Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 21: Prince Eugen (Part 2)

　　

　　According to the current situation, for the German navy fleet, the initiative in the development of the battlefield situation is completely in their hands.

　　 As they predicted before the battle, this will be a one-sided battle without any suspense.

　　 Now only the question of how to win the most benefit for the Third Reich in this victory has to be solved, but this is also the most troublesome question for all captains.

　　Because the education and training they and their subordinates have received before is how to defeat the enemy and how to make the enemy sink to the bottom of the sea, but this time the question before them is how to defeat the opponent while not Let those enemies sink.

　　 At the pre-war meeting, General Lütjens informed all warship commanders about the operation, and pointed out that the victory of this operation was for this war, for the navy, and for the Third Reich. It will be of great significance. The ultimate goal of this mission is not to destroy the British fleet, but to capture the British fleet.

　　As soon as the commander-in-chief had finished speaking, the magnificent commander’s conference room on the Admiral Scheer exploded. The captains at first doubted whether there was a problem with their ears. When they were sure that each other's hearing was not malfunctioning, the captains couldn't help but begin to worry about the mental state of Commander Lütjens.

　　 Lütjens is either stupid or crazy. Anyway, the two must be one of them, because no sober naval officer would make such absurd advice.

　　 For these captains, after careful preparation and planning, adequate intelligence support, superior forces above the enemy, plus some necessary luck, defeating a British surface fleet is not an impossible task. . Defeating the enemy is very simple, just send them all to the bottom of the sea, but captive. . . . This is another matter entirely.

　　 It took Lütjens two full minutes to calm down the agitated captains. This situation is really rare in the German Navy, which is extremely disciplined and obedient.

　　 Looking at the expressions of surprise and doubt on his subordinates, Lütjens knew that the campaign goal he had just given was indeed a bit too shocking.

　　 Lütjens first reprimanded the captains for the impolite behavior in front of the captains, and then began to slowly explain to them the reason why the commander gave this goal.

　　 As a result, he successfully set off another storm in his small meeting room.

　　 When the captains learned from the commander-in-chief what cargo was loaded on the British fleet, everyone was stunned.

　　Where is a fleet? It's like a floating British Empire treasury.

　　Gold, jewelry, securities, various foreign currencies, antiques, works of art, the total value of these goods is immeasurable.

　　According to preliminary estimates from the command’s intelligence, the total value of the gold and jewellery alone exceeds 3 billion pounds. Although there is no precise information on the amount of securities and foreign currencies, it should not be less than 500 million pounds.

　　 And the value of those antiques and artworks is even more incalculable, including most of the national treasures that the British Museum has stolen from all over the world for more than 200 years. The value of these things cannot be measured by money. , It can be said that each piece is priceless.

　　 As for those artworks, they are the private collections of members of the British royal family in the past, many of which have never appeared before the eyes of the world. The British royal family's greed for artworks is as world-famous as the royal army's plundering nature. One can imagine how amazing the number of these artworks will be.

　　 The accounting department of the High Command still failed to calculate the exact value of the treasure after the generals and marshals asked too enthusiastically. However, according to their preliminary estimates, the total value of these goods will exceed five billion pounds.

　　 I heard that after the accounting minister submitted the above report to the generals and marshals, he had a heart attack in the hospital because of his emotions. He was really a poor man.

　　 One can imagine how shocking the elite German captains would be when they heard this number.

　　 The real purpose of the German navy's operation turned out to be to **** these treasures from the British, which renewed the excitement of the captains who had just calmed down.

　　 And the words below Lütjens pushed the captains from excitement to fanaticism. The great head of state personally ordered that if the German navy can complete the mission this time, 30% of the spoils will be reserved for the German navy as construction funds, and all soldiers participating in the war can also get a percentage of the treasure. One as a reward.

　　 30% of the five billion pounds, a full 1.5 billion pounds, this figure can make the German navy crazy.

　　The generals of the Naval Command may laugh when they dream. The navy has this funding, those brand-new battleships, destroyers, cruisers, battleships, can be built whatever they want. The history of Marshal Raidel's arms grabbing budget funds with the Army and Air Force at cabinet meetings is gone forever.

　　 The re-emergence of the German navy in the world’s naval forest will no longer be an empty talk. The day for the navy to turn over is finally coming.

　　 And the one percent bonus has made the morale of the captains a peak. Even if the 50 million pounds is evenly distributed, everyone can get at least two to three thousand pounds. What's more, the captains Knowing that it is impossible to distribute the bonus evenly, and the distribution of bonuses in the army is in line with reality.

　　 Even so, the captains estimated that their soldiers would receive no less than 1,000 pounds per person.

　　 This is enough to make the sailors ecstatic, knowing that this amount of money was definitely not a small sum in 1940. In the German countryside, a rich man with a thousand pounds is enough to buy a good farm or a group of excellent breeds of livestock.

　　Although the German navy's military pay is fairly good, it is still a luxury in the eyes of ordinary sailors to save such a sum of money.

The situation of the 　　 meeting immediately began to reverse, and all German naval officers had only one word left in their minds. . . . "Looting".

　　 In any case, the treasures must be completely and completely snatched from the hands of the British, otherwise the bonuses, funds, and so on are all empty talk. The Führer’s promise aroused the hopes of all the captains, and they now clearly know that they must rely on their own efforts to realize those wishes.

　　 Now in the eyes of these captains, capturing enemy ships is no longer an impossible task, but a task that must be achieved.

　　 So, these drooling naval officers got together and carefully discussed how to achieve this goal. At this time, the collective strength was fully manifested, especially under the impetus of those real money, those officers His thoughts became particularly keen. The loopholes in the plans of the High Command and the Navy Command were found, and many ideas of the captains were added.

　　 The final result was the first blatant military plan for robbery in German naval history.

The 　　 project has now entered the most critical link.

　　 Although the first operation did not achieve the desired effect of the German Navy, it did not cause any special troubles to the continued implementation of the plan. After all, the captains had already done everything possible for accidents when planning the details of the operation. Well prepared.

　　The German fleet originally wanted to disrupt the formation of the British fleet with a sudden bombardment, and then all dispatched to deal a fatal blow to the enemy's chaotic fleet.

　　 Now it seems that the Royal Navy does have something to be proud of. Although the fleet was caught off guard, it still maintained a neat formation. The Germans' goals were not achieved.

　　 In order to ensure that the long-range shelling of the British fleet will not cause fatal damage to the warships, this sounds a bit funny, but the fact is that the horizontal armor of the cruisers is almost under the large-angle shelling of the German large-caliber artillery. Without any defensive capabilities, that layer of steel with only more than 30 millimeters is as fragile as a piece of paper in front of hundreds of attack-heavy armor-piercing warheads.

　　 In order to protect the German treasures on the ships (the money has been put into the German treasury by the captains), the German navy took great pains. During the first shelling, all the naval guns were filled with ordinary Grenades instead of armor-piercing bullets.

　　 Although the kinetic energy left by those grenades leaping over a distance of 15,000 meters is still terrifying, this can be seen from the end of the Orion Penthouse. But after all, those British warships were not unarmored merchant ships, so just as the German Navy expected, these unarmored grenades did not cause any major damage to those ships.

　　 Now the battle has entered the stage of white-hot talk, and the two fleets finally started to meet each other.

　　 Gneisino first fired, and the distance of less than seven kilometers, the trajectory of the shell was almost level. Indeed, Gneisenau is launching a flat shot and the target is York, the flagship of the British fleet.

　　 Scharnhorst followed Gneisenau’s fire, and the target was the poor flagship. In the next moment, the bridge of the York ship exploded in front of the German navy officers and soldiers. The four-story huge steel structure turned into a huge fireball. The German sailors could clearly see the explosion. From the smoke and flames, the York bridge threw huge pieces of steel into the surrounding air and what was suspected to be twisting and struggling British soldiers.

　　 The German Navy’s first flat-fire attack was daunting, and the USS York suffered an unbearable heavy blow just one second before preparing to shoot at the German fleet.

　　 Under the carefully targeted salvo of two elite German battleships, her bridge was completely destroyed.

　　 Eight heavy armor-piercing rounds directly hit the building, turning it into a pile of twisted burning metal debris.

　　 The highest level of the compass bridge and the armored main gun command post have been bombed without a trace. The battle bridge on the lower level was torn in two, one half twisted and protruded obliquely out of the ship’s side, and the other half. Then collapsed into the navigation bridge on the next floor.

　　 The large terraces protruding from the bridge on both sides of the bridge have been distorted by the huge force generated by the explosion. The two on the battle bridge were simply torn off from the bridge, where they are now exposed. Complex steel tube bridge support structure.

　　 But those thick steel pipes seemed to no longer play a supporting role, because the internal structure of the bridge had already been completely destroyed the moment the armor-piercing projectiles hit, and the collapsed bridge was proof.

　　 Although it is said that the cruiser-class bridge protection is a bit too thin in the face of the large-caliber armor-piercing projectiles designed to deal with the side armor of battleships, even the Germans themselves did not expect to achieve such a result, so the morale of the German navy At that moment it reached its peak.

　　The York, which had been seized of the first stage by the German navy in the first round, wailed and continued on its original course. Since the last command issued by the bridge was to turn to the right, the turbine, which did not know what happened above, continued to execute this command.

The turret of 　　 York was ready for the final firing before the bridge was shot. The gunners who also had no knowledge of the status quo fired the British navy's first fire back at the German fleet in this battle.

　　 Although the British gunners are well-trained and experienced, the effect of York's first and only salvo in this naval battle is really frustrating.

　　 The four 203mm artillery shells were inserted into the water at a distance of five to six hundred meters from the target that the gunners were aiming at. Although they also stirred up huge water columns tens of meters high, these water columns are of little ornamental value. There is no use outside.

　　 The frustrated British gunner wanted to continue firing the next round of shells, but the strange thing was that the artillery command post never sent corrected target parameters.

　　 The violent shock I felt in the turret at first indicated that the battleship was shot, but no one knew the damage of the battleship, and no information was sent from the bridge. This really made the sailors who stayed in the closed turret felt a little bit Worried.

　　 Within a second, the German Navy used a large-caliber artillery shell to free these soldiers from anxiety.

　　 With a loud noise, the York's 203mm MKII Type A main turret became a **** full of steel fragments and hot flames.

　　 The weak protection of the MKII turret has never ceased to be blamed since the birth of this turret, but the bureaucrats of the British Admiralty have no interest in remedying this fatal weakness.

　　The British Navy finally paid the price of blood for this. The German shells were shot from the front of the turret and easily penetrated the frontal armor that was only 25mm thick, and then went through the entire gun room and exploded in the gunner’s command room. Before the gunner could even scream, he became a scorched corpse riddled with holes.

　　 Because York lost control, she turned her body slowly in front of the German fleet, exposing the entire side of the hull in front of the two German battleships.

　　 Scharnhorst seized this rare opportunity and used two front main turrets to clean out all the York’s former main guns. The Gneisino also missed the opportunity to start drilling holes in the remaining superstructure of the York.

　　While two terrifying German battleships gleefully ravaged the British fleet flagship, Germany’s latest heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen encountered the first crisis since her birth. The cause of the crisis was those two British ships. Outpost destroyer.

　　 The British destroyers Defender and Happy are two D-class destroyers of more than 1,300 tons. They are responsible for the anti-submarine mission in this transportation operation.

　　 They were originally destroyers designed for anti-submarine. The British Admiralty did not expect them to fight against large German warships.

　　 This time they were put on the front line of the large surface fleet, which was also forced by the situation, because when they found the German warships in front of them, the two sides were only less than five kilometers away.

　　The Defender and the Joyful were in a situation where it was difficult to ride a tiger. It seemed impossible to turn around and escape in front of the German warship, and rushing to exchange fire was no different from suicide.

　　 The captains of these two destroyers are not lacking in courage, nor are they cowards. Over the years, the Royal Navy’s edification has imprinted the sentence that the Royal Navy never fears any enemy deeply in their minds. They are all willing to give their lives for Britain, the honor of the Royal Navy, and for the final victory.

　　 But the current situation is really special. It was a waste of effort to fire at this distance. They did not expect that the two 120mm front main guns on their respective ships could cause any damage to the side armor of the Scharnhorst-class battlecruiser 350mm. .

　　 (The British always like to use their own standards to classify warships of other countries. In their eyes, the main guns and defense levels of the Scharnhorst class can only be regarded as battlecruisers. The Germans don’t think so. The two battleships are classified as battleships. To be honest, I also think that these two battleships should actually be regarded as the earliest high-speed battleships. So in this book, the names of the two battleships will be different. .)

　　 The only thing that can pose a threat to the two battlecruisers is the eight 533mm torpedoes on the destroyer.

　　 Although five kilometers is a very short distance for sea artillery battle, it is still a little far away for torpedo launching.

　　It's not that the torpedo can't reach the range, but this distance really cannot guarantee the torpedo's hit rate.

　　 Both captains have the belief that they will fight for the British Empire to the last breath, but they are more willing to leave the enemy more damage before they die.

　　 Just when the two captains hesitated, the flagship's order arrived. The flagship ordered them to attack the German fleet and launch torpedoes at the Germans.

　　's flagship command strengthened the determination of the destroyer captain. After the two sides exchanged views with each other using signal lights, the two destroyers violently increased their speed to the highest speed and rushed side by side toward the German fleet.

　　As they began their final assault, the Prince Eugen and Admiral Scheer appeared in front of the British fleet one after another.

　　 But this can no longer shake the determination of the two desperate British destroyers.

　　The Defender and the Happy have increased their speed to a staggering 35 knots, and the waves from the bow splashed onto the deck. None of the British sailors expressed any opinion on the orders of their captain. They and their commanders stayed calmly in their respective posts, staring at the German fleet with determination and respect for the enemy. Contempt, assault on a powerful enemy with a mortal belief.

　　 But they expected that the German fleet's interception artillery against them did not appear for a long time, as if the Germans did not find them at all.

　　 Maybe the attention of the German fleet was focused on the cruiser behind, maybe the Germans didn't pay attention to the assaults of these two destroyers at all.

　　 Although this is a bit deceptive, it’s a deception, but it’s not a good thing for them. The captains hope that this situation can be maintained until they reach the attack distance, maybe they It can really attack successfully.

　　 But these two destroyers found that their targets had already crossed their own course, and they would not be able to achieve the best angle of attack if they did not change their course.

　　 And at this moment, the Prince Eugen swaggered in front of the two destroyers with the flagrant skull flag.

　　 The two destroyers basically turned their attack targets into the brand new German warship in front of them without much consideration.

　　 Maybe it’s because she is in a position that is easier to attack, maybe because she also seems to be a valuable target, maybe because she is a new ship, and sinking her can hurt the morale of the Germans more, maybe It was because the painting of Prince Eugen was so attractive, maybe for the arrogant pirate flag, maybe. . . .

　　 No one can know the real thoughts of the two destroyer captains at the time. All they can know is that the two captains made a fatal mistake. They picked one of the most terrifying opponents and got into trouble. A pair of the most terrifying enemies.

The destroyer 　　 has successfully shortened the distance between the two parties to one kilometer. The Defender and the Joyful saw that they had reached the attack range. The two destroyers made a beautiful cross-shift with a fierce dozen steering wheels. A rounded double S track was suddenly drawn from the rear of the destroyer.

　　 At the moment when the destroyer body obliquely faced Prince Eugen, sixteen 533 mm torpedoes were shot out of the torpedo tube, and then plunged into the sea and charged towards the German warship.

　　 When the torpedoes were launched, the two destroyers let out a long sigh. The German heavy cruiser was dead. No ship could escape the concentrated attack of 16 torpedoes at this distance.

　　 probably because the offense went so well, they suddenly felt that they might be able to do something. So the two guys who were stunned by the blood gave up their plans to retreat and continued to rush towards the Prince Eugen. They might also want to shell Prince Eugen at close range.

　　 The German fleet seemed to be aware of the threat of the two British destroyers at this time, and interception artillery finally appeared around the two battleships.

　　 The fierce artillery fire blew up countless large and small water jets around the destroyer, and the two small battleships began to avoid orbit. They flexibly shuttled through the German artillery fire. What made the German navy's grip was the two while avoiding the orbit. The destroyers even used their four poor 120mm main guns to repeatedly fire back at the German fleet.

　　Prince Eugen remained the same, she continued to swagger across the course of each other in front of the two destroyers.

　　 If someone pays attention at the time, you will find a very interesting scene. The artillery fire that desperately intercepted the destroyer turned out to be all fired by the Gneisenau in front of the Prinz Eugen and Admiral Scheer in the rear. The defensive artillery fire on the Prince Eugen, which was the target of the British destroyer, did not react as if she was asleep.

　　 "Quick, quick, quick command to fire, it's close enough!"

　　 Randolph exclaimed, standing on the Compass Bridge in joy.

　　"Wait a little longer and get closer, we will give these two idiot destroyers a fatal blow."

　　 Feng. Captain Hertz replied lightly.

　　 These two fellows who feel good about themselves did not enter the battleship’s well-protected armored command tower at the beginning of the battle like other warship captains.

　　 In order to show their bravery and fearlessness, the two of them continued to stand upright on the open bridge of the Prince Eugen, causing other officers and sailors to stay with them at the risk of being wiped out by a single shot. The open-air bridge directs the operations of the battleship.

　　 In fact, the German fleet had already noticed the kind of self-defeating assault that the two destroyers launched against it.

　　 The reason for not intercepting them for a long time sounds stupid. Because several warships have misunderstood the allocation of targets, they all think that the two destroyers are the targets of the opponent's warships, and the result is until the two destroyers rushed Not a single warship intercepted them within one kilometer of the fleet.

　　 When the German fleet discovered this stupid mistake, the two destroyers had already fired their torpedoes. What is even more absurd is that for that stupid reason, none of the warships paid attention to them, which resulted in no German sailor realizing that the British had completed the torpedo attack.

　　Prince Eugen was the same. She had focused all her attention on the British cruisers. It was only when she realized that the two destroyers were targeting her, she turned her attention away and started to feel about them. interest.

　　 is in Feng. In the eyes of Hertz and Randolph, the actions of these two British destroyers were very interesting, and they had the courage to challenge a powerful warship like theirs. This really made these two guys suddenly feel a touch of inexplicable excitement.

　　Since the enemy sent a letter of challenge, they felt that if they didn't accept it, it didn't seem to fit the knight's tradition, so Feng. Hertz issued an order to destroy the two arrogant boats with all his strength.

　　 In order to give Randolph a deeper impression of the strength of his warship. Feng. Hertz decided to wait until the two destroyers were close to 500 meters before firing. At this distance, the attack of the Prinz Eugen would instantly tear the two destroyers to pieces. The scene seemed to be very exciting.

　　 But now Feng. Hertz suddenly expressed doubts about the success of his plan.

　　 He felt that the two destroyers might not be able to hold close to five hundred meters.

　　 I saw a ghost in real time. No warship was interested in the two destroyers just now. When I wanted to clean them up, everyone seemed to be interested in them.

　　 A ship didn’t fire before, but now it’s good. Almost the entire fleet is firing at those two ships~ IndoMTL.com~ Are they doing business like this? Feng. Hertz couldn't help feeling a little depressed.

　　 "Captain! Torpedo! The torpedo was spotted on the starboard side, coming right toward us."

　　The first officer who was on the lookout side of the bridge suddenly yelled frantically.

　　 "Oh my god, there are three torpedoes there too. No, it is four! God, I can't count them!" The first officer continued to yell there, a trace of despair in his voice.

　　 "Where!"

　　 Feng. Hertz rushed to the starboard side of the bridge and looked out at the sea in dismay.

　　 "I can't see where I am."

　　"Where did the torpedo come from?"

　　"Are they the two destroyers? Who of you saw them launching torpedoes?"

　　 For a while, everyone on the bridge ran to the observation deck. They searched the sea nervously while yelling.

　　Only the helmsman is left in the middle of the bridge, holding the steering wheel and crying.

　　 "Captain! Where should I turn! Give the order!"

　　 Feng. Hertz and Randolph are now like the helmsman, looking at the scene in front of them with weeping faces, and now what they do will not help.

　　 There are dozens of torpedo trails criss-crossed on the sea less than 500 meters away from the Prince Eugen. Those snow-white wakes shone like diamonds under the scorching sun in the afternoon, and they were heading towards Eugen. The prince's huge hull quickly extended in the direction.