After replenishing the base at the port of East Point in the state of Brazil with fuel, ammunition and fresh food, on the evening of 18 February, Major Li Haiming commanded his submarine squadron to set sail from the Bay of Biscay and embark on a new journey.

After the submarine left the port of Dongjiao, Li Haiming immediately summoned all the crew to announce the order to maintain radio silence and informed them that the purpose of the detachment's trip was to go to the western waters of Europe to conduct operations.

After hearing the news, every crew member had a look of surprise and excitement on their faces, and everyone did not expect that their first operation at sea after joining the new submarine force was to go to the coast of Europe, and they were excited to hear that it was an excellent "hunting" ground, although the journey was long, but after such a combat voyage, if nothing else, after sinking the enemy's ship, each crew member could receive a large amount of money.

From South America to the east coast of Europe, the sea distance is about 4,200 nautical miles, plus the cruising and combat time, the combat range will reach about 12,000 nautical miles, and when they return to their bases in South America, there will not be much fuel left in the boat.

It will be a long and arduous and dangerous voyage!

The submarine is not a "Blue Ribbon Award" cruise ship, in order to save fuel, it can only cruise on the sea at a speed of about 15 knots, and it takes eight or nine days to reach the coast of Europe. Fortunately, the current ocean-going submarines are equipped with surface ventilation devices, otherwise they would have to dive during the day, and the time would be longer.

Sailing at periscope depth, the waves have the least impact on the speed of the submarine, and the submarine can actually reach a high speed of more than 22 knots, but that is too fuel-intensive, unless it is an emergency, and the general submarine will not do this.

Although theoretically, a submarine equipped with a snorkel can always dive below the surface unless the fuel runs out, in practice, submarine commanders still habitually surface the submarine every night and send crews to the bridge to carry out search and alert missions.

This may be a kind of exercise for the crew.

Li Haiming handed the periscope to the deputy captain Xu Sihan, returned to the restaurant on the boat, and asked the chef to make him a cup of milk tea. The supply of submarine forces was abundant, and there was no shortage of coffee and tea.

Lieutenant Linde, a midshipman on board, was lying on the dining table writing something, and Li Haiming sat next to him. This cadet of the Naval Non-commissioned Officer Academy, who will graduate this year, is a lover of naval history, and sometimes tells the crew some secrets of the navies of various countries, which is also very interesting.

Lind was smoking a cigar in his mouth and was joting down something in a brown notebook. According to the regulations, smoking is not allowed in the boat when diving, but in the case of a snorkel, it is almost impossible to make the smokers on the boat endure the day without smoking, so the restaurant on the boat has been opened up as a "smoking area".

"What are you writing?" Li Haiming asked.

"Recent news is being recorded." Lind took a long puff of his cigarette and said, "Captain, where is the port of Rogani?" ”

"Rogani? It seems to be in the south of Luanda, to South West Africa! Why do you ask this? ”

"Oh, the Marines seem to have landed there, look at this." He showed the notebook in his hand to Li Haiming, "This morning, our valiant marines have occupied the port of Rogani, and the naval fleet is clearing out the surrounding enemy...... So, we will soon be able to recover Tang Southwest Africa? ”

"This is natural." "We want to drive the Europeans out of Africa completely, just as they did after the last war." ”

"Well, as soon as you say that, I remember that a West Francian Kingdom cruiser that besieged the 'Jade Gate' during the last war seems to have passed by after coaling here." "People always think that submarines are dangerous, but I think the Army and Marines are really the most dangerous, and they have to brave the enemy's bullets and bullets to rush to the beach," Lind said. ”

Li Haiming thought for a moment, "You can also say that." ”

When the submarine sailed to the middle of the North Atlantic, the weather turned bad. The submarine was constantly jolting on the sea, and in the northwestern part of the Atlantic, it was a treacherous water with high winds and waves, and the sea was so dark that it was difficult to see even a fish. The observation post on duty on the command tower was wet and cold every time he changed shifts.

Seven days after leaving the South American coast, the wind turned and the fog thinned, revealing the gray sky in front of the northwest Africa, where the yellow sands and rolling coast of Northwest Africa appeared.

"The Horn of Africa! Well done, Mr. Navigator. Major Li Haiming stood on the bridge of the ship, stared at the coast of Northwest Africa in the distance with a telescope, and said half-jokingly to the navigator next to him, Second Lieutenant Law Ka-fai. The SMU 532 boat was jolting forward in the rolling black waves, and the cold wind was blowing from behind it towards the enclosed oval conning tower. "Did the Spaniards deploy alert aircraft in this area?"

"The Spaniards may not have it, but the West Francians should have three military airfields, and the sea area is now under the control of the West Francians. We need to dive in at once, sir, we're close to the coast of Northwest Africa. Luo Jiahui was reminding Li Haiming that now that the sky was getting brighter, the submarine needed to dive immediately under the surface.

"We can still drive forward for a while, do the Franks have radar on those hills?" Li Haiming said.

"There should be, the East Francians have taught them all the techniques, and the West Francians have picked up a lot of bargains." Luo Jiahui said.

Li Haiming hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, now withdraw to the boat and prepare to dive!" ”

The submarine was changed to periscope depth, and the sailors began to change their guard in the morning. After the submarine dived underwater, it became stable, and the sailors got up and washed up a little, and then sat at the dining table eating bread with red sausage slices, drinking milk tea, and chatting about leisure. Li Haiming sat in front of the periscope, searching the sea through the photogenic lens. In front of you is a fascinating and magnificent scene, the rising red sun casts a layer of glow on the golden shore, and the pink mist forms a circular halo on the top of the mountain, much like the beautiful world in a fairy tale.

If it weren't for the war, Li Haiming thought to himself that he might have liked this place, and it was a good place to travel. Unfortunately, the purpose of their trip was to bring death and destruction to this beautiful land.

This is actually a bit dangerous, and it is possible that the patrol planes of the West Francians and Spaniards were equipped with radars that could detect submarines in a submersible state.

"Sir, are we heading directly to the coast of West Francia?" Deputy Captain Hu Chengen said.

"No, let's go to the entrance to Gibraltar first, and cause some trouble for the Spaniards there!" As soon as it came to the battle plan, Li Haiming immediately became very calm and seemed a little ruthless.