"Nope! We can't retreat! The captain recovered from his dizziness, wiped a handful of blood from his face, gritted his teeth, and said, "Our carrier-based aircraft group has not yet arrived, and every time there is one less warship in the fleet at this time, our mission will be more dangerous!" ”

"However, our water situation is very serious, due to the strong left tilt of the ship's hull, the main guns of the whole ship can no longer be pointed horizontally at the target, staying here is no different from sending them to death!" The adjutant said anxiously. x updates are the fastest

The captain sat back in the command seat, thought for a while, and made up his mind: "You go down and arrange for the soldiers to open the sea valve on the right side of the hull, so that the right side will also enter the water, and turn the hull back to the level!" ”

The adjutant was taken aback when he heard this, he knew very well the consequences of doing so.

Injecting the same amount of water into the right side according to the captain's opening of the right side of the sea valve can indeed bring the warship back to the level with a serious left leaning, but it will also make the warship that is already severely slowed down by the water ingress worse, and in such a fierce battle, the consequences of a serious decrease in maneuverability are probably needless to say.

In other words, the captain's order would restore the Rune-class heavy cruiser to combat effectiveness, but it would also give them no hope of survival.

"Captain......" the adjutant said with trembling lips.

"Execute the order!" The captain commanded solemnly.

"Yes!" The adjutant saluted, agreed with tears in his eyes, and then turned away from the bridge, and walked without looking back to the cabin where the sea valve was.

A few minutes later, the massive Lune-class heavy cruiser gradually shifted from a left-leaning state back to normal level as water entered the right side, but it had managed to return to a speed of 22 knots and was now down to 15 knots.

"Target British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, fire freely!"

After the warship adjusted back to level, the 12 203mm guns, which had been silent for a while, began to breathe the flames of revenge into the British fleet again.

While the heavy cruiser was battling stubbornly, the British fleet also noticed the serious wound and turned the other heavy cruisers, whose muzzles were never or only lightly wounded, to the battleship, which had been badly flooded.

Unfortunately, this time Lady Luck was on the side of Germany, and none of the shells fired by the British battleship formation hit, and even the straddle shots were rare, and the shells of the British heavy cruisers, which were relatively close, always hit some inconsequential places, and they were unable to sink the seriously wounded German heavy cruisers.

Charles stood by the porthole of the bridge of the battleship Nelson with binoculars in his hand, frowning as his shells landed one after another on the slow-moving German heavy cruiser, constantly splashing the cold sea water on the heavy cruiser.

"What? Is our warship bathing that German heavy cruiser? Charles lowered his binoculars and taunted the adjutant beside him, "Or are the soldiers going to use the sea to cold that heavy patrol to death?" ”

Listening to Charles's taunt, the adjutant began to panic.

Charles is an old aristocrat, the most important thing is gentlemanly demeanor, usually even if he teaches subordinates who make mistakes, he is gentle and never scolds, so he can make such a gentleman can't help but laugh, which is enough to show how angry he is in his heart now.

"Your Excellency, I think our soldiers have done their best." The adjutant wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "I should have been God's arrangement, after all, there are so many ships."

It's too weird that the ship can't sink one of them......"

"Ugh." Charles thought for a moment and sighed, "We've been entangled with their heavy cruiser formation for too long!" Dude, it's been too long! We had to change our plans, and as soon as we sank the heavy cruiser, we would have to get out of the way and go in search of the main German fleet for a decisive battle! ”

"Understood!" Adjutant's head, "Just as the second wave of attacks on the Fury and the Ark Royal is about to arrive, let's retreat when this wave is over." ”

After Charles decided to withdraw from the entanglement of the German heavy patrol formation, the second wave of attack by the British aircraft carriers arrived on the battlefield.

The fleet of this wave is not as large as the first wave, only 28 aircraft, after all, the total number of aircraft carried by the Fury and the Ark Royal is only 98, and after the first wave has taken off, there are not many planes left.

These 28 carrier-based aircraft obviously could not freely search for targets for attack as in the first wave, because their numbers were too small, and in the face of the strong air defense capability of the German heavy cruisers, they could only concentrate and pick the weakest attack.

After the group circled in the air, it set its sights on the poor Rune-class heavy cruiser.

There is no way, three-quarters of the planes in the previous wave were lost, and it is reasonable for them to find the old, weak, sick and disabled in the second wave.

Once the target was determined, the group circled in the air for a moment, and then pounced on the poor heavy patrol from all directions, like a flock of vultures staring at its dying prey.

"The Earl of Spee! The British's plane went towards the Earl of Spee! "It's over! God can't save the Count Spee this time! The sailors of the other heavy cruisers said sadly as they watched the swarm in the sky pounce on the wounded Count Spee.

"Langsdorf! I command you to abandon your ship at once! Bastian looked at the vulture in the sky and ordered Captain Langsdorf of the heavy cruiser Count Spee with the radio microphone.

"Nope! Forgive me, Mr. Commander, for not being able to carry out your orders. "We're going to sink the Exeter in a hurry, and it's too late to evacuate." ”

"Retreat! Langsdorf, you give me a retreat! Bastian yelled regardless of his image, "What if the shit Exeter lets it go?" Your lives are much more precious than their gold! ”

"I'm sorry, General Bastian." Langsdorf was resolute, "It is the dream of every German sailor to accompany the battleship on its last journey!" Of course, if I could, I would like to ask the surrounding warships to provide us with anti-aircraft fire cover to help us buy us time to sink the Exeter. ”

Bastian was silent when he heard this, but the situation was too critical for him to think about it, so he had to agree: "Well, Colonel Langsdorf, the warships around you will come closer to you to give you anti-aircraft fire support." ”

"Thank you, sir." Langsdorf smiled, and then shouted with all his might, "My glory is loyalty!" ”

"The warships near the Count Spee immediately approached the Count Spee, provided them with anti-aircraft fire support, and were ready to save the sailors who had fallen into the water!"

With Bastian's order, the two cruisers closest to the Earl of Spee opened full anti-aircraft fire, and approached the Earl Spee with all their might, despite the British naval gunfire.

...