The Hood was once the flagship of Somerville, and it once served as the flagship and sailed across the Mediterranean with the H Fleet. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

It's a pity that the battleship is now paralyzed in front of Somerville's eyes, which makes him suddenly have a feeling of sadness.

The entire bridge was still smoking, but after burning everything that could be burned, the fire on the bridge was finally brought under control.

Although it lost 90% of its power, it was still possible to barely maintain the operation of the pump, which allowed the Hood's firefighting work to be carried out in an orderly manner.

"Can you already confirm that?" Somerville leaned against the railing of the battleship Sovereign, looked at the battlecruiser Hood, which was still smoking in the distance, and asked the officers who were walking behind him.

"Yes, sir...... John? General Tovey...... Indeed killed. The officer who came over bowed his head and replied bitterly.

It was the first telegram he had received today, from the Hood's spare telegraph room. Rush repairs are still ongoing, and the situation of the battleship is not optimistic.

Hearing this news, Somerville secretly sighed in his heart: That is a vice admiral, and the death of a vice admiral in a naval battle is definitely a heavy loss for the British Navy.

What's more, along with the departure of the vice admiral, there was also a battle cruiser. The naval battle was lost, sadly.

"Did you send a telegram to the homeland? Lost John? Admiral Tovey, definitely the most significant loss for the Royal Navy......," Somerville said sadly, looking at the Hood in the distance.

It's definitely not a gesture, because he and John? Tovey had known each other since the First World War.

At that time he was a radio operations instructor, and John? Tovey was a valiant destroyer commander.

At a time when Somerville had not yet been able to command a battleship on his own, John? Tovey had already taken his destroyer to the Battle of Jutland and had been commended for his bravery and fearlessness.

Somerville and John? The friendship between Tovey and Cunningham, three of the British Royal Navy's preeminent commanders, was also forged during the First World War.

"Sir......" The officer opposite did not turn to leave, but hesitated to speak and whispered a reminder to Somerville, who was leaning on the railing.

"Huh? What else? Somerville was puzzled for a moment, then pushed the railing away and looked back at his men.

"I'm afraid, we've lost more than one general......" the officer held a telegram in his hand and handed it to Somerville in the sea breeze.

The battleship was still shaking, and the waves crashed against the side of the battleship, splashing a white splash. The sky was still raining, and Somerville's hat was soaked.

The commander of the interception fleet reached out and took the half-wet piece of telephony in the rain, and saw the handwriting on it.

What was written on the telephony was not complicated, but it made Somerville stand there as if he had lost his soul.

Yes, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Royal Navy, Dudley? Admiral Pound, who has just passed away in his post.

If the sudden death of the general had nothing to do with the crushing defeat of the fleet, Somerville himself would not have believed it.

The other party obviously couldn't withstand such a heavy loss and received an unprecedented blow, so he died suddenly in his post.

The rain soaked the telegrams, and Somerville stood there a little bewildered. Their defeat seemed to be worse than it seemed, and the Royal Navy seemed to be getting further and further away from victory.

The hunting sea breeze blew like a knife, tearing the piece of paper in Somerville's hand. Standing on the undulating and rocking warship, Somerville still stood in the rain.

"General Charles is moving closer to us...... He called and asked if he wanted to continue the pursuit of the German fleet. The officer spoke of the third telegram he had just received, an inquiry from the Home Fleet.

Of course...... Only pursuit! If he now abandons the pursuit of the German naval fleet, then what exactly is this battle?

Is it a child's play directed and acted by yourself? After the loss of the Nelson and the Prestige, and after the wounds of the Hood and Ramirez, the naval battle was no longer endless.

"Order the fleet to turn...... Have the USS Eagle stay behind to pick up the Hood and join up with the two nearby destroyers to form a temporary fleet. Tell them not to be careless, there are German submarines here. After giving his orders, Somerville took a step.

He walked back in the direction of the bridge, and without looking back, he continued to command: "Send a telegram to Charles, and ask him to join us and search the German fleet eastward." ”

On the bridge of the battleship King George V, the flagship of the Home Fleet, the commander of the Home Fleet Charles, had a thick layer of frost on his face.

In the past short time, he has also received a lot of fatal news. There was more sad news than Churchill's, and it was impossible for him to have a good face at all.

The CK-1 transport fleet was heavily damaged, the Nelson sank, the Ramirez was wounded, the Prestige sank, and the Hood was disabled......

Plus Dudley? Death of Commander Pound, John? Lieutenant General Tovey was killed...... What happened in these few hours seems to be even more exciting than what has happened in the last two decades.

These well-known news made Charles also fall in the dark, but he was better than Dudley? Pound's body was tougher, so he finally relieved himself.

After everyone hurriedly rescued the general, who also fainted, they finally avoided the embarrassing fate of the three senior commanders of the navy returning to the west one after another in one day.

"Admiral Somerville has called back, his fleet is searching east, and if we keep our speed, it will soon converge with his fleet." An officer reported the latest news, and Charles waved his hand and did not speak.

The German fleet went east, and this was already confirmed information, after all, dozens of minutes ago, the search fleet was still engaged in the opposing warships.

As long as the other side drove east, they would not be able to avoid the patrol network of British destroyers, cruisers, and even fishing boats.

The search network that has spilled out from the mainland has spread out in the eastern part of the Atlantic, and it is almost impossible to avoid this large net.

Now that the position of the German fleet is known, there is also the exact direction of the pursuit. However, Charles was still not happy about this.

The German fleet, which far exceeded the speed of the British fleet, turned the pursuit of the main fleet of the British Royal Navy into a joke.

Isn't this chase a joke? What the German fleet had to do now was to rush to Brest as fast as possible, and the British main fleet would be left far behind.

The only variable was to let the remaining battleships of the British Home Fleet go directly south and block the way.

But the question is...... The remaining battleships can't beat the main German fleet! Obviously going up to death, how could anyone approve this plan?

Besides, what if the last battleships of the home fleet left the British mainland, and the Germans had something else to do?

Therefore, in any case, even if the specific course and position of the German naval fleet were known, it would be an impossible task for the British main fleet to catch up with the German fleet.

Now, the only reason to follow the German fleet was that they wanted to send the German fleet back to the port of Brest!

Because if the main fleet does not follow the German fleet, who knows if they will not return to the port of Brest?

If the opposing fleet tastes the sweetness, take a walk around again...... And the result is not to let people live? The entire British Atlantic shipping line would collapse, and the people of Britain would starve to death.

Charles and Somerville, who were further ahead, were no longer thinking about blocking the German main fleet on the sea and annihilating the other side.

The problem they were thinking about now was to escort the opposing fleet all the way to its destination. Then, wait for the other party to sail into the port of Brest, and then find a way to get back to the field.

Although the port of Brest, an important military port of France, had a good position to go to sea, it was within the attack radius of British long-range bombers.

As long as he was out of the way, regardless of his own losses, and sent a large number of bombers to attack Brest, he would be able to paralyze the German fleet that entered the port.

The paralysis of the German fleet is tantamount to preventing the German fleet from continuing to operate, and although the cost is huge, it is still within the tolerable range after all.

The only thing that made Charles feel aggrieved was that as a senior commander of the Royal Navy, he was now full of thoughts about using the air force to stop the other party's navy, and he was embarrassed like never before......

"No matter what, you can't go wrong again! We must guarantee the German fleet this time and return to Brest! Charles stood on the bridge and instructed the officers beside him.

And at the same time, on the battleship Sovereign, Somerville was saying the same thing: "If something goes wrong this time, we don't have to go back to Gibraltar, we will sink here!" ”

Similarly, the naval command far away in the British homeland, just sent Dudley? Winston Churchill, the prime minister of General Pound's remains, said something similar: "Stop thinking about annihilating the enemy's fleet!" Let them get out of the way to Brest! ”

Don't be unpredictable! This is what the commanders of the British Royal Navy are thinking about at this moment.

At the same moment, on the docks of Plymouth Harbour on the British mainland, Cunningham stepped on the suspension ladder and stepped off the transport ship.

Looking up at the sky of his homeland, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet finally returned to the homeland of the one he had not seen for a long time. As for what he will experience after he comes back, he is at a loss.