Chapter 363: The Battle of the North Sea

It was over. For the British Royal Navy, it seemed that everything was over. The first ray of dawn appeared on the distant horizon. The darkness instantly retreated, and a golden brilliance spread across the surface of the sea.

And at this time, the Renown was burning fiercely and exploding violently. Although it was still holding on and had not sunk, it was clearly impossible to expect this warship to give chase. And the situation on the Hood‘s side was not much better. The Hood, which had taken a torpedo in the stern, had had one of its propellers and two of its rudders destroyed, so its speed was also unable to catch up with the German fleet.

The cruisers and destroyers could still continue the pursuit, but it was hard to say whether they could gain any advantage against the two German armored ships, not to mention that there was now an even more urgent situation that they had to deal with.

Because with the arrival of the light came also the nearly one hundred planes that had taken off from the German naval air arm’s land bases. These planes were densely packed in formation in the clouds, looking like a swarm of locusts appearing on the horizon.

The battle, in which the British Navy had had the upper hand, had instantly changed its situation. The pursuer had, at the moment of dawn, become the hunted prey. The British Navy was immediately plunged into an unprecedented crisis.

That pitiful I-class destroyer had already been riddled with holes. The entire destroyer had only survived for less than two minutes under the fire of the cruisers and battlecruisers. It had not even had time to lower its lifeboats before it had sunk into the sea. It had also become the first British warship to be sunk in this pursuit battle.

The disaster at this moment was only just beginning. To hunt down the German naval fleet, the warships that had charged to the front this time were all warships that were relatively strong in surface combat. Most had not undergone modernization, and some of the cruisers did not even have decent anti-aircraft guns. Including the Hood and the Renown, the anti-aircraft capability of this British pursuit fleet could be said to be the weakest.

So when the German planes began to dive and attack, Vice-Admiral Holland could only order the formation to be broken up and for all the warships to scatter. This was tantamount to abandoning the burning and defenseless Renown, and also tantamount to sentencing the Hood, whose speed had been reduced by half, to death.

In the sky, the German dive bombers began their attack. One after another, the planes dived down, and one after another, the aerial bombs were thrown at the British warships. Soon, the Hood had paid a huge price for its design flaws.

Because the battlecruiser Hood had excessively pursued speed, its armor was not as thick as that of a battleship. To protect against torpedoes and to resist the close-range fire of other warships, the broadside armor had been deliberately thickened, so the weight of the entire warship had been a bit over the limit during its construction.

The final compromise was that the horizontal armor of the entire battlecruiser had been weakened. The designers and builders had hoped that this warship could use its super-high speed to evade long-range gun battles. And this flaw in the horizontal armor protection had always plagued the Hood and had become a huge weakness of the Hood. This was also the main reason why, in another timeline, after the Hood had encountered the Bismarck, it had been sunk in an instant in a long-range gun battle.

Now, the Hood was forced to use its slightly thin horizontal armor to resist the aerial bombs dropped by the Stuka dive bombers, which was undoubtedly a very tragic thing. Because of its slower speed and larger size, the Hood immediately became the main attack target of the German planes. Soon, it was hit in the bow by an aerial bomb.

This bomb had not hit any vital equipment or ammunition magazines, which was a stroke of luck in the Hood‘s misfortune. The bomb had destroyed some of the Hood‘s compartments and had also broken and damaged the anchor chain at the bow.

On January 27, 1938, the 21st day after the formal start of the war between Germany and the Anglo-French coalition, became a disaster day for the British Navy. On the morning of this day, the British Navy began to continuously lose its warships.

At 5:07, the Renown sent its last telegram. After seeing this message, Vice-Admiral Holland was silent. On it was written a very short sentence: “Hit by 2 more torpedoes. I am sinking. Have given the order to abandon ship.”

At 5:11, the British cruiser HMS Edinburgh sent a telegram, declaring that it was sinking. Britain had lost its third warship of the day. This cruiser was within sight of the Hood. Vice-Admiral Holland had watched with his own eyes as this destroyer caught fire, burned, and then sank to the bottom of the sea.

At 5:37, the Hood, where Vice-Admiral Holland was, was hit by its seventh aerial bomb. The entire hull had already begun to list severely, and the flagship’s command flag of the British naval fleet had been hit by shrapnel and had fallen into the sea.

“Captain Kerr, send a telegram to London,” Vice-Admiral Holland said with a sigh, looking at the chart table, which was now very unstable due to the list. “The content of the telegram is as follows: Esteemed Prime Minister Churchill, the Battle of the English Channel has ended in a disastrous defeat for our army. All the officers and men of the army fought bravely. The reason for the failure lies with Holland alone. May God still shine on the British Empire.”

“General!” The captain of the Hood, Captain Kerr, had just been wounded by shrapnel, and there were still bloodstains on his face. He stared at Holland with unwillingness and asked dejectedly, “Our army still has the blocking fleet led by the Ark Royal. We have not lost yet! We have not lost yet!”

At this moment, another telegram was delivered to the command room. Holland took the message and looked at it, and his face became even paler. Because what was said on this telegram made him feel even more that his crime was unforgivable.

The cruiser HMS Arethusa and the cruiser HMS Aurora had just raised the white flag and had surrendered to the German Navy. After witnessing their own massive fleet scatter like birds and beasts, after watching the massive warships around them being turned into scrap metal by the German planes and sinking to the bottom of the sea, not everyone still firmly believed that their army would be victorious. At least the commanders of these two cruisers of the same class were more willing to use a humiliating way to preserve the lives of the sailors and soldiers on their warships.

It seemed that this time, not many of the massive British Navy’s pursuit fleet had actually managed to escape. Holland felt a sweetness in his throat, as if a hot liquid was about to be vomited out. He swayed and, in the end, managed to hold on and not fall.

At the same moment, the German Navy’s High Seas Fleet turned its bow. On the bridge of the aircraft carrier Imperator, Lütjens was holding a cup of hot coffee and staring at the planes that were constantly taking off from the deck. One after another, the Fw-190s rushed down the runway and, at the end of the runway, leaped up and charged into the sky.

His fleet, which had originally been on the verge of being completely annihilated, had at this moment turned the tables and had completed a heaven-defying reversal. Now, not far away, the British fleet was collapsing. There were even two British warships that had already raised the white flag. Not far away, the armored ship Lützow was detaching from the formation to go and accept the surrender of the two British cruisers.

The battlecruiser Hood, which had been desperately chasing him an hour ago, was now in its death throes. Its sinking was only a matter of time. And the other, the Renown, was now just a patch of oil on the sea surface and a thousand or so crew members floating in the water, waiting for rescue. Without him having to do anything more, this epic naval battle was already a sure victory for the German Navy’s High Seas Fleet.

“Report!” an air liaison officer said, walking up behind Lütjens. After saluting at attention, his voice changed its tone. Just a few minutes ago, they had successfully turned defeat into victory, which had made these officers let out a crazy cheer. “The land-based naval air arm units, due to fuel and ammunition issues, are returning to base. Before they returned, they reported by radio that the rest of the matter is up to us!”

“Order the troops to delay the takeoff of the torpedo bombers and dive bombers,” Lütjens commanded. “Begin to dispatch reconnaissance planes in all directions.”

He thought for a moment and then added, “Order Günther Rall to lead the air defense fighter formation to take off and to ensure the security of our airspace! The helicopters are also to take off immediately, to maintain a watch and to search the surrounding sea surface.”

“Yes, General!” the air liaison officer saluted at attention. “Heil Führer Akado Rudolph!”

“Heil Führer!” Lütjens, who had just won the most important battle of his life, was in a particularly good mood. He smiled and replied at attention, “Facts have proven that the German High Seas Fleet is invincible!”

“Invincible! Victory! Invincible! Long live!” On the bridge, some of the officers and sailors all followed with a loud cheer, and the spacious command post of the entire bridge was instantly filled with the joy of victory.

But just as the aircraft carrier Imperator was in a state of celebration, on a German Z-class destroyer at the front of the fleet, a radar operator suddenly frowned.

“Sir!” After confirming that he had not made a misjudgment, he immediately shouted to an officer not far away.

“What is it?” the officer asked, walking to his side.

“Directly ahead, at a distance of 110 kilometers, an unidentified aircraft group, about… 10, no, at least 15 planes!” the radar operator said with certainty.

“My God!” The officer looked at the radar screen and then immediately shouted to the captain who was standing in the command room of the bridge. “British planes are attacking, Captain! British planes! At least 15!”

Just a dozen or so seconds later, the emergency air defense battle alarm was sounded on this destroyer. All the cannons were pointed to the sky. And on its mast, the signal lamp flashed continuously, as if it were using all its means to notify the other warships of an important piece of news: the British planes were coming.

A few minutes later, Lütjens gave the fleet’s air defense order with a solemn expression. “All warships! Immediately begin air alert! Ready anti-aircraft ammunition! After the planes have taken off, form up immediately. Has Günther Rall’s fighter unit taken off yet? Continue to launch! Until enough fighters have been launched to ensure the fleet’s air defense! Quick!”