Bismarck

"The speed of thirty-three knots is enough for us to get rid of them." Lütjens seemed very optimistic. Although he knew that there might be interceptors ahead, avoiding them would not be a problem with this high speed.

"But it's strange that Hood hasn't appeared yet." Bismarck said to himself. How could Hood not be there in the Rhine exercise?

"Maybe in front, maybe in the back, we'll see when the time comes."

"Deputy Captain, let the crew rescue the wounded first, then repair the weapons at their respective positions and prepare for the next battle." Lütjens gave the order. He was going to make a report to his superiors, make up a random excuse, and then go directly back to Brest.

"I'll go to the infirmary to help," Bismarck said.

Lütjens agreed.

Bismarck got off the bridge. The entire left side was blackened by the cruiser's high-explosive ammunition, while the other side was fine, as if she had only half of her face painted with makeup. If she lifted her skirt and looked at her model through the virtual projection, she could see that her entire waist was horribly burnt - she didn't have the courage to look. In fact, after every battle, when she took off this layer of painted skin, she would probably be scared by herself.

The crew members were cleaning the blown-up anti-aircraft gun director, and some of them were even using basins to pick up the stumps and internal organs scattered on the ground. Although they couldn't put together a complete human figure, they picked up as much as they could, which was better than throwing their brothers away to feed the fish. The new recruits who had just boarded the ship were already stunned with fear, and their hands holding the basins were shaking.

Bismarck couldn't bear to look any longer and hurried past them to the medical room on the lower deck.

If the upper deck was like hell, then the infirmary below was a purgatory of torture. The wounded were urgently carried here. The ground and walls were covered with red marks, screams and screams were heard one after another, and shocking wounds appeared in various parts of the body. There were several stretchers at the door, and the people on them were covered with white cloth.

"Doctor, I'm here to help you." Bismarck hurried over. Her job was also to be a part-time member of the medical team.

"Please help me get the saw and alcohol. I need to perform an amputation on him." The military doctor said quickly.

On the bed was a blond boy about her age. One of his legs was blown off by a shell, leaving only a little flesh and blood. Even though he was unconscious from the anesthesia, his face was distorted with pain. With such injuries, he would have to get off the ship when he returned to Brest. He would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

"It's not my fault." Bismarck whispered to herself. She handed the saw to the military doctor and listened to the latter immediately start "sawing wood". The creaking sound was creepy.

However, since she turned into a steel battleship and left her physical body, she seemed to have less empathy for such things. If Bismarck were an ordinary girl, she would probably feel completely different.

Several amputation operations were performed in succession, and many of them were performed on damage control team members who were exposed and hit by the cruiser's high-explosive shells. As for why they were not hit by the battleship's main guns, it was because they were all dead.

Bismarck said goodbye to the military doctor only after the last operation was completed. She was about to return to Lütjens' room, but suddenly remembered that her captain seemed to have not eaten for a long time, so she turned to the battleship supermarket.

A large battleship with more than 2,000 people is basically a community with everything, including a barber shop and a supermarket that provides alcohol and various snacks.

"Ms. Bismarck, what are you buying?" the young man in the supermarket asked with a smile.

"Is there any bread? The captain hasn't eaten for a long time. I'll bring him some."

"It's in there." The young man pointed inside.

She didn't know what the relationship between the supermarket and the navy was, but these breads should be made by the ship's chefs.

"That's it."

Bismarck walked to the front of the stage and prepared to pay.

"No, no, that's not necessary." The young man immediately shook his head and returned the money. "Ms. Bismarck, the captain and the acting captain don't charge money. If you are giving food to the captain, you can get it for free."

"Huh? Why?"

"That's the rule. Although the captain has never been here, he can take whatever he wants."

"How do you know I will definitely give it to the captain?" Bismarck smiled slightly. "I bought this, so of course I paid for it."

She insisted on paying.

"But I can bring the captain here in the future." She thought, you know, shopping in the supermarket without paying was her wish in the past.

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"Captain, this is for you."

Bismarck placed a bag of bread in front of his table.

"It was the first time I knew you could just take things in a supermarket without paying," she said.

"What supermarket?"

"It's the supermarket on my ship."

"Oh, I haven't been there." Lütjens nodded.

"I just bought you some bread, but the young man refused to take the money, saying that you and the gunner could take the food for free."

"So I haven't been there, have you paid?"

"Don't worry, I definitely paid for it. This is for you. You haven't eaten for a long time, so eat quickly."

"I'll eat later. Are you done with your next task?"

"Well, there are fewer casualties this time," Bismarck said. Compared to the previous battles, there are indeed fewer casualties. This is a fact.

"I didn't expect Rodney and Nelson to be in the Faroe Passage. Their speed was too slow, so we had a chance to evade them. If it was Hood, the situation would be much more troublesome. But I estimate that there will be interceptions ahead. There are more than just two battleships in Scapa Flow."

"I'll take care of it, don't worry, Captain."

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Bismarck's trail was quickly exposed. After all, there was a large oil stain floating on the sea, which was visible to anyone even a blind person. Not only was Hood leading the heavy cruiser in pursuit along the oil slick, but even the reconnaissance planes followed the oil slick and caught up with Bismarck. After one plane accidentally entered Bismarck's air defense range and was shot down, the rest of the planes "obediently" followed from a distance, making Bismarck feel like he was surrounded by a group of flies.

It’s annoying, but I can’t hit it.

The fuel had actually stopped leaking a long time ago, but once the location was exposed, the coordinates were broadcasted continuously, which made her feel helpless.

I wanted to escape at night, but it was only morning and I still had a whole day to go.

Two British warships finally rushed out of Scapa Flow, namely Prince of Wales and Renown. With the cooperation of reconnaissance aircraft, they grasped Bismarck's track in real time and firmly guarded her path.

Around noon, the two sides met again.

Reputation and Bismarck are old acquaintances. As the saying goes, enemies become jealous of each other when they meet. The scene of Bismarck sinking her sister ship is still vivid in people's minds. This time, there is finally an opportunity to encircle her, and Reputation is probably the one who works the hardest.

Under the guidance of the reconnaissance plane, the Prince of Wales and the Reputation no longer fell into an unfavorable situation like Nelson. The British even discovered the distance between the two sides first, and Bismarck fell into a passive position.

After attacking Nelson from beyond visual range, the Persian cat was surprised to find that he was also attacked from beyond visual range...

A series of water splashed around him. Of course, he was still quite far away, but the most important thing was that he didn't notice the enemy at all...

Lütjens was also somewhat stunned by the sudden flying shells. He subconsciously asked Bismarck about the situation of the battleships on the opposite side, but...

"Captain, I didn't see it," said Bismarck.

"what?"

Bismarck's detection range is about 20 nautical miles, and Bismarck did not detect it, which proves that the enemy launched the bombardment from 36,000 yards away...

Damn it, Bismarck also complained that at 36,000 yards, even a little wind could make the shells fly away in an unknown direction. What kind of a fight is this?

But it's really uncomfortable not being able to see the other side.

"Combat alert!"

It seemed that the opponent just wanted to show his presence. After a few rounds, he stopped fighting because the dispersion at the maximum range was too large. It was not a problem of aiming, but obviously relied on faith.

Bismarck sailed westward at full speed and soon detected two battleships with his mental power - one of them might be better described as a battlecruiser.

"It's the Prince of Wales and the Prestige!" Bismarck reported immediately.

"Radar commander, draw me the navigation situation map of the opposite side!" Lütjens ordered immediately.

"Yes!"

After drawing the picture, Lütjens could see at a glance that the two warships on the opposite side were moving diagonally in front of him and were occupying their positions.

"This position is not favorable for us." The gunner said, "We can't open fire with all our guns. We can move diagonally parallel to them. This way, we can take advantage of the firepower of the rear main guns and escape from the other end with our speed advantage."

"No, this will mean we will have to fight them for a long time. Their reputation is almost as fast as ours, and delaying the time will not be good for us. If something goes wrong in the battle, we will be isolated and helpless," said Lütjens.

If Bismarck's main engine was damaged during the battle, it would be really terrible.

"If we charge straight ahead, we will only be able to use the two main guns in front most of the time..."

T is inferior...it also means being targeted, and the firepower of these two is not weak.

"The guns of Renown and Prince of Wales are inferior to those of Bismarck. Plus, the horizontal armor has been strengthened, so they should be able to withstand it." Lütjens nodded to Bismarck in a soothing tone. "As long as we run at full speed for a while and withstand a few rounds, their shells will not be suspended, and the threat will be much smaller. When we are close, we can turn the angle and fire back with three guns. They are even less threatening to us at close range."

"Just like that, go for it!"

Chapter 341: T inferior to the same flight battle

With the target set, Bismarck immediately reached its maximum speed, and the wake left by the propeller was very long, like a brave knight charging.

"First, build my reputation!" Lütjens ordered.

"Understood! Now the distance is 30000 yards, prepare for artillery range measurement!" Persian Cat nodded. Four CRH8 380 armor-piercing shells were sent into the bullet lifting machine as she thought...

As a battlecruiser, Renown's armor was much thinner than Prince of Wales's, but its caliber was the same as Bismarck's, with fifteen-inch guns. Its speed was also faster than its big brother, reaching 31.5 knots, posing a greater threat. Dumplings with thin skin and large fillings are always the best targets. Lütjens was determined to use the four guns in front to drive Renown out of the game first.

But at this distance... guided shells are hard to make, and there are only a few left. And the ballistic characteristics are not good, so let's use conventional shells to find the parameters first!

With the help of aerial reconnaissance planes, the British battleships opened fire at almost the same distance as Bismarck. Dozens of shells formed an elliptical barrage, whizzing over.

However, the thickness of the top dome armor of the modified Bismarck reached an astonishing 160 mm, which is why Lütjens was not worried.

After the first round of bombardment, neither side achieved any results, but the water columns caused by the flying shells were in sharp contrast. There was a dense forest of water columns around Bismarck, while there were four sparse water columns next to Reputation.

The British soon understood Bismarck's priority target and began to evade it. Although the other ship, the Prince of Wales, was hastily commissioned, the shipyard workers and fire control equipment suppliers had more technicians than sailors, and many things had not been debugged smoothly before it had to be commissioned ahead of schedule, but it was also desperately shooting at the Bismarck.

"The shells are coming! Watch out!" Bismarck said, and began to avoid his body as much as possible.

If the Bismarck with the original rudder was like a roller coaster when making a sharp turn, then the Bismarck equipped with the emergency rudder was like a broken cart pulled by an old ox. Lütjens on the bridge even only felt the hull shake, his body tilted slightly, and the course began to turn at a very slow angle. Moreover, the speed loss was also quite obvious - the maneuverability was seriously reduced.

Since the shells are distributed vertically and the length of the ship is more than 250 meters, the chance of being hit is greatly increased when the situation is unfavorable.

Bismarck took this into consideration and naturally gave priority to strengthening the external armor of the bridge, but other places were not so lucky. The armor of the superstructure was originally very thin, and as the enemy got closer and closer, dense rain of shells was inevitable.

Except for necessary personnel, all crew members were evacuated below the deck. The upper buildings were kept empty as much as possible, and the external anti-aircraft guns did not require personnel to be stationed there, after all, there was no air raid.

The ceiling shook violently, and the crew members only felt an explosion not far from them, and then something hit the armor plate and even rolled around.

"What's wrong?" asked Lütjens.

"Nothing, the radar antenna was hit, and what fell down now is just the wreckage." Bismarck covered his eyes, rubbed his eyelids, and said with a bad look: "This thing is useless, it's just a decoration."

But...my eyes still hurt a little!!

Lütjens felt that perhaps the radar officer could be laid off.

"Watch out! Artillery fire!"

It was too late to evade! Another shell drew a graceful arc and penetrated the Bismarck's superstructure at high speed, then exploded, blowing a big hole in the entire rear bridge, and thick smoke billowed!

Cold sweat dripped down the hair on the temples. Although it was painful, the Persian cat clenched its teeth and said nothing...

But... Reputation! Now that it's within effective range, it's time for me to take revenge!!

Four of the few remaining guided shells were pulled out from the ammunition depot and stuffed into the barrels of the four front main guns!

Reputation, take my counterattack! !

Accompanied by a loud roar and muzzle fire, four guided shells flew out of the gun barrel and hit the Renown ship on the opposite side!

Although the wing control of guided artillery shells can only adjust the target within a very small range, and cannot hit the target as directed like a missile...but the accuracy of guided artillery shells is much higher than that of conventional armor-piercing shells!

Although aerodynamic drag has a great impact, causing the long-range armor-piercing capability to be more than one level lower, it is only the reputation of a battlecruiser after all, and those who are the main targets of attack will naturally have a hard time!

On the side of the Renown facing the Bismarck, two large holes were instantly punched in the side waterline and the rear bridge! With a deafening roar, the head maid tilted her body, and at the same time, a secondary gun rangefinder was blown into the air!

But I don't know if it was a matter of luck, or maybe the maid's fighting spirit moved God, the bullet that hit the waterline seemed to have only hit an auxiliary engine room. Although there was a large roll, she still maintained a speed of 381 knots, and the six mm main guns did not give up the attack...

And there's a Prince of Wales over there...

Even if it was a semi-finished product hastily produced, it was still a real battleship!

thump—

A 356mm armor-piercing heavy shell hit the Bismarck deck from midair at a large angle. After penetrating the upper 50mm deck, it wanted to continue downwards, but encountered the last defense - the dome armor. The abnormal 160mm dome armor blocked its impact and then blocked the shock wave after its self-detonation. However, the angry shock wave still went upwards, tearing open the upper deck and carrying a 105 anti-aircraft gun turret into the sea.

If the Persian cat in the command cabin had not warned them, Lütjens, Gunner Hyde and others would have been almost shaken to the ground.

The distance at this time had reached 25,000 yards, basically reaching the effective range of the three battleships of the two armies. The shells were as dense as ever, but Bismarck was not so worried. Now it was basically the superstructure that was hit. It looked terrible, but it did not have much impact on the hull. No shell penetrated the armor and entered the important compartments at the bottom.

but...

"boom!!"

Less than 20 seconds after the Prince of Wales hit the deck, Bismarck was hit hard by another shot from the Renown!

However, because the Persian cat had actively tilted its body, a shell that was likely to hit the main armor belt near the waterline hit the officer's cabin on the middle deck on the side instead. A large hole was blown in the 145 mm upper armor, and the cold sea water poured in violently with the waves of the high-speed cruise!

The Persian cat has been hit by four or five bullets. Although this injury looks miserable, it is actually just a superficial injury.

Bismarck had gotten used to the pain, or rather, was numb to it, and even had the urge to make a joke...

"Ahaha, Gunner, I have bad news for you. Your room was hit by an armor-piercing bullet. I hope you have your cash with you." Bismarck endured the pain and said with a smile pretending to be relaxed while taking a breath. At this time, another round of loud noises broke out from the two turrets on the front deck!