Bismarck

It was such a peaceful atmosphere.

Lütjens finally raised his head. He had been waiting for this opportunity.

"Telegram, Zeppelin aircraft carrier, Tirpitz battleship, the fleet is ready to leave the port immediately. After leaving the port, immediately sail at full speed and maintain blackout!"

"Let's go."

Almost at the same time, the bridges of Zeppelin and Tirpitz received the news, and the two captains gave orders together.

"set off!"

At this time, the anti-aircraft gun barrels of the two battleships had not yet cooled down from the high temperature.

The Atlantic Fleet had been preparing for this day for a long time. The boilers were filled with steam in the afternoon. At the command, the valves opened and the surging steam poured into the pipes and turbines, immediately driving the impellers to rotate rapidly. The violent power rushed to the transmission and then drove the three sturdy main shafts of Tirpitz. The rear propeller accelerated circle by circle, and the silt on the seabed was stirred upside down. She began to move.

In order to prevent air raids, the three warships were not moored at the dock, but were randomly anchored in the harbor. This way, they could leave the port without the help of tugboats, and the possibility of being discovered was reduced.

According to the formation, Tirpitz will be the vanguard, Zeppelin in the middle, and Bismarck in the rear. The aircraft carrier must be protected in the middle. As for why Tirpitz is the pioneer instead of the more reliable Bismarck...

Bismarck is the flagship after all...

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The blackout continued until the fleet was far away from the port, and only after the French coastline disappeared from Bismarck's sight did he order the blackout to be lifted.

When the lights came on, the atmosphere quickly became lively, sweeping away the previous depression, and sounds gradually appeared in the bridge.

"I'm looking forward to the British people's expressions when they learn tomorrow morning that we have left." Bismarck stood beside Lütjens and covered his mouth with his hand and laughed.

It is quite interesting to be able to prank the British in this way. Their air force has depressed Bismarck for a long time, and in turn, they are depressed too - in fact, the Royal Navy has depressed Bismarck for a long time, but she just doesn't want to admit it, she is a weak woman...

As if infected by Bismarck's happiness, Lütjens' expression was also relaxed as he sat in the captain's chair, but he still spoke to his secretary.

"Don't be too happy too soon. The British already have a plan for this. They would not have thought that we were leaving."

"Don't worry, I know the British will have a solution." Bismarck said with a smile, "It's not bad to just let them be stunned for a while."

Lütjens smiled and nodded. It was certain that the British would be stunned for a moment, and might even be confused for a while.

"But, Captain, where do I go now?"

"What do you guess?" Lütjens asked his secretary with a smile.

"Ah, how should I know..."

Having said that, Bismarck soon found out about it, after all, this navigation plan had to be used.

The Strait of Gibraltar is only a thousand nautical miles away from the French port of Brest. With the strength of the Atlantic Fleet, it would probably take only a day and a night to complete the journey. However, in order to confuse the British and in conjunction with the maze he had set up earlier, Lütjens led the Atlantic Fleet in a large circle on the sea. After the fleet went out to sea, it first sailed northwest, pretending to be going back home via the Denmark Strait. It also deliberately exposed itself to British reconnaissance planes after dawn, specifically allowing Bismarck to confirm whether the British had discovered them.

After the British confirmed the news, and when it got dark the next day and the reconnaissance planes could no longer be dispatched, Lütjens ordered a full speed westward advance, and rushed headlong into the north-central North Atlantic waters where the merchant ships were most busy.

The British were now panicking.

This Lütjens doesn't play by the rules at all. They have no idea what Lütjens is going to do next.

This route is neither to return to the country nor to break through the Strait of Gibraltar. Could it be that they are planning to disrupt the Atlantic Ocean trade?

According to the strength of the Atlantic Fleet, those two devilish battleships, plus a powerful aircraft carrier, once such a presence enters the Atlantic to hunt down merchant ships - it's like a wolf entering a flock of sheep, it can bite anything it wants!

Britain was really panicking.

The sea routes are the lifeline of the British Empire. If the routes are destroyed, the consequences will be serious. At this time, many British fleets are trying to intercept Lütjens on his way to Gibraltar and the Danish Strait...

Fortunately, although the British are not strong, they still have a good friend - the beacon of democracy and freedom, America. Under the British's request for help, the Americans, who feel a great sense of responsibility, appear as an unlovable and uncharming villain in order to maintain world peace and implement love and true evil.

The U.S. Navy's "patrol" in the Pan-American Neutral Zone also hurried over.

But how could Lütjens, who had already had a general understanding of the habits of Americans, stay where he was? He showed his presence in the main shipping lane of the Atlantic Ocean, causing panic in the entire route. The Atlantic Fleet, which had scared away many transport ships, immediately left under his command, turned 180 degrees and came to the southwest of Ireland, near the Celtic Sea.

This place is also taken into consideration. Ireland, a country, adopted a pro-German stance during World War II because of the conflict with the British in Northern Ireland and was uncooperative towards the British. It is also a neutral country, which will reduce a lot of danger when sailing along its coastline.

The Atlantic Fleet passed rapidly along its coastline.

However, to Lütjens' surprise, he did not expect to encounter a big fish during this voyage, a really big fish - the super cruise ship Queen Mary.

Originally, he had only set up the maze to avoid being tracked by the British and Americans. He had no intention of actually going to the Atlantic Ocean to look for any transport ships that could be hunted. But such a ship happened to run into his gun, so he couldn't blame him...

The captain of the Queen Mary, who was sailing alone at a speed of 31 knots to transport emergency war supplies, must have thought that he would be caught. He had heard the navigation warning in the Atlantic Ocean and wanted to take a detour, but he was actually encountered by the devil fleet originally in the Atlantic Ocean in the vast ocean...

The captain had a black question mark face.

Excuse me?

The high speed of 31 knots was enough to make it shake off all the German submarines and leave them far behind, but how could it outrun the battleship's shells and the aircraft on the aircraft carrier?

When a huge column of water exploded beside the cruise ship, the poor captain was shocked and wanted to escape by relying on the high speed, but when Bismarck's announcement came over the public channel, he gave up the idea.

That's the terrifying Atlantic Fleet with a high speed...

The captain's brother served in the Royal Navy and had heard some rumors about Bismarck, whose latest achievement was the pride of the British Navy, the Hood.

He still remembered the scene when the news of the Hood's sinking was reported in British newspapers a few months ago. Everyone was in grief. Even the Glory Hood was defeated by her. What other ship could compete with it? The whole British society looked disheartened.

Even if your cruise ship has 80,000 tons, it is just a thin-skinned dumpling.

Okay, okay... surrender.

The crew members had all heard the experiences of the transport ship crews captured by Bismarck a year or two ago, and knew that the German Navy was not so unreasonable, at least not as demonic as the newspapers said.

If it's Bismarck again this time... there shouldn't be any problem.

"Captain, what should we do?" asked the first mate.

"What else can we do? Raise the white flag and surrender..." the captain spat in annoyance.

With the personal experiences of others in mind, the crew had no resistance to surrendering.

Just stop the ship, hoist the white flag, and wait for the Germans to come...

Before the ship came to a complete stop, several planes had already flown over them. The ammunition mounted under the belly of the planes clearly told the crew what would happen if they tried to escape.

The crew members boarded the lifeboat nervously. They didn't dare to breathe, for fear that the planes above them would drop bombs or fire a volley of bullets at them.

They were nervous for nothing. The young men in the Air Force were not so idle. The people below were now non-combat personnel. If anyone opened fire on the prisoners, the chivalrous Captain Zeppelin would probably be furious when he returned and teach them a lesson.

Therefore, when the Bismarck caught up, they hurriedly landed back to the nest. They didn't want to do this kind of work that threatened others, it was so boring.

Lütjens was also very trustworthy and did not make things difficult for the crew members. However, they were now trying to break through Gibraltar, and there was no time on the ship to deal with them, so they were not taken prisoners - anyway, this place was not far from the Irish coastline, so let them go back on their own.

After signaling a few lifeboats to move away, Bismarck's secondary guns opened fire, turning the Queen Mary into a honeycomb from a kilometer away and starting a raging fire. Finally, with a shocking explosion, the 80,000-ton cruise ship capsized on the sea almost instantly and turned into a pile of bubbles.

Lütjens's behavior seemed to confirm that he was trying to disrupt commerce, but why bring an aircraft carrier with him to disrupt commerce?

However, Lütjens' next move was beyond the British expectations.

After sinking the Queen Mary, the Atlantic Fleet actually headed towards the coast of France, as if it was going to sneak out and go home after eating and drinking.

Is this the end of the battle?

Go out for a walk and then go home?

The British command was almost confused. What on earth did Lütjens want to do...

Of course, this is all for the British to see. After refueling directly at sea in the safe waters of the Bay of Biscay, they will slip out from the coast of Spain again...

It depends on whether the British can catch him.

ps: Ala, I will continue to update twice a day today, don't worry~ I am so diligent, please give me a reward~

Chapter 383: Cat and Mouse on the Atlantic Ocean (Part 2)

When the British High Command was still unsure about Bismarck's ultimate goal, Somerville in Gibraltar firmly believed that Bismarck would come this way. He was sure that the turmoil created by Lütjens in the Atlantic was just a means for him to cover up his real purpose. He still wanted to break through Gibraltar and enter the Mediterranean.

Even Somerville could basically guess the date, and he might even guess that it was around April 4th - although Westerners do not recognize the first day of the lunar calendar, they also know that there will definitely be no moon on the night of that day.

There is no moon and there is heavy fog. If this is not the right time to attack, when should we leave?

Therefore, the Gibraltar Fortress has been in a state of high alert. Numerous radars are turned on at all times to maintain uninterrupted surveillance of the sea surface. The fortress's artillery has reached the first level of combat readiness. The shells are piled at the back and can be fired at any time at the command. The torpedo boats and other warships are fully fueled and ready for sailing at the first level.

But Somerville expected Lütjens to come, but he did not expect how he would come.

Originally, he expected that Lütjens would be discovered by their warning radar as soon as he came in, and then be surrounded by many torpedo boats in a narrow strait. However, the subsequent development seemed not to be what he expected...

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Bismarck disappeared under the noses of the British again. Of course, in the vast ocean, they didn't know where to find him. It can be said that every move of the Atlantic Fleet touched their nerves.

At this time, Bismarck was making final preparations on the sea far away from Brest.

Preparation for electronic warfare.

Electronic warfare, this is how Bismarck defined this battle.

At first Lütjens found it a little novel, but then he thought, indeed, the duel between electron tubes is nothing more than an electronic war, isn’t it?

The entire Atlantic Fleet kept the upcoming electronic warfare strictly confidential. The level of secrecy was so high that only seven people knew about it. In addition to the ship girl and the captain, there was only Professor Wolff. Goering also knew about it, but he was not considered a member of the fleet.

In order to prevent the jammer from being exposed, it was sealed after the final debugging at the port and would never be turned on unless it was within the range of the fortress's guns.

Such a high level of confidentiality directly resulted in Somerville being completely unaware of Lütjens' intentions, and when he was attacked later, he was left stunned.

only--

"Are you worried about Tovey's home fleet?" Lütjens asked with a smile.

"Yes, if Tovey sends his home fleet to Gibraltar, it may be disadvantageous to fight in such a narrow sea area." Bismarck raised the question.

However, she also knew that this was just a worry. The action had already been taken and it was impossible to cancel the entire operation because of this unfounded reason.

Lütjens gave her an explanation.

"Don't worry. We are now running around in the Atlantic Ocean. I'm afraid Churchill is not completely sure that we want to go to Gibraltar. In addition, we sank the Queen Mary. They must be on guard against me launching a new commerce-breaking war. They will definitely not send out all their main forces. Even if Torvey wants to go, Churchill will ask him to watch us. As for Gibraltar? As long as the electronic interference is not exposed, we can just find another opportunity to go to Gibraltar next time."

Lütjens was not worried at all. One was attacking and the other was defending, so the initiative would not be in the hands of the British. Moreover, as long as the secret weapon was not exposed, he was not afraid of the British blockade. He just needed to wait patiently for an opportunity.

With the captain's assurance, Bismarck breathed a sigh of relief. In her eyes, Lütjens was the soul of the fleet, and his calm demeanor gave the crew full reason to trust him - if Lindemann had said this with a smile, Bismarck would have been suspicious, but Lütjens' words were like a stabilizing force.

But not worrying does not mean not taking it seriously. In fact, Lütjens also knew that this attack would be more troublesome, because after all, the opponent was the Gibraltar Fortress, not to mention that there was also an old rival Tovey who was bent on revenge for his secretary ship... According to reports from reconnaissance aircraft, submarines and shore code-breaking teams, Tovey now seemed to be following him from a distance with all the main forces of the home fleet, ready to attack from the front and back with Somerville at any time in the natural barrier of the Strait of Gibraltar, which has only one way since ancient times...

Even if there is electronic warfare, it is still a life-or-death situation...

Such a small strait is very easy to blockade even with torpedoes and mines. If a bunch of torpedo boats launch a desperate attack, Lütjens will also have a headache.

Hope everything will be alright.

As the commander of the fleet, Lütjens could only bury all kinds of thoughts deep in his heart. As a commander, he knew that he had a heavy responsibility, and that every move would affect the emotions of the crew, so he always looked confident.

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After sneaking out to sea, sailing around the Atlantic Ocean, sinking an 4-ton transport ship in Ireland, and pretending to return to Brest, Bismarck went through a series of dazzling, but in fact, intrigue and self-deception maneuvers. At 26 pm on April , the German Navy Atlantic Fleet still drove to Cape St. Vincent, the southwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, kilometers northwest of Gibraltar, and began the life-threatening Gibraltar assault...

The action has finally begun.

Ps: Let's just say that the prototype of Lütjens's character actually comes from two people, one is Zhang Beihai in The Three-Body Problem, and the other is my former captain. Really, I particularly like the former captain, who gives people a very calm and steady feeling, the kind that does not panic even when facing a mountain collapse. As long as he speaks, the whole ship is very convinced, and he is unwavering in his words. However, the other extreme is our political commissar, who is completely a joke, and the whole ship hates him... Let's not talk about it.

Well, just to express my feeling, it is no exaggeration to say that the captain is the soul of the entire ship.

Of course~ Later my captain got promoted and went to the fleet headquarters, but the political commissar remained... hehehe, you know.

Someone wanted to add a picture, so I posted it~ One square represents five kilometers, the red dots are destroyers, the red circles are the destroyer detection distance, the black ones are the Atlantic Fleet, and the black circles are the detection distance of Tirpitz.

Chapter 384: Here we come!

At the end of April, the European continent has entered the embrace of spring. The temperature in Spain has gradually warmed up, and it can even be said to be a little hot, but the cold wind on the Arctic Ocean is still biting. As we all know, water has a large specific heat and is naturally insensitive to temperature changes. Therefore, the cold air it creates begins to invade the European continent, and then encounters the warm and humid air currents from the continent and the Mediterranean. In the sky at the entrance of the Mediterranean, a fierce battle is unfolded, which meteorologists call severe convective weather...

The Atlantic Fleet, which had long disappeared from the British eyes, quietly appeared at the mouth of Gibraltar.

Almost as expected, the day Bismarck and his men set foot in this sea area, the weather began to deteriorate, continuous rain began to fall from the sky, and from time to time there were storms and rain, covering the entire fleet in rain and fog. Visibility was sometimes so poor that the front and rear ships could not see each other with their eyes.

This weather is definitely very good news for Lütjens. It is said that people's mood will become worse on rainy days, but it is obvious that Lütjens is very happy.

As soon as the commander was happy, the atmosphere on the entire bridge became lively.

The raindrops kept hitting the glass and all I could see was the wipers turning continuously.

"The sky is overcast, with light rain, the wind is from the north to the northwest, the wind speed is level 5, the sea state is level 4, and the visibility has dropped to poor level!"

Bismarck walked in wearing a raincoat, and when he lifted his hood, his long golden hair was revealed.

She had been observing the weather data on the main fire control instrument, outdoors. Even with a rain hat on, the wind and rain inevitably seeped in, causing her hair to be wet and dripping. She looked a little disheveled, but to the young man on the bridge, it was like a beauty emerging from the bath, and she looked very beautiful no matter how you looked at her.

After hearing this, Lütjens smiled and handed her a towel.