Legends Don't Die, They are Reborn

Chapter 4: A battle fought with blood and iron

Lindemann smiled in satisfaction as the rounds struck the kitsune. "Commend the Gunnery Director," noted Lindemann, "Excellent solution, get a new solution for the black ships. That kitsune won't be able to use it's flight deck again for a while."

"Jawohl!"

"Signals! Send a message to the Hood with the following" yelled Lindemann, " We'll target the escorting warships. Judging from your accuracy, I would advise you to continue to attack the Kitsune."

Kerr grimaced at the German's mocking however it was true. The Hood had WW1 era fire control compare to the Bismarck's state of the art systems. They were due a refit but the Bismarck's sortie had soon ended their plans. Now they were paying for it as they fought with the Bismarck. The Irony. "Well Jerry, we'll annihilate that Kitsune. Just you see."

Kerr turned to his gunnery officer a gave him a stern glance to cross over the message to him. The officer saluted and ran out of the bridge to what Kerr hoped was the Gunnery director. Soon, the guns of the Hood fired again. A slight tremble was felt across the entire ship from the engine room to bridge. Kerr raised his binoculars to see the shells land. As he raised them, he noticed some dark, airborne shapes coming closer to the Mighty Hood. "Wha-"

"Aircraft! Incoming!" yelled the radar operator.

"Finally, time to use the UP system!" noted a junior officer, excited by the action and clearly had nerves of Krupp cemented steel or was too dumb realise he was in danger even though he had died once already. None of the less, he was right. This was the first time that the Hood used it's UP rockets in active combat. Both launchers were elevated at the skies and missiles burst out of their tubes.

Lindemann growled as he heard the report. They couldn't have men on their AA guns if they fired the 380cm cannons because of the shockwaves. "Counter order! Halt main battery fire and get the AA crews ready! No excuses, I want to see those planes knocked out of the sky!"

Alarm bell shrieked, urging the men onto the decks.

The octuple 2 pounders turned to the approaching bomber with the gun crews of varying moods from fear to eagerness. The purpose of the "pom-poms" were not just to shoot down aircraft, a role that the Bismarck's AA was more suited for, but to deter pilots from flying into a wall of shrapnel and explosions that it could produce. However, the bombers were mindless drones, directed by Kaga's will. The mental damage that was supposed to occur would never happen to the kitsune.

"Rockets away!" reported the AA director. The rockets flew to their designed height and stopped. For a few seconds, their momentum held them in place until gravity took over and they plummeted. A parachute opened behind each rocket and slowed the descent into a floating mine. A German ensign smiled at the display as he personally directed his 10.5cm battery to the incoming aircraft, doubting the effectiveness of an aerial minefield.

But the test soon came, as a furious swarm of D3As and A6Ms approached the two capital ships. The 10.5cm Flak pounded the Sakuran Planes with some effect with a few turning into smoking fireballs but the majority were unharmed and continued their relentless attack. Next up were the 4 inch guns of the Mighty Hood. They too were raised and after a signal from the Director, opened fire at the horde. But their effectiveness was slightly less than the German 10.5cm as their optics were widely regarded as the best and could see 50x. Still, they did their job and the Hood was not as well armed as the Bismarck in terms of AA. The octuple 2 pounder "Chicago Pianos" also joined the fight.

But how do you deter drones without feeling? As much noise and explosions the Pianos made, they weren't made to directly shoot down aircraft. German 3.7cms fused shells detonated amongst the squadrons. Forcing them to take evasive manoeuvres but flew straight into the aerial minefield of the Hood. As wings caught onto parachord, causing the explosives to detonate in sympathetic explosions. The skies were filled with black clouds and the occasional burning wreckage that crashed into the sea.