The Shenmi ran away, but this did not mean that the battle was over, because there were far more than the Shenmi who encountered enemy ships at sea. On the other side, the Shenmi's sister ship Jianxing also collided with two German destroyers z7 and z14.

Both z7 and z14 belong to the 1934 destroyer, with good firepower and speed, but the center of gravity is too high due to the stacking of weapons, and the power system is too precise, resulting in a problem of reliability. The most troublesome thing is that the hull structure is seriously insufficient. Let's put it this way, the German 1934 destroyer is a ship that is very powerful on paper but is not so perfect in actual use.

Of course, the Soviet Type 33 destroyer also had similar problems, but the Type 33 destroyer had a larger displacement, so the problem seemed less prominent. The German Type 1934 destroyer's displacement was too small, which made the problem particularly serious.

Let's put it this way, the former could not take advantage of the firefighting between the two 1934 ships. Under the command of the gun aiming radar, the Firm aimed at Z7 and sprayed wildly. The fierce firepower directly interrupted the main mast of the z7, forcing the z7 to quickly turn the rudder to avoid it, but this was useless. Firm locked the z7 tightly, and the eight main guns carried out 16 consecutive rounds of volleys until the tail turret was restricted by the firing boundary and could not continue shooting, even the AK630 on both sides also joined the shooting.

Under the violent rain of bullets from the Firm, Z7 quickly turned into a large torch. From a distance, it looked like fireworks were lingering, and the entire deck was burning.

Seeing that Z7 was about to be blown up, Z14 rushed forward to rescue. One of them fired at the Firm and fired eight torpedoes in one breath, and then immediately released smoke to cover Z7's retreat.

The Firmish was determined to step forward and beat the dog down, but the captain of the ship, Major Chernenko, chose a more cautious approach. He did not pursue too much. After repelling z7 and z14, he immediately stopped and retreated when he saw the situation.

It should be said that Chirnenko's choice was correct. After receiving the information that Z7 was severely damaged, Prince Eugen's heavy cruiser immediately accelerated to rescue. Once Chirnenko recklessly chased after her, she was likely to be blown up by the German heavy cruiser.

Of course, this clearly reflects the unreasonable layout of Grechko's platoon. If he did not completely disperse his fleet, but gathered it closer, then when the Shenmi encountered z25 and z28, he would not have to fight alone, and would not be outnumbered and injured. If the Jianjian had cooperated with a friendly ship, he might be able to sink z7. Even if there were cruisers to suppress the formation, he would not have the power to fight when encountering Prince Eugen.

In short, Grechko was responsible for his disadvantages at the beginning of this naval battle. If he could sink one or two ships while he was lined up in the German destroyers, he would not be so passive behind him.

After receiving the report from the destroyer, Siriacos judged that he had encountered Gorshkov's formation, so he made a quick decision to order the entire army to attack. The Schánhorst-class battle patrol and Admiral Hippel immediately accelerated to the 30th knot in the middle of the year and began to catch up with the imagined Red Navy 36 frigate group. As for the Tirpitz, he also tried his best to accelerate, but its speed was slower, so it gradually fell behind.

In the view of Ciliacos, he had to hunt as many targets as possible before fleeing with the Red Navy destroyers and frigates, so he had a bit of ambition to shoot birds. Of course, he did not forget to remind himself of the battle patrol and heavy patrol: "Once the traces of the enemy battleship are found, please notify the ship immediately. Do not start a war on your own!"

It can be seen that Ciriacos was not completely lost his mind. He knew very well that the two Bayern-class battleships of the Red Navy that had been stolen from the High Seas Fleet and had been fully transformed were still quite lethal, at least that was not something that the Schánhorst-class battle patrol could face alone.

Of course, Ciriacos also hopes to find these two battleships as soon as possible. In his opinion, as long as these two battleships are destroyed, the German Navy will be able to rampant in the Barents Sea in the future.

When the Red Navy and the German Navy exchanged fire, the Royal Navy finally responded. After a series of reasoning and calculations, they "suddenly" discovered that the target of the German Navy was likely to be the Type 36 frigate they ordered. This discovery made the London Navy cry out in a cold sweat. Soon the British warned the Soviet Union through diplomatic channels.

Seeing this, some comrades may have questions. Did a certain immortal notify the British when he was conducting a fishing operation? Yes, a certain immortal did not inform the British. Even if the Red Navy and the Royal Navy work together to annihilate the Tirpitz, he still chose to do it alone.

The reason is very simple. First, the key to the success of the fishing operation is to lure the Tirpitz out. This involves intelligence deception. If you want to hide it from the Germans, it is better to hide it from the British, so that it will appear to be true enough.

Secondly, the more important the action is, the higher the requirements for confidentiality. Li Xiaofeng can guarantee that he will not disclose information, but he doubts whether the British can do this.

Finally, annihilation of the Tirpitz is a major honor. Li Xiaofeng did not think about sharing it with the British. He also needed this honor to support the naval development plan he formulated. How could the British get a share of the pie?

Therefore, the fishing operation was destined to be undertaken by the Red Navy alone, and Li Xiaofeng also believed that the Red Navy could complete this task.

Of course, there is a little trouble now. After learning the real-time battle report, Li Xiaofeng immediately added a note to his memorandum: The carrier-based reconnaissance/early early warning aircraft equipped with sea search radar is imminent, so it is best to get on the horse immediately!

Indeed, if there are early warning aircraft, the German fleet is unlikely to slip through the cracks. At this time, the naval battle may be over. Of course, it is not so easy to get this early warning aircraft. First, there must be a suitable carrier platform, and secondly, a suitable radar. The former, the Red Navy has it, while the latter really does not.

"Pre-research first!" Li Xiaofeng sighed and then ordered: "Tell the British, we thank them for their kindness and will take measures to deal with this 'emergency' immediately."

The British were a little proud. They felt that they had helped the backward Red Navy and showed the strong strength of the Royal Navy, which would make the backward Soviet Union face the "gap". In addition to being self-proclaimed, the Royal Navy also took certain measures, such as immediately ordering two heavy cruisers and several light cruisers patrolling at sea to rush to the waters where the incident occurred, and also ordering two Nelson-class battleships and two George V-class battleships to leave the port urgently and head straight to Trondheim. Perhaps the British wanted to take the Tirpitz back to the fjord, intercept and sink it.

However, the British's idea was destined to be impossible. Because the battle was over before they arrived at the battlefield. When they returned to the naval battlefield, Grechko was hesitant, he received two telegrams, one of which was inquiring about the battle situation, and the other of which was Gorshkov informed him that he would meet with him in two hours.

Grechko didn't feel anything about the first telegram, so he was naturally telling the truth. However, he specifically mentioned the discovery of the Firm and believed that what he encountered was the main fleet of the German Navy. In fact, Grechko's implication was very obvious. He hoped that the Navy General Command understood the huge difference in the power of the enemy and us there and could agree to his retreat.

However, Grechko would be disappointed. Although Orlov had problems judging the future development direction of the navy, he knew how to win a naval battle. Orlov knew very well that at this moment, Grechko's fleet must not retreat. Once Grechko retreated, it is very likely that the main force of the German navy would be lost, which is extremely unfavorable for the subsequent battle.

Orlov knew very well that Grechko not only could not retreat, but should also take the initiative to maintain contact with the German fleet, and make as clear as possible about the movements of the German fleet to facilitate the subsequent battle decisions. So Orlov quickly called back Grechko and ordered Grechko to gather the fleet in a simple and clear manner and maintain contact with the German fleet.

Grechko was naturally disappointed with this order. The naval colonel, who lacked courage, believed that this task was completely beyond the strength of his fleet. This was the Navy Command taking risks with their lives and safety. If there was a mistake and the two precious heavy cruisers and light cruisers were lost, who would bear the responsibility?

It can only be said that Grechko's pattern is too small. For Orlov or Li Xiaofeng, compared with the main force of sinking the German Navy, what is the loss of four cruisers? Even if Grechko's fleet is wiped out, it is not a big deal. Eliminating the main force of the German Navy's surface ships. This means that the safety of the entire Arctic route is the only thing to do to deal with German submarines.

Unfortunately, Grechko could not understand this, and Orlov also made a small mistake. He forgot to inform Grechko of the most important intelligence that he forgot to inform Grechko Sukhoi's aircraft carrier formation that had launched an attack, and more than 200 fighter jets were rushing towards the German naval fleet.

Why is this information so important? Because as mentioned earlier, Grechko lacks courage, and he always believes that the strength of our enemies and us is too great to persist. Especially when Gorshkov told him in the second telegram that it would take him two or three hours to meet with him, Grechkov felt that his life was dark and he didn't believe that he could last for three hours. He also thought that even if he persisted for three hours, it would be meaningless, because how could Gorshkov's two old battleships be the opponent of the new German battleship?

So these two telegrams directly determined Grechko's next response. Although he had to implement Orlov's order to continue on the battlefield, he was a bit of a sense of not being able to do anything.

On the one hand, Grechko ordered the injured Shenmi to return to Tromso, and on the other hand, he also began to gather his fleet. He arranged two heavy patrols and light patrols in a direction away from the main force of the German army, and only sent three destroyers to maintain contact with the German army.

To put it bluntly, Grechko is posing as if he is ready to escape at any time. If the situation is not good, his cruiser formation will run away immediately, without any danger at all. As for the three destroyers, are they very dangerous? He believes that the risk is not high: "The speed of our destroyers is enough to get rid of enemy heavy cruisers or battlecruisers and battleships, and the firepower of our destroyers far exceeds that of enemy destroyers and has an advantage in the confrontation of equal strength!"

In fact, this is still the idea of ​​running away if you can't beat it. Greciko's approach does ensure the safety of his fleet, but the overall combat plan is not a good thing?

Why? Because Ciliacos is a very cunning naval general, he is very clear-headed and has a very keen attention and grasp of the battlefield. After more than an hour of searching and chasing, the lieutenant general also had doubts. Why did he never find more enemy ships except those three destroyers? Why did these three destroyers obviously unable to win and escape, but they seemed to be fleeing but not fleeing?

The alert Siriacos began to realize whether these destroyers were bait? Or, is the entire Red Navy transporting the Type 36 anti-submarine frigate a cover? Once this idea emerged, Siriacos could no longer hold it back. He had to be responsible for the main fleet of the German Navy, and he had to figure out the truth!

Ciriacos immediately took action: first, he ordered several water reconnaissance planes to be ejected immediately to search the surrounding waters. To determine whether there were indeed traces of the enemy fleet. Secondly, he immediately called Dreer and asked the Navy to confirm whether there were abnormal movements between the Royal Navy and the Red Navy, and to pay special attention to whether there were signs of large warships leaving the port. Finally, Ciriacos also ordered the formation to re-contract to prevent them from being defeated by the enemy fleet.

Ciriarcos' response measures were still very effective, for example, the water reconnaissance plane quickly found Grechko's cruiser formation. And Drell also quickly discovered the abnormal movements of the Royal Navy.

Let’s talk about the discovery of the seaplane. Admiral Hippel’s seaplane mistakenly identified the Red Navy’s heavy cruiser and light cruiser as a battleship. So when Ciriacos heard that there were four battleships waiting for him in front, his mood was conceivable.

He even had this idea: "Is there really only four battleships ambushing in front? Maybe in other directions, there are more battleships and cruisers waiting for me!"

And soon Drell sent new information: "Two Nelson-class battleships and two George V-class battleships have gone out to sea. It is initially judged that the enemy's target is Trondheim..."

This discovery made Ciriacos sweat in a cold sweat. He felt more and more that there was a trap ahead. The Red Navy had already been waiting for the net, and the Royal Navy hid behind and closed the door and beat the dog. This was too cruel!

Based on this judgment, Siriarkos made a quick decision to order the fleet to turn around and retreat immediately, and even ordered the fleet to accelerate to 29 knots immediately. He wanted to return to Trondheim as fast as possible!

Grecico didn't know that Ciriacos had decided to retreat, and his cruiser formation was still retreating leisurely towards Tromso, which meant to slip back to the port immediately if the situation was not good.

This continued until the Destroyer of the Firm reported to him: "The enemy is redirecting the rudder and retreating at high speed!"

When he received this news, Grechko breathed a sigh of relief. He was really worried that the Germans would force him over unreasonably, so that he would have to escape back to Tromso in a mess. Although he was really timid, he was unwilling to be called a coward by his other colleagues. Now that the Germans have retreated on their own initiative, he can save his face.

Of course, it was impossible to expect Grechko to take the initiative to catch up. He used the excuse of waiting for Gorshkov's fleet and ordered the cruiser formation to stand on site. He only ordered three destroyers to reconnaissance the movements of the German fleet.

Grechko was restless, but the fishing operation was in danger, especially after nine o'clock in the evening, a sudden rain cloud arrived in this area. The strong winds and huge waves and large dark clouds caused great trouble to the three destroyers who "scouted" the German ship movements.

For example, the Firmish has been said before that in order to pursue powerful firepower and high speed, the Type 33 destroyer had to adopt an extremely large aspect ratio. The slender speed is indeed excellent or amazing, but it also paid the root cause of low wave resistance.

Under the storm of strong winds and waves, the bow of the Firm Ship was once submerged in the sea water. Even if the boiler was desperately burning, its speed could not be increased, and even dropped sharply. At the time of the storm, in order to ensure the safety of all the officers and soldiers of the ship, the captain could only order a slowdown and turn around.

Soon the Clever Dead withdrew from the "tracking", leaving only two Type 36 destroyers, the Tenacious and Reckless, who continued to bite the German destroyer tightly.

"These annoying tails!"

When Ciriacos received a report from the destroyer and learned that the Red Navy destroyer was tracking his fleet, he further determined that this was a trap. In order to mislead and get rid of these annoying tails, he decisively ordered: "The destroyer formation remains unchanged. We first turn north and then drive towards Trondheim!"

Siriacos was much more decisive than Grechko. He knew very well that the most precious thing for the German Navy was the main ships. In order to ensure the safety of these precious main ships, destroyers could give up.

The cunning Siriarcos cut off his tail like a four-legged snake to survive. Not to mention that this trick really works. When the destroyer of the Red Navy was misled into the wrong direction by the German destroyer, it will bring a series of chain reactions.

An hour later, more than 200 fighter jets that took off from four aircraft carriers received a wrong piece of information. They adjusted their course and flew in the wrong direction. Of course, Grechko did not know all this because he enjoyed peace leisurely in the waters far away from the front line. Even this lack of courage was still dreaming of promotion. However, in more than an hour, his dreams would soon be shattered, and then after the battle was over, he would soon bid farewell to his naval career... (To be continued)

ps: Bow to thank the Southern Wanderers and Comrade Juventus!
Chapter completed!