On the evening of May 28, 1943, in the port of Aderskai, a small coastal city on the east coast of the Black Sea, Captain Zyuganov and his subordinates welcomed a group of visitors from the minesweeper "Mistral".

Seeing the visitors approaching, the eyes of the lieutenant general officer at the head looked at him, and Captain Zyuganov hurriedly stepped forward and raised his hand to salute the visitors.

The lieutenant general, led by the leader, raised his hand in return, and then walked down the dock under the leadership of Captain Zyuganov and stepped on the Mistral.

The Mistral minesweeper was subordinate to the Black Sea Fleet, and the head of the visiting general was none other than the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Philip Sergeyevich Okgabrisky.

Vice Admiral Okgabriski walked around the minesweeper, greeted the sailors warmly, met some particularly young sailors, patted them on the shoulder, asked them about their age, and walked through all the procedures that a superior should have when inspecting a battleship.

After Lieutenant General Okgabrisky left, the smile on Captain Zyuganov's face slowly disappeared as he watched the backs of a group of visitors go away.

The smile on the face of the lieutenant general is squeezed out, not from the heart, which shows that the current situation of the war is not going smoothly enough, and he is under great pressure.

Moreover, the minesweepers under his command have been used as offshore patrol boats, which shows that the fleet is currently in a defensive posture.

Especially in the last few days, almost every day, German reconnaissance planes have arrived, which has subsequently triggered the fire of anti-aircraft guns on the shore, and fighter jets have also taken off to intercept the airfields outside the city.

Initially, only one enemy reconnaissance plane came over Adelskyt and was intercepted, and these reconnaissance planes turned around and fled at high speed.

Soon, however, these reconnaissance planes ceased to be dispatched alone, but became a two-plane formation, and then a four-plane formation.

In the face of the interception of the Soviet Air Force, these German planes no longer simply fled, but bravely came up to meet them, unless they were at an absolute disadvantage in numbers.

There are all indications that the Germans are very attached to Adelskai and may well be planning a military operation.

Thinking of this, Captain Zyuganov shook his head with a wry smile, and said in his heart that he was really "driving the life of a minesweeper, and the heart of a fleet commander", and no matter how much he thought about it, he could only give orders from a minesweeper.

Seeing that it was time for dinner, Captain Zyuganov led his men ashore and had dinner in the sailors' canteen on the shore.

After dinner, Captain Zyuganov and his subordinates returned to their dormitories to rest.

In the last week, the Mistral, commanded by Captain Zyuganov, was given the task of patrolling at night, and in the second half of the night.

Living day and night upside down, Zyuganov and his subordinates became accustomed to valuing time, especially before departure.

In the dormitory, the captain slept until the alarm clock was buzzing, and then reluctantly left the warm bed and went to the dock with his men.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, the minesweeper "Mistral" pulled anchor and set sail on time to begin an eight-hour sea patrol.

Half an hour after departure, the "Mistral" turned to the right with full rudder, and Captain Zyuganov looked at Aderskai through the window of the captain's quarters, because of the light control, only the outline of the mountains behind the town could be seen by light.

On the bow and stern decks, there is a searchlight, which emits a thick and bright column of light that slowly and carefully sweeps across the sea.

The time pointed to twelve o'clock, and the minesweeper turned one hundred and eighty degrees and headed south.

From south to north, and from north to south, the "Northwest Wind" drove back and forth.

Hour by hour, when the Mistral did not know how many times it made a U-turn, Captain Zyuganov suddenly heard the siren.

"The ship was spotted on the starboard side······ The starboard side found the ship······"

Zyuganov hurriedly picked up the telescope hanging on his chest and looked to starboard, where at this time the two searchlights on the Mistral had already locked onto the target.

Under the light of the searchlight, Zyuganov immediately judged the type of ship of the opposing side.

"There is a periscope on it, it is the conning tower of the submarine······ Prepare for battle, send a telegram in clear code, and ask for the identity of the other party. ”

Although he recognized the conning tower of a submarine flashing on the sea in the distance, the distance was relatively far away, and there was no flag on the hull of the other party to identify him, so Zyuganov could not confirm the nationality of the other party, so he could only make a cautious decision.

Just after issuing the order, Captain Zyuganov was surprised to see two flares flying from the submarine's conning tower in the distance.

The flares swayed into the sky, and with the light of two searchlights, they illuminated a large area of the sea.

After firing the flares, the submarine's conning tower sank rapidly and quickly disappeared into the sea, so fast that the radio on the minesweeper had not yet had time to send a telegram asking for the identity of the other party.

Seeing the other party's strange behavior, Zyuganov's eyebrows furrowed, and his thick black eyebrows also stood up.

"It's the enemy, quick, immediately send a telegram to the command that we have encountered a submarine of the Germans. Everyone, be vigilant and continue patrolling. ”

At this time, the two flares were still hanging high in the sky, like two bright little suns, and without Zyuganov's reminder, all the sailors on the "Mistral" sensed the danger and searched the nearby sea with a vigilant gaze.

"There is a fire on the port side, there is a fire on the port side·····" A terrible siren sounded from the stern of the boat.

The sirens were accompanied by the sound of violent explosions.

"Rumbling······ Long ······"

With the sound of explosions, four tall white columns of water rose into the air and surrounded the minesweeper Mistral.

Droplets of water fell and slapped against the hull of the minesweeper "Mistral".

"Right rudder, full speed ahead, right full rudder, full speed ······"

Judging from the volume of the white water column, Captain Zyuganov judged that the caliber of the guns of the warship that opened fire was at least 150 mm caliber, which was not at all something that a small minesweeper like himself could compete, and escape was the only option.

However, in the wheelhouse of the Mistral, the helmsman had just made a full right rudder maneuver when a cannonball fell from the sky and hit the searchlight at the stern.

In the explosion, the fragile aft deck was pierced by shells, and the searchlights, along with nearby sailors, were torn apart by air waves and shrapnel before being thrown into the sky.

The smoke cleared, and almost a third of the stern of the Mistral was blown to pieces.

The minesweeper, which had lost its stern, drove a distance by inertia, and a large amount of seawater poured into the stern, and the bow of the ship was upturned and quickly sank to the bottom of the sea.

Captain Zyuganov rushed out of the captain's cabin, removed a lifebuoy from the railing on the starboard side, then jumped into the sea with the lifebuoy in his arms, paddled his limbs and swam away from the minesweeper.

When he felt that he was already at a safe distance, he looked back at the surface of the sea and saw only the sailors floating on the surface of the sea, and the Mistral had completely disappeared.