After finishing speaking, Vice Admiral Lütjens remained silent, seeming to be considering the next move. According to the current strength of the German Navy, it is definitely not a wise move to send out all the troops to fight the British Royal Navy, but the head of state personally Marshal Redl and Vice Admiral Lütjens had to listen to the orders given. In fact, they took another gamble and chose to believe in the powerful combat effectiveness of the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz. The battleship Bismarck and the battleship Tirpitz combined, even if facing half the strength of the British home fleet, the two warships have a high chance of escaping.
In fact, this is also true, facing the battleship Nelson, the battlecruiser HMS Hood, and the battlecruiser HMS Repulse of the British Royal Navy. The Bismarck and Tirpitz, like their German predecessors in the Battle of Jutland, took the initiative to attack with weak forces. On the one hand, this is because Germany does advocate the concept of active attack, but on the other hand, it is also a helpless move. If you are weaker than your opponent and adopt passive defensive tactics, your opponent will only become stronger as time goes by.
However, although he believed in the power of the two battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz, Vice Admiral Lütjens decided to make a quick decision so that the British Royal Navy could intercept the two battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz from here. Judging from the actions, the German Navy's action plan has been exposed. Now the British Royal Navy may be dispatching troops to prepare to encircle and annihilate Germany's only two battleships. If that's the case, that's terrible.
Vice Admiral Lütjens, who was frightened by his own reasoning, knew that now was not the time to waste time. He must make the right decision in order to escape from the encirclement that the Royal Navy might have set. The severe action forced Vice Admiral Lütjens to make a quick decision. Vice Admiral Lütjens scanned the three British battlecruisers in front of him with cautious eyes, looking for the weak points of the three battleships. Suddenly, Vice Admiral Lütjens's eyes lit up. Anyone familiar with him knew that Vice Admiral Lütjens had already made a decision. "Order, Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann, captain of the battleship Bismarck, the main target is the battlecruiser Hood!" Then he looked at von Lohenkramm cautiously and said: "Rear Admiral Lohenkrahm, briefly The time has prevented us from getting to know each other, but I hope you can prevent the rescue of other enemy ships when the battleship Bismarck attacks the battlecruiser Hood!"
Rear Admiral Lohenkram did not take the words of Vice Admiral Lütjens to heart. The subtext of Vice Admiral Lütjens was that he was too young to worry about it. In fact, at the naval headquarters At that time, Major General Royce Ram could hear this kind of remarks almost every day, and he had long been used to it.
"Lieutenant General Lütjens, please rest assured, I will do my best!" After being baptized by the flames of war, Lohenkram's young but already weathered face was full of seriousness. Lohenkram's solemn assurance seemed to make Vice Admiral Lütjens temporarily believe in the young man, but soon Lohenkram let Vice Admiral Lütjens know that this trust was not unreasonable.
Immediately, Loyangram seemed to have turned into another person. A series of orders were accurately spoken from Loyangram's mouth. This super giant ship with a full load displacement of 53,000 tons and a crew of 2,000 was Royce Ram's command was very orderly. Even Vice Admiral Lütjens, who is known as the most outstanding surface ship commander in the German Navy, cannot find any faults.
"Target, the enemy battlecruiser Repulse! Fire the main guns from the front!" Lowengram calmly ordered, "Don't let it help the Hood, cling to it!"
The battleship Nelson used all its strength to entangle the battleship Tirpitz, while the battlecruiser Repulse helped the battlecruiser Hood attack the battleship Bismarck with all its strength. Vice Admiral Lütjens's choice was to believe that Germany would be alone. The strength of the entire warship was used to create a one-on-one combat situation for the Bismarck battleship. The larger-displacement battleship Tirpitz entangled the British battlecruiser HMS Repulse and the battleship Nelson.
As the commander of the British fleet, Vice Admiral Holland was prepared to take full advantage of the number of British warships to destroy the German battleships in front of him. It has to be said that the situation of the battlecruiser Hood is not very good. Although the fire has been controlled, the explosion of the high-explosive ammunition magazine caused serious damage to the battlecruiser Hood, and the engine room and motor room were flooded. ; Most of the optical components were damaged. The speed of the battlecruiser Hood was also affected.
But even so, Vice Admiral Holland is still ready to continue fighting. It is indeed very exciting to achieve such huge results with a single salvo like the battleship Bismarck just now, but as a veteran with sufficient experience, Vice Admiral Holland knew that this was entirely a blessing from the goddess of luck. It is almost impossible to appear twice in a naval battle.
The tension was increasing exponentially. Although the situation on the battlecruiser Hood looked very bad, it was still capable of fighting. The three-on-two situation did not change with the salvo of the battlecruiser Bismarck. On the contrary, Vice Admiral Holland, who was shocked by the huge power of the battleship Bismarck, was ordering other British warships that had intercepted the German fleet to come to support.
The battleship Rodney, which was nearby, heard the telegram from Vice Admiral Holland, and immediately rushed over starry and night. It only took half an hour. As long as the British fleet could hold on for just half an hour, the balance of power at that time would be It will turn into a situation that is greatly beneficial to the United Kingdom. Can the British fleet hold out for half an hour? To Admiral Holland, this was a joke. Although the power of the Bismarck battleship shocked Vice Admiral Holland. However, he still believed that the Royal Navy, with hundreds of years of glorious tradition, was definitely not comparable to the German Navy, which had become a monk halfway.
The USS Rodney is the second Nelson-class battleship. Like the USS Nelson, the USS Rodney also has the same powerful firepower. The ship's weapons and equipment include 9 406 mm caliber main guns and 12 152 mm caliber artillery pieces. , 6 120mm high and flat dual-purpose guns, 4 76mm caliber guns, 6 47mm caliber guns and two 533mm torpedo launch tubes. The shortcomings are also obvious. The speed of 23 knots makes it impossible for the Rodney to intercept the enemy quickly. However, things that cannot be accommodated by the Rodney can be left to other warships. As long as you hold on, after the Royal Navy has gained an absolute advantage, you can naturally send all the hopes of the German Navy, the two super giant ships in front of you, into seabed.
After thinking of this, Vice Admiral Holland insisted that it was difficult to contain his excitement. If he could sink these two German super ships, his status would be comparable to Nelson, the soul of the British Royal Navy. It’s just that Vice Admiral Holland did not expect that Nelson paid the price with his life. If he were in the East, Vice Admiral Holland would definitely be prevented from going out if he told others what he thought, because it was too unlucky. .
Vice Admiral Holland is not Chinese, so he does not understand how terrifying this idea is. Now Vice Admiral Holland is only excited, as if he saw his name being remembered by the British forever: "Battlecruiser Repulse, join me in attacking the Bismarck and Nelson. Go and entangle the Tirpitz. The enemy ship is a diagonal line, so we must ensure accuracy and make sure that one of the opponent's battleships loses its combat effectiveness first." !”
"Understood, understood..." The captains of the Counterattack and Nelson immediately recognized Vice Admiral Holland's plan. Apart from concentrating firepower to make a German warship lose its combat effectiveness, there is currently no other effective way.
"Target, the enemy ship Bismarck, salvo!" Vice Admiral Holland shouted a loud order, which was broadcast throughout the ship through the loudspeaker on the control tower. At the same time, in addition to the forward main battery turret of the battleship Nelson still firing at the battleship Tirpitz, the battlecruisers Repulse and Hood fired a salvo at the battleship Bismarck.
Three 381MM heavy artillery shells hit the battleship Bismarck, hitting the rear, port side and tower of the battleship Bismarck respectively. Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann, the captain of the battleship Bismarck, was lifted up by a huge force without any precautions, and then fell heavily to the ground. However, Ernst Lindemann, who had already passed the sea life, immediately made the correct reaction. Regardless of the pain in his body, he immediately jumped up, grabbed the nearest handle that could maintain his balance, and stood more than 30 meters behind the control tower. In this place, a huge and still burning hole looked so shocking. If, if it existed, if this shell hit the command tower, the entire command structure of the battleship Bismarck would probably be killed instantly.
The "Bismarck", which was hit three times in a row, immediately became filled with smoke! I don’t think it is a new warship that has only been in service for a year. On the side of the ship between the waterline and the deck, that is, at the edge of the main armor belt, larger pits show the same burnt black color, and an irregular crack about one meter long from top to bottom is faintly visible, pitch black. The liquid substance is gurgling out of it - German steel, which has a very high reputation in the world, is indeed first-class in quality, but in the face of the close-in blasting of large-caliber artillery shells, no matter how good the steel is, it cannot be completely eliminated. reaction.
At the position of the twin 150 mm/55 caliber secondary guns on the port side, there is currently no sign of life. Only the flames that are still burning prove what happened just a moment ago. The dozens of tons of turret and the two 150mm guns were gone, and choking black smoke was pouring out from the channel below the gun base.
Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann glanced around and already knew the current damage situation of the battleship Bismarck. Seeing this situation, Rear Admiral Ernst Lindemann had to smile bitterly. He did not expect that the tragic situation of the battlecruiser Hood just now would reappear on the battleship Bismarck so quickly.
"Ernst Lindemann, how is the situation on the Bismarck? Are you okay?" Lieutenant General Lütjens's voice sounded in the messy control tower, and the anxiety revealed in his voice also made Ernst Lindemann Deman felt warm in his heart and said, "Lieutenant General Lütjens, I am fine, and the battleship Bismarck can still fight!"
At this time, the pain all over his body finally eased a little. Ernst Lindemann, who had just regained some strength, looked at the already chaotic control tower and the horrified staff members, and shouted angrily,; "Why are you still standing there, waiting for the enemy's next attack? Hurry up and fight back! Let these British guys see how powerful we are!"
"Yes, it's the captain!" These people who were still in a sleepwalking state were finally recalled to reality by Ernst Lindemann. In fact, it was not the fault of these staff members, it was Ernst Lindemann himself, and he still is Except for a cold sweat. Thinking back to the terrifying giant hole more than thirty meters behind him, if it hit the control tower where he was, the consequences would be unimaginable. However, as a role model for the entire warship, Ernst Lindemann can only establish the image of a brave commander for these panicked people.
The first salvo damaged the battleship Bismarck, and from observation, it seemed that the degree of damage was not light. This immediately led Vice Admiral Holland to report the tragic situation of the battlecruiser Hood just now. Out of the sky, but just when the British were still chuckling over the Bismarck's tragedy, the German counterattack came immediately, and it was so fast and fierce.
After this short period of time, the Bismarck and the Tirpitz had followed the orders of Vice Admiral Lütjens and set their main target on the Hood, preparing to solve this personal problem. At this time, the distance between the two sides was 12 nautical miles. The Bismarck and the Tirpitz, which had clear combat goals, launched their first joint salvo. 16 rounds of 380MM high-explosive bombs rushed towards the Hood battle line at high speed with the smile of death. cruiser.
Ten seconds later, two plumes of smoke rose from the Hood again. At the beginning, the familiar and abominable outline of the battlecruiser suddenly emerged from the smoke and dust, with clear lines and clearly identifiable. Immediately afterwards, a plume of gray smoke erupted from the front of its chimney. Before this thick smoke began to form a mushroom-shaped smoke cloud, more than a dozen larger smoke columns rose from the ship. , the middle and rear part of the "Hood" was torn open, and the huge explosion force threw a turret into the gray sky like a strong wind playing with fallen leaves.
In the astonished eyes of everyone on both sides, the battlecruiser Hood sank rapidly, with smoke billowing from the main deck and flames engulfing the superstructure. , the "Hood" became a charred empty shell. When the black and yellow smoke dispersed, this famous battlecruiser no longer existed. The battlecruiser HMS Hood, a symbol of the British Navy, sank. As the commander, Vice Admiral Holland could die without understanding why there were three direct hits in a naval battle, nor why the battlecruiser USS Hood was easily killed.
The battlecruiser HMS Repulse watched helplessly as the Hood sank to the bottom of the sea, and recorded the sinking process and prepared to report to the government after returning to the UK. "The battlecruiser Hood was hit by bullets in the rear part, approximately concentrated Around the mainmast and aft turret, a large amount of black smoke came from the rear of the superstructure. No flames were observed because the thick black smoke blocked all sight. The battlecruiser Hood was hit, one on the bridge , one shot in the forward gun mount, the shell exploded, and then everything was quiet for about 30 seconds. There was neither smoke nor fire, and then there was an earth-shattering explosion from front to back. The dense black smoke and the flash of the explosion shook the battleship It was completely submerged, and everything was blown high into the air. A 50-foot steam-propelled picket boat was belly-up and was blown to a height of 200 feet."
This famous battlecruiser no longer exists. All but 3 of the 1,419 officers and men on board were killed, including Vice Admiral Holland, commander of the advance fleet.
"Haha..." Ernst Lindemann reacted first and expressed his joy in a straightforward manner. At this time, apart from laughing, Ernst Lindemann could not think of any good way to vent his emotions. . Vice Admiral Lütjens, who was on the battleship Tirpitz, could not hold back his joy, "Sending power to the base camp and naval headquarters, the Bismarck and Tirpitz encountered the British in the Denmark Strait. The interception of the fleet, after a fierce battle, sank the battlecruiser HMS Hood, the flagship of the British Home Fleet!" Like the other two, although Lohengram tried his best to control his mood, his slightly swollen eyebrows still betrayed his master. Feeling.
After finally waking up from the news of the sinking of the battlecruiser Hood, the remaining two battleships of the British Navy immediately began shooting at the battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz like crazy. Following the orders of Vice Admiral Lütjens, the two German warships immediately targeted the Repulse. After the "Hood" exploded, the "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz" immediately turned their guns and bombarded the "Repulse" with all their main and secondary guns. Facing the two huge battleships "Bismarck" and "Tirpitz", the pressure on the "Repulse" suddenly increased. One-on-one, the "Repulse" had only the ability to protect itself. A strong opponent can only dodge left and right. Although there was help from the battleship Nelson, its poor movement speed meant that the battleship Nelson could not help at all and could only add to the chaos.