Bismarck

"They are now in evasive maneuvers. The distance is increasing, but very slowly. I think they will catch up soon."

"Keep it up, keep bombarding, it would be great if it could give up chasing you!"

"I understand."

Bismarck nodded, and three shells were loaded again, this time special shells were used.

The penetration is not enough, but it is enough to deal with medium armored targets...

"Damn it, didn't they say that the Bismarck could only travel at a speed of 27 knots?!" Captain Horst tightly grasped the telescope, looking at the small black shadow on the horizon. That was the Bismarck, their ultimate goal of this trip.

Coming from the northeast were three London-class cruisers, each equipped with eight 8-caliber naval guns and eight torpedoes, rushing over from Norway at a full speed of 203 knots. According to intelligence, the Bismarck's speed had dropped to 8 knots, and with a speed difference of five nautical miles per hour, it would not take much time to catch up with her. But after a period of contact, Horst soon discovered that Bismarck's speed was not the so-called 32 knots at all, but at least 27 knots!

This was no longer a matter of doubling the time to catch up. What worried him more was whether the encirclement could still be formed?

There was a sudden flash of light in the distance; it was—artillery fire!

"Damn it! Full rudder!"

Horst and his men were well aware of the Bismarck's battle record and had heard a lot about her extremely accurate gunnery. Therefore, even at a distance of 25000 yards, Horst still did not dare to take the risk.

Although the Bismarck had only three guns, if it was hit by a 380-caliber shell, the cruiser would definitely suffer serious damage.

With a full turn of the rudder, the cruiser drew a twisted trajectory. Then Horst watched three shells fly over his head, creating streams of water on the sea not far away.

"We can't go on like this, communications officer! Tell Commander Tovey!"

"Yes!"

"Tell him that the Bismarck's speed is already 30 knots, and it is very difficult for us to approach. Should we continue the encirclement operation?"

"Yes!"

When Tovey, who was far away near Iceland, received this information, one can imagine the shock he felt. After experiencing such a great trauma, Bismarck could still sail at a speed of 30 knots. If she ran back to her hometown, she would be able to recover her combat effectiveness in at most half a year, which would be a huge threat to the entire Royal Navy.

As long as she doesn't sink, no matter how much damage she suffers, it will only be superficial. Tovey and even the entire British government will not allow the murderer to remain at large after paying such a huge price!

"Tell Horst to sink her no matter what! Remember, at all costs!" he said gritting his teeth.

"Yes!"

Horst on the other side quickly received the order. He had a blank expression on his face, and he had a premonition in his heart. The dignity of the Royal Navy was there. Bismarck swept across the Atlantic Ocean like a no-man's land. If she was allowed to go back like this, the Empire would lose face!

Horst sighed and clenched his fists. Things had come to this point and it was no longer up to him.

"Full speed ahead!"

Another flash of fire passed in the distance, and the Bismarck opened fire.

"Left rudder!" Horst ordered.

He originally thought that the shells would dodge like the previous ones, but he never expected that the shells, which were supposed to fall in a parabola, would turn in the air. Although the angle was not very large, it did turn. They drew several strange golden lines and rushed straight towards him.

"Damn it! Full rudder!" By the time Horst realized the situation, it was too late. Before he could finish his words, the armor-piercing shells had already hit the ship's hull solidly.

There was a sudden shock, and the entire bridge was immediately covered by thick smoke.

"Damage control! Damage control! What's the situation?"

"Captain, the engine room has been hit!"

One shot hit the front turret, one shot hit the bottom of the bridge, and one shot hit the engine room, which directly deprived the cruiser of its combat effectiveness.

"Huh——" Bismarck let out a light breath and touched the beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Hit the target, next one!"

PS: These are not battleships, they are all cruisers... You know, less than 7 kilometers, there is no threat to Bismarck. Tickets~

Chapter 122:

In fact, even if the cruisers have the advantage of speed, it is difficult to form an encirclement. Even if they do, whether they can pose a threat to the Bismarck is a question worth considering.

The cruisers' small water pipes could at most cause a little damage to Bismarck's already dilapidated superstructure, unless they approached within seven kilometers and attacked with torpedoes - however, at a distance of seven kilometers, even if Bismarck only had three guns left, a single salvo could cause huge damage to them.

In a sense, it is difficult to stop Bismarck with just these London-class ships.

After using special artillery shells, Bismarck destroyed one London-class ship in an instant, and then immediately turned its attention to the two behind it.

After seeing their wingman being hit accurately at such a long distance, the other two abandoned their remaining hope and immediately performed crazy maneuvers to evade.

However, this evasion is less effective against guided shells that are close to the target.

Three more shells were fired, continuing to draw strange trajectories in the air.

"boom--"

After a burst of fire, a London-class ship behind was hit by another shell. The armor-piercing shell pierced its bow waterline, and after exploding below the waterline, it almost destroyed its bow. The seawater rushed in frantically, reducing its speed in an instant.

"Well done!" Lütjens patted the shoulder of the person next to him gently, and he saw beads of sweat oozing out of Bismarck's forehead.

"There are no special shells." Bismarck shook his head regretfully. The last three shells were fired just now, but only one hit the target.

"That's enough. They don't dare to chase us anymore." Lütjens said with a smile. After the two London-class ships were severely damaged in a short period of time, the last one would not have the courage to face the Bismarck's artillery fire.

Bismarck smiled and nodded, indicating that she agreed with her captain's words. She used all her mental energy to severely damage two London-class ships in two minutes, just to give the other party a psychological shock. Don't think that you have no power to fight back. You still have to think twice before relying on a few cruisers to stop you.

This was indeed the case. The intercepting fleet in the northeast began to follow Bismarck at a synchronized speed behind the only remaining ship and did not dare to get close.

The encirclement and the like are only in name only.

Although the British warships in the distance were accompanied by "escorts" and did not dare to approach, the crew of the Bismarck still did not dare to relax, and the few remaining guns were all aimed at them, and the two sides were still on the verge of a fight. Several times, some ships tried to get close to a distance of 20000 yards, but they were all shot away by Bismarck's intensive artillery fire.

In this stalemate, the sun gradually set, and the Bismarck had been in the North Sea for a long time.

"Very good, if we keep going like this, we will soon be within the control range of the Air Force." Looking at the sea chart, Lütjens smiled with relief and said to the gunners and Lindemann around him, "Bontay should be here soon."

"This time at sea can only be described as a narrow escape from death." Lindeman said with a wry smile. Thinking back on the more than one month's experience at sea, he could only say that he was scared.

Of course, high risks will inevitably bring high returns, and such an impressive record will surely attract the attention of the world.

"Thanks to Bismarck." The gunner looked around and said quietly. Although they knew the truth, they were ordered by Lütjens to keep it secret.

"You guys are so mean. You didn't even tell me such an important thing, and I was left feeling complacent for a long time!" The gunner felt indignant when he thought of this. He had always believed that it was because of his good skills that the shells always hit the target so accurately, but in the end it turned out to have nothing to do with him at all. How depressed he was.

Bismarck listened at the side, and a row of black lines appeared on his forehead.

"If Lindemann hadn't let it slip..."

"Cough cough cough" Lindemann immediately interrupted the gunner's words with a cough, because he felt that Bismarck was looking at him with a half-smile in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it." He laughed.

The gunner glared at him unceremoniously, and the latter touched his nose innocently. Well, both sides are not human...

"Captain, there's a plane ahead!" Bismarck suddenly said after glancing around.

"Plane? Which direction is it coming from?!"

"From the North Sea, right in front of us, it looks like a ju88 bomber!"

Ju88, a twin-engine light bomber, has a speed of 450 kilometers per hour.

"One of our own?" Lindemann asked.

"Well, I guess so. We should be almost within the range of the Air Force now. I guess this plane is a patrol plane." Lütjens nodded.

"Don't worry about him, just keep going!"

"understand!"

The JU88 approached the Bismarck, circled around it, and then flew away from the sea, which made the sailors who had finally gotten excited feel disappointed. But this mood did not last for half an hour - because a group of planes appeared in the sky, all of them were JU88s of the German Air Force, and there were more and more of them.

Air Force planes are here to escort us!

"I guess it was under the order of the Führer," Lütjens said as he looked at the fleet approaching rapidly in the sky. The conflict between the air and sea made it almost impossible for the Air Force to take the initiative to escort the Navy. There was only one reason why they could do so - the Führer personally ordered it.

"The Führer values ​​you very much." Lindemann smiled at Bismarck, and then received a "disdainful" roll of the eyes from the latter.

When the ju88 fleet passed over Bismarck, it split into two groups. One group stopped and circled around Bismarck, while the other group continued to rush westward towards the British fleet. The bombs under the belly of the aircraft revealed a cold light.

Several British Swordfish planes immediately and bravely rushed forward, trying to stop the aggressive German planes. However, with a speed of only more than 200 kilometers per hour, the Swordfish's air combat performance could not compare with the JU88. After several rounds of fighting, it immediately turned into an object emitting black smoke and fell with a wail.

British cruisers and destroyers immediately began maneuvers and air defense...

As the bombers took turns attacking the British, the sky gradually darkened.

"It's already eleven o'clock." As the last ray of afterglow disappeared below the horizon, Lindemann looked at his watch and said.

"They're almost there."

As they spoke, a medium-sized fleet had already appeared on the horizon in front of Bismarck, and the two sides were approaching each other at full speed.

It was just because of the weather that the lookouts didn't discover them so early.

Of course, Bismarck soon found out who was coming, and then Lütjens and Lindemann also knew the news in advance.

"Bontai is really fast. I thought they would arrive after dark, but now they have arrived at sunset." Seeing that his people were not far ahead, Lindeman breathed a sigh of relief and was completely relieved.

At this relative speed of nearly 60 knots per hour, they will meet in half an hour at most.

When both sides came into visual range, there was a pause on the bridge. The tense atmosphere did not last for a minute before it was interrupted by the lookout's ecstatic voice.

"Yes, it's our fleet!!!" His voice was so excited, even with a little tremor, "The leader is Lutzow!!!"

"Wow!!!" As the lookout shouted, the bridge was immediately filled with cheers. All the sailors hugged each other and celebrated that they had survived such a difficult battle and were about to go home!

Lütjens smiled and walked to the center of the bridge and turned on the ship-wide broadcast.

"Brave sailors, I have good news for you. After going through so much hardship, our fleet is not far ahead. We will be home soon! When we return to Germany, you will be heroes. Cheer!"

Almost at the moment when Lütjens finished speaking, Bismarck's cabin and combat positions were almost overturned by the roaring sound, which showed the excitement of the sailors. Some people could not even bear the sudden ecstasy and cried together.

After the people below calmed down a little, Lütjens continued, "However, we are not completely out of the British attack range yet, so, everyone, cheer up, and I will give you a holiday when we return to the port!"

"General, the Bismarck has been spotted!" The lookout also shouted, and the bridge on Lutzow also entered a state of excitement.

The legendary Bismarck is just ahead!

"Let the destroyers go at full speed! Cover the Bismarck as quickly as possible!" Bonte first showed a relieved expression, and then said without thinking.

"understand!"

The lights on the Lützow flashed a few times, sending a signal, and soon the destroyers returned the order and increased their speed. Several destroyers broke through the formation, leaving Scheer and Lützow behind, and headed for the Bismarck at full speed.

Several destroyers quickly met their flagship at full speed.

"Beep--" At the same time, the petite and cute primary school students blew the whistle when passing by big sister Bismarck. This is not only a courtesy when meeting a flagship, but also represents their respect for their own flagship!

After the destroyer finished blowing the whistle, the whistle on the Bismarck also began to sound. This was a solemn return gift!

"Beep——" The melodious whistle echoed on the vast sea and did not fade away for a long time.

The destroyers soon crossed paths with the Bismarck and began to pull smoke. Thick smoke rose one nautical mile from the Bismarck...

Lützow and Scheer also quickly arrived, bypassed Bismarck and joined the fleet from behind, escorting her on both sides and giving up the position of flagship.

The light signals on both sides kept flashing, and the signalman on the Bismarck shed tears, because the signal lights on all the warships pointed to the same meaning.

"Welcome home, Bismarck!"

As everyone watched, Bismarck's signal light began to flash, one letter after another...

"Long Live Germany!"

ps: Okay, today's task is completed~ Come on, come on, ask for votes! Monthly votes and recommendation votes are all fine~ Of course, I don't mind rewards!

Chapter 123: Going Home

When Horst discovered that the Bismarck's speed exceeded 88 knots, it was already doomed that they could not form a circle around Bismarck. However, neither Tovey nor the British government were willing to give up, so the cruiser fleet kept trying to attack Bismarck. It was not until the Jus surrounded their own cruisers that the helpless British finally faced up to the failure of the battle against Bismarck.

The commander ordered all the warships to begin retreating. However, it was no longer as easy as they wanted to retreat now. They had to face some air strikes.

During the roaring return journey, another cruiser was sunk and several cruisers were hit by bombs. Needless to say, there was a lot of blood and tears involved.

However, since the Norwegian campaign began, the British surface fleet has suffered heavy losses, so adding one more cruiser is not a big problem...

In the British people's grief-stricken eyes, Bismarck left them with a handsome back view and then disappeared in the smoke.

"Finally... it's over." Bismarck looked at the warships that were escorting him all around and sighed with some emotion.

During the more than one month of sailing this time, I was fighting alone. I haven't seen such a scene for a long time.

An inexplicable sense of security rises from the bottom of my heart.