Chapter 571 American Hero

"Sure enough, there are at least 10 battleships! We have met the main force of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet!"

On board the Ludendorff, Admiral Hubert Schmidt was startled by the huge muzzle flashes that kept flashing in the heavy fog.

In fact, he didn't need to be afraid at all, because he had six super battleships in his hands: Ludendorff, Bismarck, Barbarossa, Richelieu, Jean Bart and Rome. Although they are not as numerous as their opponents, these six battleships are all new ships that have not been in service for a long time. They are fast, thickly armored, and have stronger firepower than their opponents. The Americans only have 2 South Dakota-class battleships with powerful 1-inch cannons, and the remaining 7 battleships only have 14-inch (356mm) and 12-inch (305mm) cannons, which do not pose much of a threat to the 6 cutting-edge battleships of Germany, France, and Italy. .

However, elderly German naval admirals like Huberth Schmidt have lived in the shadow of the British Navy and the US Navy for more than 20 years, and all they think about is hit-and-run wars. For a while, I was still not used to the life where I had a huge advantage - this happiness came too quickly.

"How long will it take for the fog to dissipate?" General Hubert Schmidt asked.

"It's 4:05 in the morning, and the fog will clear in at most one hour. By then, the planes will be able to attack."

Because the past performance of naval aviation has always been reassuring, the German Navy has gradually become dependent on aircraft. Therefore, the first thing that the staff around Huberth Schmidt thought of was to use aircraft to deal with the enemy.

"The 2nd Air Fleet is nearby, allowing them to send aircraft. In addition, we are 2,000 kilometers away from Brest, and there is an ultra-long-range bomber group there."

The so-called ultra-long-range bomber group is equipped with Ju.288. Although it is not full yet, there is no problem in sending 20 Ju.288.

"That ultra-long-range bomber group can't be counted on at all...it can fly 2,000 kilometers for at least 4 hours!" Admiral Hubert Schmidt shook his head, "As for the 2nd Air Fleet, let them deal with the scattered British Merchant ship."

Now everyone knows that the military operation to land in Britain is about to begin! Therefore, those American warships must be escorting ships carrying important military supplies. If they are allowed to arrive at the Port of Liverpool safely, the landing operation will face even more difficulties.

Moreover, the 2nd Air Fleet only had 120 aircraft, of which only 60 were Fokker 100 dive bombers that could be used against battleships. I am afraid that it will be difficult to deal with the US fleet protected by F4F (although no aircraft carrier has been found, no one would believe that so many US battleships would not be protected by aircraft carriers). In addition, the 60 Fokker Zero carrier-based fighters of the Second Air Fleet have to be responsible for escorting the Second Fleet, and there are simply not a few that can be spared to escort the Fokker 100.

Therefore, it is the most appropriate choice to let the Fokker 100 on the aircraft carrier disperse to bomb the cargo ships that are also dispersed.

"We still have to deal with those American battleships!" Admiral Hubert Schmidt said, "Full left rudder! Adjust the direction to 10 degrees. Order the Bismarck to measure and calculate the bombardment parameters, and concentrate fire on the No. 2 ship of the enemy formation. . Tell Rear Admiral Lindemann (Captain of the Bismarck) that no mistakes can be made at this time, and the most accurate parameters must be calculated in the shortest time! I require that at least one American battleship be severely damaged within 10 minutes, so that we can There is a chance to severely damage the American fleet!"

After giving the order, General Hubert Schmidt took out a cigar and stuffed it into his mouth without lighting it. He just held it in his mouth and bit it tightly. He stared at the flames flashing in the fog in the distance, feeling secretly nervous to the extreme. Although his fleet has 8 406mm cannons and 3 cannons (including 381mm cannons), his opponent has 9 battleships! And probably a few aircraft carriers...

Hubert Schmidt was worried, and the American Lieutenant General Ingram was also worried, because the SG radar on the South Dakota had also discovered that the opponent's formation was accelerating to turn.

This is about to turn around and fight!

"What's the distance?" Lieutenant General Ingram vaguely felt that something was wrong.

"24,000 meters."

At this distance, even with radar fire control, it is difficult to hit the target! Why did the "Japanese" turn instead of continuing to escape? Something is very wrong!

"How far away is the 2nd battle group (referring to the other 7 battleships) from us?"

"About 6,000 meters."

"He's mad," Lieutenant General Ingram cursed, "We may have been fooled! They must not be Japanese devils... and there is more than one battleship. This is a trap! The purpose is to separate us from the seven slow ships. distance."

"Lieutenant General, what should we do?"

"Stop the bombardment and let the destroyers release smoke to cover our departure!" Lieutenant General Ingram, who felt something was wrong, ordered loudly.

"Rumble..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sea shrouded in mist suddenly began to boil like a pot, and huge fireballs flashed out one after another.

The gunnery officer of the battleship Bismarck has completed parameter calculations based on the data from the fire control radar, and the bombardment of the battleship of the 2nd Fleet of the European Combined Fleet has begun!

…

"What!"

Lieutenant General Ingram's jaw almost dropped. He never expected that there would be dozens of muzzle flashes in front of him, and they all looked quite large, either 1 or 15 inches (380mm).

This was not the Mutsu, it was a whole German fleet!

The Germans actually fired at the American fleet under the banner of the Japanese. This was a despicable surrender and an undeclared war!

"Oh my God, how is this possible!"

"How could this happen?!"

The officers in the bridge were even more dumbfounded. Although everyone was ready to fight the Germans, they never thought of the German Navy's surface fleet as a powerful opponent. Unexpectedly, they encountered such a powerful German fleet now!

"Turn the rudder, retreat at full speed, and let the 2nd Squadron retreat as well!" Lieutenant General Ingram knew that he was not an opponent, and decisively ordered a retreat - this was probably the wisest decision he made in today's encounter.

Because the battleships equipped with 380mm cannons in Germany, Italy and France are all new battleships, and except for the two South Dakotas, they are all old ships. Although there are many of them, most of them have a speed of only 20 knots and 21 knots, and they can't grab a favorable position at all. If they really want to fight, they will wait for the Germans to occupy the T-shaped formation and beat them hard. Although the South Dakota class is quite reliable, their four cannons are not a joke.

"Want to run?" Admiral Hubert Schmidt saw the Americans turn around and want to escape, and he immediately got excited and ordered loudly, "Chase them, target the enemy formation No. 2 ship, and destroy it first!"

With his order, the 47 main guns of the 6 battleships fired the second round of salvos, but still missed. Although the Bismarck was equipped with the same type of fire control radar as the Ludendorff, it was a product of the 1940s after all, and its accuracy was very problematic, so it could only be used for auxiliary aiming.

However, two Ar196 seaplanes were quickly launched into the sky. Now the thick fog has begun to disperse a little. Although the sea surface still seems to be covered with a layer of gauze, this does not prevent the seaplane from making observations and corrections.

As soon as the seaplane took off, the accuracy of the artillery fire immediately increased. At 4:15, the 8th salvo fired by the five European battleships was a cross-fire, and the shells fell around the South Dakota like raindrops.

Two minutes later, the Italian battleship Roma fired a 778.8 kg (full weight of the projectile) capped armor-piercing shell with amazing power. At a distance of 23,000 meters, it can still easily penetrate the 310mm main armor belt of the South Dakota class!

This shell exploded near the No. 1 boiler room in the middle of the ship. Although it did not blow through the bulkhead of the boiler room, the huge vibration caused by the explosion still cracked an important pipe. High-pressure steam ran around the cabin, scalding the soldiers in the No. 1 boiler room and causing them to scream. The power of the entire battleship was also lost by a quarter.

One minute later, the 406mm armor-piercing shell fired by the Ludendorff hit the South Dakota again, this time hitting the strongest front of the bow A turret. At a distance of 24,000 meters, the 906.3 kg (full weight of the shell) armor-piercing shell failed to penetrate the 457 mm thick front armor of the turret. However, the violent explosion still caused serious damage to the turret, especially the violent vibration caused many parts of the turret to be severely deformed, and the shell transmission device was stuck and unable to work.

Turret A failed, and the No. 1 boiler room pipe broke... Although they were all "small breaks", they were very deadly on the battlefield! The South Dakota's speed has now dropped to 20 knots due to partial power loss, and its firepower has also lost one-third!

"Order the 2nd Squadron to disband and evacuate in a dispersed manner!" Vice Admiral Ingram knew that his flagship was in danger, but the battleship unit of the Atlantic Fleet could not be annihilated with it!

"Let the Indiana go too!" Then Vice Admiral Ingram gritted his teeth and ordered loudly, "We will hold the enemy back!"

This was the second correct decision made by Vice Admiral Ingram in this naval battle! Sacrifice the South Dakota and save the remaining battleships. Although the South Dakota could only be beaten by the enemy's six powerful battleships, the anti-sinking ability of this American battleship with a standard displacement of 38,000 tons was still very good. If the enemy wanted to sink it, it would definitely take a lot of effort, and at least part of the main force of the Atlantic Fleet could escape.

As for Vice Admiral Ingram himself, because of this decision, he will live forever in the hearts of the American people and in the film films of later Hollywood.