Bismarck

"Due south?!" Lindemann rushed to the chart table and picked up a pencil to simply mark it. On the chart, the arrow representing the direction of the British fleet pointed directly to a port city - Dunkirk! !

ps: Here is the first update, please vote and recommend!!!

Chapter 148: Dunkirk (II)

If Bismarck were here, she would definitely be able to determine what the British wanted to do, but neither Tirpitz nor Lindemann had the ability to predict the future, so he was still unsure of the British intentions.

"Dunkirk... This is the place currently occupied by the British and French forces... The battle report from the past two days said that they seemed to have hundreds of thousands of people surrounded by us here... Are they going to send reinforcements or evacuate now?"

"Evacuate? No way." Hoseman said in surprise.

"Why not?"

"Hundreds of thousands of troops need to evacuate? Where can we find such a large transport fleet? And our army should be standing by and ready for battle. How could we give them time to evacuate?" Hoseman said.

"That's true. Could it be reinforcements?" Lindemann rubbed his chin, puzzled.

"But the reinforcements shouldn't turn a blind eye to us, right? Are they bullying us because we are unfamiliar with the sea conditions and the minefield situation?"

“Maybe…”

"But... no matter what..." Lindman made a decision, put down his pencil and ruler, walked to his secretary ship, and flicked the cute hair on Grape's head. "We can't just sit there and watch this happen!"

"The Captain..."

"Need I tell you?" Lindman looked at the deputy commander speechlessly. "Prepare for battle!"

"Yes!" Hoseman received the order and left immediately.

"It hurts when you pull it! Hate it!" After everyone left, Tizi waved his hand and knocked off the salted pig's trotter on his head, and rolled his eyes at Lindman.

Linderman took his hand back without caring and said with a smile, "Haha, I'm going to trouble you this time. This is your first battle. Don't be nervous. Cheer up."

"That's not my first time. I've tried it on my sister before..." Tizi said unhappily, "My sister said my gun skills are pretty good too!"

"I'm just worried that you'll find it troublesome." Lindemann said with a wry smile, "Don't be distracted during the battle, otherwise the consequences will be serious."

Tirpitz lowered his head and said while gently fiddling with his fingers: "No... I don't think so at all... Well, although it still feels troublesome to say it, it's not like I haven't experienced such a thing before in the Battle of Iceland... Besides, this is your order... I will definitely obey it."

As she spoke, she turned her head slightly, and the color of her face seemed a little suspicious...it was a little red.

"You two sisters have very different personalities, but I like this kind of personality, haha."

Lindemann smiled slightly, ruffled Tizi's pink hair, and said seriously: "Well, I'll leave the navigation to you. Be careful to avoid mines and torpedoes. Don't force the artillery. Just report the coordinates, and I'll let the sailors operate."

Tizi's face flushed slightly, his lips curved in a beautiful arc, and he nodded obediently.

"Okay. And, Lindemann, remember to have the sailors load the anti-aircraft machine guns with shells. If I find any mines or something that I can't avoid, I'll use them to shoot."

"Very good, then we are about to begin."

Lindemann quickly came to the microphone in the command tower, turned on the microphone and ordered: "Everyone, pay attention! This is Lindemann! 20 nautical miles due west, the British fleet, 3 cruisers, 10 destroyers, countless transport ships and minesweepers! Preliminary judgment is that they want to carry out transportation tasks for the besieged army in Dunkirk! Now I order that due to the unclear sea conditions, the destroyer formation will temporarily retreat, and the Tirpitz will attack to intercept! All ships enter the first-level combat deployment!"

"Signal officer!"

"To!"

"Send a signal to the destroyer formation, asking them to retreat first and stand by behind us!"

"Yes!"

"Confidential officer!"

"exist!"

"Send a telegram to headquarters. We have encountered a large number of British transport ships. The target is temporarily determined to be Dunkirk. The destroyer formation has retreated. Our ships are heading to intercept!"

"Remember to send an urgent telegram!"

"Yes!"

After the two officers left, Lindmann turned his gaze to the invisible distance, where the British fleet was busy.

"Come on, let me see what you want to do." Lindeman whispered.

"Sir! The sea situation ahead is unclear. We have only cleared the mines at the mouth of the Maas River... If we force our way forward at this time, something bad might happen!" Someone raised an objection in the microphone.

Lindemann grinned, "Don't worry about that!"

Under normal circumstances, when the sea conditions are unclear, it is safest for the fleet to retreat and wait until tomorrow morning to attack. This way, at least the ability to respond to dangers such as mines will be greatly enhanced. If the Tirpitz is just an ordinary battleship, he would even let the Tirpitz retreat first. After all, a battleship in an unfamiliar sea area with mines and fighting a group of destroyers, with its hands and feet tied, is simply a death sentence.

But...his Tirpitz is not an ordinary battleship...

"Mines are no problem! I'll be at the helm myself in the command tower! No mine will hit us!! So, now! Battleship Tirpitz! Attack!!!"

"...Yes!" A slightly hesitant response came from the microphone, and it was obvious that the people below were not very confident about this answer.

Mines are not something that will stay away from the warship just because the captain is steering the ship himself. In the eyes of his subordinates, the captain's behavior is very reckless. You know, according to the amount of explosives in the mines and the explosion position, even a battleship will be severely damaged if hit by a mine, and there are also cases where a mine kills the ship in one go.

Unfortunately, Lindman did not intend to explain anything. He did not take his subordinates' hesitation seriously. Could he say that Tizi knew about those mines?

Are you kidding?

He looked at Tirpitz who had also entered a complete combat state, smiled, then closed the microphone cover and sat on the main gun director position in the command tower.

As for steering, it’s better to let the recruits do it. Anyway, they don’t know the relationship between the movement of the boat and the rudder, and they can’t tell that the boat is being controlled by someone else.

Of course, the consequence was that the people in the bridge felt a chill on their backs... It was a new recruit at the helm, would he hit a mine?

While Lindemann was operating the director to find the target according to the data of the Grape News, he turned on the microphone and began to give orders: "Listen to my orders now, reload all the main guns! Aiming method, use blind shooting with coordinates, and the secondary guns and anti-aircraft guns are free to fire! Three vehicles in the engine room move forward five, full speed ahead! Battleship Tirpitz, attack!!!"

ps: I will update it in the evening depending on the situation. If I am busy, I will not update it. But I will try my best!

Chapter 149: Dunkirk (III)

The fleet that Tirpitz perceived was the fleet that was carrying out the famous "Generator Plan" in later generations.

Twelve destroyers and three cruisers from the Dover base in the UK, along with 12 minesweepers and 3 transport ships, were rushing to the port of Dunkirk at night as the sun was setting - where the lives of hundreds of thousands of Allied forces were in danger.

At the beginning of the Battle of France, the French placed their hopes on their impregnable Maginot Line and declared war on Germany without fighting. On the French-German border, there were only small-scale exchanges of fire, but no major battles. Their rigid strategic plan believed that this would keep the Germans out of the country.

However, the Germans did not attack the Maginot Line. Instead, they attacked Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. In May 1940, the Germans tricked the British and French forces into supporting the Netherlands, and then attacked the Ardennes. The Maginot Line also lost its function because the Germans attacked its back.

The German army marched straight into France, and joined forces with the Dutch German army to trap the British and French forces in Dunkirk. This small port town with a population of only tens of thousands suddenly became the only way for hundreds of thousands of people to escape...

It would be fine if there were only French people, but there were also many British people in the army. The lifeline of the British Empire was immediately strangled. Once these hundreds of thousands of people were lost, the entire army would suffer a major blow both in terms of morale and strength.

What’s more, there is pressure from society. If the government is captured like this, its prestige will be destroyed!

The British hurriedly launched a military operation code-named "Operation Dynamo".

The government and the navy mobilized all the ships that could be mobilized. Both civilian and military ships stopped their missions and all participated in this historic evacuation operation.

Soon, strange and special fleets appeared on the sea and in the ports.

These special fleets consisted of a small number of regular naval warships, and the rest were made up of a variety of small boats, including colorful French fishing boats, tourist boats carrying passengers, repair ship tugs, trawlers, British air rescue ships, radar sentry boats, and so on.

The sailors were all kinds of people, including students, lawyers, workers, fishermen, and clerks. They all volunteered to drive the "battleship" to Dunkirk under the heavy gunfire and turbulent waves.

Everyone has only one goal - to save people!

They were discovered by Tirpitz as the first retreating fleet of the "Dynamo" plan.

Because previous intelligence showed that Germany had a destroyer-based escort fleet operating near Middelburg, although aircraft were dispatched to urgently deploy a mine belt along the Middelburg-Dunkirk line, it was a temporary deployment in a hurry. In order to ensure that there would be no mistakes, the British Royal Navy temporarily assembled a total of 3 cruisers and 12 destroyers to cover the transport fleet.

As for why they had to take this route that was relatively close to the Germans, it was because although the straight-line distance from Dover Port to Dunkirk was only 40 nautical miles and the normal route was only 55 nautical miles, that route was under the threat of the German Army's long-range artillery. In addition, the two routes were at the exit of the English Channel. Both Britain and Germany had laid a large number of mines there for their own purposes, making the entire route impenetrable and almost a dead end.

Although two reconnaissance planes and a submarine had mysteriously disappeared there before, the British did not take it too seriously. Losing contact during wartime was a very normal thing. Their main attention now was still on the evacuation operation in Dunkirk.

After all, the minefields had been laid in advance on the German side of the route, and the fleet's flanks were also covered. In addition, the British light fleet despised the training quality of their German counterparts. Although the performance of the German destroyers in the Narvik breakout caused the British Royal Navy to pay the price of three destroyers sunk and a heavy cruiser seriously damaged, in the Channel area, the daily frictions between the light fleets of the two armies had never stopped, so they were still very confident.

Of course, the intelligence department also has news confirming that the second ship of Germany's Bismarck-class battleship, the Tirpitz, completed sea trials near Heligoland Island a few days ago. But under normal circumstances, would it be unreasonable to send a battleship that has only been in service for a few days and whose sailors have not even had any training or running-in to such a coastal area where the enemy situation and minefields are completely dark to fight a night battle with the enemy's destroyers?

Even if it is a battleship, this is a suicide mission!

The British had not worried about the sudden appearance of a Bismarck-class battleship.

However, this time they were unlucky and encountered the unscientific Tirpitz...

The British radar is better than the German one, and its detection range is much larger. If it were not for Tirpitz's scan, the British would definitely discover the German fleet first, but now - they have lost the initiative.

"Alert! Alert! A German high-speed ship was spotted approaching the transport ship 25 km east! The entire fleet is on alert!!"

Soon, shrill alarms sounded in the British fleet.

Before entering the British's maximum detection range, Tirpitz had reached its maximum speed, trying to get close to the transport fleet in the shortest time possible.

The British fleet was stunned by the sudden alarm.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on? Isn't that a minefield? How did that enemy ship get here?"

"Where's the minefield! What is the Air Force doing?!"

On the British cruiser Edinburgh, after discovering the enemy, the British fleet commander, Major General Thomas, who immediately marked the enemy situation on the nautical chart, was shocked to find that the enemy had actually come directly from the minefield. He immediately roared in anger.

Were the mines swept away? Or did the air force never drop any mines here?

There was no time to think about anything at this time. In just these two minutes, the enemy ship approached the transport team by another 2000 meters!

Although the transport ships had begun to retreat to the southwest as planned, they were only traveling at 15 knots and would definitely not be able to outrun the high-speed enemy ship that was traveling at a speed of at least 32 knots!

What’s more, these civilian ships have no protection at all, we will die if we encounter them!

Major General Thomas could only report the encounter with the German warship to his superiors while ordering the entire fleet to turn around and attack the enemy ship.

Absolutely...we must not let anything happen to the transport fleet!

The glory of the Royal Navy is on the line!

As for the so-called minefield, he subconsciously ignored the so-called minefield when he saw the enemy rushing towards him on the radar...

After the initial surprise, Commander Thomas quickly calmed down. He thought about it carefully and it seemed that he didn't need to worry so much.

Although the radar showed that the ship was most likely a "big target", Major General Thomas analyzed his own intelligence. The previous intelligence he had obtained was that the German Navy did not have any large warships here. Besides, even if there were, what could a small ship do?

According to the current situation, the Bismarck is undergoing overhaul and the Tirpitz has just been commissioned and should not yet be combat-ready. It is simply impossible for them to come into this minefield and intercept the transport fleet.

The two battlecruisers, the Shane sisters, went to the Atlantic to break up the fighting. The Deutschland class does not have such a fast speed. From this point of view, the most likely one is probably the only heavy cruiser of the German Navy, the Hipper, right?

Is it cool to be hit by a firefly? Major General Thomas sneered. He had three cruisers, two of which were heavy cruisers, and a 12-gun heavily armed light cruiser that could fight against the heavy cruisers, and a full 12 destroyers. Even the Tirpitz, which had only been in service for a few days, could have a high degree of training?

As long as she doesn't have the same long-range and high-precision night combat artillery capabilities as her sister, the current troops are fully capable of fighting against it!

So how could I lose this battle?

With just a change of thought, the distance between the two sides quickly closed to 22000 yards (20130 meters).

Major General Thomas proudly opened the microphone cover and began to issue combat orders.

"Everyone, please load flares. Cruisers, keep firing in formation at a distance of 2 yards. Destroyers, in groups of four, disperse torpedo attacks! Now... eh?"

At this moment, Thomas noticed that there was a sudden light above his head.

And almost at the same time, something seemed to flash in the dark sky far ahead. Six high-brightness flares emitted a bright glow in the dim night sky, and the entire British fleet was exposed to the bright light as bright as day.

Day and night change instantly!

“This… Could it be… Oops!!”

Major General Thomas' heart tightened, and he just had time to shout into the microphone: "Evade immediately..."

Before he finished speaking, accompanied by a shrill scream, eight thick water columns enveloped the leading destroyer in the middle, and even at a distance of 20,000 meters, one could vaguely see the second round of shooting from the sister of the demon battleship in the distance.

Is it just a half-minute rapid fire at the beginning?

So confident?

How is it possible to have such high accuracy? !

"Damn it!" Major General Thomas gritted his teeth. If they could fire from such a long distance...

"The enemy is the battleship Tirpitz! Everyone listen up! Turn up the boilers to maximum! Forced ventilation! Approach quickly at maximum speed! Also, cruisers start shooting..."

Before he finished speaking, a loud "bang" was heard from the front, and a fireball suddenly exploded on the destroyer's rear bridge which was surrounded by several tall water columns. When the smoke cleared, the destroyer's rear bridge and two rear main turrets had disappeared. Waves of high-speed upstream waves surged onto the burning deck and continuously poured in through the wound.

ps: Here comes the first update!!! Please give me a monthly ticket!!! =. = I should be able to keep writing for a few chapters...

Chapter 150: Dunkirk (IV)

"Punjabi! Calling Punjabi! What is the condition of your ship? Can it continue to sail?"

Major General Thomas was shocked by the situation and immediately asked the signal officer to send out a series of signals.