"Ceasefire?"

Gorshkov, the captain of the Excellence, frowned, he was not a fool, how could he not see that Suniko was ready to play tricks if he couldn't beat him. Living in a different place, if it is the Spaniards who prevail at this time, you see if they will cease fire? I'm afraid that grabbing the Guardian will be a slam blow that will sink it, and in the end it will be prevaricated with fog and misunderstanding.

Gorshkov thought for a moment and did not hesitate to order: "Keep firing, be sure to sink the enemy ship!" ”

This startled the commissar of the Excellence, after all, Kuznetsov had only said that he wanted to teach the Spaniards a lesson, but he did not say that he would sink them. It's easy to sink the other side, but it's not a trivial matter because of the international disputes it causes!

Gorshkov sneered: "I am treating others the way they are, these fascist bandits want to play tricks with us, and we will do the same!" Keep firing and you must sink all the enemy ships on the spot! I'm solely responsible for what happened! ”

This order is so decisive and domineering, so Gorshkov was really provoked to do it regardless of it?

Of course not, as the longest-serving commander-in-chief of the Red Navy in the future, who has successively served difficult masters such as Khrushchev and Brezhnev, and who is constantly fighting for the rights and interests of the Red Navy, how can Gorshkov be a simple-minded polar bear who only knows how to act recklessly?

At the age of twenty-seven, he was already beyond his average maturity, and he knew very well that there was no risk in doing so. What is the reason, isn't Suniko an excuse for a mistaken attack by the fog guide? Then he couldn't say that the radio was malfunctioning, and he didn't receive a telegram from the other party. Anyway, if the other party sinks, there is no proof of death in the end, and the Spaniard's one-sided words can be completely disbelieved.

Especially in the telegram from Kuznetsov. Explicitly or implicitly, it has been hinted that he can do a big job. In this case. He didn't have the courage to stop. I am afraid that the future will be uncertain.

To be honest, it is a miracle that at Gorshkov's age he can be the captain of the destroyer Excellence. And what is the reason for this miracle, the most important point is that Kuznetsov appreciates him, and if it were not for Kuznetsov's appreciation, it would have been quite difficult for Gorshkov to stand out in the talented Red Navy (historically, Kuznetsov also belonged to overpromotion. It belongs to the light stained with the Great Purge. After Ku became the commander of the Pacific Fleet, he vigorously promoted Gorshkov, of course, there was nothing wrong with Ku's vision, he chose the right person).

Gorshkov ignored Suniko, and directly pretended not to receive the telegram, but opened fire on all cylinders, frantically sweeping the slow Nationalist gunboats, and in less than ten minutes, under the fire of the Excellence. Half of the Dato was submerged in water, and its speed was getting slower and slower. It gives a sense of dying and throeping.

At this time, Suniko realized that something was wrong, and the Russians completely ignored him, acting like they wanted to put people to death, which was obviously trying to take the opportunity to stew them!

"Flags, light signals, quick!"

Suniko screamed and gave the order, but he knew very well that using flags and light signals would not necessarily work, and that if the Russians were really single-mindedly pretending not to see, it would be useless.

So the focus of his order was on the second half: "Contact the Deutschland and tell them that we have been attacked by the Russian fleet!" ”

At the last moment, the only thing Sunico could think of was his godfather, if the Deutsche cruising nearby could arrive in time, then they could be rescued!

However, the reality was more cruel than Sunico imagined, because the firepower of the Excellence was too powerful, and within ten minutes of this distress telegram being sent, the Dato had already begun to tilt at a large angle, so that a big turn at sea was inevitable.

Suniko grabbed the chart table and hissed an order: "Abandon ship!" Abandon ship now! ”

After receiving the order, the crew of the Dato rushed to the open deck, jumping into the sea like dumplings.

Looking at this scene, Gorshkov couldn't help but be a little happy, "Transfer the firepower and sink the remaining enemy ships as much as possible!" ”

Canovas. Morality. The Castillo and the Canaleas were immediately out of luck, they were able to bully the Guardian and attack the Excellence with a cold attack. But with the sinking of the Darto, and the redistribution of the Excellence's firepower, they immediately felt Alexander!

In Canovas. Morality. In the eyes of the captains of the Castillo and the Canalehas, the enemy's firepower was simply unbelievably strong, and the eight 130mm guns were like machine guns that sprayed a rain of bullets, not only fast, but also particularly accurate, so to speak, sweeping them.

In this regard, Gorshkov was also a little proud, the fire control equipment of the Excellence was all from the United States, and compared with the crude Soviet goods, the American goods seemed so high. Anyway, the Excellence, which uses American fire control equipment, has a higher hit rate than the old warships of the Red Navy, and when combined with the excellent performance of the 130-mm naval guns, it is simply a nightmare for the enemy!

It's not just a nightmare, it's a nightmare. Anyway, Canovas. Morality. The captain of the Castillo wanted to cry at this time, he was originally called by Sunico to beat the Russians, who would have thought that the other party would be an iron plate. Good fellow, I wanted to go down in one bite, but instead of eating a piece of meat, I broke a mouthful of good teeth.

"Left full rudder, retreat! Retreat now! ”

Didn't hesitate for long, Canovas. Morality. The Castillo and Canalejas quickly turned around and fled. However, the initiative on the battlefield was completely out of their hands, and the speed of these two gunboats was a joke in front of the Excellence and the Guardian. Even if the Spaniards had blown up the boiler, they would not have been able to outrun the Excellence and the Guardian.

One of the most bullying is the Excellence, you think that the Excellence was originally a heavily armed high-speed destroyer that took care of Stalin's development, and the maximum speed can exceed 36 knots lightly, and in the previous sea trials, it ran at a high speed of 42 knots with a light load in calm sea conditions! The ten or so gunboats tried to slip away in front of the Excellence, but there was no door!

According to Gorshkov's orders, the Excellence not only caught up with the two Spanish gunboats, but even overtook and blocked their way for the next hour. No matter what direction the two Spanish gunboats wanted to "break through". The Excellence can be picked up lightly. It's like sincerely playing with each other.

In fact, Gorshkov was playing tricks on the other side, because the Guardian had told him before that it was the Spaniards who provoked first, and he had to give these fascist bandits a little look, otherwise, these damn bastards would think that the Soviet Union was easy to bully!

It's not just the Excellence that can play tricks on each other, but even the guardians can be majestic, and the reason is simple. The Guardian also has a maximum speed of 25 knots, and the acceleration ability of the diesel engine is a little stronger than that of the boiler.

At that time, the Excellence and the Guardian each aimed at a Spanish gunboat and tortured each other to death. Especially Canovas, who directly received the greeting of the Excellence shell. Morality. The Castillo, the gunboat was riddled with 130-mm grenades, flames and smoke billowed through the bullet holes and the cracks in the deck, and the fog rose from a distance, like a sauna.

But for those who take a sauna, the taste is not pleasant, anyway, I didn't wait for Canovas. Morality. The captain of the Castillo gave the order, and the officers and men of the ship began to jump into the sea one after another. The whole battleship is a mess!

As for the Canalehas on the other side, the situation is not much better. Although the Guardian's firepower was weak, it was shot down in a single round. The Canalehas is also choked up. Especially after the Guardian sniped off the captain and other officers on the bridge with accurate firepower, the officers and men of the ship were a group of leaders and chaotic.

Seeing that the Excellence and the Guardian were about to reap the fruits of victory, it was at this time that the Admiral Scheer finally rushed to the battlefield. Some comrades may be strange, didn't Suniko ask the Deutschland for help? How did the Admiral Schell come about? Could it be that the Admiral Scheer is closer?

Not really, Admiral Schell, to be exact, was further away, because the Deutschland could not come!

The deployment of the Deutsche in Spain was, on the whole, lazy, and the Second Republic did not dare to directly attack German and Italian warships, but could only watch the Germans and Italians receive the referee's wages but do not enforce the law impartially. Even at one point, when there were no Red Navy ships present, the Deutsche directly escorted the Nationalist Army, and the Italians were even more arrogant, and the auxiliary cruiser Baletta sometimes simply flew the flag of the Nationalist Army to directly help transport arms and personnel.

In any case, both the Germans and the Italians felt that the Second Republic was nothing more than that, and their actions became more and more unscrupulous, and for a time they ignored the fact that they were on the battlefield.

Laxity comes at a price, as today when the fog is very strong. The Admiralty of the Second Republic sent not only two destroyers to intercept Moreno's cruiser formation, but also air forces to reconnoitre.

On the morning of that day, the Deutsche parked at sea was discovered by reconnaissance planes of the Popular Front, and because the ship was flying the flag of the National Army at the time, it was mistaken for Moreno's cruiser formation.

Soon two SB-2 bombers took off from Malaga to further confirm and launch the first wave of attacks. At this time, there was no guard on board the Deutschland, and the officers and men were exhausted by the long cruise, and the captain, Admiral Fangel, ordered the main engine to stop, and removed the anti-air observation post, and waited for the oil tanker to send supplies.

Not only that, but the attention of the officers and men of the Deutsche was also diverted by the transport boat, which, according to the orders of the above, carried some of the officers and men to the port of Ibiza to rest and recuperate, and the military band of the army played lively music on the deck, and many sailors even jumped directly into the sea to play.

At this time, Colonel Fangle in the bridge suddenly received a distress telegram from Suniko, and after consulting his superiors, he immediately ordered the fire to be raised and the anchor was raised, and all officers and men must return to their positions within ten minutes.

However, his order was given late, and almost at the same time as he gave the order, two SB-2s flew over the Deutschland, circled and examined it with bad intentions, and began to slide towards the Deutschland from a height of two thousand meters.

Before Colonel Fangle could react, the first SB-2 had dropped bombs, and the first fell into the sea two hundred meters in front of the bow of the Deutschland, causing waves almost flush with the main mast of the Deutschland. And before the water column fell, two more bombs came one after the other, creating a catastrophe among the unsuspecting sailors!

The first bomb hit the top of the shield of the third 150-mm secondary gun on the starboard side of the Deutsche Utschims, and the aviation gasoline tank of the guide zhì caught fire, and the elegant and beautiful He60 carried by the ship was ignited into a flare. The destructive effect of the second bomb was even more prominent. It penetrated the shield of the third 150-mm secondary gun on the starboard side. It then passed through the uppermost and middle decks. The compartment between ribs No. 94 and 145 was blown beyond recognition. Above the uppermost deck. Flames poured down the opening into the dining room, engulfing all the sailors waiting in line to eat!

At the same time, the flames spread towards the maintenance workshop of the secondary gun, where the storage of lubricants, alcohol and paint further exacerbated the situation. Smoke poured down the hatch that had been shattered by the blast wave to the bridge.

Even more terrifying was still to come, the two hit parts were 150 mm secondary guns, the high temperature scorched the ammunition depot of the 150 mm secondary guns, and at the critical moment, three damage management team members forcibly rushed through the obstruction of the flames to open the fire valve. Begin to fill the ammunition depot with water.

At the same time, Paul. Captain Fangle began to order the anti-aircraft guns to return fire, but everyone knew that the Germans' ship-based anti-aircraft guns in World War II were really rubbish: the power of 105 mm was good, but the pitch and rotation rate were so miserable that they couldn't catch up with the enemy planes at all. As for the 37mm "hand machine", there is no need to say much about this strange carry.

Anyway, the Deutsche fired a flurry of cannons, but not even a single mosquito was killed. Moreover, just as the great cause of fighting planes was just beginning, some of the ammunition in the ammunition depot of the 150-mm auxiliary gun was still killed.

A large fireball jumped up in the middle of the Deutschland's ship, and it looked a little scary. However, the Deutschland was lucky. The ammunition of the martyrdom was not enough to destroy the pocket battleship. Two hours later, the flames were finally brought under control. Escorted by the Admiral Speer, who rushed to the rescue, the Deutsche sailed to Formentera for emergency repairs.

By the way, the attack on the Deutschland enraged Hitler, and he ordered Dreyer to take immediate retaliation. A day later, the Admiral Speer sailed off the coast of Cartagena to prepare for an artillery bombardment, but the Republic dispatched four destroyers to carry out lightning strikes, and the Air Force's SB-2 began to drop bombs in the air again. Seeing that it was not good, the Admiral Speer could only abandon the plan to shell Cartagena and slipped away with her tail between her legs.

A day later, the Admiral Speer reappeared outside the port of Almeria, raining 275 shells into the city, 94 of which were powerful 280-mm main gun shells. As a result, 35 houses were destroyed, 19 people were killed and 55 were injured, a significant number of them women and children. On the Republican side, the show was clumsy, with only sporadic return fire from the shore defense batteries, with no 60 shells hit (historically Admiral Scheer).

Even more interesting was to come, as the Deutschland arrived in Gibraltar at the end of the month, where the Royal Navy held a funeral for the Germans. It can be seen that at that time, in order to "appease" the Germans, the dignified British Empire really didn't even want an old face.

However, the mustache did not appreciate it, and after the funeral, all the bodies were dug up, cremated on the spot, and transported back to Germany, where the high-ranking officials of the Third Reich would use the second funeral for a political show.

Of course, we are not talking about this show, but about the actions of the Admiral Scheer. The Deutsche was killed by two horizontal bombers, and he was busy fighting fires and saving himself, so he naturally could not go to relieve the siege of the Spanish godson, and the work could only fall on the head of the Admiral Scheer, and by the time it arrived at the scene, the Spaniards had almost lost the value of rescue.

Canovas. Morality. Half of the hulls of the Castillo and Cannaleas had been submerged by someone, and the smoke was billowing so that it was impossible to see what the hull looked like. Anyway, it looks like there is only one last breath left, and even if the Admiral Scheer comes, it can only help collect the body and send it to the end.

The Germans were furious at this situation, they had already witnessed the deplorable situation of the Deutschland, and they had heard Fangle say that it was the Soviet bombers who caused the tragedy. At this time, when he saw the Russians committing murder, he was naturally dumbfounded.

Without hesitation, the Admiral Schell aimed the Excellence with its cannon, and with a loud boom, the 280-mm shells crashed into the sea near the Excellence, and the column of water almost obscured the Excellence.

Gorshkov was a little stunned, he noticed the storage of the German warship, but he didn't expect the Germans to start fighting without saying a word, what was the situation? Could it be that the two countries are at war?

Gorshkov immediately sent a telegram to Kuznetsov, who was naturally also at a loss for the second monk, so he could only order the Excellence and the Guardian to retreat and not to entangle with the Germans. Of course, Kuznetsov was not ambiguous, on the one hand he sent a telegram to the Military Commission to inform him of the situation, and on the other hand, he ordered the Red Caucasus to immediately rush to the scene to support.

The situation on the battlefield was unfavorable for the Excellence and the Guardian, both ships were less than half the size of the Admiral Schell in tonnage, and the Germans were able to kill them in an instant. At one point, the Guardian begged the Excellence to retreat quickly, and they stayed behind to cover in order to avoid the loss of one of the most advanced destroyers.

But Gorshkov refused, and instead ordered the guards to go first, and he stayed to entangle the Germans. So why did Gorshkov make such a choice?

After the war, he recalled: "There is nothing to fear about the Deutschland, our ship has an absolute speed advantage, it is not risky to entangle with him for a while, and it is completely possible to evacuate safely at the speed of the guarded ship!" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to the armored train, OS, DS135, Duanjunyi, HZWANGDD, Yushiren and Comrade Juventus!