Three Hundred and Sixty One Desperate Battle

What kind of waiting is the longest waiting? Someone else is in the toilet and you are outside? Well, that's not what we're talking about now. The feeling of the German Vice Admiral Lütjens and the British Vice Admiral Holland may be the kind of time spent waiting outside the toilet.

There are many coincidences in history that make people smile. For example, even though both countries have admirals, in such an important naval decisive battle, the leader of the army is not the supreme commander of the navy. Coincidence What is surprising is that both of them have the same military rank as lieutenant general.

On the aircraft carrier Reich, the flagship of the German Navy's High Seas Fleet, the bridge was busy. Some people were confirming the fleet's position and the security circle, while others were asking if the security ships behind had found the location of the British Navy.

Lütjens raised his head, looked at the clock hanging in the command room, knocked on the table anxiously, his face was tense and expressionless. How anxious he was in his heart, only he knew. The pressure of making this decision is driving him crazy right now.

The vice admiral lowered his head, stared at his fingers, and saw that the hands that were once extremely firm were trembling slightly at this moment. He knew that if he spoke now, his lips would tremble and his voice would be out of tune. He is not afraid of the responsibilities on his shoulders, but he is afraid of ruining the dream of an empire.

He had an urge to fight the case, turn the bow and fight the British opponent with cannons to the death. It's a pity that he knows he can't do this, because he doesn't even have the qualifications to fight to the death, he can only run away, only run with his life.

I don't know how many times, he raised his head again, looked at the wall clock on the wall, stared at the minute and hour hands in a daze. He prayed for the dawn to come soon, but was afraid of its approaching. Contradictory emotions linger in my heart, and they can't go away, making people suffer every minute.

Because dawn is the moment when he starts to attack, the carrier-based aircraft in the hangar have already mounted bombs and torpedoes, looking forward to the moment of dawn; but he dare not look forward to the arrival of dawn, because the day before dawn The momentary darkness may be the moment when the British warships fired all their guns, and they were wiped out in ashes.

On the Hood, the flagship of the British fleet, Lieutenant General Holland kept taking out his pocket watch, frowning at the time on it. If there is one person in this world who can understand the mood of Lieutenant General Lütjens, the commander of the German fleet, then this person is undoubtedly Holland.

The same anxious waiting, the same nervous hesitation, the same eager expectation, and the same fear and confusion. They are indeed two suffering brothers at this moment, each experiencing their own depression and fear. As the flagship of the fleet, as the core of the entire fleet, the battlecruiser Hood under Lieutenant General Holland's feet took the lead and rushed to the forefront of the entire fleet, followed by another giant ship at sea— — also the battlecruiser Renown.

Lieutenant General Holland put down the pocket watch in his hand, because he found that his hands were trembling. If other people on the bridge conning tower saw this detail due to excessive tension, it would affect morale to a certain extent—anyone detail,

Lieutenant General Holland wants to be the best.

He has an obsession in his heart, which is the obsession of the Royal Navy of the British Empire for a year; there is a figure in front of him, which is the figure that every sailor of the Royal Navy of the British Empire has in mind. He wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with that hero Nelson, and he wants to create his own Holland legend!

The sea was still extremely dark, and nothing could be seen in the distance, but Holland knew that the German fleet was there, not far away. The hands of the clock have already pointed to the number that is infinitely expected in the heart. It seems that God is on the side of the British this time.

"Command the fleet, speed up!" Lieutenant General Huo Lan stood in front of a window directly in front of the bridge, and with a faint light, he could vaguely see the two majestic turrets on the front bow of the Hood battleship, and the four The 381mm caliber main gun that made him more confident. This is the capital for his decisive victory over Dawn, and it is also the guarantee for the future of the British Empire's sea power.

The news has just come that a British submarine hiding near the Dutch port has sent a telegram, confirming that no German navy has been found. This information greatly increased Lieutenant General Holland's confidence, and also let him know that the German naval fleet must be in front of him.

So at this fateful moment, at 41:00 in the morning, Holland issued his offensive order: "Turn on the boiler to increase power! The whole fleet sprints at the highest speed! Pull in the distance with the German navy!"

And at 2:41, the German Navy received bad news that really made Lütjens dizzy. The destroyer in charge of guarding at the end of the line sent back a message with a signal light. At 2:37, the radar of the rear guard ship discovered the trailing British fleet. It seemed that the distance seemed to be more and more unfavorable to the German navy.

Lütjens took out his handkerchief and wiped his forehead twice. Then he braced his body, walked to the chart table again, and measured the distance between the two sides again with the distance measuring ruler that he had been using for many years.

"It seems that the opponent is speeding up. Even if our escort ship turns around and releases the torpedo, it may not be effective." Lütjens threw away the measuring ruler, stared at the chart and said, "I can only give up? How many ships should I give up?" Escort ships, looking for trouble with the British Navy?"

He knew that the destroyer must be dead, even if there were more destroyers, it would be impossible to slow down a behemoth like the Hood and launch a torpedo? If it fails to enter the range of 10 kilometers, it will be sunk, and it will not even survive the longest distance to release the torpedo. Even if they were lucky enough to get into the distance, they would be killed by the destroyers and cruisers rushing up. It is estimated that the real body of the Hood would never be seen.

"Report!" An officer walked in with an uneasy expression on his face. He handed a telegram to Lütjens, and then sent the report sadly: "The armored ship Admiral Earl Spey in the rear is turning around. .”

"Admiral Earl Spey is calling, I'll go to the rear! General, please continue to lead the army north, long live Yuan! Long live Greater Germany!" Lütjens took the telegram, looked at the words on it silently, and suddenly felt Something rushed out of his eye socket.

These naval officers did not lack courage, but they did not dare to let the empire's maritime future come to naught because of their courage. When disaster strikes, the soldiers of the Imperial Navy have never lacked courage. This is true of the predecessors who carried out the Rainbow Project, and the soldiers who are now preparing for the Battle of the English Channel are the same.

Following the turn of the Admiral Earl Spey, there were two destroyers and a cruiser in the rear. These warships, which were only equipped with small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery, did not hesitate at all when they turned. They turned their heads silently. , With their weak bodies, they blocked the giant battleships of the British Navy.

"Fleet speed up! Speed ​​up to 24 knots! We must make every effort to delay the start of the war until dawn!" Lütjens didn't use his handkerchief, but directly wiped his face with his hand, with trembling hands The voice gave his battle orders.

All the warships began to speed up, and a tragic atmosphere filled the air. Some fighter pilots of the Navy even asked to take off early, preferring to crash into the sea, but also to carry out a wave of air strikes on the British warships. But Lütjens vetoed this request, and he wanted to preserve every combat power to welcome the dawn that belonged to him.

Soon, the sound of artillery battles from both sides came from the rear. The German Navy relied on radar technology to fire first, but it seemed that these shells had no effect on the British Navy's battlecruisers. However, the head start did cause trouble for the British Navy, and the entire British fleet had to reduce its speed to 24 knots.

At close range, the battleship HMS Hood of the British Navy then fired back. The first salvo hit the sea near the German warship because of night aiming, but the British naval gunners showed themselves in the second bombardment. The superb aiming technique directly hit the German cruiser rushing over to release the torpedo, and directly broke the German cruiser into two pieces.

Knowing that he was doomed, Admiral Earl Spey, the armored ship of the German Navy, did not flinch. He left the British giant ship regardless, and the cruiser and destroyer biting the left wing of the British fleet opened fire violently, sinking one ship in one go. The British light cruiser, however, was also paralyzed on the sea at the same time, losing the ability to continue fighting.

The main gun of the Retaliation hit the rear main turret of the Admiral Earl Spee, directly splitting the tail of the battleship in two, and the front main turret of the German ship was also hit by a British cruiser. In less than ten minutes, the 10,000-ton battleship was hit and caught fire, and the entire hull began to tilt violently.

The desperate German naval officers and soldiers are still fighting back desperately, and the 150mm caliber artillery on the ship is still firing until it is finally smashed into scrap iron. However, the British Navy had no time to waste time on such a small fish, leaving only one cruiser to continue bombarding the German ship to clean up the mess.

Hearing the sound of gunfire getting farther and farther away, and seeing that the sky was still dark, Lütjens began to feel a sense of despair. Could it be said that dominating the ocean is just an unattainable dream of the German Navy? Could it be that the invincibility these days is just a spring and autumn dream? Could it be that he will eventually be written into the annals of history with the name of the German navy criminal on his back?

Why? Lütjens couldn't help clenching his fists, gritted his teeth and asked loudly in grief and indignation: Why? Why don't I have a battleship?

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