At 7:55 p.m., the battlecruiser "Hood" and the heavy cruiser "Norfolk", as well as two destroyers serving as escorts, formed two columns (one column on the left, consisting of "Hood" and "Norfolk"; One column to the right, consisting of two destroyers of the "Clan" class). The four warships sailed head-on to the battleship "Scharnhorst" under the guidance of the lights of an old V-class destroyer (escort ship) that was hiding on the edge of the battlefield and had radar installed.

Like the Scharnhorst, the Hood, Norfolk and the two Tribal class ships were also subject to light control and moved quietly in the dark.

At the same time, Vice Admiral Whitworth, commander of the British G Fleet, sent a detachment of the light cruiser USS Southampton and four destroyers to the right of the USS Hood, 30,000 meters to the right of the Hood, in parallel with the formation of the Hood -- they also exercised light control.

According to radar reconnaissance and calculations, the "Scharnhorst" will pass between the "Hood" detachment and the "Southampton" detachment. At that time, the detachment of "South Bank Puton" will be close to firing torpedoes.

In addition, the formation composed of the heavy cruiser "Cornwall" and the light cruiser "Sheffield" (the formation that followed the "Scharnhorst" all the way) turned on the lights and followed the "Scharnhorst" from a distance, and kept signaling the "Hood" in the darkness with lanterns to inform the other side of the location of the "Scharnhorst".

"The target distance is 22000, the speed is 28, the course is 160 (south-southeast), head-on to our ship!"

In the command tower of the "Scharnhorst", the staff officers loudly reported the position of the "Hood" as observed by the radar. Everyone else held their breath and waited for the captain, Rear Admiral Leifman, to give the order to open fire.

The tonnage and armor of the "Hood" were placed there, and sinking was theoretically impossible. Therefore, the tactics of the "Scharnhorst" tonight were to only seek damage, and then lead the "Hood" in circles to create opportunities for the ambushed submarines.

If there is no result by 2 a.m. tomorrow, then the only option is to pat yourself on the ass and go to join up with the "Seydlitz". After all, tonight's ambush battle was deduced by the staff officers of the Navy Command with war games, and it is difficult to say whether it will be good or not.

At 8:11 p.m., when the formation of the "Hood" and the "Scharnhorst" approached 13,000 meters, Vice Admiral Whitworth on the "Hood" gave the order to open fire, first of all, a destroyer was ordered to fire flares. However, due to the reliance on the ship's radar for guidance, "the flare did not hit accurately, and landed on the right rear of the "Scharnhorst", and the miserable white light only barely shone on the stern of the "Scharnhorst", and then the cannons of the "Hood" began to roar, but the impact point deviated greatly.

"Fire now!"

Rear Admiral Leifman immediately gave the order to open fire, and the "Hood" opened fire exposing the target, so that the flares fired by the "Scharnhorst" accurately illuminated the "Hood". In an instant, the dark sky became like day. The noble "Hood" revealed its majestic body in the vast sea.

Soon the gunner on board the "Scharnhorst" accurately and quickly measured the distance between the "Hood" and ordered a "salvo rapid fire". Nine 280mm cannons immediately opened heavy fire.

And the "Hood" also quickly found the target because of the muzzle flame of the "Shane". Its eight 15-inch cannons and the eight eight-inch cannons of the heavy cruiser "Norfolk" that followed it also began to roar at the same time.

At 8:20, when the "Scharnhorst" fired its fourth salvo at a distance of 10,000 meters, it achieved a "straddle shot" on the "Hood". After another 5 minutes, the "Scharnhorst" fired the fifth salvo. This time the 280mm caliber shell hit the "Hood"! The point of impact was the starboard amidships, which did not penetrate the main armored deck of the "Hood", which was tens of millimeters thick, but hit one of the ammunition boxes for the "Hood" for 4-inch anti-aircraft artillery shells.

This ammunition box was supposed to be installed below the main armored deck, but because the "Hood" had been playing the image ambassador of the Royal Navy for two decades before the outbreak of the world war, it was relatively busy, and there was not much time to refit, the most recent major change was in the late 20s and early 30s, after which it was a minor repair, and some anti-aircraft guns were added, and the ammunition boxes of these anti-aircraft guns were installed on the armored deck so-so. As a result, it was hit by a 280mm shell, and the 4-inch anti-aircraft gun shells stored inside were detonated, and a fire ignited on the spot!

"Hit!"

In the command tower of the "Scharnhorst", everyone cheered. Although they also did not understand how the supposedly well-armored "Hood" could be easily ignited by 280mm shells.

But the reality is there! This is God bless Germany!

"Signal the submarine!" Lieutenant General Machar shouted excitedly, "We hit the Hood!" The Hood is on fire! ”

It was actually set on fire!

In the command tower of the "Hood", everyone's faces were pale, and the dignified "Hood" was now actually beaten by a broken battleship like the "Scharnhorst", which relied on speed to eat!

That's too shameless, isn't it?

"Lieutenant General," a staff officer suddenly shouted, "the captain of the damage control report that the ammunition box of the temporary anti-aircraft gun on the starboard side has been hit, causing a fire!" ”

"Got it, let the damage control control the fire!" Lieutenant General Whitworth's tone was calm, "This damage can't help 'Hood', we don't have to pay attention to it." ”

It is true that a fire in an ammunition box for 4-inch shells could not overturn the "Hood", but it was not easy to extinguish the fire, because this temporarily installed ammunition box could not be filled with water to extinguish the fire, and could only be cooled down by spraying seawater through rubber pipes. Therefore, the "Hood" can only continue to be a "sea torch" for the time being.

"Boom ......"

At this time, with a loud bang, the "Hood" suddenly shook again! The people in the command tower staggered for a while, and then someone shouted: "Sir, damage management report, the lifeboat deck near the rear mainmast has been shot and caught fire!" ”

"Got it!" Lieutenant General Whitworth still didn't have the slightest worry, a little damage, but not "Hood". "Ignore it and concentrate on the Scharnhorst! Today, we're going to leave it forever at the bottom of the Atlantic! ”

It is not known whether the determination of the British Vice Admiral of the Royal Navy moved God, and only 2 minutes later, the fifth salvo of the "Hood" was fired in a straddle.

A little later, a huge 15-inch shell slammed into the bow of the "Scharnhorst"!

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, the "Scharnhorst" shook violently as if it had been kicked by the sea god. Everyone in the tower struggled to hold on to the handrails to keep themselves steady.

"Find out the loss!" Lieutenant General Machar shouted.

Soon the losses were ascertained, the "Scharnhorst" was damaged and ruptured in the No. 1 fuel tank in the bow, fuel leaked, and a large number of bows sank!

"Hell!" Martial and Leifman's hearts suddenly hung in the air, and a large amount of water in the bow would inevitably cause the speed to drop. In addition, the sinking of the bow will also slightly affect the firing accuracy of the two main turrets.

"Let the damage pipe start draining immediately!" Leifman gave an order, and then turned his attention to the Hood.

The current opponent is the high-speed "Hood", but it is not a matter of walking as soon as you want!

At this time, he found that the fire on the "Hood" was burning vigorously, not only on the port side, but also behind the mainmast. The "Hood", which ignited the fire, became a very eye-catching target, and in the 8th and 10th salvos of the "Scharnhorst", two more 280mm shells hit the target. One hit the stern deck of the "Hood" and the other hit the armor belt of the amidships, but did not seem to cause much damage.

"If only it hadn't been Scharnhorst, but Bismarck!" Leifman thought to himself, "In that case, the Hood might be sunk!" ”

Just as he thought of this, an earth-shattering explosion suddenly came, and the hull of the "Scharnhorst" trembled violently a few times.

Apparently, the "Scharnhorst" was hit again.

The bad news was not long in coming, this time hitting the boiler room at the waterline, and the shell had pierced a steam pipe leading to the engine room. This means that the speed of the battleship will drop significantly!

The iron-faced Leifman looked at Marshall, who was also pale, and then Mashal said, "Send a telegram to Marshal Raeder and tell him about the damage to the Scharnhorst." And conveyed to the Supreme Command of the Navy: our ship will stick to the end! ”

……

"Oh God! Our Scharnhorst is slowing down! Its speed drops down very fast......"

The U-47 is in an IX submarine under the surface of the sea (historically this designation belonged to a VIIB submarine, but at this time and space, the number of IX boats owned by the German Navy more than doubled.) The designation of the U-47 also belongs to an IX type ocean-going submarine). Captain Prien suddenly heard his first mate, Heinrich, shouting.

"What's wrong?" Günt. Captain Prien looked at Ensign Heinrich, who was looking through a periscope.

"It's the Scharnhorst, it's hit, it's out of speed, it looks like it's less than 10 knots, it's going to be finished."

"Don't talk nonsense!" Günt. Prion walked over, snatched the periscope, and pressed the eyeball on. In the circular field of vision, you can vaguely see the black giant ship slowly driving towards him. Through the scale on the periscope lens, Günther. Prien estimated the speed of the "Scharnhorst".

"Verse 7!" Günt. "But it's not going to be finished, it's very good at sinking." He paused, "Now the Hood and the Heavy Cruiser should be firing around it...... But it was also our chance, and we followed it, and now that it's slowing down, we can just keep up. (To be continued.) )