Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 110: The longest 1 night (2)

Actually, what the Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy know about this naval battle is only limited to the content stated in the Portsmouth Naval Command report, and they don’t know more than others. They even have specific losses. There are too many ships. Geli Literature Network

The destroyer that fled back to Portsmouth actually only saw the end of the battle, and did not see the entire process of the naval battle as described by the Chief of Naval Staff.

After the two N-class destroyers completed the rescue work for the survivors of the three mine-struck ships, it was discovered that the fleet commander did not give them follow-up orders. Tovey only ordered the two destroyers to stay for the rescue, but did not give any explanation on what to do after the rescue was completed.

According to the past naval practice, it seems that they should continue to advance to catch up with the main fleet, but the rescued sailors put forward another opinion. They claimed that many soldiers were injured during mine strikes and escape. Get treatment as soon as possible. Some sailors and officers suggested to the destroyer captain whether they could rush to the port of Portsmouth. After sending the wounded and surviving sailors ashore, the destroyer could return to the course to catch up with the large forces.

The destroyer captains know that these people are actually selfish. This is not surprising when the quality of naval officers and soldiers has generally declined, because even they themselves feel a little uneasy now.

Although these sailors were very brave and fearless when lying on the half-sinking hull, when they were rescued on the destroyer and stepped on the solid steel deck, they felt real safety. The sailors began to feel scared from the bottom of their hearts. They were looking for partners in their respective teams in the crowd, communicating with each other which hapless comrade in arms had been killed, or seeing Captain XX sinking into the sea and never coming up again.

After the adrenaline declines, they face physical fatigue and psychological depression. Many people fell into extreme frustration and fear. Even if the destroyer sailors delivered hot coffee, they couldn't stop them from shaking. Who knows what dangers are waiting for him in the back. The Germans obviously already know the existence of the fleet. The two small destroyers that have left the formation have no self-defense capabilities. These sailors really don’t want to fall into the hands of death twice in a day. , No one can guarantee that you will still have this kind of good luck next time.

There was also a disagreement between the commanders of the two destroyers, and the captain of the destroyer Nestor thought that the sailor’s suggestion made sense. The German torpedo boats are still patrolling and watching in the distance, always waiting for the opportunity to come up and take a bite. The positions of these two destroyers must have been reported to the top German army. The weakness of the N-class destroyer is its weak anti-aircraft firepower. If the Germans launch an air attack by the air force, they will have to wait and die. Anyway, the fleet commander did not give a follow-up order, they can hide into Portsmouth Port on the grounds of rescuing the wounded. Wait for the port to contact the fleet again and wait for the next order.

The captain of the Nizan firmly opposed this proposal. He admitted that he would face great dangers if he continued to move forward, but the withdrawal of Portsmouth was a cowardly fleeing behavior. He severely accused the other party of being a cowardly coward. , Is not worthy of wearing this Royal Navy uniform.

In the end, no one could persuade the other party, so he came up with a moderate plan. The Nizan insisted on moving forward. The crew transferred the wounded and surviving officers and soldiers who wanted to retreat to the Nestor. The other side also sent some surviving sailors who were willing to continue fighting on the Nizan. The handover of personnel is complete. The two destroyers parted ways, the Nizan speeded up to catch up with the main fleet away, and Nestor turned the bow and headed for Portsmouth.

No one can know what happened to the Nestor in the end. Only knowing that she never arrived at Portsmouth Port, and no floating residues related to her were found on the surrounding coast. The destroyer with more than 500 naval officers and soldiers on board disappeared into the strait without any sound. Become a huge mystery in the history of war.

It was not until fifty years later that a declassified document revealed a report from the German torpedo boat force. A captain claimed that when his unit was tracking a British destroyer in the strait, an incident occurred on the target ship. A terrifying explosion. The warship sank to the bottom of the sea in thirty seconds.

The Germans are obviously not sure where the explosion came from. There should be no German submarine activities there. The torpedo captain also vowed that it was not the work of his companions. The torpedo captain personally believed that the opponent might have been hit by a large drifting mine, or an accidental fire on the ship caused the tragedy. He warned the German navy ships to be vigilant when operating in this area, because there is no place on the chart. When the minefields were laid, he guessed that some anchor mines might have broken free of the anchor chain, drifting along the sea tide and becoming an invisible killer with uncertainty.

The group of torpedo boats was performing another secret mission at the time. Monitoring the British* ships was just a matter of their convenience. Due to the high level of confidentiality of the mission, this report was sealed and it was not seen again until fifty years later.

Compared with the mysterious Nestor, Nizan's encounter is even more legendary. This small destroyer chased the main force at the highest speed all the way, and finally caught up with the end of the tragic naval battle.

In the process of approaching the battlefield at high speed, Nizan witnessed the final assault of the destroyer squadron, and also saw the Queen Elizabeth leaving the siege. Tovey’s cruiser was surrounded by German warships, doing the final amidst the intensive artillery fire. resistance. The destroyer did not turn its bow to escape, but bravely increased its horsepower and rushed into the battlefield.

As she passed by the five articulated light cruisers, the captain of the Nizan was very puzzled by what he saw. He couldn’t figure out what happened. This situation, but reality does not allow him time to find the answer, the destroyer began to circle these huge cruisers, and released white smoke. The Nizan is ready to rescue the crew of these cruisers as much as possible under the cover of smoke, and save them from being captured by the Germans.

The Germans had actually discovered this little desperate destroyer long ago, and knew her intentions well. Ryder's order was to let her go, and now it was the German Navy's turn to show their chivalry, and the ships were all there anyway. Without the permission of the German Navy, no one would ever want to leave this battlefield. By the time these stubbornly defiant cruisers are sent to the bottom of the sea, they have time to slowly concoct those British guys who like to drive recklessly.

No one would have imagined that the British mainland fleet would suffer such a terrible defeat. More than two thousand soldiers survived on the five cruisers. This n-class fleet destroyer alone could not carry everyone away, nor did the Germans. Would allow this ridiculous thing to happen. In the end, the Nizan only carried a part of the seriously wounded and all the senior officers, and towed a long series of lifeboats as far as possible from the tail. Some sailors voluntarily asked to stay on the ship. They will be responsible for sinking the ship at the last minute and never let their beloved ship fall into the hands of the enemy.

When Nizan's rescue was over and ready to retreat, she found that she had been surrounded by the entire high seas fleet. Admiral Scheer, the flagship of the German Navy, sent a semaphore to persuade her to surrender. Said that the British Royal Navy has proved their bravery with their actions, and they have won the respect of the German Navy. In view of the fact that the British Royal Navy’s home fleet no longer exists, the Germans recommend that the British Navy survivors immediately surrender to the German Navy’s High Seas Fleet and continue to resist. It's meaningless and stupid. The blood that both sides shed in this area is enough. There is no need to send soldiers to death for vain self-esteem. The commander of the German fleet guarantees with personal honor that the surrendered Royal Navy personnel will be well. Treatment. Officers can keep their badges, swords and personal belongings, and the German Navy guarantees that no one will be persecuted for bravery in combat.

Nizan turned a blind eye to the kindness of the Germans, and she circled the group of cruisers that had crashed into a ball. Then he suddenly increased his horsepower and broke through the western end of the strait headlessly.

In the direction she broke through were two German light cruisers. The Germans were interested in shelling the destroyer, which was obviously mad, and the dense shells instantly enveloped the destroyer.

The Nizan cruelly cut the cable to tow the lifeboat. Towing these boats and personnel is impossible to escape. With them, these people will only be killed by stray bullets. It is better to leave them to the Germans, if the content of the Germans' persuasion to surrender is true. This may not be a bad thing for these sailors.

The destroyer released smoke again and swayed from side to side to start evasive maneuvers. In the process of dodging, she even found an opportunity to launch a round of torpedoes at the German light cruiser. It was this round of torpedo attacks that disrupted the German light cruiser. After being hit by seven consecutive 150mm shells and more than two dozen 37mm shells, the destroyer miraculously broke through the encircling net while dragging billowing black smoke. , While rushing toward the west at a speed of thirty-six knots.

The German destroyer formation hurriedly began to speed up, preparing to hunt them down, but was finally summoned by Raidel. The German navy had already won the most glorious victory, and there was no need to kill them all. A destroyer that has been seriously injured is of no importance to the development of the war, and it does not need to spend precious shells and fuel on her. Seeing that it is getting late and the situation in the strait is complicated, Britain, Germany and France have thrown away a lot of mess here. Everything is still safe. Don’t overturn the ship in the gutter at the last minute and leave it on the gleaming report card of the Navy. The next unnecessary stain.

The Nizan, with a ship of disabled sailors and a full three hundred tons of bilge flooded, slowly sailed into the Portsmouth Naval Port slantingly. The captain jumped directly from the side of the ship to the shore before the sailors had **** the cables. He rushed into the naval base command and reported the terrible defeat of the local fleet to the base commander.

Since he was the only one coming back, the base command was unable to distinguish the true from the false for a while, so only a brief and superficial report was sent to the London Admiralty. The report is now in front of Churchill.

The above just uses the standard report style to indicate that the local fleet has failed. The specific situation will have to wait until the investigation before attaching a detailed report. What is currently known is that all warships of the fleet have either sunk or been captured. The commander of the fleet, Admiral Tovey, died as a martyr. Only one destroyer in the fleet broke through the encirclement and survived. The above content has not been finalized yet, but the base believes that it can be The degree of trust is high.

Phillips put down the indicator stick in his hand. He stood by the map carefully observing Churchill’s expression. This job is really not easy to do. An adverb on the official title means that you work hard and you are back. Come on, send you to death, Thumb Phillips is not a soft persimmon to be kneaded, but in front of the fierce Churchill, he can only accept his life obediently.

"At the meeting of the National Defense Committee, I will review my responsibility for this failure. This action is proposed by me, but the entire plan is formulated by the Fleet Command. It must be done by someone. To assume responsibility, the Royal Navy will immediately produce an investigation report, which I will see on the desk tomorrow morning." Churchill stared at Pound with a cold face, who quickly nodded and said yes, this navy The marshal was on the verge of collapse. From the moment he entered the door, he kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. Churchill was disgusted by the ugliness of the general, and he stood up angrily and walked towards the door.

"Remember, before eight o'clock tomorrow morning." Churchill ordered the two admirals at the door. His bodyguard opened the fire door for him, and he strode out of the command room.

"I'm going to make a call, Chief of Staff," Phillips walked to Pound and whispered to his boss.

"Tom, what should we do now, my thinking is very confused, the local fleet is over, and the Royal Navy is over." Pound desperately said to his deputy chief of staff.

"Everything is not over, sir, the Royal Navy is not over yet. I think you need to rest now. Leave the rest to me. You stay here and wait for the Prime Minister's call. I will arrange it now. We still have a lot of work to complete the investigation, sir." Phillips helped Pound to sit on the sofa aside ~ IndoMTL.com~ After a few words of comfort, he hurried out of the room.

Tonight will be busy for the Royal Navy. I don’t know how many people will be held accountable, censored and arrested for this, and how many people will eventually lose their official positions and careers or even their lives. Phillips does not want to know. He only knows that tonight is a rare opportunity for him to perform, not only to show the Prime Minister his general demeanor in the face of danger, but also to allow the war cabinet to see his strong organizational skills and flexible political skills.

The old fellow, Pound, is dead, and he is no longer suitable for the post of Chief of Staff of the Navy either mentally or in terms of ability. Then the one who performed outstandingly in this incident will be the next Royal Navy. The first choice for the chief of staff.

Maybe after tonight, I will always remove the adverbs from the title, and at the same time get the corresponding wartime military rank, Phillips Marine Marshal, sounds great, doesn't it? (To be continued)

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