Bismarck

It's really fun to watch. You know how it works.

According to the instructions of the big sister, the heroine will die tomorrow, hahahaha!!!

Chapter 357: Final Thoughts (Part 1)

In the dark night, a little splash of water suddenly came from the sea surface that was swaying with the wind.

A submarine stealthily extended its periscope, looked around on the dark and choppy sea, confirmed that the seriously damaged warship was not around, and quietly emerged from the sea.

Most of the small body was submerged in the water, with only a part of the back and the command tower exposed. Soon after, the hatch cover of the command tower was opened.

As if taking a deep breath, a big hand opened the hatch, and then quickly, under a greasy military cap, a young officer with a scruffy beard, sweaty forehead, and casually wearing a military jacket climbed out of the hatch. The young officer's greasy face was handsome and unrestrained with a manly flavor.

After crawling out, the young officer took a deep breath of the fresh air with a slight smell of the sea. Then he reached out and took out a pack of cigarettes, grabbed a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep puff.

"Ah! I am finally alive and breathing the fresh air of the Atlantic Ocean again!"

Then he spat fiercely into the cabin.

"Pah, I've had enough of the smell in there."

The smell of sweat, stinky feet, and all kinds of smells from not taking a shower all permeated the cabin. The smell was so sour and unpleasant!

The living conditions were so bad that he almost wanted to cry...

Although submarine officers have a high status in Germany, their life is also very miserable. The living conditions on submarines are poor, and everyone knows that a 500-ton body cannot be compared with a battleship that weighs tens of thousands of tons. The most important thing is that submarines are also very dangerous. If you are not careful, you will disappear under the sonar encirclement and endless depth charges of the escorting destroyers... Moreover, because they are basically in a state of radio disconnection when performing missions, no one will know if they are dead. Some submarines have been missing for a year or two before they were confirmed to have been sunk. This is probably the common feeling of most German captains.

The officer took a long puff of his cigarette and said to the officers and soldiers who had climbed up behind him: "We have just used up our last torpedo, but now we are at our doorstep... Let's sail at full speed while it's still dark. We will be able to enter the safe zone tomorrow morning."

"Yes! Captain!"

The captain nodded, looked at the Hood which had disappeared into the darkness, and seemed a little depressed.

Just now, after U556 hit the Hood with three torpedoes, she could have turned around and continued to attack with the two launch tubes at the rear. If she had been hit by two more torpedoes, the Hood would have been 556% sunk here. But the tragedy was that U had run out of torpedoes...

Anyone would be depressed if the duck that was about to be in their mouth flew away.

But looking in the direction of France ahead - the direction where the Bismarck had evacuated before, he couldn't help but think of the fierce naval battle less than an hour ago, when a small submarine like his finally rescued the navy's flagship Bismarck.

Just thinking about it makes me happy.

"Haha, a small person like me can also do something for the battleship..."

"Captain! A telegram from the Bismarck!" Just as the officer was grinning, the signalman on the boat climbed out of the hatch with a telegram in his hand. The captain took it and saw that it clearly read "...Thanks to the U556 submarine and Captain Wolfas for using their skillful tactics and fearless courage to severely damage the Hood and to reinforce and help the Bismarck battleship. On behalf of the Greater German War Navy, I thank you! - Admiral Lütjens, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet"

"Captain, the general actually recognized you!" the deputy captain joked. Captain Wolfas also grinned: "Of course, have you forgotten? When we launched our boat, it was me who borrowed the military band from the Bismarck!"

"Really? No wonder, Captain, you are so proud~ Hahaha..."

The small submarine let out a joyful laugh, following the path of the battleship Bismarck an hour ago, heading east in the night, towards home...

--

And on the other side…

Hood was struggling to return to the port, but the continuous inflow of water was making her steps heavier and heavier. The speed had dropped below ten knots, and she could hardly move forward.

But fortunately, at this time, the Goddess of Dawn arrived.

When the Hood's left deck was almost close to the sea level due to the gradual flooding, and the upturned stern even made the right propeller begin to show the surface of the water, the embarrassed figure appeared in the sight of the Aurora, which had lost its combat effectiveness in the previous battle and was forced to leave the battlefield for repairs, but rushed back to rescue the Hood after knowing that the Hood was severely damaged by the submarine, almost everyone on the cruiser was stunned...

Is this still the Hood who fought with Bismarck a few hours ago? Hood was still fine when they left.

The glory of the Royal Navy, the flagship of the Home Fleet, the Hood that once held the glory of suppressing the Bismarck, actually capsized in front of a submarine, and it seemed that this was a fatal injury...

However, although the Aurora wanted to help Hood immediately, she was hit by a 380mm underwater piercing her waterline. She was also seriously injured by a large amount of water. She had no way to do anything... Her own water pumps could only barely ensure that she would not sink. There was no extra capacity to support Hood. As for towing Hood back... a 7000-ton cruiser towing a 5-ton battlecruiser... Even if the Aurora was not injured, it would not be able to tow it...

Not to mention that the water in the Hood has now reached an alarming level.

"This is the flagship of the Home Fleet, the Hood and the Aurora! We are in the waters of the Celtic Sea! Where is the reinforcement fleet? Where are you! The Hood is seriously injured and needs emergency rescue..." Time was urgent, and the communications officers and soldiers on the two warships no longer cared about the radio silence and had already called for help from other troops directly on the radio.

"If you don't come over, the Hood will sink!"

In fact, because of the need to encircle and destroy the Bismarck, there were definitely many reinforcements coming from all directions, as well as ships that could be dispatched from around the British mainland. But the tragedy was that… because Hood’s fleet had previously been speeding at a speed of 35 knots, which was far higher than other ships (except destroyers), the other fleets were now quite far from the Hood’s current location, and basically none of them could arrive within a few hours.

Even though the Hood and the Aurora had been crawling at a speed of ten knots towards the northeast of the British mainland, after waiting for nearly three hours, they only arrived with four destroyers dispatched from several bases in the southwest of the UK, which were rushing at a full speed of thirty-six knots. Following behind them was a (World War I-level) D-class light cruiser with a maximum speed of only 32 knots, which was still towing thirty or forty nautical miles away... And the water pumps of these four destroyers combined were not even as strong as those of the Aurora...

Moreover, when they arrived, the Hood's road had already come to an end...

ps: Ah, the heroine is finally going to die, are you happy? I want to kill my sister to prove my point!

Chapter 358: Final Thoughts (Part 2)

The water was still rushing into Hood's body rapidly. She sat quietly on the bridge, feeling the slowly draining away of her vitality.

After the scene just now, she had become like a witch in the hearts of the crew members. Many people were whispering and observing her secretly.

It turns out that even battleships are not immortal.

Hood sat there, watching the crew busy with various damage control operations, and also watching them give up hope little by little. Of course, she would occasionally look at the sky. Although there was no moon tonight, it would be the last one she could see.

I really hope to see the sunrise again.

She sighed.

---

The waterline has not reached the deck.

The desperate Tovey finally gave up. He was silent for a while, picked up the amplifier and walked to the center of the bridge.

The crew members stopped what they were doing and looked at him solemnly, as if waiting for the verdict to be announced.

What Tovey announced was indeed a verdict, a verdict on Hood.

He coughed lightly and said slowly, "All crew members, I am Tovey."

"I thank you for fighting till the very end, you are Great Britain..."

He wanted to say something inspiring, but found that he couldn't say anything, so he skipped to the end.

"Now, I announce the final order: abandon ship..."

"Good luck..."

After Tovey finished speaking, he walked towards the back of the bridge like an old man in his twilight years.

All the crew members turned to Tovey, saluted him silently, and watched him leave.

“Begin evacuation!”

The first mate rubbed his red eyes and hissed.

"Yes!"

The sea water finally won, and it happily poured into the engine room and generator room through the openings in the deck. The deck on the side where Hood was hit was completely submerged in water, and the crew could only walk over from the other side by stepping on the bulkhead.

With a roar of steam, as if Hood's final farewell, the boiler, main engine and generator all stopped.

The propeller underwater soon stopped rotating due to the resistance of the sea water, and the propeller exposed above the sea surface spun helplessly for a few times before finally returning to calm.

The ship stopped moving, and the entire rescue fleet also stopped.

As soon as the generators stopped, the water pumps powered by them also stopped working and the amount of water entering began to surge.

The interior of the ship was completely plunged into darkness, with only the emergency lights flickering slowly.

The sinking speed even reached an angle visible to the naked eye.

The four destroyers and the Aurora could only gather around the Hood in grief and helplessness, watching the sea water creep up the Hood's deck which was tilting more obviously...

Of course, the only thing to be thankful for is that the Hood has managed to hold on until now despite being so seriously injured. This is incredible, and because most of the more than 1600 sailors on the Hood, except for those who died in the previous battle, have been evacuated safely...

In the dark night, on the tilted deck of the Hood, the last batch of officers and soldiers were spontaneously organizing themselves to board the lifeboats in batches according to military discipline...

Their target was the Aurora and the destroyer that were quietly anchored not far away.

However, many people cried. They looked back with red eyes at the capsizing warship, which looked even more desolate in the dark night.

That was once their home, the place where they fought together.

--------

"Commander, everyone has evacuated. We're waiting for you." The deputy commander said, leaning on the aisle where the bulkhead had been turned into a floor.

According to naval regulations, the commander should be the last to leave the ship, so when the last sailor left the Hood, the deputy chief came to call him.

Tovey was silent for a while and turned away.

"You go away and don't worry about me."

The deputy captain was not surprised by this answer. He just tried his best to persuade Tovey to evacuate quickly.

"Because of my mistake, the pride of the Royal Navy has sunk here. I am too embarrassed to go back." Tovey waved his hand, his voice low, obviously leaving no room for negotiation.

"General..." The deputy commander wanted to say something else, but he only heard the sound of a door closing.

Tovey locked himself in the bridge commander's lounge.

"Don't try to persuade me. Just leave and I will take the responsibility." Tovey's voice came from inside.

The deputy captain gritted his teeth, sighed and left.

The Hood sank because of its own arrogance and stupidity, and according to naval tradition, a defeated commander can only wash away his shame by sinking with the ship...

Although he knew that even if he died here, he would not be able to cause any damage to the Royal Navy.

He is sorry to everyone.

---

Tovey sat by the window, silently watching the crew evacuating through the porthole glass. The key to the locked hatch was broken and thrown aside.

He opened the drawer, calmly took out a small pistol, and then kept stroking it. This was a pistol that had been with him ever since he became a naval candidate officer, and it had almost been with him throughout his military career.

He originally thought that he could regard this pistol as a symbol of his life's glory, but he didn't expect...

When the last batch of sailors are transferred, Tovey will use this pistol that has accompanied him all his life to take responsibility for his defeat with his own life...

But... until now, Tovey still has a special subordinate that he has not let go of...

For some reason, he had not seen his secretary Elizabeth since a few hours ago, and she was not seen wearing a sky blue vest among the retreating sailors in the cabin...

Tovey remembered that when he locked himself in the commander's lounge, he also specifically told his subordinates through the cabin door to take Elizabeth out safely and recommend her to continue serving in the navy...

But I haven't seen her shadow yet...Is she as stubborn as me? Tovey couldn't help but feel a little worried, and a little regretful...

But at this moment, a gentle, quiet, weak, and very familiar voice appeared in Tovey's ears again...

"Commander, everyone is leaving. Aren't you going to leave?"

Tovey turned around in surprise and saw the secretary Elizabeth, whom he had not seen before.

She appeared quietly beside him.

Looking at the broken door key in his hand and the fact that there was no sign of the door being opened, Tovey even wanted to ask how she got in. However, when he thought about the fact that she even had the magic power to control the battleship, he quickly felt relieved.

This is how a witch's power should be. And...

"The Hood was so badly damaged before, but it still managed to hold on until now. Moreover, the front main gun ammunition depot was hit by a torpedo, and the explosion caused such a large amount of water ingress, but there was no secondary explosion. It can still hold on until now. It was actually you who did it, right?" Tovey asked with certainty.

Elizabeth looked very weak, no longer having the vitality she had when she first met her, but she still nodded and advised: "Commander, please go, this ship can no longer support itself..."

Tovey looked at her strangely, because she found that Elizabeth seemed to be at the end of her life more than herself.

The cold sea water poured in from the deck faster and faster, and the ship seemed to sink even faster. One side of the bridge had already started to take in water, and it wouldn't be long before the entire ship would capsize.

Looking outside, the last few lifeboats were about to leave. Tovey, who looked as if he had aged several years in the past few hours, even began to hunch over and shook his head:

"Forget about me, an old man who was defeated in the battle. It doesn't matter where I die. But you, Elizabeth, are still young and capable. You still have a long way to go... Go ahead. It's not impossible for you to become the first female admiral of the Royal Navy. There's no need for you to be buried with me here..."

"Hahaha, by the way, I sincerely apologize for what happened just now." Tovey laughed until tears came out. "I'm sorry, please forgive me."

But the female secretary just shook her head silently...

"No, General, I am the only one who cannot leave... I will live and die with it."

"What do you mean?" Tovey looked at her in confusion.

Elizabeth, who seemed to be feeling a little depressed and regretful, took a step forward and stood beside Tovey. She looked straight at Tovey with her beautiful big eyes and said word by word:

"Commander, it's time to tell you my true identity. I'm really sorry for hiding it for so long... Actually, my real name... is Hood, the first ship of the Royal Navy's Admiral-class battlecruiser, His Majesty's battleship, the Hood battlecruiser."

After saying that, the gentle female secretary looked at him with a smile.