Battle of the Third Reich

"Speed ​​up! Hans! Where are you going to take your people?"

"The first charge! Boys, come on!"

"Hard, don't be like a lady. Hey, push the forklift over. God! See what you have done! Idiot!"

While Captain Siegfried stood on the lookout and sighed with leisurely emotion, the bow of the German battleship Scharnhorst had a busy scene full of ammunition.

The main ammunition depot located in the bottom bilge of the battleship is responsible for supplying ammunition to six 280 mm heavy artillery in the first two main turrets of Scharnhorst.

Although this laborious work has been largely semi-automated, the work of loading those heavy charges and shells into the lifting and loading machinery still requires human power to complete, and these tasks alone are enough to save dozens of The strong sailor was so sweaty that he was so tired that he was so tired.

At the bottom of the ammunition depot is the charge compartment, where the main guns of the two former main turrets are loaded.

These propellants are related to the survival of the entire warship. In history, it is not known how many powerful warships that once struck the world because the propellant magazine was hit and fell to the ground, so modern warships generally place it in comparison The bottom is safer and has the most reliable bottom protection.

Cylindrical drug packs packed with dozens of kilograms of strong propellant, tightly wrapped in layers of silk, were neatly placed around the warehouse. Dozens of strong sailors were under the command of a sergeant chief. The kits were pushed into the pendant of two bombers.

Each pen can hold three medicine packs, which can provide one artillery launch. Although the powerful ventilation system kept injecting fresh, cooled air into the ammunition depot, the sailors couldn't help but sweat and rain, but not because of fatigue but because of excitement.

"Come on, you still need twelve packs, lads. This is not a drill. Use all your strength. Let those guys above teach us the British guy fiercely."

The forty-year-old sergeant growled at the sailors with a loud hiss.

Now he is as enthusiastic as his men. Although he was a bit sorry to not be able to shoot artillery shells at those British guys, but to be able to participate in such a real naval battle is the lifelong dream of all German navy officers and men. Now the dream is about to come. Realization, how can we not make this old sailor excited.

Of course, the thought of the generous rewards he could obtain after winning the victory made him feel full of strength.

His young men clearly couldn't understand the dream of an old navy, and they seemed to be more interested in the promises given by the head of state.

But in any case, these sailors did enter a state of great satisfaction to the sergeant major, and exerted their extraordinary strength.

Watching them enthusiastically complete their work faster than double their usual training speed, the sergeant major was too lazy to bother to consider whether the original motives of these guys were in line with the glorious question of the German Navy's honor.

The upper layer of the charge magazine is the artillery magazine. Like the scene in the charge magazine, dozens of strong guys are struggling to move the waist-high 280-mm artillery shells to the bomber under the command of the officer.

And the atmosphere here is more heated than in the magazine, which may be directly related to the agitation of the commander of the magazine, more explicit than the sergeant chief below.

"Hurry up, boys! Take out the spirit of the German navy soldiers. The British have a lot of banknotes floating on the sea outside, and work harder. Think about the expression of your family seeing a lot of money in front of you. You can buy a group of fat cows for your farm, you can let the most beautiful girl in your hometown into your arms, you can buy the most beautiful Paris fashion for your wife.

In short, all your messy dreams may be realized, now it depends on how you fight for it. Don’t let our great heads down, boys! The great heads of generosity put these into our hands not to see us fail.

Now is the time for us to show our strength to the army. Let those who wear life jackets in the bathtub. We are the best soldiers in Germany. "

"Understood, sir!"

"I want to buy a new brush."

"You can buy as much as you want, then I will accompany you to buy a dozen brushes"

"Haha, I can marry Shana!"

"Go dream, Shana is mine!"

"Is there still a medal, sir, my father always wanted me to get the medal."

"Of course there are medals, but it depends on your performance, kid."

The commander's instigation received the warmest response from the sailors. They roared excitedly, and quickly and carefully loaded the shells on the shells of the bomber.

"Captain, the data has been reported."

The second officer shouted to Siegfried loudly at the gate of the bridge.

"Very good, Major Hanno."

Siegfried turned and walked into the bridge.

"The target data is determined, what about the guns?"

Siegfried asked in front of the chart filled with parameters.

"All artillery is ready for battle, he is waiting for your order. Captain."

The second officer answered loudly behind Siegfried.

"Okay, start aiming at the target area according to the parameters given by the flagship and wait for the final command."

"Observe, Captain."

With a crisp and clear ringtone, Scharnhorst's huge turret slowly turned toward the starboard side of the battleship, and the thick 280 mm main gun barrel slowly began to rise upwards.

"Ready to fight! All commanders are in combat position."

The first officer stood by the wall, carrying a loud command from the phone.

"Three minutes left, Captain."

The first officer put the phone down and walked behind Siegfried to speak softly.

"Ok."

Siegfried raised his hand and looked at his watch.

"The commander gave us the honor of starting the first shot in this battle, and now the entire fleet is watching the Scharnhorst, so absolutely nothing can go wrong."

"Understood, sir. Everyone knows this, so don't worry."

"well."

Siegfried looked through the bridge porthole towards the rear of the battleship, and now the entire fleet was lined up along the right side of the channel.

Scharnhorst came first, followed by Gneisenau, followed by Admiral Sher, and Prince Eugen was moored outside the protruding formation on the rear side of Sher. Admiral Hipper was at the end of the line with four light cruisers. The destroyer fleet also lined up in a separate column waiting on the right side of the home team.

"One more minute, sir."

The chief screamed loudly. The atmosphere in the bridge was tense with the chief mate's cry. Everyone turned their eyes to the captain. A depressed feeling permeated the entire battle bridge.

Siegfried slowly walked to the porthole and looked at the high gun through the porthole.

"Time is up, sir!"

The first officer said in a trembling voice.

"I order, fire!"

Siegfried coldly gave the order.

"Observe, sir!"

The first officer answered excitedly, and then mentioned the phone that was already in his hand and shouted loudly: "Captain command! Fire!"

The first officer's voice had just dropped, and the noisy fine ringing sound had been stopped from the front. Two seconds later, Scharnhorst's nine main guns simultaneously roared with earthshaking.

A huge muzzle flame flashed outside the porthole, and the entire warship shuddered.

The muzzle flames of the three side-by-side main guns gathered into a huge fire mass with a diameter of more than ten meters. This fire ball was replaced by a larger mass of white smoke after flashing for less than a second. The white smoke quickly dissipated as the sea breeze dissipated, and for a time the entire hull of the Scharnhorst was shrouded in the thin smoke.

The full-volume volley of the battleship's main gun was staggering. The huge air pressure of the muzzle pressed the sea surface on the side of the ship out of a wide shallow pit. The 32,000-ton ship hull was ruined by the huge recoil Pushing about half a meter to the side and back, everyone who witnessed this moment couldn't help but feel deep awe of this terrible artificial destructive power.

"Very well, that's why I love the Navy!"

Siegfried shouted aloud, then turned his face and yelled at the first officer: "Lines, go ahead at full speed! Let's go and give those Englishmen a lesson to remember for life!"

"Comply, Captain. Advance at full speed!"

A black smoke burst from the tall chimney of the Scharnhorst. As the black smoke dissipated, the huge warship slowly began to accelerate towards the exit of the strait.

At the same time, the Gneisenau also finished a salvo, and she also activated her power and started to follow the trajectory of the Scharnhorst tightly.

After the German Ocean Fleet easily dropped a pile of large-caliber artillery shells on the unprepared British fleet, it used the Scharnhorst as a pilot ship to form a column and forcefully pressed past the enemy outside the strait.

In contrast, the situation on the British fleet can only be described as embarrassing.

When Scharnhorst's shells landed on the British fleet, Nicholson was sipping black tea on the spacious open-air compass bridge of the York.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang in his ears. The commander of the Don’t Move Fleet doubtfully put down the teacup in his hand and stood up from the comfortable lounge chair on the corner of the open bridge.

Nicholson raised his head, trying to tell what the sound from the air was. He swore that he had heard similar sounds before, but now he couldn't remember anymore.

His subordinates also heard this strange noise, and now they all looked up in the surrounding sky with their heads raised.

Nicholson could be sure that it was not an airplane, and it sounded as if the steam pipe of a broken old merchant ship burst.

"Damn, it's shelling!"

Nicholson finally found the answer in the depths of his memory. The sound between the bass organ in the church and the exhaust of the steam pipe was that he almost scared his pants when he participated in the Battle of Jutland. Sound, kind. . . . The sound of terrifying large-caliber shells breaking through the air.

Nicholson's voice was not over yet, and a huge dull explosion had hit his eardrum. The terrified fleet commander threw himself on the fence beside the bridge and looked in the direction of the explosion. The spectacular scene that had appeared in dreams countless times appeared in front of him again.

The Orion light cruiser in front of the heavy cruiser of York is now enveloped by a row of tall water columns. A thick water column with a diameter of more than 30 meters is lifted into the sky, and the height is far beyond the mast of Orion.

The more than nine thousand tons of Orion’s hull looked like a toy boat in a bathtub in front of this behemoth.

Suddenly, a huge fireball rose from the stern of Orion, and a shell hit her tail deputy bridge, and the steel stern was completely broken up in front of Nicholson and his men.

The five-meter-high building is now a huge shotgun, projecting countless high-speed steel fragments and parts around.

The tall cross mast erected on the tail building was lifted up slowly as if by some magic. The mast fell slowly for five or six meters in the fireball, then fell slowly, and the last one collapsed. At the stern, a stringer was immersed in the seawater of the stern, the broken cable was wrapped around the mast and burning, and the deck was a terrible sight.

"Span shot!"

Nicholson came up with the term that scared all captains of battleships. During the Battle of Jutland, the misfortunes of warships that suffered crossfire made Nicholson a lifetime unforgettable.

"Look for the source of the shelling immediately, quickly! We have encountered a large battleship!"

Nicholson's experience made him react quickly. He roared and shouted to his stunned men who were frightened by his vision.

"Again!"

The chief screamed loudly, and the strange whistle came again in the air.

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