The Rise of the Third Reich

The "Leipzig" is finished! It was targeted by the battleship Revenge.

Originally, the flagship of the local fleet was preparing to sneak close to the "Scharnhorst" until it was discovered by the other party's radar. However, I did not expect that the 280mm cannon of the "Scharnhorst" could fire so accurately. In just 10 rounds of salvo fire, the "London" was so angry that it lost its combat capability.

According to this strategy, the other three heavy cruisers and a light cruiser equipped with radar that Admiral Forbes arranged to ambush would not be entangled for long before they were all sunk and disabled by the "Scharnhorst". The elaborate ambush was about to be in vain.

Therefore, as a last resort, Admiral Forbes could only order the bombardment of the "Leipzig" to scare the "Scharnhorst" - this decision was later considered a serious mistake, and Admiral Charles Forbes also retired from active service. .

However, judging from the effect at the time, there was nothing wrong with Admiral Charles Forbes' decision. The "Shane" was a battleship after all, and even if Forbes joined a few heavy cruisers, it might not be able to damage and slow it down.

As soon as the "Revenge"'s cannon fired, the "Scharnhorst" did not dare to fight, turned its bow and protected the "Seidlitz" to escape.

The "Southampton" class light cruiser "Sheffield" and three other heavy cruisers equipped with search radar followed far behind the "Scharnhorst". Since the "Sheffield" has radar, they can follow beyond visual distance without being hit by the three 280mm cannons on the stern of the "Scharnhorst".

Therefore, the whereabouts of the "Scharnhorst" and "Seidlitz" were completely controlled by the British fleet!

Only by knowing the whereabouts of the opponent can we mobilize the fleet to pursue and intercept him! From this perspective, it was completely worth paying for the "London" and five merchant ships, and they also sank a "Leipzig" light cruiser and recovered some capital.

In the command tower of the battleship "Revenge", after listening to the report on the loss of the "London" (basically scrapped), Admiral Forbes just nodded slightly and said: "Okay, we caught them! This time It’s really caught!”

It had been searched by plane before, but it was of no use because the British carrier-based aircraft were so bad that they were completely targets for the Fokker Zero. But now it was "caught" by the light cruiser's radar, and basically it didn't escape.

"Okay, now it's time for the Hood to take action!" Charles Forbes whispered, "Only she can sink the Scharnhorst."

It is really sad to say that the British Royal Navy, which has dominated the oceans for hundreds of years, now faces the "Scharnhorst" and "Seidlitz", but only one "Hood" can be used!

"Where is our 'Hood'?" Forbes walked to the chart table. The staff had already marked the positions of the "Hood" and the "Ark Royal" on the map.

"Admiral, they are here, about 500 nautical miles northwest of the Azores."

"So where is 'Shane' running away now?"

"Southwest, direction of the Azores." Rear Admiral Phillips said, "You can let the 'Hood' and the 'Royal Ark' intercept. We are in the east, Fleet F is in the north, and Fleet H is in the south. They can only Flee to the west."

Without the radar of the "Sheffield", the "Scharnhorst" and the "Seidlitz" could have passed between the F fleet, the I fleet and the H fleet. But the two German battleships currently being tracked by radar do not dare to do this, and Lieutenant General Machar does not want to do this either.

"Give the submarines power and let them turn around and return to the waters near the Azores." Lieutenant General Machar said, "Let's fight the 'Hood' there. The time will be at night... It should be tomorrow night!" "

The main gun of the "Scharnhorst" is only 280mm, which is no match for the 15-inch main gun of the "Hood". The armor of the "Shane" cannot withstand the 15-inch cannon of the "Hood", and the armor defense of the "Hood" cannot theoretically be sunk by the 280mm cannon.

However, it is not easy for the "Hood"'s armored defense to withstand the G7 series (50 or 53.3cm in diameter, more than 1.5 tons in weight) torpedoes used by German submarines.

If you want to launch a sneak attack by submarine, it is best to choose a night battle. Moreover, the "Scharnhorst" also has a radar. Although the current radar technology can also be used for fire control, it can still be used as an auxiliary aiming method and can also indicate the direction of the submarine.

…

During the day on October 13, the speed advantage of "Scharnhorst" and "Seidlitz" was once again evident. The formation of two German ships galloped all the way across the Atlantic, leaving the British I Fleet, H Fleet and F Fleet far behind (their speed was on average faster than the "Scharnhorst" and "Seidlitz" 10 knots slower), only one British light cruiser and three British heavy cruisers followed cautiously.

The "Seidlitz" also dispatched 18 Fokker 99 sorties to bomb the following British cruisers. Among them, a turret of the "Kent"-class heavy cruiser "Cumberland" was penetrated by a PC-250 bomb dropped by Fokker 99, and it was severely damaged and withdrew from the pursuit. However, the "Sheffield" equipped with radar was very lucky and was not targeted in the two air strikes launched by the "Seidlitz".

After completing the second air strike, the Fokker 99 of the "Seidlitz" began to act as a reconnaissance aircraft, and together with three Ar-196s, they carefully searched the sea areas in the east, north, and west directions.

"Lieutenant General, Ar-196 has discovered the Hood and the Ark Royal."

At 4:26 p.m., Major General Leifman reported the discovery of the Ar-196 seaplane to Lieutenant General Machar.

"It's 120 nautical miles away, in the direction of the Azores," Leifman said. "Obviously they want to block us!"

"The location of the submarine?"

"They're around!" Reifman replied. "We're less than 100 nautical miles away from the Azores now."

"Okay!" Machar nodded heavily, "Let the Seydlitz launch the carrier for the last time. Except for 8 direct cover planes, the rest will all mount bombs to bomb the British cruisers following us! And we... Now go shell them and drive them away."

The purpose of driving away the British cruiser following behind was to allow the "Sedlitz" to escape. This is an aircraft carrier and cannot participate in the artillery battle with the Hood. According to the plan, the "Seidlitz" will use night and radio silence to circumnavigate the Azores Islands and then go north to wait for the "Scharnhorst" somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, and then return to Germany or together through the waters north of Iceland. Take temporary refuge in a Soviet port.

At 5 p.m., air strikes and shelling began one after another. The British heavy cruiser "Exeter" that rushed to the front became the unlucky one. First, the C turret on the stern of the ship was penetrated by a PC-250 bomb, which caused a big explosion and slowed down the speed (the speed dropped to 11 knots). . Then it was overtaken by the "Scharnhorst", and 280mm shells fell like raindrops, quickly turning the "Exeter" into a fireship.

This heavy cruiser with a standard displacement of 8,555 tons also followed the footsteps of the "London" and became a victim of the "Scharnhorst"'s 280mm cannon. In less than half an hour, it broke off after a violent explosion. It broke into two sections and sank into the Atlantic Ocean.

Seeing the tragic end of the "Exeter", the remaining British heavy cruiser and the "Sheffield" light cruiser did not dare to approach the "Shane" no matter what, but were attacked by the cannon fire of the "Shane" Wandering outside the range.

The "Sedlitz" took the opportunity to disappear into the vast ocean.

"Admiral, we have lost the Exeter," Rear Admiral Phillips on the Revenge sadly reported the latest battle report to Admiral Forbes at 5:10. "In addition, we also lost the aircraft carrier Seydlitz."

"As long as the Scharnhorst is still there!" Admiral Forbes said, "Sink it and the German break-up fleet will not dare to appear again... In this way, we will defend the empire's maritime hegemony. , so now it’s time to look at the ‘Hood’.”

Maritime supremacy was of course the most important thing to the British Empire!

If the "Hood" sinks and the "Scharnhorst" returns in triumph tonight, then the whole world will know: the end of the British Empire is coming!

"Lieutenant General, 10 U-37, U-38, U-39, U-40, U-41, U-43, U-44, U-47, U-65 and U-103 numbers have been confirmed so far. Each submarine has its own combat area.”

"Lieutenant Admiral, the Seydlitz sent a telegram: It is very safe and will enter radio silence."

"Lieutenant General, heading northwest, the radar has detected a large target, the distance is 30,000!"

In the command tower of the "Scharnhorst", the atmosphere suddenly became extremely solemn. The "large target" 30,000 meters away is probably the battlecruiser "Hood"!

"Lights out for the entire ship!" Captain Leifman immediately issued the order.

It was now 7:44 pm, there was no moon in the sky, and visibility at sea was extremely low. This was good weather for the Scharnhorst, which had radar. Although the "Hood" can also be guided by a light cruiser with a radar (in addition to the "Sheffield", the "Hood" also carries an anti-aircraft escort equipped with a radar), but after all it cannot compete with itself. Compared to having radar.

"Pull up the curtains in the command tower as well. We can't let out any light now." Captain Leifman finally ordered the staff to close the thick curtains. The entire warship is like a giant beast hiding in the darkness, quietly waiting for its prey to take the bait.