The Rise of the Third Reich

This Soviet-class ship is doomed! Hufmeier thought, the Soviet class has two power cabin sections, and each power cabin section has a boiler room with four boilers. In other words, destroying a boiler room will cause the battleship to lose at least half of its power. .

Feeling that victory was in sight, Hufermeier put down his telescope, then reached into his pocket and took out a cigar. Before he had time to light it, an unexpected change occurred.

The main gun of the Ukraine, which was beaten as if it was unable to parry, flashed out again and spit out artillery shells. One of them hit the 260mm thick front of the Veneto's bridge on the seventh floor. on the side armor. The shell tore through 260mm of armor effortlessly before exploding beneath the Veneto's command tower. The huge power of the 406mm shell explosion was transmitted to the command tower. Everyone was thrown into the air by the impact from under their feet, and then fell heavily. Hufumeier only felt that the back of his head hit something hard, and then he fainted completely. And never woke up again!

This is probably what makes the battleship decisive battle trembling. In the confrontation between two battleships, as long as there is no gap of several generations, nothing is foolproof. Even if the opponent cuts corners somewhat, it can still cause a fatal blow.

Therefore, the confrontation between battleships can only belong to truly fearless warriors!

Seeing thick smoke and fire rising from the bridge of the battleship Veneto, Rear Admiral Chandler, who was commanding a fake battleship, felt hope again.

The bridge is the command center of a battleship, or even the brain of a fleet! If the Veneto class is the flagship, then the German fleet is likely to be in chaos.

This is the opportunity!

Thinking of this, Chandler ordered the Ukraine to continue firing and bombarding the Veneto, and at the same time ordered the light cruisers and destroyers following the Ukraine to charge towards the Veneto, whose bridge was shot.

His purpose is not to sink the Veneto, but to force it back. As long as the Veneto takes a step, the Ukraine's opponents will only have two Veneto-class ships left.

1:2, there may not be a way to survive!

But what happened next disappointed Chandler. The severely damaged Veneto did not retreat, but continued to fight against the 406mm shells fired by the Ukraine. One minute later, under the command of the deputy captain located on the rear bridge, the ship turned sideways and aimed all the guns of the two main gun turrets that could still be used at the Ukraine.

The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and the destroyer Z46 rushed out from the right side of the formation, using their 203mm and 128mm cannons to blast an American Fletcher-class destroyer in front. Although it missed, it also blocked the path forward of these American ships that charged desperately.

At the same time, the two battleships Vittorio and Imperial also turned their hulls sideways at a distance of less than 18,000 meters from the Ukraine, and aimed all their main guns at the Ukraine.

There are now a total of 24 381mm cannons blasting the Ukraine, and the distance between the two sides is close enough. An artillery battle at this distance is almost a replica of a line of infantry lining up to shoot!

Every time the two sides engaged in a round of shooting, a battleship would be hit, either the Veneto or the Ukraine. Since the 381mm cannons that bombarded the Ukraine were one and a half times more than the 406mm cannons of the Ukraine, only 2-3 shots were fired on the Ukraine and 1 shot on the Veneto.

The winner was quickly determined in this exchange of fire. At 2:45, a 381mm armor-piercing projectile fired by the Empire hit the side armor of the No. 3 ammunition depot of the Ukraine. The 380mm thick steel plate did not block the 381mm shell. The artillery shell exploded in the ammunition depot, destroying more than two hundred 406mm artillery shells stored there. The violent explosion caused devastating damage to the Ukraine. The hull was blown into two pieces. A few minutes later, this "fake battleship" with a standard displacement of nearly 60,000 tons and a crew of more than 2,300 sank. Atlantic.

In addition to a dozen people who were rescued, more than 2,300 people, including the captain and formation commander Rear Admiral Chandler, were all killed!

The sinking of the battleship Ukraine also meant the destruction of the entire formation. Several American destroyers that escorted it were also driven to death in the subsequent sea chase. Nearly 4,000 U.S. Navy officers and soldiers were either captured or sank into the icy Atlantic Ocean!

…

"Colonel, the American battleship formation has been found! The radar indication is at 11 o'clock, about 90 kilometers away."

"Great... Attention everyone, I am Colonel Peltz. The target is in front of us. Now prepare to attack. Each squadron lowers its altitude and deploys into a golden comb formation."

Shortly after the Ukraine sank into the sea with its captain who hated fakes, in the night sky hundreds of kilometers away, the "Thor Force" consisting of 24 Ju188E-2 torpedo bombers finally landed in Vienna Under the guidance of the light cruiser, we found the battleship Soviet Russia that was desperately fleeing.

The "Thor Force" initially consisted of 30 Ju188E-2s, but unexpectedly they were attacked by twelve P61 night fighters not long after taking off (they were covering a transport ship heading towards Georgetown). team), two Ju188E-2s were shot down inexplicably, and four others were damaged. They were unable to continue their mission and had to fly to Cayenne Airport for temporary refuge.

Although the start was unfavorable, Thor's troops did not encounter any more trouble during the subsequent flight. In the early morning of September 7, under the guidance of radio waves emitted by the light cruiser Vienna, they found the "leisurely" escape of Soviet battleship.

Unlike the Ukraine, which was being pursued by three Veneto-class battleships, the EC hull following the Soviet Union was only three light cruisers, and they did not dare to follow too closely. They stayed there until dark. Hiding 70 to 80 kilometers behind the Soviet Union, it was tracked by three Ar196 seaplanes (carried on three light cruisers) and a Bv138D large seaplane. At night, it accelerated and approached within 40 kilometers, using shipborne radar to illuminate it from a distance.

However, Rear Admiral Henry Mullinix, the captain of the Soviet Union and commander of the formation, did not dare to take it lightly, because he already knew about the bloodbath of the Halsey formation by 12 Type 21 submarines.

When he thought about it, the three German light patrols must be to guide the submarine who didn't know where to ambush!

Therefore, after discovering the "tail", Rear Admiral Mullinix ordered the formation to flee towards Puerto Rico at full speed - as long as they could escape into the shore-based aircraft protection circle deployed on the shore of Puerto Rico before dawn, they could rely on " Catalina" seaplane carried out anti-submarine warfare and got rid of the threat of German submarines.

Even the Type 21 U-boat is still somewhat troublesome when it encounters a seaplane equipped with radar that can search the water. At least it does not dare to float, and it cannot maintain a high speed while hiding underwater.

But to Rear Admiral Mullinix's torpedo, what he heard was not an early warning of an incoming submarine, but an air defense warning.

"Sir, we have discovered enemy planes, numbering more than 20, altitude 3000, distance 100, speed 300, flying towards us!"

"It's a night torpedo bomber!" Rear Admiral Mullinix immediately guessed what kind of opponent he was encountering - but he couldn't figure out where these medium-sized bombers that could drop torpedoes at night took off from? Is there a German aircraft carrier nearby? But according to intelligence, the Germans have no carrier-based torpedo bombers at all?

"Maintain a speed of 28 knots, take an S-shaped avoidance route, don't turn on the searchlights, and don't be busy firing anti-aircraft artillery fire." Rear Admiral Mullinix thought for a while and did not choose an anti-aircraft formation to meet the enemy. Because there were not many escort ships around his battleship, and it was late at night, anti-aircraft guns without radar fire control could not hit the target at all.

Rather than turning on the searchlight to expose the target, it is better to continue taking an S-shaped route in the dark, and maybe avoid all the torpedoes.

Just when Rear Admiral Mullinix wanted to escape the disaster by luck, three EC light cruisers following the battleship Soviet Russia at a distance of 38,000 meters ejected the Ar196 seaplane with flares...

"Sir, two enemy planes are approaching..."

At about 3:40 in the morning on September 7, when the captain and commander of the taskforce, Rear Admiral Henry Mullinix, heard the electronics officer holding the phone reporting loudly, a bright and dazzling cloud suddenly appeared in the sky directly in front of the command tower. Ball of fire.

The experienced U.S. Navy rear admiral knew that this was a flare that would make the Soviet battleship appear in its original form in the dark!

Rear Admiral Henry Mullinix's heart sank suddenly, knowing that he could not escape, he immediately squinted his eyes and ordered: "Turn on all searchlights, pay attention to the sea and sky!"

"Guns, all anti-aircraft guns ready to fire!"

As Rear Admiral Mullinix shouted, high-power searchlights began to sweep into the air, and all the 127mm high-level and flat dual-purpose guns, 40mm anti-aircraft guns and 20mm machine guns also raised their muzzles (these The anti-aircraft guns were all installed after the Soviet-class arrived in the United States) and were always ready to fire.

At this moment, the electronic officer in the command tower shouted again: "Nine o'clock! The radar has detected more than 10 enemy aircraft, altitude 100, distance 50, approaching quickly!"