The Rise of the Third Reich

October 12, 1939, Iceland time, 8 pm.

The North Atlantic was once again shrouded in darkness, the north wind began to blow at 5 p.m., and the bright moon and stars loomed in the night sky.

On the dark sea, there were a few dazzling fires, and several ships illuminated by the fire could be vaguely seen. That was the masterpiece of the Fokker 99 dive bomber during the day. As many as fourteen ships were damaged at that time, and seven of them are still on fire. Although the fires were extinguished, there were still a few ships that could not be completely repaired. Some lost power and were floating slowly on the sea, while others were struggling to move forward at a very slow speed.

On the radar screens of the "Scharnhorst", "Seidlitz" and "Leipzig", these fourteen damaged "prey" ships turned into flashing light spots. Exuding fatal temptation.

"Lieutenant General, 14 targets have been discovered, they are all here!"

"Why is it so concentrated?" Lieutenant General Machar felt a little strange. The bombing was carried out in several waves, and the British convoy continued to advance while receiving bombs. How could these 14 damaged ships be so concentrated?

"Maybe they were dragged here by the destroyer," Rear Admiral Leifman also felt strange, but he still tried to explain, "Then the destroyer took the crew and escaped because they were afraid of being caught up by us."

"Will it?" Lieutenant General Machar shook his head, "Then judging from the radar, are there battleships among those targets?"

He was worried about being ambushed, so he asked this question.

"No, the largest is a ship with a displacement of 10,000 tons, or at most 15,000 tons." Major General Leifman replied. "The radars of the three ships all showed this result."

"Then it's nothing," Lieutenant General Machar breathed a sigh of relief, "Even if two heavy cruisers are ambushed, they are no match for the Scharnhorst." He thought for a while, "But you still have to be careful. At one o'clock, let the 'Leipzig' sneak up and lay the torpedo, the 'Scharnhorst' is behind and the 'Sedlitz' is at the end."

…

"Boom boom..."

After the loud noise, a huge fireball rose from the sea. This is the scene of a torpedo destroying a merchant ship. A British freighter with a displacement of 10,000 tons had just been hit by a torpedo. It was completely severed from the middle and sank quickly.

"Okay, another ten thousand tons!"

Lieutenant General Machar smiled and said to Leifman: "This is the fifth ship. Our 'Scharnhorst' has sunk 50,000 tons before it even fires. It seems that we have more ships in the Atlantic." Not a bad harvest! ”

"It's hard to say," Leifman said with a smile. "Maybe the British will use aircraft carriers and battleships to escort them."

"That's not bad," Machar said with a smile, "They only have 4 aircraft carriers in total, and they can be organized into 4 convoys at most... Before the war started, there were 1,500 British ships sailing in the Atlantic every day, 4 aircraft carriers But we can’t protect so many ships.”

The United Kingdom is an island country, and it is an industrialized island country. Its economy is extremely dependent on overseas trade. If it goes so far as to use aircraft carriers and battleships for escort, it will not be able to maintain sufficient trade volume. After all, the UK now only has 4 aircraft carriers and maintains 4 trade lines at all times. This is far from satisfying the needs of the UK. Required for industrial production and people's consumption.

While the two were talking, the "Leipzig" sank another smoking British merchant ship. Then, this light cruiser with a standard displacement of 6,619 tons sailed towards a nearby "merchant ship" that was not smoking.

Of course, it is difficult to see clearly with the eyes of a ship that is not on fire. It is the radar on the "Leipzig" that guides the light cruiser forward. Unfortunately, Germany's radar was not advanced enough at this time. It only had search radar for air and sea, but no fire control radar, so it was impossible to fire in the dark. The commander of the "Leipzig" did not want to expose himself by firing in the dark, so he chose to get closer and release the torpedo.

However, the captain of the "Leipzig" who had successfully sunk 6 merchant ships did not expect that his next target would not be a damaged merchant ship floating on the sea and unable to move.

It was the heavy cruiser "London" commanded by Colonel Burton Lee!

Eight 8-inch cannons were now aimed at the dark figure that was approaching quickly on the dark sea.

"It's a bit small, it should be a light cruiser!" Captain Burton Lee whispered to his first mate, "But once we open fire, the 'Scharnhorst' will definitely show up!

Now, open fire and sink the light cruiser first! Then it was the turn of the 'Scharnhorst'! "

…

The lookout post on the "Leipzig" also discovered that something was wrong at this time. The appearance of the merchant ship was still very different from that of the heavy cruiser. Even at night, you could see it if you got a little closer.

"Enemy ship! Enemy ship! Boom..."

As soon as the lookout post's alarm reached the command tower, the heavy cruiser on the opposite side had already opened fire. First, the "Snowflake" flare fired by the secondary battery exploded in the sky above the "Leipzig", releasing a dazzling light and shrouding the more than 6,600-ton cruiser below in a vast white light.

"Damn! It's a flare!"

Lieutenant General Machar, who was watching the battle from behind, also saw several "little suns" (hanging parachutes) slowly descending over "Leipzig".

Almost at the same time he shouted, the eight 8-inch cannons of the "London" roared at the same time. Eight armor-piercing bombs roared straight towards the "Leipzig". Since the distance between the two sides was less than 5,000 meters when the artillery battle began, the "London"'s second salvo had one hit and one near miss. bomb. Since the "Leipzig" was facing the enemy from the bow at the time, its bow turret unfortunately became the victim of the "London"'s main gun. An orange-red fireball suddenly rose, followed by an earth-shattering explosion. A twin 150mm main gun turret was lifted into the sky by a huge explosion!

The "Leipzig" was hit!

However, the "London"'s salvo also exposed its position, and Lieutenant General Marsha on the "Scharnhorst" immediately ordered to open fire. The "Scharnhorst", which had been prepared for a long time, faced the stern of the "Leipzig" with its port side. In other words, it is parallel to the "London". The four twin 280mm main gun turrets rotated rapidly, all aimed at the "London" which was firing at the "Leipzig", and then there were salvos one after another.

Several huge water columns rose up on both sides of the "London"! In just three rounds, the "Scharnhorst" fired across the board.

"It's really accurate!" On the London, Captain Burton Lee certainly understood what "cross-shooting" meant! However, he believed that his "London" was strong enough to withstand several 280mm shells.

"Keep firing and sink that light cruiser!" He ordered loudly, his eyes just staring at the "Leipzig" which was already on fire.

It is the mission of the "London" to sink this light cruiser and trigger the "Scharnhorst" to fire at the same time!

Because there is not just one cruiser ambushing here tonight, but a total of five!

And 30,000 meters away, two "Revenge" class battleships were approaching at full speed! As long as five heavy cruisers can entangle the "Scharnhorst" for half an hour, no, as long as they entangle it for 20 minutes, the end of this German battleship will have come.

"Lieutenant General! The radar found that several targets began to move quickly! They are rushing towards us, most likely heavy cruisers!"

When Lieutenant General Machar heard the report, he already knew that he had been trapped by the British and that the "Leipzig" was in danger.

"How many ships are there? What's the distance?" When he asked loudly, the body of the giant ship trembled, and another cannonball was fired.

"Including the one that is firing, there are 5 ships in total! The nearest one is less than 13,000 meters away!"

Marshal immediately thought of "torpedoes." He asked loudly: "How is the Leipzig? Can it run?"

"It's working hard, but..." Before Rear Admiral Leifman could finish his words, a loud noise came from the "London" in the distance.

"Hit!" Rear Admiral Leifman shouted, "Hit the heavy cruiser!"

The "London" hit a 280mm shell during the 6th salvo fired by the "Scharnhorst". The shell hit the command tower impartially, killing Colonel Burton Lee, the **** who planned the ambush tonight, and everyone in the command tower on the spot. However, the main guns of the heavy cruiser "London" were still firing wildly. Shells fell like raindrops around the "Leipzig". The "Scharnhorst" cannons also showed their power, hitting the "London" one after another in the later rounds of salvos, turning the 10,000-ton heavy cruiser into a fire ship.

"Let the 'Leipzig' go first!" Mashaal knew that the other party must have a backup plan, and quickly issued an order to retreat. "We shoot three more rounds and then leave immediately."

At this moment, one of the four British cruisers that was rapidly approaching fired a flare at the "Scharnhorst". The steel hull was shrouded in pale light and became a huge target.

"Turn the ship to the south, now!" Lieutenant General Machar did not dare to fight anymore. The four cruisers may not be able to do anything to the "Scharnhorst", but once they are entangled, when the British battleships arrive, It would be a little difficult to get out again.

"Where are our 10 submarines?" Machar then asked.

"About 180 nautical miles to the southwest," Leifman said. "They're coming at full speed."

"Okay! Let's go join them!" Just as Machar gave the order, a huge sound came from the direction of the "Leipzig". Several huge water columns suddenly rose near the starboard side of this 6,600-ton light cruiser.

"Battleship, it's the battleship that's shelling!"