Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 23: Looting (Part 2)

　　

　　 The fierce Hipper improved heavy cruiser licked the blood that hadn't been wiped from the corner of his mouth and approached the prey aggressively.

　　 However, the Southampton-class light cruiser Sheffield obviously does not have the faithful awareness of becoming a prey of the German Navy. It is now immersed in the intense stimulation of being able to die with a powerful opponent.

　　The Sheffield is the third ship in the Southampton class, also known as the early city class.

　　 In order to fight against the top Japanese and Brooklyn-class light cruisers that took advantage of the Washington Treaty, the British Admiralty designed and built this class of treaty-type light cruisers. Just like her competitors on both sides of the sea, the British are at the top The standard treaty light cruiser is equipped with maximum force.

　　 But after all, the British still maintain their sanity as a veteran maritime power, and the rich shipbuilding experience they have accumulated over the years has enabled them to look at this issue more calmly than their competitors.

　　 So instead of filling her body with gun barrels like those two exaggerated light cruisers, she installed the maximum force configuration she could bear while maintaining sufficient defensive power.

　　 It's a pity that the British, who thought they were old and cunning, never thought that they had actually been tricked by the two navy queens.

　　 The proud brain of the British Empire sometimes stiffens intermittently. She always thinks that only she has the power and shame in the whole world. She obviously underestimated the standards of her two students. She did not expect those two to be in her In fact, the rude and backward empires were actually tampering with the tonnage of their ships.

　　 However, in any case, the Southampton-class light cruiser is a masterpiece in the history of British naval shipbuilding. On the basis of more than 9,300 tons of drainage with a full load of more than 10,000 tons, it not only has energy and those two light cruisers. The cruiser's firepower is comparable to that of the cruiser, and it also has a fairly complete protection. In this regard, it even surpasses some treaty-class thin-skinned cruisers, such as the current fleet flagship York.

　　 When York was bombarded by the volley of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau’s bridges, Sheffield, the main force of the local fleet, had already entered combat.

　　 This powerful light cruiser was in third place in the fleet, following the Leander-class light cruiser Orion, turning to starboard.

　　 In the beginning, the Sheffield, like other warships, did not realize that the fleet had lost command. The fact that the fleet command was all killed at the beginning of the war is rare in the history of world naval warfare.

　　 So this light cruiser still obeyed the flagship's final order firmly, keeping the fleet formation turned to the right, and even eagerly waiting for the flagship to convey the parameters of the bombing target to itself.

　　 But when the York started her death loop with billowing smoke, she began to feel that the flagship of the Sheffield had found the problem, and the huge flagship's bridge had been blown apart.

　　 This situation made the Sheffield a bit at a loss, but after all, this battleship was an elite who has served in the mainland for a long time, and her captain, Colonel Reno, is also an experienced officer.

　　Reno immediately began to judge the current situation of the fleet. As the second battleship of the fleet, Reno made a decisive decision that Sheffield immediately took over the command of the fleet.

　　 Just as Colonel Reno announced his decision to his men, the Orion directly in front of the Sheffield was being ravaged by two German battlecruisers, and that light cruiser with ordinary performance was in front of two powerful enemies. After only insisting on a round, he was beaten disabled.

　　 Captain Orion completely lost the courage to continue fighting, and before she could give a warning to the Sheffield behind, he left the original course with a large loop on the left, and then dragged the billowing smoke and twisted and twisted. The wake of the fleet fled in embarrassment towards the left rear of the fleet, leaving the Sheffield behind her in front of two German battlecruisers that had already killed her.

　　 Scharnhorst let go of the fleeing Orion and immediately bombarded the Sheffield mercilessly.

　　 But the first bombardment did not achieve the desired result. Only two near misses caused some minor damage to the Sheffield, which made Scharnhorst’s Captain Feng. Colonel Lawhenkram was dissatisfied.

　　 But before the navy colonel could complain, the Sheffield's counterattack began.

　　 Four triple turrets and twelve 152mm main guns sprayed out flames of revenge at the same time. The 180-meter-long hull was enveloped in golden muzzle flames. This beautiful light cruiser looks now Going up is like an angry fire dragon.

　　 Sheffield’s heroic counterattack caused Scharnhorst to receive the first substantial damage in this naval battle, and the battleship was almost unscathed in the previous battle.

　　 Except for the York’s 102mm secondary guns, a few small pits were dug out in the solid armor belt on the side of the ship. The 40mm anti-aircraft gun on the Orion was left in the unarmored position of the superstructure of the battleship. It's just a bunch of bullet holes.

　　 Sheffield’s 152mm shell hit Scharnhorst’s main gun A turret, upper bridge and starboard deck and side armor belt.

　　 The 152mm shell that hit the front of the main turret of A had nothing to do with the terrifying 355mm armor of the German battleship’s turret. In desperation, the projectile fell into the sea on the side as expected by the German designers. .

　　 And because the impact was too strong, the bottom fuze of the cannonball was knocked out, and the cannonball sank into the blue waters of the North Atlantic without even splashing half of it.

　　 The shell that hit the upper bridge penetrated the outer armor and exploded on the left side of the compass bridge. The shrapnel destroyed the observation deck and half of the bridge on the left, because most of the navigation and command personnel All entered the lower armored bridge, so it did not cause a lot of casualties, only a lower-level officer was killed and two sailors were seriously injured.

　　 It’s surprising that the four sailors closest to the explosion point suffered only minor scratches, and the officer was the farthest from the explosion point but his head was shattered by a piece of shrapnel, which made people sigh the war Wonderful.

　　The shell that hit the deck exploded two meters away from Scharnhorst’s starboard twin front secondary battery shield. Most of the shrapnel was engulfed in the shattered wooden deck debris like a shower Generally hit the armored shield of the 150mm twin secondary gun.

　　 But these things are nothing at all for the 140 mm thick secondary battery shield. The sailors fighting in the secondary battery turret did not suffer any damage except for a little shock.

　　 But the scattered shrapnel caused some trouble to the machine gunners who were yelling at the British battleship in the quadruple air defense machine gun nest behind the secondary gun turret. A hapless machine gunner couldn’t dodge and was wiped over the secondary gun turret. The shrapnel was seriously injured.

　　 The reserve personnel who had been waiting behind the shielding bulwark immediately rushed into the machine gun nest and replaced the wounded machine gunner. The wounded man was carried down, and the substitute team took over the hapless post with a more majestic attitude. He Liang Liang's voice expressed his condolences to the female families of the British naval officers and soldiers opposite.

　　 Most of Sheffield’s other shells either created a few water columns needlessly on the sea or were flew by Scharnhorst’s thick 350mm armor, which did not cause much damage to the warship.

　　 However, Sheffield's counterattack still angered the mighty battleship.

　　The gunfire of the Scharnhorst rained down on the Sheffield immediately. The Germans had corrected their trajectory, so large and small fireballs began to explode on the deck of this brave light cruiser. Open.

　　 Sheffield has hung the commander flag on its mast, and the acting flagship is under the control of the experienced captain and sailor through the gunfire of the German battleship.

　　Captain Reno commanded the battleship to fight back vigorously at the Scharnhorst and ordered the signalmen to give the final fleet orders to the other ships.

　　"The fleet disbanded, and the ships immediately separated from the sea. This ship is determined to fight to the last minute. God bless you, long live the British Empire, long live the King, long live the Royal Navy!"

　　 Sheffield, full of gunpowder, rushed towards Scharnhorst with full force.

　　 I didn't expect that the light cruiser would not retreat even after being wounded all over, the captain of the Scharnhorst Siegfried. Feng. Navy Colonel Rowan Kram couldn't help but exude a heartfelt admiration.

　　 This is the real warrior. This is the opponent worth fighting with. It is a pity that everyone now sees how huge the gap between the two sides is. This is not something that can be changed by courage alone. In fact, the fate had already been decided on the conference table of the Third Reich Naval Command.

　　 saw the Sheffield rushing towards her in a desperate manner, although Feng. Luo Yankram has the heart to compete with this brave opponent, but he still has more important tasks to complete.

　　 What's more, looking at the opponent's posture is obviously a desperate effort. The German Navy has not yet been knighted enough to die with brave opponents.

　　 Feng. Colonel Royankram has found that an old light cruiser at the rear of the British fleet has changed course with two freighters and began to turn around and retreat to the southeast of the battlefield. The remaining three destroyers are approaching the Orion, which is fleeing to the southwest. .

　　 Now the encirclement of this fleet must be completed immediately, and the escape route of those escaping ships must be blocked. This is the only idea in the mind of Captain Scharnhorst.

　　 Sheffield is now in Feng. Colonel Luo Yankram's eyes began to become more and more annoying. He now understood the idea of ​​the warship. The opponent wanted to entangle himself with himself to delay the completion of the German fleet encirclement.

　　How could she succeed, Feng. Although Luo Yankram admired the other party's abandonment of himself to cover his comrades, it is absolutely impossible to succeed in this way to prevent him from completing the task.

　　 Scharnhorst immediately reported the movement of the British fleet to the flagship, and then launched the last salvo on the Sheffield and turned the rudder to speed up. The huge hull traversed the course of Sheffield and turned towards The British ships moving to the southeast rushed.

　　 Scharnhorst decided to get rid of the light cruiser that haunted her desperately, and threw her to the Gneisenau behind.

　　 Sheffield saw that Scharnhorst was preparing to leave the battle and continue to chase the retreating friendly ship, knowing that her plan might have been seen through by the Germans.

　　 Seeing that the plan was about to fall apart, Captain Reno couldn't help cursing that the Germans were all cowards while hurriedly ordering the warship to turn and catch up with Scharnhorst.

　　As a light cruiser, Sheffield has the advantages of speed and maneuverability. It should be no problem to catch up with Scharnhorst, not to mention that the distance between the two sides has been closer to more than two thousand meters.

　　 But before the Sheffield turned its rudder, the shells of the Gneisenau’s main gun had fallen around her, and the light cruiser was once again shrouded in a tall water column forest.

　　"It's over, the German bombardment queue has followed."

　　Captain Reno suddenly felt a wave of weakness in his heart. Compared with the German fleet, his side was really too weak.

　　 Looking at Admiral Scheer behind Gneisenau and the tall masts of the Hipper next to the flagship and the huge muzzle flames flashing from the bow from time to time, the Sheffield was desperate.

　　 She knew that no matter how she fought, she would not be able to hinder the Germans, nor could she change the tragic fate of her fleet.

　　 From the current situation, it seems that the fate of the fleet is not doomed, but as a glorious Royal Navy soldier, he will never tolerate himself waiting for death like this. Even if he will die, he must make the enemy pay the same price. Never give up until the last minute.

　　Captain Reno ordered the warship to turn the rudder, not paying attention to the attacks on him by other German warships, and rushing to the Scharnhorst at full power.

　　 This time the impact was no longer the bluff of the previous one, but a real assault. Colonel Reno was determined to sink the Scharnhorst.

　　 Gneisenau did not expect that the light cruiser, which had been covered in bruises, would make such a crazy decision. When she reacted, the light cruiser had turned the bow and rushed towards the Scharnhorst.

　　 Gneisenau sensed the enemy ship’s intentions, and was shocked, and began to shoot desperately at the crazily assaulting corvette, trying to stop her before she could cause severe damage to Scharnhorst Come down.

　　 is no longer able to care about orders that must be captured, and she can't just watch her sister ship in danger.

　　 Scharnhorst also discovered the bad intentions of the British light cruiser approaching at high speed, so it also began to pour all available firepower toward the Sheffield.

　　 Although Scharnhorst has 350 millimeters of armor, Feng. Luo Yankram knew very well that a large-caliber shell and a 10,000-ton cruiser were two different things.

　　 Sheffield has completely lost her original beautiful appearance. The once smooth and tidy battleship deck is now full of burning flames and bright red blood. The four once majestic triple turrets are now all built. Aside from the twisted wreckage, only the lower half of the tall bridge remained and still billowing smoke.

　　 The enclosed corridor at the midship has been riddled with holes, and only one of the four secondary guns on the back side of the aft tower is left on the port side. The mast at the tail has collapsed and is now leaning on the turret of the main gun at the stern. Above, the hangar had been torn apart, and only the charred skeletons of the two seaplanes were burned, and they were still creaking in the flames.

　　 German captives tried to help her. The German attacks on all British cruisers so far have been confined to the waterline, and most of them have focused on the British ship’s bridges, superstructures and turret firepower.

　　 The German Navy’s plan is as long as the opponent does not sink, even if it is a barge, and from the current situation, these captains have indeed implemented this order completely and firmly.

　　 For this reason, the Sheffield’s power system was not damaged. The light cruiser rushed towards Scharnhorst frantically at a speed of thirty knots.

　　 Because the distance is too close and the opponent is in high-speed motion, coupled with the cover of the billowing smoke on the ship, most of the Gneiseno and Scharnhorst’s blocking artillery fire was lost. The huge water columns blasted from around the cruiser further hindered their sight.

　　 Siegfried. Feng. Colonel Royankram felt that the situation was a little bad at this time. All the light and heavy weapons on the Scharnhorst were firing at the devilish light cruiser. The large-caliber main and secondary artillery shells kept falling on the opponent’s. Around and on the broken ship hull, 37mm and 20mm cannonballs licked the remaining bridge of the British battleship like fire snakes, blasting frantically on the opponent’s deck, but all this now seems to be All struggles in vain.

　　 Scharnhorst was panicked and wanted to turn the rudder to avoid the track, but the opponent stared at him like a ghost. No matter how the Scharnhorst avoided the track, the light cruiser was as sharp as a razor. The head of the ship was always aimed at her.

　　 The distance between the two sides was close to 1,500 meters, and they kept getting closer due to Scharnhorst’s evasive action.

　　"Order the entire ship to prepare for collision and raise the alarm!"

　　 Feng. Colonel Royankram roared and ordered that he never dreamed that he would be forced to this point by a light cruiser.

　　 "Captain! Look! That is... There is... It's Prince Eugen!"

　　 Just as the stern collision alarm sounded on the bridge, the lookout hand also screamed frantically.

　　 Feng. Luo Yankram rushed to the lookout hole of the armored bridge and looked in the direction of the fingers of the lookout hand.

　　On the sea filled with gunpowder smoke, a battleship appeared on Sheffield’s starboard side as if it had fallen from the sky, and rushed towards the same crazily advancing light cruiser at an incredible speed.

　　 Beautiful fragmented black and white camouflage, tall bridges, a blood-red Imperial Navy flag and a dark skull flag fluttering in the wind on the mast.

　　 "Von. Hess, what do you want to do!"

　　 Feng. Colonel Luoyan Kram was stunned by the sight before him.

　　 "Oh my God! She wants to hit Sheffield! The Prince Eugen wants to hit her!"

　　 An adjutant reacted and screamed wildly.

　　 There are no more alive sailors on the deck of the Sheffield, and the survivors on the bridge are now focusing all their attention on the close target. The watchman on the deck of the bridge is here. At that time, the casualties were exhausted, so none of the British noticed the German heavy cruiser rushing towards him.

　　 The main gun of the Prince Eugen was silent, and it rushed towards the Sheffield silently like a ghost ship.

　　When the Sheffield hull was less than a hundred meters away, the Prince Eugen, who had been silent, suddenly sounded all the horns, and then the sirens on the bridge sounded sharp collision alarms. ~IndoMTL.com~ Colonel Reno, who was disturbed by the sudden loud noise, hurried to the observation hole on the starboard side of the battleship and looked out. What entered his eyes was the sharp bow and huge turret of a huge German battleship.

　　 "Ah, God!"

　　Captain Reno shivered and let out a desperate scream.

　　 In the next second, the bow of the Prince Eugen smashed into Sheffield's battered body.

　　The damage caused by the huge impact can even be felt by the sailors on the Scharnhorst.

　　 The harsh sirens were accompanied by the violent metal fracture and distortion, and the cracking sound echoed on the surface of the sea. Sheffield was violently moved a distance of more than 30 meters, and the agitated waves were like a wall of water rising high .

　　 The bow of the Prince Eugen was inserted deeply into the position of the British cruiser's bridge, and the twisted bow armor plate stood up to the sky like the sharp teeth of a monster.

　　Everyone was stunned by the earth-shattering scene before them.

　　 "Long live!"

　　 I don't know who started it first, first one or two, then dozens, hundreds, and finally the whole battleship boiled.

　　The sailors excitedly waved their arms to the two battleships inlaid together. The sailors on the deck forgot that the battle was still going on, they jumped from the battle position and shouted excitedly.

　　The officers on Scharnhorst all stood straight in their posts and saluted the towering bridge of the Prince Eugen.

　　 "Long live! Prince Eugen, long live!"