"Dr. Thorrin, does your magnetic fuse really work amazingly?" Two months ago, Schwinigger, the chief of the General Staff of the Navy, personally came to the Ordnance Bureau and questioned an old man in the laboratory.

"Your Excellency, I have completed 37 simulation tests in various hydrological environments, and the results show that all mines with magnetic fuses have been detonated, and not a single mute fire!" The old man, known as Sorrin, brought Schwinnigg to a model in his laboratory and said with a proud face, "You see, this is a very different device from the traditional trigger-type fuse. Its appearance completely rewrote the situation that mines need to be directly touched by ships to explode. ”

Old man Thorin sorted out his sentences, trying to make his statement as obscure as possible: "You should know that the earth itself carries a large magnetic field. Under its influence, all metals on Earth are magnetic. Especially when ships sail in the sea, their hulls are quickly magnetized by the earth, making them susceptible to metal adsorption. General, you've been a sailor for so many years, you should have noticed this a long time ago, right? ”

Schwinnigg nodded lightly and said, "You're right. When I was an ordinary sailor, I was often ordered to dive into the water to scrape the plankton off the bottom of the ship, and I felt a small attraction to the knife in my hand. Old man Thorin smiled and said, "My magnetic fuse makes use of this principle. ”

"The key to this fuse lies in this little magnetic needle." Old man Thorin pointed to the finger-sized red and blue cone needle on the model and further explained, "With the assistance of mechanical equipment, this magnetic needle will remain stationary in the event of a collision with an external force in the event of a mine, and only when a ship passes nearby, the magnetic poles of the ship will interact with this magnetic needle. will drive its rotation. And this magnetic needle is the switching hub of the initiation circuit. As soon as it turns, the **** connected to the circuit will explode immediately. ”

Schwinniger suddenly realized. He looked at the full-scale model in front of him with some fiery eyes, and many thoughts had already turned in his mind that he could use it for war. At present, there are only two members of the mine family: floating mines and levitating mines; Among them, the former is rarely used because it drifts with the current, has no fixed position, and is easy to be found on the sea surface, and most of the mines used by countries around the world are suspended anchor mines. Through a long chain and a heavy iron stone that sank to the bottom. Anchor mines can be fixed at a specific location at a certain depth of water, even over the past few centuries. Since all previous mines had to collide directly with ships to explode, they could only take these two forms.

Now, however, the introduction of magnetic fuses has brought revolutionary changes to the weapon of mines. Since the mine no longer needs to touch the ship's hull directly, it can be laid directly under the water at a certain depth, rather than a wire to hold it. In this way, the concealment of mines has been greatly improved, and the traditional methods of mine clearance have been completely rendered ineffective. Although in deep waters, the status of suspended anchor mines is irreplaceable. But in shallow waters, these lurking magnetic fuse mines are sure to do wonders!

"The most subtle thing is that the threshold for the activation of such a fuse can be set artificially. Since large ships are much more magnetic than smaller boats, it is entirely possible to set a little extra frictional resistance during the deflection of the magnetic needle so that it will only turn on the circuit when a ship with a displacement of more than 500 tons passes nearby. In this way, mines will automatically spare small minesweepers of low value and launch attacks specifically on medium and large targets. Old man Thorin's face showed a treacherous low grin. Apparently extremely proud of his own thoughts. He stroked his long beard and said hesitantly, "Your Excellency, General." You shouldn't have any doubts about it anymore, right? ”

"The ideal place for this non-contact fuse to be launched is the mouth of the Thames River!" After listening to Thorin's introduction, Schwinnigg's mind flashed and he immediately found the best place for this new fused mine. This gateway to the world is not only busy with shipping, but most importantly its shallow water depth; Even if it explodes at the bottom of nearly 10 meters, the power of hundreds of kilograms of high explosives in a mine. It is also enough to tear the underwater hull of the target ship in a large area, causing considerable damage. In addition, many of Britain's other coastal ports are shallow waters where these mines are used. With such mines, it is equivalent to putting another rope around the neck of Britain. Opponents who can't see through the mystery can only be killed!

After some testing, the magnetic fuse was selected by the German Navy in early August 1939. The latter then commissioned the military industry to produce a batch of new submerged mines with an average density of more than 1. A plan for laying mines at the mouth of the Thames was drawn up and included in the regulations of the Elbe Exercises. Schwinnigg was pleasantly surprised that the mine was even more effective than he had initially expected. The day after the operation of its own air force began, news came from London that the Thames channel had been closed.

"Well, British, it should feel good to lose access to the sea, right?" Schwinnigg let out a breath of evil, and in the pleasure of revenge, he mocked the former enemy. Due to the inherent geographical disadvantage, Germany's maritime communication with the outside world has collapsed as much of it had been 25 years ago, and only trade with the Baltic countries remains. However, the Germans were able to paralyze Britain's largest shipping hub by their own wit. A sharp look appeared on Schwinnig's face, and he said coldly: "The operation of the German Navy is far from over. Soon, there will not be a single British merchant ship in the North Sea. ”

The sea was foggy and the sun was shining, and four slender and thin S-boats were lined up on the sea, speeding forward at a speed of 30 knots. A large number of snow-white waves tumbled from the bow to the sides, making it particularly magnificent and imposing. At the stern of the ship, where the waves are smaller, a flaming red swastika naval flag hunts and waives in the wind, although it is not as wide as the flag on the large warship, but it is just as scorching and dazzling in the blue sea and sky!

"Your Excellency, we have sailed to the western part of the Frisian Islands." In the navigation command room of the torpedo boat numbered S-103, a non-commissioned officer in charge of drawing the navigation map put down the pen in his hand and reported to the burly figure in front of him. It is on the outskirts of Dutch territorial waters, less than 200 kilometres from the British mainland. Captain Anderson nodded, his eyes lit up with a complex look of nervousness and excitement, and he immediately ordered the formation to turn left 2 compass points to reconnoiter the surrounding sea.

As a small country geographically sandwiched between Britain and Germany, the Netherlands declared neutrality immediately after Britain and France declared war on Germany. Queen Wilhelmina, who had successfully saved the Netherlands from the devastation of the First World War, was now even more unlikely to wade into the troubled waters of the European war, and she had already made up her mind how far she wanted to hide from the war.

However, the country still maintained trade relations with the warring countries. After all, the Dutch also had to survive and enjoy life, and most of their foreign trade volume in peacetime was given to the three major surrounding powers, Britain, France and Germany; Although war has broken out now, it is impossible for them to stop all foreign trade exports to Britain, France and Germany because of this. Like the United States at this time, the Netherlands, which had a highly developed animal husbandry industry, was still exporting non-military supplies such as eggs, poultry, and milk to the belligerent countries. And a considerable share of this went to Britain, which was trapped in an isolated island and far from being able to sustain itself in agriculture.

This situation clearly did not satisfy Germany. The Netherlands is the world's second largest exporter of livestock products after the United States, and there is no shortage of help they can provide to the UK. In order to cut off the link between the two sides, the German navy sent a force of torpedo boats to the Dutch coast adjacent to the Strait of Dover. If they encounter a Dutch ship full of cargo, they will force them to go to Hamburg and sell their supplies to Germany; And if it encounters a British merchant ship, it will be stopped and sunk.

Although the Anglo-Dutch sea lanes were closer to Britain and could be supported by the British Channel Fleet at any time, the German S-100 torpedo boats were an opportune time to stir up trouble in the heart of the enemy. With a top speed of up to 43 knots and 2 heavy oxygen torpedoes, this classic design of the dinghy has become an adversary that even the Z-armored superdrive would not want to face during exercises; As long as they are four ships in a group, they advance and retreat together, and even a large destroyer may not be able to avoid the fate of being hit by a torpedo. Perhaps the only one among the current nations that can suppress these high-speed assassins is the French Utopian-class destroyer, which also has a speed of more than 40 knots. However, the warships of that class with power on are still deterring the Italians in the Mediterranean, and the German S-boat group can completely run rampant in the North Sea!

Amid the vibration of the machinery, the four S-boats cruised at cruising speed for an hour in the blink of an eye. Due to the current sea visibility of less than 5 km, the German boat group did not find any targets. However, Anderson, who commanded the formation, did not care at all, but patiently continued to search. At 2 p.m., the fog on the sea finally began to dissipate. When the sea surface vision was restored to more than 18 km, Anderson suddenly noticed the outline of the ship faintly in the gray fog in the southwest, and he was shocked, and quickly ordered the torpedo boat to turn there and sail quickly. (To be continued.) )