait were bad, and the rescue could not continue. The helpless captain, Major Gerard Broadmid Rupp, could only announce his return.

"Captain, there is a fog area ahead." The navigator came up to report that the bad sea conditions were still continuing. Heavy rain mixed with strong winds formed patches of poor visibility on the sea surface, which was a great threat to the navigation of ships.

"Add another lookout to increase alert." Gerard ordered, "and slow down a bit, and pay attention to the surroundings."

"understand!"

The Firefly plunged into the vast fog area and began its brave and legendary battle.

In the morning, the weather began to clear up, the north wind blew strongly, and the clouds and fog gradually dissipated.

"German destroyer spotted!!!" With the lookout's shout, the atmosphere in the Firefly's bridge suddenly became tense.

"Where?" Captain Gerard picked up the telescope and looked in the direction the lookout pointed. Sure enough, two German destroyers were speeding on the looming sea. As for places farther away, they were still hazy and could not be seen clearly.

But, that's enough.

"Approach them!" Major Gerard, who inherited the fine tradition of the British Army to fight every enemy, shouted, "Ready the guns!"

The four 120mm naval guns quickly aimed at the German destroyer and opened fire the moment it came into range.

"Record the dispersion, it's too close, make corrections!" Gerard personally observed with a telescope. Four water jets burst out dozens of meters away from the left side of the German ship, but did not hit the target, so he shouted.

"Understood!" The gunner replied on the phone.

The German destroyers were caught off guard by the shells falling from the sky. The two destroyers belonged to the German naval squadron led by the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. They were transporting landing troops to Trondheim. They had wanted to hide themselves in the fog, but they were caught red-handed.

The German destroyer was full of landing troops, and if it engaged the British, it would suffer heavy casualties, so the German captain immediately ordered a turn to break away from the Glowworm. At the same time, he sent a telegram to the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, requesting fire support.

"Captain, the German ship is turning!" the lookout shouted even louder, "It is disengaging at high speed!"

"Catch up." Gerard only said one sentence.

While the Firefly was chasing the German destroyer, Major Gerard also reported the whereabouts of the other party to the nearest friendly force - the battlecruiser Renown, about 140 miles northeast of him, was searching for the German fleet in the North Sea. After receiving the news, he immediately led two destroyers to support at high speed, and the battlecruiser Repulse also came at the same time...

At the same time, the Bismarck in the North Sea was also discovered by reconnaissance aircraft in the sky. All the carrier-based aircraft on the Glorious aircraft carrier, which was responsible for the search mission, were immediately dispatched. Seventeen Swordfish were divided into two groups. Relying on the good stability of biplanes, they ignored the north wind and lined up in a neat horizontal line like ancient knights, rushing straight from the bow and starboard side of the Bismarck!

"Battle Alert!!!"

In fact, the moment the swordfish entered my perception range, all my artillery had entered the aiming state, and they could be fired at any time as long as they were loaded.

The well-trained crew members quickly ran to their respective combat positions, stuffed shells into my gun barrel one by one, and closed the bolt.

"Bismarck, fire freely once you are within range!" Lütjens looked at the two teams of biplanes getting closer and closer without any concern. He knew that with Bismarck's perception ability and upgraded anti-aircraft firepower, he would not have to worry too much even if there were twice as many of them.

"Understood!" Bismarck said loudly.

"Too slow." Bismarck shook her head. In her mind, these biplanes were like turtles. She admired the charging spirit of these knights, but many things could not be solved by courage alone.

"Tirpitz, watch out!"

"Fire!"

率先开火的自然是105mm防空炮，但是——由于剑鱼的速度太慢(最大速度才240KM/H,折合每秒66米)，从SKC33式105高炮有效射程13KM处飞到鱼雷射程1KM内，12KM的距离需要整整3分钟！而SKC33的持续射速是6秒/发,最开始的爆发射速甚至可以达到4秒一发!!!尤其是配上VT引信以后,基本上只要在爆炸范围内的剑鱼都逃不掉。所以当炮击开始的时候，俾斯麦号上的人只看到在105高炮的齐射下,右舷的剑鱼一架接一架的拖着黑烟摔进了海里······

It's a massacre!

But even though there was no chance of winning, the British torpedo planes still charged fearlessly in a neat formation, ignoring the sacrifice of any team members! Moreover, their two-way attack was also an attempt to make the Bismarck lose sight of one thing while focusing on another. Due to its width, the anti-aircraft firepower on the front was not as strong as that on the side, and the front was approaching faster than the sailing speed...

While the Bismarck's anti-aircraft firepower was dealing with the Swordfish on the side, the Swordfish flying from the front quickly approached her.

"Captain, do you want to turn?" she asked.

Because the Bismarck was so large, there was a delay of more than a minute for turning. If it didn't turn, it would be too late to turn when they got close.

The helmsman began to panic: "Captain, if we don't turn now it will be too late..."

In fact, Bismarck was a little worried... Although there were still 37 guns on the ship that had not fired, and she was very confident in the newly replaced 37 guns, but that was her bow after all. She would always be afraid of disfigurement, cough cough cough, you know, she's a girl.

"No need to turn!" Lütjens looked stern, without showing any expression.

"The bow of the ship has the lowest probability of being hit by a torpedo and the least damage! And..."

He glanced at the Bismarck and said, "Our current 37mm gun is not the same as before! Gunner! Bismarck's 37mm anti-aircraft gun is ready!!!"

"Knock them down!"

"Yes!! Prepare the 37mm anti-aircraft guns ahead! Target the enemy's lead aircraft!!" the gunner gave the command in a clear and decisive manner.

Several groups of 37mm anti-aircraft gun fire control devices below began to command the anti-aircraft guns to aim at the target. When the enemy's lead plane entered the range, with an order, the four 37mm anti-aircraft guns in the front spewed out flames. With the help of the tracer emitted by the bottom of the shell, Bismarck saw clearly that four fire snakes flew towards the target. After about six or seven seconds, they accurately covered the figure of the enemy's lead plane. A shell hit the nose propeller of the enemy's lead plane, and then "boom" a fireball blew up the front half of the plane. The Swordfish plunged into the sea with black smoke, carrying the torpedo that had not been launched in time.

"Attention, 37mm anti-aircraft guns on both sides! Shoot the next target in order!" Following the order from the gunner, the 37mm anti-aircraft guns on the left and right sides began to shift their firepower and shoot at the two planes on the left and right sides of the enemy's leader plane. And some of the 37mm anti-aircraft guns at the back that were previously blocked by the superstructure also turned around and opened fire. The plane on the right soon fell with a trail of smoke, and the one on the left wing was a little troublesome, but after Bismarck corrected the parameters himself, it was immediately hit crookedly.

As time went by, they were out of the attack route. Other enemy planes on the two sides tried to turn around and attack, but because the distance was too close and they were facing head-on, the closing rate was faster, and the Swordfish dragging heavy torpedoes could not turn at such a short distance. As the distance on the Bismarck side shortened, even the 20mm anti-aircraft guns that could only watch the fun due to insufficient range joined in. For a while, all kinds of artillery sounds rumbled, and the British planes were seen falling into the sea like dumplings.

In the end, all the British Swordfish planes that could not even get close to the torpedo range were sunk in the sea, and the only casualty on the Bismarck was a sailor who accidentally stepped on an anti-aircraft shell on the ground and got a bump on his head...

The air defense operation was a great victory.

Bismarck breathed a sigh of relief. She was also very afraid of swordfish before the battle. After all, Bismarck died at the hands of a swordfish before. She always had a shadow on her. Fatalism sometimes flashed through her mind. However, after this battle...

"Bismarck, you did a good job." Lütjens smiled and patted Bismarck on the shoulder. "Your anti-aircraft firepower is very good now."

"Captain, you're too kind." She said with a smile.

"Sister is so awesome!!!" Tirpitz was so happy that she almost jumped up in her mind. Since the little girl could not go to the bridge, she could only watch the "live broadcast" of the battle in her room.

"Huh, Grape, what have you learned?" Bismarck smiled and said, "Do you want me to test you?"

"Ah——" the voice in consciousness immediately died down.

While the Bismarck was destroying all the invading British carrier-based aircraft, the battle on the other side also entered a fierce battle. An hour after the three destroyers entered the pursuit battle, the heavy cruiser Hipper arrived at the battlefield, and its eight 8mm main guns roared and joined the battle.

There was also a small incident during this. Because three destroyers were spotted chasing each other at a distance, and visibility had not yet been restored, the heavy cruiser Hipper, which had just arrived, could not determine which one was the British destroyer at first. However, relying on his own elementary school student ability, the captain of Hipper finally determined that the first two being chased were his own, and turned to attack the last destroyer.

It turns out that he did not choose the wrong target...

ps: Everyone is so awesome!!! Happy Year of the Monkey~

Chapter 82: Firefly Light (II)

Captain Helmut Heyer stood in the bridge and gave calm commands. Based on the information from his own destroyers, he knew that there was only a lone ship on the opposite side. It was a very easy task to sink a lone destroyer with the firepower of a heavy cruiser, so no one was very nervous.

But he still had to be quick. The colonel knew that once the enemy destroyers discovered him, they would definitely report it. It would not be a fun thing if he was surrounded by the reinforcements.

A quick victory is the most important thing now.

"Prepare for bombardment!" shouted Colonel Helmut Heyer.

Admiral Hipper responded quickly by turning, changing the direction from the bow cutting in to parallel with the Firefly. The four twin turrets slowly turned and aimed at the target twelve nautical miles away on the starboard side.

"Fire!" With the order, eight naval guns fired the first round of salvos, and a few seconds later eight jets of water exploded on the starboard side of the Firefly.

"The landing point is too far!" The observer immediately reported the observation results, and soon, a new round of calculations began in the fire control room.

"Fire!"

The muzzle was lowered a little, and eight shells flew towards the target with a lower trajectory. A few seconds later, water splashed again. This time the distance was correct, but there was a problem with the dispersion. They were either to the left or to the right, and none of them hit the Firefly.

"Come again!" Helmut Heyer said in a deep voice.

After being bombarded twice, Firefly immediately gave up chasing the German destroyer and began to flee the battlefield at high speed, hoping to break away from Hipper's contact. At this time, the news of the appearance of the German heavy cruiser was also reported to the headquarters, and the British fleet was already on the way.

"Fire!"

The third round of shelling still missed, but it was very close.

The fourth round was loaded and fired quickly.

Luck was not on the Firefly's side this time. With a loud bang, a high-explosive bomb hit its bridge and thick smoke billowed out.

"Cough, cough, cough." Gerard got up from the ground in a panic, coughed violently a few times, and wiped the blood off his forehead.

"Is anyone hurt?" he shouted.

"The navigation captain is dead!" A sailor came over with blood all over his face to report.

The high-explosive bomb hit the rear of the bridge, right where the chart room was, so the helmsman and the captain were not hurt. However, the navigator who was studying the chart was unfortunately killed on the spot, and the flying shrapnel cut off half of his head...

"Have the damage control gone?" Not caring about being sad about someone's death, Gerard frowned as he watched the thick smoke billowing out from behind the door.

"Damage control is here." After a short period of chaos, order was restored and the Royal Navy's training level was reflected at this time.