Bismarck

One of the downed planes even crashed into the bridge of the Bismarck with its crew and bombs! It also caused great damage to the Bismarck before it died.

"Oops!"

Bismarck, who was still leaning on the chair, narrowed his pupils!

Without time to think, he jumped up from the chair, rushed directly in front of the captain, hugged the captain, and used his back to block the direction of the suicide plane!

"Plane crash! Everyone take cover!"

The next second, flames shot up into the sky from the bridge of the Bismarck battleship!

The roar of the explosion caused all kinds of glass fragments and parts to fly everywhere! The commander's tower suffered heavy losses!

Many sailors and officers were blown away by the shock wave before they could react to Bismarck's warning.

The battleship lost command in an instant!

The aviation fuel that exploded and caught fire turned into a stream of fire, burning wherever it went and thick smoke rose up.

Bismarck had basically no energy to control those hull parts, and the command instruments, intercoms, and control devices installed on the Bismarck battleship body, which was damaged to this extent, had basically failed...

Without Bismarck, the ship would have been scrapped long ago.

The Bismarck was severely damaged and engulfed in flames.

Lütjens was not seriously injured as Bismarck immediately blocked him and he was only burned by the sudden fire.

However, Bismarck was in a miserable state. Of course, it was not because he had to block this attack, but because he was besieged miserably.

After helping Lütjens block the debris from the explosion of the impactor, Bismarck, who was helped up by Lütjens, had fainted and even began to feel a little dazed...

The captain's mind went blank when he saw this scene...

On the other side, Tirpitz, who was standing beside the Bismarck, suddenly turned pale with fear:

"elder sister!"

"...Bismarck?! Grapes! How is your sister?!"

Hearing the heart-wrenching screams of Tizi on the WIFI, Qi Bolin also asked anxiously on the WIFI...

------

The damage control team quickly rushed up and, while putting out the fire, carried away the staff in the command tower who had suffered heavy casualties.

Bismarck had been carried to a corner by Lütjens, sitting there half-illusorily. The captain stood on the side of the chair with his body to prevent others from seeing...

Looking around, there were only a few officers left... and almost all of them were injured...

But Hyde is not among these people...

Lütjens closed his eyes in some pain... He knew where Hyde was... After Bismarck was hit, Hyde had been directing the artillery fire on the fire control director, and during the collision, the parts and glass fragments that were blown everywhere by the shock wave pierced Hyde's temple, and of course he returned to his homeland.

The bodies of several fire control coordinators sent by Rommel were also motionless, falling on the radio station that had a big hole in it...

I looked in the direction of the command instrument, and there was only a large pool of blood with some white substance like milk and cream, still remaining there...

Thinking of Bismarck, who was lying unconscious in the corner behind him, Lütjens couldn't help but choke up.

I am the admiral of the Greater German Navy! I am the fleet commander! I was the one who ordered the fleet to come here and fight to the death with the British garrison in the entire Egyptian Delta...

Now the situation...

"Commander, what do we do now?"

There was no time for sadness on the battlefield. The calls and expectant eyes of his subordinates brought Lütjens back to his senses...

"How is the command system now?" He wiped his eyes, his palms were full of tears with traces of gunpowder and smoke. He barely suppressed the self-blame and sadness in his heart. He still had to fulfill the responsibilities of a captain and a fleet commander.

"Well, the steering system in the command room is still usable because it is protected by armor. There is also a last backup radio under the bridge that can be used, but the communication and control systems within the ship are basically..."

After listening to the reports from the damage control team and the remaining staff members, Lütjens learned the approximate damage situation...

The two underwater penetrations caused water to enter the right side, flooding a group of boilers and the front main gun ammunition depot. Fortunately, the turbulent seawater rushed in, extinguishing the possibility of a secondary explosion, and also reversed the roll caused by the previous underwater penetration that flooded the No. 3 engine room, from right to left...

However, the water inflow had reached 8800 tons, and the average draft had increased by more than two meters! It had even flooded the main armor belt, and more water poured in from the breaches in the upper deck caused by shelling and bombing!

PS: (Concentrated protection had a big counterexample in the Russo-Japanese War: Although the armor of the Russian fleet could resist the main shells of the Japanese battleships, which were only high-explosive, the unprotected non-armored areas, including the passageways on the upper deck, were shot into sieves by the Japanese fleet. The Russian damage control team was unable to go out to those unprotected damaged areas to extinguish fires and carry out damage control, which eventually led to the fire and flooding of the battleships being completely out of control. Even until the sinking, Japan was unable to penetrate the armor of the Russian battleships...)

Chapter 469: Emergency Beach Landing

The speed had dropped to twelve knots, but even though most of the remaining power had been concentrated on the water pumps, it was no longer enough to cope with such a large amount of water intake, and the reserve buoyancy was about to be lost. In addition, the communication system and centralized control system were destroyed in the collision, and even the emergency communication system was in trouble!

The entire battleship is now like a patient with high paraplegia. With Bismarck also losing consciousness and emergency communications damaged, the news from the command center cannot be delivered to the various departments below in a timely manner. They are basically fighting on their own.

Even damage control and messaging now had to rely more on manpower. The only lucky thing was that the Bismarck was protected by upper armor, and the internal passages inside the ship were more or less safe, allowing the damage control team to go in for rescue.

Otherwise, the Bismarck would have been in chaos by now.

The radio department was still operating, receiving a steady stream of information from outside, including inquiries and requests for help.

A communications staff officer ran over, his bandages still stained with blood. The communications room was also affected by the explosion.

"Captain! The fire control team just received a report from the Mediterranean Fleet! They asked us about the situation and whether we can still cooperate with them..."

What a cooperation! Lütjens was so angry.

"Tell him to get out of here." The furious Lütjens shouted, "Can't you see that Bismarck is paralyzed? What else does he want me to do?"

Lütjens was about to say something, but his expression and anger were frightening. It was the first time they saw Lütjens so angry.

However, his anger came and went quickly, as if it was just a matter of a moment, and Lütjens calmed down.

Because he realized that getting angry was useless.

It seems there is nothing else to say at this point.

"Forget it, tell him to go find Lindemann! Tirpitz is the only one who can fight now."

"Yes!" The officer quickly took the order and went down.

----

In order to stop his warship from worrying, Lütjens had to force himself to calm down even though he was furious. In order to control the warship, Lütjens could only let the damage control team give verbal orders and assign the remaining officers to each area.

After everyone dispersed, only Lütjens and Bismarck were left in the armored command tower.

"What's the point of staying in the conning tower now?" Lütjens smiled bitterly, looking at the mess in the conning tower. All the wounded had been carried away, and all the crew members had gone down to rescue. It was useless even if he gave orders now. Without Bismarck, he had basically lost control of the battleship.

Lütjens helped Bismarck into the lounge at the back and casually grabbed a quilt to cushion her.

If it were an ordinary person, Lütjens could try pinching a person's philtrum or something like that, but for a creature like a ship girl, Lütjens really didn't know what to do.

I fainted, and then how do I wake up?

He gently patted Bismarck's cheek, but unfortunately Bismarck was like a lifeless doll, and his head swayed left and right depending on the direction of the force.

"Ugh."

After trying several times, Lütjens finally gave up. He stood up, walked out of the lounge and went to the bridge.

Even if it is of no use anymore, as a captain you still have to stay at your post until the last moment.

The situation was originally quite good, but it collapsed almost suddenly.

The British air force was indeed a big problem. Even a battleship like the Bismarck was unable to withstand the dense aerial firepower.

Now how to do?

Bismarck woke up and saw the ceiling of the bathroom, but one of the light bulbs on the ceiling had been shattered, leaving only the remaining filament and a few fragments.

The room was a mess.

The last image in her mind was of her throwing Lütjens to the ground.

Being pinned under him, the captain should be okay.

"Ship, Captain?"

She asked subconsciously, but her voice was as soft as a mosquito and no one answered her.

She had no strength left in her body, making it almost impossible for her to move.

However, the battleship does not need to rest, all it has to do is fight.

Bismarck forced herself to stand up. Her will had been tempered as hard as steel in countless battles.

After a few tries, she stood up.

At the same time, she finally regained some control over the ship, which made her feel a little relieved.

On the WIFI, the voices of Grape and Zeppelin continued to ring.

"Sister! How are you? Call sister! Tizi wants sister!"

"Bismarck! Hold on! I've already sent my escort fighters over!"

“··· ···”

"You two, are you annoying me? I'm not dead yet, bastards!"

Bismarck fully displayed the optimistic attitude of his previous life, even though his clothes were now riddled with holes.

The sound in the channel was silent, and then suddenly both of them cheered.

"Sister (Bismarck), are you okay?" they asked almost at the same time.

"Do you think I look okay?" She coughed lightly and smiled weakly.

It's okay for Tirpitz, a fool, to ask such a stupid question, but if Zeppelin asks again, it means he is really concerned and confused.

"Why didn't I hear your answer just now?"

"I just fainted."

"Hold on, I'll be there soon!" Zeppelin said loudly.

"Yes," Bismarck nodded, "I understand. The control of the ship is slowly recovering. I will go to the bridge first."

Bismarck felt that his strength was still slowly recovering, and then he slowly walked towards the bridge.

Lütjens was in the bridge, watching the situation outside all the time. There were sounds of exploding shells everywhere, and a little smoke exploding in the air. It was a mess.

He was completely unaware when Bismarck appeared behind him.

"Captain, what's going on now?"

Lütjens turned his head in disbelief, and saw Bismarck, who was dressed in a dirty suit. Although his face showed fatigue, he was at least standing up.

"you you···"

"I feel okay now." Bismarck looked around. "The captain is really alone now."

"Right now, we are dealing with damage control, water leaks and firefighting. We are basically paralyzed."

Bismarck nodded to show that he understood.

"But I can't help them now. I can only leave it to them."

Lütjens did not expect Bismarck to be able to do anything in his current state.

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate." Bismarck sighed.

Her captain suddenly remembered something and brought her a stool, "Sit down."

"You are the only one on the bridge now. What about Hyde? Is Hyde commanding down below?" Bismarck asked.

When talking about his deputy, Lütjens didn't know what to say.

"Hyde...has already..."

Needless to say, Bismarck already knew what was going to happen next.

"How is it possible... How could Hyde..." Bismarck was stunned, then showed a sad expression.

But the fact is the fact, Hyde has really passed away.

"Damn it! Why did I listen to that bastard Rommel and agree to his damn plan?"

Seeing Bismarck's miserable appearance, Lütjens' eyes were already red.

For the sake of the African Corps, several of his own precious warships suffered heavy losses, especially his own flagship, and even the deputy captain was killed in battle.

"Captain, I actually agree with this plan. I don't blame you, it's just that the war situation is beyond our imagination..." Although he was extremely weak, Bismarck still said with a smile.