Chapter 224 Naval Battle (End)

Back to the fleet, the Stuka that Yannick was riding was the first to land. As soon as he climbed off the plane, he was put on the long-prepared stretcher without any explanation and rushed to the medical room.

The doctor on board carefully examined the wound and showed a panic expression. "It was a close call. If the shrapnel had been a little more off, it would have injured your carotid artery, and the consequences would have been disastrous. Although it doesn't look serious now, you still have to return to Berlin for a more detailed examination. I will help you clean the wound first."

Lütjens on the side had a face full of guilt, and he wanted to commit suicide on the spot to apologize. "Your Highness, it's my incompetence, I deserve to die!"

Yannick smiled disapprovingly. "General Lütjens, I'll spare your life. You should know the British Navy now..." The pain of cleaning the wound with disinfectant made him grin. "The British Navy is not invincible."

Lütjens had a face full of admiration and respect. "Yes, Your Highness is really far-sighted."

The doctor was bandaging Yannick's wound when a senior staff officer rushed in. "Your Highness, His Majesty sent a telegram asking you to return to Berlin immediately."

Yannick was stunned. "Huh? Has His Majesty returned home?"

The staff officer shook his head. "No, His Majesty is still in Daming. This is a telegram sent from Daming."

"Oh." Yannick nodded. It seems that someone reported his whereabouts to William II? Otherwise, how could William II, who was thousands of miles away, know.

However, this telegram came in time, because he was really a little scared now.

When adrenaline returned to normal levels and recovered from the "chicken blood" state, the only thing left was fear. He now felt incredible about his crazy behavior just now. He didn't want to stay here any longer, he just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

At this time, the doctor had bandaged the wound, and Yannick couldn't wait to get up. "Then I'll go back first."

Lütjens was also eager for Yannick to leave quickly, otherwise he would have a heart attack if he came a few more times.

When they arrived on the deck, they saw thousands of officers and soldiers of the aircraft carrier neatly on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier. When they saw Yannick coming out, they burst into thunderous cheers.

"General Lütjens, do you think their eyes look a little different?"

Lütjens said with deep emotion. "Yes, Your Highness. I haven't seen such eyes in the navy for a long time."

"Yes." Yannick walked to the front of the team and raised his hand, and the cheering crowd instantly quieted down. He clenched his right fist and raised it above his head, shouting loudly. "German Navy, fight the enemy when you see it!!"

Everyone shouted in unison.

"Fight the enemy when you see it!!"

"Fight the enemy when you see it!!"

The deafening shouts resounded through the sky.

"Fight the enemy when you see it" is actually the traditional spirit of the British Navy.

In 1797, Nelson acted decisively in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, led the "Captain" and "Excellent" to break out of the battle line, engaged in close combat with the Spanish Navy's "San Nicolas" and "San Joseph", and boarded the ships for hand-to-hand combat, forcing the Spanish warships to lower their flags and surrender. After the war, Nelson was promoted to Rear Admiral for his merits. In a series of legendary naval battles such as Aboukir, Cadiz, and Trafalgar, Nelson still adhered to this combat style.

This spirit of taking the initiative to attack regardless of the comparison of enemy and our forces was later called the Nelson spirit of "fighting when seeing the enemy".

The navy is different from the army. The army has many battles and events in which the few win the many. Although it is very difficult and risky, there are still some. The navy is different. Facing an enemy with superiority, if the tonnage and generation gap are large, there is basically no possibility of winning. And once it is sunk, the entire (ship) army is often annihilated. Therefore, in the navy, being able to defeat the big with the small, the strong with the weak, and forging ahead against the enemy are all valuable courage.

The story of the British Navy's Firefly is about using the small to fight the big in the sea. It is such a story of courage and faith, and it also inherits the British Royal Navy's tradition of fighting when seeing the enemy.

HMS Glowworm (English: HMS Glowworm, H92) is a G-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. It was built in the mid-1930s. In 1936 and 1937 during the Spanish Civil War, the battleship enforced the arms embargo imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the civil war in Spanish waters. Shortly after the start of World War II, the Firefly was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet to the British Isles to escort shipping. In March 1940, the Firefly was transferred to the Home Fleet and caught up with the Norwegian Campaign. On April 8, the Firefly encountered a German destroyer that was transporting a landing force during the Weser River exercise to invade Norway. The German destroyer tried to disengage and asked for help from the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. In the naval battle, the Firefly was severely damaged, but it still tried to launch torpedoes at the German ship. In the end, the two ships (the destroyer Firefly and the German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper) collided, the bow of the Firefly was broken, and it exploded and sank soon after.

This battle directly caused the "Hipper" to lie in the port until June of that year before it could go to sea, effectively paralyzing the operations of the German Navy's main battleships.

So Yannick hoped that the German Navy could also have such courage and faith.

Now it seems to be somewhat effective. He turned his head and whispered to Lütjens. "General Lütjens, that's true, but you must also do what you can and never act rashly. After all, the British Empire has several centuries of foundation, and our navy cannot afford any heavy blows."

When World War II broke out, the British Navy had 6 aircraft carriers, 12 battleships, 3 battlecruisers, 56 cruisers, 183 destroyers, and a large number of frigates, submarines, minesweepers and other auxiliary ships. In addition, Britain also had merchant ships of up to 20 million tons, accounting for one-third of the world's total merchant ship tonnage.

The strength of the British Navy is not limited to these superficial strengths. At this time, there are still a large number of warships under construction in British shipyards. There are dozens of warships under construction, including 6 large aircraft carriers and a light aircraft carrier for auxiliary. There are also 5 King George V-class battleships, 23 cruisers, 52 destroyers, and a large number of submarines, frigates and other ships.

Even though they severely damaged the British Navy and sank several large warships; but now the tonnage and number of German warships are still far inferior to the British Navy. Yannick couldn't even imagine whether the German Navy could recover if it was hit hard and several large warships were sunk.

Lütjens said respectfully. "Understood, Your Highness."

Yannick nodded, waved goodbye to everyone, boarded the Mosquito reconnaissance plane he had taken when he came here, and returned to Berlin.