Eventually, as Lütjens waited, the first rays of sunlight began to appear in the eastern sky under the watchful eyes of everyone. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In an instant, the waves on the entire surface of the sea were gilded with a touch of gold, and every corner of the world was illuminated by this light.

At this time, on the bridge of the Norfolk, the British captain saw clearly what the German battleship in the distance looked like.

That's a German battleship! Moreover, in front of that German battleship, it seems, there was also a German battleship of no small size!

What frightened the British captain was that in the dim front, in the shadows that had not yet been shone by the sun, there seemed to be a German battleship that was advancing, and judging by the volume, it seemed that it was not small!

"O my God! Are the Germans crazy? They poured out of the nest! The captain of the cruiser Norfolk exclaimed in shock.

Before his exclamation could land, two German planes appeared above his cruiser.

It was almost completely out of the combat radius of German shore-based aircraft, but the sailors of the cruiser Norfolk did see two German planes!

"What's the situation?" Seeing the German planes approaching little by little, the British naval officers on the bridge of the Norfolk were a little puzzled - how could there be German planes here?

You know, this is the farthest flight radius of German shore-based aircraft, and the German planes have not yet flown here, and the eight achievements are about to return

But now, there are actually two German planes here, and it seems that the size is not that of a long-range reconnaissance plane, but a smaller attack plane.

The cruiser Norfolk was in chaos, battle sirens echoed in the cabin, and the sailors ran to the deck and began to manipulate the anti-air weapons on the deck.

And the captain of the cruiser Norfolk, who was still standing on the bridge in a daze at this time, finally remembered to send a warning to the other British ships - the Germans actually went out with an aircraft carrier!

Even the captain of the cruiser Norfolk was confused, and at this time he guessed that the Germans had driven the Zeppelin aircraft carrier.

With such powerful news, the captain of the Norfolk hurriedly opened his mouth and asked his radio operator to send this vital telegram.

The German fleet poured out, and it was only now that the British finally became fully aware of the news - they saw the Prinz Eugen, the Tirpitz, the Gneisenau, and the Zeppelin, and the Nuremberg, which led the way.

Seeing so many battleships, the British finally got an idea of the size of the German fleet. And the size of this fleet, so that before Dudley? The containment plan designated by Pound has all become a joke.

"Air combat! Turn north! Gentlemen! If we slow down, we're going to stay here to feed the fish! "The captain of the cruiser USS Norfolk gave the order for air defense operations.

All the anti-aircraft guns on the Norfolk cruiser raised their slender barrels and began to attack the German aircraft in the sky.

The ships of the British and German navies in the Atlantic during this period actually did not have much air defense. The Germans were because of the backward ideas and miserable technology of the First World War, while the British were because they really had no opponents!

Yes, the British Navy did not have an adversary at all in the Atlantic. The threat from the air has always been non-existent, so the air defense of British ships has always been mediocre.

On the cruiser Norfolk, there were only 8 single-barreled 102-mm anti-aircraft guns, and 4 40-mm anti-aircraft guns.

Such anti-aircraft firepower, for German bombers, was also basically a dispensable interception. Two Stuka C dive bombers flew through the skies, dodging shells fired from British anti-aircraft guns.

By the time the number of these planes reached six, the British finally realized that their anti-aircraft guns might be somewhat insufficient.

As a result, the cruiser Norfolk began to accelerate its turn, and in the process of turning, it was hit by an aerial bomb carried by a Stuka C dive bomber.

The bomb hit the middle of the cruiser Norfolk, and the explosion destroyed the middle chimney of the Norfolk in one fell swoop......

Speaking of Norfolk chimneys, although the British Norfolk cruiser is a new type of cruiser built before World War II, it has a strange design of three chimneys.

The long chimney layout of the three chimneys multiplies the probability of hitting the chimney area. Soon the Norfolk's speed began to decrease.

The Norfolk, which was hit by itself, was rushing to repair while trying to evade the growing number of German carrier-based attack aircraft. Eventually, the Norfolk found itself unable to escape......

In the sky, there were already as many as ten German planes, and the Norfolk had lost about half of its power due to damage to the middle of the hull.

With a speed of about 16 knots, it was really impossible to avoid the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which had already closed the distance.

The captain of the cruiser Norfolk, who already knew that he was in danger, could only let his sailors abandon the ship at this time.

The Norfolk sent a wireless telegram that crossed the ocean and returned to the British mainland. In the British naval command, there was no Dudley who closed his eyes all night? Pound, suddenly, received the news.

"What? The Germans actually dispatched the aircraft carrier Zeppelin? "Dudley who heard the news? Pound, I couldn't believe my ears.

Pound could still believe that the Germans dared to dispatch the battleship Bismarck, but Pound really couldn't believe that the Germans had sent out the only aircraft carrier that had just been trained for a month.

He looked at the specific direction of the German fleet on the map, and asked the officer next to him: "Let the Suffolk confirm, you must see the German aircraft carrier!" I need to confirm this news! Must be accurate! ”

If the Germans even sent out aircraft carriers, then the Tirpitz was not in the fleet, Dudley? Pound is really hard to analyze.

Once the German ships are in this huge fleet, the existing interception force of the British Navy really can't say whether it can eat the other side.

"Are the Germans crazy? How dare they send out all the battleships? "Dudley? After Pound muttered, he turned around and began to rearrange his fleet: "Let the Dreadnought take off the reconnaissance plane, and confirm the accurate movement of the enemy's fleet and the composition of the fleet as soon as possible!" ”

After saying his orders, he looked at the huge desktop map. To the north of Iceland, near the Danish Strait, is a detachment of its own.

South of Iceland, too, is only a squadron patrolling. With such a force, if any of the detachments collided with the German fleet, it was really difficult to say whether the victory or defeat would be known.

"Is there a submarine nearby?" He suddenly asked, "Is there a submarine force nearby?" If you can see the enemy's fleet, cancel the mission and find out how many ships there are in the enemy's fleet! ”

"Report to the General! There are no submarines of ours nearby, the most recent one, which was crossed by the enemy last night. A submarine commander said.

After learning that there is no other way, Dudley? Pound finally decided to stick to his previous tactics and let his fleet intercept the German fleet as much as possible.

"Report!" Just when Pound decided to keep his fleet in its original position, an officer in charge of liaison in the Navy walked behind Pound in embarrassment.

He stood upright, and then said, "General! The cruiser USS Norfolk was hit by a bomb dropped by enemy aircraft, and the captain had already given the order to abandon the ship......"

Pound heard the news and looked up at the location of the Norfolk cruiser marked on the map. Now, there is no more eyeliner in this position, and the only thing left with the Germans is the Suffolk!

In fact, it was not the German bombers that sank the cruiser Norfolk, but the cruiser Prinz Eugen of the German Navy.

Taking advantage of its higher speed, the cruiser Prinz Eugen, under the orders of Lütjens, slightly changed course and caught up with the Norfolk, which had been severely reduced.

The 280 mm guns on the battleship Prinz Eugen were much more powerful than the 203 mm guns on the Norfolk.

After two volleys, the Norfolk, which was originally only seriously wounded, began to explode and catch fire and sink. And the captain of the Norfolk, who had already ordered the ship to be abandoned, had already left the sinking battleship with people in a small boat.

The cruiser USS Suffolk, in the distance, heard the sound of the Prinz Eugen firing, a loud noise that frightened the sailors on the British ship.

Because they were still far away, they did not see the carrier-based aircraft taking off from the German aircraft carrier Zeppelin. They did, however, hear the unfortunate news that Germany had aircraft carriers.

Soon, the Suffolk, which was following the waters south of the Gneisenau, began to turn southward, preparing to avoid the search of the German Navy's carrier-based aircraft.

Unfortunately, whether it was Gneisenau or the battleship Tirpitz behind the battlecruiser Gneisenau, the radar on it clearly monitored the specific location of the Suffolk.

The reason why there was no attack was due to the fact that German carrier-based aircraft, which were preparing to attack the cruiser Suffolk, were taking off on the aircraft carrier Zeppelin and were in formation in the nearby airspace.

It was destined to be a bloody morning, as the British Royal Navy had just confirmed the full attack of the German fleet when a cruiser was sunk.

Now, Admiral Charles, who was in charge of the battleship HMS George V, finally knew what a terrible enemy his fleet was facing.

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