"How did it turn out?" Tan Renhao was excited when he heard it, even if he didn't like traditional naval battles very much, this kind of large-scale artillery battle was still very exciting. "Are the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau finished?"

"No, but it's almost over." Gan Yongxing lit another cigarette, "The two battle cruisers resisted for a full hour and a half, and when the German commander on the 'Bismarck' saw that they could no longer hold on, he ordered them all to withdraw from the battle and return to the port of Kiel. By the time the two battleships returned to the port of Kiel, the main deck of the Scharnhorst was about to be submerged, and the superstructure of the Gneisenau had been completely destroyed.

Later, according to the statistics of the German Navy, the "Scharnhorst" received more than 50 shells, of which 8 were 1 chopstick inch and 16 inch shells, and two dozen were below the waterline. The 'Gneisenau' was no better, with five huge bombs on the surface alone. It is nothing short of a miracle that these two battlecruisers were able to come back alive. Now they are undergoing major repairs, but at the level of repair of the German Navy, I am afraid that they will have to lie on the slipway for a year and a half. ”

"This is indeed a miracle, but the quality of the German warships is really good, it was they who first understood the ammunition isolation system, as well as the automatic water filling system in the ammunition compartment, otherwise in the 'Battle of Jutland', the German Navy's losses would have been greater." Nie Renfeng sighed, "The Germans' warships are as precise as clocks, this is their national characteristic, they can build the most sophisticated and excellent warships in the world, but this also limits the output of warships, just like the Germans' tanks, although they are sophisticated and have advanced performance, but the output can't go up!" ”… computer station.bsp; "Maybe we can learn some lessons, and Germany's ability to make machines is still to be affirmed." Tan Renhao looked at Gan Yongxing again, "What about the next naval battle?" ”

"Tell the truth. ' The Bismarck-class battleships were inferior to the German Navy, and what they really wanted was a larger battleship, but these two battleships were really good. ”

In the ensuing naval battle, the "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz" had to face three British capital ships, while the German battleships had only 16 main guns, while the three British capital ships had 22 main guns. At a distance of ten nautical miles, both the German Navy's 38omm guns and the British Navy's 14-inch and 16-inch guns could penetrate the opponent's main armor. Constitutes a fatal blow. And naval warfare is largely about the number of main guns, not the number of battleships.

The German Navy had an hour's chance. At that time, the "Counterattack" hastily retreated northward, forgetting to return to the formation of the "Prince of Wales", so it was out of the battlefield, and the number of main guns of the two British capital ships and the two German capital ships was 16, although the 14-inch main guns of the "Prince of Wales" were not as powerful as the 38o mm main guns on the German battleships, but the 16-inch main guns on the "Prestige" were much more powerful.

During this hour-long artillery battle, both sides did everything they could to take out their opponents. The German Navy's four-turret layout largely gave the two Bismarck-class battleships the upper hand.

At 8:38, the Tirpitz fired a 38o-mm armor-piercing projectile that hit the aft turret of the Prince of Wales. Although the armor-piercing shell failed to penetrate the thick armor of the main gun's turret, it did damage the rotation mechanism of the main gun's turret. This turret, armed with four 14-inch guns, can only be selected 6o degrees to the right. Turning 55 degrees to the left without being able to reach the maximum corner, the turret was difficult to point at the German battleship. As a result, the "Prince of Wales" had to turn 3o degrees to the northwest, while at the same time allowing the forward turret to rotate to the maximum angle. Even so, the "Prince of Wales" could only use the first two turrets against the "Bismarck" to the west of the German fleet, and the latter turret against the "Tirpitz" to the east of the German fleet.

The "Prestige" did not follow the "Prince of Wales" in time, which led to the fact that the battlecruiser, which was already weakly armored, rushed in the direction of the German fleet. At this moment, the "Tirpitz" immediately shifted its target and aimed all eight main guns at the hapless "Prestige".

The "Bismarck" went all out against the "Prince of Wales". The situation began to turn to the side of the German fleet. "Tirpitz" used eight main guns against six main guns on the "Prestige", and "Bismarck" also used eight main guns against six main guns on the "Prince of Wales".

At 8:56, the forward boiler compartment of the "Prestige" was concentrated by a 38o-mm shell, which immediately lost a quarter of its power. degrees plummeted. Five minutes later, a 38o mm shell completely destroyed the aft turret of the "Prestige", and the battleship burst into flames. "Prestige" was exposed and became a fish under the main guns of the "Tirpitz". At this time, the "Prestige" had to turn, and although it was not in danger of sinking, it could not hold out for long.

Luck was not entirely on the side of the Germans. Just after nine o'clock, when a fire broke out on the Prestige, the Prince of Wales avenged the Prestige. A shell fired from the barrel of the No. 2 gun in the stern turret unexpectedly hit the steering gear of the Tirpitz. The shell landed on the sea about 2o meters outside the starboard side of the "Tirpitz" ship, and after advancing dozens of meters below the sea surface, it actually hit the battleship and damaged the steering gear!

After the steering gear was broken, the steering of the battleship was greatly affected, and the fuel in the heavy oil tanks of the ship's department also leaked, and it was difficult for the battleship to control its course if it was to sail at full sail. As a result, "Tirpitz"

No. had to lower the degree and at the same time start a left turn. As a result, the "Bismarck" also had to reduce the left turn, and for ten minutes the two battleships could only engage the enemy with the four main guns of the ship's department, and, as the degree decreased, the situation suddenly turned against the German fleet.

At 9:28, the "counterattack" returned to the battlefield, and the "prestige" had to withdraw from the battle ten minutes before that because of the reduced degree, and went to the rear to lick the wounds on its body. The German fleet completed its turn at 9:37 a.m., and the two battleships headed southwest, with "Tirpitz" in front and "Bismarck" behind.

Seeing the German battleship fleeing, the "Prince of Wales" and the "Counterattack" naturally refused to put back the two German battleships that posed the greatest threat to them so easily, and immediately began to pursue. And to the west, they were ready to use their numerically superior artillery to disable the "Bismarck" again, so that the German fleet could not return to the cover range of its bombers before dawn. As long as it dragged on until the 11th, and by the time several other battleships arrived, the two German battleships would be completely finished.

Perhaps, the British forgot that these were two battleships, and not two troop carriers.

Moreover, the huge guns on these two battleships were not destroyed, and when they thought about killing the Germans, they forgot that they could also be bitten by the German battleships.

At the beginning of the pursuit, the distance between the two sides was about 21 nautical miles (the distance between the "Counterattack" and the "Tirpitz", the maximum distance, and the distance between the "Prince of Wales" and the "Bismarck" at that time)

is about 12 nautical miles, about 15 nautical miles from the Tirpitz. The "Counterattack" was about 19 nautical miles from the "Bismarck"), and the sailors on the "Tirpitz" at that time stuck the damaged steering gear, allowing the battleship to return to 28 knots. The "Prince of Wales" is 29.5 knots, while the "Counter-Attack" is full. That is, 32 knots of degree in pursuit. The British made an extremely serious mistake at this time. They should never have put battlecruisers, which were weaker in defense, in front of battleships.

At 11:50 a.m., the "Counterattack" passed the "Prince of Wales" and ran to the front of the fleet. By 2:28 a.m. The "counterattack" was only 11 nautical miles from the "Bismarck", and the four main guns in front of it had already begun to fire at the "Bismarck", and the four main guns behind the "Bismarck" also began to counterattack, but when both sides were sailing at a high altitude and the area of the shells was very small, this kind of shelling did not make much sense.

At 2:53 p.m., the "Bismarck" suddenly turned, as if driven crazy by the enemy, and then, all eight naval guns were aimed at the "counterattack". "Counterattack" also immediately turned.

Three o'clock. The "Bismarck" fired the first shells, and the "counterattack" opened fire only two minutes late, and at this time, the distance between the two sides was only 9 nautical miles, and the "Prince of Wales" was still about 5 nautical miles behind the "counterattack", which could not help at all, and the shells were fatal for both sides.

The good fortune of the "Bismarck" came again, in the fifth volley, that is, at about 3.12 o'clock. A shell hit the bridge of the commander of the "Counterattack," and the "Counterattack" lost its command, and at 3:25 a.m., the "Bismarck" "sent" two more huge shells to the "Counterattack," one of which hit directly under the ground of the "Counterattack's" A turret and exploded near the ammunition depot. The battleship is completely finished.

The good fortune of the "Bismarck" also ended at this time, the "Prince of Wales" rushed up in time, blocked the front of the "counterattack", and then, in three rounds of shelling, the "Bismarck" ate two shells, one of which hit the turret of the B turret, which not only damaged the turret, but also caused the A turret below it to be unable to rotate, that is, one shell made the four main guns in front of the "Bismarck" all lose their combat effectiveness.

At this time, the "Bismarck" did not dare to fight, and was fighting with the "Prince of Wales"

After a few rounds of firing, the battleship withdrew from the battlefield and went to catch up with the Tirpitz, which had already run away. The "Prince of Wales" did not dare to pursue it easily, and if the two German battleships were killed, it would be finished!

"In fact, the commander of the German fleet received the news just after three o'clock that a huge formation with several capital ships had passed through the English Channel and was heading all north. If they didn't flee immediately, they would be blocked outside the port of Kiel by British warships, and they would be completely finished. Gan Yongxing shrugged his shoulders and made a final summary, "The Germans have won another beautiful tactical victory, but at the same time they have lost the opportunity to enter the Atlantic. ”

"How big were the losses of the British?" Tan Renhao nodded slightly, although the German navy is very small, it is very capable, tenacious, and very tough in battle, which is very similar to their armored troops.

"According to the information provided by the German side, the 'Hood' must be finished, the 'Counterattack' also sank on the way back, and the 'Prestige' and the 'Prince of Wales' have to be docked for overhaul." Gan Yongxing paused, "However, the British still have more than a dozen battleships in their hands, plus the French ones, even if the German Navy does not have any losses, there is still no hope of entering the Atlantic, not to mention that the four capital ships of the German Navy will be repaired in the dock." ”

"It seems that the Germans are going to be sad and angry again." Tan Renhao smiled bitterly, this is very much like a reduced scale of the "Battle of Jutland", back then, the German Navy lost the "Battle of Jutland", the whole country of Germany was sad and indignant, and even some people donated their own gold and silver ornaments to fund the Navy to build more capital ships to challenge the British Grand Fleet.

"The German Navy blocked the news, it should not have much impact, and the current Germany cannot afford any defeat at all."

"Actually, the Germans did not fail." At this time, Nie Renfeng spoke, "The Germans are the victors tactically, and they lost the opportunity to enter the Atlantic, which is also caused by strength, to be able to take out two British capital ships under such circumstances, the German Navy is indeed very strong, but not strong." From a strategic point of view, the actions of the German Navy were successful. With this naval battle, the dozen or so capital ships of Britain had to stay on the mainland to prevent the German navy from breaking through again. Perhaps, Britain will also ask France to send a few capital ships from the Mediterranean to encircle and suppress the German navy. Anyway, we don't have to worry about security in the South Atlantic for the time being, and the Persian Navy can breathe a sigh of relief in the Eastern Mediterranean. ”

"Raeder said the same thing, and he also wants us to make good on our promise and send the warship that we promised to provide to him as soon as possible." Gan Yongxing shrugged his shoulders, "During this time in Germany, Raeder hinted to me no less than ten times about providing warships, but I didn't directly agree, anyway, even if they give them the capital ship now, they can't send it to Kiel Harbor." ”

Tan Renhao and Nie Renfeng both laughed, the Germans are sometimes really rigid, and they don't know how to be flexible.