Bismarck

When he found out that the most dangerous enemy - the German shore guns - had been distracted by the two battleships, the captain of the Campbelltown, Major Betty, felt relieved. He knew that he had to put on a good show, so he began to command his subordinates to imitate the process of the German naval warships entering the port (which he learned through special channels). Like a real assassin, he concealed his murderous intentions in his heart and quietly moved towards the Normandy dock more than ten kilometers away...

only…

Captain Beatty was still somewhat worried. He only hoped that the artillery batteries on both sides of the shore and the battleship Tirpitz, which the intelligence said had been stationed in the port, would not recognize the disguise of his battleship. But...even if they recognized it, what would it matter?

The bow of the Campbell City was armored, and there were five tons of explosives! Even the Normandy dock locks, which were more than ten meters thick, could be destroyed in one collision! So as long as it couldn't sink itself in one go, it would be ready to withstand the power of the dreadnought collision!

Anyway, he came here to cause trouble, and he never thought about returning alive! At worst, I can just smash him to death here and blow him upside down! !

-------

Bismarck teleported back to the main body of the dock immediately, hurriedly greeted Hyde who stayed behind, and then hurriedly checked the condition of his hull.

Well... the hull has been repaired, and the camouflage net is intact. The diesel generator in the auxiliary engine room is already operational, the radar and secondary gun fire control are also operational, and the firepower including the 37mm anti-aircraft gun can already fire into the air. Although the 105mm anti-aircraft gun and the 150mm secondary gun are still not operational...

The position of the hull was not a problem, but the workers on the hull had to be evacuated urgently, and they had to ensure that the camouflage was not damaged during the evacuation, and even prevented someone from sabotaging it... Since the main body was still under construction, someone had sabotaged it. The spy who was trying to saw off the steel cable while the hull was being straightened in the shipyard and crippled himself in the dock was driven into the sea by my shout...

Now Hyde and several other officers, along with the sailors, are organizing the evacuation of the workers and the internal security of key areas. However, a large warship is so huge, with densely packed compartments and crisscrossed roads. Even the sailors on the ship sometimes get lost in the maze-like passages inside the hull. And there are definitely a lot of loopholes to exploit in a hasty evacuation! In this environment, if someone wants to maliciously lurk and cause damage, it is really too easy!

Although no sabotage had been discovered until now, this was the French-occupied area after all, not the relatively safe domestic shipyard, and the Persian cat would never dare to take its own safety lightly.

She kept an eye on the interior of her ship at all times and did not dare to relax at all. Even in such a chaotic time, Bismarck had to keep an eye on the interior while taking into account the situation outside, and there were many loopholes.

After all, it is still difficult to monitor everyone's actions.

By the time all the workers had been evacuated and confirmed again that no explosive packs had been found, no salt water had been added to the mechanical and electrical equipment, or the wires in the equipment had been cut and then short-circuited to create an artificial short circuit, a full quarter of an hour had passed.

The sky above was filled with the sound of heavy bombers. In the Persian cat's field of vision, the Tirpitz, which had just left the main channel of the estuary and turned 200 degrees south by west to unleash its full firepower, was meeting the torpedo boat that had been chased by the British battleships.

A head-on clash between the battleship and the artillery is a suicide mission, not to mention that there is a large hamster hiding behind the artillery, which can pour fire on the opponent without hindrance under the command of the ship girl's "feeling" type observation device... Under the continuous bombardment of four 170MM heavy cannons, eighteen 150mm coastal defense guns, and eight 380mm naval guns of a large battleship that can fire without restriction and at full force, Renown and King George V of England fell into a disadvantage before they even touched the breakwater of the port of Saint-Nazaire. Among the dense water columns, flames of explosions broke out on the huge hulls after being hit. Soon, they had to blindly fire in the general direction of the port which was completely obscured by the smoke released by the smoke generator, and began to turn and evacuate towards the open sea.

"Are these British people crazy?" Bismarck asked curiously.

Fighting against the shore artillery is something that even I don't like to do.

These blind bombardments, hidden by the German army's smoke and camouflage, did not pose much threat to the German army, except for a few occasional rounds of shells that hit the temporary barracks near the dock, killing and injuring a few unlucky guys who did not follow the rules and stayed in the bunkers, and insisted on coming out to watch the fun. Most of them did not pose much threat to the German army.

Only the small town of Saint-Nazaire, which was an obvious target and had no shelters like temporary barracks, was bombed badly. However, under the air defense alarm more than 20 minutes ago, the French people were evacuated to designated shelters by the local German garrison under semi-forced and semi-surveillance (also to prevent someone from taking advantage of the situation), and there were basically no casualties.

However, the hamster, who was muttering "It's so annoying", obviously did not notice that there was something wrong with the "German Navy torpedo boat" that was heading towards the estuary less than a thousand meters in front of her - she was fighting with two British battleships and did not pay any attention to the escape of "her own people".

However, Bismarck, who was observing the situation around the port, noticed that this torpedo ship was moving towards the estuary intentionally or unintentionally, and was surprisingly close to Grapes...

This distance has exceeded the safe distance between all warships. Even friendly warships will not get so close - because it is very easy to collide.

Moreover, in a battle like this, the more dispersed you are, the better.

So, the more you look at it, the weirder it gets.

"Wait, this torpedo ship... why does it feel a little strange... and there are some speedboats following behind... what's going on?"

Bismarck released his mental power in doubt, silently surrounding the torpedo ship covered in smoke.

That is? !

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Although the two British warships began to retreat while fighting under the continuous attacks of the artillery and the main guns of the Grape, the enemies in the sky had already approached Saint-Nazaire!

The British have too many planes!

The 110 heavy bombers from three squadrons were a black mass, like bats that were suddenly awakened, advancing fearlessly under the illumination of searchlights. Even though they fell to the ground one after another with black smoke under the pursuit of night fighters, a large number of bombers had already flown close to the sky above the port.

Nearly 80 large-caliber anti-aircraft guns of the German army stationed around the port also began to fire at the sky in the direction of the searchlights under the command of the radar. The sky was instantly filled with exploding fireworks, but for the sturdy four-engine heavy bomber, as long as these exploding fireworks did not directly hit it, they could at least support it to fly a long distance...

And they were only ten kilometers away from Saint-Nazaire! Not to mention, a bomber dropping bombs at an altitude of five thousand meters and a speed of three hundred kilometers per hour, the bombs themselves could fly forward a distance measured in kilometers under the action of inertia!

Their targets were almost all the Bismarck in the dock or other warships. There were no other important places in the town that needed to be attacked.

Watching the British battleship fleet in front begin to evacuate, and the shadows of bombers beginning to appear in the searchlights above the port area behind, Ti Zi, with a look of disgust on his face, had no time to complain about the trouble. He began to turn to the right rear at a speed of twelve knots, and at the same time turned the eight 105 anti-aircraft guns on his starboard side towards the direction of the incoming bombers.

But at this moment, her sister's anxious voice came from her WIFI:

"Tizi! Watch out for the torpedo boat in front of you! It's a British ramming ship! There's a compartment inside filled with explosives!"

Bismarck quickly told what he had seen.

"What?!" Tizi was shocked when he suddenly received the alarm from his sister!

She quickly looked in the direction Bismarck was pointing. Her face turned pale with fright.

"Enemy attack!"

As she shouted, she turned the main gun frantically.

At this time, the Campbell City was only 600 meters southwest of the turning Tirpitz!

Lieutenant Commander Beatty on the bridge watched the Tirpitz turn northwest, and he could not help but feel relieved. The distance was only 600 meters, and that damn battleship did not see through his disguise! Now he turned and left, it was God's help! God bless me!

Major Beatty silently made the sign of the cross on his chest, but just when he was halfway through, his helmsman shouted: "Captain! They found us!"

"What?" Major Beatty quickly looked up and saw that the two rear main turrets of the Tirpitz battleship had begun to slowly turn towards him!

Originally, in order to deal with the British battleships, the Tirpitz was facing the port from the right side, and the main gun was also facing the right side (west). Now, for air defense, the Tirpitz turned right and turned around, and the rear main gun gradually turned clockwise as the hull turned around. But now the Tirpitz has not yet finished turning around, and the rear main gun has continued to turn clockwise! Next... is to turn to your own position, and then use a round of salvos to send yourself and hundreds of sailors and commandos on the ship to the bottom of the sea? !

The main gun of the Tirpitz was still turning towards him at a speed of 5 degrees per second! If it really turned, everything would be over! There was no time to think about it. Major Beatty, with the instinct and blood of a soldier, instantly issued the final order:

"Let's fight! Campbelltown, fly the flag of the British Royal Navy! Boilers boosted! Full speed ahead! - Sink the Tirpitz!"

ps: With the explosion at such a close distance, I think Tizi must have been injured as well. As for how injured ~ it depends on my mood. Hahahaha, I like the scene where Tizi's clothes are exposed the most. Tizi still has a lot of stuff~

Chapter 368: Fearless Impact

"Full speed! Crash it! Crash Tirpitz to death!! Long live the British Empire! Long live the Royal Navy!"

With Major Beatty's fearless roar, the heroic Campbelltown opened at full speed and rammed head-on at a speed of 25 knots towards the left rear of the battleship Tirpitz, which was turning in front of it and whose speed had dropped to only 10 knots due to the resistance of the rudder!

Although Tizi had already manipulated the boiler room of his main body and began desperately pumping large amounts of heavy oil into the burning boiler when he heard his sister's alarm. However, the disadvantage of the steam turbine is that it heats up slowly... In order to save fuel, Tizi's boiler when he was on duty at the dock was not burning very vigorously. Moreover, it is not allowed to drive fast in the narrow channel, and it is an emergency start, so the steam pressure in the boiler of the battleship Tirpitz is not enough!

Although Grapes has already burned the boiler to the maximum power, a strong flame alone is far from enough! It takes time to burn pure boiler water into steam with sufficient pressure!

The Campbell City, with its determination to die and almost bloodshot eyes, was running at full speed from the beginning! The fire in the boiler was burning fiercely, turning the almost pure boiling boiler water into rolling steam, which was pumped out in the turbine to produce surging power, driving the Campbell City destroyer to fearlessly crash into the Tirpitz!

Even without the grapes, the battleship Tirpitz's speed is faster than this old destroyer that has been in the US Navy's sealed dock for 20 years and even its keel is rusted. But now one is hastily launched, while the other is long-planned. Although the absolute maximum speed is faster, in terms of acceleration, the battleship can never beat the destroyer...

The Tirpitz, which was still turning, was suddenly in chaos.

Some sailors who found something wrong hurriedly took up several 37mm anti-aircraft guns and two twin 105mm secondary guns at the left rear, and began to fire at the position of the Campbell destroyer. The 105mm secondary guns, which were originally anti-aircraft guns, were completely useless in the previous battleship artillery battle, and the officers' orders were to prepare for air defense. The gun barrels and ammunition boxes around the guns now only had VT fuze rod-shaped fragmentation anti-aircraft special high-explosive bombs, while the lethal bombs for light warships were all lying in the ammunition depot. Moreover, the power of 105mm shells was not enough for destroyers!

Not to mention that the Tirpitz was still turning! Although the helmsman on the Hamster minesweeper had already turned the rudder to the opposite direction under the command of the officer (and with the cooperation of Tirpitz), it would take some time to stop turning and resume direct sailing due to the low rudder efficiency at a speed of just over ten knots and the inertia brought by the weight of 50,000 tons...

Several 105mm shells were thrown randomly with messy trajectories and fell into the sea without any rules. The few shells that were thrown in the right direction by chance, with the help of VT fuses, exploded in the air dozens of meters away from Campbell City. A bunch of flying steel bars made a lot of long holes on the thin deck of this fearless destroyer, but they could not penetrate the 37-37 mm thick armor plates specially installed on the bridge and waterline. The mm machine guns that the sailors fired hastily on the turning warship were not accurate and powerful. Although the mm anti-aircraft shells at close range could make a few holes in the hull and the additional armor plate, and some of them could even kill the personnel behind after penetrating the armor, they could not do anything to the Campbell City with additional armor on the front!

Several brave British sailors rushed to the mainmast and quickly lowered the previously disguised German naval flag. One sailor pulled the German flag off the hook on the mast cable that was specially used to hang the flag, and threw it into the sea with disgust on his face. Then he grabbed the naval flag of the British Royal Navy and hung it up carefully. Then he took two or three steps to solemnly raise the battle flag with a red cross on a white background and a Union Jack pattern in the upper left corner to the top of the mast amid the flying artillery fire!

At the same time, the only 105mm front main gun on the bow of Campbell City, as well as several 20mm machine guns that could fire forward, were also stood up by several red-eyed sailors, and some even found a place to set up the light machine guns and 60mm mortars carried by the commandos... In the hands of the red-eyed British commandos, the Campbell used these seemingly insignificant weapons to shoot desperately at the Tirpitz! Although this firepower could not pose a substantial threat to the battleship, it was a serious threat to the sailors and light weapons on the Tirpitz!

Neither the 37mm anti-aircraft gun nor the 105mm anti-aircraft gun had very thick defensive armor. Facing the crazy strafing of the 20mm machine gun and the roaring of the 105mm main gun, the sailors were instantly killed or wounded!

Although British officers and soldiers were occasionally knocked down by the strafing of German 37mm anti-aircraft guns and the flying shrapnel of 105mm anti-aircraft shells, hundreds of blood-thirsty Commandos and sailors had spontaneously lined up in front of the gangway, standing on the gun positions one after another, taking over the weapons from their fallen comrades, and continued to fire at the enemy on the opposite side...

When the main gun of the Grape had not yet turned around, on the turning hull, only the 150mm secondary turret on the left rear could barely fire, but the firing rate was too slow, resulting in insufficient firepower density, and the distance was so close that the turret's depression angle could not threaten the opponent's most critical waterline position... Although a shell hit the side of the Campbell City's hull, the commandos on the ship's 20mm gun position suffered heavy casualties, but it had no effect on the fearless collision of the desperate charge!

The artillery batteries on both sides, however, were either blocked by the huge body of the Tirpitz or were too close to the destroyers because of the angle, so they dared not open fire and could only use their machine guns to make desperate strafing in the direction of Campbell City...

After waiting for the rear gun of the Tizi to turn around, more than 20 seconds had passed...

“Haaa…Haaa…Only 400 meters left…We can’t be sunk here!”

Although it was only less than 37 seconds, and despite the additional armor, the bridge of the Campbell City was still in ruins in the face of dense firepower... Dense mm shells rained down like a torrential rain, leaving holes in the armor, and some shells simply hit the bulletproof glass directly, and then the fragments flew all over the bridge. Although there were steel plates inside as personnel shelters, there were still heavy casualties... The helmsman was killed immediately, and the sailor who replaced him also died at the helm within a few seconds... And now, it was Major Beatty who stood in front of the steering wheel in person... However, he had been injured in several places by the shrapnel from the explosion, and his uniform was stained red with blood, but Major Beatty did not pay any attention to the pain in his body. He only stared at the main gun of Tirpitz that was gradually turning, and the steering wheel in his hand was also turning left at full speed...

"We...can't be...sunk here!"

But in the eyes of the Persian cat, what he observed was that the Campbell City, which was forced to a distance of only 400 meters by the fearless collision, was frightened and panicked...

There is a delay between a warship turning and turning in a straight line. For a destroyer, it is about 20 to 30 seconds... But once the warship starts turning, it will be relatively easy to turn to the other side...

Several helmsmen of the Campbell City (including Major Beatty) had been desperately turning the rudder to the left...

What about Tizi? Although she has been to the battlefield several times before, and even fought a few fierce battles. But... in essence, Tizi is still the homegirl who is afraid of trouble, lazy all day long, and whose biggest dream is to stay in her own little nest and paint her own paintings every day...

Being forced to a distance of only 400 meters by a ramming ship, the psychological quality of the otaku girl was completely exposed...

The four 380mm main guns that Tizi had just turned around did not aim carefully at all, but just fired roughly in the general direction... However, the courage and persistence of Major Beatty and other helmsmen who died in the battle who held on to the steering gear made the Campbell City, which had just begun to turn, just miss this round of artillery fire by a millimeter!

And just after this round of shelling, in Bismarck's eyes, the British captain of the disguised ramming ship quickly turned the steering gear back to the right and soon resumed straight sailing... Although the angle of the rear main gun is now very flat, theoretically it can be loaded directly into it, but after all, it is a 380mm main gun. If the shells, propellant bags and brass shell bases are transported up and assembled, it will take half a minute to load!

The destroyer's power unit's forced ventilation and overloaded turbine generated tremendous power that offset the resistance of turning and the speed loss. It quickly restored its speed of 24 knots and continued to rush towards Grapes!

Although the size and intimidation were totally disproportionate, in the face of such fearless momentum, Tizi was completely stunned...

“Sister…sister…help!!”

While shouting for help from his sister, he twisted the ship trembling with fear. The Tirpitz battleship's return fire became even more panicked...

"Tizi, hold on! I'll be right there!" Seeing his hamster sister so frightened, the Persian cat couldn't help but feel nervous! Fortunately, the ship girls (of the same camp) can teleport on each other's ships, and can also operate on behalf of others after getting authorization...

So the Persian cat took action quickly!

The distance was closing rapidly at a rate of seven or eight meters per second! And the total distance was less than four hundred meters... In thirty or forty seconds at most, if the British disguised ramming ship didn't take action, it would be too late! !

Although the Persian cat was a little disappointed with Tizi and thought that Tizi's performance was shameful and needed strict special training, but... she was his sister after all... In such a dangerous situation, he had to resolve Tizi's crisis first!

"Tizi! I'm coming! Control your hull and artillery for me! Hurry up!!"

“Okay, okay! Sister, you take control… Ugh, I shouldn’t have come out…”

Even though it was extremely urgent, the Persian cat couldn't help but roll his eyes...

The distance is only a few hundred meters, and the close-range depression angle of the battleship's 380 main gun and 150 secondary gun is really limited... If you can't attack the position below the waterline of the ramming ship, you can't stop the enemy's ramming! !

Under the pressure of life and death, the sailors continued to fire desperately at the Campbell City with the 105 and 37 anti-aircraft guns. Even the 150 turret, with the assistance of the Persian cat, hit the bridge of the Campbell City again! In Bismarck's perception, the opponent's steering gear was directly blown up by the explosion of the 150 shells. The opponent's helmsman - judging from the lace on his sleeves, he was a major, and it seemed that he was the captain of the opponent - covered his stomach that was blown open by shrapnel, and fell unwillingly on the steering gear.

But! Captain Beatty adjusted the course of the Campbell in the last few seconds of his life! The distance was only 200 meters! If it continued to sail, in at most 20 seconds, the Tirpitz would be completely sunk by the Campbell's fearless collision! !

"Is the ammunition for the rear main gun not ready yet? Tizi! Please reload the shells for the rear main gun faster!!"

"Oh... stop rushing... Tizi is already working very hard to operate the ammunition loader..." Tizi is about to cry...

Look at the rear main gun of the Tizi. Among the four main guns, only one is about to be loaded with shells, and the other three are still not ready! The distance of the British ramming ship has been shortened to less than 200 yards (183 meters). Through the bow of the ship that was riddled with bullet holes from the 37 guns, the Persian cat can even see the tightly packed pile of explosives in the explosives compartment! !

"It's too late! Tizi! I'm firing a single gun! Be careful to block the shells of those three guns and protect your crew!" Bismarck said as he hurriedly maneuvered the battleship Tirpitz to tilt the rear hull. Using the tilting movement, he pushed the sailors to the side so that they would not be hit by the recoil of the artillery fire. At the same time, he also pointed the 380 rear main gun that had just been loaded straight at the target!

The details of the other three cannons can only be solved by Ti Zi!

This is the only chance! To save his sister! ! In the Persian cat's perception, at the moment of tilting to the maximum angle, the 380mm rear main gun, which has been pulled to the lowest depression angle, can just touch the bow waterline of the British ramming ship - with the explosive power of the 380mm high-explosive shell, even if there is 20mm armor on the waterline and 20mm steel plate in the explosive compartment, it is enough to detonate!

But if the shot is slightly off and misses...

"To save Grapes, we only have this moment!"

In order to rescue his sister, Bismarck concentrated almost all of his mental strength just to get the shooting moment right!

Time seemed to pass very slowly, but also very quickly! The sailors on the Bismarck, Tirpitz, Tirpitz and British ramming ships, the coastal gunners on the shore, the captain and Lindemann who had already arrived at the dock, the British speedboats following far behind the Campbell City, and even the British warships that had already begun to retreat more than 20 kilometers away... Everyone's palms were sweating, and they watched the dreadnought ramming destroyers gradually approaching the distance of the Tirpitz, and the rear main gun of the Tirpitz! In their hearts, they all hoped and prayed for God's blessing...

"The direction is fine, just look at the tilt angle... Now is the time! C (Carl) turret's left 380mm main gun, fire!!"

As everyone prayed so nervously that they dared not even blink, a huge orange-red fireball rushed out of the gun barrel with gunpowder smoke. Almost at the same time, the Campbell City destroyer, which was chasing Tizi, also exploded with a flame at the bow of the ship! Just two seconds later, a violent roar with a sky-high flame sounded at the bow of the destroyer. The strong shock wave and the blown-off parts even flew to the car next to Lütjens and others on the shore, knocking an equipment box to one side... The shock wave generated by the explosion of five tons of high explosives in the water even caused the stern of the Tirpitz battleship 150 meters away to jump up half a meter at the waterline, and the entire stern shook! Including the steering gear seal, propeller shaft seal, and even some parts of the hull, some water leaks began to appear, and it seemed that even the propeller blades were affected by the vibration... A hamster was shaken so hard that he cried out, saying that it hurt as if his butt was slapped twice...

However, Persian Cat, Lütjens, Lindemann, and the officers and soldiers on the Hamster minesweeper were relieved when they saw the British ramming ship being blown into two pieces...

The British warships that had been seriously damaged had already withdrawn, and the British speedboats, knowing that the mission had completely failed, also began to turn around and evacuate. Although the bombing in the sky continued, with the threat of blind bombing, concealment and smoke cover, and interception by anti-aircraft artillery and night fighter units... Seeing the bombing position fall into the city again, bombing here and there, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief...

The battle is over...

Especially in the heart of the Persian cat, after the sudden crisis, it feels great to see that everyone is still alive and well... especially when you can hear a hamster jumping around and complaining about troubles and crying out in pain...

This feeling is so good...

ps: Comrades, the new Shuke version is now online, and everyone has a guaranteed razor blade~ Please give me the razor blade~ muah~ Tomorrow is the beginning of a new volume - Battle in the Mediterranean.

ps: I recommend a novel "North American Version of Warship Girls - Song of Blood and Water", which has more than 100,000 words.

Goodnight everybody.

369: Cunningham and War-weariness

The Mediterranean Sea, the oldest sea in the world, has a history even older than that of the Atlantic Ocean.

This landlocked sea between Asia, Africa and Europe is also one of the birthplaces of human civilization. It has the splendid culture of ancient Egypt, the prosperity of the ancient Babylonian Kingdom and the Persian Empire, and the birthplace of European civilization, including the oldest Aegean civilization in Europe, the ancient Greek civilization, and the ancient Roman Republic/Roman Empire, a 2000-year-old superpower that spanned Asia, Europe and Africa in the nd century AD and became the birthplace of Western civilization! In the process of civilization development, philosophy, religion, science, culture, etc. were produced...

This blue ocean, which is about 4000 kilometers long from east to west and about 1800 kilometers wide from north to south, is, in a sense, the mother of European and Middle Eastern civilizations!

However, because it controls the entire southern European shipping and the shortest shipping line between the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, this mother of Western civilization, in addition to the development of human civilization, is accompanied by almost eternal hatred, hostility, and endless wars...