Bismarck

"Well, let's do this for now. I will report these suggestions to the Navy Department and modify the Tirpitz first. She is still in the process of outfitting, so it will be more convenient. As for you, we can only wait until we return to the home port."

"Aren't we going back?" I asked in surprise.

"It's still early. The Norwegian campaign has just begun, and we have only just gained a slight advantage. As a battleship, you can't rest so early."

"Where are we going? I'm already missing one of my main guns for the battle, so I can't fight."

"To the Atlantic," said the captain.

"Broken ties?"

"You're right." The captain patted my shoulder. "The transport fleet is the key to logistical supply. As long as we can disrupt their transportation lines, it will be a headache for the British."

"The British should be able to guess our purpose of heading to the Atlantic. What if we use battleships for escort? None of their old battleships showed up."

"Supplies are constantly flowing in from the sea, and they only have a few battleships." The captain judged, "We just need to wait for an opportunity to strike, and first look for those with weaker guards. If that doesn't work, we can engage them in a night battle."

"I understand."

ps: Thanks to Big Sister for the calculation. Well, actually Big Sister knows Bismarck’s body very well!

Chapter 91: Burial at Sea

"Captain, everything is ready."

After the captain and I finished discussing the continued modification, Lindemann came in and reported.

I don't know what happened, but suddenly the atmosphere in the captain's room became heavy, so I stopped talking.

"Is the railing down?" The captain was silent for a moment and said lightly.

"Yeah, we're ready."

"Then...Ring the bell, all crew members not on duty, assemble on the rear deck!"

"Yes!" Lindemann saluted solemnly, contrary to his usual demeanor, and walked out again. Soon, his voice rang out throughout the ship: "All crew members, except those on combat duty, assemble on the rear deck. I repeat, all crew members, except those on combat duty, assemble on the rear deck!"

"Bismarck, put on your hat." The captain said, straightening his clothes.

"Captain, what are we...doing?" I asked in confusion. Until now I still don't understand what we are doing.

"Go and have a look at the rear deck..."

I followed the captain's instructions and turned my attention to the place he mentioned. Then I saw that the wide rear deck was already filled with rows of neatly arranged body bags.

This is?

Burial at sea?

······

The crew members looked at the canvas bags with sad eyes. Their friends might be inside. They might be talking to each other the moment before and be gone the next.

Men don't shed tears easily, but they will not shed tears until they are sad. These young men who were not afraid of the gunfire all had tears in their eyes at this moment.

Sobbing sounds were heard quietly, of course only from the new recruits. The veterans were more accustomed to comforting their deceased comrades with actions.

At dusk on the Atlantic Ocean, soldiers stood at attention with their guns in hand like statues, casting straight shadows. They stared motionlessly at the rows of blood-stained canvas body bags on the deck that still emitted traces of gunpowder smoke, and bid farewell to their fallen comrades amid the prayers of the ship's chaplain.

The heavy string accompaniment and dark requiem on the broadcast symbolize eternal rest.

The captain, Lindemann, me, and Grape all stood on the rear deck to remember the soldiers who died fighting for their country. Even Grape, who was usually so heartless, seemed to be infected and stood quietly beside me.

"...Poor children, you have fulfilled your duty, you have demonstrated your bravery and loyalty with your life. May God forgive you, just as you forgive your enemies..." The chaplain on board the ship stood in front of their bodies with a solemn expression and read the eulogy. The captain, Lindemann and the sailors stood at attention, with solemn expressions, and said nothing.

The sea breeze blew the military flags fiercely.

Several sailors secretly wiped their eyes. Perhaps among the bodies there were comrades they knew well. They might have been on duty together yesterday, or playing together, and then they were never seen again.

Seeing this, I felt a little depressed, especially with the sad tune of Requiem, I felt that my emotions were a little out of control. Tizi beside me had tears flowing down her face, secretly tugged at my clothes and whispered to me: "Sister...sister, is this war...Tirpitz feels so sorry for them, can I not leave the factory...If I don't leave the factory, there will be no war, and if I don't fight, so many people won't die. And sister, you are also injured, will you die too...Why do we have to fight each other...uh..."

I sighed softly and put my hand on Tizi's head without saying a word. After all, the dead were all the sailors on my body, and I felt bad...

I touched her head and I didn't know what to say. Would I stop the war? I couldn't make this promise, but as long as the war did not stop, the deaths would continue.

Maybe the next one...

Hearing Tizi's sobbing, the captain and Lindman next to them looked over.

Lindemann tilted his head towards me and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Tizi was upset when she saw the casualties, and one of them was a sailor she had played with before."

Although this is the fate of battleships, but...

"Although it's a battleship, she's still just a child. She needs some time to adapt..." I said softly.

Well, I was actually afraid that the captain would scold Tizi... After all, the last time I backed down, I was severely criticized by the captain.

Lindeman walked to the other side of Tizi and gently touched her head. "Don't be sad. They were just called away by the Lord. They will live happily in heaven..." Lindeman used the same method to coax his daughter. "Besides, there is nothing we can do about it. We are all soldiers, and you are also a warship. This is also our duty... It is our honor to die for our country, Tizi, you must remember this."

"But... a lot of people died..." Tizi wiped his eyes, tears still in the corners of his eyes, raised his head to look at Lindman, and said weakly: "Can... can we not fight..." As he spoke, his head lowered again. Was he depressed again...

Although I went through the same thing during the Polish Campaign, I still don't know how to comfort people... Seeing that the little girl's tears were about to burst out again, I was a little at a loss. I had no experience in coaxing children... I could only stroke her hair and back, to try to make her feel better.

But at this time, the captain also came over to "comfort" her (what a weird feeling it is to coax a daughter to stop her from crying...).

Captain Tirpitz reached out and patted Tizi on the shoulder, then bent down and looked at Tizi's big eyes which were blinking with tears in them. "War is cruel. If possible, no one wants to fight, but there are some things that cannot be helped. We need to develop, but the British want to suppress our development. Only when one side gives up can this war stop."

There are several black lines on the forehead. What kind of feeling is this for a political commissar to do political and ideological work? ! !

"Captain, I can't understand what you're saying!" I said.

So stop brainwashing!

Sure enough, Tizi looked at him puzzledly, then turned to Lindemann.

But Lindman also said: "Yes, because Britain wants to do something bad to us, we came here and they sacrificed... So the root cause is Britain, Grape, remember this."

I'm almost black, although what I said is true but...

"Hey!! You two are trying to teach Grape a bad lesson! She's still young!" I lowered my voice. Even if Lindemann is her captain and Lütjens is my captain, I won't allow anyone to brainwash her, at least not when I can see it!

You can’t spread hatred or anything like that!

Even if the mission of a warship is to kill, killing out of responsibility and killing out of hatred are completely different concepts.

Although Tizi stopped crying, she looked even more depressed. I grabbed her hand and said

"Be good, Tizi, don't listen to them. Come, I'll take you to the front deck to see the beautiful scenery!"

He dragged the grapes away and before leaving, he threw them to two big men who were always thinking about how to fight. Each of them had cataracts in his eyes!!

Ignoring the two captains who were staring at each other in confusion, I took Ti Zi and climbed onto the main turret at the bow, squeezed out of the anti-aircraft gunner's seat on the top of the turret, then made a "hush" gesture to the confused anti-aircraft gunner. Without caring how the sailor who was squeezed off the gun position by me would find a place to sit, I picked up Ti Zi and held him in my arms like a pillow, and then we leaned on the anti-aircraft gunner's chair and looked at the surrounding scenery.

My huge body broke through the crystal waves, and a cool mist was sprinkled around me along with the refreshing sea breeze. The orange-yellow sun slowly sank behind the distant clouds, and Venus shone brightly with the setting sun. On the other side, a crescent moon reflected sparse stars, hanging in the deep blue sky. In the middle of the vast sea and sky, a group of frigate birds flew freely around me, as if they were wandering freely with us.

"The stars in the sky are silent, and the dolls on the ground miss their mothers. Every night I think of my mother's words, and my tears sparkle like lupine flowers..."

I didn't say anything, I just held Grape in my arms, looked at the scenery, and sang a nursery rhyme I had heard when I was a child. Grape also didn't say anything, she followed me to watch these happy birds flying freely. The two sailors who were whispering in her ear also became quiet as they listened... Gradually, it seemed that her spirits became better.

After a long while, she turned around and asked me, "...Sister, are the British really that bad?"

"Yes, the British are bad guys!" Thinking of some historical cases and real faces of that ancient oriental country, I have to say this.

"Yes! Tirpitz got it! I will help my sister and Lindemann fight the bad guys in the future!!!" Tizi clenched her fists, but this state lasted less than five seconds...

"But it's so boring at sea. What should we do? It's been four days. There's nothing to see except the sea. When are we going back?"

A lot of black lines on the head... As expected of Bei Zhai, she can't stop talking about laziness every three sentences... But... it would be fine as long as she is not so depressed~~~ Isn't this the effect we want?

"Well..." I straightened Tizi up, fearing that she would be uncomfortable sitting too crooked. "Sister, let me tell you a story?"

"What story?" Tizi became excited.

"What story do you want to hear? I will tell you~"

"Then I want to hear the story you told me last time! The one that happened in the far east..."

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you... I mentioned it last time..."

There were bursts of gunfire from the rear deck. While I was telling Tizi a story, I could sense that the priest's ceremony was over. The sailors tied up the body bag, covered it with the national flag, and placed it on a rack at the stern. The priest finally said a prayer to the body, and then, following the officer's command, two sailors lifted the head of the rack and watched their comrade slide down the rack to the embrace of the sea amid the gunfire of the honor guard.

If the sailor's destiny is the sea...where is my destiny...?

ps: I am really working hard to bring my computer with me when I travel!!!

Seeing how hard I work, please give me some monthly tickets~ I am so unhappy because there are so few monthly tickets!!!

By the way, thanks to the big sister!

Chapter 92: Breaking the Diplomatic War

The dead are gone, and the living must move on.

After seeing off their comrades, the crew had no time to grieve and immediately plunged into intensive repair work. Not only did the various parts on the hull need their inspection, but even my paint and coating needed to be repainted. In the fierce artillery battle, the originally shiny appearance had long been scarred and covered with black marks from smoke and fire, which greatly increased my exposure and had to be eliminated in a short time.

The captain reported the modification plan again, but this time the Navy Department did not agree so quickly, and only replied that it would discuss with experts before making a decision. The captain understood the Navy Department's idea. After all, this was another major modification. During the major modification, I could not go into battle, and the service time of Grape would also be delayed. This was undoubtedly a double blow to the already tight number of warships in Germany.

Reger is very conflicted.

······

I sighed, looked outside again, and began to search the sea.

This was the third day after we escaped from the encirclement and were in the Atlantic Ocean. I was ordered to start the next mission - to conduct a commerce-breaking operation and attack the enemy's transportation lines. With my ability, it would not be difficult to attack a transport fleet, but the reality was that there was nothing but water everywhere in the vast ocean. How could I find British transport ships?

I sailed for three days without seeing a single ghost.

Facing the sea all day, the crew members inevitably feel tired, especially now that they have just come out of the intense battle, everyone in the bridge is mechanically performing their tasks. Tirpitz even hid in the room, reading a book, drawing a picture, and not even showing his face.

After I called her out again and was rejected by her coquettish attitude, I could only shake my head helplessly.

"What's wrong?" Lindemann smiled beside me.

"Tirpitz refuses to come out. There's nothing we can do about it. She's a real stay-at-home girl. Lindemann, you'll have to suffer in the future."

"Homegirl? What is a homegirl?" Lindman asked puzzledly.

"Literally, they like to stay at home. Our warships just don't want to leave the port."

"She always says things I don't understand." Lindemann said with a smile, "Tirpitz is still a child, so naturally she likes to be lively. It's normal for her to be bored in such a situation. Let her stay where she wants. There's nothing to do here anyway."

"You are quite calm." I glanced at him.

"Otherwise." He raised his eyebrows. "Our situation is nothing. It's normal for their submarines to go out for ten days or half a month without encountering a ship. We've only been out for three days."

"I hope other attack ships can inform us when they see the fleet. The crew's mental state needs stimulation." I said.

The raiders are cruising in the Atlantic Ocean. Usually their radio rooms are silent and they won't send any messages to me. They stay hidden. If they encounter a lone transport ship, they will go forward and deal with it on their own. After all, the firepower of the raiders is comparable to that of cruisers. But if they encounter a large formation or a fleet with escort, they will notify nearby units.

"Enemy warships spotted!" the lookout suddenly shouted loudly.

I was stunned. Could the lookout see it before me? I quickly used my mental power to scan the surroundings, but did not find any British ships.

Is this false military intelligence?

I was about to go up and explain that the captain had already given the order.

"Enemy battleship spotted, distance 22000 yards, combat alert!"

The shrill battle alarm sounded immediately.

"What's going on?" I looked at Lindemann.

"Let's lighten the mood." Lindemann said with a relaxed smile, "The crew members are too bored."

Okay...turns out it was just a drill.

However, even if it was an exercise, it had to be conducted as if it were a real battle. The crew members were startled and then ran to their combat positions as quickly as possible. In this environment, the originally drowsy atmosphere was swept away.

"Main gun aiming—"

"Main guns ready!"

"Secondary guns are ready!"

"Load the anti-aircraft guns!"

The phone on the bridge suddenly started ringing, and the captain nodded with satisfaction. It took less than five minutes from the time the combat alert was sounded to when all crew members were ready.

It's basically qualified.

"Three into three, heading 76, enter the firing position, prepare to engage the enemy on the port side!"