Bismarck

An urgent telegram was delivered to Redl's desk, and he was awakened from his sleep in his pajamas by his secretary.

"What's going on?" He said to the secretary in dissatisfaction.

"Marshal, it's the battle report from the front line." The secretary didn't dare to lose his temper and said immediately.

Battle reports from the front line?

"Did you come from the Indian Ocean?" he asked as he put on his clothes. He didn't want to hear any news about Lütjens.

However, the secretary is not a fool. Why would he put the news from the Indian Ocean here? Isn't that asking for trouble?

"No, it was sent by General Kumets."

"Oh, really?" Raeder drank a sip of cold coffee and went to the office immediately after he woke up. Although he was sleeping, he slept in the naval headquarters.

"How is Kumets doing?" asked Redl.

"Well... you know, there are confidentiality regulations. I haven't opened it to read it." The secretary replied helplessly.

"Haha, it seems I didn't get enough sleep and forgot some things."

Redel smiled self-deprecatingly, picked up the telegram cover, and then pulled out the message from it.

At the beginning, Raeder was in a good mood. The first page of Kumetz's telegram was full of good news. In the daytime air battle, although the Europa and Bremen were seriously injured and evacuated the battlefield, they barely managed to fight head-on with the two British Indefatigable-class ships. In the night battle, the German fleet had the upper hand, and even the Renown was sunk by Scharnhorst!

"Well done, this guy finally did something useful." Redel said to the secretary with a smile.

That's right, Germany has sent out all its elite troops, how could they fail? The British home fleet doesn't have many warships available - I would be surprised if he didn't have any record.

"Yes, General Kumets is indeed amazing." Kumets' level... When the secretary heard the marshal praising him, he could only echo him and say a few words.

"Not bad, not bad." Redel nodded repeatedly, "It looks like the British are really going to suffer a serious injury." He was in a good mood and took another sip of water.

However, the good mood came to an abrupt end after turning to the next page!

"...According to intelligence, the Warspite, which was being repaired in the United States, appeared from behind our army, and there was a suspected ship girl?!... The Warspite fired fiercely at our flagship from behind, destroying the communication equipment, resulting in command interruption and fleet chaos... Scharnhorst volunteered to cover the fleet's retreat, and has now unfortunately sunk in battle... In addition, due to multiple air raids by night bombers, five destroyers were lost, the heavy cruiser Hipper was sunk, the battleships Ludendorff and Gneisenau were severely damaged by torpedoes, and the battleship Hindenburg was hit by a bomb and severely damaged..."

"Asshole!" Redel slapped the telegram in his hand hard on the table, scaring the secretary. He didn't know why the marshal was fine just now and now he was sending Lei Ting away.

"The loss is so huge! What is Kumets doing? I want to remove him from his post!" Redel yelled.

Although he had already seen the fact that War-weary was speculated to be a ship girl later, this was not a reason, but made him even angrier.

Why can’t ordinary warships defeat ship girls? Why do ordinary warships run away when they see ship girls?

Raeder just didn't believe it! He just wanted to prove that as the commander of the navy, he must be more powerful than Lütjens, even if Lütjens had a ship girl!

However, the cruel reality gave Redel a slap in the face, and even mocked him for overestimating his own capabilities...

"This good-for-nothing!" Redel was so angry that he didn't know what to say.

So many warships were beaten like this by a Warspite that appeared behind them!

Even if there is a ship girl, she is still an old woman who has fought for the first time! Although it seems that this old woman can still run after lifting her skirt, she ran to the back...

"…Forget it, let's just be the ship girl…"

Redel sighed somewhat resignedly.

However, this is not the end yet!

It was me who promoted Kumets and made him the fleet commander. Now that something like this had happened, I had to take responsibility.

The most important thing right now is to get the head of state not to pursue this matter.

Not only would he be heartbroken to lose a Scharnhorst, but I'm afraid the Führer would be even more upset!

Germany didn't have many battleships to begin with, and now it has lost a powerful battlecruiser that is no weaker than an ordinary battleship after modification...

"Damn it, he lost the battle and I had to clean up the mess for him."

Redel was furious, but helpless.

Chapter 592: Leisurely Sunshine in the Indian Ocean

……Berlin, Chancellery…………

A naval battle failed, and a battlecruiser was lost. Raeder dared not neglect such a big matter. Regardless of the fact that it was still early in the morning, he immediately drove to the Chancellery of the mustache, and after passing through layers of security, he finally arrived at his office.

"Redel, what brings you here so early? "The man with a mustache seemed to have just gotten out of bed and hurried to the office in his pajamas.

Redl stood up quickly.

"Führer, I'm here to report to you on the progress of our battle." After all, he was a veteran bureaucrat, and even though he had to report a defeat, Raeder was trying his best to pay attention to his attitude so as not to leave a bad impression on the little mustache who was about to get angry.

Seeing Redel's expression and attitude, the mustache man had a premonition in his heart. He pulled out a chair and sat in his seat, saying indifferently, "Tell me, what's the news?"

"It's like this, Führer... We encountered an unexpected variable in this naval battle." Raeder considered his words and finally decided to find an excuse for himself: "... The battle was going smoothly, but the Warspite, which the intelligence department previously claimed was still under repair in the United States, rushed here. The point is, the Warspite also has a ship girl..."

"What?! The Warspite that was under repair showed up? And she has a ship girl too?"

The mustache guy was really shocked.

"Yes... The fleet led by Kumets had already dealt a fatal blow to the British. Their battlecruiser Renown was hit by the Scharnhorst and its ammunition depot exploded. The other two King George V-class battleships were also severely damaged... We had originally achieved very great results."

"But you still lost!" The man with a mustache stared at Redel with his gloomy eyes like a hawk.

"Yes, I'm sorry..." Redel did not give any explanation, but just lowered his head and lowered his voice, pretending to be sincerely reviewing his words.

"Go on and tell me about the naval battle!"

I don’t know if it was because he honestly admitted his mistake that touched the Führer, or if it was because of his war-weariness and the influence of the Kancolle character, but although the mustache had a gloomy face, he didn’t lose his temper.

"Yes!... Just when we have completely suppressed Tovey's home fleet, Warspite suddenly appeared behind us at a speed of 30 knots and opened fire from 30 kilometers away, attacking Kumetz's flagship Hindenburg... Because our warships were all concentrating on fighting the British, and Warspite behind us was at the limit of the radar's field of view, this threat was not felt in advance... Her firepower was particularly fierce and accurate, and two turrets of the Hindenburg battleship were destroyed, and the communication facilities were also destroyed, causing chaos in the fleet..." Raeder said regretfully.

"and then?"

"Although we launched a counterattack immediately, the two-sided attack still made Kumets very uncomfortable, so he had to make the decision to retreat first."

"The Scharnhorst was besieged by the British during the retreat because it was cut off. A farewell message was sent a few hours later, saying that the ship had sunk..." Raeder was still speaking but was interrupted by the man with a mustache.

"What?! Scharnhorst was sunk?!" the mustache man shouted, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Don't get excited, Führer." Raeder said quickly, "The British have the ship girl, and Kumetz can't do anything. You know Bismarck's ability, he can fight one against several without any problem, and the same is true for Warspite. Under such circumstances, it is very good that Kumetz can bring the fleet back."

"Besides, we didn't lose anything. The British suffered much more than us."

In order to appease the mustache man, Raeder began to tell lies in all seriousness: "The sinking of the Renown dealt them a greater blow. Although the Scharnhorst is important, we have the more advanced Hindenburg, so it doesn't really matter. ... On the contrary, it's not easy for Kumetz to pull the fleet back under such circumstances..."

After all, with decades of experience, he could lie without hesitation. Besides, the only battleship sunk on the battlefield was the Scharnhorst. As for Hipper? First, she was not a battleship, and second, she did not sink in the naval battle, but was sunk in the "air strike after the naval battle", which had nothing to do with this naval battle...

The man with the mustache didn't know much about the navy. He listened to Raeder's words with some doubt and didn't know where to start.

He also knew the abilities of the ship girls. It was indeed very difficult for ordinary warships to fight against the ship girls.

Well... there is no other way...

However, at this time, there was a knock on the door of the mustache's office. With the mustache's "Come in", the door was opened, and in the doubtful eyes of the mustache and Redl, Marshal Keitel hurried in, also holding a sealed document bag in his hand.

"Führer! Urgent news from the Russian battlefield!"

After hearing Keitel's report, Raeder knew that the meeting and briefing was over.

As expected, upon hearing the urgent news from the Russian battlefield, the mustache man's attention was immediately diverted:

"It looks like I won't get a break...Okay, Raeder, go back first and show me the detailed report of this battle. I want to study it carefully. Keitel, what's up?"

"Okay, Führer." Raeder nodded decisively and left. But when he was leaving, through the crack of the door, before the door closed, he seemed to hear Keitel reporting on the situation on the Eastern Front...

"...the Russians launched a counterattack in the direction of the Gumrak railway station on the Stalingrad battlefield, where there was a railway that bypassed the main city of Stalingrad and there was an airport..."

As the door was closed, the sound could no longer be heard. However, this was none of my business.

Redel smiled slightly, this hurdle was passed.

He was not worried at all, because the mustache guy knew nothing about naval warfare.

Moreover, if his attention is now diverted to the battlefield on the Eastern Front, given how busy the guy with the mustache is, even if he reads the report carefully later, he probably won't be able to pay as much attention as he does now.

Besides, even if he reported the battle situation truthfully and the little mustache guy noticed it, there would be no problem.

Although Kumets would not necessarily lose if he did not run away but fought the British, both sides would suffer losses. In addition to the threat of the British organizing night bombers, the Americans on the other side of Iceland also had two North Carolina-class battleships on their way!

At first he was angry and blamed Kumets, but soon he figured it out in the car. So even if the Führer asked why Kumets ran away when he still had the strength to fight, he could cover it up perfectly with this excuse.

After all, he is a powerful man. Redel has no other abilities, but his talent for adaptability has been maxed out.

………A few days later…………

In the distant Indian Ocean, on the island of Pantelleria, two battleships, a heavy cruiser, and an aircraft carrier, as well as several supply ships, submarines and torpedo boats, were leisurely bathing in the port.

This is near the equator of the Indian Ocean. Even though it is still winter in theory, when has there ever been winter in the tropics?

In the storm, Bismarck, who was a little bored, dragged out Zeppelin, who was originally planning to continue training, and Hamster, who was addicted to the book, one by one, and ran to the port area to swim. After all, the captain and his friends were senior officers and had to pay attention to their status, so they could only watch helplessly from the side.

Of course, you don't have to worry about drowning or sharks...

On the other side of the naval base, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was moored at a temporary pier made of stone cages. On the pier, a crane fixed on a reinforced foundation with reinforced concrete was hoisting a gyro-stabilized platform and twin 50mm anti-aircraft guns onto the main body of the cruiser, which was docked on the shore.

The task of the modification was actually very simple, which was to remove the seaplane catapult that was no longer useful in the middle and replace it with an anti-aircraft gun platform, and also to strengthen the anti-aircraft gun firepower.

因为改装的难度不大，现在已经快要装好了。而等到装好以后，欧根亲王号就能够拥有12座双联装50毫米高射炮和16座双联装37毫米高射炮的防空火力。包括2号和3号主炮塔顶上各有一座双联装37，以及船尾还有一对双联装37的话，每侧一共可以有3座双联装105、9座双37、以及6座双50的强大防空火力！

(Eugen's four main turrets were codenamed Graz, Braunau am Rhein, Innsbruck, and Vienna, all of which are Austrian city names.)

However, there has been no action in the Indian Ocean yet!

On the bridge of the flagship battleship Bismarck, the bored Lütjens, Bonte, Lindemann and Top were sitting idly by the porthole in the bridge, looking at the figures of several mermaids playing on the sea not far away, near the temporary breakwater surrounded by steel chisels, anti-torpedo nets and iron cages filled with large stones.

Well, several captains were sighing about how great it was to be young, while also complaining about the war situation.

"The Navy Department just sent a message today that Kumetz was defeated in the Norwegian Sea and was cut off by Warspite. The Scharnhorst sank..." Lindemann picked up a battle report on the table, leaned against the windowsill to take a look, and read it aloud as he read.

"What? Shane sank?"

"What? Bey's ship sank?"

"Where's Bey? How's he doing?"

Lütjens, Bonte and Top all began to care about this issue.

Although one was concerned about the battle situation on the Scharnhorst, the other two were concerned about the whereabouts of their old subordinates or old acquaintances.

"It sank, along with the Shane..." Lindemann spread his hands with a heavy heart and shook his head: "The Shane sank very bravely. One ship was left behind, holding off three British battleships including the Warspite, and covering the evacuation of the troops."

"Evacuate? Kumetz, that guy, probably panics when faced with an emergency!" As the "former" subordinate who knew Kumetz best, Top really despised him. The other three people, including Lütjens, who knew that Kumetz had even used some despicable means to pry Eugen away, just shook their heads.

Although he is also an admiral, it is impossible to have a good attitude towards him given his behavior.

Shaking his head, Top said, "Forget it, let's not talk about it. It's not easy to deal with this side of the Indian Ocean..."

“It’s not easy…” Lütjens glanced at the four mermaids playing in the sea and sighed.

The Indian Ocean is now at a standstill.

A few days after the visit at the end of January, the Japanese fleet sent a fleet to the Maldives in an attempt to further consolidate the defense of the Indian Ocean. Now the entire Maldives archipelago, and even the Diego Garcia Islands south of the archipelago, have joined the KFC luxury lunch in front of the powerful Japanese air fleet.

The Allies now have a combined fleet with a certain strength, with British Admiral Somerville, who is in charge of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship Warrior, as the fleet commander (PS: At this time in history, Somerville was a lieutenant general), and American Rear Admiral Robert Giffen, who led several old American battleships, as the deputy commander of the Allied fleet. This fleet includes several old battleships such as the Warrior, Maryland, Colorado, West Virginia, and Arizona, and can also get support from more than 300 aircraft of various types on countless island airports extending from Seychelles to Mauritius to Madagascar and finally to Cape Town!

but……

Because there are more than twenty German submarines in the Indian Ocean, and several routes to India and the Middle East are divided by the Axis navies of Socotra Island and Diego Garcia-Maldives-Ceylon respectively. In the absence of aircraft carriers, neither Somerville nor Giffen dared to take the risk to forcibly send a transport team to India!

Although there were already mountains of transport ships in the channel from Madagascar to Mozambique, there was nothing they could do - at most they could unload the cargo in Mozambique, and then ask the wealthy Americans to provide fuel and vehicles, and then transport it to central and southern Egypt via the simple roads and railways built by the British in their colonies, and then find a way to sneak across the Red Sea, which is now guarded by Italians, and then transport it to the Middle East through Saudi Arabia. In the Indian Ocean, which is thousands of kilometers wide, the two sides are now separated by 1500 kilometers of open sea. Apart from sending submarines and reconnaissance aircraft for daily patrols, they can basically only stare at each other...

In this atmosphere of nothing to do, half of February has passed. Facing the British who relied on the island base and refused to leave, Lütjens was somewhat helpless because he knew that the country's strength had almost been invested in the Soviet-German battlefield and there would not be much support and assistance.

Leisurely, but also a bit helpless...

Chapter 593: Swimsuit BBQ (Multiple Picture Warning~)

Ah, it's another sunny day.

Bismarck woke up from her sleep, stretched, opened the door and saw the rising sun. The rising sun reflected the clear sea like a bright mirror, which made her squint her eyes and put her palm on her brow bone, looking out. Generally speaking, such reflection will disappear after the sun rises higher. This is a completely different experience from land.

"Morning, Captain." She stood at the door for a while and saw that the door of the captain's room next to her was also opened.

Even though today is a day off, Lütjens still gets up strictly according to the schedule, and when he goes out, he wears strict dress standards and his military uniform is meticulous.

"Good morning, Bismarck." He walked over with a smile.

"Looking at the scenery?"

"Yes." Bismarck nodded.