Chapter 363: Battle of the North Sea

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It's over. For the Royal Navy, everything seems to be over. The first light of the morning appeared in the distant horizon, the darkness retreated from the sanshe, and the golden glow appeared on the sea.
At this time, the Prestige was burning and there was a violent explosion. Although it still insisted that there was no sinking on the sea, it was obviously impossible to expect this battleship to pursue. And the situation on the Hood side is not so good. The Hood ship with a torpedo in the tail of the battleship was destroyed. A propeller and two tail rudders, so the speed cannot catch up with the German fleet.
Cruisers and destroyers can continue to pursue, but in the face of whether the two German armored ships can take advantage of it, it is difficult to say, not to mention that there are more urgent situations that they need to deal with.
Because with the arrival of the light, there were nearly a hundred aircraft taking off from the German naval aviation roadbed forces. The planes were densely lined up in the clouds, and they looked like locusts appeared on the horizon.
The battle where the British navy had the upper hand changed the situation in an instant, and the chasing party became chased prey at dawn, and the British navy immediately fell into an unprecedented crisis.
The poor i-class destroyer has been screened. The entire destroyer survived the firepower of the cruiser and battle cruiser for less than two minutes. Even the lifeboat did not have time to put it down and sank into the sea. It also became the first British ship to be sunk in this pursuit battle.
The disaster is just beginning at this moment. In order to hunt down the German navy fleet, the warships rushing to the front line this time are all warships that are more powerful against the sea. Most of them have not been modernized and modified, and some cruisers even decent. No anti-aircraft guns. Including the Hood and the Prestige, this British pursuit fleet has the weakest air defense capability.
So when the German fighters began to dive and attack, Lieutenant General Holland could only order to dismantle the formation and let all the warships escape. This is tantamount to giving up the reputation of burning and burning without resistance, which is equivalent to sentenced the death penalty of the Hood to a half speed.
The German dive bombers in the sky began to attack, one plane after another dived down, one bomb after another was thrown at the British warship, and soon the Hood paid a huge price for its design flaws. .
Because the Hood Battlecruiser excessively pursues speed, the armor is not as thick as the battleship. In order to prevent torpedoes and resist the close shooting of other warships, the side armor is intentionally thickened again, so the entire battleship ’s The weight was a bit excessive during construction.
The result of the final compromise is that the horizontal armor of the entire battleship is weakened. Designers and builders hope that this battleship can use ultra-high speeds to avoid long-range artillery battles. This flaw in horizontal armor protection has always troubled the Hood as a huge weakness of the Hood. This is another time and space when the Hood encountered the Bismarck and was instantly hit in a long-range artillery battle. The main reason for Shen.
Now the Hood is forced to use only slightly thin horizontal armor to resist the aerial bomb dropped by the Stuka dive bomber. This is undoubtedly a very tragic thing. Because of its slower speed and larger size, the Hood immediately became the main target of the German aircraft, and soon it was hit by a bomb to the bow.
This bomb did not hit any terrible equipment and ammunition depots. This was a luck in the Hood's misfortune. The bomb destroyed part of the cabin of the Hood and caused the bow chain of the ship to break and damage.
January 27, 1938, which is the 21st day after the German and British and French allied forces officially started, became the disaster day of the British Navy. On this morning, the British Navy began to lose its warships.
At 5:07, the prestige sent out the last telegram, and Lieutenant Holland was silent after seeing the telegram. It said a very short sentence: I hit 2 torpedoes again. I was sinking and I had given the order to abandon the ship.
At 5:11, the British cruiser Edinburgh sent a telegram declaring that it was sinking. Britain lost its third warship of the day. The cruiser was in the sight of the Hood. Admiral Holland watched the destroyer burn and burn before sinking to the bottom of the sea.
At 5:37, Hood, where Lieutenant General Holland was located, was hit by the seventh aerial bomb. The entire hull had begun to tilt severely. The flagship command flag of the British Navy Fleet was hit by shrapnel and fell into the sea .
"Colonel Cole! Give the London Telegraph." Lieutenant Hollande sighed while looking at the chart table that had been tilted to a certain degree. The telegram read as follows: Dear Prime Minister Churchill, the English Channel The war ended with a fiasco in our army. All the generals fought bravely. The reason for the failure was in Holland. May God also shine on the British Empire. "
"General!" Captain Cole of the Hood was injured by shrapnel. He still has blood on his face. He stared at Holland unwillingly and asked frustratedly: "Our army also has the Royal Ark 'S blocking fleet, we haven't lost yet! We haven't lost yet! "
At this time, another telegram was delivered to the command room. Horan took the message and looked paler. Because of what the telegram said, he felt more guilty.
The cruiser Linxian and the cruiser Arora had just raised their white flags and surrendered to the German navy. After witnessing the dispersal of his huge fleet as birds and beasts, and after watching the huge warships around him being destroyed by German fighters and sinking to the bottom of the sea, not everyone still firmly believes that our army will win, at least this The commanders on two cruisers of the same class are more willing to use humiliation to save the lives of the sailor soldiers on their battleships.
In this way, this time the huge British navy pursuit fleet has not really escaped much. Holland felt a sweet throat and seemed to have hot liquid to vomit. He shook his body, after all, he did not fall.
At the same moment, the high seas fleet of the German Navy turned its bow, and on the bridge of the USS Imperial, Lütjens was holding a cup of hot coffee and staring at the non-stop aircraft on the deck. One fw-190 after another flew over the runway, jumped at the end of the runway, and rushed to the sky.
His fleet would have been completely annihilated by the British navy, but at this moment, it turned around and made him complete the turning point. Now the British fleet is not far away, and even two British warships have raised white flags. Not far away, the Lützov armored warship was leaving the formation to go and receive the two surrendering British cruisers.
The battleship USS Hood, who was desperately chasing him down an hour ago, is now struggling to die, and sinking is only a matter of time. The other Prestige has only left a piece of oil on the sea and thousands of crew members floating in the water waiting for rescue. There is no need for him to do anything more. This unprecedented naval battle has already been a sure victory for the German Navy ’s high seas fleet.
"Report!" An aviation liaison officer walked behind Lütjens. After the salute, the voice of the report shouted, and the tone of the report changed. Just a few minutes ago, they successfully defeated and won. These officers gave a crazy cheer Sound: "The Luke Naval Air Force is returning due to fuel and ammunition problems. Before they returned, they reported by radio that the rest of the matter was left to us!"
"Order troops to delay takeoff of torpedo planes and dive bombers." Lütjens ordered: "Start sending reconnaissance planes around."
He thought about it and added: "Order Gent? Lal to lead an air defense fighter formation to take off, to ensure the safety of our army! The helicopter immediately took off, alert and search the surrounding sea."
"Yes! General!" The aviation liaison officer Zheng Zheng saluted: "Long live Akado? Rudolf!"
"Long live the heads of state!" Lütjens had just won the most important battle in his life. He was in a particularly good mood and replied with a smile: "It turns out that the German high seas fleet is invincible!"
"Invincible! Victory! Invincible! Long live!" On the bridge, some officers and sailors cheered loudly, and the broad headquarters of the bridge suddenly filled with joy of victory.
But just as the aircraft carrier Empire was cheering, the radar soldier suddenly frowned on the German z-class destroyer directly in front of the fleet.
"Sir!" After confirming that he was not misjudged, he immediately yelled at the officer not far away.
"What is it?" The officer approached him and asked.
"Front ahead, 110 kilometers away, unknown aircraft fleet, there are about ... 10, no, at least 15!" The radar soldier said affirmatively.
"My God!" The officer looked at the radar screen and immediately shouted to the captain standing in the bridge's command room: "British aircraft is coming! Captain! British aircraft! At least 15!"
Just over ten seconds later, an emergency anti-aircraft combat alarm was sounded on this destroyer, and all artillery was pointed at the sky. And on its mast, the signal lights are constantly flashing, and it seems that it is using all its means to inform other warships of an important news: the British aircraft is coming.
A few minutes later, Lütjens solemnly issued a fleet air defense order: "All warships! Immediate air defense! Anti-aircraft artillery bombs! The aircraft was formed immediately after it was lifted off, and Gent Lal ’s fighter unit is now taking off Did you continue to take off! Until you take off enough fighters to ensure the air defense of the fleet! Hurry! "