Bismarck

There's still half an hour left! By the time Zeppelin recovered, the daylily would have gone cold.

However, as long as Zeppelin can regain his momentum, there is still hope!

"Get ready for battle." Lindemann pulled the hamster's hair unhappily.

Ps: Before the boiler is ignited, it needs to be ventilated for at least ten minutes (the professional term is blowing the chamber), and then the pilot fuel can be slowly put in to ignite (commonly known as piloting). Moreover, it is necessary to wait until the pilot fuel is fully burned before adding more oil - that is, it will take at least ten to twenty minutes just to ignite the fire, and there is also time to boil the water.

Chapter 697: Submarine and Aircraft Joint

As the arc of the welding gun completed the last stroke, there was a sudden burst of joy in the smoke exhaust duct above the dome of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier.

"It's fixed! The flue has been fixed!"

"Boiler room, ventilate immediately! Everyone else, check the welded areas to see if there are any leaks!"

"Hey, we have started ventilation!" Along with the boilerman's hearty laughter, bursts of humming noises from the blower's pressurized ventilation came from the smoke exhaust duct that had been welded - but at this moment, such noise, to the damage control team, the boilerman, and even to Bismarck who was monitoring the emergency repairs, was more touching than the most pleasant music!

Boiler ignition is a very complicated process.

Fuels such as diesel and heavy oil evaporate very slowly and have relatively high flash point temperatures. If the oil does not evaporate and cannot be fully mixed with the air, it is far from enough to rely solely on temperature to ignite it - even though the ignition point of diesel is actually much lower than that of gasoline.

As for the heavy oil used in ships, it's like oil residue, which is so viscous that it can be counted in clumps. Unless it is heated to reduce the viscosity, it will be a problem to pump it out of the oil tank. But... the opposite is also true: the temperature of the fuel heater can reach 100 degrees or even 150 degrees! But even at such a high temperature, it can only make the viscous heavy oil flowable, that's all...

(Theoretical ignition point temperature: gasoline 427 degrees, diesel 220 degrees, heavy oil has a larger molecular weight and is more active when simply heated, so the theoretical ignition point is lower. But the actual ignition flash point temperature: gasoline -30 degrees, diesel 50-65 degrees, heavy oil 180-330 degrees! In fact, heavy oil must be fully atomized before burning...)

That is to say, apart from gasoline, it is not easy to ignite diesel and heavy oil directly.

Therefore, in order to ignite the boiler, it is necessary to use something called "pilot fuel" to pre-ignite and heat the furnace, and then use an atomizer to introduce the main fuel. However, the characteristics of the pilot fuel determine that it is easy to volatilize and ignite. Therefore, for safety reasons, ventilation is required for at least ten minutes before ignition (the professional term is blowing the chamber), and then the pilot fuel can be slowly added for ignition. After the pilot fuel is fully burned, the pilot fuel can be disconnected and heavy oil can be added. It takes at least ten to twenty minutes to ignite the fire, not to mention the time it takes to heat the cold water in the boiler to a steam pressure sufficient to start the steam turbine unit...

The British bombers will come to launch an air strike in half an hour at most - no - maybe even less than half an hour!

but……

As long as Zeppelin can regain his power, there is still hope!

Before that, let them guard the Zeppelin until it regains power!

From the fleet commander Lütjens, who was in charge of the overall plan, to the most common sailor holding a stained repair tool, they all glanced at the rear of their fleet, the direction where another group of Allied bombers were rumored to be coming...

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The anti-aircraft gunners on the four battleships have already taken their positions, and the damage control team members are also reinforcing the original damaged positions under the command of the chief engineer of their respective battleships. In the C4ISR command center of the flagship battleship Bismarck, the communicators coming in and out report the intelligence to the sweaty staff members, who then make a preliminary analysis of the enemy situation and mark it on the drawing board for Lütjens to make a decision.

Although the enemy planes were getting closer and closer, the situation on the battlefield became clearer as time went on:

The enemy planes had five minutes to enter the battlefield - eight fighters and sixteen torpedo planes, four in a team, a true four-finger formation. The torpedo planes were in two teams, arranged in a horizontal formation that was good at flanking, with wide gaps between them.

In addition to the aircraft, there was a small encirclement of four British U-class submarines around his fleet. Although one of these submarines had been destroyed by the Bismarck’s artillery fire within an hour, the other three were still chasing him. The Bismarck, which was dragging the Zeppelin, was also injured and could not shake off the submarines in an hour! More importantly, the British torpedoes had a range of 13700 meters at a speed of 105 knots, which was more than meters farther than the effective range limit of the anti-aircraft gun.

Tirpitz, who was originally in the front right and in a single formation with Eugen as an anti-submarine escort, has now turned to the right rear, ready to serve as an anti-aircraft fire support point. However, even with the three twin-mounted 105mm anti-aircraft guns and five or six groups of 37mm anti-aircraft guns behind the Zeppelin bridge, the anti-aircraft firepower in the rear is still a bit weak...

Little Eugen on the other side was also circling in front of her left side. There was even a little rabbit with golden hair and twin ponytails on the top of the bridge. It was looking around with its big eyes wide open and long ears erect, searching for something - about ten kilometers behind and to the side of her, there were two submarines hiding underwater, relying on their underwater speed of ten knots, and rushing towards this side bit by bit.

At this time, the black fleet of aircraft, at the speed of airplanes, had already entered the range of the battleship Tirpitz.

The large hamster that was dragged at the back, under Lindemann's command, turned its 50,000-ton steel body and stood in front of the British attack aircraft group.

Who dares to draw his sword and mount his horse? Feed me the pink hamster...

The 380mm main gun, which had been pre-aimed and equipped with high-explosive bombs controlled by the ship girl, began to speak in the roar. Under the control of Tirpitz, the low-drag 8crh shell type was at an altitude of 20 meters kilometers away, with a speed of meters per second, pulling out a row of overwhelming barrages and sprinting directly in front of a group of British bombers! Although the Barracuda torpedo plane tried desperately to turn and disengage, how much maneuverability could a bomber with a torpedo hanging have under the range of a barrage calculated in kilometers? !

Although, with the British's well-prepared evacuation formation, such an attack only managed to shoot down one bomber...

However, this round of shelling also announced the start of the battle.

Seeing that the Tirpitz had already opened fire, two groups of eight British fighters - four Fulmars and four Seafires - immediately pushed the throttle to the fullest, opened full power, and dived headfirst into the battleship Tirpitz! The close-range anti-aircraft firepower of the Tirpitz saw these fighters trying to strafe the deck rushing up, and without saying a word, they also began to fire back. However, in just 20 seconds, the 50 Hispano 37mm machine guns of the eight fighters and the four groups of mm twin anti-aircraft guns and nine groups of mm twin anti-aircraft guns on the starboard side of the Tirpitz battleship were hit together!

Clusters of colorful tracer bullets and the afterimages of fighter jets impacting at high speed plowed one bullet hole after another on the rolling sea surface under the bright afternoon sunlight!

Under the cover of the fighters, the distance between the British torpedo planes was further spread out! Two teams of torpedo planes attacked from both the front and left sides of the Tirpitz, and rushed towards the Evil Spirit-class aircraft carrier that was being towed by the Bismarck in the distance. This formation was convenient for evasion and loss reduction, and could also be deployed into a large encirclement net!

Skynet is restored, sparse but not leaking.

…………At the same time, on the battleship Tirpitz…………

Seeing the fighters rushing up, Tirpitz, who knew that most anti-aircraft guns could not fire when the main guns were firing, was turning his main guns, trying to use his eight 380mm main guns to fire a second time before the fighters rushed up. However, after all, the main guns of the battleship were too heavy. Even though Tirpitz desperately turned his main guns, the rotation speed could not keep up with the flying speed of the enemy planes, and the artillery fire eventually missed the target...

"Lindemann... I didn't hit it..." The little hamster lowered his head and looked at his finger, gnashing his teeth in frustration.

"Forget it... They are evacuated like this anyway, it's good to kill one more." Lindemann, who was also grinding his teeth, gently patted Tizi's shoulder: "The main gun has stopped firing, you can send the anti-aircraft gunners up... Now it's the anti-aircraft guns!"

"Okay... wait! Lindemann! The team of torpedo planes in front of us seems to be coming directly towards us!" Grape, who was originally a little depressed, just responded, and the ahoge on her head suddenly stood up - in her perception, the team of torpedo planes that she was bombarding were now charging directly towards her direction!

"What?!" Lindman was suddenly shocked.

But he soon grinned: "It seems that we have successfully attracted half of their bombers. This is good news - Tizi, turn right four compass points first, and be ready to turn again at any time!"

"Yeah!" Tizi nodded, staring at the British fighter planes that had already rushed over with disgust and impatience. The anti-aircraft guns on the large hamster, as the anti-aircraft gunners rushed out of the bunker and stood on the gun positions, also burst out with flames of counterattack one after another.

The 37mm and 50mm anti-aircraft guns formed a fire net that blocked out the sun and sky, intercepting the British bombers. The 105mm anti-aircraft guns also spurted out bursts of fireballs from the barrels. The 105mm anti-aircraft shells with VT fuses burst out long rod shrapnel like machetes, waving and flying towards the enemy bombers that followed the fighters and attacked them with their heads covered and necks shrunk. Even her 150mm secondary guns, now used their relatively clumsy firing rate and rotation rate to fire high-explosive shells with VT screwed on, shooting at the torpedo planes.

(Bismarck's 150 guns have historically had a certain anti-aircraft attack capability, although it is not strong...)

However... these anti-aircraft guns themselves are also facing fire suppression from enemy fighter planes.

It is not so easy to shoot down an agile fighter jet.

The rain of bullets from the Hispano 20 machine gun poured down on the hull of the battleship Tirpitz like a pouring wind, and the series of sparks made the crew tremble with fear.

The barrages from both sides were like a storm, and the power of the 37mm and 50mm anti-aircraft guns was so powerful that from time to time, a fighter plane would be covered with a trail of fire and smoke from the dense and fierce barrage, and then fall into the deep sea with its broken limbs! However, the large hamster, which was huge and heavy, was also swept by these lightweight fighter planes loaded with white phosphorus high-explosive incendiary bombs, leaving broken eaves and walls everywhere, thick smoke and raging fire!

As for the fragile bodies of the sailors, they were swept away by the storm of steel barrage, with limbs flying everywhere, corpses strewn all over the ground, and blood flowing like a river!

The terrifying barrage of bullets created by the simultaneous firepower of twenty or thirty Hispano machine guns was not to be taken lightly - in theory, these machine guns combined could fire more than 25,000 shells per minute, and the hit rate of speeding aircraft strafing warships would always be more accurate than the hit rate of warships swaying on the sea fighting back against aircraft.

For a time, Tirpitz's anti-aircraft firepower was even suppressed and at a disadvantage.

Even Tirpitz, who was originally holding the periscope and staring at the opposite aircraft group, felt all kinds of pain in his body. What was more dangerous was that under these strafing shots, his anti-aircraft firepower circle, which had already been weakened a lot in the previous hard battle, was further weakened.

In particular, several of those fighter planes, after strafing themselves, rushed towards the towed Zeppelin - on the flight deck of Zeppelin, there were several newly assembled planes, as well as those pilots!

"Damn flies! You're so annoying!"

The hairy body of Tizi trembled, and the remaining 50mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns on the other side also burst out with a barrage of bullets. Under Tizi's control, they chased after the fighters frantically. Soon, two more fighters were ignited by her barrage and became flying torches in the sky, and then plunged into the blue-black sea.

but……

"Oh no! They're going to crash... (Boom!) Ouch..."

As the little hamster stopped in panic, a Fulmar fighter plane with a broken wing crashed into the middle of the hull of the Tirpitz battleship under the spirit of the British pilot who would rather die in battle than let others die with him. A 50mm anti-aircraft gun turret that was firing was instantly reduced to a pile of scrap metal in a ball of fire, and the gunners of another 50mm anti-aircraft gun turret nearby had to stop firing because of the billowing smoke and scorching heat waves, and grabbed a fire hydrant, put on helmets, and bit the bullet to put out the flames of the anti-aircraft gun turret that was still crackling and exploding shells from time to time...

“It hurts… yuck!”

The pink-haired otaku wiped away her tears and gritted her teeth, mobilizing her already severely damaged anti-aircraft firepower circle even more frantically - if the battleship's body could have a large mechanical arm, she would have wanted to just pick up a large fly swatter and give these annoying flies a good beating!

As the captain, Lindemann had to pay attention not only to the anti-aircraft firepower of his warship.

Turning his head, he saw that on the other side of the formation, in front of Bismarck and Zeppelin on the left, and diagonally opposite him, the Prinz Eugen was also about to engage the enemy. The several groups of 105mm anti-aircraft guns that were still usable on the turning hull fired continuously, and even her 203mm main guns now used her one of the fastest reloading speeds among heavy cruisers to join the rhythm of anti-aircraft shooting. Even without the vision of the ship girl, even Lindemann could see that several of the torpedo planes on the other side that tried to outflank Bismarck and Zeppelin from the left had already hung bright fireballs and eye-catching thick smoke...

(After all, the muzzle storm of the 203 main gun is not as terrible as that of the 380 main gun.)

Moreover, not only did he and Prince Eugen begin firing at full force, but several kilometers ahead, behind the bridge of the towed Zeppelin aircraft carrier, the three 105mm anti-aircraft guns and the eight groups of 37mm anti-aircraft guns that were basically intact at the rear of the hull also joined the chorus...

The crackling sound of anti-aircraft guns, the dense barrage of bullets, the clouds of anti-aircraft guns in the sky and the clusters of water splashing on the sea, as well as the occasional explosions and crashes. Even in the heavily armored command tower, you can hear the hysterical shouts of the sailors outside...

However, in just one minute, the enemy's torpedo planes had already rushed in. In just a few dozen seconds, they would drop the dangerous torpedoes.

Lindemann never forgot that there were still three submarines lurking around the fleet.

Moreover, at this very moment, misfortunes never come singly.

The little hamster beside him tugged at Lindemann's arm again, pointed in three directions - to the left, to the right and to the back - and shouted: "Lindemann! Those British submarines are launching torpedoes!"

"What? Their submarine launched a torpedo?!" Lindmann's face suddenly changed when he heard Tirpitz's torpedo warning: "Tirpitz, did their submarine just launch a torpedo or has it been launched for a while..."

"Don't rush me, let me take a look... Oh no! Their torpedoes have been launched for a while! The torpedo net has been pulled out!" Tirpitz, who looked annoyed, observed for a while and his face looked very unhappy.

She had been paying too much attention to the planes before, and hadn't paid much attention to the submarines, so she had this problem...

Grape, who was holding a pencil and marking the map while grinding his teeth, wanted to curse loudly: Sea and air attacks and submarine safety are so annoying!

Beside Tirpitz, Lindemann, whose face also changed greatly, looked at the position of the British submarines on the map in front of him, then looked at the British aircraft group that was already close in the sky, and then looked at the position of the submarines to the side and rear. He only made a brief judgment on the relationship between time and position in his head, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat...

"Now we have to dodge torpedo planes, but after dodging them, we will most likely be attacked by submarine torpedo nets..."

"This is bad..."

Chapter 698: Small Misunderstanding

Bismarck perceived several white lines flying towards her at a rapid speed. She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and frantically increased the pressure on her boiler. She could feel that her pipelines had almost reached the limit of strengthening, and there were even steam leaks in some places. She was already in a state of exhaustion and it was difficult to repair them. She could only hope to hold on a little longer.

But it is not easy to drive the two of them to accelerate together, even with such a huge horsepower...

The steel cable had been subjected to a huge force and seemed to be about to break.

The speed is slowly increasing, but it’s not fast enough!

"quick···"

With a "bang", Bismarck's words were choked in his throat.

She shuddered, watching in disbelief as the steel cable towing the Zeppelin suddenly rebounded, leaving a white mark on her hull.

No! It's not disconnected!

It was loosened!

As the steel cable was loosened, the speed of the Zeppelin aircraft carrier, whose boiler had not been successfully ignited, was obviously falling down at a very fast speed!

In the smoke-filled bridge, German officers and soldiers were killed and wounded in large numbers. Standing in front of the rudder and the clock, there was only Bismarck in disbelief, and the Phantom opposite him who was proactive and still had a calm face.

As the speed dropped, Bismarck's fragile heart also fell...

"Zeppelin! What are you doing!" she yelled.

No one would touch the tightrope except her!

Once the cable is disconnected at this time, it will be too late!

Looking at Zeppelin, who was extremely weak, with long beige hair, and dressed neatly in a white military uniform and a military cap, Bismarck could no longer suppress and endure the despair and sadness in his heart. He clenched his fists, stomped his feet hard, and shouted loudly at his sister.

"If we don't open it, both of us will get hit."

She saw Zeppelin in front of her calmly stating a cold fact.

"Why! Zeppelin! Why are you giving up? Everyone is trying their best to protect you..."

She has tried her best to speed up...

Bismarck could no longer suppress her emotions and rushed towards Zeppelin, but she hugged nothing.

"Bismarck, thank you and everyone for fighting for me until now..." A smile finally appeared on Zeppelin's face.

"Don't give up! Bangtai is still being rescued! And... the boiler can be ignited soon!"

Bismarck quickly told her the current situation.

She knew that she was already a burden to the fleet. If she were in another fleet, under such circumstances, she would have been ordered to be sunk by the commander long ago...

Her sisters have fought for her until now, and she feels that this is enough.

"I···"

"you shut up!"

Bismarck roared, and mist instantly rose to her eyes.

He no longer wanted to control his emotions. He knew it was futile, but Bismarck was still somewhat stubborn and pounced towards the faint shadow once again.

In the end, all that was pounced upon was still only a ball of transparent light and shadow...

"Zeppelin... don't be like this... we clearly agreed... let me protect you..."

After hearing Zeppelin's words and seeing him release the cable, Tirpitz and Eugen also appeared and shouted to Zeppelin:

"Sister Zeppelin! Don't be like this! Everyone wants to go back with you! And Captain Top is still trying to save him..."

"Zeppelin! You can't give up! My sister has been dragging you so hard, and we have been trying so hard to protect you. I haven't complained about it yet, so you have no right to complain!"

"Bismarck! What's going on? Why is the cable broken?! Answer me! Answer me quickly!!"

Even the radio station could hear Lütjens's angry voice...

"You guys..." Looking at Bismarck's heartbroken expression, listening to the other two sisters' equally sad and anxious persuasion, looking at his own body and his phantom-like figure, and hearing the angry shouts of his own fleet commander on the radio, Zeppelin smiled bitterly: "I didn't say... I won't go back..."