Reich Marshal of the Belkan Reich

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Chapter 21-11: The Hunt for Bismarck (Part 11)

When first contact is made, it's made when a good old Walrus seaplane literally flies into the 5 km range of the Bismarck, a distance that is no doubt a point-blank range for any shipborne AA. As such, the crew of the Walrus immediately goes into full panic mode, having wandered into a dead zone unknowingly due to poor vision. And despite flying away at full throttle, the crew of the Walrus still dutifully report the sighting of the Belkan warships, albeit in a shaky tone, having heard of the deadly tales involving the Bismarck.

Admiral Tovey can't really blame them for being bloody frightened. He too would be the same if he's flying that coffin right now. Regardless, the updated intel gives him the location of the Bismarck, some 45 km away from them due South West. A sortie order has already been given to the air wings aboard HMS Ark Royal and HMS Hermes, and now, the rest of the Home Fleet is setting out on an intercept course. And despite what many would think about duking it out at sea, ship-to-ship fighting is actually less complex than one would think. For all intents and purposes, plans can be made, and implemented in the middle of a firefight, yet, it all comes down to the men manning the stations and perhaps the most important of all, luck. That's the general consensus of the current era of naval warfare. Hence, Admiral Tovey having his fleet coming directly at the Bismarck before trying to engage her in a chaotic CQC isn't that bad of a plan, especially when he knows what the Belkan battleship is capable of. He has been acting as an Admiral long enough to know that, even with the gun of a destroyer, a single lucky shot can still cripple a battleship. Nonetheless, it doesn't make him any more hopeful than praying to whatever God handles the dice roll to bless the Home Fleet today.

Tovey silently dreads how many ships will be sunk in the coming engagement, and by extension, how many young men are doomed because of his order. Still, as the old adage has said:

"In for a penny, in for a pound."

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With the plan already communicated to the rest of the Home Fleet, it doesn't hamper them at all in deploying their formation when their short-range communication goes down. The destroyers and cruisers will go in first, leading the charge, and will be attacking the Bismarck from many angles. While the HMS Repulse provides long-range gunnery with HMS King George V and HMS Rodney running close the distance. Since the enemy force consists of only two vessels, Tovey expects that no matter how good Bismarck's fire control is, she can't effectively engage numerous targets in all directions. If Bismarck chooses to attack the capital ships, it will leave her open for the swarm of destroyers and cruisers and vice versa.

With the fleet steaming at their best speed while being separated into two detachments, each going at 30 knots and 22 knots respectively, Tovey eyes the sky, seeing the flight of numerous bombers circling above the fleet. An exchange of light signals between the aircraft and the King George V ensues, with Tovey commanding them to stay a bit behind the formation. They are allowed the freedom to attack when the Bismarck shows an opening in their maneuver.

With the detachment of destroyers and cruisers going at 30 knots, Tovey expects them to come in the visual range of 18 km with the Bismarck soon. Orders have been given explicitly for them to encircle the battleship and attack it with everything they have while relaying the Bismarck's firing data back to Tovey. The latter is for the Home Fleet's capital ships to calculate and engage with their guns, even though they can't get a lock on visually with the Bismarck thanks to the mist. The accuracy, of course, will leave much to be desired but it's the best they can do to keep the pressure on the enemy until they can get into effective range.

What Tovey hasn't expected though, is for the spotters on the crow's nest to alert.

"Skipper! The Edinburgh is taking fire!"

"What!?" Tovey and the commanding staff rushed out to the viewing port. Peering down on his binocular, Tovey can barely see the glimpse of water columns falling down as the visage of the light cruiser Edinburgh maneuvers further into the mist. "Bloody Hell Just how can they see us with this damn fog in the way!? Do they have a spotter in the air too?" Tovey cursed. Either way, it doesn't matter how the Bismarck got the beat on them. They're being shot at and unable to retaliate.

With comms unavailable, Tovey can't raise the Edinburgh, now acting as detachment leader instead of the damaged Sheffield, for a status report. And with her going deeper into the fog, they have to relay the request visually through a Walrus before it even reaches the light cruiser. He will still ask for a report, yes, but the best he can do is to order them to take evasive actions. Until a firing solution is provided to him, or until the King George V can spot the Bismarck. His hands are tied.

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"Ma'am, the enemy destroyers are almost in visual range, 8 minutes top. Their cruisers are right behind them." The XO in Bismark's CIC reported. "As we suspected, they will be dividing into two formations to flank us. Leaving the center for their capital ships to handle. Meanwhile, their air wings seem to be circling in a holding pattern, ready to be called in."

"Show me their current formations." With that said, Admiral Tallulah and Captain Lindemann move to a computer terminal showing the real-time feed of what their radar is getting. "Helm, starboard 15 degrees."

"Aye aye, ma'am Starboard 15 degrees!" The helmsman announced while gently swiveling the control wheel of Bismarck.

Tallulah then says. "By the time they get here, I would like a full broadside to target the Repulse. And have the port torpedo launcher ready to send out the Orkans. It seems like the Royal Navy makes our job a whole lot easier than it should have been." Tallulah smirks as she eyes the radar screen.

Like what the XO said earlier, the cruisers and destroyers divided into two smaller groups, each attempting to flank to the West and East of the Bismarck. The Western group is led by the heavy cruiser HMS London with destroyers HMS Icarus, HMS Imogen, and HMS Isis acting as her supports. While the Eastern group consists of light cruisers HMS Sheffield and HMS Edinburgh, destroyers HMS Cossack, HMS Maori, HMS Zulu, and HMS Sikh, with Edinburgh as the group leader. As of now, both groups are already moving to their flanking positions. Tallulah knows that the moment when visual contact is made, the destroyers will start firing their main guns, followed by the cruisers. A few minutes later will be that of the Erusean capital ships. With so many shells coming their way, their CIWS will be overwhelmed eventually, it's why Tallulah orders her vessels to gently sail at an angle that is facing away from the Erusean ships.

While it can be argued it's her running away, as a matter of fact, it isn't. With Bismarck's current heading relative to the enemy warships, Bismarck has ample firing angle for her full broadside, and better yet, her port side torpedo launcher, loaded with two Orkan torpedoes. The latter has enough leeway to aim and launch at the densely packed Eastern enemy group, before turning around to do the same with the Western group led by HMS London. They just need to soften up the targets while luring them into the 15 km distance.

"CIC, I want all stations to start peppering them with High Explosive shells, prioritize the cruisers." Tallulah ordered while pressing a button on the terminal to connect her voice to the Combat Intelligence Center.

"It will be done, Admiral." The XO said back, leaving Lindemann to add.

"HE or not, our shells can still one-shot a heavy cruiser. They may die so fast that sooner or later, the Orkan won't even have a target left to engage."

"In that case, we can just dump the two of them in at the King George V." Tallulah shrugged, not caring much about how this battle will end. "High Command has given us full autonomy on utilizing the Orkan, as long as we get results."

Lindemann lightly smiles, saying. "Not sure about you, but I would rather clean the floor with two big bangs than one."

Tallulah laughs, replying. "Then let's just hope that their high-speed squadrons have both the skill and the luck required to survive our guns." Her sentence is accompanied by the reverberation of Bismarck's main and secondary guns firing at the same time.

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Over on the side of the desperately rushing Royal Navy, they're truly not doing so hot despite being in the middle of the chilling Atlantic.

"Hard to port!"

"I can't, the rudder is jammed!"

"Fire in the mess hall! Someone get DCP down there!"

"Fragmentations knocked out the turret drive! C-turret is disabled!"

"Medic! We need a medic down the hallway!"

"It's no use, half of his brain is gone!"

Shouts like these are just the new normal for the sailors aboard the cruisers and destroyers of the Home Fleet. Despite the best attempts at evasive maneuvering by the helmsmen, the cruisers belonging two the two high-speed flanking groups still take heavy casualties. The combined firepower of three different calibers from both Bismarck and Prinz Eugen proves too much for them to dodge effectively, especially when they are getting ever so closer to the point-blank range of the Bismarck. So believe them when the Erusean sailors say that it's not a good thing to finally make visual contact with the notorious Belkan battleship. In a way, this is like a rodeo that has gone so horribly wrong that the last thing they wanted is to hang on for dear life. But alas, orders are orders, and they'll be damned in many ways if they run away.

Hence, when the last vessels of the two groups have cleared the fog, all vessels immediately turn their guns at the Bismarck before collectively firing at her. The destroyers, leading ahead of the two formations and being the closest to the battleship, sail at flank speed in a mad dash to close the gap to less than 8 km. That's their torpedo range but it's no different than a one-way ticket in the hearts of many sailors. Their allied cruisers, not leaving them hanging, relentlessly pound their guns at the Belkan warship, all the while conveying the vessel's coordinate and heading for Admiral Tovey's ships. In a hot minute, more than a dozen shells have already been fired at the Bismarck, yet, much to the dismay and utter confusion of the squadrons, beams of red tracers split the misty sky, hitting and exploding whatever shells that come near the battleship. The origin of said beams are as such, four from the Bismarck herself with the last two chimed in by the Prinz Eugen. Their combined CIWS coverage makes it so that a repeat of last time's mishap won't happen ever again.

Due to the fact that Bismarck and Prinz Eugen are sailing away, the two Royal Navy squadrons have two steams directly ahead if they want to reduce the distance. As such, they effectively lose half of their firepower since their rear turrets don't have a firing angle. And as they're going at flank speed, their accuracy is also piss-poor as a result of a lack of stable firing platforms. Suffice to say, not many of their shells find the correct flight paths, any that are lucky enough to be on course to the Bismarck are promptly intercepted too. The Erusean sailors can only chalk their unfortunate results to Belkan voodoo, once again.

Things seem hopeless for the high-speed squadrons when the first crippling casualty has occurred. HMS Cossack has, once again, been unfortunate enough to be targeted and hit by the 203mm shells from the Prinz Eugen and the 150mm shells from the Bismarck. There have been at least four explosions on the Cossack, all centered around her fore deck. When the black smoke subsides, her compatriot destroyers can swear that the entire bridge is gone alongside her front turrets, yet despite so, the Cossack is still steaming ahead. Only this time, she doesn't have any way of maneuvering or even a proper chain of command. Hence, it isn't a surprise when another barrage comes down atop her, easily ripping what's left of her hull to shred.

HMS Cossack, sink with all hands, circa 27th of August, 1938.

Yet, it appears help has arrived. Well, not just yet, but the capital ships commanded by John Tovey have opened fire after receiving the firing data from the cruisers. It sure does uplift the Erusean spirit when they also hear the sound of more than two dozens propeller beating the air. Looking up, 52 bomber planes fly in a spread-out formation at different altitudes, all baring their fangs to the Bismarck.

But as if mocking their attempts at counterattacking, Bismarck shrugs. Firstly, she and Prinz Eugen make short work of the multi-caliber shelling from King George V, Rodney, and Repulse. Their 30mm Gepard turrets swiftly turn and engage the airborne threats with deadly precision as beams of tracers light up the sky once more. Neutralizing the capital ships' salvo in mere seconds. Against the Royal Navy air wings, however, all available AA weaponry aboard Bismarck and Prinz Eugen fire at the same time, having linked their defense grid together thanks to their CICs. The dual-purpose 150mm and 128mm aboard Bismarck and Prinz Eugen fire first. This is followed by the 57mm Goalkeeper turret that starts sending a withering barrage of HE-VT shells. Lastly, the Gepard turrets, having intercepted the Home Fleet's shelling, open up their Sea Iris missile pods and launch 1/3 of their complement into the sky, leaving behind trails of white smoke. The ensuing explosions in the air are nothing sort of splendorous fireworks in the middle of the Atlantic Sea. Without giving the Erusean naval pilots a chance to react, flak bursts occur all around them, leaving them with no room or time to dodge the hail of fragments that punctured their lightly-protected airframe. The damage from the flak rounds alone has destroyed almost forty bombers in one go, most having their crew killed instantly, leaving the rest easy picking for the Sea Iris missiles that detonate near the survivors' airframes. More explosions appear in the sky, this time, the combination of exploding ordnance and fuel making it so that the blast doesn't lose out to the prior flak barrage. Five seconds later, the sky is clear of any aircraft, save for a few burning debris that is on course to sink into the ocean.

After witnessing such a grandiose display of Belkan firepower, members of the Home Fleet's high-speed squadrons feel their blood run cold. To them, Bismarck is not just a battleship anymore, not after the previous displays. Bismarck is now a beast, a beast made of steel and Belkan witchcraft. One that shouldn't be existed, not in this day and age!

The two warship squadrons have their guns fall silent, not sure how to react in front of such a dangerous threat. From the bottom of the bucket crewman to the tipping top officers, not one Erusean knows what to do at the moment. The best they can do is look at each other, silently urging the others to do something about the situation in their stead.

The Belkans seem to realize the utter confusion and dismay that are running over the heads of the Eruseans. And seems to allow them a moment of respite, stopping their guns from firing also. Yet, this is not an act of mercy by any means. By now, the Erusean vessels are squarely in the distance of 15 km, a prize target for something that is obviously more dangerous than a 432mm shell.

"Unleash the Orkans!"

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The sudden launching of a pair of 200 knots torpedoes hasn't caught the eyes of the Eruseans. How can they, when they're still kilometers apart? Yet despite no visual contact being made, the first to receive a warning is the hydrophone operators aboard the destroyers at what's basically point-blank range for the Orkans. Nonetheless, what they are getting is just seconds of being bathed in weird audio signatures coming their way, and very fast signatures at that. A few operators with swift mindsets immediately set off to warn the officers while most are still stuck in their chairs, hands still holding the headphones tight to decipher the signatures. But even if they knew what was about to hit them, they wouldn't even have the time to take any action before the Orkans detonate beneath the two Home Fleet squadrons.

When the 30 kilotons warheads explode, the underwater fireballs took the form of rapidly expanding hot gas bubbles that pushes against the water, generating supersonic hydraulic shockwaves that crush the hulls of the cruisers and destroyers above as they spread out. Eventually, they slow to the speed of sound in water, which is 1600 m/s, five times faster than that of sound in air. On the surface, the shockwaves, from where the two squadrons are, are visible as the leading edge of rapidly expanding rings of dark water, resembling that of an oil slick. Close behind the slicks is a visually more dramatic, but less destructive whitening of the water surface that Belkan scientists dubbed as the "crack". At the top, the gas bubbles push the water above them into a "spray dome", which burst through the surface like geysers.

During the first full second, the expanding bubbles remove all the water within a 152 meters radius of their detonation zone and lift approximately two million tons of spray into the air. As the bubbles rose at 800 m/s, they stretch the spray domes into hollow cylinders, almost 2000 meters tall and 650 meters wide, with walls around 100 meters thick.

As soon as the bubbles reach the air, they start a pair of supersonic atmospheric shockwaves which, like the "crack", are more visually dramatic than destructive. Brief low pressure behind the shockwaves causes instant fog which shrouds the developing columns in "condensation clouds", obscuring it from view for two seconds. The clouds start out hemispherical, expand into disks that lift from the water revealing the fully developed spray columns, then change into doughnuts and vanish. By the time the condensation clouds vanish, the top of the columns have become "cauliflowers", and all the spray in the columns and their cauliflowers are moving down, back into the ocean surface. Although cloudlike in shape, the cauliflowers are more like the top of a geyser where water stops moving up and starts to fall.

Meanwhile, the seawater rushing back into the space vacated by the rising gas bubbles starts a tsunami that lifts the Royal Navy ships as it passes under them. At 11 seconds after detonation, the first waves are 350 meters from surface zero and 35 meters high.

Twelve seconds after detonation, falling water from the columns start to create 300 meters tall "base surges" resembling the mist at the bottom of a large waterfall. Unlike the water waves, the base surges roll over rather than under the ships. Of all the Orkans' effects, the base surges have the greatest consequence for the surviving Erusean warships (those that weren't in ground zero and weren't crushed immediately by the initial underwater shockwaves), due to the physical property of tons upon tons of water come crashing down on their head. The surviving ships, cruisers and destroyers alike, are quite literally, flattened indiscriminately by something akin to a battleship rolling over them. And when the base surge subsides, there's nothing left recognizable floating on the surface in a one-kilometer radius of the detonation sites.

• HMS London
• HMS Sheffield and HMS Edinburgh
• HMS Cossack, HMS Maori, HMS Zulu, and HMS Sikh
• HMS Icarus, HMS Imogen, and HMS Isis
• Lost with all hands, circa 27th of August, 1938

Despite the sudden loss of thousands of lives in literal seconds, Admiral Tallulah can't stop herself from smiling ears to ears. She knows quite well just what sort of destructive weapons she has unleashed, and as expected, they haven't failed to meet her expectations. "Utterly outstanding!"

After all, the Orkan is designed to harness not just the power of its payload, but to also utilize the destructivity of the sea to devastate the enemy. For a militaristic mermaid like Admiral Tallulah, an Orkan is a dream come true.

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Unlike the excited state of the Belkan sailors that witnessed such destructiveness firsthand, Admiral Tovey and what's left of the Home Fleet barely got a glimpse of what happened when they made it past the thick mist of the Atlantic. For a moment, the heavy cruiser London was still there, the next, she just... disappeared. When the base surges subsided, the part of the sea where the cruisers and destroyers are is now completely empty. The explosions that seem to touch Heaven have also changed the weather almost immediately. Now, an onset of heavy rain has befallen the battle zone as if lamenting for the lives lost in this Atlantic conflict.

It takes Tovey every single fiber of his being not to scream out his bottled-up emotions, and it takes every ounce of his spirit to say these breathless words. "Prepare for a close-quarter gunfight. This is not over yet."

With muted silence, the crew of King George V takes a full five seconds to get themselves back into working order, barely. The day is only over when one side is completely sunk.

And Tovey doesn't like his odds.