Almost at the same time that the Hood opened fire, the Bruno fired a round and a half at her.

The completed Mackensen-class battlecruisers have not changed much except for a major change in the power system, and the main guns are still four twin 350mm guns.

Its armor-piercing projectiles are capable of penetrating 354mm of armor at a distance of 20 km, which is enough to pose a lethal threat to the Hood at a distance of only a dozen kilometers.

Shelling from both sides failed to hit, and the battling of the shells poured cold seawater on the deck.

Vice Admiral William Whitworth, knowing that the Hood and the Sussex alone could not compete with the three German battle cruisers, calmly and sensibly gave a new order—

The Hood and Sussex turned southwest and increased their speed to 26 knots; All destroyers fought autonomously, holding a safe distance to delay the navigation of the German fleet.

The goal of the German sabotage fleet was to rush southwest at high speed into the Atlantic, so that the Hood could stay in front of them.

From about 18:15, as William's battle order was given, six British destroyers scattered in twos and twos, divided into three groups and cut to the German fleet from different directions.

"Enemy destroyers are approaching each other, captain, do you call in the main guns?!"

"No, keep shooting the Hood."

The Franz correctly identified the British destroyer approaching at high speed from a distance of ten kilometers, but did not use its main guns, but only fired at it with twin 150mm secondary guns.

Six British destroyers approached while firing, while preparing to fire torpedoes.

But the German battleship's shelling accuracy was only slightly worse than it had been during training, and after a few minutes, the D-class destroyer Grace was no longer worthy of its name – two 150mm bottom fuse grenades, one destroying a turret and one exploding on the port side.

The foredeck of the Grace was a mess, filled with flames and smoke, littered with metal shards and severed arms, and several steel helmets dangling on the ground.

The other five destroyers were no better, the Tribal-class destroyer Eskimo was even bombarded by the main guns of the Bruno, and the 350mm tip fuse grenade caused her a lot of damage just by missing the bullet, and the hull was flooded in many places.

Faced with the British destroyers that were firing heavily as they rushed towards their side, the Germans took it for granted that they were almost ready to fire their torpedoes, and after dropping the mines, they would release a smoke screen and turn away.

So there is nothing to be afraid of at all, the secondary gun keeps the firing suppressed, and when the torpedo is observed to fall into the water, it just turns directly to evade.

It's one thing to think, but it's another thing to actually do it.

From a distance of more than a dozen kilometers to less than five kilometers, several destroyers fired their torpedoes one after another, and one after another 533mm torpedoes broke the waves on the sea surface, leaving behind conspicuous white tracks.

Four German warships, including the Franz and Bruno, then flexibly dodged these incoming torpedoes, and easily took this trick.

However, unexpectedly, the six British destroyers still maintained their course and kept firing, fearlessly rushing towards them!

"Oh my God! Are they crazy? What are they doing?! In the Hood Command Tower, a lieutenant colonel couldn't help but exclaim.

"They're certainly not crazy, they know what they're doing, God bless them." William Whitworth said calmly.

Another major next to him hesitated for a moment, then reported, "Sir, we observed that the Styx and the Firefly were on the impact path. ”

From the Germans' point of view, the six British destroyers seemed to be launching a decisive charge.

The Eskimo destroyer was hit by a 350mm grenade in the bow, and the entire bow was almost blown away, the smoking pipes and cables were exposed, and the speed of the ship suddenly dropped to 22 knots.

Aware that the incoming destroyer was trying to disrupt his own position in hand-to-hand combat, Rear Admiral Hubert was surprised but not panicked.

"Adjust the course to 115 and use the main guns to attack the enemy destroyer." He said lightly: "They want to entangle us, the British are brave." ”

The brave destroyers did disrupt the Breaker Fleet, forcing them to use their main guns to bombard.

The Hood also grabbed the T-head in the distance, readjusted its course, and again engaged the enemy in a salvo from the port side.

About three minutes after the start of the melee, a 380-mm armor-piercing round from the Hood's C turret hit the superstructure of the Bruno.

The entire battleship seemed to stand still, wisps of black smoke coming out of it, converging into a larger column of smoke that soared into the sky.

In the other corner of the battlefield, the battlecruiser Theodore was firing at the Firefly charging diagonally towards her with all its secondary firepower.

Not to be outdone, the Firefly used its 120mm naval guns to bombard the German battleship more than 3,000 meters away, while turning on the smoke generator and turning the left rudder full.

In the process, the destroyer, with a displacement of only more than 1,000 tons, was seriously damaged, the superstructure was blown up by 150mm grenades and 105mm grenades, the radio room, the chart room, and the captain's room were all destroyed, and even the mast was overwhelmed and broke off and fell into the sea.

The Firefly arced across the surface of the sea, then vanished into the smoke she had just released.

The bloodied captain, Major Gerard, finally had a brief gap to think about what to do next, but in fact he had no better choice now, and the best solution was to fight to the end.

"Depth charge ready, 350 feet deep!"

"Sir?"

"Do as I say, now!"

The Firefly circled through the smoke screen and finally headed back towards the Theodore.

When the scarred Firefly emerged from the smoke screen, the German sailors were shocked, the two battleships, one large and one small, were already very close to each other, and there were only less than 800 meters left!

"Wow, blah, bh-"

The Teodor's starboard quadruple 20mm anti-aircraft guns opened fire on the Firefly at one o'clock, and countless shells were poured onto her hull.

However, the latter was also fired with a quadruple Vickers 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun, and the tracer bullets fired by both sides were almost intertwined.

When the two sides were only more than 500 meters apart, the Firefly began to release depth charges, and two projectiles and a slide rail dropped five depth charges in a dozen seconds.

Major Gerald then ordered the left rudder to turn, but by chance, the Teodor swerved to the right for fear of the Firefly firing a torpedo, and the two sides were on the course of impact.

At this point, there is no chance of recovery, and collisions are inevitable.

The officers and men on both sides widened their eyes and clung to everything around them that could be grasped.

Ten seconds later, the Firefly, which had already ignited a fire on the whole ship, crashed into the battlecruiser Teodor at a near-vertical angle!

"Knock !!"

The loud movement was followed by the creaking of metal twisting and crackling.

The bow of the Firefly snapped instantly, and the right side of the Teodor's hull was also knocked out of a large hole, and the Firefly's hull got stuck inside.

But before anyone could come to their senses, the depth charges dropped earlier had sunk to a predetermined depth — 350 feet in exactly 30 seconds.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ”

A white column of water suddenly appeared on the blue-gray sea, and it was not far away.

The violent shaking caused the sailors to stagger and stagger, and when they came to their senses, they began to fight fiercely in the old mode of engagement.

"Go get the rifle!"

"Lieutenant, the hatch is stuck!"

The biting waters poured into the hulls of both ships, but the British sailors smashed open the deformed weapons depot hatches with fire axes and removed Enfield rifles and Mills grenades.

But the close-quarters exchange of small arms between the two sides did not last long, nor did it degenerate into a retro gang-hopping battle.

With the influx of sea water and the resistance of navigation, the Firefly, stuck in the huge hole, came loose and drifted away half a minute later.

She sank rapidly due to the large amount of water ingress into her, and the boiler exploded, and the spilled hot steam quickly condensed into a white frost bloom.

Structurally damaged, the Firefly plunged into the water with its head down and tail cocked, and many sailors sank with the destroyer into the deep darkness of the sea south of Iceland before they could escape.

The Theodor was also uncomfortable, as a large hole in the right hull caused a large amount of water to ingress and the damage detachment to seal the damage with knee-deep icy seawater, but with little effect.

As a result, they had to evacuate temporarily, use a pumping machine to drain water uninterruptedly, and be ready to close the watertight door at any time to prevent the situation from escalating.

The depth charges dropped by the Firefly before the impact also had some effect on the Theodor, and the boiler compartment reported that the No. 4 and No. 9 boilers were not working properly, and to be on the safe side, they had turned down the output steam pressure.

And throughout the sea, fierce naval battles continued.

Although the Eskimo was bombarded by the main guns of the Bruno at the beginning, the damage was not light, but it did not affect the speed of the ship much.

Still circling at a speed of 31 knots at a distance of more than 1,000 meters, she fired a 120mm high-explosive projectile at the bridge of the Bruno

Compared with her, the Han people, who are also tribal-level, are not so lucky.

After the collision between the Firefly and the Theodor, the captain of the Hanren, Major Bangard, immediately spotted the fighter and immediately ordered the whole ship to turn sharply.

The Han rushed into the smoke screen that the Grace had released earlier, which had not yet dissipated, and used it as cover to close the distance.

When the torpedo attack was carried out, the Han Ren's quadruple torpedo launcher malfunctioned, and only two torpedoes were successfully fired, but now the fault has finally been eliminated and sufficient compressed air has been accumulated.

But she was immediately fired from the Teodor's secondary guns, and at such close range, the 105mm grenades and 150mm grenades hit more and more often.

The Han fired the remaining two torpedoes at a distance of less than five hundred meters, and then turned with all its might.

The Teodor was dodged with a full rudder on the right, only one of the two MkX 533mm torpedoes hit the middle of the left hull, and the 300kg TNT exploded underwater and set off a huge column of water as high as a mast!

But it didn't take long for a salvo from the heavy cruiser USS Peake to destroy the Han and beat her into a floating coffin with no power and no power.

Fierce naval battles continued until about 19:00 in the afternoon, and five of the six British destroyers were already hors de combat or sunk.

However, before the Germans could breathe a sigh of relief, the Hood, ten kilometers away, announced her presence with another volley.

Eight 380mm armor-piercing rounds from the "old aunt" once again formed a straddle fire on the Franz, and Major General Hubert frowned slightly, briefly tangled in what to do.

Now that the Hood is on the top of the T, should we switch to the same course as her and engage in the same battle to kill her with superior firepower?

If she is not repelled, those British people will definitely not give up, and I am afraid that they will be entangled forever.

When there is no continuation, it will be disturbed.

In the end, Hubert ordered the ship, the Bruno, and the Theodor to line up in turn, turn left and adjust the course to 195, and meet the enemy on the starboard side, and attack the Hood with all their firepower.

Three German battle cruisers fought against the Hood, which had eight 380mm guns, with twenty-four 350mm guns, and it was a one-sided situation no matter how you look at it.

The two sides then switched to a joint battle, and a European-style artillery battle began.

At 19:18 in the evening, when it was still dark, the Hood formed a straddle after two and a half salvos, and three German warships also straddled the Hood.

Two minutes later, a 350mm armor-piercing round from the Franz hit, and the Hood's stern flickered, and then a plume of gray-black smoke poured out.

Hubert watched the battle quietly, but his heart was anxious.

Hurry up, hurry up and get rid of this stubborn old aunt, you can't be pinned down here!

Just then, a communications officer came briskly and brought bad news.

"Urgent report from the submarine, Comrade Commander, U-71 has spotted the British fleet approaching us 45 nautical miles west of the Faroe Islands, and it is certain that the USS Rodney, the USS Nelson, and the USS Fury."

"I see."

The situation was now even more dire, as the Teodor's maximum speed had dropped to 26 knots due to the impact and torpedoes, although it was still faster than any low-speed battleship......

"Boom !!"

As Hubert pondered, two 380mm armor-piercing shells from the Hood's A turret hit the middle of the Franz's right hull.

The shell penetrated the broadside armor from about six meters above the waterline, destroying a flue, as a result of which three boilers had to stop work.

Over the course of the next ten minutes, three German battle cruisers and one heavy cruiser made multiple hits against the Hood - at least seven rounds of 350mm armor-piercing rounds and three rounds of 203mm armor-piercing rounds.

The Hood's speed was reduced due to injuries, the main rangefinder was destroyed, and the turrets continued the battle with their own spare rangefinders, maintaining the focus on the Franz and successfully destroying her B turret.

At 19:44 in the evening, the dark red sun came to the western sky, and the setting sun reflected the Hood, which was on fire and billowing smoke in many parts of the ship.

As the sample size increased, a small probability event finally occurred.

After Teodor completed a new salvo, the German sailors observed a large cloud of flames rising from the Hood, which erupted about two seconds later with dazzling flashes of light and billowing smoke mixed with sparks.

The Teodor's artillery almanac records that after the two sides switched to the same battle, her 12th salvo again made a valid hit on the Hood and appeared to have detonated its ammunition depot?

The Hood capsized rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, sinking faster than expected.

Everyone was stunned until a report came from the radar room, "The plane was found in the direction of 135, 62 kilometers away." ”

(End of chapter)