"Speed up! Hans! Where are you taking your people? ”

"Charge No. 1! Come on, boys! ”

"Hard, don't act like a. Hey, push the forklift over. My God! Look what you've done! Idiot! ”

While Captain Siegfried stood on the lookout and lazed with emotion, the bow ammunition depot of the German battleship Scharnhorst was in full swing.

The main ammunition depot, located in the forward bilge of the battleship, was tasked with supplying ammunition to six 280mm guns in the first two main turrets of the Scharnhorst.

Although this laborious work was largely semi-automated, the work of loading the heavy charges and shells onto the lifting and loading machinery was still done by manpower, and it alone was enough to make the dozens of strong sailors sweat.

At the bottom of the ammunition depot is the charge compartment, where all the main gun charges of the two former main turrets are housed.

These propellants are related to the survival of the entire warship, and it is no longer known in history how many powerful warships that once crisscrossed the seas were killed by the fact that the propellant depot was hit, so modern warships generally place it in the bilge, which is relatively safer and has the most reliable protection.

Tightly wrapped in layers of silk, cylindrical packets filled with dozens of kilograms of high propellant were neatly stacked around the storeroom, and dozens of able-bodied sailors were methodically pushing the packets into the hanging rails of the two loafers under the command of a sergeant major.

Each boom can hold three packs, which can be used to fire a cannon. Although the powerful ventilation system kept pumping the ammunition depot with fresh, cooled air, the sailors were still sweating, not from exertion but from excitement.

"Hurry up, we need twelve more packs, boys. This is not a drill. Use all your strength. Let those guys above teach us a hard lesson to the British. ”

The sergeant major, who was in his forties, roared hoarsely at the sailors.

Now his heart was boiling with the same blood as his men, and although he felt a little sorry that he could not shoot cannonballs at the Brits, it was the lifelong dream of all German naval officers and men to be able to participate in such a real naval battle, and now that the dream was about to come true, how could this old sailor not be so excited.

Of course, the thought of the rich rewards he could receive after winning made him feel more empowered.

His young subordinates clearly did not yet understand the dreams of an old navy, and seemed more interested in the promises made by the Führer.

But in any case, these sailors did enter a state that satisfied the sergeant major very much, and showed extraordinary strength.

Watching them get the job done at twice the speed of their usual training, the sergeant major didn't bother to bother to scratch his head about whether the original motives of these guys were in line with the honor of the German Navy.

On the top floor of the charge magazine is a shell magazine, and like the scene in the charge magazine, dozens of strong guys are struggling to move waist-high 280 mm shells to the loafers under the command of the officer.

And the atmosphere here is more enthusiastic than in the charge depot, which may have something to do with the fact that the ammunition depot commander was more explicit than the sergeant major below.

"Speed up, boys! Show the spirit of a German naval soldier. The British's big bills are floating in the sea outside, and I want to add a lot of energy. Think about the faces of your family members when they see a lot of money piled up in front of them. You can buy a herd of fat cows on your farm, you can throw the prettiest girl from your hometown into your arms, you can buy the prettiest fashion in Paris for your wife.

In short, your messy dreams are possible, and now it's up to you to fight for them. Don't let our great Führer down, boys! The great Führer generously put these into our hands not to see us fail.

Now is also the time for us to show our strength to the Army, to show the guys in the bathtub in life jackets, that we are the best soldiers in Germany. ”

"Understood, sir!"

"I'm going to buy new brushes."

"You can buy as much as you want, and I'll accompany you to buy a dozen brushes when the time comes."

"Haha, I can go marry Shana!"

"Go on a dream, Shana is mine!"

"Is there still a medal, sir, my father has always wanted me to get it."

"Of course there are medals, but it's up to you to behave, boy."

The commander's incitement received the most enthusiastic response from the sailors, who, shouting excitedly, quickly and carefully loaded one shell after another onto the shell rails of the cranes.

"Captain, the data has been reported."

The second mate shouted to Siegfried at the bridge gate.

"Very well, Major Hanno."

Siegfried turned and walked into the bridge.

"The target data is determined, what about the gun commander?"

Siegfried asked, standing in front of the chart full of parameters.

"All artillery is ready for battle, he is waiting for your order. Captain. ”

The second officer replied loudly from behind Siegfried.

"Okay, start aiming at the target area according to the parameters given by the flagship, and wait for the final order."

"Yes, Captain."

With a crisp chime, the huge turret of Scharnhorst began to slowly turn towards the starboard side of the battleship, and the barrel of the stout 280mm main gun began to slowly rise upward.

"Get ready to fight! All commanders went into combat positions. ”

The first mate stood by the wall and shouted orders with a phone.

"Three minutes left, Captain."

The first mate put down the phone and walked behind Siegfried and whispered.

"Hmm."

Siegfried raised his hand and looked at his watch.

"The commander gave us the honor of firing the first cannon of this battle, and now the whole fleet is watching the Scharnhorst, so there must be no mistakes."

"Understood, sir. Everyone knows this, so don't worry. ”

"Good."

Siegfried looked out of the porthole of the bridge to the rear of the battleship, and now the entire fleet was lined up in a column along the course on the right side of the strait.

The Scharnhorst was in first place, followed by the Gnesenau, followed by the Admiral Scheer, and the Prince Eugen anchored outside the protruding formation behind the Scheer side. Admiral Hippel was at the end of the line with four light cruisers. The destroyer fleet also formed a separate column and waited on the right side of the home team.

"One minute left, sir."

The first mate shouted loudly, and the atmosphere in the bridge suddenly became tense with the first mate's shout, and everyone turned their eyes to the captain, and a feeling of depression permeated the entire battle bridge.

Siegfried walked slowly to the porthole and looked through the porthole at the high guns.

"It's time, sir!"

The first mate said in a trembling voice.

"I order, fire!"

Siegfried coldly gave the order.

"Yes, sir!"

The first mate replied excitedly, and then picked up the phone that he had already held in his hand and shouted: "Captain's order!" Fire! ”

As soon as the first mate's words fell, the noisy jingling that had been ringing from the front came to an abrupt end, and two seconds later, the nine main guns of Scharnhorst let out an earth-shattering roar at the same time.

Huge muzzle flames flashed outside the portholes, and the entire battleship trembled.

The muzzle flames of the three main guns side by side converged into a massive ball of fire more than ten meters in diameter, which flickered for less than a second before being replaced by an even larger white cloud of smoke. The white smoke quickly dissipated with the sea breeze, and for a moment the entire huge hull of the Scharnhorst was shrouded in the thin smoke.

The power of the battleship's main guns in full salvo was staggering, the huge air pressure of the muzzle pressed the sea surface on the side of the ship into a wide shallow pit, and the 32,000-ton hull was forced to the side and rear by the huge recoil force for about half a meter, and everyone who witnessed this moment could not help but feel a deep sense of awe in the hearts of this terrible man-made destructive force.

"Good, that's why I love the Navy!"

Siegfried exclaimed in admiration, then turned his face to the first mate and shouted, "Lines, full speed ahead!" Let's go teach those British guys a lesson that they will never forget! ”

"Yes, Captain. Burn the wind! ”

A puff of black smoke erupted from the Scharnhorst's tall chimney, and as the smoke dissipated, the huge battleship began to slowly accelerate towards the exit of the strait.

At the same time, the Gnexenau had completed a salvo, and she had started her momentum and began to follow the Scharnhorst's track.

After easily dropping a bunch of large-caliber shells on the unprepared British fleet, the German Ocean Fleet, with the Scharnhorst as the lead ship, lined up in a column and pressed towards the enemy outside the channel with great vigour.

By contrast, the situation on the side of the British fleet can now only be described as a mess.

While the Scharnhorst's shells landed on the British fleet, Nicholson was still sipping black tea on the York's spacious open-air compass bridge.

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded in his ears. The commander of the fleet put down his teacup in confusion and stood up from the comfortable recliner in the corner of the open bridge.

Nicholson raised his head to discern what the sound was in the air, he swore he had heard something similar before, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.

His men had heard the strange noise, too, and they were all now looking up at the sky around them.

Nicholson was sure it wasn't an airplane, and the movement sounded like a ragged old merchant ship's steampipe had burst.

"Damn, it's shelling!"

Nicholson finally found the answer in the depths of his memory, the sound between the air bass organ and the exhaust of the steam pipe in the church, the same one that made him pee his pants in fear when he fought in the Battle of Jutland...... The terrifying sound of large-caliber shells bursting through the air.

Before Nicholson could finish speaking, a loud, dull explosion hit his eardrums. The frightened fleet commander threw himself on the fence beside the bridge and looked in the direction of the explosion, and the spectacle that had appeared in his dreams countless times appeared before him again.

The light cruiser Orion, which was in front of the York's heavy cruiser, was now enveloped by a row of tall columns of water, more than thirty meters in diameter, rising into the air far higher than Orion's mast.

Orion's 9,000-ton hull looks like a toy ship in a bathtub in front of such a behemoth.

Suddenly, a huge fireball rose from Orion's stern, and a cannonball hit her aft subbridge, and the steel stern was completely shattered in front of Nicholson and his men.

The five-meter-tall building now turned into a giant stray shotgun, projecting countless high-velocity steel fragments and parts in all directions.

The tall cross mast on the stern tower slowly rose upwards as if by magic, and the mast jumped five or six meters in the fireball and then slowly fell, and finally collapsed in the stern, and a cross beam landed in the water at the stern, and the broken cables were wrapped around the mast and burning, and there was a terrible sight on the deck.

"Straddle shot!"

Nicholson's mind was filled with the term that scared all the captains of battleships. The tragic sight of the ships that were subjected to straddle fire during the Battle of Jutland is something Nicholson will never forget.

"Immediately look for the source of the shelling, quickly! We met a large battleship! ”

Nicholson's experience brought him back to his quick reflexes, and he roared at his men who were stunned by the sight.

"Here we go again!"

The first mate screamed loudly, and the strange whistle sounded in the air.

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