Bismarck

If you think about it this way...

Even though a big battle was about to begin, I was actually quite calm. Was it because I had seen a lot of battles?

I can hardly count how many battles we've fought.

However… although this is not my first time to go out to sea, I still never get tired of looking at the starry sky at sea… I heard that you can see shooting stars in the Mediterranean Sea during this season…

When will one fall?

Let her make a wish...

The wishes I made in the past seemed to have come true quite well. Although I did win, I was always able to get into the factory.

Just when Bismarck was daydreaming, he heard footsteps from behind, startling him as he was struggling to decide what wish to make.

Cats are very sensitive after all...

Bismarck looked back and saw that it was the captain who had been worried about the combat readiness and had gone down for an inspection and had returned.

It startled her.

But speaking of it, the captain has been busy with combat readiness and hasn't had much time to rest...

And as soon as he arrived, he asked about the war.

This is also where the fleet commander is more tired than the captain. For someone like Lindemann, he has already replaced the deputy captain on duty.

"Bismarck, where are we now?" Although there was a beautiful night sky outside the window, the captain had no time to look at the scenery. After all, they were just trying to avoid a possible night attack by the British surface fleet - especially now that the Third Torpedo Boat Division and the Italian Seventh Squadron, which served as cover forces, had been sent to cover the transport ships!

Although the two Italian battleships, Littorio and Andrea Doria, could not attack due to lack of oil, they could only be replaced by three light cruisers and six destroyers of the Italian Seventh Squadron. The various adjustments between the Italian Navy and the German Navy had just begun. Therefore, Lütjens finally adopted a separate deployment: the German Third Torpedo Boat Division was assigned to the Italian Seventh Squadron, and the command was also handed over to General Casadi, the commander of the Italian Squadron, while his three large battleships were deployed separately to operate in the waters near the Ionian Sea to the Aegean Sea.

The advantage of doing so is that it can increase the number of troops protecting the transport ships and avoid various tactical conflicts. In addition to the political need to give their "allies" certain tasks and face, another reason for assigning torpedo boats to Italians is for the purpose of friend-or-foe identification. Otherwise, the German Air Force's bombing maniacs would not care whether the Italians were allies or not. After all, they have sunk even the German Navy's own ships...

However, if I do this, the only guards around Zeppelin will be me and Tizi... If the British attack with more troops, including the main battleship, if I and Tizi lose sight of one, Zeppelin will be in real danger...

But if the captain asks this question...can we start the attack?

Bismarck's ears couldn't help but prick up...

"We are now 200 kilometers west of Patras, and it will take about ten hours to reach Malama according to the nautical chart!"

"Hmm!" The captain nodded solemnly, and once again checked the nautical chart that he had drawn countless times with a ruler and compass. After confirming that there was no problem, he raised his head from the chart table, but turned his head to look at the standard clock hanging on the wall. After thinking for a while, as if he had finally made up his mind to fight, he began to issue combat orders to Bismarck:

"It is already midnight on May 143th... Well, it's almost time for us to act! Inform Zeppelin and Tirpitz, order: the entire fleet to sail degrees southeast by south, and increase the speed to knots! We must reach the waters near Cape Matapan around six o'clock, and strive to arrive at the waters near Marama Airport - Chania around ten o'clock in the morning! Do you understand?"

"Understood!!"

At midnight, three huge shadows on the Ionian Sea drew three neat arcs and began to accelerate towards the direction of the waning moon rising above the horizon in the southeast...

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At the same time, another admiral and his shipgirl were watching the night view on the bridge of the Mediterranean Sea...

"This is the bridge! Keep your hands still!!"

With a loud slap, the Mediterranean Fleet commander's attempt to hug his wife's waist was slapped down.

Cunningham, who was slapped, didn't care and continued to smile.

The crew members on the surrounding bridges said they were used to it and were not surprised at all.

"Anyway, we have been married for decades, ma'am..."

Less than a second after the claws were slapped away, they stretched out towards the slender waist of his secretary, Belle...

"Don't call me wife! I am your wife at home, and I am your secretary here! Do you understand?!" Looking at Cunningham's dead face, Yan Zhan pushed Cunningham away with both anger and amusement.

However, Cunningham had already mastered the skill of being thick-skinned, and War-weary refused again and again, but in the end he was put around the waist... A certain wife and secretary was helpless against this shameless bastard and could only roll her eyes.

The staff officers at the back acted as if they were used to it and turned around to busy themselves with their own affairs.

There is nothing I can do about it... This old frivolous guy never does anything serious when he is free... It seems I need to find something serious for him to do!

Pinching Cunningham's face, War-weary finally broke free and asked his own admiral, "By the way, do you think Crete can be defended this time?"

"Crete, we can't defend it." Cunningham put away his playful smile a little, but still had a smile on his face. "The intelligence said that Germany has more than 600 combat aircraft, and now the three Atlantic Fleet have arrived here. Although we are still stronger than them in terms of fleet strength, there is nothing we can do. They have too many aircraft in Greece."

"Then why are you laughing?" Yan Zhan glared at the unreliable man in his family.

"If you don't laugh, then why not cry? Crying won't solve the problem, so it's better to laugh." Cunningham smiled even brighter. "Although I don't know when they will attack, I have coordinated with Admiral Weiweier and have done simulations. Even if we can't defend Crete, we are sure to inflict heavy casualties on them and then evacuate."

"It's just that... the only variable now is Lütjens..." At this point, Cunningham finally put away his usual heartless smile, and his expression became a little solemn. Looking at his wedding ship, he said: "Now it is estimated that the three under Lütjens have ship girls, and the speed is said to be 36 knots... When the battle really starts, you may be under a lot of pressure... Although I can ask the Queen Elizabeth and the Courageous to follow your parameters, but this is all I can do..."

"You said you wanted to avenge Hood. Are you sure?" Cunningham held War-weary's shoulder, stared at his secretary ship and asked seriously.

"If we are not sure, we will retreat directly. Revenge is secondary. Preserving ourselves is what we should consider. After all, even if we don't count Zeppelin, they still have two battleships of KanColle."

It was rare to see Cunningham so serious, even the usually strong War-weary couldn't help but be slightly distracted. But he quickly reacted: "It's impossible to be unsure! Besides, with the Queen and Brave following me, I can fight them without any problems, except that I can't outrun them."

He turned his head to look out the window... but soon turned his head back and looked at Cunningham and said, "But... I still want to avenge Hood! I can't just let Bismarck go."

"Yeah, I know!" Looking at his wife's serious expression, Cunningham nodded equally seriously.

"I don't know when they will start the attack, but I estimate that whether it is an airborne or a landing, Lütjens' fleet will definitely get close to the coast of Crete... When the battle starts, we will retreat to the open sea first to avoid the combat radius of the German Air Force in Greece, and then head towards the coast of Crete after dusk! Fight them at night! - When they attack at night, we will go together!"

Looking at his admiral who was holding his shoulder, even though he was usually a talkative and slick old man, Cunningham's not-so-tall body now exuded the iron will and brutal murderous aura of a veteran of many battles, which only a true old sailor possessed!

ps: The flight back to Tianjin is at 7 o'clock tomorrow.

I have to get up at five o'clock. How miserable...

Forget it, I will update another one. It has been recommended, and I can’t stop updating... How miserable can I describe it?

Chapter 403: Mercury Lands!

The purple air of dawn was accompanied by thousands of rays of light. The golden sun slowly rose from the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea and slowly flew into the sky against the backdrop of wisps of clouds in the distant sky.

And on the sea near Cape Matapan, on the flight deck of the German Mediterranean Fleet's Zeppelin aircraft carrier, another group of JU87C2 carrier-based bombers performing reconnaissance missions had already arranged in the prescribed take-off formation and were preparing to take off.

This was the second wave of reconnaissance planes sent out by the Zeppelin, and the first wave had been sent out an hour before dawn.

Trying to find the enemy fleet first is necessary for reconnaissance and intelligence work. After all, blind people have no human rights. Not to mention the Gibraltar assault, the "first information warfare in history" just a month ago - Bismarck had already written all of this into Lütjens' combat report, so now Lütjens is inexplicably wearing the title of "the father of information warfare".

In this case, we must be even more careful. Don’t let the “father of information warfare” die from lack of information acquisition, which would be a huge joke.

"The flight deck is ready! The 87rd Stuka Squadron's ten JU2Cs are ready and can take off at any time to perform reconnaissance missions! Please give the combat order!!"

John Helbich, the captain of the 3rd Stuka Squadron, saluted Zeppelin standing on the deck and reported.

"What is the mission? Repeat it once more!" Zeppelin asked without any emotion.

"Yes! The mission is to search the sector of 105 degrees - 245 degrees at our ship's current position! The key search axis is 175 degrees! The key search target is the British aircraft carrier, followed by the British surface fleet! Each reconnaissance aircraft searches for a sector of 15 degrees, and the mission cycle is four hours!! Over!!" John Helbisi reported loudly.

Hearing Helbisi's report was very fluent and without any ambiguity, even though Zeppelin had an icy face in front of the pilots, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards.

Nodding to Helbisi, Zeppelin, with almost no expression on his face, still ordered in an emotionless tone: "Very good, take off for reconnaissance now!!"

The voice was not loud, and although it was cold, it did not carry an arrogant tone. However, Helbish did not dare to say anything - he did not want to be like the playboys in the fighter unit, who would be trained to be airsick by Zeppelin if they spoke a little nonsense...

He quickly saluted and turned to climb onto his JU87C2. He started the flight while hiding in the cockpit and shook his head fiercely, getting rid of the image of a few masochists who never changed their ways, teasing Zeppelin and then being trained to death by Zeppelin. Looking at the take-off signal from the bridge, Helbich pushed the throttle to the maximum and released the handbrake of the wheel...

Facing the salty and fishy breeze from the Mediterranean Sea, the JU87C2s flew into the blue sky along with the rising sun above the sea and horizon.

"Okay, the next deployment: The second and fourth fighter squadrons are on deck and ready to take off at any time! Also, the fifth fighter squadron is on standby in the standby area on the left side of the deck! And the first bomber squadron, the second bomber squadron and the third bomber squadron are on standby in the hangar, ready to go to the flight deck for takeoff at any time!!" Watching the JU87Cs taking off one after another and flying to the reconnaissance positions they were responsible for, gradually disappearing in the brilliant morning glow, Zeppelin turned around and issued the next combat order to his subordinates.

"Yes!!" The subordinates quickly saluted in a standard manner - Zeppelin's prestige in this flying team is unmatched.

Although, this did not conflict with the few troublemakers who were secretly messing with her. If they were really under Zeppelin's command, these people would be more honest than anyone else - for example, before Zeppelin walked away, he glanced at Buckhorn and the others standing in the corner...

After the pilots left, the ground crew soon found a pool of inexplicable white sweat in the corner...

-----

"Brothers! Crete is right below us! Skydive! Skydive!!"

At the door of the JU52 transport plane that was constantly shaking amid the barrage of anti-aircraft artillery, a German officer with a parachute bag on his back was waving his submachine gun and calling on his comrades on the same plane to parachute.

"Jump! Kill!!"

"Rush!!"

"Long live the Greater German Reich!! Kill!!!"

And his paratrooper subordinates, worthy of the honor of the elite force, shouted slogans, held their weapons, and walked fearlessly towards the cabin door according to the formation arranged in the cabin, and jumped one after another towards the only large piece of land in the blue Aegean Sea.

Outside the cabin, the originally blue sky of Crete had been dyed black by the smoke from the island's anti-aircraft artillery fire. Moreover, the British fighter planes that were clinging to the tail of the transport plane, completely ignoring the weak firepower of the pitiful 7.92mm rear machine guns, desperately pouring fire on the thin-skinned and large-filled transport plane and the paratroopers parachuting in mid-air.

The German fighters were also besieging the British fighters that were participating in the war - a short and thick carrier-based fighter from the American continent across the Atlantic Ocean, more than 4 F0.5F European Swallows (Wildcats) from three aircraft carriers of the Mediterranean Fleet. Although the performance of the German fighters was better than that of the British American fighters, under the sky full of parachute flowers, the German fighters were still somewhat cautious in firing, while the British fighters did not need to consider this problem at all. The six -inch heavy machine guns mounted on both wings continued to pour terrible firepower towards the parachute flowers in the sky...

From time to time, elite German paratroopers were hit by these firepower, and blood filled the sky under the morning sun, seemingly turning into blood-red rainbows...

However, the German bombers, which also had the Iron Cross, had no scruples about attacking the British anti-aircraft artillery positions and ground forces. However, even so, they still could not stop the flames on the ground from madly strafing the paratroopers and planes in the sky. Some ground troops even took out machine guns and even rifles and fired desperately into the air.

Even some German fighters and bombers that were diving to attack were hit by bullets and smoke, and were even hit into various unspeakable states. They dragged billowing smoke and plunged headlong into the blue Aegean Sea and the gray-white Crete Island...

However, although the fierce firepower of British anti-aircraft guns and fighter planes caused heavy casualties, the elite German paratroopers did not hesitate at all. They carried the latest wing parachutes (which were completely different from the traditional single-buckle parachutes with extremely limited mounting capacity in history and could not even carry weapons for parachuting. After being improved by Zeppelin, two straps passed through the legs were used to allow the whole body to bear force, and the flight direction after parachuting could be controlled to a certain extent), held their weapons, lined up in neat formation, and rushed out of the cabin one after another...

Behind the transport planes in the sky, square parachute flowers suddenly appeared, which was the unique shape of parafoils. And these paratroopers opened their parachutes in the blue sky, the blue sea, and the fierce rain of bullets between the sea and the sky.

Although the bodies of paratroopers were constantly hit by the dense rain of bullets, and blood splattered in the sky, and some paratroopers' parachutes were pierced or failed to open completely, and they fell headfirst to the ground thousands of meters below, but even so, the paratroopers were still trying their best to fulfill their tasks and responsibilities!

When the parachute was fully opened, the paratroopers began to pull the ropes that controlled the parafoil and, according to their daily training, tried their best to control their landing direction amidst the hail of bullets and smoke. They slowly turned around and followed the parachute of their comrades in front of them, descending towards the direction of Marama Airport.

As for those who were lucky enough to land on the ground, although they could not form a fixed organization, the well-trained paratroopers did not panic, but calmly and skillfully concealed themselves, looked for other comrades, and then used skilled tactical movements to move closer to their comrades. The improved parafoil also allowed them to carry their weapons, ammunition and supplies on their bodies. Some people even started shooting at the ground from the sky before landing...

The other commandos boarded the DFS230 glider. They rushed towards the important targets in an organized manner from the beginning, including Hill 107, the commanding height near Marama Airport, and the most important large bridge on the Talondis River between Marama Airport and Chania City.

Some gliders were shot down in the sky, while others crashed on the land because they landed in the wrong place and in the incorrect posture. However, more gliders landed near or far around the predetermined targets. The mud and dust splashed during landing covered the German commandos on board, who rushed out of the aircraft door, began to deploy in tactical formations, and launched an attack towards the predetermined targets!

However, the defending Allied forces had already built strong fortifications at these key points. Although these fortifications were originally used to defend against possible German sea landings, it was not difficult to turn their guns around and attack the paratroopers who only had light weapons.

The few but strategically placed artillery pieces hidden in the artillery bunkers opened fire at the landing site, while the fierce heavy machine guns and precise snipers on the hillside began to call out the names of the scattered and unsheltered German paratroopers on the beach and in the sky. One after another, the hard-trained elite soldiers fell under the guns of the Allies.

Under fierce firepower and absolute troop advantage, the British, Australian, New Zealand and Greek (Greek) Allied Forces quickly suppressed the German paratroopers on the coastal plains, making them unable to move at all!

Surrounded by a group of British soldiers, a British Matilda II tank drove out of the hidden building and rushed towards the German paratroopers who had no heavy weapons on the flat ground! The 40mm 2-pound gun and the 7.7mm tank machine gun on the vehicle fired wildly at the German officers and soldiers who were not yet stable on the landing field, but the German officers and soldiers' light weapons were completely helpless against this steel monster with 78mm front armor and 20mm side armor! After another round of machine gun shooting and artillery bombardment from this tank, several German soldiers who had just jumped off the glider with their helmets covered and were still huddled together without time to disperse fell in a pool of blood!

The commander-in-chief of the two airborne regiments in the first round, Lieutenant General Sussman, the commander of the 7th Airborne Division who led the commandos into battle personally, and his command were all killed!

At the first moment of the airborne landing, the commander of the airborne troops died in the airborne field...

The British tanks continued to move forward, and led a group of British soldiers in the rear to rush towards the temporary position of the German airborne field more fiercely! Seeing that they were about to rush to the core area of ​​the airborne field and occupy the airborne field, a German soldier with a childish face but extremely determined eyes gritted his teeth, looked at his comrades holding machine guns and shooting, and stood up with a blasting tube, and rushed towards the British tank that was showing off its power! But before he could rush a few meters, the Sten submachine guns in the hands of two British soldiers who came out from the other side of the tank rang out. The brave soldier didn't even make a sound, and fell to the ground with blood holes all over his body...

But the Matilda tank's show of force ended there! With the roar of death, three Stuka bombers with heavy bombs roared down towards the tanks and the British officers and soldiers following behind the tanks! Even the machine guns on the wings were firing at these British soldiers! Between the roar of the explosion and the flying dust from the machine guns, one British soldier after another was knocked to the ground by this fierce and sudden firepower, and even the Matilda tank was blown into a pile of scrap metal in a huge explosion. Before the smoke of the explosion had time to dissipate, some German soldiers climbed up, dragged their guns and covered their helmets, and rolled and crawled towards the back of the destroyed British tank - such a large tank, although it was still burning, and even the bullets were roasted by the fire inside, like the crackling sound of firecrackers, but in this wide open area, this is a rare good cover!

On the battlefield, life comes first!

In the farther sky, more transport planes, gliders, British fighter planes and German fighter planes were already fighting between the blue sea and sky... But, in the more distant horizon, batch after batch of Iron Eagles with Iron Cross emblems were continuously reinforcing the battlefield above Crete, and one parachute after another was falling from the sky in the thousands of rays of light - but these were not angels from mythology, but paratroopers who were destined to make a tragic sacrifice in exchange for overall victory!

Under the bright morning glow, there is a bloody storm!

ps: What a pit, what a pit! ! ! ! ! I hate smog! ! !

Chapter 404: Lütjens and Cunningham

"May 20, 1941, 7:15 in the morning! About 7,000 German paratroopers, boarding nearly 500 transport planes and more than 70 gliders, launched a large-scale airborne landing over the Marama Airport and Chania City! The German Air Force has a great advantage, and the Allied resistance is fierce. Now the German army is making unfavorable progress! At present, the two sides are still in a fierce exchange of fire! Our army requests support! Request support!"

Whether it was Lieutenant General Freiberg in the British, Australian, New Zealand and Greek Allied Forces headquarters in the city of Chania, or the three giants of the German Fourth Air Army far away in Athens - General Rolle, Admiral Richthofen Jr. and Admiral Student, or General Casadi of the Italian Seventh Fleet that was covering the transport convoy to the anchorage of Minos Island, or even Lütjens who had just led the German Mediterranean Fleet past Cape Matapan, they all received a telegram with similar basic content.

Although some are in English and Greek, and some are in German…

At this time, on the flight deck of the Zeppelin, the twenty bombers and twenty-five fighters still showed no signs of taking off, not to mention the twelve fighters still waiting in the standby area...

The pilots were fully armed, wearing flight suits and sunglasses, and were waiting in their dedicated meeting room. Once the order came from the flagship, they would take off immediately. Even Zeppelin sat quietly beside them.

Everyone thought they were going back to participate in Operation Mercury, but the order never came.

The pilots couldn't help but feel a little anxious as time passed by every second.

On the other side, Bismarck also raised a question. Looking at the battle report coming from the front, the casualty ratio was not very good. Why didn't Zeppelin join the battle?

"Captain, the battlefield is so brutal, is it okay if we don't take off to join the battle now?" In the strange battlefield environment, she couldn't help but pull Lütjens' sleeve and asked quietly.

Lütjens was also paying attention to the situation ahead, but as the fleet commander, he paid more attention to the British navy that had not yet appeared.

If Zeppelin's plane took off at this time and hit the opposite side, the situation would be bad.

"Don't worry. We have six or seven hundred planes in Greece, and they have only more than fifty. Even though they are fighting at home and their combat efficiency is higher than ours, it is still no problem to suppress them." Lütjens forced a smile and smoothed the hair on Bismarck's shoulders.

If six or seven hundred planes cannot be shot down against more than fifty, then he has no other choice. However, Lütjens still has confidence in the Air Force.

"The only problem now is that Cunningham has three aircraft carriers. Even if we deduct the fighters currently in the air battle, he still has at least 70 bombers and 50 fighters. If we are not sure of their locations, we cannot guarantee our safety! - Our real opponent is not those planes on Crete. Only this fleet of British aircraft carriers is the biggest threat. The others are not a problem."

"No matter what, only if we find Cunningham's aircraft carrier can we ensure the success of the entire operation!"