69novels Chapter 596
Chapter 596
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TảIn fact, it was not only the German shells that caused damage to the Hood, but the Hood’s shells also posed a serious threat to the Bismarck!
“General, the bridge is quite dangerous. Do you want to go down there? There is armored protection for the command tower.……”
Captain Ernst glanced at the water column that was stirred up by the explosion of the shells about 300 meters to the left, and said to Lütjens, who was standing on the bridge commanding the battle, with concern.
The bridge is where the captain and the commander observe the enemy and conduct command.
In order to facilitate observation, the bridge is generally located very high, and there are large pieces of transparent glass. Obviously, the glass cannot block the bombardment of shells, so the personnel here on the bridge are very dangerous in the battle. Once the enemy uses the tactics of bombing the superstructure and washing the deck, the bridge is likely to be smashed to pieces!
Moreover, both sides know that as long as the enemy’s command system is destroyed, the enemy’s combat capability can be effectively reduced, thereby helping their side to win. Therefore, in the battle, both sides of the war are eager to send shells into the enemy’s bridge as soon as possible, and bomb all the enemy soldiers in the bridge into slag!
In order to protect their own commanders, countries began to install armor in the battleship era, build safer command towers, and use heavy armor to protect the safety of the command tower, thereby protecting their main combat commanders.
After all, not everyone is as lucky as Togo Heihachiro. The bridge was hit by the enemy’s shells, but he was not killed. He was still alive and shouted the words that the rise and fall of the empire depends on this battle!
Historically, in Operation Rhine, Lütjens was killed by the shells of the Rodrigo in the command tower of Bismarck. It can be said that he died very miserably.
The space inside the command tower is not large. If it is directly hit by a 406mm shell, it is almost impossible for the people inside to survive. Moreover, the high temperature and shock wave generated by the instantaneous explosion will turn people into meat paste and be blown everywhere. Even a complete body cannot be found.
“What are you afraid of? They haven’t hit us directly yet. If we go to the conning tower now, will I hide in the cabin below when the enemy’s shells hit us directly?”
Lütjens glared at Lindemann. For the people on the battleship, once the naval battle started, there would be no safe place on the battleship. The power of modern naval guns was very huge, and there was almost no area that they could not penetrate!
If there was, it must be the wrong posture!
Bang!
With a loud bang, there was a huge shock on the Hood battleship that was sailing at high speed, followed by a violent explosion that made hundreds of soldiers on the battleship unstable and fall all over the place!
After the two sides bombarded each other for five minutes, a semi-armor-piercing explosive bomb fired from the Bismarck accurately hit the Hood!
With a loud bang, flames and shock waves swept across most of the Hood’s hull. The British soldiers near the explosion were torn to pieces by the violent shock wave, and the soldiers in the distance were also blown away by the fragments and shock waves of the shells.
The side of the entire battleship seemed to be swept by an invisible rope, and there was no one who could still stand!
“”Quick, damage control department check the damage,”
Major General Holland said anxiously, holding his forehead.
The explosion just now happened too suddenly. When the battleship was hit and trembled at a distance, the people on the bridge were not prepared at all. As a result, dozens of officers and soldiers fell like rolling potatoes, and their faces were bruised and swollen from the bangs.
Major General Holland had no time to take care of his own injuries. Compared with the flesh wound on his forehead, he was more concerned about the damage to the Hood battleship!
The caliber of the Bismarck’s main gun was one inch larger than theirs, and the weight and power of the shells were much greater. Major General Holland was not sure whether the Hood could withstand such a blow!
“Report, the right side freeboard is damaged, the main armor belt is penetrated, and a 5X4 large hole appears three meters above the waterline!”
Hearing this news, Rear Admiral Holland breathed a sigh of relief!
Fortunately, the part that was hit was on the freeboard, not near the waterline, otherwise the battleship would have been flooded by now!
“How are the casualties?”
The explosion just now was quite loud. Considering the power of the 406mm gun, Holland felt that the casualties on the ship would probably be considerable.
As expected, the numbers reported by the soldiers shocked him.
“A total of 76 people were killed and 122 were injured in the cabin below the deck, and 32 people were killed and 92 were injured on the deck!”
Just one shot cost him more than 300 casualties!
This casualty situation is too horrible!
“Is the main gun affected?”
“Not yet, all can fire normally!”
“Well then, aim at all the enemies and hit them hard. Don’t be stingy with your shells. Fire them all at me!”
After the initial panic, Major General Holden showed his desperate and crazy side like an enraged lion!
He just didn’t believe it. Since the calibration had already hit a cross-fire, then as long as he fired according to the previous parameters, he would hit the enemy sooner or later!
It’s impossible for them to be hit all the time while the enemy is unharmed!
Theoretically, Major General Holden’s idea is normal, but he doesn’t know what weapons are equipped on the Bismarck battleship opposite him!
Looking at the shell falling into the sea, thousands of soldiers on the Bismarck battleship cheered!
Lütjens and Captain Lindemann wiped the sweat from their heads and breathed a sigh of relief!
Looking back at the long string of black gun barrels, Lütjens smiled and said,”The British Navy would never have thought that we are equipped with weapons that can intercept their shells. Haha, if they knew this, they would probably have fled now!”
Ernst Lindemann nodded vigorously, agreeing very much with what Lütjens said.
Just now, when another round of British artillery shells attacked, the Phalanx system on the Bismarck shot down an enemy shell. According to the predetermined trajectory, the enemy’s shell had a 50% chance of directly hitting the German ship, so it was judged as a high-risk target by the Phalanx’s fire control system and was shot down.
This was the first time that the Phalanx system had played a role since the war began, and its first shot made Lütjens and Lindemann look at it with new eyes!
Close-in defense guns that can intercept artillery shells, let alone see this thing, they have never heard of it!
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes this time, they wouldn’t have believed it even if they were beaten to death!
“Captain, since the dense formation is so powerful, then we are not?”
Lindman’s eyes were shining, and he was eager to try!
“Hehe, since we have the conditions, we must naturally give John guys a surprise!”
“I promise, they will love this gift!”_