"Boom!" When an earth-shattering thunder rang out in the air, as if thousands of scorched thunders were exploding in their ears at the same time, several weak laborers' legs weakened, and they were so frightened that they knelt on the ground. I saw that the center of the river suddenly exploded into a super wave like a hill, and even the river water with silt rushed straight into the air at a height of more than 100 meters. And the cargo ship adjacent to the center of the explosion was pushed sideways by this force by more than 30 meters. To the horror of everyone on the shore, the freeboard of the 5,000-ton cargo ship began to lower sharply, and in less than five minutes, her deck was about to touch the surface of the river!

"The German submarine is coming!" I don't know who was the first to scream, and the screams and cries of the wharves on both sides of the strait resounded all over the world, and the people fled in panic, lest they get close to the war machines that had never appeared under the water. Soon, the uproar spread like a virus throughout London; By the time it was dark, almost all the citizens of London knew that a ship had been sunk at the mouth of the Thames.

After receiving the warning signal, four anti-submarine gunboats docked at the mouth of the river immediately dispatched; The grenadiers standing in the stern of the ship were ready to drop bombs according to the orders from the sonar room. Seeing these ships patrolling the estuary, the British laborer Grima on the dock couldn't help but feel much more relieved. Under the pressure of these anti-submarine ships, German submarines should not dare to show their heads again, right? As long as those dastardly underwater sneak attackers know each other, they should quickly flee after the first blow, so that they can welcome the unloading of other cargo ships today......

Before he could stop thinking about it, Grima suddenly saw the figure of an anti-submarine ship in the distance instantly swallowed up by the rushing waves; He suddenly covered his ears, and after a few breaths, the earth-shattering thunder roared loudly. When the 100-meter-high waves receded, Grima suddenly found that the anti-submarine ship had disappeared without a trace. He shuddered, and at the same time, his eyes showed a look of disbelief in shock!

"Damn it. This is not a submarine at all, it is a vicious mine laid by the evil Germans last night! Major Theudon, the commander of the British estuary garrison, roared angrily, and the flames of hatred in his eyes seemed to burn the Central European country across the water to ashes. According to the reports sent back by the remaining three anti-submarine gunboats, no traces of periscopes and torpedoes were seen on the surface of the water at all, which makes it possible to conclude that it was not the German submarine that slipped through the anti-submarine net on the periphery of the estuary. Thinking of the unusual sound that had appeared in this body of water last night, Xiyuton had already guessed the airdrop mine-laying operation of the German planes. He then ordered the entire minesweeper unit to be dispatched. It is imperative that a shipping lane is cleared in the shortest possible time so that shipping in London can resume operations as quickly as possible.

Because of the important role played by Thames shipping in London's supply of supplies, the officers and men of the estuary garrison did not slack off in the slightest from top to bottom. Within 10 minutes of the order being given, petite ships sailed into the mouth of the river from the military port on the shore. On both sides of these boats, which have a draft of just over a metre, are equipped with sharp tools designed to cut mine anchor cables; They were lowered into 5 metres of water and then moved forward in the murky and filthy water with the maneuver of the minesweeper.

The sun is shining, and the sun is rising. As time passed, the hearts of the officers and men of the British minesweepers gradually turned from anger and nervousness to confusion. They have been working for more than three hours straight. But not a single mine was found. The water surface of the estuary is calm, and there is no shadow of half a floating mine. The wide knives under the water did not show any signs of touching the anchor cable, and the navigation of the dinghy was very smooth, and naturally there was no situation where the levitating mine drifted to the surface because the chain was cut.

Seeing that noon was approaching, the minesweeper soldiers couldn't help but gnaw on bread while thinking about today's strange incident: Could the tragedy that happened to those two ships this morning be caused by the explosion of something they were carrying? Or did the Germans just throw a few mines in the waters, and they were too unlucky to hit them?

"No mines found?" Theodon heard the message from his subordinate in disbelief. Standing on the bank of the river and gazing at the distant water, he was speechless for a long time. A few hours passed. Indeed, he did not hear any further explosions: not only were the minesweepers tragically sunk by mines, but even the loud sound of his own soldiers detonating mines with rifles at a long distance did not occur.

Looking at the sparkling water, which was unmistakable compared to usual, Siyoton finally ordered the minesweepers to advance on both sides of the river bank in order to give way to the central channel and supply ships in and out. Today, the Thames estuary channel has been changed by this sudden change. was blocked for more than 7 hours; The goods in the city could not get out, and the supplies from the outside world could not come in, and the losses caused by the delay during this period were already about to be measured in 100,000 pounds. Although there was no guarantee that the banks on either side of the river would be free of mines, the middle channel had already been crossed by its own minesweepers. There shouldn't be any problems.

At 1 p.m., the Bayou Command finally lifted the ban on navigation with restrictions. The British captains, who had been impatient for a long time, ordered the main engine to be started and sailed to the river at a specific location under the guidance of the patrol boat. A fishing boat laden with seafood rushed against the current in the direction of London, and the bald captain standing at the bow of the ship had already gritted his teeth and scolded countless times as a "little German"; His ship was supposed to arrive in London at 6 a.m. this morning to unload its cargo, and the more than 300 tons of fresh fish on board were enough to sell a good price to the seafood consignees. However, now, the time has reached noon, and his batch of fish has become a second-class commodity because of the long delay; If you don't do it well, you may not even be able to recover the cost of renting a ship and hiring sailors!

Just as he was furious, the bald captain suddenly heard a terrifying sound in his ears ten times more violent than any thunder he had ever heard in his life, and he hissed in his head, and almost fell into the Thames River, where fish and shrimp were extinct. The foul and foul water of the river rushed towards him like a tsunami, and the bald captain was immediately washed against the bulkhead of the rear wheelhouse, and drank several mouthfuls of sewage at the same time. There was a violent tumbling in his abdomen, and he couldn't help but vomit out all the contents of his stomach.

In a daze, an exclamation and scream came into his ears, and the bald captain's already vague consciousness gradually recovered. He lifted his eyelids with difficulty and looked ahead, only to see that the coal carrier a hundred meters away had capsized on the river. Because of the wide hull and shallow depth, the boat took on a comical posture standing on its side: most of the hull was exposed to the water, and the height was nearly ten meters, which made people feel palpitation and fear in the strangeness.

"It's over, my fish is going to rot in the hold." The bald captain had vaguely understood what had happened just now and what would happen next, and for a moment he couldn't help but feel sad and wailed sadly.

"Rice buckets, idiots, useless waste! As many as 11 minesweepers could not clear the mines in such a small channel, but were blown up and sank 3 ships in succession, it is a shame for the Royal Navy to have you! Really, I'm more useful than you when I find a pig, at least the pork can be eaten! ……”

In the Thames Bayou Garrison Headquarters in the eastern suburbs of London, the telephone in Major Sheyton's hand was emitting another man's crazy roar like an angry lion. The poor Major's face was full of pain and shame, and his whole body trembled slightly, but he had nothing to say but remained silent, and at the same time wondered what had happened at the mouth of the river. I had already carefully cleaned the waterway with a minesweeper, so why would any ship be sunk by a mine? Could it be that those German mines already had a mind and soul of their own? But this is obviously impossible!

However, while being ashamed and confused, Xiyoton also had a faint anger in his heart. Even if those mines were not found because of negligence, my fault today is only a negligence; But the rear admiral on the phone actually insulted himself with such vicious words, which is simply intolerable! Taking a step back, what if you fail to hold the mouth of the Thames and sink a few merchant ships? Scapa Bay suffered such a painful defeat the day before yesterday, and I didn't see any general dare to stand up and take responsibility for this matter!

“…… In any case, the Thames must be restored to navigation as soon as possible. If I don't get good news in three days, Major, I'll have to get you out of this position! After dropping the threat, the person on the other end of the line hung up the receiver, and the roar in Sheydon's ear suddenly turned into a subtle "beep". Xiyoton's face changed, and after a long time, he finally spat fiercely and scolded: "Do you think that this prostitute raised a wild seed does not know that he is engaged in the dirty business of smuggling during the war through the shipping company? In such a hurry to resume navigation, I am afraid that I am worried about my own interests, and it is better to worry about the losses suffered by the country! ”

Sitting on the phone, Hiedon took a deep breath, and the look in his eyes gradually became determined and determined. He paused, and said fiercely in a voice that almost popped out of his teeth: "Immediately send notice to the people that the Thames estuary channel will be closed temporarily and indefinitely. At the same time, Captain Iomer was told to lead his troops to carefully search for the suspended anchor mines hidden in the water. I don't believe there are ghosts in the Thames, and if he can't get rid of these mines, I'll stay in the boat forever and don't want to go back to shore!" (To be continued.) )