Judging from the Admiral Böhm's behaviour, he was as surprised with the Soviet fleet as Admiral Smirnov was with the German one. That was the only way the Red Admiral could explain why one of the Kriegsmarine's top men, having managed to navigate to almost point-blank range, suddenly stopped and allowed the 17th to gain distance.
In one of those quirks of History, it seemed two enemy navies had prepared surprises for each other, and very similar ones at that, so that both took awhile to grasp the situation.
The
Marx, whose presence might have initially fooled Böhm into thinking he was facing the Main Fleet, also made very clear the dangers of having an inexperienced crew and captain in any fleet's main ship. She failed to shot even once.
Perhaps that shock is also why the German's new Battleship didn't fire at all during the short exchange, in which a easily identified
Tirpitz attempted to avenge the transports lost in July, before breaking away firing at the
Oktyabrskaya Revoluciya, and being fired at by the
Marat.
In the following morning, the early damage estimates confirmed nothing critical had been hit, and so the Admiral decided to maintain the Konigsberg blockade while the crew members who needed it were assisted in the infirmary.
In the meantime, the Main Fleet sailed back to meet the 17th.
Only the Kriegsmarine was faster. If he understood the
Marx was a new ship or not, made little difference by now. Böhm had realised he was stronger either way, and came to get his revenge.
This time both surprises were ready, and a tri-battleship (gun-wise) battle followed. In the light caused by it's own cannons, the new Battleship's name could be seen - the
Friedrich der Große engaged the
Marx in a direct confrontation, while the
Marat pounded an apparently troubled
Tirpitz, and the
Oktyabrskaya Revoluciya aimed at destroyers.
Probably aware of the Main Fleet's approach, the Germans wouldn't dare prolong the fight much more, and after the 4 hours it took the
Schleswig-Holstein to sink another division of transport ships, they retreated once more.
This time Admiral Smirnov wouldn't stay behind and wait for another change of mind, and swiftly sailed back to Leningrad.
Back in the city, the Offices of the Commissariat witnessed how a problem never comes alone. It was not only another Bismarck-class that worried them. Curiously, it was a land offensive, far away from any Sea, and without even Naval Infantry participation.
A 3-way attack on Beltsy failed. The confirmation came just 10 hours after the technical "victory" in the Baltic, and it spelled major trouble.
With Commissar Kuznetsov absent, it fell on his Secretary Andreev to attend the Emergency Meeting in Moscow the next day, as the consequences of the failed offensive were becoming all too obvious even to the least strategic-minded of all.
His news weren't the best either. The Navy never had thought it would ever need to sustain independent pockets for more than a few days (Naval Infantry disembarks) and much less pockets of 17 divisions. Every available ship in the Black Sea, military or otherwise, was put to work supplying the area, but the Fleet could not guarantee operational capacity for the trapped forces.
The only other option... a retreat by sea, using the Naval Infantry's transport ships. The order was given.
A quick retreat also forced the Soviet Forces to hasten certain political actions...