On the opposite side of the huge group of attack planes of the German army, the British sailors still did not change their faces, and the excellent personnel quality of the British Royal Navy was brought into full play at this moment.

And in the entire British fleet, the best performers were the sailors on the battleship Nelson.

The anti-aircraft fire of the battleship Nelson consisted of six MKXXII 152mm high-level dual-purpose guns, six single-unit Mark VIII 120mm high-level dual-purpose guns, six eight-pack 41-mm "Bang Bang" guns, and 61 20-mm "Erlikon" machine guns.

This large pile of guns looks full of deterrence at first glance, but in fact, due to the relatively slow pitching speed and horizontal rotation speed of the MKXXII high-level dual-purpose gun, and because of the use of separate ammunition, it must return to an elevation angle of 5 degrees when reloading, so it cannot shoot continuously, coupled with the problem of the bullet chain of the "Woo Yao" gun, Nelson's short-range air defense is all supported by the 61 20 mm "Ericon", so Nelson's pile of anti-aircraft guns is far inferior to the German battleships in terms of actual combat effectiveness.

Although the air defense capability of the battleship Nelson was insufficient, the sailors on the battleship Nelson relied on accurate gunnery and used not excellent anti-aircraft guns to shoot down several dive bombers in a row, coupled with the desperate cover of the surrounding light cruisers, so that most of the German dive bombers returned in vain, and only 3 of the more than 30 dive bombers successfully hit the target.

But the damage caused by these three dive bombers to the Nelson should not be underestimated, after all, the German dive bombers carried 1,100 pounds of aerial bombs, and the explosion was amazing.

These three 1,100-pound bombs directly reimbursed the Nelson for one MKXXII high-level dual-purpose gun, three "Woo Woo" and 17 "Ericon" anti-aircraft guns, making the Nelson's already insufficient anti-aircraft firepower even worse.

In this round of German dive bombardment, the damage to the Nelson was relatively minor, and the most serious damage was the battleship Revenge and the battleship Royal Oak, the latter was hit by six 1,100-pound bombs, causing the No. 1 turret to die at a 0-degree angle, most of the anti-aircraft guns were destroyed, and the superstructure was set on fire in five places.

The former was hit by five 1,100-pound aerial bombs, one of which blew up a secondary gun and detonated the ammunition that had piled up next to the secondary gun, leaving a huge gap in the port deck of the Revenge.

The group of dive bombers that had dropped their bombs regained altitude, and the officer in charge of directing the dive bombers reported to the field commander of the operation: "Sir, the group of dive bombers has completed its mission and requested to return." ”

"The request has passed." The commander said, "The group of torpedo attack aircraft is ready, the target is ......"

As he spoke, he looked at the battleship Nelson, whose anti-aircraft guns were still firing, sighed, and continued: "Target adjustment, set the main targets to the battleship Revenge and the battleship Royal Oak. ”

"What? Sir, aren't we attacking their flagship, the Nelson? The officer in charge of commanding the torpedo attack aircraft group listened to the commander's words and asked in surprise.

"There's no chance." The commander looked at the Nelson, which was surrounded and protected by layers of British light cruisers, and his face was full of regret, "The British light cruisers put on this posture, obviously intending to use their own ships to block the mines attacking Nelson. Forget it, let it go this time, and take out the badly damaged Revenge and Royal Oak first! ”

"Okay." The commander of the torpedo group was also full of regret, the name "Nelson" gave them great pressure in the weakest period of the German Navy, and this time they finally caught the "childhood shadow" of "Nelson", but because of the encirclement protection law of the British light cruiser, they were very unwilling.

Following the commander's order, the torpedo attack planes that were originally going to attack the Nelson turned their noses and attacked the heavily damaged Elizabeth and Royal Oak.

"Sir! The Germans are coming at us! On the bridge of the Royal Oak, the first mate watched in horror as the German torpedo planes that had been flying around the Nelson turned to him, and hurriedly reported to the captain who was directing the firefighting.

"How many more of our anti-aircraft guns can fire?" The captain asked.

"It's gone, Captain!" The first mate replied in frustration, "It's all burned!" ”

Listening to the words of the first mate, the captain was stunned, but quickly readjusted his state and said firmly: "If there is no anti-aircraft gun, then we will use guns!" Order all the soldiers except the damage control personnel to pick up their guns and assemble on the deck, and we will drive the Germans back with our guns! ”

"Understood!" The first mate said decisively, then returned to the bridge and transmitted the captain's order to all the soldiers through the ship's announcement.

Soon, the wide deck of the battleship Royal Oak was crowded with soldiers, who, in the light of the raging fire behind them, were led by the captain himself, and raised their rifles against the German torpedo group approaching at a low altitude close to the water.

The entire warship was commanded by the first mate from within the bridge.

"Left third rudder! Left third rudder! The first mate looked at the German aircraft group surrounding in all directions, and tried to direct the warship to dodge, obviously he did not intend to admit defeat easily.

The huge warship, under the command of the first mate, who has a lot of piloting experience, adjusted its course and dodged several torpedoes.

But a battleship is a battleship after all, and even if the first mate has a lot of experience, it can't improve its poor maneuverability.

So after the Germans repositioned the attack according to the dodge route of the Royal Oak and dropped a second round of torpedoes, the Royal Oak was still hit.

"Bang!" An aviation torpedo slammed into the port side of the Royal Oak, and the violent explosion caused a huge splash that swept more than a dozen soldiers on deck into the sea.

"Sir! The underwater armor on the port side was penetrated, and the four compartments of the B11-C2 were rapidly flooding! The officer in charge of checking the status of the warship quickly confirmed the damage and reported it to the first officer.

"Damage management! Are there any damage management teams around? Let them close the watertight door around the water intake compartment! The first mate was extremely calm at the moment, and asked the officer in charge of damage management.

"Sir, there is no damage management team around, I will immediately transfer the damage management team closest to the water ingress site!"

"Bang!" While the Royal Oak was struggling to repair, another torpedo hit the Royal Oak, still on the port side.

"Where? Where was it hit? The first mate was knocked to the ground by a violent explosion, and he asked as he struggled to get up.

“c7-c9！” The officer in charge of the state of the warship once again showed his high efficiency, "The water is rushing to the D-section compartment!" ”

When the first mate heard this, he immediately turned his head to the damage management officer and asked, "How is it?" Do you have a solution? ”

"No way." The damage management officer smiled bitterly, "Sir, most of the damage management teams are fighting fires on the deck, and the damage management team in B11-C2 is the last damage management team in Section B and C. ”