Although the Bismarck and the Bavaria were choked enough, the Baden, which was last in line, took advantage of this opportunity to give Nevada two blows, a 15-inch shell drilled through the lower part of a secondary gun, successfully tore through the armor of the bomb lane, and then detonated the ammunition inside, a huge column of smoke rose from the side chord, and the sound of continuous explosions and metal breakings came and went. In order to avoid martyrdom, the Americans decisively filled the auxiliary gun ammunition depot with water, and before the Americans could breathe a sigh of relief, two more main gun shells hit the Nevada turret, one of which destroyed the two barrels of the No. 1 turret, while the other shell hit the front of the No. 3 turret, it stands to reason that this shell could not penetrate the armor, but the violent impact and explosion still caused some problems with the servo of the No. 3 turret. As a result, in a short period of time, the American battleship had only 3 guns left to use.

Obviously, the German fleet at this time is not suitable to continue to fight with the other side, not to mention anything else, at least deal with the loopholes first. And if Sims, after using up almost all the destroyers and torpedo boats, wants to destroy the other side with naval guns, how long will it take? Although the Bismarck was also heavily damaged, Nevada had little combat effectiveness, and the American fleet was better than the other side, that is, its maneuverability was okay. The speed of the opposing fleet at this time is only 17 knots at most. At this time, the German fleet was licking its wounds on the side, and Sims decisively gave up the plan to continue to fight with the other party, he was now thinking about how to meet with Magiffin as soon as possible and save the American fleet, after all, Tycho's Allied Mediterranean Fleet has an absolute advantage!

Overall. Hipper's game did not play well this time, not so much because he suffered more losses than the other side, but because he could not stop the convergence of the American fleet. His promise to Tycho had failed, and Sims shook off Hipper and headed southwest. The German fleet, which was being repaired, was left behind. So now the question arises, what should the German fleet do?

"Change the flagship, I'll go to the Baden, Baden and the Bavaria will continue to catch up with the American fleet, at least to ensure that when the American fleet converges, we can also meet the Italians! As for the Bismarck? Immediately attack the Pennsylvania, which has lost control. After destroying the ship, the Bismarck could reach the nearest Spanish port and seek refuge. After a moment of contemplation, Hipper gave the order, which surprised the others. This is to continue to split the fleet, and if the already small fleet is dismantled again, it will be too dangerous! Now there are only two light cruisers left, how else are you going to divide them?

"The Bismarck is not only flooded. And the power is impaired. It is definitely not able to keep up with the fleet, in this case it is better to attack the Pennsylvania, which is also damaged, although the latter's firepower is okay, but it can't maneuver, and even when it is difficult to turn, it can't match the Bismarck with 6 15-inch naval guns, although the Bismarck is now at a speed of 16 knots at most, but it is no problem to pursue the Pennsylvania, which is only about 10 knots. Even if you can get rid of the tugboat. Submarines can attack this giant who has broken its hamstrings! And the other two battleships, although one of them was torpedoed. But a mere 900 tons of water is not a big deal, and with strong power, they are still faster than the American Iron Tortoise. After a little rush repair, Tycho must be supported, otherwise the Tycho fleet is in danger of being routed! In his report afterwards, Hipper explained his decision in this way.

As the veteran of the Navy, Hipper's orders, although suspicious, were still carried out to the letter. On the one hand, the battleship was quickly repaired, and on the other hand, it was redeployed. The German fleet was temporarily withdrawn from the battlefield, and Sims, who was bent on joining up with Magifin, naturally did not fight to the death. "We have repelled the German fleet, two Bismarck-class battleships have been dealt a heavy blow, the Pennsylvania has been heavily damaged, and the remaining battleships will continue to join you as planned." After seeing the German fleet give way to the passage, Sims sent this telegram, which was controversial in later generations. This telegram contains too much uncertainty, what is the criterion for the other side to be hit hard? Has it reached the point where you can't fight? Does the other side still have any intention of continuing the fight? How is your own damage? How much combat power do the remaining three capital ships that came to support remain?

Maybe a telegram shouldn't have been too long in the first place, and maybe some of the questions were too many for Sims to answer, and he could only guess. In Majifen's reply, the situation of the Hipper's fleet was specifically mentioned, and Sims had already left the battlefield at this time, and he could only answer by saying that we could no longer see the opponent. The German fleet is indeed out of sight, but at the moment the direction of action of both sides is not a secret, and the other side still has a chance to find it. Looking at the two overly simplistic telegrams, Majifen fell into deep thought. At this moment, each of his commands leads to very different consequences, and the glory of victory and the abyss of defeat are sometimes only one step away. He was very irritable now, the Allied fast fleet was already very close to the target, and just now, the battleship Longxiang and the battleship Gneisenau, which were at the head of the team, had conducted a round of test firing from 19KM away! It won't take long for the other party to bite his tail, and it seems that by now, Majifen has no more choices!

"Damn Hipper, didn't you say that he would take care of the rest? How did the American fleet rush over? "At the same time that Sims and Magiffin were communicating, Hipper also informed Tycho of the situation on his side, which made Tycho, who wanted to fight a big fight, a little messy!" This guarantee is too unreliable, right? Tycho muttered to himself. If Sims comes, then the offensive and defensive momentum will be completely reversed, and his side will have a disadvantage, and now there are only two options, either fight with Majifen before the opponent's support arrives, or just leave. But obviously, if he leaves, the Hipper fleet will be besieged by the American fleet that has turned around, although Tycho is very dissatisfied with Hipper's miscalculation, but he must not let the Hipper fleet be completely annihilated! Otherwise, the Mediterranean and North Seas will really become stagnant waters! What's more, Hipper said that he would definitely rush to the battlefield to participate in this last battle, and Tycho would have no reason to flash people!

"The Americans seem to be adjusting their fleet, they are starting to shrink their formations, and they are trying to change formations." At this moment, the news from the lookout made Tycho's heart tighten, and it was clear that Majifen had also received a telegram from Simms, and seemed to be planning to fight! Both sides were a little overwhelmed by the situation of the other battlefield, but now the Tycho fleet was clearly no match for him, and he needed to wait for the next five battleships to arrive before engaging them. So Tycho ordered the fleet to slow down and prepare to take the formation into battle with the opponent.

Although it took Sims nearly 5 hours to meet Magifen at the beginning, because Magifin took the initiative to move closer to him, by now, at most 2 hours, Sims should be able to meet him. So Majifen is not afraid at this time, the time is on his side, the opponent's battleship formation has not yet arrived, and now there is still an advantage, when the opponent's battlefleet is in place, Sims is basically coming up, no matter how you look at your side, there is an advantage, of course, there is a premise here, that is, Simms's telegram is correct, and the Germans will not look for trouble again!

Both sides began to shrink their formations, waiting for the time to fight, Magiffin waited for Sims again, while Tycho was waiting for the next 5 battleships, the American fleet gave up going north and began to turn to prepare for engagement, and Tycho, who had the advantage in speed, naturally did not engage in a weak tone, but the Italian fleet deviated slightly to the southeast, and for the opponent with an advantage in speed, Magiffin could not force the opponent to fight, and in the current situation, Magiffin's highest goal was naturally to hit the opponent hard with Sims, The minimum goal was for Tycho to retreat south knowing he was invincible, while he and Sims went to find the battered German fleet and annihilate it in one fell swoop! If you can destroy three Bismarck-class battleships, then the shape of the entire sea will be changed! The Entente will have a huge advantage! The High Seas Fleet in the North Sea will not be able to fight anymore, and the Allied Mediterranean Fleet will only be able to retreat into the Mediterranean.

At this time, Majifen was also a little fluttering, this is an opportunity to make the US Navy raise its eyebrows! If the battle can be decided, then the US Navy will wash away all the previous shame! And now, both sides seem to have the intention of fighting to the death, and more importantly, the current shape seems to be in their favor!

However, the subsequent result made Majifen feel a little uneasy, the Allied Mediterranean Fleet converged before Sims, and at this time the 12 super dreadnoughts in Tycho's hands were all in place, and they redeployed the formation, with the Long Xiang and 4 Caraciono-class battleships at the front, and they would fight the most powerful Cunzài in the US Navy, then three Huaxia foreign trade version of the fast battleships, followed by the only remaining super dreadnought Loudon of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and three Spanish-class fast battleships. As the 4 weakest warships in the entire fleet, the opponents they have to face are definitely not strong! And Magifin had only 10 battleships in his hands, 2 Tennessee-class battleships and 1 Nevada-class battleship, plus 2 French Brestani-class battleships that would form the fist of the American fleet, which he would use against 5 Italian battleships. Two New York-class battleships and the USS Utah will be used against three Huaxia production foreign trade type battleships. The Seven Provinces and the exiled Greek Navy's Athens dreadnought will be used to deal with the next 4 super-dreadnoughts, well, both in terms of quantity and quality, the American fleet is much weaker, but Magiffen believes that it will be different when a Qiē Sims arrives!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 and the book friend hukaikaka for the tip ~~~~~~. (To be continued......)