The French Navy Sukuf, with a full load displacement of 4,304 tons, is 110 meters long, equipped with 203 mm guns, 37 mm anti-aircraft guns and 13.7 mm anti-aircraft machine guns, equipped with 550 mm and 400 mm torpedo tubes, carries a seaplane, has a cruising range of 10,000 nautical miles, and a speed of eighteen knots. Seeing these parameters, a light cruiser immediately comes to the mind of the average person, but the problem is that she is actually a submarine.

This is another head-scratching and formidable ocean-going heavy artillery submarine invented by the French, and privately claimed to be an invincible diving cruiser. The French were actually very simple, they needed a ship that could evade the enemy blockade, and the best option was a submarine. The ship's mission is to disrupt the enemy's sea lines of communication, capture or sink enemy cargo ships, and it can also have a long enough self-sustaining capacity, so the tonnage must be large, and it is better to have a special cell.

The French Navy felt that the number of torpedoes on board was limited, and it had to go back to the port to replenish after the battle, which was too wasteful of time. And the best weapon against a cargo ship is a cannon, if the caliber is large enough, a few cannons can sink one. So I installed a cannon on this ship, the caliber is small, at least it must be able to hang the opponent outside the range of self-defense fire of the armed cargo ship, then I chose the 203 mm caliber of the cruiser class, and if I felt that the rate of fire might not be enough, then install two. Now that there are cannons, do you want to give up torpedoes? Of course not, she still had to be fitted, not only to be loaded, but also to be fitted with two at a time, one set of 550 mm and 400 mm calibers, and the torpedo tubes were not fixed to the hull, but in a launch nacelle that could rotate freely, and could turn ninety degrees to the side of the submarine for a salvo. I think I'm proud of France's superb shipbuilding skills and cutting-edge weaponry.

Not to mention, the French have always been very hands-on, and they really made this thing. But when the navy got it, I found that I didn't know what to do with her, because there was no opponent, and the original opponent was inexplicably clothed again, how could this be broken.

This submarine was built to deal with the British, and all the parameters, weapons, and capabilities were actually aimed at the British. Concealment was to evade British surveillance and slip out of Scapa Bay, long voyage was to destroy Britain's Atlantic shipping lines for a long time, and the main guns were chosen because the guns of British armed merchant ships were up to 150 mm in caliber, and they were equipped with aircraft to be able to expand the search range.

And these combat conditions. France's imaginary enemies, Germany and Italy, did not have any overseas colonies, and most of its foreign trade was with neighboring countries, with very little intercontinental trade, and its shipping lines were pinched or not. Italy is only wandering around in the Mediterranean, entertaining itself on its own one-third of an acre of land, and this shallow pool in the Mediterranean Sea will even hold up for German submarines of several hundred tons. Look at her name, the Sukuf. You named a French pirate who dominated the British back then. With that bunch of parameters, a smart person will find that the combat object of this thing is too easy to identify.

Of course, the British are not stupid, and it is clear at a glance where the brains of the French are going. At the Washington Conference, a special spell was set for French submarines, and the maximum tonnage of submarines of the signatory countries could not exceed 2,008, and the caliber of artillery carried by them could not exceed 155, which completely broke the minds of the French. However, in order to avoid tearing the face directly, the French finally kept the only built heavy artillery submarine.

Port of Portsmouth, August 17, 9pm London time. Like a replica of Alexandria, a regiment of British Marines rowed a small boat from the seaward side of the harbor to quietly approach the French ** ship moored at the berth of the pier. At this time, they did not know that the French Navy had already been prepared for battle.

General Godfroy, after making his final decision, still gave his best to complete his duty and made his counterattack. He first used the ship's long-range radio to contact the naval base in Tunis, alerting them and demanding an immediate report to the French Admiralty on the plans of the British.

Alexandria was all under the control of the British, the long-range radio stations and submarine cables were all in the hands of the British, and the fleet command was monitored by the British, and could only rely on the radio communication on the battleships. Because of the distance, it was difficult for him to communicate directly with Toulon and Bordeaux, so he asked the Tunisian base to relay it.

At the same time, in the afternoon of the same day, the French Navy's high-speed notification ship Neptune, which was moored in Alexandria, suddenly started, and the clipper was equipped with the latest diesel engines and did not need to be ignited and boosted. The French Navy's reply to the British Navy, which inquired about the ship's movements, was to deliver intra-fleet mail to the mainland.

Since the Sea Star was only a lightly armed communications ship, with a tonnage of only more than 500 tons and a speed of up to 40 knots, it would often make sudden sorties as it did on that day, carrying fleet documents and personnel back and forth between Egypt and the French mainland. The ship was of little combat value, and in order not to alarm the French and interfere with the night's movements, the British raised their hands and spared the ship without doing anything to stop it.

As everyone knows, this small boat not only carried the key documents, but also Godfroy's written report and suicide note.

At six o'clock in the afternoon of the 17th, Darlang received a telegram from the Tunisian base and was taken aback. At first he wondered if it was a German conspiracy, but he couldn't think of anything that the Germans could gain from it.

In the telegram Goldfroy swore that in addition to the complete document, he also attached the movements of the British and his personal judgment.

The commander of the French Navy immediately summoned his staff officers, summarized the British naval intelligence obtained, and then compared and deduced the document, and finally determined that this should not be false information made by the Germans, and that the British were indeed going to attack the French naval warships under their control.

That's three battleships, four cruisers, and six destroyers, a third of the strength of the entire French navy.

Dar Lang was furious, and he remembered what Churchill had said to him at the airport on his last visit to Bordeaux.

"Darlan, I hope you don't hand over the fleet." Churchill shook Darlan's hand and said sincerely.

"I would never do that, it would be contrary to the tradition and honor of the French Navy." Darlan remembers answering like this.

"I believe in you, General." Churchill smiled and got on the plane.

It's obvious. Churchill didn't believe in himself at all, he didn't trust anyone. Now, in order to prevent the warships of the French Navy from falling into the hands of the Germans, he actually attacked the French Navy from behind.

France has not yet announced its surrender, and legally speaking, France and Britain are still allies, Churchill, are you so impatient?

But Darlan found that, like Godfroy, there was nothing he could do about it, and the warships were all parked in the British military harbor and could not be fast at all. Similarly, Darlang has some reservations about the document. If there is a falsehood in it, will the French fleet make a big move to make the fake come true?

Eventually, at seven o'clock that evening, Darlan made a decision when he issued a vaguely worded warning to the French warships anchored in two British ports, which stated that there were indications that the British Navy might use some means to take over the ships of the French Navy at nine o'clock London time tonight, if something really mishap. In order to preserve the honor of the French Navy, each ship can choose to break through or sink itself.

The captains of the French Navy in the harbor of Portsmouth, after an urgent meeting, decided to resolutely carry out the orders of the Commander-in-Chief. And they added their own decision, the cruisers and battleships were no longer able to break through for the reasons mentioned above, and these captains were not willing to sink themselves in vain. They were ready to fire on the spot in self-defense, while covering ships that could start quickly to force their way out of port and return to France. The warships, on the other hand, fought to the death in the harbor and would never surrender without a fight.

Since it was late to receive the news, it took half an hour to gather the officers of the ships, and by the time the discussion was over, it was already close to eight o'clock in the evening. In order not to alarm the British and cause unnecessary trouble, the ships only summoned the officers on duty on the ships for combat mobilization, and did not summon the officers and men who were on leave and rest on the shore.

When the captains crouching in their respective battleship positions spotted the approaching rowing boats and confirmed that the British were indeed plotting against them, they immediately sounded the battle alarm.

The approaching British Marines opened fire in panic at the massive French ship, a dense stream of machine-gun and rifle bullets splashing sparks on the ship's heavy armor plates.

The battleship Lone Lun of the French Navy was the first to resist, it slowly turned its turret, and fired a salvo at the British ships in the harbor berth on the left with six 305 mm guns, and the wind pressure generated by the main gun muzzle directly destroyed the British sampan that was firing frantically on the side of the ship, and lit up six huge fireballs in the berth in the harbor.

Immediately, the 305-mm guns of the battleship Paris moored on the other side also roared, and the cruiser Duguetruan and two destroyers began to fire wildly in all directions. Shellmouth harbor suddenly exploded in all directions, and pillars of fire continued to rise into the air in the harbor, a hellish scene.

In the light of the harbor fire, the huge French submarine Sukuf slowly left the berth, and then rushed towards the exit of the harbor at full speed, it was the only ship that could start quickly and could break out of the encirclement, so the captains sent their logbooks and personal letters and confidential documents, maps and some personal belongings to this submarine, hoping that she would be able to return to France with these documents and materials.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the harbor, the Sukuw charged outside the harbor and at the same time bombarded the British armed speedboats that came up in all directions with the intention of intercepting it. Just as the opening of the harbor breakwater was protruding, the machine guns and anti-aircraft machine guns on the breakwater towers turned their guns around and rained a rain of bullets on the submarine. The Sukuf burst out of the harbor with a flicker of sparks, slowly began to dive, and disappeared into the darkness of the night in a short time.

"I promise, we will definitely go back there and collect the blood debt from the British!" With tears in his eyes, Lieutenant Commander Opry gently closed the slightly open eyes of Deputy Captain Major Raphael, and brushed away the mottled blood spots on his comrade's miserable white cheeks with his fingers.

"Captain! Private Bruno and Second Lieutenant Lavosh had already died, and their bodies were also placed in the quarters. Signal Soldier Marcus stood in the door of the break room and peered inside, his hands clutching his bouncing cap.

This beautiful cabin, which is usually used as a recreation room, is now like a slaughterhouse, with beautiful cream-yellow chairs stacked in the corner of the cabin, the dining table pushed aside, the white tablecloth on the top has been dyed dark brown, and the viscous blood drips down the embroidered lace of the tablecloth onto the dark green wool carpet. There were four corpses lying flat on the floor. The upper half of his body was covered with a gray blanket, his legs were exposed, and his navy blue tweed trousers and shiny officer's leather shoes were covered in blood.

"Carry the second lieutenant here, wrap Bruno in a blanket and place him on his bed, and tell the doctor that I will come at once." Lieutenant Colonel Opry lifted the corner of the blanket and covered the co-captain's face, then took the major's military cap and placed it on the corpse's chest.

Climbing up the vertical gangway to the first deck, Opry stepped into the command cabin.

"Captain enters the bridge!" The sailor shouted loudly.

"How is it going. Lieutenant Julian. Opry asked the co-navigator standing at the chart table.

"We are sailing towards the coast of France, the leak in the bow torpedo compartment has been plugged, the battery can hold out for twenty minutes, and now we are out of the alert zone of the British. Sir, are we really going to the port of Cherbourg, which is occupied by the Germans? ”。 The co-navigator looked back at the two helmsmen sitting in front of the steering gear, and then turned his head to look at the boatswain and some of the sailors on the other side of the cabin.

"We only have one motor that we can use, and we are already overloaded and the main engine is damaged. There was not much fuel left, and the British must be searching for us, so we had to reach a French port before dawn. The only thing we can get to now is Cherbourg. Hopefully, what General Darlan said is true. The Germans will provide us with repairs and supplies. Five minutes later we were on the float, sailing at full speed, leaving us with little time left. Opry picked up his military cap from the Charttops.

"I regret the sacrifice of Anthony, who was a good naval officer. You're his best friend, and I guess you should keep this thing. Opry put on his military cap and pulled a box out of his uniform pocket and put it down in the lieutenant's hand. This was found in his jacket pocket. ”

"It's a ring he bought in London. He was going to propose to Françova as soon as he returned to Toulon, these damned Englishmen. The co-navigator clenched the small jewelry box tightly.

"After all, it is his relic, and I think you should pass this on to Mademoiselle Françova, and please convey my condolences to her. We'll get it back from the British. Opry patted Julian on the arm, then stooped through the round waterproof door towards the forward cabin infirmary.

"The captain has left the bridge." Behind him came the shouts of the boatswain.

"Doctor, how's it going?" Opry asked as he walked to the infirmary's door and looked inside.

Captain Damon, the boat doctor, sutures a wound on a sailor with a wounded shoulder.

"It's bad, captain, it's bad." Damon neatly tied a knot at the end of the wound, then picked up scissors and cut the sutures.

"Go to Corporal Neymar and ask him to give you a roll of gauze, he should still have it there. We'll take you to the hospital when we get to the port, you're strong and you'll be fine. The medic helped the soldier out of the cramped bed and handed it over to his assistant.

"This is the last one, we have fourteen seriously wounded, five lightly wounded, Second Lieutenant Lavosh, you already know, I couldn't save him, I'm very sorry."

"This is God's will, we are all soldiers......"

"They should have died on the battlefield defending the Motherland, on the battlefield fighting the enemy, and not at the guns of their allies, six officers, seventeen soldiers, two of whom were torn to shreds by machine guns, and none of us were able to find their bodies." The medic roared excitedly at the captain.

"I don't know what happened, I only know that these brave men died at the hands of France's allies. They don't deserve to die like this, they don't deserve to ...... I...... I don't know what to say, Captain. I'll hand you a detailed report, now I want to take a break, I'm tired, sorry. The medic shook his head and took a few steps back to sit on his medical bed.

"I understand, doctor, and I think the Admiralty will give us an account. You rest. We're about to go up and we'll be back in France before dawn. Opry nodded to the medic and closed the door of the infirmary.

Back in the command cabin, Opry ordered the submarine to float, and he cocked his collar and slowly climbed up the gangway. Walk through the upper command room and wheelhouse. Opry turned the waterproof hatch above his head and climbed onto the submarine's conning tower.

As the stagnant water in the command tower was running down the drain, Opry walked over to the compass, pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and took a large puff.

In the darkness of the night, Opry looked back in the direction of Portsmouth, where the sky and the entire cloud were shrouded in a red glow, and faint bursts of white flashes could be seen, under which the French battleships were fighting for their last dignity. (To be continued, please search, the novel is better and updated faster!)