Bismarck

Hearing the information reported by Warspite, Tovey's mouth curled up slightly, and then he waved his hand fiercely: "Very good - record the order: the first wave of attack groups take off! The second wave of attack groups are ready! Attack priority targets: Europa and Bremen aircraft carriers... Flight deck, everyone attack!"

Following Tovey's resounding command, the flight decks of the five aircraft carriers became busy instantly: in the center of the wheel formation on the left wing, the ground crew removed the last wheel block from the neatly arranged carrier-based aircraft of the armored aircraft carrier HMS Vengeance and the two giant-class light aircraft carriers, which were guarded by layers of arches. One after another, the SBD Dauntless dive bombers, with the ground crew kneeling on their knees and extending their fingers to make a "go" gesture, and the cheers and blessings of the ground crew and sailors on the flight deck, rushed out of the flight deck with a hurricane of wind rolled up by the propeller, and soared into the sky! In another small-scale wheel formation on the right side, Spitfires or F4F European Swallow fighters also rose slowly on the flight decks of the other two giant-class light aircraft carriers...

Forty-two SBD Dauntless dive bombers were dispatched in full force, and under the cover of sixteen F4F Wildcats and twelve Spitfire fighters that took off from two escort aircraft carriers, they rushed towards the Kumets fleet in the northeast direction!

Behind them, on the flight decks of the five aircraft carriers, the second batch of 24 Barracuda torpedo planes and 12 Fulmar fighters had been lifted onto the flight decks by the aircraft carriers’ elevators, and were ready to go…

At the same time, the headquarters of the Kumets Arctic Fleet 400 kilometers away was in chaos.

"What? Long-range reconnaissance aircraft reports that enemy aircraft carrier spotted at Cape Feastra?!"

Kumets shouted at his subordinates to confirm the authenticity of the information, but he was still a little nervous inside...

Although his mission was to tow away Tovey, when the British and American fleet came here with murderous intent, Kumets, who was actually a little timid in his heart, still inevitably panicked when the time came - even though he had actually made a plan to deal with Tovey, and even though the reinforcements he requested at this time - the 4th Large Torpedo Boat (Light Destroyer) Division and the 8th Destroyer Division's four destroyers and six large torpedo boats, a total of 11 light warships, had now formed a standard wheel formation around his fleet...

"Turn! Escape to the east (French coast)! Take off the planes immediately! Report Tovey's position to Dönitz, Lütjens and the 'old man'! Also, call for support from the air force! Quickly! Quickly!"

Kumets waved his hands and shouted various combat orders. Although there was nothing wrong with these orders, they always gave people the feeling that they were a bit timid...

---

The Battle of Cape Fistra on June 8, 1942, initially started off in a very indifferent manner.

With the rough positioning of the long-range reconnaissance aircraft in the UK, the British and American joint fleet sailed at full speed under the cover of night and finally rushed to the predetermined attack position, Cape Feistra, at dawn, facing the north wind from the Atlantic Ocean. The fulmar reconnaissance aircraft equipped with airborne radar that took off at dawn finally locked onto Kumets' position at dawn at five in the morning.

With the support of this intelligence, the five British and American aircraft carriers that seized the battlefield initiative sent out two waves of attack groups in two batches - the first wave of 4 aircraft took off at o'clock: SBDs, FFs and Spitfires, and the second wave of aircraft took off at :: Barracudas and Fulmars.

At the same time as the British launched their carrier-based aircraft, the German reconnaissance aircraft also discovered the Anglo-American joint fleet 200 nautical miles away from them, and turned around to report to their own fleet.

Although he was a bit timid, at least he was prepared. While commanding the fleet to turn and sail against the wind towards the French coast, he also had his two large Europa-class aircraft carriers dispatch a large fleet of more than 109 aircraft - 190 BF-87 fighters to ensure high-altitude air superiority, 190 FE- fighters to directly protect the fleet and suppress anti-aircraft firepower, plus JU- dive bombers, and FW-s carrying torpedoes to perform lightning strikes - although it was not too late, compared to Tovey who took the initiative in the attack, Kumetz, who was on the passive defense, reacted nearly an hour later...

The best defense is offense. If Tovey implements this point, then Kumets will be very passive. The difficulty of passive defense is getting beaten.

Under the rising sun, the Biscay Bay was filled with wind and clouds. The attack aircraft of both sides passed by each other at the limit of visual distance and roared towards their intended targets - of course, they also informed their own aircraft carriers of the enemy aircraft's attack. After receiving the notification of the enemy aircraft's attack, the aircraft carriers of both sides were in chaos again. Fighters responsible for air defense missions were lifted onto the flight deck by elevators, lined up in formation and took off in order, and under the command of the command post, they pushed the throttle to the full, roaring into the sky, and heading towards the enemy aircraft's position guided by radar to intercept.

The first wave of British attack was intercepted by more than 109 BF-190 and FW-109 fighters from two squadrons that took off from two German aircraft carriers. In the rear of the battlefield, the outdated Fulmar fighters in the second wave of attack aircraft, which were originally only used to suppress anti-aircraft fire and cover the torpedo planes' assault, were also suppressing their inner worries, wiping the cold sweat from their palms while desperately trying to gain altitude - although they could not defeat any BF-190 or FW-, as fighter pilots, they had to fight to the last moment for the success of the torpedo planes' assault, even if it was just to delay...

Under the sky on the other side, the Allied fleet, which was also facing the air attack of the German aircraft group, also made preparations for air defense. In particular, the two giant-class aircraft carriers in the middle of the right wing wheel formation, which was guarded by seven or eight anti-aircraft cruisers and destroyers, also took off as the last twenty Spitfires and fifteen F4F European Swallows as air defense forces...

Above the azure blue sky, war eagles were flying and tangling with each other, shrapnel was flying everywhere, and the tracers of machine guns and anti-aircraft guns drew out lines of fire that were waving like long whips, whipping the "flies" on the opposite side with all their might, trying to pull the enemies on the opposite side down from the sky!

However, although such interception did shoot down some enemy planes, there were no light bulbs or puffs...

After all, the plane is too fast, not to mention that the attacker has the initiative!

Without the processing speed of a ship's computer, man-made barrages really aren't that threatening, although the navy is now popularizing VT.

Moreover, the German fleet had another problem...

Although German destroyers were large destroyers with a full load displacement of more than 3500 tons, they were equipped with 150mm main guns, so their center of gravity was too high in the rough North Atlantic. And those "large torpedo boats" were only 1300 tons, but equipped with four 105mm main guns and two triple torpedo tubes. It's even more difficult to imagine how their thin bodies would tremble in the Atlantic Ocean with strong sea breezes all year round...

The waves of the Atlantic Ocean were like the giant slaps of Poseidon. Wave after wave of wind and waves slapped the bows of these destroyers and large torpedo ships like slapping in the face. Not to mention the frigates, even the front main guns of the destroyers were flooded by the surging sea water and could not fire at all. In fact, these small boats could not even maintain their speed, let alone how much combat effectiveness they had...

Although the German fleet was heading towards the French coast in the eastern part of the Bay of Biscay, the artillery flaws on the front of the destroyers were quickly discovered by British pilots!

Some planes continued to attack from the rear, tying down the Germans' limited anti-aircraft fire, while more planes circled around and swooped down from the front of the fleet!

Many planes were shot down amid the shrapnel and sparks of the anti-aircraft guns, but even more planes broke through the enemy's interception one by one, or even in groups, and rushed to the top of the enemy's warships! Under the powerful centrifugal force of the dive, the bombs hanging on the belly of the dive bomber pierced the fuselage, and with the whistling of high-speed compressed air during the dive, they smashed down towards the wide flight deck of the enemy aircraft carrier in waves!

White water splashes stirred up tall water columns, and with deafening explosions, they resounded around the aircraft carrier! From time to time, a huge fireball would explode on the flight deck, scattering fragments, and then turn into rising black smoke with the souls of the dead...

"The flight deck of the USS Europa was hit by three shells! The hangar is on fire! A set of boilers is damaged! Salvage is underway now!"

"The aircraft carrier Bremen was bombed! Three near misses, two hits! The engine room was hit! The wall next to the engine room was blown through... Three of the four engine rooms lost power and need to be towed!"

"The turret of the battleship Ludendorff 'Beta' (B) was hit! The turret is stuck!"

"The bow of the pocket battleship Lützow (Germany) was blown open, and the bridge was hit by a suicide plane! The captain died in the battle..."

"Assault fleet report! We have successfully bombed three British light aircraft carriers, but the fleet suffered heavy casualties, and the British now have two aircraft carriers!!..."

One piece of bad news after another, accompanied by the sound of gunfire and explosions, flew and roared in the command post of the Hindenburg battleship, and finally flew into Kumets' ears and mind one after another.

If the news of Ludendorff and Lützow's injuries was still acceptable, then the news that the two Europa-class aircraft carriers were severely damaged really made Kumets despair!

Aircraft carriers are very easy to be damaged! Especially Europa and Bremen, which are not regular aircraft carriers, but converted from passenger ships. Although they learned from the actual combat experience and lessons of the Zeppelin, a lot of damage control equipment was specially added during the modification at the shipyard, but the cruise ship itself is only a civilian ship-level structure and there is still no good way to deal with it. It's fine for normal sailing, but if it is hit by a bomb, the fragile compartments are not bulletproof at all...

Especially the news sent by the assault aircraft group claiming that the British still had three aircraft carriers, which made Kumets, who was already a little pale, even more panicked.

Just when the roof is leaking, the rainy season often comes...

"Radar report! Their second wave of attack aircraft is only fifteen minutes away from us..."

Before the radar soldier finished speaking, Kumets, who was completely panicked, shouted at the top of his lungs: "Retreat! Retreat!! Someone go and drag Bremen to us, let's retreat quickly..."

Chapter 704: Dönitz's Support

Just as Kumets was blown to pieces by Tovey's carrier-based aircraft and fled in panic, the four German ship crew members, who had repaired the damaged parts of the hull after stopping the ship and making temporary repairs, also set out on the road of making big news again under the leadership of their commander - or according to the British and American sayings or curses, "the Lord of Evil Spirits" Lütjens - with the determination to continue making big news...

Sitting upright in the main seat of the command room, Lütjens occasionally rubbed his temples, but the rest of the time he would support his head with both hands, staring blankly at the sea chart...

Only the secretary beside him who would pour a cup of coffee for his commander from time to time knew that his captain was not only in a daze, as distracted as a clay or wooden sculpture, but he would even occasionally mutter a few words like in his sleep.

As for what he was muttering, the captain's Persian cat couldn't resist his curiosity and secretly pricked up his ears. In the end, he only heard one word:

"Oil……"

Bismarck sighed inwardly, knowing how worried his captain was.

After all, the combined fuel of the sisters in the entire fleet now only has 6500 tons left...

You know, the rated fuel carrying capacity of any of the three large ships, Bismarck, Tirpitz and Zeppelin, is more than 7500 tons! Not to mention that there is also a Prinz Eugen waiting to burn fuel. These 6500 tons of fuel are only enough for a quarter of the total rated fuel carrying capacity.

Although we have preliminarily blocked the damaged area and barely got rid of the extra fuel consumption caused by the resistance of underwater damage, but even so, this amount of fuel is only enough for us to sail for 3500 kilometers.

Not only his own captain, but even Lindemann and his colleagues were all anxious about this matter, and they were sweating profusely - in order to save fuel, now on several warships, except for the ammunition depot, boiler room and a few cabins temporarily used as hospitals for the wounded, ventilation and heat dissipation can be maintained, other cabins including the command cabin and the captain's cabin have been restricted from using even electric fans.

Although she does not sweat and can be described as having skin as fine as ice, but... the Persian cat looked at her captain's back and saw that the white officer's uniform was already soaked with sweat.

The sun in the Azores is very scorching, not to mention that this place has not yet left the doldrums - since there is no wind, there are naturally few clouds. Above the vast ocean, there is only the red, super-powerful round "light bulb" hanging hundreds of millions of kilometers above our heads, which uses spontaneous nuclear fusion as energy. It completely ignores everyone's collective complaints about getting heatstroke and continues to shine and heat there...

Moreover, it is still wartime and the danger to the entire fleet has not been eliminated, so even the construction of awnings is not allowed - otherwise, there would at least be a place to provide shade.

Now all the fleet can do is to open all hatches, windows and fans for ventilation, and rely on ventilation to ensure that everyone does not suffer from heatstroke.

In fact, the fleet is running low on fresh water now...

Seeing her captain's dazed and distracted look, and then looking at his sweaty clothes and chapped lips, and then looking at the cup of water beside him that had not been touched because he had set an example by limiting his drinking, even she herself was not in a very good mood.

The Long March...

Is it hard? Think about the 25,000-mile Long March...

Bismarck couldn't help but complain a little - the fleet was now only left with a little fuel. Not to mention the captain and Lindemann, even he knew that he had to find a target that was as foolproof as possible to rob - because if the robbery failed, everyone would be completely finished...

However, the intelligence on the North Atlantic battlefield that I requested from Dönitz yesterday has not been sent yet!

Although it is said that the German fleet is a standard armed pirate ship, even if they are pirates, they still have to scout the area carefully before robbing!

Haven't you heard what Zhuangzi said? Even if you are a gangster, you still have to follow the rules!

(PS: The original meaning of the idiom "a thief also has his own way" is indeed this~)

Bismarck curled his lips: Could it be that Raeder's old illness has recurred?

Come to think of it, the only one who doesn’t have to worry about this right now is Bangtai. Although the operation was successful, he was seriously injured, and the conditions for the fleet to fight outside were not good. He is still sleeping in the temporary intensive care unit...

When the ship was stopped for repairs, the captain, Lindemann and Top went over to take a look, but they were stopped by the chief military surgeon outside the intensive care unit.

The only good news is that, according to the chief military surgeon, Bangtai's current coma is just a normal phenomenon after a serious injury surgery, and there is no need to worry too much...

It's a blessing in disguise...

As he was thinking, the Persian cat also became distracted. It was not until the signalman's report that the man and the cat, who had been in a daze, were awakened.

"Report! Urgent notification from Brest"

Bismarck glanced at Lütjens and saw a glimmer of hope in the other's eyes.

Could it be that Dönitz finally sent the information?

Seeing his captain nod, Bismarck went down excitedly to get the telegram. But when the telegraph operator handed over the telegram, Bismarck saw that the telegram was only half a sheet of paper, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat!

The telegram is too short! This is definitely not intelligence!

And if it wasn't intelligence that he was supposed to read for himself... I'm afraid something must have happened!

He quickly handed the telegram to his captain, and then they put their heads together to take a look - as expected!

"Starting at 7 o'clock this morning, General Kumets' Arctic Fleet engaged in a naval battle with the Tovey Fleet near Cape Feistra... According to the strike report and subsequent reconnaissance aircraft reconnaissance, it was initially determined that three of the enemy's light aircraft carriers had been severely damaged, but two of the Arctic Fleet's aircraft carriers were also severely damaged by the enemy's aircraft fleet... The British fleet now seems to be trying to bypass the combat radius of the fighters at the Brest base and return to the British mainland... Considering that the enemy's aircraft carrier fleet still has two aircraft carriers that maintain combat effectiveness, the Arctic Fleet is no longer suitable for fighting. Everything depends on you. Pray for God's blessing..."

After reading the telegram, the Persian cat felt that his mood was completely chilled!

But my heart just can't fly.

Kumets is out of luck now?!

A song "Liang Liang" is going to be delivered so soon?

Well, at least he tried his best this time. After all, he also destroyed the three light mothers on the opposite side... As for Kumets's combat effectiveness, he should be content, right?

But if you get cold, what should we do here...

Tovey still has two aircraft carriers, and they can already return to their homeland. As long as they replenish their fighter jets, they will be another obstacle that can block the advantage of the interior and wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.

We don't have enough fuel here, and up to now, Dönitz has not sent us any information about the situation in the North Atlantic!

Thinking back to the time when the captain took me to visit Dönitz in order to build relationships, I had helped him solve the torpedo reliability problem from the very beginning of the anti-submarine exercise. Then, in order to maintain the relationship, I had given Dönitz many ideas - the submarine hull was built in modules to increase production, large-capacity battery compartments were installed to increase underwater endurance, and it was also suggested that the submarine design be more streamlined and increase underwater speed, towed sonar + hull sonar three-point positioning method, water pressure balanced deep-sea torpedo tubes, guided torpedoes, shock-absorbing raft platforms to reduce noise, and even camouflage tubes with deception functions were installed... and so on!

Madan, how come you didn't know that Dönitz had such an unreliable side? Bismarck thought to himself that he must invite him to the ship for dinner in the future.

My captain is an admiral after all, so I have the right to read the internal communications! As far as I know, although the production capacity of German submarines has increased due to large-scale changes in design, Raeder's need to continue to maintain the battle fleet, and the huge pressure on the army's production capacity in the war against the Soviet Union, it has only increased from about ten ships a month to about thirty ships.

In particular, several of those things that were conceived by his own (from the future) imagination have now begun to enter small-scale experimental service - even though these newly commissioned submarines are not very suitable for traditional wolf pack tactics due to their "ahead of their time" new design concept, and their attack efficiency on large-scale transport convoys has even decreased, but after Dönitz arranged these submarines to conduct single-boat hunting, the survivability and harassment capabilities of these submarines can be fully utilized.

According to Captain Heisenitz, who had been rescued by him, those new submarines could even make anti-submarine aircraft and destroyers run around in circles - and that was before guided torpedoes and deep-sea torpedo launchers were put into service! If those two were put into service, then by then, they could launch guided torpedoes under the deep sea jump layer and then escape without surfacing. Combined with the underwater performance of the new submarines, even the problem of attack power could be solved.

But... now I asked Dönitz for some information, but there has been no response until now - a whole day!

This is simply repaying kindness with enmity!

Looking around him, the captain's face was not looking good either! Gritting his teeth, Bismarck suppressed his voice and asked, "Captain, do you want to send another telegram to urge Dönitz?"

"Go and urge them again." The captain's face did not look very good either.

"Okay!" Bismarck stood up with some teeth gnashing, and was about to go to the confidential room. But before she reached the door of the confidential room, she heard the receiver in front of the receiver inside, and suddenly remembered the busy beeping sound!

As the beeping sound continued, the receiver was stunned for a moment, and then he shouted in the confidential room: "This is... a high-level code! And the code is a long message! Someone come to help! Frequency number XXX.XX! Two more people, copy it with me!"

"Okay, okay!" Several telegraph operators who had no tasks heard the words of the receiver, looked at each other, and quickly adjusted the frequency band of the receiver - the advanced code itself means that the content is important! If more people copy it, they can check each other and avoid the possibility of mistakes as much as possible. The sender on the other side indicated on a certain code that this will be a long telegram - although this may also provide some clues for the decoder, for this kind of advanced code that is almost only used once, the consequences of copying it wrong will obviously be more serious!

After hearing the telegraph operator's words and the subsequent bustle in the confidential room, Bismarck finally stood at the door, and his originally impatient face finally began to smile.

It seems that this information about the fate of the captain, his sisters, the officers and soldiers of the entire fleet, and all the officers and soldiers of the Socotra Island Garrison who evacuated with the fleet has finally been sent to him!

"Finally, we are saved..." Bismarck was so excited that he even wanted to hug the electric pole and shout.

Forget it. Since the telegram has arrived, I won’t invite anyone to dinner.

At the same time, thousands of kilometers away in the port of Brest, Dönitz, feeling a little dizzy, slumped in his chair, put down the code book in his hand, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a long sigh.

"Ah... Lütjens really deserves to be called the 'Master of Evil Spirits'. This favor is really not something a human can repay." Looking at the one-time cipher book in his hand, Dönitz smiled bitterly: "The situation of the entire North Atlantic theater must be sent to him, and the one-time cipher book stipulates that only I can use it... I am the commander of the submarine force and the commander of the Atlantic Fleet of the War Navy. I am doing the work of a translator, and I am translating a long article of hundreds of thousands of words. It's not easy for me..."

"Lütjens, you bastard! You're torturing me like this because of the ideas your secretary gave me... I've already sent you the stuff! When you come back this time, I'll see if you can treat me to a French meal... foie gras! Truffles! Snails! Wine! Don't think that I don't know how to eat and drink well just because I'm thrifty on weekdays! If I don't bankrupt you this time, I'm not Karl Dönitz!"

Dönitz had spent almost a whole day working on this intelligence, and was now dizzy and dazed. He gritted his teeth and complained viciously about his hard work.

According to the law of conservation of character, as Dönitz complained in a bad mood...

In the command center of the Bismarck battleship, Lütjens, whose mood had improved because he knew the information was being transmitted, suddenly sneezed when he was halfway through drinking a mouthful of water...

As for what it feels like to sneeze while drinking water, and what kind of impact it will have on the people around you (cats?)...

"Ah--Captain! You're annoying!"

Following a cat's cry full of madness, Lütjens, who thought his mood had begun to improve, suddenly realized that this sunny noon was indeed just an illusion full of malice in the world!

Because whether it is his own image, the secretary cat beside him, the charts, reports and documents on his desk, or even his nose and trachea... everything is a mess now!

Really, it couldn't be worse...

Chapter 705: Target Canada

As the director of MI6, William Wyatt was actually very clear that as a leader he should delegate more power and assign people to the right positions, and that he did not always need to be at the front line of work - that would not have any effect other than adding unnecessary pressure and constraints to his subordinates.