Chapter 38: Tit for Tat

For Logan and his subordinates, the world woke up to the sound of the British fleet's bombardment.

Heading towards Wootton, the losses overnight amounted to nearly an entire infantry regiment. The British, infuriated, disregarded entirely whether there were civilians still in the harbor or whether the Wehrmacht had prisoners of war, and unleashed a fierce bombardment with an abundance of high-explosive shells, pouring over a thousand tons of explosives within just an hour! Meanwhile, concealed German observation posts along the coast spotted a large number of non-combat ships sailing from Portsmouth Harbor towards Wootton. Based on previous experience, the size of this landing force seemed even larger than yesterday!

The intense shelling of Cowes and East Cowes harbors was not unexpected, but the observation posts judged the source of the firepower to be across the Solent Strait—meaning, if it wasn't British warships anchored in Portsmouth Harbor conducting over-the-horizon bombardment, it was highly likely to be newly deployed British howitzers or even mobile fortress guns (to resist German invasion, the British had removed functional but outdated cannons from retired warships, though scarce, they could be installed on trains for mobile defense). However, the German observation posts did not spot a sizable fleet on this side of the sea, only a few isolated gunboats occasionally joining the bombardment!

Yarmouth Harbor also came under bombardment. Despite small British forces continuously harassing with infiltration tactics, the main stronghold there remained firmly in the hands of German paratroopers at daybreak. In terms of terrain and geological conditions, Yarmouth's narrow and shallow outer harbor and its sediment-laden coast were not conducive to large-scale amphibious operations, especially for the landing of tanks and armored vehicles. However, the arrival of a large number of ships from Southampton Harbor seemed to indicate the opening of a new landing site, although it could also be a ruse by the British to divert attention!

Finally, even the heavily guarded harbor of Portsmouth fell victim to the onslaught of the superior British naval forces. Eleven old and new destroyers formed a spectacular naval fleet. While their naval guns were small, their quantity was overwhelming, and their range far exceeded that of ordinary German howitzers. What was more deadly, they were the nemesis of German submarines. During the shelling, several German submarines bravely launched torpedo attacks, sinking one British destroyer, but were themselves hunted down by other British destroyers equipped with sonar and depth charges, with the Type IIB submarine U-13 becoming the first German submarine to be sunk in this battle, with all 25 crew members lost!

Analyzing this intelligence, Logan deduced in sync with his adversaries' movements: a larger-scale British offensive was imminent. In this situation, allowing German troops to continue holding the beachheads would only increase casualties. After discussing with Stauffenberg, he issued tactical orders to the German troops stationed at the ports of Wootton, East Cowes, Cowes, and Yarmouth: abandon the frontline harbors and retreat in an orderly manner to established positions in the rear.

There was a simple and practical tactic called drawing the enemy in.

The British forces landing at Fishbourne and Woodside soon assembled a force of over 2,000 troops. Under the cover of naval artillery, they launched another attack along the narrow bay towards Wootton Harbor. Eventually, they took down the port, which just a day ago had seen over a thousand British infantrymen tragically encircled—if German forces had still been there, their casualties might have been even greater!

At Yarmouth's outer harbor, small British forces received reinforcements landing at night, quickly swelling the landing force to the size of four infantry companies. They cautiously advanced along the road until 9 a.m. when they entered the Yarmouth harbor area. Instead of encountering dense German machine-gun fire, they were greeted by the smiling faces, applause, flowers, and even kisses from local British residents. For these British soldiers, the biggest regret should have been their failure to prevent the Germans from destroying the port facilities in Yarmouth before their withdrawal. Before the dock was rebuilt, they could only use small and medium-sized boats to transport equipment that did not require heavy lifting.

In Portsmouth, due to the fierce bombing by the German Air Force, the destroyer fleet sent to shell quickly returned to Portsmouth Harbor, which was heavily defended with numerous anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons. Instead of chasing the fleeing enemy, the German Stuka squadrons dropped their excess bombs onto the British ships ferrying towards Wootton Harbor, sinking four transport ships carrying British troops, damaging three others, resulting in over a hundred deaths from direct combat and drowning, far exceeding the losses incurred from their capture of Wootton Harbor this time!

The real intense battle took place in the strait off the northwest corner of the Isle of Wight. A detachment fleet consisting of two British heavy cruisers and four destroyers was hastily retreating from the scene of the incident towards Southampton, but they were a moment too late. Four squadrons of Stukas, fueled by vengeance, came. These black, screeching harbingers of death were undeterred by the dense anti-aircraft firepower on the ships and the thickening smoke. They swooped down one after another, with bombs raining down from their wings and bellies like hailstones, causing water columns on the sea to rise at astonishing speeds like mushrooms after a spring rain!

For sailors exposed on deck, the 50-kilogram high-explosive bombs dropped by the German bombers were simply nightmare-inducing. Even if they fell just tens of meters away, their sensitive fuses would cause them to explode upon contact with the water, releasing an intense chemical reaction that propelled countless shrapnels at high speed. Even metal fragments the size of fingernails, propelled at bullet-like speeds, posed an extremely deadly threat to human bodies!

If high-explosive bombs could only threaten small warships like destroyers, then the 250-kilogram armor-piercing bombs mounted under these Stukas were something that any British surface ship, including battleships, would avoid intimate contact with. In traditional naval battles, shells mostly came in at shallow angles, so the armor on the sides and turrets of warships was thick, while the horizontal armor was relatively weak. Even the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, after modernization, had armor thicknesses ranging from 63 to 102 millimeters, and bombs equipped with delayed fuses could penetrate through a certain thickness of deck using gravitational potential energy. If they exploded near or even inside the ammunition magazines or the bottom of the ship, the inexpensive aerial bombs would deal a deadly blow to the costly behemoths, making such drastically different "transactions" the most maddening factor in warfare...

"Oh my God, hard right, full speed right!"

On board the British destroyer with the pennant number D.56, a naval lieutenant commander, tall and exuding an air of gentility from head to toe, commanded the seasoned helmsman to turn sharply, drenched in sweat. To become a commanding officer of a destroyer with a displacement of less than 1,200 tons and a crew of over 130 at less than 33 years of age, he was also considered outstanding among his peers. Unfortunately, this was a V-class destroyer with a service life of 22 years, and the glory of its service years had been worn away by the long passage of time, leaving behind only an aging and

 fragile hull and weak anti-aircraft firepower—had it not been for the replacement of twin-mounted 102-millimeter anti-aircraft guns and quadruple-mounted 12.7-millimeter anti-aircraft machine guns before the surrender of France, the original two single-mounted 2-pound guns would have been no threat to the formidable Stuka dive-bombers.

During the Norwegian campaign, German dive-bomber pilots had already found such old British warships to be delicious meals!

The dagger-like bow was not particularly sharp, but it could still effortlessly carve a large white gash on the sea surface, and the destroyer, maneuvering swiftly, managed to dodge almost vertically dropping aerial bombs. Huge explosions sent up towering columns of water on the sea, engulfing the exposed sailors on the right side gun positions. The gunners on the other side desperately fired at the rapidly rising Stukas, seeing the dark red dots almost hitting their targets. But at this critical moment, another Stuka swooped down from the front and side, and the warship turned full throttle again, causing the unbalanced hull to make the gunners lose their aim. Moreover, bombs followed in quick succession, falling near the ship's side, once again causing a bloodbath on the deck!

The phone in the command tower rang, and the deputy, already looking grim, picked up the receiver, his face turning even paler: "Sir, the engine room is flooding. We might lose most of our propulsion!"

"Oh my God, quickly plug the leaks... If we can't maintain power, we're done for!"

The captain, who had just entered his thirties, didn't even have time to rate his own adaptability. He looked at the German bombers circling and seeking opportunities, infinitely despondent.

However, with a large number of crew members reassigned to operate guns on the deck, coupled with the near misses causing numerous leaks in the weak hull, this destroyer built by Fairfield Shipyard, the "Wolfhound," ultimately slowed down. The officers and men could only watch as their companions who were still desperately dodging the German air raids drifted further and further away.

Although the smokestacks were continuously emitting protective smoke, the relentless sea wind mercilessly dispersed it, leaving the destroyer to drift on the sea surface without cover.

The seasoned German pilots naturally wouldn't miss such an opportunity. A destroyer without speed, like panicked Polish infantry on the battlefield, slow-moving French tanks on the French battlefield, or ship-shaped targets on training grounds, had no essential difference—adjusting their entry points, two Stukas eagerly descended from a height of nearly 4,000 meters, amid the screeching sound known as the death's wail. Two ugly birds plummeted faster and faster until they abruptly pulled up at 600 meters altitude. At this moment, the bombs dropped from the belly and wings seemed to fall in a straight line. Such bombing accuracy far exceeded that of contemporary torpedo bombers and level bombers!

One armor-piercing bomb pierced through the foredeck and lower deck, almost penetrating the bottom of the ship, falling into the water; another fell in front of the funnel, piercing through two decks and entering the boiler room—due to the unsuitability of the 102-millimeter naval gun for long-range bombardment, the ship's fore and aft ammunition depots were filled with shells and propellant charges.

Although German-made bombs could also misfire, the chances of two bombs misfiring simultaneously were minuscule. For the remaining 89 British sailors on board, time froze at this moment.

The two heavy cruisers, equipped with numerous anti-aircraft weapons, fared slightly better. The lead ship was assaulted by over thirty aerial bombs, three of which hit the hull directly. By the time it entered Southampton Harbor, it was already a knight shrouded in black smoke and flames, but ultimately, it did not suffer critical damage. The following ship managed to avoid all bombs, but the thin side armor was pierced by near misses, and after entering the harbor, emergency repairs should be able to preserve most of its combat effectiveness.

The exhausted British fighter group arrived late, only to be entangled by German fighters escorting them. Seeing that the British fleet had retreated into the harbor's airspace, over a dozen Stukas could only vent their remaining bombs onto the British troops landing near Yarmouth, sinking four British landing ships, killing or injuring nearly a hundred British soldiers, and plunging the British landing operation on this side into prolonged chaos!