The "Soviet" class uses a 12-meter rangefinder, while the "Bismarck" class is equipped with a 10.5-meter rangefinder, which is the world's most accurate ultra-large ship rangefinder. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThe longer the baseline of the general rangefinder, the higher the accuracy of the measurement, due to the gap in optical technology, the accuracy of the main rangefinder of the "Soviet" class is actually not much better than the German 10.5-meter rangefinder.

But none of this matters anymore, because the distance between the two sides is close to within 20,000 meters, and the accuracy of the shelling is getting higher and higher!

The "Soviet" at this time had already withstood more than 10 direct hits of 381-mm armor-piercing shells, and even more dangerous was two direct hits underwater, and the hull in front of the armor belt was flooded, and the water intake was already more than 2000 tons!

The electric and hydraulic systems of the No. 1 turret were completely destroyed, and it had lost its combat capability, more than half of the sub-runners on the port side were destroyed, and only the four twin 100-mm high-level dual-purpose gun turrets were still combat-ready, and they had been shelling German ships with the maximum rate of fire after entering the maximum firing range of 22,241 meters.

The No. 1 boiler compartment was hit with armor-piercing shells, two boilers were unusable, and the speed dropped to 22 knots, for which the fleet commander gave an order: "Pass my order, Ukraine will command in place of our ship!" ”

Kuznetsov, having realized that the "Soviet" was no longer suitable for the flagship of the formation, lowered the flagship flag, and behind the "Ukraine" made a 20-degree turn to the left to overtake the "Soviet" from the left flank.

"How's the No. 1 boiler room going?"

"The fire is under control, but it can't continue to provide power!"

"Let the damage management personnel work harder, more than half of the casualties of the starboard auxiliary gun, and let the port gun group send a reserve!"

At this time, the "Red Ukraine" overtook the "Soviet Union" from 200 meters away from the left flank, and the six 406-mm naval guns that could still operate suspended firing, and 5 seconds after the new flagship overtook it, the ЦАС-0 electromechanical ballistic solver and the ПК-3 coordinate automatic transformer cooperated with the rangefinder to re-obtain the shelling parameters of the No. 2 German ship, and the six 406-mm guns roared again!

The German No. 1 ship 10 nautical miles away was already billowing with thick smoke, and from the large-caliber telescope, the entire superstructure of the German ship had basically been destroyed, and its eight main guns had not been fired -- the "Bismarck" was out of luck.

The crew on the starboard side of the "Red Ukraine" just now clearly saw that the port side of the "Soviet Union" was in shambles, and even the unusually strong bridge was in tatters, and black smoke was burning everywhere. Kuznetsov was very worried about the situation of the "Soviet Union", but he could not withdraw from the battle to extinguish the deck fire - the fleet still needed its own 6 huge guns, and the German No. 2 ship over there was still firing fiercely, and the tide of the battle could be reversed at any time!

The equipment in the armored conning tower was also in shambles, barely able to command the whole ship to fight, Kuznetsov held a telescope to observe the German fleet in the distance, and suddenly he noticed an anomaly in the Germans.

"The Germans withdrew."

The Deguo II and No. 3 ships began to turn at a large angle to the west, and the three German destroyers caught the center of the two fleets at full speed, and thick smoke rose.

Two salvos were fired, and the area of operation was already covered in black artificial smoke -- the "Soviet" radar capable of shelling instructions had been destroyed, and the optical sighting system had lost its target.

"Comrade Commander, the Ukrainian is calling, please ask for instructions on whether to continue the pursuit of the evacuated German ship?"

"No, our goal has been achieved, and the number one goal has been completely solved."

Now it was necessary to either pursue or pass through the smoke, and the German fleet, which could still maintain a high speed, would not be able to catch up in a moment and a half, and it was necessary to watch out for unnecessary losses and the possible madness of the Luftwaffe. The Germans' operation against Murmansk had been a complete failure, and the two damaged German battleships would have been difficult to fully repair in Norway and would not be able to pose a mortal threat to the northern route in a short time.

Kuznetsov's decision is a bit like "Nagumo in a few months", a bit conservative, and the biggest reason is about the same - the fleet is precious, and it should be brought back in its entirety! It's just that Kuznetsov is faced with a choice of direction, and Nagumo loses the opportunity to completely destroy the last main force of the US Pacific Fleet.

Although it is a pity, since the purpose has been achieved, it is important to bring the fleet back intact.

The other three Red Navy warships, having received a clear order from their commanders, aimed all the cruiser's main and secondary guns and the battleship's secondary guns at the nearest German destroyer, and before it hid in the fog, a burst of artillery fire blasted it into a pile of burning scrap metal, and the small destroyer soon sank into the sea.

It is unbelievable that when approaching 10,000 meters, the burning German battleship actually had secondary guns to shoot at itself, and its speed was already negligible!

"Red Ukraine" made two salvos at a distance of 10,000 meters at a speed of 16 knots, Kuznetsov saw 16 hit points and 2 near-misses, all the artillery fire of the German ship was dumb, but it still held on to the sea!

"It's Bismarck."

"Send destroyers, use torpedoes, tell the Germans with lights, we give them 20 minutes to get on the lifeboats." Kuznetsov gave an order that he might be court-martialed, because he had met a stubborn adversary today - and it was this that the German naval flag was still flying high on the mast of the "Bismarck"!

The "Soviet Union" was mobilized to carry out damage control operations, while the two destroyers approached the "Bismarck" at a distance of 3,000 meters and fired six 533-mm torpedoes. The violent underwater explosion finally became the last straw that crushed the "Bismarck", and it slowly sank to the bottom of the sea with the glory of the Third Reich Navy.

"Leave two destroyers to rescue the German sailors, and the other ships are headed for 180 and at a speed of 16 knots."

It is not safe to stay here any longer, German planes will come, and submarines will come like bloodthirsty wolves, and they will have to evacuate as soon as possible. For those Germans who fought until the last moment, Kuznetsov did not use words like "capture prisoners" and did not leave them to fend for themselves in the icy Barents Sea, but made a very gentlemanly move that belonged to the navy.

The destroyer that rescued the German sailors was to go to Murmansk, it was always unsafe to go too far with a group of prisoners, and the others, including the "Soviet", would return to Arkhangelsk: the "Soviet" would have to be docked for overhaul and replace a destroyed main gun; "Red Ukraine" also hit 5 381-mm armor-piercing shells, 12 203-mm shells and at least ten more 150-mm shells. A number of deck facilities were destroyed, and the unarmored belt protection area was also badly damaged and needed to be repaired; The two cruisers also suffered losses on their own, but fortunately did not become targets for the German battleships, otherwise they would have been killed by a single 381-mm shell.

The weather was still a mess, and the aircraft carrier group that had been evacuated in advance in the rear was 50 nautical miles away: in today's battle, they were "not a single bomb was released," which made all the pilots and crew members hold back their fire: There have always been pilots who have asked for instructions to forcibly take off and attack German ships, and they are not hesitating to lose their own lives, but they are all vetoed one by one.

This will not be the time to be brutal, and Kuznetsov will not agree to the reckless demands of the pilots.

"Send another telegram to Moscow: the German fleet has retreated, and our formations have left the battlefield. sinking the battleship "Bismarck" and a destroyer of the German Navy, damaging other German ships; Our "Soviet Union" suffered heavy losses, the losses have been controlled, and the other column-gun warships involved in the column have only suffered varying degrees of damage, and the aircraft carrier formation is safe. Commander of the Northern Fleet Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov. ”

Before the artillery battle began, the fleet had sent a telegram to Moscow, which the comrades of the High Command were waiting for Kuznetsov's report, and everyone's hearts hung in the air - the German fleet had made itself so powerful last month that it had not been able to do anything, and the Red Navy was forced to engage in a basically non-dominant artillery battle with it, and anything could happen.

The most fearful person was Orlov - the Red Navy could not afford the consequences of a possible defeat in this battle, and the result of winning it was so tempting!

Lin Jun was also waiting for the report of the Northern Fleet, and the "aircraft carrier battleship" fleet that he had worked hard to promote was going to fight a Jutland-style artillery battle with two of Germany's most powerful warships, which was completely different from what he had imagined in his mind. But God just won't give you face, the vast sea is not something that human beings can control!

When the staff officer ran into the conference room and read out Kuznetsov's message, everyone exhaled, and Lin Jun was the first to congratulate Orlov: "From now on, the whole world will be impressed by the performance and strength of the Red Navy!" The whole world will remember everything that happened today in the Barents Sea! ”

Comrade Marshal's face was already "smiling like a peach blossom", although he did not completely annihilate the German fleet, but it was already a victory to be able to repel it, let alone kill the "Bismarck", and now the Red Navy can be regarded as raising its eyebrows, and no naval power dares to underestimate the Red Navy.

Stalin didn't ask questions like "why didn't there be a pursuit", the battleship was his heart, and if he won the battle, he should be withdrawn, and the old man was still a little conservative in his thinking. Instead, they carefully asked why the aircraft carrier did not play a role, which made Orlov and Lin Jun explain for a while, but in any case, everything is worth rejoicing. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )