Bismarck

The outcome of being separated from the main fleet in this situation with the pursuit behind them was almost predictable. The sailors on the Veneto watched those ships disappear into the darkness with sadness. You know, even the three battleships were faster than them. In some cases, this squadron was just a bait to cover the rear, meat for the British.

However... this was not enough to completely shake off the pursuers behind... The British did not value such a small thing, and they decided to bury VV in this sea.

The British cruisers simply bypassed the slow-moving Zara sisters, leaving them to the follow-up pursuit force, and continued to pursue the direction of the Veneto's evacuation. In the eyes of the officers and soldiers of the Veneto, the British cruisers, who were chasing like wolves chasing prey over a long distance, still showed their ghosts from time to time in the night, and everyone knew that a greater danger was gradually approaching in the haze of the night in the southeast...

--

At about twelve o'clock, when the three Zara sisters who were lagging behind were still struggling desperately, several short but bright flames suddenly lit up on the sea surface far to the southeast! And just less than a minute after this ominous fire, hail-like rain of bullets covered the heads of the defeated Italian army on the sea!

The bombardment of twenty-four 381 main guns of the British battleship!

I can barely tell that the other party is southeast of me, but I can't determine the distance!

This is the fault of having no radar.

Several Italian cruisers began to fire flares at their estimated positions, but without unified command and estimation - and there was no time for it - the flares fired randomly illuminated a few areas on the sea, but there was nothing! During the time when the Italians fired flares, relying on the "night combat radar guided shooting" of the Warspite, the British Royal Navy accurately fired several rounds of shells, which made the Italians lose their way.

The three Zara-class heavy cruisers at the end of the fleet had the highest defense among cruisers, but no matter how thick the armor of the cruisers was, they could not withstand the attack of the battleships. Although General Catoneo, the commander of the Italian squadron, commanded the Zara to fight back desperately, after only a few rounds of salvos, two of the three poor heavy cruisers were sunk and one surrendered. Although the four accompanying destroyers fled in all directions with smoke, no matter how fast the ships were, they could not fly faster than the shells... In the end, the elementary school students could not escape the fate of being hit one by one by the 381 heavy guns of the Warspite...

The Italian First Cruiser Squadron, including the flagship Zara and Admiral Catoneo, the fleet commander, three heavy cruisers and four destroyers, were completely wiped out in just fifteen minutes...

Looking at the gradually sinking Italian warship and the Pola cruiser that had lost power and hoisted the white flag of surrender, the "sharp-eyed" Secretary Belle was still worried and carefully examined the other side to see if the Italians were planning to pretend to surrender and "drag someone down with them."

But... Secretary Bailey really overestimated the fighting spirit of the Italians. It would definitely be a mistake to think of Italy based on the traditions of the Royal Navy.

Are you kidding? How could Italians, who would rather lie down than sit, be so desperate?

What she saw was that the Italian sailors and officers on the deck were not paying attention to surrendering. They did not destroy weapons and key equipment on the eve of surrender, nor did they organize spontaneous resistance, but were only concerned with pouring wine into their mouths, and there were empty bottles on the ground...

"I don't know how Mussolini's conscription department agreed to let these hooligans join the army..." Secretary Bailey told Cunningham about the farce on the destroyer Pola, and she curled her lips to express her contempt and disdain for this pig opponent.

"Okay, okay, at least this saves some trouble, right?" Cunningham smiled and gently patted the hand of his secretary and wife - the secretary looked around blushing. Fortunately, although there were many people in the bridge, at least no one was seen looking directly in this direction.

Seeing that "no one noticed", the secretary ship, who was a little relieved, snorted softly, pulled out his hand, "gently" grabbed Cunningham's ear, and then gently twisted it 1,080 degrees...

Suddenly, Cunningham took a deep breath.

----------

Two destroyers were left behind to transfer the Italian crew members from the disabled Pola. At the same time, Cunningham instructed them to remove two sets of the gyroscope-mounted automatic stabilization anti-aircraft gun platforms on the Pola's small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, and then destroy them with torpedoes. This thing could keep the anti-aircraft gun platform's firing stable when the ship turned violently, and was extremely useful for anti-aircraft gun counterattacks during large-scale air raids!

"It's a pity that Italy has world-class battleship design talents and weapons, but the people who operate them are not good enough..." In front of many subordinates, Cunningham turned his head sideways and said to his subordinates with a smile.

"No matter how good the equipment is, it is useless in the hands of useless people."

"The next stop is Veneto. According to the intelligence from the previous air raid and its current location, the Vittorio Veneto should not have gone far. Let's hurry up and chase!"

--

"...Commander, Zara just sent a briefing and a farewell message..."

On the Veneto, Admiral Iachino, who already knew about the Zara, remained silent for a long time, and the other officers and sailors could only stand in the command room silently looking southeast, as if bidding farewell to their deceased comrades...

Of course, it is also possible that he is worried about his future fate...it's just the grief of the rabbit's death.

"...Judging from the speed of Zara and his men, they should be 20 nautical miles behind us. The last telegram said that the British are firing long-range artillery, and very accurately... I estimate that in another five hours, we will be within their 15-inch range..." After estimating on the nautical chart for a while, the chief of staff of the Italian fleet said to Admiral Iachino.

"Five hours? That's five in the morning. Although our air force can reach us now, it's still an hour before daybreak. Send a telegram to the Navy Department and the Air Force Liaison Group stationed at the Navy Department to report our situation. Please ask them to take off before daybreak. If they haven't arrived at the battlefield by six o'clock, we will be in real danger. Send a telegram immediately! Hurry up!"

"Yes!"

----------

"Report to the commander! The radio direction finding team reported that there was a radio signal about 35 nautical miles in front of us ten minutes ago! It is speculated that it is very likely that Vittorio Veneto is calling for reinforcements!"

"Really?"

Cunningham, who was resting in a chair, heard the staff's report, stood up, rubbed his eyes and walked to the chart table. After a little estimation, he found a problem, so the steady fleet commander ordered: "Order, except for the cruiser fleet to harass them for another one to two hours, the main fleet retreats!"

"Ah?! Retreat?! The Veneto can't outrun us...?" The officers below were stunned.

This order puzzled everyone, as they clearly had the upper hand in winning...

"But by then we will be within the flight range of their aircraft!" The secretary ship, who was originally standing half a body behind Cunningham, stood up and answered: "The prisoners interrogated before said that Veneto's speed is 15 knots. The effective range of our artillery is nautical miles. With a distance difference of nautical miles, it will take us until five in the morning at the earliest to catch up with them. And even if we don't count Veneto, they still have three heavy cruisers, one light cruiser and six destroyers that can fight, and even if we add the cruiser fleet, we only have three battleships, four light cruisers and six destroyers - who of you is sure to sink Veneto within an hour? If not, the Stukas of the German Tenth Air Force will drop bombs on us at dawn at six o'clock!"

"This...?" After hearing this explanation, the officers thought about it and found that it was indeed the case...

Looking at his loving wife who had been with him for more than 20 years, Cunningham reached out his hand under the table and gently grasped the hand of his secretary. Ignoring the slightly red face of Yan Zhan, he said to his men, "Our navy is at an advantage, and theirs is at a disadvantage. Moreover, the Italians have only so many resources, and if we use them up, we will have less. Therefore, we don't need to risk losing a large number of battleships to chase them. If a few battleships really can't fight in an air raid, the entire Mediterranean will be affected."

"So, we just need to complete our mission and suppress them for a long time."

After hearing the explanations from the secretary and the commander, the officers below looked at each other and nodded, indicating that they agreed with the decision.

The huge battleship HMS Warspite, under the command of its own commander, with its two sister ships and two escorting destroyers, turned and headed southeast, in the direction of the transport fleet that it needed to cover on this voyage.

ps: Let's keep it for VV~ It's still very sad that such a cute child Lu sank~ Comrades, I saw the fff list~ Do you think this book is not sweet enough?

It seems like I need to post some dog food.

Chapter 373: The Persian Cat Finishes Taking a Bath (Part 1)

On March 1941, 3, at 30 p.m. local time, the main force of the Mediterranean Fleet, led by the dusty battleship HMS Warspite, escorted transport ships into the port of Athens, the capital of Greece.

After the huge transport fleet entered the port, cheers were heard at the dock.

This was a successful transport. Apart from a certain unlucky cruiser that was hit by a near miss, causing some leaks, the only aircraft that were shot down by the Italian fleet's anti-aircraft fire were only a few in number, which was really insignificant compared to the results of the battle.

You know, Cunningham almost thought he had fought a large-scale battle, but who knew it was just an ordinary escort. The Italians' fierce decisive battle ended in a funny way, leaving behind a pile of scrap metal.

"It turns out that there is no need to take Italians seriously..."

Watching the transport ships approaching the dock one after another and starting to unload troops, weapons and supplies, Cunningham couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. This batch of supplies played a very critical role in Britain's operations in the Mediterranean. Looking at the secretary ship leaning on the railing of the ship watching the sunset beside him, Cunningham wanted to make a few jokes.

But...soon someone broke this nice view.

"Don't move, someone is coming." Yan Zhan rolled his eyes at him and said softly.

"Commander! Dispatch from London!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a signalman stumbled in from outside, holding a piece of paper with the contents of the telegram copied on it, and hurriedly handed it to Cunningham.

what?

Cunningham grabbed the telegram and saw that it was a telegram full of Churchill cursing, severely accusing Cunningham of tactical failure.

"...Since you did not follow my instructions to arrange a squadron to disrupt the trade on the island of Malta, ten Italian transport ships sneaked through Malta yesterday and arrived in Tripoli, delivering a division of the German Africa Army!"

What follows is another paragraph of abusive language, along with threats of court-martial.

"This fat guy! What else can he do besides making sarcastic remarks and currying favor with the United States?"

War-weary, who was standing nearby, leaned over to look over. When he saw the first sentence, he started to curse, "We asked you to send a squadron to Malta, but you didn't send any reinforcements. Now our troops are already stretched thin to ensure transportation to Greece, so how can we deploy ships in Malta? You really don't know what's good for you!"

"Okay, okay, I'll ask him for some reinforcements when the time comes... Don't scold him... He is the Prime Minister after all, it would not be good if others hear it." Cunningham had no choice but to comfort his wife with kind words.

"What do you mean? You still want to report me to that fat guy?" War-weary snorted.

"How is that possible? I mean don't let anyone else hear it. After all, there are people inside," he explained.

Every time this happened, Cunningham felt as miserable as the old man who used to face the conflict between his daughter-in-law and mother-in-law.

"He's not doing anything reliable, and he still wants me to say nice things to him?" What annoyed her most was people who were not in this position but always issued some unrealistic orders.

"After all, the Prime Minister is considering the overall situation..." Cunningham had to say.

Although War-weariness obviously doesn't buy it.

After comforting War-weariness, he continued to read the situation report...

"... Two more reports of intelligence are about the Italian and German navies. Their battleships Andrea Doria and Littorio were repaired yesterday and began to serve again..."

"What about the other one?" War-weary said.

"In addition, the Bismarck battleship was also launched from the Saint-Nazaire dock in France today and has now begun sea trials... According to intelligence analysis, the German Atlantic Fleet may force its way into the Mediterranean around the end of April. I hope to attract attention..."

After Cunningham finished reading the intelligence, he looked up and found that his secretary ship was not in a very good mood.

He was surprised at first, but after thinking about it for a while, he knew the reason: "Why? Are you thinking of Hood?"

I just mentioned Bismarck, and when I think of war-weariness, I must have thought of Hood.

Warspite was a strong woman who had seen a lot, but when she heard that the great battle in the Atlantic ended with the sinking of the Hood, she couldn't help but shed tears for her companions.

Hood she...

Cunningham knew that Warspite felt very uncomfortable because his wife was some kind of existence. Later, he naturally knew about Hood's existence, but at Hood's request, he did not tell anyone about it. Although Hood's hull was not much different in age from Warspite, her consciousness only appeared a few years ago, and Warspite had always treated her as a sister.

This girl likes literature. When we met at the naval port, what she often did was to sit in the sun with a book and enjoy a cup of black tea. In fact, her quiet appearance was not suitable for such a war.

That day, Warspite disappeared for the entire day, and when he appeared in front of Cunningham the next day, his eyes were still red.

"Yeah, I thought of Hood... This girl is just too thin-skinned and too timid..." War-weary snorted, turned around and stared at his commander: "If Bismarck and the others really come, I will settle the score with her!"

"Yeah!" Seeing the war-weary expression, Cunningham put away his playful smile and nodded seriously.

"But they have to get in~" But War-weary chuckled. "Gibraltar has radar, and the artillery can block half of the strait with flat fire. Besides, didn't Samoville tell you last time when he came to see you? Tovey told him about the ship girl and asked if you knew about it!"

"Um... I didn't dare tell him..." Looking at his wife's white fingers, Cunningham couldn't help but swallow his saliva secretly. From the perspective of a British gentleman, being scolded by a beautiful woman is actually a very nice thing.

Cunningham felt that every time he appeared on the battleship with his wife was always his happiest time. After all, at this time, his wife would become his secretary, and he would always feel particularly good when being with her.

"I know you didn't dare to say it. If you did, you'd be done for!" War-weary said with a smile, "Be careful, I'll make you feel good."

"But... with Samoville's capabilities and Gibraltar's garrison, and the fact that we have deployed a large number of the world's most advanced, newly produced high-power centimeter-wave radars there, the Germans want to sneak in during the foggy weather? They have to sneak in!"

“Hehehe…”

ps: Shout with me, Great America, Trump is the King!

It was originally scheduled to be shipped at 2017 o'clock... but... it was scheduled to be shipped at o'clock on January , ... I was so scared

Chapter 374: The Persian Cat Finishes Taking a Bath (Part 2)

After the thrilling sneak attack, the defense situation around the docks in Saint-Nazaire suddenly became tense. The mustache man in Berlin personally instructed to strengthen the guards around Bismarck. The subordinates naturally did not dare to neglect it. With the rush of work day and night, the area that was originally full of loopholes soon became a heavily guarded fortress. There were shore guns on the commanding heights around, sufficient anti-aircraft firepower for important targets, and various arresting cables under the water. It was not specially for Bismarck. There were not only important repair docks here, but also U-boat bases. Both of them needed to be guarded. It was just too lax before.

Tirpitz, who was originally protecting Bismarck, also came ashore for repairs. The five tons of explosives also caused her harm at close range, causing water to enter and damage to the hull. It can only be said that it was a good thing that it was not a close-range explosion, otherwise this otaku girl would have been blown away.

Poor Tirpitz returned to the shore with injuries after the battle, and was scolded by her sister and Lindmann. Although she was injured, you can't blame Lindmann for feeling distressed and scared. He couldn't imagine what would happen if the destroyer hit the turning Tirpitz. Would it be severely damaged, sunk, or broken into two? Lindmann knew that the spirit of the ship girls was all in the keel. If the keel was damaged...

As soon as Tizi got off the boat, he was pulled aside by the furious Lindemann.

"When will you change your confused temper?" He almost pointed at Ti Zi's nose and scolded him, completely ignoring the surprised looks of the crew members around him.

You know, Captain Lindemann has always had a very good character and basically doesn't get angry over trivial matters. Although they were almost successfully ambushed by the British this time, this doesn't seem to have anything to do with the secretary. If anyone is going to scold someone, shouldn't they scold the deputy captain and others?

Looking at the secretary's pitiful and dizzy look, they wanted to refute but dared not to, so they could only pout. The crew members were so soft-hearted, she was like an angel, giving people the urge to commit crimes.

"If it weren't for your sister, you would have died here this time!"

"Don't you even know how to observe your surroundings?! Where is your ability?"

Fortunately, when Lindemann was furious, the clearing area around him became very large, and because of the recent battle, the environment was noisy, so no one could really understand what they were saying.

"I, I'm already fighting very hard..." Tizi sobbed, wiping her tears while secretly observing Lindemann's expression.

But Lindemann remained unmoved. In the past, whenever Grape cried, he would always give in, but this time he was really angry.

"It's fine that you don't take it seriously normally, but now you've done something so stupid. Even if it's our own warship, sink it when it rams into you! Can't you see it's getting closer?!"

"I, I was shooting at other warships..."

"You ignored everything else when you were shooting? Where's the deputy commander? Where's the lookout? Did they notice this?!"

Tizi shook his head innocently.

"You idiot!" Lindman was speechless for a while, then he became so angry that he even uttered insults.

For Germans, due to the lack of swear words, "idiot" is actually a very serious swear word. So when Lindmann said this, he felt that it was inappropriate. After all, this was his secretary, how could he curse like that?

In this case, wouldn't I be a stupid captain?

He coughed lightly and wanted to put his hand on Tizi's head to comfort her.

Who knew that when Tizi heard the word idiot, he raised his head with joy, as if he was very happy to be called that?

Eh?

What is this scenario?

Lindemann was confused.

"Lindemann, you're not angry anymore?" she whispered, twisting her fingers.

In fact, we can't blame grapes. We can only blame the profound and extensive Chinese culture. Bismarck, who came from there, said that you Germans who curse others are all scum!