The bulkheads twisted and shattered, the steel rolled hideously, and the raging sea water poured in from the breaches, washing everything in the air, including fuel, into scattered places. In the pitch-black cabin below, the light of a dazzling flashlight constantly flashed back and forth; Hundreds of German soldiers stood in the stagnant water, at varying heights, in a fierce struggle against the oncoming rolling waves.

20 minutes ago, the right bow of the Blucher was suddenly hit by a torpedo, and the huge explosion force of more than 320kg of high-energy explosives tore a huge 11×6-meter crack in the 11-millimeter-thick hull steel plate in an instant. Due to the fact that this area is located outside the core compartment and there is no TDS mine armor, almost all of the energy of the torpedo explosion is released on the hull in front of it, causing extremely deep and terrifying damage. If a salted fish with its own night vision function appeared near the previous British torpedo explosion, you can see an internal scene similar to the crash of a starship: the shocking twist-shaped steel and a mess of broken debris clearly show how serious the damage to this battleship is!

However, Captain Votago was not deterred by this. Although the torpedo explodes at the bow of the ship, it will cause much higher impact damage than in the amidships, but because the bow is a narrow structure that converges towards the centerline, its own volume is far inferior to the amidships, so its total water intake will not directly present a catastrophic situation. As for burying the bow, it was not fatal for the Blücher as an aircraft carrier: after adopting a closed bow, her bow freeboard was 11 meters high, and the slight angle of the bow did not affect the navigation at all.

Under the centralized dispatch of Votago, the damage management force on the ship immediately launched an all-out remedy for this injury. The electricity generated by the generators is prioritized for the operation of the pumps, and the tendency of seawater to spread has been slowed down. The team members with wooden stoppers and plugging pads rushed forward and tried their best to plug the leaks that were surging wildly. However, due to the different sizes of the breaking points, the bulkhead rolls in different directions inside and out. As well as many factors such as the strength of water pressure, the whole process of plugging and rescuing is still full of twists and turns. The situation in some compartments has improved, while water ingress in others has continued to increase. The most important of these is that Chamber 134 will soon be abandoned due to the failure of plugging the leak. As soon as this door to the amidships of the hull is opened, seawater will pour into a large empty space on the inside of the starboard tank, and the water intake of the aircraft carrier will be extremely unfavorable!

"Second Lieutenant Schmidt, we really can't stop this big breach, please give up this cabin!" In the chest-deep waters of Cabin 134, a soldier with his hands on a pitiful wooden mat said hoarsely to the sturdy officer beside him. In front of them. A huge hole nearly 3 meters long and more than 1 meter high is pouring into the cabin with the thrilling spirit of a whale spraying water, drenching all the dozen or so team members. Even if the hoses of the six pumps were mobilized here, it could not stop the water level in the cabin from rising further. In less than ten minutes, the water will be flooding their jaws; After that, the sea water will flow down the staircase and over the passage above, eventually pouring into the vast middle of the hull.

"Wait, our mat should be finished." Against the surging waves of water, the sturdy officer, who was so drenched that he couldn't open his eyes, shouted loudly. In his hands, it was also just an ordinary wooden mat. It's okay to deal with simple small holes, but it's almost useless to deal with such huge holes. For this terrifying hole in the steel blade rolled inward, even the largest plugging plate could not cover it, and the sturdy officer had to order the three waterproof mats to be woven temporarily. Combine into a large net to fasten over this hole.

The water was surging like the Milky Way, and in a few minutes of long torment, the water level in the cabin had risen from the chest to the shoulders of the officers. The able-bodied officer gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to give the order to retreat, at this moment, the sound of several heavy objects falling into the water suddenly sounded behind him. Followed by. He heard the news he had been waiting for for a long time amid the roars and cheers of his subordinates: "Waterproof mat, waterproof mat has arrived!" ”

The sturdy officer's body shook suddenly, and he tried his best to open his eyes and look behind in the waves of water rolling in his pocket, only to see two members of the damage management team struggling to move forward with a special canvas that was flat at the top and down and reinforced by a steel rope in the middle, and each step required great strength. Seeing this, the sturdy officer immediately made a decision and shouted: "The whole team has come to fix the waterproof seats, this is our last chance to complete our mission!" ”

With the order of the sturdy officer, more than a dozen soldiers who were struggling to resist the inflow of sea water with wooden mats fell into unison. In an instant, the raging waves hit like a flood that had lost its limits, scattering the pads, and the water level in the cabin rose to everyone's jaws in a few breaths. And at this moment, the sturdy officer roared with a hideous face, and pushed the waterproof mat towards the breach with all his strength; The surrounding sailors also let out a brave roar, defending their honor as soldiers with practical actions!

"Bang!" The specially made huge waterproof mat was finally buckled in front of the hole. In an instant, the amount of water flowing into the chamber plummeted, and it was only sprayed at high pressure from the edge of the mat in the form of a water gun. The members of the damage management team, led by the sturdy officers, only felt as if a mountain was pressing on them from in front of the waterproof mat, and in a moment their muscles and bones were sore, and it was difficult to support. The sturdy officer gritted his teeth and spoke in a slightly hoarse, but rock-solid voice: "For the Führer, for the sake of Germany, let us hold on!" ”

"For the Führer!" The sailors' hearts burned with a fierce flame, and they responded like thunder.

Thanks to the stubborn persistence of the German soldiers, the water ingress in Chamber No. 134 was soon radically improved. Due to the greatly reduced amount of water inflow, the overall height of the water in the chamber soon began to decline at a rate that the sailors could see in the frenzied pumping of the pumps. The damage management commander was overjoyed to notice this, and he hurriedly brought in another team of damage management soldiers from elsewhere, completely fixed the waterproof mat with wooden stakes, and put the final stops on the edges where the water was still leaking. Half an hour later, the water in the cabin was finally drained completely. The leak on the edge of the mat was also temporarily treated, and although there was still seawater spurting out, the total amount of it could be easily removed even with a wooden barrel.

"The flooding of this ship has been controlled. At present, the bow of the ship has 1,500 tons of water, and the stern has a balanced water intake of 300 tons, with a head tilt of 4 degrees, and the speed can be maintained at 17 knots. "At 5 a.m., the Blucher, after continuous emergency repairs, finally sent an encouraging signal. On the premise of ensuring that the hull does not leak further, the warship has returned to the bottom line of speed during normal navigation. However, this time, Bome no longer meant to put the warship in danger, and he decided to let the fleet return to the ship, and use all his strength to protect the damaged ship from returning to the German mainland safely.

"Your Excellency, should we consider dedicating a part of our forces to destroy the two British fleets mentioned in the intelligence?" Hearing Bomay's decision, Hoffman couldn't help but make a suggestion. If we put aside the unfavorable factor of the damage to the Blücher, the current situation of the German fleet can be called completely good: there are enough aviation fuel and ammunition, the morale of the officers and men is strong, and as long as they can get sufficient supplies, even hunting in the ocean for half a year is not a problem. However, now, the own fleet is taking the initiative to withdraw from this already lively chess game, even if it is to protect the ship, the price is too high. You know, even from August 21, when the fleet departed, the German fleet was only on the sea for a month!

Bo Mei showed a struggling look on his face, as if there was still a trace of unwilling ambition, but after a few breaths, he finally shook his head slowly and said, "Hoffman, the location and number of our enemies cannot be determined now. For the sake of the safety of the fleet, I can't afford to take any more risks at this time. Bo Mei paused, and then said: "The order, each escort warship only needs to increase the oil depot to three-quarters to ensure the margin for return and battle." The Blucher is back in action, and the sooner we get out of here, the better. ”

"General, we have just received an extremely long encrypted telegram, and we can tell that it is from the British mainland!" A communications officer appeared at the door of the navigation command room and reported to Bomay in the cabin. Bo Mei nodded slightly, indicating that he had learned the news. He looked at his subordinate colleagues in front of him, and said with a solemn expression: "Everyone, the British have already launched an operation. I hope that you will all be worthy of your oath to join the army, and that you will face the battle with the courage and wisdom of Skagerrak (Jutland). ”

"Yes!" Fang Yan responded awe-inspiring with everyone, his clear and magnetic voice was particularly clear in the majestic waves. Compared with the nervousness or heaviness of the colleagues around him, Fang Yan had a faint sense of expectation in his heart. Of course, this was a heavy blow to a valuable German aircraft carrier, and the entire fleet was put in the disadvantage of being lit up on all sides, but from another point of view, it was not an opportunity to lure the snake out of the hole and annihilate the main force of the British fleet on the sea? As long as the weather does not joke with Germany, then with the power of carrier-based aircraft, the German fleet can completely achieve counter-killing, and annihilate a large number of British warships that came to encircle and intercept in this ocean! (To be continued.) )