69novels Chapter 313
Chapter 313
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On the sea not far from the combined fleet, Hans’s two warships had slowed down and stood aside to watch the excitement.
“Haha, this mine is quite powerful!”
“Looks much better than a torpedo!”
“Well, a 533mm mine is definitely not that powerful!”
“My goodness, a mine sank a 20,000-ton troop transport ship. I wonder what the effect would be if it was replaced by a battleship!”
On the deck of the Bismarck battleship, a group of middle and lower-level German officers gathered together, watching the excitement and chatting.
Although the Saikyo Maru has a large tonnage, it is only a troop transport ship after all, and it is a troop transport ship converted from a merchant ship, so there is no way to test the true power of the mine. The German officers are more concerned about what would happen if a large battleship hit a mine?
They didn’t wait too long. Less than five minutes later, the Hiei battleship hit a mine.
“Haha, the people from Jiaoben are in trouble. If only one warship hit the mine, then it could only be said that they were unlucky and might have encountered a floating mine. But now the Hiei has also hit a mine, which means they have entered the minefield!”
“Our 500 mines, if deployed well, can at least block off more than ten kilometers of sea surface. If they really enter the minefield, more warships may be hit by mines!
“Look, the Hiei is tilting. I guess there must be something wrong with their ship below the waterline!”
“Is it possible to damage the keel and cause the battleship to disintegrate?”
“This may not be possible in this location, but it is still possible to blast out a few large gaps and pour in hundreds or thousands of tons of seawater!”
“I bet five cents that the Hiei will sink!”
“I followed suit, and I also bet that the Hiei would sink!”
……
Seeing that the group of officers had strayed from the topic and were actually talking about gambling, Lütjens could not help it. He coughed lightly and said,”Why are you gathering here instead of working? If the troops open fire on us, can you guarantee to fight back immediately?”
When the officers heard Lütjens’ voice coming from behind them, they were so frightened that they stood up straight and respectfully accepted the fleet commander’s criticism.
“”Sir, we know we were wrong, and we won’t do it again next time!”
A smart officer saw that Lütjens didn’t seem to be about to lose his temper, so he bravely said.
Lütjens glanced at him and asked,”Second Lieutenant, what’s your name?”
Being called by the officer, the smart second lieutenant didn’t dare to be naughty at this time. He immediately stood up, tapped his heels hard, saluted in a very Prussian style, and said loudly,”Report to the General, I am the co-pilot of the Bismarck, Lieutenant Hans Mier!”
Lütjens liked the other party’s temperament very much. He nodded and asked,”You just said that you knew you were wrong, but do you know where you were wrong?”
Mier scratched his head and said embarrassedly,”I think I violated military regulations. We can’t gather together to gamble during the mission!”
“Well, did you violate military orders?”
Miel’s eyes lit up,”It seems, yes?”
He himself was not sure, so he looked at Lütjens tentatively, but Lütjens’ expression was concealed very well, and he could not see anything.
“Remember, war is not a joke. Don’t bring some bad habits in society into the army. As officers, you should shoulder heavier responsibilities than others. Otherwise, because of your decision or negligence, it is likely to cause many innocent deaths and even affect the outcome of the war!”
Lütjens admired this group of young people, so he said a few more words, but he himself was a young man, so he knew very well that what young people dislike most is the old guys who take advantage of their age to teach them a lesson, so he was unwilling to say more. If he said too much, these guys might not appreciate it, and they might even be disgusted with these old guys!
Lütjens is 36 years old this year, at the age of youth and strength. Originally, in the navies of various countries, this age can only be regarded as the middle age, belonging to the middle class of the army. Above them are old people in their forties, fifties, or even fifties and sixties. These people are the controllers of the navy and the fleet.
However, in this situation, the German navy no longer exists. Mainz laid off the most navy in the post-war disarmament. At the low point, Hans’ navy had only 5,000 There are only a small number of people, so there naturally cannot be too many veterans, so almost all of those old generals were cleared out.
Now the German navy is a very young army, whether in terms of the composition of the warships or the age of their officers and soldiers.
Navy Commander Dönitz is only 34 this year, Fleet Commander Lütjens is 36 years old, Bismarck Captain Lindemann is 30 years old, and Tirpitz Captain Jung is only 28 years old!
Calculated in this way, Lütjens is the oldest in the German navy. Otherwise, he would not put himself in the position of an old man at this time and think of himself as an old guy! The general age of the large number of officers in front of Lütjens is between 24 and 26 years old. Compared with them, Lütjens is indeed an old guy.……
“General, we got it, and we promise we won’t do it again!”
Miel saw Lütjens’ kind reminder. Although what he said was indeed not liked by young people, the other party had no ill intentions and did not seem to want to hold them accountable or punish them. This made him feel very good about this immediate superior!
“Humph, I asked you what you did wrong, but you couldn’t answer. Do you really know you are wrong?”
Lütjens stared at Miel with a bad look. His previous friendliness disappeared without a trace, and his eyes were sharp and decisive!
Miel was confused. Judging from the commander’s meaning, it seemed that he really didn’t answer the point just now?
So, what went wrong?
“The tilt angle of the Hiei battleship was less than 15 degrees within 1 minute. At this speed, as long as the damage control measures of the foot basin navy are appropriate, the battleship will most likely be able to be reported down. So you all think that the capsizing of the Hiei is a foregone conclusion. Isn’t this view wrong?”
Lütjens did not let Mier and others guess, he directly expressed his dissatisfaction.
His dissatisfaction with these people was professional rather than personal. As a well-trained naval officer, they must have enough ability to judge the situation. Although the Hiei hit a mine, it did not explode or damage the power system, so its injuries were not fatal.
As long as the foot basin navy responds properly, the Hiei can be rescued!
After listening to Lütjens’ words, the expressions on their faces were a little indifferent. It tilted 15 degrees in fifteen minutes. This tilt The tilting speed is already quite fast. At this rate, the Hiei will capsize in half an hour.
So, after hearing what Lütjens said, the young officers did not immediately agree. Instead, they were a little unconvinced and planned to observe for a while.
Lütjens glanced at them and could tell what they were thinking from the expressions on their faces.
He was prepared for this, so he did not continue to explain. Since they planned to see it with their own eyes, then let them be satisfied!
On the Combined Fleet side, after Suzuki Kantaro gave the order, he ignored the scolding of Lieutenant General Muto Nobuyoshi and ordered the fleet to leave. The minefield was cleared and the crew retreated to a safe place. The lifeboats and speedboats on each ship were lowered to rescue the soldiers who fell into the water and transport damage control personnel to rescue the Hiei.
The hole in the Hiei was too large at the beginning, and hundreds of tons of seawater rushed in, causing several compartments to be unable to close. A large amount of seawater poured into the warship, and the warship tilted violently, tilting 30 degrees within half an hour, approaching the capsizing limit of 35 degrees!
However, the captain of the Hiei was also a ruthless man. After realizing that the warship might lose balance and capsize, he immediately ordered the right side to be opened. The ship was filled with seawater, which restored the center of gravity of the warship and stopped tilting to the left!
As the support personnel from other ships arrived, a large number of damage control soldiers desperately closed the watertight compartments near the damaged area to prevent the continued influx of seawater, which gradually saved the warship from danger.
At this time, the Hiei had been filled with nearly 6,000 tons of seawater, and the warship sank more than 2 meters directly, exceeding the maximum draft depth. Although the crisis of capsizing was temporarily resolved, the danger of the warship sinking was not resolved! _Please download the novel without underline