"Man overboard!"
"Ahhh!"
"Watch o-"
Chaos unfurled across the two fleets as air and sea battles raged with an intensity unseen before. Several German ships had been hit by British shells, two completely destroyed and slowly sinking, their fires continuing to crackle until even the last flame was extinguished by the raging waves.
Their names were the Blücher and a newly completed destroyer of the Wolfsburg class, the Greif. Hundreds of sailors were now trapped in or beneath the violent currents of the sea, helpless and doomed, while their ships slowly sank to the bottom. They watched helplessly as the chaos continued to rage, while holding onto metal pieces. Fires crackled around various German ships, turrets kept firing, and the fleet pressed on.
The fate of a single soldier meant little on this kind of scale. Something that became utterly clear to Erich as he watched another bomb being dropped by the deadly naval bomber of the German Luftwaffe, the Ju 189N, nicknamed Jaeger after the Führer himself. Since the surname meant hunter, the name was quite fitting for the astonishing aircraft.
More and more bombs littered the decks of the Royal Navy ships, inflicting massive damage. The British navy too had already lost two destroyers, with another heavy cruiser becoming inoperable after a perfectly placed barrage from the Tirpitz. Additionally, the flagship Nelson had taken a bomb directly on the bridge. The status of Admiral Tovey remained unclear, leaving the crew in tense uncertainty as smoke and debris filled the command deck.
But the most important targets still remained.
The aircraft carriers.
Bridge of the Ark Royal
Captain Cedric Holland watched as swarms of planes closed in on his aircraft carrier, which was already smoking. The smoke did not stem from any explosion or attack. No, it came from the carrier's engine, which was acting up again.
Holland balled his fists until his knuckles turned white.
"They gave me a pile of scraps, and if I lose it they will act as if I lost a proper aircraft carrier."
His words were drowned out by the chaos unfolding on the bridge. Officers ran around shouting orders that no one seemed to listen to.
Holland clenched his jaw, then suddenly stepped forward and smashed his fist onto the table. The loud bang immediately drew everyone's attention.
"You! All of you are proud officers of His Royal Navy. Have some dignity. This battle is not lost. Just look at the German fleet burning in the distance. They have suffered just as we have."
"So, throw everything we still have at them. Every plane, sen dthem with half the fuel, I don't care, but he have to stop them, gentelmen!"Holland shouted, pointing towards the planes in the distance, already in rage of the little flak the british fleet possesed.
Yet they were helpless as they watched the swarm taking out one british ship after another, leaving destruction in their path, still their eyes always remained on the two Aircraft carriers.
Airport of Stavanger
"Shit, that shot disabled some of the controls."
With a hard touchdown, Erich's Bf 109 slammed onto the runway. The aircraft bounced slightly as the wheels struggled to grip the concrete. Smoke poured from the left wing, leaving a long dark trail behind the still moving fighter.
Erich fought the controls, his hands gripping the stick tightly as he tried to keep the damaged plane straight. Every second felt longer than the last while the aircraft rolled across the runway.
Finally, the Bf 109 began to slow. The fighter gradually came to a stop in front of a large hangar, the engine coughing and sputtering.
By the time the plane halted completely, engineers and soldiers were already sprinting toward it. Thick smoke was now seeping into the cockpit, filling the cramped space around Erich as he pushed the canopy open, coughing and trying to catch a breath of fresh air.
While Erich struggled to climb out of the smoke filled cockpit, the battle for Stavanger Airport was still raging across the entire airfield.
British and Norwegian troops had thrown everything they had into the attack. From the nearby hills and tree lines, waves of infantry pushed forward toward the airport perimeter, determined to retake the strategic position at any cost.
Machine guns rattled across the open fields surrounding the runway. German defenders fired from sandbag positions, from behind fuel trucks, and even from the partially damaged hangars. Bullets tore through the cold air as the attackers tried again and again to cross the exposed ground.
A nearby soldiers hurried towards him.
"Hey soldier, are okay?"He asked, but what Erich did next shocked him completely. With a wave of hand he dismmseed the soldiers own, tiltign his head upwards, when his cuaghing finnaly stopped.
A grim smile apperaed on his face.
"Get me a new plane."He murmured, towards the soldier who remaiend in diesbelief.
.....
"Hahaha.Bubi is back, I repeated Bubi is back."Hartmann shouted into the radio of his Jeager naval bomber, the last one still parked in the hanger, which he somewho managed to get into the air.
"What are you on?"Bakhorn asked in diesbelief.
"One of the Ju's."Erich answered, accelerating the airplane to it's maximum pace.
"This guy."Bakhorn muttured, beofre speakign intot he radio again."Make sure you get here fast, we have nearly reached the carrier."
Back on the Ark Royal
Hell erupted around the perimeter of the Ark Royal as every flak gun and air defense battery opened fire into the sky. Even some of the machine gunners had dropped to the deck, desperately trying to hit something above them. Dark clouds of exploding shells burst everywhere across the evening sky.
"SHOOT IT DOWN!" Holland screamed, pointing at the naval bomber flying directly toward the bridge.
As more and more bombers entered firing range, several were shot down, falling from the sky like blazing comets. Yet the meager defenses were not enough. The first bomber managed to release its bomb directly over the main deck of the Ark Royal, which was still filled to the brim with men.
Holland, who had been shouting orders only moments before, saw the scene unfold with painful clarity. For a brief second everything seemed to slow.
He simply sighed and closed his eyes, not wishing to witness the disastrous impact.
The entire colossal structure shook to its core when the massive explosion tore across the deck. A towering cloud of smoke and fire rose from the Ark Royal as metal fragments and shattered pieces of concrete were hurled through the air.
Some of them slammed into the windows of the bridge, shattering them instantly. Others were blown apart by the wave of pressure that followed the explosion. In that moment, no one could tell which had come first.
"They are simply too many!" someone shouted.
The man was cut off mid sentence when a spray of bullets from a diving Messerschmitt fighter ripped across the bridge. His body was thrown over the railing and vanished into the open sea below.
Above the chaos, Gerhard Barkhorn pulled his fighter into a sharp turn. His ammunition was running low, and he decided to conserve what little he had left. A decision that fate would soon prove wise.
From between the distant clouds, a single naval bomber suddenly emerged, racing toward the Ark Royal at tremendous speed. Most of the remaining British fighters were still entangled with the German Messerschmitts, locked in chaotic dogfights across the sky.
Only one British fighter broke away, judging the lone bomber to be an easy target.
Barkhorn immediately recognized the situation.
He knew exactly what kind of madman was flying that plane.
Without hesitation, he rolled his fighter and turned to follow the British one.
With a beautiful roll he pressed the firing button just before the British pilot could do the same. His cannons roared, and the stream of bullets tore into the enemy fighter. The aircraft burst apart in midair, spiraling down toward the sea in flames, clearing the way for Erich.
For a brief moment, Erich allowed himself a small grin.
Then the final act of the attack began.
After the German bombers had already dropped the third bomb, one last bomber entered the engagement zone. It was the final aircraft still carrying a bomb. All the others had already released theirs during the earlier passes.
Erich sighed, smiling lightly.
He pressed the release button, he was only shown moments before.
The heavy metal bomb detached from the aircraft and began its fall, tumbling through the air with terrifying speed. Wind screamed around it as it plunged downward toward the massive carrier below.
Seconds later, it struck.
The entire remaining fuselage of the Ark Royal was hit.
Holland watched through the window as another wave crashed against the ship. He had already left the bridge and stepped outside. The cold sea breeze hit him hard.
In the next moment, everything went dark...
Nelson command bridge
Tovey observed in absolute shock as his main aircraft carrier exploded into pieces, leaving behind only a massive burning wreck. His other carrier had been damaged and most of his planes had been shot down.
Slowly he turned to his left, looking toward the still sinking Warspite and several other damaged ships scattered across the battlefield.
"Th..."
Before he could finish the word, the ship to his left, a light cruiser, suddenly erupted. The vessel seemed to implode as a violent explosion tore through it from below the waterline.
Although Tovey wanted to wait for the report, he already knew what had caused it.
"Shit!" he roared, finally realizing the grave mistake he had made. He had sent the small group of U-boats he had to attack the German fleet, while the rest had been tasked with protecting his aircraft carriers. The ones attacking the German fleet had been almost completely destroyed, leaving only two remaining. Now an unknown number of enemy U-boats had suddenly appeared, threatening to tear apart his entire fleet.
"Re..." he began, the word seemingly stuck in his throat.
A second officer recognized the command and shouted it instead.
"RETREAT!"
With that, the German trap had fully closed. Captain Prien laughed as another batch of torpedoes was released, racing through the dark waters toward the flagship Nelson.
Although no one openly spoke about it, they all understood what had just happened.
They had changed history completely.
Tovey knew it as he stood panting on his command bridge, watching a torpedo pass his flagship by only a few meters. Prien knew it as he observed the chaos through his periscope. Raeder knew it as he followed the battle reports arriving one after another.
Today Germany had defeated Britain in a naval battle.
The proud hegemon of the seas, the sovereign of the waves, had been beaten by a navy that was still green behind the ears. They had been defeated because of their arrogant attitude toward naval bombers and their carelessness regarding U boat warfare.
What had been meant as a surprise attack by the British had turned into their greatest disaster yet.
Charlottenburg Palace, at the same time
"Check, my Kaiser," Paul said after moving his queen.
"Mhm." Wilhelm thought for a moment, slowly stroking his beard.
"You have been careless, Heinrich," he suddenly exclaimed, moving his bishop to the square where Paul's queen had stood.
Paul smiled faintly.
"Have I?" he asked, looking Wilhelm straight in the eyes.
"My Kaiser, this sacrifice..." Paul said, pointing at the queen now resting beside the board. "It has made you prideful, and we both know what follows pride."
Paul's voice grew deeper, darker.
"The fall."
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