Now it was York's turn to comprehend the horror that had befallen Orion ten seconds earlier.

Before the screams of the first mate had disappeared from the ears of the frightened officers and men standing on the bridge, an earth-shattering roar echoed around them.

Two huge columns of water suddenly appeared in the horrified gaze of the British naval officers and men, and the sheer size made it impossible to believe their eyes.

A huge column of water roared into the sky, the edge of which was less than ten meters from the side of the York, towering like an iceberg.

No one could keep their composure in the face of such a miraculous sight of violentness, some of the people standing on the open bridge screamed and searched for what they thought were safe, others grabbed everything they could and prayed loudly to God, and many more, like Nicholson, were stunned by the sight before them, standing at their posts and staring blankly at the spectacle in front of them.

No one could say how high those water jets were, for they were so close to the York, so close that one felt as if you could reach out and touch them, and they were so large that one could not help but feel awe.

The tremendous power displayed by those jets of water and the threat of death behind them exerted such great psychological coercion on the witnesses that no one dared to raise their heads in front of them.

The water column suddenly towered around the battleship, giving the illusion that maybe they would continue like this forever.

The York showed no signs of being shot, but the hull seemed to be leaning slightly to the right, but the sailors standing on the deck had already felt the tremendous energy, and the hull let out a terrible moan, and the deck was full of sailors who had been unsteady due to the violent shock.

It wasn't until the water column began to fall slowly that the officers and soldiers reacted from that extreme fear, and everyone breathed a long sigh of relief in their hearts, and it seemed that everything had passed.

But two seconds later, the British officers and soldiers knew they were wrong, and the nightmare had just begun.

The force of hundreds of tons of seawater pouring back into the sea was immeasurable, and when the water began to slam into the water around the York, the huge surge almost lifted the York's hull out of the sea.

The battleship tilted sharply to the port side, and the speed made it seem as if she was about to turn over like this, which could not help but make the sailors on the battleship let out a desperate exclamation again.

Just as everyone was looking in horror at the hopelessly tilting of their battleship and helplessness, the battleship's rapid left tilt miraculously stopped.

Before the frightened sailors could thank God for this, they found themselves in another nightmare.

It was not God who prevented the Yorkie from tilting, but an equally huge surge to the left of the battleship.

The waves slammed into the York's hard port hull, and the splashes formed a wall of water tens of meters high that stood in front of the British sailors, and then slammed into the port deck.

The sailors on the port deck who did not have time to fix themselves were swept up by the waves and smashed into the hard bulkhead behind them, and even a few poor fellows were thrown high by the waves and then wailed and swept into the sea.

The tremendous force pushed the York in the direction of starboard. The York's massive hull screamed in protest under the terrifying torsional force, the ship swaying back and forth and struggling, the sound of tooth-aching metal twisting echoing over the entire battleship.

From the first shell falling into the water beside the battleship until the Yorke ceased its terrible swing dance, it lasted only half a minute, but it was more difficult for those British officers and sailors than it was for half a century.

Brigadier General Nicholson finally recovered from the shock, and for a while a sense of time and space was thrown in his mind, and the familiar sight in front of him evoked painful memories in his heart that he would never forget, and the countless images that appeared in his nightmares appeared in front of him again, and the shock that all this brought to his soul was beyond the comprehension of others.

He will never forget the last sight he saw in the epic Battle of Jutland before the sinking of the destroyer he served, and how similar it was now.

"Report the damage! Captain! Captain! Wilson! ”

Nicholson struggled to his feet from the bridge deck, holding on to the compass railing to stabilize himself and shouted loudly.

"Captain Wilson!"

Unable to hear his subordinates' answers, Nicholson couldn't help but feel a surge of anger welling up in his heart, and he looked around to find the figure of the captain who had been standing beside him all along, only to be met by faces as pale as letterhead, full of fear and panic.

"Do you still look like glorious Royal Navy, what to be afraid of! Where is the captain? What about Wilson? ”

Nicholson angrily rebuked his frightened men.

"Ah, Captain! The captain is injured! ”

With an exclamation, everyone spotted Captain Wilson slumped in the corner of the bridge, and they also saw a stream of blood-red liquid slowly flowing down the captain's forehead.

"Quick, get him to the infirmary immediately."

Nicholson ordered urgently. The four sailors hurriedly lifted the unconscious Wilson and ran off the bridge, looking at the blood stains left by his subordinates on the smooth and shiny teak floor of the bridge, Nicholson couldn't help but feel a chill.

"Mr. Kotster!"

Nicholson turned his head to look at the first mate, who was standing nearby.

"Ah, here, Your Excellency, Commander."

The first mate was looking at where the captain was lying just now, and Nicholson's scream startled him, and the first mate shivered violently and then straightened his chest to the cold-faced commander.

"Don't forget that you're an honorable Royal Navy officer, and you now look like a frightened quail."

Nicholson said coldly.

"I'm very sorry, Your Excellency, Commander!"

The first mate bowed his head in shame.

"Now that Captain Wilson is wounded, I order you to take the captain's place. This ship is now under your command, and I hope you will not disappoint me! Lieutenant Colonel Kotster. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency, I will not let you down."

The first mate hurriedly replied loudly.

"Immediately search the location of the enemy's fleet, there must be more than two large warships. Investigate the fleet losses now! ”

Nicholson's loud command.

"The whole fleet is ready to fight! Fine! All in combat positions! Send electricity to the Admiralty, we are attacked, probably large German battleships. ”

Nicholson finally regained his composure, and his rich combat experience prompted him to get into combat right away.

One by one, the orders were quickly conveyed, and Nicholson picked up his telescope and anxiously searched the sea.

With the exception of the two freighters that followed last, almost every battleship in the fleet was subjected to some degree of shelling.

However, the situation was not as bad as Nicholson had expected at first, with the exception of Orion, the Emerald and Sheffield were also shot, but neither of them appeared to be badly damaged.

Although the explosion of the enemy's shells was very staggering, it was strange that none of them could penetrate the main deck of the battleship, and although the smoke was now billowing from all three battleships, it seemed that the fire was under control.

The York's hull was damaged in part of the waterline due to the near miss, and in a few places the rivets of the outer armor plates were broken, causing some compartments to be flooded, but they were not serious, and these floods were also controlled after the damage management.

Those wounds were only flesh wounds, and the fleet still maintained its combat effectiveness. What frustrated Nicholson the most now was that until now he didn't know where the enemy shells were coming from.

None of the warships reported the same situation, and there were all directions. Nicholson was a little confused now, he had never fought such a depressed battle, and he couldn't find the enemy's position after being smashed by the enemy with a large-caliber shell.

What is even more strange is that the shelling ended as abruptly as it appeared, and a full five minutes passed, and not a single shell flew towards the fleet, and the anomaly of who the enemy was, why did he stop attacking, and where did the shelling come from, gave the captains of the navy a sense of foreboding.

Nicholson preferred that the shells were fired from the sea on the right side of the fleet, because on the left side of the fleet was the island of Mulberry, and beyond that was the Strait of Scoplan, and beyond that ten-kilometer-wide strait was the main island of the Faroe Islands.

He had also contacted the commander of the garrison in the Faroe Islands half an hour ago, and the Faroe Islands were still under the control of the British ** team, not to mention that no fool would place that kind of large-caliber heavy artillery on an island far from the mainland.

Nicholson now believed he had encountered a large German raid ship, and by that firepower, there were at least two large warships.

"It won't be a mistake by our own fleet."

Although Nicholson had this suspicion at first, he immediately denied it. He sailed on a secret route, and there should not be a single Royal Navy warship in this area, and according to that kind of firepower, it definitely surpassed a heavy cruiser, either a battleship or a battle cruiser, and now no fleet in the Royal Navy can meet this standard.

"Could it be that the German fleet secretly left the port, or is it ......"

Suddenly, a frightening thought popped into Nicholson's mind.

"Could it be that the Germans, knowing their mission, deliberately ambushed themselves here?"

But the next second, he dismissed the idea again. The secrecy of this operation was unimaginable to ordinary people, and it was impossible for the Germans to get any intelligence about this operation in any case.

"It seems more like an accident, maybe the Germans chose this area to avoid the Royal Navy patrol ships, and it seems that the idiots of the Naval Intelligence Department have been tricked by the Germans again."

Nicholson mentally confirmed his suspicions, and he began to curse himself at the incompetence of the Naval Intelligence Agency.

If so, then everything can be reasonably explained, the German navy has always been accustomed to sneak attacks, and their attack ships are very ferocious and have a very long range, which can explain why they were attacked without warning.

The German naval assault ships had always been reluctant to engage the Royal Navy fleet head-on, and if they found themselves likely to suffer losses, no matter how powerful the ships were, they would abandon the attack and choose to flee, which could explain why the shelling did not continue.

The Germans must have discovered that their fleet was not so easy to destroy, so they gave up on continuing the fight. The enemy must have retreated by now, and they were out of sight.

Nicholson was pleased with the conclusion he had reasoned about, and he felt that this must be the case.

"Order the fleet to keep in formation, pay attention to the search of the sea, the course will not change, and we will go to Tórshavn for repairs."

Nicholson put down the binoculars in his hand and coldly ordered to the acting captain. Nicholson had now decided to dismiss the battle if no trace of the enemy could be found after fifteen minutes, or if there was no further attack.

"Are we going to dock at Tórshavn? Your Excellency the Commander. ”

The acting captain asked hesitantly.

"Of course, we have wounded people who have to go ashore for treatment. However, our whereabouts have now been discovered by the Germans, and we cannot stay too long and need to speed up loading and unloading. I can guarantee that after dark the sea will be packed with German submarines that have arrived like schools of tuna. So we have to hurry. ”

"Yes, sir!"

"Enemy ships! Correct...... German battleships spotted right ahead! ”

The lookout, who was standing on the edge of the bridge, suddenly roared like crazy, and almost at the same moment, the signal lights of the two lead destroyers began to flicker wildly at the York, and the flag of the enemy ship was slowly raised on the mast of the two destroyers at the same time.

"What!"

Nicholson quickly picked up his binoculars and looked ahead. By this time the British fleet was approaching the Strait of Scopland, and the two nearest lead destroyers were less than five thousand meters from the exit of the channel, while the flagship of the Orion, which had been turned into fleet one, was seven kilometers from the exit of the channel.

On one side is the 30-meter-high cliffs of Mulberry Island, and on the other side is the vast North Atlantic Ocean. A huge rock stood alone on the corner of Mulberry Island and the exit of the strait, and the fleet could see what was going on in the strait just by turning the rock.

And now a huge shadow of a ship was rushing out from behind the rock, the towering mast far beyond the height of the rock, and the fiery red Iron Cross flag fluttering on the mast was clearly visible in front of Nicholson through a telescope.

"German battleships! Ready for battle! Damn, how did the radar not detect enemy ships in the strait! Battle Reward! ”

Nicholson almost threw away the binoculars in his hand, he couldn't regret or blame himself now, the enemy had entered such a close distance, this was definitely a bloody battle.

"It's Scharnhorst! God, I recognize that insignia! It's the battlecruiser Scharnhorst! The acting captain roared.

"We actually let Scharnhorst get within 10,000 yards, damn it, immediately aim at the enemy ship and open fire!"

"Order the destroyers to attack immediately, we're too close, oh my."

The Scharnhorst had already rushed out of the channel, and to the horror of the British Navy, it seemed that she had been prepared for a long time, and the three huge turrets had already turned in the direction of the British fleet.

Now the British fleet could not fire immediately in any case, and everyone waited with bated breath for the ferocious battleship to launch its first attack on them.

But to the surprise of the British, the Scharnhorst crossed the British course without firing, and the British suddenly rekindled their fighting spirit, and the contempt of the Germans angered all the British officers and men, and the cruiser's main guns began to slowly turn towards the huge enemy ship, and they wanted to show the foolish Germans how high the cost of underestimating the British Royal Navy would be.

But a few seconds later, the fanatical fighting spirit of the British was once again extinguished as quickly as it had been ignited. They could barely believe their eyes, and behind the rock appeared another, equally large shadow.

"Gege...... Case...... Gnessenor! We met the German battlecruiser formations! ”

Nicholson listened to the screams of his subordinates in his ears, and his heart was cold.

According to the theory, one Scharnhorst is enough to drink a pot of her fleet, and even if she is already in her own range, it will be enough to deal with all her attacks.

And now with the addition of a Gnexenau, Nicholson doesn't want to estimate anything anymore. The distance is too close, and there can only be fighting.

It seems that it was these two warships that attacked him before, although I don't know how they aimed at themselves, it no longer matters, what matters now is how to get out of the current predicament.

Thinking of the cargo loaded on his fleet, and the significance of these goods to the Empire, Nicholson was heartbroken, and now he had to fight hard.

In the current situation, even if the fleet can run away from one, it is good, even if it is to sacrifice half to keep the other half, it is a victory, it is better than just giving it all here.

But before Nicholson could give the order, the Germans dealt another heavy blow to his already overburdened heart!

Another German battleship rushed out from behind that rock. The ship was a full circle smaller than Scharnhorst, but the superstructure was designed to be more fluid and beautiful, with a shiny hull painted with black and white shards of camouflage.

"Admiral Hipper!"

The acting captain almost groaned.

"No, not Admiral Hipper! This is clearly a new ship, the German Prinz Eugen! ”

Nicholson was very familiar with the warships of the German Navy, both under construction and already in the water.

"We met the main ...... of the German Navy"

Nicholson muttered, and suddenly he seemed to remember something, and he grabbed the arm of the acting captain and shouted loudly: "Quick, signal, the whole fleet turns, turn ninety degrees to the right, order the destroyers to attack with torpedoes, the Germans occupy our T-shaped position!" Why hasn't the main gun been aimed yet, order all the battleships, design as soon as the aim is completed, and bait the shot! ”

Nicholson finally thought of the most famous tactic of battleship tactics to occupy the T-shaped cross, and blamed him for being the commander of the destroyer fleet for too long, and the destroyer had no chance to use this tactic again.

"Look, there seems to be a flag raised on the mast of that battleship."

Nicholson hurriedly picked up the binoculars and looked.

"This ...... This is, oh my God, the captain of Prince Eugen must be crazy! ”

I saw a black flag fluttering on the towering mast of Prince Eugen, and in the middle of the black flag clearly depicted a grinning skull, and a pair of crossed thigh bones were drawn behind the skull.

This is the most familiar flag of the British Royal Navy, and this flag has flown more than once on the ships of those famous British admirals.

It is a very well-made, very standard proportions, flawless pirate flag.

The black skull flag hung on the mast and danced in the crosshairs, and the blood-red iron cross flag on the top of the mast was a display of German strength for the first time before the British Navy and the entire world's navies, and the graceful madness that shocked the whole world.

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