"Report, the radar found that the No. 2 ship of the enemy formation has slowed down significantly, obviously it has been heavily damaged, and it can't run!"

"Sir, it seems that the No. 2 ship only has 6 cannons capable of firing!"

"Sir, the enemy seems to have disbanded the formation!"

"Hehe......" heard that the American fleet was disbanded in formation, Hubert. Admiral Schmidt laughed and said, "Now the US Pacific Fleet is going to be seriously injured." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoLet Bismarck's reconnaissance aircraft search for the enemy formation's No. 1 ship, which should also be a South Dakota-class! ”

Hubert. Schmidt had already determined that the opponent had two South Dakota-class or North Carolina-class battleships based on the fire of the guns and the speed of the enemy ship formation. He wasn't going to let any of them go!

As for the remaining 7 slower battleships, Hubet. Schmidt judged that the ships were built before the last world war, and that they could run up to 20 knots. There was no threat at all to the German, Italian, and French battleships, which were generally facing at 27 knots, so it would not hurt to let them escape.

"Regroup," Hubert. Admiral Schmidt bit his cigarette and ordered, "The Ludendorff, the Barbarossa, the Roma, and the 6th Destroyer Group form the 1st Squadron and are responsible for attacking the enemy's 2nd ship. Bismarck, Richelieu, Jean. The Barr, together with 3 heavy cruisers and the 4th Destroyer Group, formed the 2nd Squadron, with the Bismarck as the flagship to destroy the enemy's 1st ship. ”

Hubert. Admiral Schmidt now teamed up the slower Ludendorff, the less seaworthy Roma, and the relatively weak Barbarossa to sink the already wounded South Dakota.

At the same time let the Bismarck, Richelieu and Jean. The Barr goes after another South Dakota-class battleship, the Indiana.

Such formations, of course, were made in order to maximize the might of the ships. Of the 6 battleships under the command of Admiral Schmidt, the most suitable for pursuit were undoubtedly the 2 French battleships, because their main guns were a bit strange in layout, and the 8 380mm cannons were all in the bow. The 2nd Sentai had 20 380mm cannons at their disposal while the fleeing Indiana had only three 16-inch (406mm) cannons in the stern to return fire.

Although the Indiana's 16-inch cannon was not insignificant, the heavy bullets fired could even penetrate the armor of the Yamato. However, the 380mm guns of the two French battleships were equally powerful, and the armor-piercing shells weighed 777 kilograms, and although the theoretical penetration depth was not as good as the Veneto-class Anshaldo 1934 381mm main guns, it was still enough to penetrate the South Dakota-class waterline armor belt at a distance of more than 20,000 meters.

And the Bismarck, Richelieu and Jean. The Barr were both high-speed battleships that could chase the enemy at a high speed of 30 knots. The South Dakota class, on the other hand, can only run 27 quarters, and the speed difference of 3 quarters may not be a problem when the battle is in line. But it comes in handy when it comes to pursuits.

"Colonel, we can't run away!"

The Indiana's first mate shouted at the captain, Colonel Merris, "It's only 22,000 meters!" ”

As soon as his words fell, fires flashed one after another on the misty sea in the distance!

"Hell, there are at least 20 15-inch cannons...... There were 4-5 battleships of the Germans! The Indiana's first mate spoke with a crying voice.

4-5 Bismarck-class! No matter how powerful the Indiana is, it's a dead end.

"Impossible." Colonel Merris was much calmer than his subordinates, "There should have been 2 French battleships of the Richelieu, and the main guns of such battleships were in the bow. ”

France and the United States had good relations before the war, and Colonel Myris had the privilege of visiting this class of battleships of the French and was very impressed. I didn't expect that the United States and France would actually meet each other one day now, which is really a bit of providence. However, this also shows that Germany's integration in Europe has been quite successful!

"We can't go on like this," Colonel Myris gritted his teeth, "Zuo Manrudder, let's turn around and fight them!" ”

"The enemy had at least 3 battleships ......"

"But we have 9 16-inch (406mm) cannons!" Colonel Myris said, "A single shot could have the potential to inflict heavy damage on a Richelieu-class!" ”

"Playing Riche?"

"Yes!" Colonel Myris exclaimed, "Be sure to let the French know that following the Germans will not end well." ”

……

"Colonel, enemy ship No. 2 has turned and seems to be going to engage us!"

The Indiana's turn was soon detected by the Bismarck's radar, and the Bismarck's captain, Rear Admiral Lindemann, who had also been temporarily turned commander of the 2nd Sentai Squadron, immediately understood the other side's intentions.

"The Yankees know they can't run, so they're going to fight with us!" Lindemann grabbed the handrail and commanded loudly, "Turn the rudder, the direction is 65, let's rush up to it, close the distance, and hit hard!" ”

The three German-French battleships and one American battleship all raised their speeds to the highest speed, and they ran head-on on the sea, and as the distance between the two sides quickly closed, the optical sighting equipment on the ships soon could point the way for the cannons.

The accuracy of the artillery bombardment also improved rapidly, and the first contribution was made by the Bismarck's 380mm main gun, and in the fourth salvo, a 380mm armor-piercing shell successfully penetrated the Indiana's waterline armor belt and exploded close to the bow ammunition depot. Unfortunately, it was not possible to blow through the bulkhead of the solid ammunition depot. But it still ignited a lot of miscellaneous things and circuits, and caused a fire.

Immediately afterwards, the Frenchman Jean. The 777 kg (body) armor-piercing bullet fired by the Barr also hit the stern of the Indiana, and the French used it as a heavy bomb, and the penetration and destruction power should not be underestimated. The shell pierced through the relatively thin stern armor of the USS Indiana and exploded on a thick plate of armor outside the engine room. Although it did not penetrate directly into the engine room, the shock from the explosion caused a malfunction in one of the Indiana's engines.

Then the shells of the French battleship Richelieu also hit the Indiana. It was the battleship's lifeboat deck that would be hit, and the powerful explosion blew all the lifeboats piled there to pieces and caused a fire.

However, the Indiana soon returned to color, and as the distance between the two sides was reduced to 17,000 meters, a terrifying 16-inch (406mm) super-heavy bomb hit the Richelieu-class battleship's 330mm waterline armor belt.

It's also a one-hit penetration! At this distance, even the Yamato's waterline armor was difficult to withstand the Indiana's 16-inch super-heavy shells, not to mention the Richelieu, which still refused to give up after tearing through the Richelieu's main armor belt, and hit the bulkhead armor of the Richelieu's No. 1 boiler room, although it did not penetrate directly into the power compartment, the explosion still ripped open the armor to form a scattering stream, damaging the 2 boilers inside, and the Richelieu's speed suddenly dropped to 22 knots.

However, the Richelieu's firepower did not weaken, but instead returned fire in bursts. Soon again, a 380mm shell hit the starboard main armor belt of the Indiana at a distance of 14,800 meters, this time because it was close enough, the penetration of the shell also increased greatly, and finally penetrated the parapet wall of the Indiana No. 2 boiler room, and exploded inside, and the swept shrapnel turned the interior of this boiler room into a literal hell, killing all the people inside and blowing 2 boilers to pieces.

But the Richelieu's good fortune seemed to end there, and in the next round of shelling, a ball of fire suddenly rose from outside the battleship's No. 2 turret, and when the smoke cleared, it was suddenly discovered that one of the four gun barrels of the turret had actually broken.

"Explode!?" Major General Lindemann, who served as the commander of the team, heard the report, and it was a little incredible. How did this happen? Could it be that the Richelieu's cannon was of substandard quality, and it would overheat and explode after a dozen or twenty rounds?

"Let the Richelieu stop shelling and withdraw from the battle!" Lindemann didn't dare to let the French baby battleship risk fighting again, and the bombing accident also made half of the turret ineffective (the Richelieu appeared to have two turrets, but in fact each turret was separated into two, forming two halves), and theoretically only 6 cannons could fire, but who knows what will happen to these 6 cannons?

After letting the Richelieu retreat, only the Bismarck and Jean were left on the side of the Germans. Two battleships Barr, as well as three other heavy cruisers, took on one South Dakota-class and one American heavy cruiser against the Americans, and let the . The main gun used by the Barr is exactly the same as that of the Richelius, which is really scary.

"Now deal with the other Richelieu!" Colonel Myris tasted the sweetness and decided to continue bullying the French, and if he could knock out another French battleship as well, then only one Bismarck-class would be left to deal with.

Unfortunately, his good fortune ran out on the Richelieu's bombed gun, and less than 2 minutes after the Richelieu retreated, Jean. One 380mm armor-piercing bullet fired by the Barr pierced the 406mm armor of the Indiana Tower, killing all the people in the Tower, including Colonel Merris. After another 1 minute, Bismarck's 380mm high-speed light bullet finally showed its power at a distance of less than 14,000 meters, penetrating the Y turret in the stern of the Indiana and exploding inside the turret, completely eliminating one-third of the Indiana's main gun firepower.

Subsequently, Bismarck and Jean. The Barr's high speed began to show its power, and the two battleships began to chase the Indiana for a butt beating, as without the stern gun fire, the Indiana was left to take a beating. In just a few minutes, four 380mm shells were fired, one of which made its way into Engine Room 2, blowing up the steam turbine inside and reducing the Indiana's speed to less than 15 knots. After another 1 minute, let. One of the Barr's 380mm shells penetrated the Indiana's stern gun magazine.

After the massive explosion, the stern of the battleship Indiana almost ceased to exist, and the sea rushed in, and the battleship sank into the icy Atlantic Ocean in a short time.

At the same time, Vice Admiral Ingram's flagship, the South Dakota, was besieged by the Ludendorff, Barbarossa, and Roma. However, before the South Dakota sank, its 16-inch (406mm) guns also dealt heavy damage to the Barbarossa, first shattering its No. 3 turret to pieces, and then hitting the starboard stern below the waterline, not only opening a large hole, but also penetrating the No. 4 engine room and shattering the steam turbine inside.

In the case of heavy damage to 2 battleships and loss of combat effectiveness, Hubert. Admiral Schmidt did not dare to fight, so he ordered the fleet to retreat. The end of this sea battle, which later history called the "Enigmatic Battle of the Sea of Fog". (To be continued.) )