"Leipzig" is finished! It was targeted by the battleship "Revenge".

Originally, the flagship of the home fleet was going to sneak up on the "Scharnhorst" until it was detected by the opposing radar. However, he did not expect that the 280mm cannon of the "Scharnhorst" would be so accurate, and only 10 salvos would beat the "London" to the ground, losing its combat capability.

According to this tactic, the other three heavy cruisers and one light cruiser equipped with radar that Admiral Forbes arranged for the ambush would not be entangled for long, and they would all be sunk and crippled by the "Scharnhorst", and the painstaking ambush would be in vain.

As a last resort, Admiral Forbes ordered the bombardment of the "Leipzig" and the scare of the "Scharnhorst" - a decision that was later considered a serious mistake. Admiral Forbes also retired from active duty as a result.

However, in terms of the effect at the time, Charles. There was nothing wrong with Admiral Forbes's decision, after all, the "Shane" was a battleship, and even if Forbes took a few more heavy cruisers, it might not be able to damage it and slow it down.

As soon as the cannon of the "Revenge" sounded, the "Scharnhorst" really did not dare to fight, and turned the bow of the ship to escort the "Seydlitz" to escape.

And the light cruiser "Sheffield" of the "Southampton" class, equipped with a search radar, and three other heavy cruisers, followed far behind the "Scharnhorst". Since the "Sheffield" has radar, they can follow beyond the visual distance without being hit by the three 280mm cannons in the stern of the "Scharnhorst".

Therefore, the whereabouts of the "Scharnhorst" and "Seydlitz" were completely mastered by the British fleet!

And only by mastering the whereabouts of the opponent can the fleet be mobilized to encircle and intercept! From this point of view, it was completely worth paying for the "London" and five merchant ships, and it was also worth sinking a light cruiser "Leipzig" to recover some money.

The commander of the battleship "Revenge", Admiral Forbes, after listening to the report on the loss of the "London" (basically scrapped), only nodded slightly and said: "Okay, we have caught them!" This time I really caught it! ”

It was searched by aircraft before, but it was of little use, because the British carrier-based aircraft were so bad that they were completely targets for the Fokker Zero. And now it was "caught" with the radar of a light cruiser, and basically did not run.

"Alright, it's time for the Hood to get out of town!" Charles. Forbes whispered, "And only she can sink the Scharnhorst." ”

It's really sad to say, the British Royal Navy, which has dominated the seas for hundreds of years, is now facing the "Scharnhorst" and "Seydlitz", and there is only one "Hood" that can be used!

"Where's our 'Hood'?" Forbes walked to the chart table, and a staff officer had already marked the location of the "Hood" and the "Royal Ark" on the chart.

"Admiral, here they are, about 500 nautical miles northwest of the Azores."

"So where is Shane running away now?"

"Southwest, in the direction of the Azores." Rear Admiral Phillips said, "You can let the Hood and the Ark Royal intercept it." We are in the east, F-Fleet is in the north, H-Fleet is in the south, and they can only flee to the west. ”

Without the Sheffield's radar, the Scharnhorst and Seydlitz could have passed between F, I and H. But the two German capital ships, now tracked by radar, did not dare to do this, and Vice Admiral Machar did not want to do so.

"Give the submarines electricity and let them turn around and return to the waters near the Azores." Vice Admiral Machar said, "Let's fight the Hood there, and the time will be chosen in the evening...... It should be a firefight tomorrow night! ”

The main gun of the "Scharnhorst" was only 280mm, which was not at all a match for the 15-inch gun of the "Hood". The armor of the "Shane" could not withstand the 15-inch cannon of the "Hood", and the armored defense of the "Hood" could not theoretically be sunk by the 280mm cannon.

However, the armored defense of the "Hood" was not so easy to withstand the torpedoes of the G7 series (50 or 53.3 cm in diameter and weighing more than 1.5 tons) used by German submarines.

And to launch a submarine sneak attack, it is better to choose to engage in a night battle. Moreover, the "Scharnhorst" also has a radar, although the current radar technology can still be used as a fire control, but it can still be used as an auxiliary means of aiming, and can also give direction to the submarine.

……

During the day on 13 October, the speed advantage of the Scharnhorst and Seydlitz was once again apparent. The formation of two German ships galloped all the way across the Atlantic, leaving the British I, H, and F fleets far behind (they were on average 10 knots slower than the Scharnhorst and Seydlitz), with only one British light cruiser and three British heavy cruisers cautiously following.

And the "Seydlitz" also made 18 sorties of Fokker 99 to bomb the British cruiser that was trailing. One of the turrets of the heavy cruiser "Cumberland" of the "Kent" class was penetrated by a PC-99 bomb dropped by Fokker 250, and the heavy damage withdrew from the pursuit. However, the "Sheffield", which was equipped with radar, was very lucky, and in the two air strikes launched by the "Seydlitz", it was not the target of the attack.

After completing the second air raid, the Fokker 99 of the "Seydlitz" began to act as a reconnaissance aircraft, and together with three Ar-196s, they carefully searched the sea area in the east, north, and west directions.

"Lieutenant General, Ar-196 has discovered 'Hood' and 'Ark Royal'."

At 4:26 p.m., Major General Reifman reported to Lieutenant General Machar about the discovery of the Ar-196 seaplane.

"At 120 nautical miles, the direction is also the Azores," Leifman said, "obviously trying to block us!" ”

"The location of the submarine?"

"They're all around!" Leifman replied, "Now we are less than 100 nautical miles from the Azores. ”

"Okay!" Machar nodded heavily, "Let the 'Seydlitz' make one last sortie, except for the 8 direct cover aircraft, and all the rest will be hung up and bombed the British cruisers that follow us!" And we...... Now go shell them and drive them away. ”

The purpose of driving away the British cruiser that was following the ass was to get the "Seydlitz" out of it. This is an aircraft carrier, and it cannot participate in an artillery battle with the Hood. According to the plan, the "Seydlitz" will use the darkness and radio silence to bypass the Azores and then go north, and then return to Germany or take refuge in Soviet ports north of Iceland.

At 5 p.m., air strikes and shelling began. The British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, which rushed to the front, was unlucky, as the aft C turret was pierced by a PC-250 bomb, causing a massive deceleration (to 11 knots). Then it was overtaken by the "Scharnhorst", and 280mm shells rained down, which quickly turned the "Exeter" into a fireship.

The 8,555-ton heavy cruiser also followed in the footsteps of the "London" and fell victim to the 280mm cannon of the "Scharnhorst", and in less than half an hour it broke into two sections after a violent explosion and sank into the Atlantic.

Seeing the tragic end of the "Exeter", the remaining 1 British heavy cruiser and the light cruiser "Sheffield" did not dare to approach the "Shane" again in any case, but simply lingered outside the range of the "Shane's" cannon fire.

And the "Seydlitz" took the opportunity to disappear into the vast ocean.

"Admiral, we've lost the Exeter," Rear Admiral Phillips on the Revenge reported to Admiral Forbes at 5:10 a.m. "In addition, we lost the aircraft carrier Sedlitz."

"As long as the Scharnhorst is still there!" Admiral Forbes said, "If you sink it, the Germans' broken fleet will not dare to appear again...... In this way, we have defended the maritime supremacy of the Empire, so now it's up to the Hood. ”

Maritime supremacy was, of course, the most important thing for the British Empire!

If, tonight, the "Hood" sank and the "Scharnhorst" returned triumphantly, then the whole world would know: the end of the British Empire has come!

"Lieutenant General, the respective areas of operation of 10 submarines, including U-37, U-38, U-39, U-40, U-41, U-43, U-44, U-64, U-65 and U-103, have been confirmed."

"Lieutenant General, the 'Seydlitz' sent a telegram: it is very safe, it will enter radio silence."

"Lieutenant General, in the northwest direction, the radar finds a large target, the distance is 30 thousand!"

In the command tower of the "Scharnhorst", the atmosphere suddenly became extremely solemn. The "large target" 30,000 meters away was most likely the battlecruiser "Hood"!

"Ship-wide lighting control!" Captain Leifman immediately gave the order.

It's already 7:44 p.m., there is no moon in the sky, and visibility over the sea is extremely low. It was a good weather for the Scharnhorst, which had a radar. And although the "Hood" can also be guided by a light cruiser with radar (in addition to the "Sheffield", the "Hood" also carries an air defense escort ship equipped with radar), but after all, it cannot be compared with its own radar.

"Pull up the curtains of the conning tower, we can't let in a little light now." Captain Leifman finally ordered the staff officer to close the thick curtains. The entire warship is like a giant beast hidden in the darkness, quietly waiting for its prey to take the bait. (To be continued.) )