Battle of the Third Reich

In fact, what the Navy’s chief and deputy chiefs of staff knew about the naval battle was only limited to what was stated in the Portsmouth Naval Command report, and they did not know more than others. They even lost the number of ships. Can't get more...

The destroyer that fled back to Portsmouth actually only saw the end of the battle, and did not see the entire course of the naval battle as described by the Chief of the Navy.

After the two N-class destroyers completed the rescue work for the survivors of the three mine-struck ships, they discovered that the fleet commander had not given them follow-up orders. Tovi just ordered the two destroyers to stay and rescue them. What to do after the rescue was completed without any explanation.

According to the naval practice in the past, it seems that they should continue to catch up with the main fleet, but the rescued sailors offered another opinion. They claimed that many soldiers were injured during the mine strike and escape and needed to be treated as soon as possible. A part of the sailors and officers suggested to the destroyer captain if they could rush to the port of Portsmouth nearby to send the wounded and surviving sailors ashore, and the destroyer could return to the route to catch up with the big troops.

The destroyer captains knew that these people were actually selfish. This is not surprising now that the quality of naval officers and soldiers is generally declining, because even they themselves feel a little uneasy now.

Although these sailors were very courageous and fearless when lying on the semi-sunk hull, when they were rescued on the destroyer, stepped on the solid steel deck, and felt real safety, the sailors began to feel scared from the bottom of their hearts. . They were looking for partners in their respective groups in the crowd, communicating with each other about which unlucky comrades had been killed, or saw with their own eyes that Captain XX sank into the sea and never floated up again.

After adrenaline decay, they faced physical fatigue and psychological depression. Many people were caught in extreme frustration and fear. Even if the destroyer sailors delivered hot coffee, they could not stop them from shaking. Who knows what dangers are waiting for you in the back, the Germans obviously already know the existence of the fleet, the two small destroyers that have left the formation have no self-defense ability, and these sailors really don’t want to fall into the hands of death twice within a day. No one can guarantee that he will still have this good luck next time.

There were also differences between the two destroyer commanders. The captain of the destroyer Nestor thought the sailor’s suggestion made sense. The German torpedo boat was still patrolling in the distance, waiting for the opportunity to bite. The position of these two destroyers must have been reported to the German high-level. The weakness of the n-class destroyers is the weak anti-aircraft firepower. If the Germans dispatched an air force raid, they would have nothing to do. Anyway, the fleet commander did not issue a follow-up order. They could hide in Portsmouth on the grounds of rescuing the wounded and wait for the port to contact the fleet and wait for the next order.

The captain of the Nizan was firmly opposed to this proposal. He admits that there will be great danger in moving forward, but the withdrawal of Portsmouth is a cowardly escape behavior. He sternly accuses the other party of being a timid coward and is not worthy of wearing this Royal Navy uniform.

In the end, no one could convince each other, so he came up with a moderate plan. The Nizan insisted on moving forward. The crew transferred the wounded and the surviving officers and soldiers who wanted to retreat to the Nestor, and the other party sent some surviving sailors who were willing to continue the battle to the Nizan. After the personnel transfer was completed, the two destroyers parted ways, the Nizan speeded up to catch up with the distant main fleet, and Nestor turned the bow and headed towards Portsmouth.

No one can know what happened to the Nestor in the end. It is only known that she never reached Portsmouth Harbour, and no floating residues related to her were found on the surrounding coast. The destroyer with more than 500 naval officers and men on board disappeared silently in the strait. It became a huge mystery in the history of war.

Fifty years later, a decrypted document revealed a report from the German torpedo boat force. A captain claimed that when his unit tracked a British destroyer in the strait, a terrible major accident occurred on the target ship. Exploded, the warship sank to the bottom of the sea within thirty seconds.

The source of the explosion came from where the Germans were obviously inaccurate. There should be no German submarine activities in the area, and the captain of the torpedo also vowed not to be his companion. The torpedo captain personally thinks that the other party may have been hit by a large-scale mine drift, or that an accidental fire on the ship triggered the tragedy. He warned that German naval ships must be vigilant when operating in the sea area, because there are no minefields on the charts. He speculates that some anchor mines may break the anchor chain and drift along the tide to become an invisible killer.

The group of torpedo boats was performing another secret mission at the time. Surveillance of British warships was only a matter of course. Due to the high level of confidentiality of the mission, this report was sealed up, and it was not until fifty years later.

Compared with the mysterious Nestor, Nizan's encounter is even more legendary. This small destroyer chased the main force at the highest speed all the way, and finally caught up with the end of that tragic naval battle.

In the process of approaching the battlefield at high speed. Nizan witnessed the final charge of the destroyer unit, and also saw Queen Elizabeth leave the team to break through. Tovi's cruiser fleet was surrounded by German warships and made the final resistance in the intensive artillery fire. The destroyer did not turn the bow to escape, but bravely added full horsepower into the battlefield.

When she passed by the five light and heavy cruisers that were hinged together, the captain of the Nizan was very puzzled by the sight in front of her. He couldn't figure out what happened to cause this situation. However, reality does not allow him time to find out. The destroyer began to circle around these huge cruisers and released white smoke. Nizan is preparing to rescue the crew of these cruisers as much as possible under the cover of smoke, so that they will not be captured by the Germans.

The Germans actually discovered this little destroyer, who knew nothing about life and death, and knew her intentions well. Reidel’s order was to follow her. Now it’s the German navy’s turn to show their knighthood. Anyway, those ships are all There, no one wants to leave this battlefield without the permission of the German Navy. When these stubborn cruisers were sent to the bottom of the sea, they had time to slowly cook up the bunch of Britons who like to drive recklessly.

No one would have thought that the British Fleet would have suffered such a fiasco. The officers and soldiers surviving the five cruisers exceeded 2,000. The n-class fleet destroyer alone could not carry everyone. The Germans would not allow this ridiculous thing to happen. In the end, the Nizan carried only a part of the seriously wounded and all senior officers. The tail also dragged a long list of lifeboats as far as possible. Some sailors volunteered to stay on the ship. on. They will be responsible for sinking the warship at the last minute, and will never let their beloved warship fall into the hands of the enemy.

When the rescue of Nizan ended and was about to retreat, it was found that she was surrounded by the entire high seas fleet. The Admiral Sher, the flagship of the German navy, sent a slogan of persuasion, saying that the Royal Navy had proved its bravery with action, and they were respected by the German navy. In view of the fact that the home fleet of the British Royal Navy no longer exists, the Germans suggested that the British navy survivors immediately surrender to the German Navy’s high seas fleet, and it is meaningless and foolish to continue to resist. In order to let the soldiers die in vain for the self-esteem of nothingness, the commander of the German fleet guarantees with personal honor that the surrendering Royal Navy personnel will receive good treatment, and the officers can keep their badges and swords and personal items. The German Navy guarantees that there will be no Anyone will be persecuted for being brave in battle.

Nizan turned a blind eye to the good intentions of the Germans. She circled the group of cruisers that had crashed into a ball. Suddenly added full horsepower, and broke into the west end of the strait.

In the direction of her breakthrough, there were two German light patrols. The Germans happily fired at this obviously mad destroyer, and the dense shells immediately enveloped the entire destroyer.

Nizan severely cut the cables that dragged the lifeboats. It was impossible to tow these boats and people. With them, they would only let these people be killed by stray bullets. It would be better to leave them to the Germans. If Germany The content of people's persuasion is true, which may not be a bad thing for these sailors.

The destroyer released smoke again, swaying from side to side to avoid maneuvers. In the process of evading, she even found an opportunity to launch a round of torpedoes on the German light cruiser. It was this round of torpedo attack that disrupted the interception of the German light cruiser, and she received seven 150-mm shells in a row. After more than two dozens of 37-mm artillery shells, the destroyer miraculously broke through the surrounding net, dragging the billowing black smoke while rushing toward the west with a rapid speed of 36 knots.

The German destroyer formation quickly began to accelerate, preparing to pursue it, but was eventually called back by Redell. The German navy has already won the most glorious victory, and there is no need to kill it. An already seriously wounded destroyer is irrelevant to the development of the war, and she does not have to spend precious shells and fuel on her. Seeing that it was late, the situation in the straits was complicated, the British, German and French parties threw a lot of messy things here, everything is still safety, don’t overturn the boat in the gutter at the last minute, and leave it on the navy’s shiny transcript The next unnecessary stain.

Nizan carried a ship with disabled sailors and a full 300-tonne bilge into the water, and leaned slowly into the Portsmouth military port. The captain jumped directly from the ship's side to the shore before the sailor strapped the cable. He rushed into the naval base command and reported the local fleet's fiasco to the base commander.

Since only one of his warships returned, Base Command could not tell the truth for a while, so he just wrote a brief report and sent it to the London Admiralty. That report is now in front of Churchill.

The above only uses the standard report style to indicate that the local fleet has failed, and the specific situation will not be attached until after the investigation. What is known at present is that all the battleships of the fleet have been sunk or captured. Admiral Tovi, the fleet commander, died in his own country. Only one destroyer of the entire fleet broke through the siege and survived. The above content has not been finally confirmed, but the base believes that it can be The degree of trust is very high.

Phillips put down the indicator stick in his hand. He stood beside the map and carefully watched Churchill's expression. This job is really not easy to do. An adverb in the official title means you work hard, carry you back, and die. You go, Thumbs Phillips is not a soft persimmon that anyone can knead, but in front of the fierce Churchill, he can only admit his life.

"At a later meeting of the National Defense Committee, I will review my responsibility for this failure. This action was proposed by me, but the entire plan was formulated by the Fleet Command, and someone must take responsibility for it. The Royal Navy will immediately produce an investigation report, which I will see on my desk tomorrow morning." Churchill stared at Pound with a cold face. The latter quickly nodded and said that the naval marshal was on the verge of Collapsed, from the moment he entered the door, he kept holding a handkerchief and wiping sweat from his forehead. Churchill was disgusted by the love's current ugliness. He stood up angrily and walked towards the door.

"Remember, before eight o'clock tomorrow morning." Churchill ordered to the two admirals at the door. His bodyguard opened the fire door for him, and he stepped out of the command room.

"I'll make a phone call, Your Chief of Staff." Phillips walked to Pound and whispered to his boss.

"Tom, what should we do now? My thinking is very confusing. The local fleet is over, and the Royal Navy is over." Pound said desperately to his deputy chief of staff.

"Everything is not over, sir, the Royal Navy is not over yet. I think you need to rest now and leave the rest to me. You will stay here and wait for the Prime Minister’s call. I will now arrange the investigation. We still have a lot of things to do, sir." Phillips took Pound to the side of the sofa and sat down, comforting the other person, and hurried out of the room.

Tonight will be a busy night for the Royal Navy. I don’t know how many people will be held accountable, censored and arrested. In the end, how many people will lose their official positions and even their lives. Phillips doesn’t want to know, he only Knowing that tonight is a rare performance opportunity for him, not only can show the Prime Minister his imminent general style, but also allows the wartime cabinet to see his strong organizational skills and flexible political skills.

Pound, the old guy, is finished. No matter whether it is mentally or functionally, he is no longer suitable for the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Navy. Then the outstanding person in this incident will be the next Chief of General Staff of the Royal Navy. Of choice.

Maybe after tonight, I will always remove the adverb from the title, and at the same time get the corresponding wartime rank, Field Marshal Phillips, it sounds really good, right? (To be continued.)