The Rise of the Third Reich

"Report, the radar found that the No. 2 ship in the enemy formation slowed down significantly. It was obviously severely damaged and it can't run away!"

"Sir, it seems that Ship No. 2 only has 6 cannons capable of firing!"

"Sir, the enemy seems to have disbanded their formation!"

"Haha..." Hearing that the U.S. fleet had disbanded the formation, Admiral Hubert Schmidt laughed and said: "Now the U.S. Pacific Fleet is going to be seriously weakened. Let the Bismarck's reconnaissance plane search for the enemy formation." Ship No. 1, that should also be a South Dakota class ship!”

Through the gunfire and the speed of the enemy ship formation, Hubert Schmidt had already determined that the opponent had two South Dakota-class or North Carolina-class battleships. He has no intention of letting any of them go!

As for the remaining seven slower battleships, Hubert Schmidt determined that they were all old ships built before the last world war and could run at most 20 knots. They pose no threat to the new German, Italian, and French battleships whose speeds are generally upwards of 27 knots, so there is no harm in letting them escape.

"Reform," Admiral Hubert Schmidt ordered while chewing a cigarette. "Ludendorff, Barbarossa, Roma and the 6th Destroyer Group formed the 1st battle group, responsible for attacking the enemy's No. 2 ship. Bismarck, Richelieu, and Jean Bart plus three heavy cruisers and the 4th Destroyer Group formed the second battle group, using Bismarck as the flagship to destroy the enemy's No. 1 ship. "

Admiral Hubert Schmidt now formed a team of the slower Ludendorff, the less seaworthy Roma, and the relatively weak Barbarossa to sink the already injured South Dakota. Number.

At the same time, let the Bismarck, Richelieu and Jean Bart pursue another South Dakota-class battleship, the Indiana.

Of course, this formation is to maximize the power of each ship. Among the 6 battleships under the command of Admiral Hubert Schmidt, the two French battleships are undoubtedly the most suitable for pursuit, because their main gun layout is a bit strange. , eight 380mm cannons are all on the bow. In other words, the second team had 20 380mm cannons available when chasing the enemy, while the escaping Indiana only had 3 cannons on the stern to fight back.

Although the Indiana's 16-inch cannon was very powerful, the heavy shells fired could even penetrate the Yamato's armor. However, the 380mm main guns of the two French battleships are also very powerful. The armor-piercing projectiles fired weigh 777 kilograms. Although the theoretical penetration depth is not as good as the Veneto-class Ansaldo 1 main gun, it is still enough to reach a distance of more than 20,000 meters. Penetrating the South Dakota-class waterline armor belt.

Moreover, the Bismarck, Richelieu and Jean Bart are all high-speed battleships and can pursue the enemy at a high speed of 30 knots. However, the American South Dakota class can only run 27 knots. The speed difference of 3 knots may not be a problem when fighting in formation. But it comes in handy during pursuit battles.

"Colonel, we can't run away!"

The first mate of the Indiana shouted to the captain, Colonel Merris, "There are only 22,000 meters left!"

As soon as he finished speaking, firelight flashed out one after another on the misty sea in the distance!

"Hell, there are at least 20 15-inch cannons... there are 4-5 German battleships!" The first mate of the Indiana sounded like he was crying.

4-5 Bismarck class ships! No matter how powerful the Indiana is, it will always be a dead end.

"Impossible." Colonel Melis was much calmer than his subordinates. "There should be two French battleships called Richelieu. The main guns of such battleships are all on the bow."

The relationship between France and the United States was very good before the war. Colonel Melis was also fortunate enough to visit the French battleships of this class, which left a deep impression. I didn't expect that the United States and France would actually meet each other at war. This is really a bit of God's will. But this also shows that Germany has achieved considerable success in integrating Europe!

"We can't go on like this," Colonel Melis gritted his teeth, "Left left and left rudder, let's turn around and fight them!"

"The enemy has at least three battleships..."

"But we have 9 cannons!" Colonel Melis said, "Just one shot can severely damage a Richelieu-class!"

"A grade of Richelieu?"

"Yes!" Colonel Melis shouted, "We must let the French know that following the Germans will not end well."

…

"Colonel, the enemy ship No. 2 has turned around and seems to be fighting us!"

The Indiana's turn was quickly detected by the Bismarck's radar. The Bismarck's captain also temporarily became the commander of the 2nd Team, Major General Lindemann, and immediately understood the opponent's intentions.

"The Yankees know they can't run away and are going to fight us desperately!" Lindemann held the handrail and ordered loudly, "Turn the rudder to 65 degrees. Let's rush towards it, close the distance, and hit hard! "

Three German and French battleships and one American battleship all raised their speed to the highest speed and ran head-on on the sea. As the distance between the two sides quickly shortened, the optical sighting equipment on the ships would soon be able to point the direction for the cannons.

The artillery accuracy of both sides also improved rapidly. The first one to make a contribution was the Bismarck's 380mm main gun. In the fourth salvo, a 380mm armor-piercing projectile successfully penetrated the Indiana's waterline armor belt. The warehouse exploded. But it is a pity that it was not able to penetrate the solid ammunition depot bulkhead. But it still ignited a lot of miscellaneous things and circuits, causing fires.

Immediately afterwards, the 777 kilogram (body) armor-piercing projectile fired by the French Jean Bart also hit the stern of the Indiana. The French used heavy projectiles, and their penetration and destructive power should not be underestimated. The shell penetrated the relatively thin stern armor of the Indiana and exploded after being mounted on a thick armored steel plate outside the engine room. Although it did not penetrate directly into the engine room, the vibration caused by the explosion caused one of the Indiana's engines to malfunction.

Then, a shell from the French battleship Richelieu also hit the Indiana. What would be hit was the lifeboat deck of the battleship. The powerful explosion blew the lifeboats stacked there into pieces and caused a fire.

However, the Indiana quickly retaliated. When the distance between the two sides narrowed to 17,000 meters, a terrifying 1 super-heavy bomb hit the 330mm waterline armor belt of the Richelieu-class battleship.

It also penetrates with one blow! At this distance, even the Yamato's waterline armor could hardly withstand the Indiana's 16-inch super-heavy shells, let alone the Richelieu. This shell still refused to give up after tearing through the Richelieu's main armor belt. , and hit the bulkhead armor of the No. 1 boiler room of the Richelieu. Although it did not penetrate directly into the power cabin, the explosion still tore open the armor and formed a scattering flow, damaging the two boilers inside. Richelieu The speed of the ship immediately dropped to 22 knots.

However, instead of weakening the Richelieu's firepower, it fired back in bursts. The result was soon achieved again. A 380mm shell hit the starboard main armor belt of the Indiana at a distance of 14,800 meters. This time, because the distance was close enough, the penetrating power of the shell also greatly increased, and finally penetrated the Indiana 2. The protective wall of the boiler room exploded inside, and the sweeping shrapnel turned the inside of the boiler room into an outright hell. Everyone inside was killed, and the two boilers were blown to pieces.

But the Richelieu's good luck seemed to end here. In the next round of shelling, a fireball suddenly rose outside the No. 2 turret of the battleship. When the smoke dispersed, people suddenly discovered that the turret's One of the four barrels actually broke.

"Exploded chamber!?" Major General Lindemann, who served as the commander of the team, was a little unbelievable when he heard the report. How did this happen? Could it be that the Richelieu's cannons were of substandard quality and would overheat and explode after firing a dozen or twenty rounds?

"Let the Richelieu stop the bombardment and withdraw from the battle!" Lindemann did not dare to let this French baby battleship risk fighting anymore, and the explosion accident also caused half of the turrets to lose their combat effectiveness (the Richelieu seemed to have 2 turrets, each turret is actually divided into two, forming two and a half turrets). In theory, only 6 cannons can fire, but who knows that these 6 cannons will not cause any more accidents?

After letting the Richelieu retreat, the Germans were left with only two battleships, the Bismarck and Jean Bart, and three other heavy cruisers to deal with an American South Dakota-class and an American heavy cruiser. The main gun used by the Barr is exactly the same as the Richelieu class, which is really scary.

"Now deal with the other Richelieu-class!" Colonel Melis tasted the sweetness and decided to continue bullying the French. If the other French battleship can be beaten away, then there will be only one Bismarck-class left to deal with.

It's a pity that his good luck ran out on the Richelieu's explosive cannon. Less than 2 minutes after the Richelieu retreated, a 380mm armor-piercing projectile fired by Jean-Bart penetrated the command tower of the Indiana. 406mm armor, all the people in the command tower, including Colonel Merris, died heroically for their country. After another minute, the 380mm high-speed light projectile fired by the Bismarck finally showed its power at a distance of less than 14,000 meters. It penetrated the Y turret on the stern of the Indiana and exploded inside the turret, completely destroying the Indiana. One-third of the main gun firepower.

Subsequently, the high speed of the Bismarck and Jean Bart began to show their power, and the two battleships began to chase the Indiana's butt. Because without the firepower of the stern main gun, the Indiana was only left to be beaten. In just a few minutes, it received four 380mm shells, one of which entered the No. 2 engine room, blowing up the steam turbine inside and reducing the Indiana's speed to less than 15 knots. After another minute, a 380mm heavy shell from the Jean Bart penetrated the Indiana's stern main gun magazine.

After the huge explosion, the stern of the battleship Indiana almost ceased to exist. Water poured in crazily, and the battleship sank into the icy Atlantic Ocean very quickly.

At the same time, Lieutenant General Ingram's flagship South Dakota was also sunk under the siege of Ludendorff, Barbarossa and Rome. However, before the South Dakota sank, its No. 1 main gun also hit the Barbarossa and severely damaged it. It first broke its No. 3 turret into pieces, and then hit the starboard stern below the waterline. Not only did it fire A big hole penetrated the No. 4 engine room and blew up the steam turbine inside.

When the two battleships were severely damaged and lost their combat effectiveness, Admiral Hubert Schmidt did not dare to fight and had to order the fleet to retreat. This ended the great sea battle that later history called the "Mysterious Battle of the Sea of ​​Fog".