"Captain! The Vemira reported that the engine room was flooded and she had completely lost power. ”

"Captain Westminster gave the distress signal, and she didn't have much time left."

"Captain, the Saladin has sent a signal that the German submarine has been spotted and asks for instructions on the next step."

"Captain, what should we do now!"

The bridge of the Devonshire was now in chaos, and everyone was looking at Cascent who was standing in the captain's seat.

Everyone on the bridge was blinded by the ferocity of the German submarines' stormy onslaught, and the officers lost their usual opinions, while the soldiers prayed to God for their captains to come up with a way to lead them out of torpedo hell.

"Don't panic! Do you still look like the glorious Royal Navy? Cassente roared at his panicked men.

He stood in the captain's seat and tried to bluff. Now in his heart, he is actually in the same panic as these subordinates. If he had the courage to fight when the first old S-class destroyer, the Scout, was torpedoed, then the destruction of the other two V-class destroyers completely destroyed his confidence to fight. Now he feared more than anyone present, and he knew that even if he could lead the heavy cruiser back to England, he would not escape the punishment of the Admiralty, and that the court-martials would not spare any commander who had lost the King's precious warship. But he was the captain of the battleship anyway, and he was also the commander of this small fleet, although there were only two warships left in this fleet. He was to take on his responsibilities, which is the tradition of the Royal Navy that an officer of the Royal Navy received from an early age. He was responsible for the surviving warships and sailors, and even if he would be held accountable, he still had to bring them back to England safely.

"Let Vermila abandon the ship, they are now like a target, the Germans will not let her go, she is finished. Westminster did the same, getting her crew out quickly. Ordered the lifeboats of the two ships to concentrate in one area as much as possible and wait for our rescue. ”

Cassente frowned and looked at the two destroyers in the distance that were leaning into the sea and emitting smoke. These are two V-class air defense destroyers that have just been refitted, and the original plan took into account that the biggest threat to them on this route is the bombing of the Luftwaffe, so these two air defense destroyers were specially mobilized to protect them, but they did not expect to be attacked by German submarines.

The last thing Carcente could figure out was how they could meet German submarines here, and the German submarines on this route usually sailed in the Luftwaffe defense circle, and how they could run outside the air defense circle is really incomprehensible. And the current situation clearly shows that the Germans have more than one submarine, which is a nightmare for themselves. The heavy cruiser had no anti-submarine devices, and there was only one destroyer left to protect herself, and if she left herself to attack one of the German submarines, Devon would be completely exposed to the other German submarine, and at that point she would not even be able to fight back except to dodge. But if Saladin had been kept tightly protecting Devon, and had been fired at by two submarines, Devon would have died an ugly death. There was no time to think about it now, he had to get the two warships out of the submarine hunting ground safely, and he had to find a way to save the sailors who were struggling on the sea, or he might never be able to lift his head in front of the British.

Thinking of this, Cassente gave a loud order to the helmsman, the right hand is full, and the speed remains the same. We must retreat as soon as possible. Cassente turned his head and shouted to his first mate, "Order the Saladin, to bait a German submarine as soon as it spots." Cascent then whispered to herself, "I hope she can save the last face for the Royal Navy." ”

Cascent's reaction at the time was theoretically flawless, he wanted to use the old S-class destroyer to drag one of the German submarines, and then he should be able to avoid the attack of the other German submarine as long as he maintained a high speed of motion, maybe Saladin might even attract the other German submarine to it, and it would be better if the old destroyer could sink even one German submarine, and it would be better to go back and explain it himself. Of course, in between, it would be even more perfect if he still had the opportunity to rescue some of the shipwrecked crew members. If it really can't be saved, there is no way, you can't let thousands of people take this risk for the sake of more than 300 people, the citizens should be able to understand, Carcent desperately comforted himself.

But it did not occur to him that there was a fatal mistake in his plan, a mistake that could have buried his entire fleet, and what he would have done if there were not two but three German submarines.

"Periscope! 3000 yards on the port side. Periscope! The lookout shouted in terror. Cassente hurriedly picked up the telescope and looked at the sea on the port side, only to see that in the middle of the undulating waves in the distance, a jet-black periscope suddenly rose, which cut through the turquoise sea water and brought a snow-white wake, and the splashing waves shimmered brilliantly in the sun.

"German submarines, captains, they are going parallel to us, not as fast as us, 3,000 yards away, do you want to shoot? Captain. An officer asked aloud.

"You're crazy, could we have hit such a small target with one shot? Well, she started diving. "The periscope is slowly descending from the sea.

"Look, they're going to do a torpedo attack, keep an eye out for the torpedo trail." Cassente turned to the helmsman and shouted, "Watch the speed, go full speed, and maneuver." ”

"Obey, Captain, full speed ahead, serpentine maneuver, turning distance?"

"750 meters."

"Yes, Captain, 750 meters." The helmsman first sounded the ship's bell and gave the order to the engine room to move at full speed, and then began to twist the steering wheel to direct the ship to turn.

"Captain, Captain Cascent." Lieutenant Colonel Sanders rushed headlong into the bridge, and as soon as he saw Casente, he shouted: "The submarine of the Germans, we entered the ambush circle of the German submarine." ”

"Calm down! Lieutenant Colonel! Calm down. "Carcent was very unaccustomed to Sanders' dejected appearance, especially in such an extraordinary time, and it was unforgivable that this rude army officer should dare to burst into his bridge and yell at him.

But Cascent, who was proud of the Royal Navy, was still unwilling to give up his politeness, so although disgusted, he still tried to be as polite as he could: "We all saw it, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." We did come under attack from two German submarines, but rest assured that we will soon be able to get out of this predicament. I will bring you back to England safely, so please don't panic so much in front of my men. ”

Then, glancing at Sanders' crooked tie with a look of obvious contempt, Cassente said, "Manners, lieutenant colonel, I don't know what the Army is like, but I do know that a naval officer must maintain his noble demeanor at all times. ”

Hearing this unfriendly remark, Sanders's face turned red all of a sudden, and he straightened his military uniform, straightened his tie, and replied unceremoniously: "The same is true of the Army, and it will definitely not be worse than the Royal Navy, Mr. Colonel." Sanders then asked, "What do you want to do now, knowing that we are still under the threat of German submarines, you don't want to fight the Germans to the end, you must know that you have lost three ships." When it came to dropping two words, Sanders also accentuated his tone.

This time it was Casent's turn to blush, he now hated the lieutenant colonel in his heart, but he couldn't help but answer the words of this army bastard, otherwise he would lose his momentum.

"Yes, it is true that we have lost three excellent ships, but that doesn't mean anything, we are under attack by German submarines. But the Germans' good fortune should come to an end, and they have completely exposed their whereabouts. I could have easily eliminated them, but in order to take into account the fact that there were soldiers on our warship, and in order not to put their precious lives at risk, I had to adopt a contingency plan, and I had to retreat, and we withdrew to England. Cassente replied coldly, as if he had really retreated in pain to save Sanders' life.

"You mean to abandon this mission and withdraw to the UK?" Hearing that Cascent was going to retreat, Sanders was so anxious that he didn't even care about the venom in Cascent's words.

"No, Captain, do you know what you're doing? You are destroying the last hope of our allies. ”

Cassente glanced coldly at the anxious Sanders: "There is no hope, this operation has already failed when the Scout exploded and sank." All our plans were based on covert, but now that we have been discovered, it is likely that the Germans have reported our whereabouts to their Admiralty, and perhaps the German interceptor fleet and aircraft are already on their way to intercept us. I can't go ahead with this clearly failed plan. The Royal Navy has done its part, and it has paid a sufficient price. I can't afford to lose both of these ships. We now have only two options, one is to keep going and be beaten to the bottom like a target by the Germans, and the other is to turn around and get out of this dangerous water before the Germans can concentrate their interception forces. I chose the latter, and I was going to take my kids home. ”

"So......" Sanders wanted to refute something, but he found that he really couldn't find any reason to object to Carcent's doing, and he looked at Casent's serious eyes and opened his mouth to speak.

"Boom! Rumble! Boom! ”

At this moment, there was a dull explosion like rolling thunder on the sea not far away, and everyone turned their heads to look in the direction of the explosion.

"Report to the captain, that's Saladin, she's attacking a German submarine. This is the explosion of a depth charge. A lookout reported aloud.

"I see it, it's good, soldier." Cassente looked excitedly at the old destroyer that was spinning around in circles like crazy. Saladin's attack also boosted the morale of the Devonshire sailors, who swept away their dejected expressions and shouted one by one from their respective positions, refueling their comrades, and the loud cheers of the soldiers even reached the high bridge.

"Well played, take out the German pigs."

"Send them all to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish."

"The fish won't eat the Germans, they stink so much that the jellyfish won't touch them."

"Since they like to be underwater, they should never float."

Now the rough shouts of the sailors reached Cascent's ears less harsh, and he even admired the improvisation of some of them, the Germans were really damn garbage, and Carcent now took it for granted.

"Torpedo! 230 on the port side, 1000 yards! A voice suddenly rang out from the starboard side, full of fear and panic.

"Left full rudder!" Carcent gave the order to turn the rudder without even thinking about it, and years of combat experience allowed him to make the right decision in an instant. He then grabbed his binoculars and ran to the bridge to look in the direction of the torpedo.

"Torpedo, 240. 700 yards! The lookout was still reporting the torpedo's parameters, and it was clear from his voice that he was about to collapse.

"Recruit!" Cassente couldn't help but shake his head.

The two torpedoes were coming towards Devonshire at a terrifying speed, but strangely they did not go underwater like the other torpedoes, and could only be spotted by the feathery wake on the surface. These two torpedoes were different, they were almost completely floating on the water, like two speedboats frantically splitting the water, through the waves, almost bouncing towards the Devonshire.

"Stupid Germans, they forgot to even set the depth of the torpedo." Cassente looked at the two torpedoes and sneered.

By this time, the Devonshire had begun to make a sharp turn, and the huge bow of the ship swerved sharply to the left, and the waves stirred up by the bow even hit the deck. The giant ship was like a nimble speedboat, making a beautiful turn in an instant, and the powerful centrifugal force made her body of more than 10,000 tons tilt violently.

"Torpedo, direction 270, 200 yards."

The lookout's voice was noticeably quieter, and anyone could now tell that those two torpedoes would never hit the Devonshire. A few seconds later, the two torpedoes slipped not far from the stern of the ship and continued to bounce towards the depths of the sea.

"Captain, it's beautiful." The first mate said while wiping a cold sweat.

"If you had ordered the right rudder to be full, we would have been shot."

"That's the experience, my major, if I turn right, I'm bound to get shot in the stern. Now you've learned a little bit. Cassente said with a smug smile.

Then the voice of the lookout rang out again, this time even more anxious than the last, almost hoarse.

"Torpedo, direction 270, 600 yards. It's coming right up the corner! ”

"What!" Kasente thought to himself, he was too late to give orders. Cascent rushed to the helmsman's side, pushed the helmsman away, and desperately swung the rudder to the right.

"The left car is going full speed ahead, and the right car is going back at full speed! Fast! Casente yelled at his men.

"Captain! And 300 yards! "The first mate took a telescope and reported the parameters of the torpedo.

"200 yards, Captain." The first mate's voice was full of tears.

"It's too late, Captain."

"Pull and collide!" Cascent let go of the steering wheel and tightened his grip on the ship's bell.

The sailors of the Devonshire also spotted the two trails that were rushing towards them, and if it weren't for the military order, they would have been in a mess a long time ago. Now the sailors could only grit their teeth and watch as the two white trails representing death got closer and bigger.

Devon's crash guard screamed heartbreakingly, and the sailors on the deck had already grabbed all the fixed equipment around them and waited for the moment when they were shot. Before the sound of the fine report could be completed, two huge columns of water had risen from the side of the tall battleship, and with the violent explosion, the whole battleship trembled violently twice, and many soldiers on the anti-aircraft gun position were thrown out of their positions, and the sailors standing on the deck could not control their balance and fell on the hard deck.

Devonshire's speed dropped sharply, and after she managed to stir up the last row of waves, she spun uncontrollably like a whale that had been hit by a vital point, and then slowly stopped, slumped on the surface.

"Report the damage! Where were we hit. Cassente stood up from the floor of the bridge and asked his men in a loud voice.

"Wait, sir, I'll look into it right away." The first mate replied loudly, then ran to a row of intercoms on the bridge wall.

"How so, why did you find out so late. The torpedo was found only at 600 yards. How so. Cassente asked loudly as he looked at his hand.

"I don't know, Captain, that's how they came out of nowhere." The lookout looked at the angry captain in fear.

"What, do you want to tell me that the enemy attacked from 600 yards away?" Cassente shouted angrily: "How is this possible, how can the Germans just fire a torpedo at 1000 yards and immediately rush to 600 yards to launch again." Unless......" At this point, Casente himself was frightened by his own assumptions.

"Unless, the Germans don't just have two submarines here. Oh, God! ”

"Captain, the submarine of the Germans, the submarine of the Germans floated up. They...... They're right next to us! Then another lookout shouted at Cassente, and in an instant the entire officer on the bridge ran to the platform by the bridge and looked over the side of the ship.

At first, it was just a conning tower, but with a cacophony of exhaust gas, a huge German submarine floated majestically out of the water, its gray hull glistening in the sun.

To Cassente's disbelief, the submarine was only fifteen meters away from Devon, and even the small black Imperial Eagle emblem on the conning tower could be clearly seen, and the white half-human-high markings on both sides of the conning tower showed her identity.

German Navy ocean-going submarine U-37.

;