"Sure enough, there were at least 10 battleships! We have met the main force of the American Atlantic Fleet! ”

Aboard the Ludendorff, Hubert. Admiral Schmidt was startled by the huge muzzle flames that kept flashing in the fog. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In fact, he had no need to be afraid, for he had in his hands the Ludendorff, the Bismarck, the Barbarossa, the Richelieu, Jean. The 6 super-battleships Barr and Roma. Although they were inferior in number to their opponents, these six battleships were all new ships that had just entered service, with fast speed, thick armor, and more firepower than their opponents. The Americans had only two South Dakota-class ships with powerful 16-inch (406mm) cannons, and the remaining seven battleships had only 14-inch (356mm) and 12-inch (305mm) cannons, posing much of a threat to the six German, French, and Italian battleships.

But Hubert. For more than 20 years, an elderly German admiral like Schmidt has lived in the shadow of the British Navy and the American Navy, and all he has in his mind is a hit-and-run battle. For a while, I was not used to the life of a huge advantage on my side - this happiness came too quickly.

"How much time will it take for the fog to lift?" Hubert. Admiral Schmidt asked.

"It's 4:05 a.m. and the fog will clear in 1 hour at most. Then the planes will be able to attack. ”

Because the performance of naval aviation in the past was always reassuring, the German Navy gradually switched to aircraft dependence. So Hubet. The first thing that came to the mind of the staff officers around Schmidt was to use airplanes against the enemy.

"The 2nd Air Fleet is nearby, so they can send planes. In addition, we are 2000 km from Brest, where there is a group of ultra-long-range bombers. ”

The so-called ultra-long-range bomber brigade is equipped with Ju.288, although it is not yet in formation, but there is no problem in sending 20 Ju.288.

"That ultra-long-range bomber group simply can't count on ...... 2000 kilometers at least 4 hours of flight! "Hubet. Admiral Schmidt shook his head, "As for the 2nd Air Fleet, let them deal with the scattered British merchant ships." ”

Now everyone knows that the military operation to land in Britain is about to begin! So those American warships must have been escorting ships with important military supplies, and if they were allowed to reach the port of Liverpool safely, the landing operation would face even more difficulties.

And the 2nd Air Fleet had only 120 aircraft, of which only 60 Fokker 100 dive bombers were capable of being used against battleships. I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with the American fleet protected by F4F (although no aircraft carriers have been found, but no one would believe that so many American battleships will not have aircraft carrier protection). In addition, the 60 Fokker Zero carrier-based fighters of the 2nd Air Fleet had to be responsible for escorting the 2nd Fleet, and there were no more than a few to escort the Fokker 100.

Therefore, it is most appropriate to let the Fokker 100 on the aircraft carrier disperse to bomb the same scattered freighters.

"Those American battleships are still up to us!" Hubert. Admiral Schmidt said, "Left full rudder!" Adjust the direction to 10 degrees. The Bismarck was ordered to measure and calculate the parameters of the shelling and concentrate fire on the 2nd ship of the enemy formation. Tell Rear Admiral Lindemann (Captain Bismarck) that nothing can be done at this time and that the most accurate parameters must be calculated in the shortest possible time! I ask for at least one American battleship to be heavily damaged in 10 minutes, so that we have a chance to inflict heavy damage on the American fleet! ”

After giving the order, Hubet. Admiral Schmidt took out a cigar and stuffed it into his mouth, and did not light it, but held it in his mouth and bit it tightly. He stared at the continuous flickering fires in the fog in the distance, and his heart was secretly nervous to the extreme. Although his fleet has 8 406mm cannons and 39 380mm cannons (including 381mm cannons), his opponent is 9 battleships! And most likely, there will be several aircraft carriers......

Hubert. Schmidt was worried, and Lieutenant General Ingram of the United States was also raising his heart to his throat, because the SG-type radar on the South Dakota had also detected that the opposing formation was speeding up.

It's time to turn around!

"What's the distance?" Lieutenant General Ingram vaguely felt that something was wrong.

"24,000 meters."

At this distance, it is difficult to hit the target even with radar fire control! Why didn't the "Japanese" continue to run away, but turn around? Something is not right!

"How far is the 2nd Sentai (referring to the other 7 battleships) from us?"

"About 6,000 meters."

"He's bad," Lieutenant General Ingram scolded, "we might be fooled!" They must not be Japons...... And there is also more than one battleship, this is a trap! The aim is to distance us from the 7 slow boats. ”

"Lieutenant General, what then?"

"Stop the shelling and let the destroyers smoke to cover our departure!" Sensing that something was wrong, Lieutenant General Ingram ordered loudly.

"Boom ......"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sea shrouded in mist suddenly boiled like a boiling pot, and huge fireballs flashed one after another.

The gunnery officer of the battleship Bismarck had already completed the calculation of the parameters based on the data of the fire control radar, and the shelling of the battleships of the 2nd Fleet of the Combined European Fleet began!

……

"What!"

Lieutenant General Ingram's jaw almost dropped in shock, he never expected that there were dozens of muzzle flames in front of him, and they all looked quite large, either 16 inches (406mm) or 15 inches (380mm).

What kind of Mutsu is this, it's a whole German fleet!

The Germans actually opened fire on the American fleet under the banner of the Japanese, this is a despicable and shameless surrender, an undeclared war!

"God, how is this possible!"

"How so?!"

The officers in the bridge were even more dumbfounded, although everyone was ready to fight the Germans, but in everyone's minds, they never regarded the German Navy's surface fleet as a formidable opponent. I didn't expect to encounter such a powerful German fleet now!

"Turn the rudder, retreat at full speed, and let the 2nd team retreat too!" Lieutenant General Ingram's mind turned to know that he was no match and decisively ordered a retreat - probably the wisest decision he had made in today's encounter.

Because the battleships of Germany, Italy and France equipped with 380mm cannons are all cutting-edge battleships, and except for the two South Dakota on his side, they are all old ships, although there are many of them, but most of them have a speed of only 20 knots and 21 knots, and they can't grab a favorable position at all. If you really want to fight, just wait for the Germans to occupy the T-shaped formation and beat it. Although the South Dakota class is quite solid, the 406mm and 380mm cannons are not a joke.

"Want to run?" Hubert. When Admiral Schmidt saw that the Americans were turning and trying to escape, he suddenly became energetic and ordered loudly, "Catch up, target the No. 2 ship of the enemy formation, and cripple it first!" ”

At the sound of his command, the second salvo was fired from the 6 main guns of the 47 battleships, which still did not hit. Although the Bismarck is equipped with the same fire control radar as the model on Ludendorff, this is a product of the 40s after all, and the accuracy is very problematic, and it can only be used to assist aiming.

However, the two AR196 seaplanes were quickly ejected into the sky, and now the fog has begun to disperse a little, although the sea still seems to be covered with a thin veil, but this does not prevent the seaplanes from making observational corrections.

As soon as the seaplane took to the sky, the accuracy of the shelling immediately increased. At 4:15 a.m., the 8th salvo fired by five European battleships fired a straddle fire, and shells rained down on the South Dakota.

2 minutes later, the Italian battleship Roma fired a 778.8 kg (full weight) cap-piercing shell with amazing power, and it could still easily penetrate the South Dakota-class 310mm main armor belt at a distance of 23,000 meters!

The shell exploded near the No. 1 boiler room in the amidships, and although it did not penetrate the bulkhead of the boiler room, the huge vibration caused by the explosion still cracked an important pipe, and the high-pressure steam surged in the cabin, burning the soldiers in the No. 1 boiler room and screaming miserably, and the power of the entire battleship was lost by a quarter.

After another minute, a 406mm armor-piercing projectile from the Ludendorff hit the South Dakota again, this time on the strongest front of the bow A turret. At a distance of 24,000 meters, the 906.3 kg (full weight) armor-piercing projectile failed to penetrate the frontal armor of the turret up to 457 mm thick. However, the violent explosion caused serious damage to the turret, especially the violent vibration, which caused many parts of the turret to be severely deformed, and the shell conveyor became stuck and unable to work.

Turret A malfunctioned, and the pipe in the boiler compartment No. 1 was ruptured...... Although they are all "small breaks", they are very deadly on the battlefield! The South Dakota has now lost some of its power, and its speed has dropped to 20 knots, and it has lost a third of its firepower!

"Order the 2nd Sentai to disband and disperse and evacuate!" Vice Admiral Ingram knew that his flagship was unlucky, but the battleship forces of the Atlantic Fleet could not be wiped out with them!

"Let the Indiana go!" Then Lieutenant General Ingram gritted his teeth and shouted, "It's up to us to drag the enemy!" ”

This is the second correct decision made by Vice Admiral Ingram in this naval battle! Sacrifice the South Dakota to save the remaining battleships. Although the South Dakota could only take a beating in the face of the enemy's six powerful battleships, the sinking resistance of this American battleship with a standard displacement of 38,000 tons was still very good, and if the enemy wanted to sink it, it would definitely take a lot of effort, and the main force of the Atlantic Fleet could at least escape part of it.

As for Lieutenant General Ingram himself, because of this decision, he will forever live in the hearts of the American people and in the Hollywood film films of later generations. (To be continued.) )