The intervention of surface ships in the English Channel made the battlefield situation more complicated in an instant, and the whole was out of order in the face of the double attack from the surface and underwater, leaving only the British battleship to defend the honor of the British Royal Navy with its 15-inch guns, but for the shells, it had to change course frequently, and finally exposed the entire side (.2.) Gave the German-178 submarine lurking underwater.

"Fang 011, distance 2250, boat ** ready...... No. 1 shot! No. 2 shot 4 shots! ”

The four ** galloped away, and Ruth, who had been in a tense state, breathed a sigh of relief, but whether the 4** could hit the target was not yet accurate, and he immediately gave another order: "All forward, turn left at 15 degrees, and the 5th and 6th ** are done."

At this moment, on the sea in the distance, two dark-painted warships, one large and one small, are methodically changing their course, sometimes rushing south, sometimes fast north, but what remains the same is the direction pointed by many naval guns - the British fleet that has been full of wolf smoke.

Bell ......

The alarm bell sounded before the salvo of naval guns, Zhang Kai and his assistants stood quietly at the best observation position on the "Gneisenau" with heavy armor protection, watching wave after wave of shells across a distance of tens of thousands of meters to ravage those helpless British merchant ships - it seemed pitiful, but it was they who transported tons of strategic materials to Britain to maintain the lifeblood of the country, so that the country's leaders had the confidence to continue the war, and indirectly prompted more young people to go to the battlefield. In the end, precious lives were lost in the fire.

"Target on fire!" This sentence popped out of several mouths almost at the same time, and Zhang Hainuo, who was standing in the front position, naturally saw the bright color on the sea in the distance for the first time, but the time gap made it easy for him to perceive that it might not be the damage caused by the salvo of his own warship just now, and the secret telegram from the naval headquarters clearly told him that there should be several submarines of his own side operating in the same area at this time!

For the next few seconds, no one spoke in the command room, but when another burst of almost as bright light jumped on the distant sea, finally someone couldn't help but shout: "Great! Hit the target again! ”

It is not possible to confirm whether the ship's artillery fire hit the British battleship continuously, but the fact that the enemy has not returned fire as previously proved that there was indeed a problem.

This was expected good news for the raid ship formation consisting of the "Gneisenau" and the "Admiral Hipper" - after calculation, the fleet command could almost certainly determine that the British support fleet would arrive around dawn at the earliest. In Zhang's normal expectations, the trip would only smash the Ramillis and sink a number of merchant ships. If the bad weather lasts for 24 hours, as the weather officer expected, the German fleet will calmly slip away after completing its mission, either refueling and continuing its activities in the Atlantic, or heading directly to the ports on the west coast of France, which has been occupied by the Germans. Either way, it would pose a great threat to Britain's sea lines – not to forget that the restoration of the Scharnhorst and the commissioning of the Bismarck would be completed in the second half of the year, and the German military port would also be anchored with a heavy aircraft carrier with good combat effectiveness. Zeppelin".

Even if the "Ramillis" managed to hold its ground. Most of the cargo ships in this British fleet survived, and it was foreseeable that the British would use this as a lesson to organize the escort of battleships to and from North America and England. Considering that this would further aggravate the already heavy burden on the British Navy, Zhang Kai and his fleet had already achieved the goal of attacking the Atlantic Ocean and disrupting the opponent's deployment. When the British thought that they had successfully implemented the system of escorting ships with battleships as escort ships, the "Bismarck", which was put into service and formed combat effectiveness, would deal a fatal blow to them.

"It seems that God has taken care of us!" Schubert was gearing up for a big fight, and at this time, the ship's nine 11-inch guns were still firing at their opponents in a very handsome posture.

"The omnipotent God always looks out for one side or the other. But we'd better not jump to conclusions! Albrecht looked left and right, and then said in his usual calm tone: "Gentlemen, there are not many cases of equipment breaking down in battle, but then repairing. I suggest that we concentrate our efforts on the British battleship, try to sink it completely, and leave the British cargo ships that are not protected by warships to our submarines! ”

Some people very much agree with the captain's cautious view**, while others disagree with his "generosity", of course, this decision is final

It is given by the supreme commander here, who is the commander of the fleet.

In the history of World War II, the German Navy suffered great losses when it was too aggressive or too conservative, and Zhang Kai still remembers this vividly, so he has always tried to avoid making the same mistakes. After careful consideration, he ordered: "Give Colonel Roken an order to divert fire to attack British merchant ships!" ”

This order meant that the "Gneisenau" would continue to bombard British battleships 18,000 yards away with naval guns. After the daytime artillery battle, the main gun ammunition of the "Gneisenau" and the "Admiral Hippel" has been consumed, but because the daytime fire is mostly lethal high-explosive**, their ammunition compartment still has a considerable amount of *** available at this time, according to theoretical calculations, these shells are enough to send two convoys of this size to the bottom of the sea, including the escort revenge-class battleships and other auxiliary ships.

The rumbling of the cannon came one after another, and all the personnel on the "Gneisenau" who were involved in the main gun shooting, from the shooting commander, the herald to the gunner, were all in high spirits to see off the enemy through practical actions.

With a single smoke, nine 11-inch naval guns fired several more salves at the fastest speed, and the heavyweight explosions triggered by the shells hitting the steel hull were constantly transformed into fireballs that lit up the night sky, and reports from the radar control room and the shooting observation room also proved that the target navigation had slowed down considerably, and the frequent turning evasion that had been done before was no longer there. The German officers on board were very excited about such a report, and their optimism spread rapidly, as if they had seen the sinking of the "Ramillis" with their own eyes.

However, at 5 and 10 minutes, until a quarter of an hour later, the radar room and the observation room reported that the target was still moving slowly, and the red glow of the sporadic artillery fire on the battleship could be seen by visual inspection. The 11-inch naval guns on the "Gneisenau" still fired at the British battleship at an angle of two times per minute, and with the calibration of the firing and the slowing down of the opponent's navigation, basically every salvo had shells hit the opponent, and the fire generated after the explosion continued to rise and extinguish.

After the costly battle, the scene of the Scharnhorst-class sister ships attacking together may not be seen for a long time to come, and even if the two ships are combined again, the "Scharnhorst" has already replaced the successful twin 15-inch naval guns back from >; 11-inch guns, although they have a precedent for penetrating the armor of Nelson-class battleships, they will not have too many opportunities to attack the opponent's weak point after all! In other words, although the armor of the "Ramillis" is not very strong, if it wants to penetrate it and cause fatal damage to the hull structure, the distance of about 10,000 is still a bit far for the "Gneisenau", which uses 280-meter naval guns.

Everyone was still waiting for Zhang Hainuo to make a decision, but at this moment, an urgent report came from the radar room: an unknown ship broke away from the fleet and rushed here!

It is not known whether the "Admiral Hipper" has adjusted its muzzle to attack the ship, but Zhang Hainuo did not dare to slack off, and he issued two orders one after another: "The 'Gneisenau' attacks the target ship with secondary guns, and the 'Admiral Hippel' intercepts with its main guns!" ”

It is conceivable that soon after this order was given, shells of various calibers rained down on the courageous British ship - the heavy night and poor sea conditions could not prevent the German fleet from using fire control radar technology to carry out accurate shelling, and the closer the distance, the higher this accuracy became, and less than 5 minutes later, a fireball rose from the sea that flickered and darkened due to the constant explosion of shells, and by this light that was not particularly strong, For the first time, the lookouts in the German fleet identified each other: an amateur combat ship that did not look much different from a fast transport ship!

At a distance of 12,000 yards, despite being shot and catching fire, the British ship was still approaching the national fleet, and the British sailors gained the respect of their opponents with their courage, but the war was cruel after all, and its limited guns were not enough to reach the German battleship, and a powerful 20 mm shell mercilessly sank it!

"At the end of the battle, we may be able to save the brave ones!" Albrecht's proposal is quite chivalrous, but Zhang Kai's vision is more practical:

"Turn 15 degrees to the left to close the distance with the British fleet, the Gneisenau continues the British battleship, allowing the Admiral Hipper to freely search for targets, and the whole fleet will leave the battlefield in 1 hour!"

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