Outside the entrance to the Frost Narrow Bay in the north, the weather was gloomy, the sea was rough, there were snowflakes in the sky from time to time, and visibility on the sea was poor. "Top" point "small" said, www.Wilhelm? Vice Admiral Marshall sat on the battleship "Admiral Spee", and the entire fleet maintained a battle formation cruising on the sea.

The ships of the 1st battle group included the aircraft carrier "Blucher", the battleships "Admiral Spee" and "Mackensen", the heavy cruisers "Prince Friedrich" and "Prince Karl", two light cruisers "Stettin" and "Danzig", and the ten destroyers of the fleet are still in the port of Narvik, waiting for the arrival of domestic refueling ships.

This was a mistake in the battle plan, the German destroyers all had a problem with short legs, and the 10 destroyers assigned to the 1st battle group had a range of only 2,400 nautical miles, barely able to run a round trip between Narvik and the German mainland base, but after a fierce battle, the warships were no longer loaded with enough fuel to return home.

In such bad weather, carrier-based aircraft could not take off at all, and the aircraft carrier "Blucher," which was equipped with more than 100 combat aircraft, became a burden, and the entire fleet had to worry about it not being attacked by submarines from underwater. Now two Mackensen-class battleships have become the backbone of the entire fleet.

Although the total power of the power system increased to 180,000 horsepower, the overall speed of the "Mackensen" class battleships built during the First World War did not increase significantly due to the widening of the underwater hull in order to increase the underwater defense, but barely reached a speed of 30 knots. However, this modernization has improved the maneuverability of the whole ship.

"According to the report, the 'Prince Friedrich' signaled the discovery of six ships in the north-western sea. Maybe it was the British fleet that wanted to enter the Frost Narrow Bay! At this time, the communications officer on the flagship said.

"Order all the radars to turn on!" Marshall walked over to the large chart, where the red symbols representing the positions of the opposing ships had been marked on the map, and it was clear that they were coming for Narvik. As the battle alarm sounded inside the ship, the fighters on the warship who were resting in shifts jumped out of their beds as fast as they could. Running to their respective combat positions, the deck of the warship was immediately filled with all kinds of noisy sounds.

The four huge main turrets were slowly rotating, the muzzles of the guns were slowly pointing in the direction where the incoming ship had been discovered, and the radar antenna at the top of the mast began to rotate, and now it was impossible to see the target with the naked eye, so it could only rely on the guidance of the radar.

Germany was equipped with torpedoes on both large and medium-sized warships above the light cruiser, and large surface ships such as battleships, heavy cruisers, and aircraft carriers began to install new gunfire control radars. However, although this expensive equipment is useful, its reliability is still not guaranteed. Often, there are constant breakdowns, especially in the event of bad weather.

As the distance between the target ship and the target ship increased, the radar commander on the German ** ship judged the size and shape of the echo displayed on the monitor: the fleet consisted of three large and medium-sized ships and four small ships!

The number of these ships is the same as that of Erich? Rear Admiral Bey's 2nd Strike Group, although, according to previous reports, the 2nd Strike Group had withdrawn from the Trodheim Narrow Bay and had begun to return home after escorting the Army to shore and occupy Trondheim. It is unlikely to appear in the direction west of Narvik.

For reasons of prudence, though. Lieutenant General Marshall still ordered a report to be sent to the 2nd Combat Group, asking about the current location of the other side. Soon, Major General Bey called back to say that they had reached a position about 100 nautical miles north of Bergen.

Now that it was now certain that the target was the British fleet, Vice Admiral Marshall immediately ordered the fleet to prepare for an attack.

According to the report of the radar control room, the target is at a distance of about 23 nautical miles, and the 10-meter optical rangefinder installed on the roof of the bridge cannot see the target at all. It is only possible to rely on the number provided by the firing radar control room.

"Target 24000, azimuth 72!" As the first group of numbers jù was reported by the fire control radar control room, it indicated that the enemy ship had entered the range of the fire control radar. At this time, the "Stettin" reported that its radar was malfunctioning.

Marshall ordered the "Prince Karl" in front of it to provide the "Stedin" with a number of shots with lights.

He picked up his binoculars and looked at the sea in the distance, where it was still gray and dreary, and he couldn't see anything. But the radar room has already reported that the other side has sent two small ships that are moving quickly in their direction. It is clear that the radar of the British also detected itself.

At this time, the telegram received news that Army Air Corps and the 3rd Battle Group had attacked the British fleet off the coast of Bergen, and it was clear that the British fleet had made a big move and began to prepare for an attack on the German fleet off the coast of Norway.

Marshall ordered two battleships to keep an eye on the British fleet in the distance, while the cruisers, with a range of only 20 kilometers, were to deal with the small British ships approaching at high speed.

At 11:30 a.m., Marshall was the first to give the order to open fire.

With a loud thunderous sound, a huge ball of fire erupted from the battleship's 380-mm main gun port, instantly illuminating a large area of sea on the side of the side. The shells flew towards the unknown sea in the darkness of the distance, and it was impossible to see the point of impact, not even the sound of their explosion.

Although the test proved that the German Navy was equipped with the Seetakt fire control mine performance was quite good, the first use of radar for over-the-horizon operations still made the traditional admirals feel a little strange in their hearts. I couldn't see the enemy, and there was less excitement in my heart, as if I was conducting a shooting training.

However, soon a few flickering fires were seen on the sea in the distance, and then the dull whistling sound characteristic of large-caliber shells swept through the air, and the British began to counterattack.

Firing six large-caliber shells in a salvo, even a naval officer with a modicum of common sense can quickly determine that the opponent is a battlecruiser of the "Prestige" class, because the British are the only ones in the world who are equipped with six 15-inch guns. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that one of the main turrets of the British battleship failed. However, unless the British commander had water in his head, he would send a faulty capital ship into battle.

In terms of density of firepower, the German fleet had 20 main guns, while the British had only 6, which was far superior to its opponents. After the battleship had completed two salvos, the four cruisers had already fired 4 or 5 salvos, and judging by the situation reported by the "Prince Friedrich", one of the two small targets was sharply stalling, apparently hit by artillery, and the other had turned and was speeding away.

"Oh, hit!" Captain Jihard, the flagship who has been keeping an eye on the battle? Colonel Wagner cheered, and Marshall followed the prestige to see a ball of fire rising from the dark sea about 20,000 meters away, and then it continued to burn.

"Target 19500, azimuth 68! One hit! "The gunnery commander located above the bridge reported a set of numbers, and it seemed that the 10-meter optical rangefinder on the warship had been able to capture the other side.

"The other party is starting to turn and accelerate!" The latest reports came from the radar room.

It seems that the British are ready to run away. (To be continued......) R527