It was another early morning, the beautiful morning sun jumped out of the water, the sun shone on the sea level, and the raging water was flooded with a faint golden light. Pro, Baidu search eye & fast, a large number of novels are free to read.

About fifty nautical miles southwest of the Strait of Gibraltar, the destroyer Zeno of the Italian Navy's Atlantic Fleet's 7th Destroyer Fleet ended a night of anti-submarine patrol and leisurely embarked on the road home.

Less than five nautical miles away, the bow of the destroyer Zeno suddenly turned north.

Passing by a sea surface, Zeno slowed down.

Receiving a signal from the command room, the sailors on the starboard side of the stern let go of the fixed valve, and six gasoline barrel-shaped depth charges slid down the steel rails and sank to the bottom of the sea.

It didn't take long for the sound of explosions to break the calm of the sea, and six thick columns of water spewed out of the water, flying straight out of the water three or four stories high.

The water column fell, and the white foam at the six explosion points on the sea surface had not yet dispersed, and the destroyer Zeno came again in a circle.

In a series of pops, six depth charges fell into the water again, and the huge fountain rose into the air again.

Constantly circling and dropping bombs, Zeno made seven rounds of forty-two fountains on the surface of the sea.

After dropping all the depth charges and wandering the sea for more than two hours, Zeno left without getting enough of it.

The figure of the destroyer Zeno gradually disappeared into the sea, and only wisps of black smoke from the chimney could be seen in the distance.

Two minutes later, the black smoke dissipated in the sky without a trace.

As Zeno left the sea, the water suddenly became more and more turbulent, and countless white splashes appeared on the blue water, like a boiling cauldron.

An adult-sized thigh-sized steel pillar burst out of the water, followed by a steel "bunker" with a long hull underneath.

Before all the hulls of the ship could be washed out of the sea, the hatch of the bunker-shaped watchtower was wide open.

A British Royal Navy captain in a dark blue military uniform was the first to get out of the submarine, leaning against the guardrail at the top of the watchtower and opening his mouth, greedily breathing in the fresh air.

It was so unfortunate that I ran into that hateful guy just after dawn and was almost buried at the bottom of the sea by its depth charge.

Captain Bell, the captain of the USS Shark, cursed and lit a cigarette to dispel his body's fears with the thrill of nicotine.

The submarine Shark has been patrolling the waters for two days.

Under the command of Captain Bell. It ghostly roams the seas, sometimes ascending and sometimes diving, taking in every ship that passes through it. Subsequently, the nationalities, classes and courses of these ships were compiled into a telegram and sent back to the H Fleet.

In two days, in addition to seeing some merchant ships of neutral countries, Captain Bell saw the most Italian destroyers.

The capital ships of the Axis powers, which the H Fleet Command ordered to focus on reconnaissance, did not appear, not a single one.

After another day of patrolling, you can turn around and return home. Don't have to play hide and seek with these abominable destroyers, it's really too exciting, and it's easy to induce heart disease.

The crew of the Shark opened all the hatches on the submarine to allow fresh air to replace the foul-smelling turbidity in the cabin.

On the watchtower, four observers with binoculars look around, searching the surrounding sea for targets or dangers.

A black column of smoke soon appeared in the northeast direction, and it was three.

It didn't take long for three merchant ships to appear on the surface of the sea.

Captain Bell hurriedly directed the Shark to avoid the course of the three merchant ships and move to a favorable attack position in the direction of starboard.

Although he made a combat stance according to the training curriculum, Captain Bell did not have much combat in mind. A fleet that dared to go to sea with such a swagger during the war years, and without the escort of warships, was certainly a neutral country.

As Captain Bell expected, he saw in the telescope that the Portuguese flag was flying red and green on the bow of the other party's ship.

Looking at the three merchant ships passing by at the bow of the ship from a distance, Captain Bell kept sketching the trajectory of the torpedo attack in his mind, and indulged in the tragic situation when the three merchant ships were torpedoed and surrounded by flames and smoke.

A torpedo and a boat, waiting for the three merchant ships to be sunk, and then rushing to rescue those overboard crew members, can be regarded as carrying forward the humanitarian spirit rarely seen in the war.

Captain Bell couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, the Portuguese flag saved you.

"Captain. Listen, what sound? An observer said suddenly.

"I heard it too, it seemed to be the sound of an airplane engine." Another observer said.

Captain Bell hurriedly pricked up his ears to listen, to the roar of the submarine diesel engine. Sure enough, there was a faint buzzing sound.

"It's getting louder and louder, and it's approaching."

Captain Bell and the four observers hurriedly looked around, and a frightened voice from one of the observers rang out.

"Straight ahead, in the port direction of those merchant ships, behind the smoke."

Captain Bell's gaze instantly turned to the bow of the boat, and the thick black smoke emitted through the chimneys of merchant ships. Sure enough, I saw an airplane.

"Everybody into the cabin, dive urgently, dive urgently." Captain Bell shouted hoarsely.

The five men quickly slid into the cabin and closed the hatch covers.

The narrow hull of the submarine Shark cleaved the waves and drove forward, slowly sinking into the sea.

However, the sudden appearance of the killer did not miss the opportunity to hunt the "shark", and before the sea reached the edge of the Shark's deck, four depth charges fell from the sky and flew down on both sides of the bow of the Shark.

The sound of a violent explosion echoed in Captain Bell's ears, and the floor of the submarine shook violently and rapidly.

The red siren lights flashed incessantly, and the piercing sirens sounded.

"The watertight compartment is damaged, it is impossible to dive, it is impossible to dive."

Sweat poured down Captain Bell's forehead, and a moment later, a bad news came.

The watertight cabin could not be repaired, and the ship had to be abandoned to escape.

The hatch of the watchtower was opened again, and the crew members fled the cabin in a hurry.

The graceful form of the Killer of the Skies swirled around in the blue sky, admiring his victory.

Captain Bell ignored the killer in the air, and hurriedly led the crew to lower the lifeboat, and then jumped in and grabbed the oars and paddled desperately into the distance.

The stern of the Shark was now slightly tilted out of the sea, and there was no chance of survival.

Twenty-seven crew members rowed five rubber boats and floated on the rough and undulating sea. From time to time, Captain Bell looked up at the sky and clearly saw the Iron Cross and two machine guns under the wings of that plane.

Will it machine gun fire itself, Captain Bell thought with horror in his heart.

To Captain Bell's surprise, the plane, which he did not recognize, circled around at low altitude for a few times, then turned around and left, seemingly disdainful of harassing them.

Captain Bell breathed a sigh of relief. Then he became nervous again.

To the southeast, a huge black shadow was rushing towards them, it was a Portuguese merchant ship.

Seeing the waving crew on the bow and the rope ladder lowered on the starboard side, Captain Bell secretly rejoiced. Luckily, they had a Portuguese flag on the bow

The encounter with the Shark was nothing more than a microcosm of the anti-submarine warfare of the Axis Navy, with anti-submarine aircraft in the sky and destroyer formations on the sea forming a huge net over the sea at the western entrance to Gibraltar.

All the British submarines hidden in this sea area struggled to the death in the net, but to no avail.

They were found one by one. The submarines that were then sunk or captured, and the submarines that had narrowly escaped fishing also fled far away, not daring to approach the Strait of Gibraltar again.

On the sea, destroyer formations were busy clearing the way for the sortie of the Axis fleet.

On land, the First Aviation Division under Chen Dao was grinding its fists and preparing to attack.

"The weather department said that it will still be sunny tomorrow, how accurate do you think it is?"

At the airport on the eastern outskirts of Seville, Chen Dao stood in front of the command department, looked up at the blue sky and asked.

Garland bit his cigar and said vaguely, "I don't trust the weather department's forecasts anymore." They predicted that the first three days would be sunny, but it turned out to be cloudy all the time, and it didn't appear until this morning, so we wasted three days in vain. ”

"It's not a waste of time, at least the pilots have written down the distribution of ports in the Canary Islands, which can be regarded as strengthening combat readiness." Chen Dao said.

"We can't wait any longer, we will attack tonight as planned." Garland said.

"I hope that this forecast of the meteorological department can be accurate, and our time is very precious, and we can't delay it any longer." Chen Dao said.

That night, the sky was full of stars. It is clear to the naked eye that the meteorological department did not deceive Chen Dao and Garland's feelings again.

Two aviation regiments, eighty Ju-88 medium bombers, were ready to go at the brightly lit Seville airfield.

At four o'clock in the morning, Chen Dao and Garland gathered all four hundred pilots. After an impassioned lecture, he gave the order to go on the march.

Eighty JU-88 engines spun one after another, making the otherwise quiet airport extremely noisy.

I watched the Ju-88s slide off the runway and into the sky one after another, forming a huge fleet of planes and flying straight south.

Chen Dao said: "The one-way distance is close to 1,200 kilometers, I hope these rookies don't get lost." ”

"You have to have a little bit of confidence in the troops we have trained ourselves." Garland said dissatisfied

Port of Las Palmas, H Fleet Command.

Somerville spun around his desk with his hands behind his back, words in his mouth.

In order to prevent a surprise attack. He sent submarine forces and destroyer formations to patrol the waters from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Canary Islands day and night.

Although nothing unusual happened in the past few days, the main force of the Axis fleet did not break out of the Strait of Gibraltar.

The Japanese warships that had been haunting were gradually leaving, but for some reason, Somerville always felt restless.

What's wrong? Somerville was confused for a moment.

"Report."

Somerville turned to look at Adjutant Captain Thatch.

"The submarine Shark has not sent a telegram for a whole day, and the Saxony, and the submarine forces have lost contact with them." Captain Thatch said.

Captain Thatch's report reinforces Somerville's suspicions.

The apparent intensification of patrols in the Strait of Gibraltar by the Axis navies in recent days suggests that their navies are likely to strike again, and most likely on a large scale.

Only, where are they targeting?

Maritime transport lines? Or the Canary Islands?

"There's also a telegram here that you need to see for yourself." Captain Thatch said.

The OB-297 convoy bound for East Africa will depart tomorrow morning and will need to be dispatched by the H Fleet to assist in escorting until the convoy reaches the Canary Islands.

There were five transports in the flotilla carrying supplies for the H Fleet.

Somerville's heart moved, will the next operation of the Axis fleet be directed at the OB-297 fleet? Perhaps a spy informed the Axis of the whereabouts of the OB-297 flotilla, and the enemy was waiting for the OB-297 flotilla to appear.

Whether it is for the war situation in East Africa or for the much-needed supplies of the Canary Islands, I must cheer up and complete the task of escorting.

Several orders were quickly issued to the H fleet.

Four capital ships entered the port for maintenance, replenished fuel, and prepared for the attack.

Submarine forces monitor the Strait of Gibraltar at all costs.

Destroyer and light cruiser units intensified patrols north of the Canary Islands.

Somerville also did not forget to send a telegram to London warning the Admiralty that a major sortie by the Axis fleet was imminent.

After doing all this, Somerville thought he had done it all and walked into the bedroom with peace of mind.

In the early hours of the next morning, before the sky was bright, Somerville suddenly opened his eyes.

With a look of anxiety and seriousness, Somerville jumped out of bed and walked out of the bedroom, and moments later, there was a loud stream of running water in the bathroom.

Rubbing his lower abdomen, Somerville looked relaxed and slipped into the bed again.

A few seconds later, Somerville lifted the blanket from his head.

After a few more seconds, Somerville threw off the quilt and jumped out of bed, and hurried to the bedroom window to open it.

The damp sea breeze rushed into the bedroom with a shrill roar and sirens, nearly knocking Somerville to the ground.

"Bang bang."

There was a sharp knock on the door, and Captain Thatch rushed into the bedroom.

"General, air raid siren, hurry up and hide in the basement."

Captain Thatch tugged at Somerville's clothes but didn't pull them, and when he looked back, he saw Somerville saying angrily: "No need to go to the basement, the German bombers must be coming at the warship, let the warship evacuate immediately." ”

Before Somerville could finish speaking, a violent shelling rang out the window.

Inside the harbor, I don't know how many anti-aircraft guns spewed tongues of fire, and strings of tracer bullets rushed into the night sky with orange trails, opening the curtain of battle.

The German bombers did not give the British anti-aircraft gunners the superiority.

Two Ju-88 dive bombers plunged to an altitude of more than a thousand meters and dropped eight magnesium flares.

The flares glowed white and floated in the sky under parachutes, illuminating the port of Las Palmas as if it were daytime.

The ships neatly parked in the harbor were in full view, and the Ju-88 bombers, in groups of three or four, swooped down against the "fireworks" of the British troops on the ground, whistling and slamming a string of bombs into the British ships.

Almost at the same time, the light of flares shone in the sky over the port of Santa Cruz, on the west side of the port of Las Palmas, eclipsing the tracer bullets flying over the harbor.

Seeing the early arrival of dawn and listening to the deafening sound of cannons, Somerville stood silently in front of the window for a long time.

Thousands of miles away in Seville, Chen Dao smiled and handed the telegram in his hand to the excited Garand.

Garland looked down and there were only three words on the telegram.

"Hawk, hawk, hawk." (To be continued.) )xh118