The Rise of the Third Reich

The sinking of the York battleship meant the complete defeat of the Second Division of the Allied Combined Fleet. This fleet was already weak, with only three King George V-class ships with insufficient firepower and two Kronsch with thin armor and insufficient firepower. Tower-class battlecruiser. Now that one King George V-class ship has been lost, it is simply impossible to resist two Hindenburg-class ships and four Veneto-class ships.

Therefore, Admiral Ingersoll had to order the disbandment of the second battle group, allowing the remaining two King George V-class ships and the two Kronshtadt-class ships to escape individually.

The decision to disband the second fleet also means that the main force of the European combined fleet has lost control. Two powerful Hindenburg-class ships and four Veneto-class ships will soon attack the first fleet of the Allied fleet!

If the 1st Allied Fleet cannot defeat the 1 Bismarck-class, 2 Richelieu-class, and 2 Barbarossa-class ships in front of them before then, then sea control in the North Atlantic will return to the Germans.

At the critical moment, a cheer of "hurrah" suddenly sounded in Admiral Ingersoll's ears. He quickly raised his telescope and looked in the direction of a staff officer's finger. It turned out that a Barbarossa-class battleship was shrouded in water - this was a straddle shot!

Probably sensing the danger, the Barbarossa class suddenly began to turn, as if it wanted to turn around and leave - in fact, the other Barbarossa class and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen also began to turn and prepare to run away.

It turned out that after the 2nd Battle Group of the Allied Combined Fleet was disbanded, Admiral Lütjens also ordered the 2nd Battle Group of the European Combined Fleet to be disbanded. At the same time, he ordered the 1st Squadron of the European Combined Fleet to pursue the battleship Anson, and the 3rd Squadron to pursue the battleship Howe.

According to Admiral Lütjens' calculations, his two battle groups were enough to destroy two British battleships. In this way, he safely achieved three major results tonight. Moreover, the two American South Dakota-class battleships have been injured and are likely to need to be overhauled in the dock.

In this way, the mainstay of the Allies in the Atlantic Ocean is the four Soviet-class battleships and two Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers of the Soviet Red Navy...

Just with these 6 Soviet battleships/battle cruisers...hasn't sea control in the North Atlantic been firmly returned to German hands?

Lütjens's wishful thinking was very good, but at this time on the battlefield, something unexpected happened to him.

The battleship Barbarossa (in this time and space, the O-class is an upgraded version of the Scharnhorst class, not a thin-skinned battle cruiser) was hit - the one who hit it was the Soviet battleship, which was strong on the outside but incompetent on the inside!

Although the defenses of the Soviet-class battleships have been filled with water, and the radar and fire control are newly installed, the Red Navy officers and soldiers have not yet mastered them. However, its 3-mounted 406mm/L52SKC/34 main gun is a genuine German product, exactly the same as the main gun system used by the Hindenburg class.

Moreover, the Soviet class also has the characteristics of a big ship carrying a small gun. The full load displacement of 65,000 tons is more than 2,000 tons larger than the 63,000 tons of the Hindenburg class. This makes the Soviet-class 406mm gun have a higher shooting accuracy. As long as the elements are measured, it is easy to hit the target. As a result, just as the Barbarossa turned, a 406mm high-speed flick penetrated its port armor belt. This time the fuse that always failed worked normally, and the shell exploded after it penetrated the boiler room located on the waterline! Not only did it explode a boiler room, but it also broke an important steam pipe leading to the engine room, causing the Barbarossa's speed to drop from 30 knots to 10 knots.

But the Barbarossa's bad luck had just begun, because before it was hit by the Soviet Union, Lütjens had ordered the 2nd Squadron to disband. As a result, the faster Bismarck, Jean Bart, Kaiser Napoleon and Schlieffen all dispersed, and the Tirpitz, which retreated first, also ran away. The only one left that couldn't run fast was the Barbarossa, which was immediately surrounded by two South Dakota-class ships and four Soviet-class ships.

Although Major General Lindemann (commander of the 2nd Battle Group) discovered that something was wrong, he quickly ordered the Barr, Napoleon and Schlieffen to move closer to the Bismarck in an attempt to reorganize the battle group to rescue the Barbarossa.

However, the 54 406mm cannons of the two South Dakota-class ships and the four Soviet-class ships did not intend to let go of the Barbarossa. This battleship now became the scapegoat of the Tirpitz. Within a few minutes, it was hit by more than a dozen 406mm shells. The entire deck burned, and two of the three turrets were knocked off.

At 11:20 p.m., disaster befell Barbarossa. A 406mm shell fired by the Soviet battleship Ukraine once again penetrated Barbarossa's waterline armor and hit Barbarossa's No. 2 boiler. Near the cabin, a huge explosion swept through the 2-boiler cabin, and the steam and toxic fumes instantly killed everyone nearby. Subsequently, the battleship with a standard displacement of 33,000 tons completely lost power, was scarred, shrouded in fire, and could no longer move.

Five minutes later, Commander of the European Combined Fleet Lütjens reluctantly ordered the abandonment of the Barbarossa! A Z-type destroyer approached the Barbarossa despite the constant 406mm shells, rescued the surviving officers and soldiers on the ship, and then fired a torpedo at the giant ship, ending its suffering.

Now, the two sides are tied at 1:1 in terms of battleship losses.

But the draw was only temporary. At 11:30, the 1st Team of the European Combined Fleet caught up with the British battleship Anson. This time, two Hindenburg-class ships and four Veneto-class ships destroyed a King George V-class ship.

The deadly shells fired by the 1st and 3rd cannons fell like raindrops. Only 3 minutes later, the 406mm shell fired by the Ludendorff hit the stern deck of the Anson, blowing a big hole and igniting something unknown. The fire burned on the "butt" of the Anson. got up.

Another 2 minutes later, the 406mm shell fired by the battleship Hindenburg once again achieved success. This time it hit the No. 3 turret at the stern of the Anson. The 12.75-inch (324mm) armor protection could not withstand the penetration of the 406mm shell. , the No. 3 turret was blown off on the spot, and the Anson's stern lost all firepower.

After discovering this situation, the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper (which is still in the 1st Battle Group) immediately pursued forward at full speed with several Z-type destroyers, hoping to attack the stern of the Anson with a torpedo. The Leander-class light cruiser Leander, which was following the Anson, had no choice but to step forward to resist, and engaged in a fierce battle with the Admiral Hipper. She was soon beaten to the point where she was furious and struggled to hold on. It sank into the cold Atlantic Ocean 15 minutes later.

Although the sacrifice of this light cruiser blocked the Admiral Hipper, it could not withstand the continuous firing of 4 shells. Just as Admiral Hipper and Leander were fighting, four more 406mm shells and three 381mm shells hit Anson's "butt" and the rear amidships. One of the 406mm shells also penetrated the rear chimney deck of the Anson, penetrated into the boiler room and exploded. Milky white high-pressure steam immediately spurted out from the middle of the hull, forming a jet stream dozens of meters high.

This scene caught Admiral Ingersoll on board the battleship Soviet Union, who was rushing to the rescue. Ingersoll's face was extremely ugly. The explosion of the boiler room meant that the ship's speed dropped significantly, and the Anson was in danger!

At this moment, there was a sudden loud noise in the distance - I wonder whose ammunition depot exploded?

"It's the Howe. The Germans used V3 missiles to blow up the ammunition depot. It's finished..." Fraser's trembling voice rang out, "God, today is the darkest day in the history of the Royal Navy! We've lost the Duke of York, and we've lost Howe, and we're left with only one ship, the Anson, and it looks like it's not going to be saved. God, what can we do?"

Bulganin did not understand English, but he still knew the reactionary word "God".

Comrade Military Commissar thought to himself: Now God cannot save you reactionary imperialists. It seems that we still need to rely on the powerful Red Navy to fight Nazis and fascists! The Red Navy is the mainstay of the anti-Nazi struggle in the Atlantic!

Bulganin's idea was at least half right, not even God could save the Anson now. The two Hindenburg-class ships and the four Veneto-class ships ignored the 406mm artillery shells fired by the 1st Team of the Allied Combined Fleet, and just kept bombarding the Anson, which was about to turn into a "volcano".

At 11:45 pm, the only remaining King George V-class battleship also ushered in its end.

Maybe the shell penetrated the ammunition depot, maybe the fire spread and ignited the ammunition depot, or maybe it was some other reason. In short, after a loud noise, the stern of the Anson disappeared into the air, and the cold water poured into the ship unstoppably. The battleship also slowly sank into the sea.

Fortunately, however, the Anson's captain issued the order to abandon the ship in time a few minutes before the Anson's ammunition depot exploded. Therefore, after the Anson sank, most of the officers and soldiers on the ship did not sink to the bottom of the sea together, but floated on the cold sea wearing life jackets.

By the way, the ships of the European Combined Fleet did not salvage or attack them, because a fierce battle soon started between the first teams of the two combined fleets. Most of these British officers and soldiers who fell into the water were later salvaged by the Red Caucasus and Kirov, who ventured to rescue them. These two Soviet heavy cruisers barely fired a single shot in tonight's battle, and they were also rescued. He was not attacked, so he was busy retrieving those who fell into the water...