Bismarck

Moreover, there are more exciting contents in the introduction on the back of the newspaper:

"The bald guy who was unwilling to accept defeat tried every means to stir up trouble and friction, but he was beaten up by the Far East comrades 'like this'!"

"Open up the Eurasian continental transportation line! The Far Eastern comrades' second westward column has successfully joined our army in Central Asia!"

"After liberation, the Yumen Oilfield is small but complete. We must rely on our own efforts and work together to support the frontline and achieve victory!"

"Economic talks that are mutually beneficial! Comrades from the Far East will send a large number of worker trainees to the Soviet Union to study science and technology. Their arrival will also bring certain human resources and objective help to the wartime industrial production of the Great Patriotic War!"

“British and American public opinion condemns us for ‘meddling in international affairs’, but the victory of our Far Eastern comrades depends on themselves!”

"The bald guy expressed great indignation at our cooperation with the rabbit and sent a special envoy to beg the United States to further increase its assistance to him..."

........................

Even though he was thousands of miles away in a foreign country, Yongfu could see that Japan's invasion of the Far East was already precarious.

The bald man, who had lost all morale, was corrupt and incompetent, and was just a remnant of his former glory. Until now, he could only huddle in circles on Mount Emei.

Rabbits have already occupied half of the Far East continent! Even if they win completely, it is only a matter of time!

"...If this continues, perhaps it won't be long before our country can stand up on its own, right?"

Wiping his moist and choking eyes, Yang Yongfu, smiling and crying, carefully folded the greasy newspaper in his hand, straightened the helmet on his head, and without avoiding the gaze of Shura beside him, put the folded newspaper into the pocket on his chest where he kept his notebook.

Then, Shura stretched out his hand expressionlessly, in front of Yang Yongfu, and clenched his fingers in a friendly manner...

"Money! Two kopecks for the newspaper!"

"......???" Yang Yongfu had a black question mark on his face. "It's just two cents, are you trying to rob me?"

"Brothers should settle accounts clearly!" Shura looked at Yang Yongfu with a sour face, puffing his cheeks and pouting: "You didn't pay me when I bought you a newspaper last time - according to Soviet law, your behavior is considered 'illegally obtaining other people's property', which is shameful!"

"Okay, okay, let me see if I have any money first." Yang Yongfu, with sweat beads on his forehead, touched his trouser pocket, and his entire back was instantly wet with cold sweat - his pocket was empty, and there was even a hole at the bottom of his pocket where his fingers were inserted.

The hole is big enough for four fingers to fit in. Even if I had a wallet before, it is no longer useful now.

Damn, I lost money in this trouser pocket last time! I must have been so busy with military affairs that I forgot to mend it!

Looking at Shura beside him with a look that looked like a liar, Yang Yongfu suddenly felt that his head was a little square.

"Hmm?" Shura looked at Yang Yongfu with contempt, "Don't say you didn't bring money, and don't say you'll pay me back next time. That's what you said last time, and you still haven't paid me back!"

"Okay, I'll go back to the company to see if I have any money..." Under the gaze of his bad friend, Yang Yongfu smiled awkwardly and put the newspaper back into Shula's hands. Then he walked out of the small corner dejectedly, and walked towards the company with his head down, while Shula looked at spoiled and expired food. If he wasn't dressed neatly, didn't raise his hands, and was holding a submachine gun, if someone saw him like that, they would think Shula had gone somewhere to capture a prisoner.

But... Yang Yongfu, who had just returned to the company headquarters, was dragged away by the instructor before he even entered the door.

"Captain, you're back just in time! The brigade commander notified the brigade headquarters' platoon and officers above the company level to hold a meeting. I was just about to look for you!"

"Hey, hey, hey? What's going on?" Yang Yongfu, who was dragged away backwards by the instructor, looked as confused as possible.

"It's time to hold a meeting. We need to prepare to attack Poltava. Hurry up. Make a good impression on the brigade commander so that we can seize the lead..."

The instructor dragged Sergei farther and farther away towards the brigade headquarters, leaving Shura, whose little money had flown away again, alone and disheveled.

Chapter 897: Engineering Girl Bismarck

The smoke and dust from the night before in Gibraltar had not yet dissipated, and the maroon swastika flag was flying high on the top of the main peak that was charred by the explosion. Looking down from the position of the flagpole, the airport, which was bombed to the ground by the British army's scorched earth policy, has become a large construction site.

There is a constant flow of footsteps and people rushing around the construction site. People are coming and going, renovating the airport in a hurried and orderly manner.

The airport runway, which is 1,600 meters long and 140 meters wide, is filled with engineering teams invited from Spain, who are busy working with construction machinery, road rollers, cutters, cement mixers, and all kinds of maintenance materials.

The technology to quickly repair the airport is not new, and the construction machinery and cement materials obtained from Spain were all paid through the international payment process of the German diplomatic mission in Madrid. The Spanish contractors involved in the project could use the bills of exchange received from the German fleet to settle accounts at a special window opened by the German Embassy in Madrid.

Moreover, in addition to the engineering team invited from Spain, there were more than 20,000 British prisoners of war wearing sun caps, shackles, and holding pickaxes with their heads down, and they obediently served as coolies under the supervision of German soldiers with submachine guns slung across their shoulders and the machine gun positions behind them.

They cleaned up the debris and rubble around the crater, unloaded the sand, gravel and cement from a trailer, and threw them into a cement mixer under the supervision of the Germans. After a while, they added quick-setting agent to the mixed cement and filled the cleaned pit. They then sprinkled water on it and covered it with a steel plate or canvas mat for maintenance. Finally, they put up roadblocks and signboards - just wait a few more hours until the cement mixed with quick-setting agent solidifies, and the airport can almost reopen for business.

As for the lack of radar, etc.... Once the airport is repaired, will it be difficult to have the Me323 Giant transport plane transport the radar? Even if the Giant transport plane has a maximum speed of just over , it will take a full five hours to fly from southern France to Gibraltar...

All of this happened just 300 meters away, on the other side of the Spanish border barbed wire, under the gazes of a large crowd of onlookers and even under the light of their cameras.

After all, it is still war time, and the safety of Gibraltar Airport is not actually guaranteed.

Although there is Tangier Airport, it is not safe from Allied missile attacks because of its forward location.

The worst thing is that even though a reconnaissance squadron arrived with the first batch of reinforcements, they still haven't found where the British fleet is - and there were previously traces of several British and American light aircraft carriers operating in the Mediterranean, but now they have completely disappeared.

The British on the opposite side had just suffered such a huge loss and had not yet fought back, so how could they be willing to admit defeat?

Not to mention that in addition to the fleet, the Allies also have submarines that are slacking off, and bombing by the Allied Air Force in the Mediterranean may come at any time.

If it weren't for Zeppelin's jet support, and if it weren't for the 48 anti-ship missiles and more than 70 anti-aircraft missiles left on the Bismarck and Tirpitz to maintain a strong deterrent, perhaps at any time, three or four hundred missiles and four-digit aircraft would have hit the Tangier Airport and the Gibraltar Fortress directly - and then the Britain and the United States would have caught them in the trap!

However, even if the combat effectiveness of the two aircraft carriers Zeppelin and Gneisenau is basically intact, they are still in a difficult situation and need a solid base to rely on.

Lütjens' only choice was to work overtime to repair the airport of the Gibraltar Fortress - even the four ship girls under his command were sent out in groups of two, using their superhuman physical strength to act as human engineering machinery.

However, for the Spaniards who came to watch the fun - no matter if they were the 22nd Garrison Division, curious civilians, or even hidden British and American intelligence personnel, apart from being concerned about when the ship could be repaired, the main purpose of watching was to go and see those German ship girls who were said to be extremely evil but extremely beautiful, each of them was a big devil.

Although they all have the image of soldiers with full temperament, in addition to the unique heroic spirit of soldiers, the girls are good at their own things. Some are aloof, some are silly, some are big and some are dark. In addition, they lift up plates of cracked concrete, drag trailers of slag, carry bundles of steel runways, and lift groups of mechanical equipment effortlessly. When you think about their big devil attributes, it's just a contrast, isn't it?

Now, they are mixed in with the construction team at the airport, grabbing several tons or even dozens of tons of materials with ease, and carrying them effortlessly on their iron shoulders. The two graceful figures have completely and thoroughly attracted the fixed gazes of the Spaniards on the opposite side.

The two-by-two shipgirls who appeared in turn added some beauty to the bombed-out Gibraltar Fortress construction site. After all, the heavy and huge construction materials and equipment were in stark contrast to the girls' seemingly fragile image.

Looking at the mighty ships patrolling back and forth in the Strait of Gibraltar in the distance, many Spaniards who originally believed in Jehovah devoutly began to have dangerous thoughts - and then began to confess secretly: Oh, great Lord, please forgive the evil thoughts in my heart just now...

Although they were repenting in their hearts, they couldn't help but look at the evil spirits on the other side through the barbed wire - many people even made the sign of the cross with one hand, while raising a telescope with the other hand, close to their eyes, and staring intently.

Although, being surrounded by so many people like this is a bit disrespectful to a ship girl, let alone an ordinary girl. But being disrespectful is fine, the real key is: God knows how many British spies are lurking in Spain on the other side of the barbed wire?

Bismarck, Tirpitz and Zeppelin, who had built the Socotra garrison in the Indian Ocean, had experienced this kind of thing before. However, Eugen, who was always a little weak in character, always felt uncomfortable all over.

"Sister, we are repairing the airport and they are watching us like this... Is confidentiality not a problem?"

Seeing Bismarck pulling a trailer of cement easily and ignoring the crowd, Eugen, who was carrying a pile of steel plates, hurriedly followed and asked weakly.

As he asked, he shrank his neck, and his chin was almost retracted into his collar.

"There's nothing we can do. This place is only this big. People standing on the mountain opposite can see everything. There's nothing we can do about it. We can't keep it secret, so we have to fix it quickly." Bismarck looked at the little rabbit blinking beside him and responded casually.

She didn't say much about this kind of thing - after all, no matter how weak Eugen was, she was just a quiet person. To be honest, she was also a veteran. There was no need to say more about this kind of thing. How many people didn't know that it was better to repair the airport earlier, prepare for war earlier, and have a clear mind earlier?

To be honest, the captain asked the four sisters to take turns working at the construction site. In addition to meeting the deadline, he also had to guard against a sudden attack by the 20,000 British prisoners of war here. Isn't it more important?

"Yeah!" Eugen nodded seriously, knowing what was going on. But immediately, she looked worried again: "But, Sister Bismarck, we've already had lunch, and their large-scale attack hasn't come yet. What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know. Zeppelin's reconnaissance plane found nothing. Grape's radio monitoring and direction finding also found no traces. Instead, a British submarine was blown up with the help of helicopters..." Bismarck's pace slowed down slightly, and the slender cat pupils under the wide-brimmed hat also revealed some confusion. Theoretically, the BF-109G12 carrier-based reconnaissance aircraft has a reconnaissance radius of 1000 kilometers. Although it was completely lost before, a squadron transferred from France in the second half of the night last night has settled down at Tangier Airport. Even if some reconnaissance planes must be allocated to monitor the Allied airports in Morocco and western Algeria, it is not possible that they can't find the British hiding for a whole morning, right?

As for the group of submarines last night, although they played a great distraction role, at least four or five of them lost contact with the submarine headquarters in the face of the combined sweep by the completely furious British warships, destroyers, and anti-submarine aircraft - fully proving that in the face of the multi-service joint anti-submarine + saturation sweep with the support of the warships, the submarine's concealment capability cannot guarantee safety.

In order to preserve strength, and also in accordance with the gentleman's agreement reached between the captain and Dönitz, the Fifth Submarine Fleet has now withdrawn from the battlefield - the remaining work can only be done by themselves.

However, the problem was that they had no idea where they were now! Even if something happened to the British, there was no chance of chasing them.

Not to mention that they are just a warship cat, the captain and the others also have a headache from thinking about it.

"Forget it. No news is good news. Let's do what we can first - the airport will be repaired soon, we'll talk about it then."

Looking in the direction of Tangier Airport, which was in an unsafe location and had insufficient capacity, and then at Gibraltar Airport, which had been under repair since the second half of yesterday night and was expected to resume combat readiness duty in the afternoon, the Persian cat felt a little relieved.

The outline of the runway has already taken shape, and the cave on the other side of the mountain is being cleared. The rest will not take long.

Besides, the runway of Gibraltar Airport is 406 meters wide. Even if it is attacked by a battleship, it is not easy to lose its combat effectiveness - a mm grenade is only ten meters in diameter and five meters deep. As long as there are materials, can it really not be repaired?

At the same time, in the waters of the Portuguese Madeira Islands, 1,100 kilometers away from Gibraltar, Cunningham, who had just met Tovey, looked at the intelligence sent by the spy in his hand that "Gibraltar Airport is about to be repaired", and his face was full of depression.

Theoretically, the best way is to destroy the airport before it is repaired. However, the spy reported that those personnel were either an engineering team hired by Spain or British prisoners of war judging by their clothing...

Given the identities of these people, even if the bombing does not cause a diplomatic incident, they will be infamous for all eternity due to public opinion and congressional questioning.

Bombing the Spanish construction team might force Franco to the German side, but openly bombing their own prisoners of war... listen, is this human language?

If I really do this, I'm afraid I will be kicked directly into the military court by Fatty Qiu, who has long wanted to remove me from my position!

It's like being on a tiger's back and unable to get off!

It took a cigarette burning his fingers to bring Cunningham back to his senses as he was lost in thought.

Now in the Atlantic Fleet and the Mediterranean theater, the only two ships capable of carrying out precision missile strikes are Warspite and Vanguard.

but……

The night before, they were ambushed by German submarines in the Moroccan waters. Even if they were forced to retreat by the anti-submarine aircraft at the North African airport, the fuel of their destroyers had been consumed by an average of 70%, which was not enough to cover the missile attack by Warspite and Vanguard. However, without the cover of the destroyers, the threat of the oxygen torpedoes from the German submarines alone was not necessarily low. Not to mention the counterattack firepower of the Evil Spirit Fleet's crew, which was not to be underestimated!

The evil spirit fleet has already established a preliminary foothold here, and there is no way to do anything to Lütjens without launching a two-pronged attack.

Unfortunately, the destroyer's fuel consumption has become a shortcoming in combat at this time!

If the destroyer does not have enough fuel, the ship girl who launched the cruise missile attack will be in great danger! Without her own cruise missiles to contain the enemy's forces, Cunningham basically did not expect that the Mediterranean Theater Air Force, whose commander-in-chief had just died, could independently bomb the Gibraltar airport.

Didn’t you see that Lord Mountbatten, General Cunningham and General Doolittle haven’t responded to you yet?

As for Tovey? He came all the way from the mainland, and had made a tactical feint in Biscay Bay before. He had even less fuel than me!

Lütjens's ships are all large, and their ability to sustain combat is much stronger than that of destroyers! Thinking of this, Cunningham became even more depressed.

"How long will it take for the supply ship to arrive? The Mediterranean Air Force is waiting to attack the Germans from both sides!"

"Well... even if our supply ships are all 18-knot high-speed ships, it will take more than 30 hours to sail from the Azores (1,200 kilometers away). We just set out last night, so we probably have to wait until tomorrow morning at the earliest. Besides, we have so many ships to supply now - even if we only replenish part of them, we won't be able to act until tomorrow noon at least."

"grass!"

After hearing the report from his staff, Cunningham said that the destroyer fleet had run out of fuel due to two days of high-speed maneuvers and could not get supplies because its hometown was lost. He held his forehead with his hand in frustration and could not help but spit out a British curse (you know which word).

You have to know that Gibraltar Airport was originally designed to accommodate 150 to 60 aircraft. The logistics line is still dependent on Spain, and it cannot be cut off. In addition, there is a backup airport Tangier and the evil aircraft carrier Zeppelin to provide cover, so it is difficult to blow it up.

Even if it is possible to bomb, the runway of Gibraltar's airport is 140 meters wide. This design itself relies on its width to "withstand" large-scale bombings - the most annoying thing is that this design was previously built by the British themselves!

A one-ton heavy bomb could at most create a crater with a diameter of 14 or 15 meters on the concrete runway. The width of the runway was ten times the diameter of the crater!

Considering the distance between heavy bombs, even if the bombing was saturated, it would not be possible to completely cut off the runway due to its width. The enemy only needed to find a route with the least number of craters to repair it, and the airport would be able to resume operations in a short period of time.

Once the airport is repaired, they will have a firm foothold! By then, the evil fleet will be able to free up their hands, and the battle will be out of control!

Gibraltar is only 1100 kilometers away from Madeira, and Madeira is only 1200 kilometers away from the Azores - just the right distance for German submarines to bypass their patrol aircraft, and also threaten the mid-Atlantic shipping, and even attack the North Atlantic shipping line together with the French submarine base! Add to that the threat of the evil fleet, and the situation is quite serious!

Coupled with Franco’s territorial ambitions, as long as Portugal can maintain the diplomatic balance, perhaps it will give in!

If Salazar had relied on the Azores as a retreat route before, he would have had some confidence in facing Franco. But now Gibraltar is less than 500 kilometers away from Lisbon. If Salazar does not want to be a slave of a conquered country, he can only surrender to Germany and ask for protection.

Cunningham could even imagine Lütjens folding his arms and saying to him with a sneer on his face: Please start your performance...

Chapter 898: Battle of Poltava

The overwhelming artillery fire continued to bloom in the outer positions of Poltava, and the German fascists whimpered and wailed under the roaring iron wings of the attack planes. Even if the stubborn enemies with anti-aircraft guns and "Simler Organ" tried to counterattack, they would be immediately hit by the steel rain of howitzers and Katyushas following the wake of the attack planes, turning the land back and forth three or four times!

The scream of the jets could be heard faintly through the thick smoke covering the sky. The German jets relied on their performance advantage to still dominate the sky. But even so, the Soviet Air Force still came up with effective countermeasures - harassment in turns, multiple attacks, anti-aircraft artillery cover, hit and run, fatigue tactics, looking for opportunities to steal... Even though it still required several times the sacrifice, the Soviet war eagles, who vowed to fight to the end in the face of hatred, used their courage, will and blood without regrets to consume the 300 jets of the fascist Southern Army Group Air Fleet to the lower limit of combat.

You know, the number of planes concentrated by the Soviet army on this battlefield is exactly twice as many as that of the German devils on the opposite side!

The so-called air battle, to put it bluntly, is it not just a confrontation with the enemy? As long as the German jet fighters can no longer act recklessly, the Soviet air force with an absolute advantage in strength will not be afraid of anyone!

After securing air supremacy, it will be the turn for large-scale heavy artillery clusters and Il-2 attack aircraft regiments to unleash their firepower!

The scattered bullet holes, the roar of the earth cracking and the sky collapsing, the rolling flames, and the smoke covering the sky and the sun are the Soviet motherland's expectations for victory. After the artillery and ploughing, the overwhelming army will sweep across thousands of miles with red flags, and with blazing flames and rolling iron torrents, completely destroy and crush the remains of the fascist evil that once committed crimes on this land.

Just a few kilometers away at the Soviet position, preparations for the attack were in full swing, with the final step being taken.

The soldiers, who were treading mud and water in the trenches, enduring insects and with scruffy beards, but only with shining medals, had already packed their bags for the expedition, filled with ammunition for the attack. They had assembled under the leadership of their officers and were only waiting for the arrival of the tank troops with whom they would advance, so that they could be ready to attack at any time.

Some were young, some were old, but all were smoke-covered soldiers wearing helmets and carrying weapons. They ate black bread while looking at the blazing flames on the opposite German position with happy smiles on their faces.

Judgment may be late, but it will never be absent!

On the road of the second-line position, there was a temporary road that the engineering corps had just built for the main force in the rear to follow the front-line troops. Behind the engineers who were still standing by the material piles with their hoes and wiping their sweat after completing their tasks, ready to fight against air raids and repair the road at any time, groups of anti-aircraft guns, under the cover of anti-aircraft machine guns, were scattered around the road in groups of three or five.

Although they now had air superiority, everyone knew that the Germans would never accept defeat. Both the engineers and the anti-aircraft guns were on high alert, guarding against the German Air Force's dying struggle.

"Engineer Company, Engineer Company? This is the army command post. The army commander wants me to confirm again whether the approach road (for the main assault force to reach the starting position from the hidden area in the rear) is OK? Especially the anti-aircraft artillery cover..."

"No problem, don't worry! The reinforced anti-aircraft artillery battalion is already in place."

"Very good. Remember to strengthen cooperation with the comrades in the Air Force, cover the comrades in the sky, and ensure the smooth entry of the follow-up troops!"

"Yes! Promise to complete the mission!"

The metallic rhythm of the tracks, accompanied by the rumbling diesel engine with its light blue and black smoke, came from the small woods and villages hidden in the back. At the same time, with the whistle of the traffic commander, the engineers and anti-aircraft guns on both sides of the road, and even the soldiers in the trenches, all turned their heads and looked at the long queue of tigers and rhinos coming slowly out of the cage.

"Comrades, our tanks are coming!"

"Continue to strengthen our vigilance to prevent the German aircraft from making desperate moves!"