"Briefing." As soon as Gissel got into the command cabin, he asked the co-captain loudly.

"Captain, the listening room report has found that there are ships heading towards us in front of us, all of them are high-speed spiral awards, and they should be battleships. At where we are and at our speed I calculated that we would definitely make contact with them. Catherine replied solemnly with a route map, "Captain." Our current position is passive. ”

Giselle took the chart and walked to his command's chart table and spread it out. At this time, Xu Jun also drilled through the pressure cabin hole and entered the command cabin.

"The marshal has entered the command module." The navigator shouted loudly from the side. In the command cabin, all the officers and soldiers nodded in greeting to Xu Jun.

"Everyone, please continue your work." Xu Jun waved his hand to the officers and soldiers, motioning for them to continue their duties, and then he walked over to Gisel's side.

"How's it going, Mr. Captain?" Xu Jun looked at Gisel's slightly frowning brow and asked.

"It's not good, now we're in the middle of two exclusion zones, one side is the Luftwaffe combat patrol area, and if we enter, we could be spotted because we don't have enough power to stay on for that long. On the other side is the Norwegian minefield, and we are looking for death when we enter. I chose the most secluded route, a narrow blind spot, and I couldn't figure out how I could meet an enemy here. Gisel said confusedly.

"Have you confirmed that you are an enemy?"

"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal, there are not many warships in the German Navy patrolling the seas at present, at most they are large patrol boats or torpedo boats, and they never choose this route to patrol."

"You're saying it's a stealth route?" Xu Jun asked.

"Yes. Your Excellency the Marshal. Now I want to raise the submarine to the periscope depth, determine the type of target with the periscope, and then think about countermeasures. Gisel said respectfully to Xu Jun.

"You're the captain, it's up to you. You don't need to ask for my opinion, I'm still a layman about submarine warfare. ”

"You're too modest." Gisel nodded and then turned around and gave the order: "The engine began to slow down, half a car moved forward, and the submarine rose to periscope depth." Mr. Catherine, ordered all to go into combat positions. ”

"Yes, Mr. Captain. The engine slows down and goes forward at half speed. Start to float, 30 meters. 25 meters. 20 meters. 15 meters. 12 meters. Stop floating, the elevator returns to its original position, and remains stable. Captain! We have reached periscope depth. Catherine reported loudly.

"Raise the periscope, and the listening room reports the distance." Gisel then ordered.

"Yes. Mr. Captain. Raise the periscope. Catherine walked over to a control panel on the wall of the boat and pressed a button.

"The periscope has been raised, Mr. Captain." With the sound of an electric motor, the periscope slowly rose from the caisson in the middle of the command module, and the stainless steel observation mirror housing shimmered.

"This is the listening room, the enemy fleet is in front of our side, azimuth 012, speed 15 knots, direction 070." Wolfgen reported from the intercom in the boat.

"Okay, I'll see what we encountered." Gisel turned the brim of his soft combat cap back, then leaned over the eyepiece of the periscope to take a closer look.

"It's a small fleet." Gissell turned the magnification disc on the handle.

"A large battleship, it should be of the cruiser class. Four destroyers, the class of which is not yet discernible is still available, but judging by the appearance it should be British battleships. The distance is 10,000 meters, and the speed is about 15 knots. They are doing steering maneuvers. I think I'll turn back, we're in trouble. Gissell said solemnly.

"They're maneuvering forward, we're too slow right now to get out of their lane, they're going to spot us. Captain, what do we do now. Catherine asked nervously as she recorded the scale readings displayed on the periscope.

"Demarcate the enemy's position, calculate the time of contact." Gissel coldly ordered.

"Yes, Captain." The navigator on the side hurriedly marked the approximate location of the enemy on the chart, and then took out a slide rule and calculated it on a piece of scratch paper. Gisel turned the periscope around and looked behind the submarine.

"They also spotted that fleet, and the periscopes of U38 and U43 were raised."

"Captain, we will be in effective attack range in ten minutes, whether we want to attack or not." Catherine asked.

"We will enter the enemy's anti-submarine patrol circle in eighteen minutes. Captain. The captain also came up with the data.

Gisel didn't answer them, and he walked up to Xu Jun. "My marshal, we are now in a very big trouble, and I am very sorry that the course I have chosen has pushed you into danger."

Without waiting for Gisel to finish, Xu Jun interrupted Gisel's words with a smile.

"Captain Gisel, I know what you're trying to say. Can't we avoid the conflict with each other now? Whether concealment measures can be taken. ”

"I'm very sorry, we're on the other side's route right now, and at our current speed, it's impossible to get out of their detection range before the other side notices us. The water here is also deeper than our maximum dive, and the tactics of sitting on the bottom and hiding cannot be used. Gisel replied.

"Then go to war with them." Xu Jun continued to smile and said, "Since the battle is inevitable, then we should be brave enough to fight. There is no other second way to go. ”

"But General, they have four destroyers and one cruiser, and our odds are really not high, and we may be ......"

"Captain Gissel, why are you suddenly starting to weaken. Ha ha. Please don't scruple with me. Since the enemy is already in front of us, no matter how strong he is, even if we will lose our lives for it, we should face him bravely. We are soldiers, and dying while fighting the enemy is the best place for a soldier. Fight, my captain, if God had destined me to die today, I would have faced it with a smile, for I had died on the battlefield, and a German field marshal should have fallen on the front line of battle, not on the way away. So, my captain, go into battle with confidence, and maybe you can still do a miracle, for I have not been notified of God's summoning of me, and how could I die at the hands of those little warships. You'll have to pay a high price if you want to kill me. There's no way a miser like this one who is willing to take out a few small boats is going to hurt me, and it's going to take out at least their entire navy to kill me, hahahaha. ”

Xu Jun's words made the entire command cabin personnel relax, and everyone had a knowing smile on their faces. Yes, there is nothing to worry about with this apostle of God, luck and miracle have always been with this god of virtue, and this time will definitely be no exception. Maybe it will work a miracle again.

"Hear the words of the marshal, we will fight for the honor of the soldiers. Although I am not as great as the marshal, there are still too few warships that want to take out my submarines, hahaha. Gisel first saluted Xu Jun respectfully, and then turned around and called out to the subordinates in the command cabin in high spirits.

"yes, I should be worth a battleship." Catherine also said jokingly.

"I want to use these small broken battleships against our U37. It's almost the same to drag out all of their native fleet. The navigator also looked up from the chart and said with a smile.

"Alright, get ready. We're going to surprise them. Giselle threw himself back into the periscope and watched.

"They're going to start the next turn now, and when they're done, they'll have a straight line of about three kilometres, which is enough for us."

"Captain Gisel, will you be able to contact the other two submarines?" Xu Jun suddenly said on the side.

"Ah, what, oh, yes, I can contact them with a light signal." Gisel was asked by Xu Jun, but he immediately reacted and answered.

"Then send them a signal. I order the whole fleet to go to war with the enemy, and to leave the actions of the ship alone in battle. They can each attack at their own discretion. This is a hunt, a zizzle action, a zizzle shooting, and I will personally award the medal to the submarine with the highest record in this battle. Also, their torpedoes should have the same problem as ours, you remember to remind them to pay attention to the depth off magnetic fuse. Just send it to them, okay? ”

"Hunting? Haha, it's going to be a hard hunt, Marshal. You're right, if they follow us like this, they won't be able to use their full strength. ”

"Can you send it to them, then?"

"Oh, of course. Yes, my marshal. ”

Gisel hurriedly turned the periscope, and then pressed the signal light switch on the handle to relay Xu Jun's words to the other two submarines.

"Well, they got it, the U38 is deviating from its current course, it's now putting away its periscope. Erich is such a cunning fellow, I don't know what he wants to do this time. U43 also began to turn. Well, now it's our turn to act. Lieutenant Catherine, put away the periscope, we turned the rudder 30 degrees and went at full speed. Hope to be able to occupy a good position. The first torpedo compartment was ordered to be prepared, and the No. 1 and No. 2 launch tubes were replaced with T1 torpedoes to turn the torpedo to high gear. We are dealing with battleships, not merchant ships that crawl. Gisel commanded loudly.

"Yes, Captain." Catherine walks towards the periscope cāo longitudinal panel.

"Wait a minute." Xu Jun said a little embarrassed on the side, "Can you show me what the enemy ship is like?" You know, I've never looked at an enemy ship with a periscope. ”

"Ah, my marshal, of course, why didn't you say it earlier. However, you don't have much time to observe, and if we get any closer, we will most likely be caught in the periscope's wake by enemy lookouts. Giselle hurriedly moved out of the way.

"Soon, I just want to see." Xu Jun hurriedly walked to the periscope, he also wore a hat like Gissell, put his eyes on the eyepiece and looked out.

"Marshal, the enemy is in this position now." Giselle turned the periscope to the direction of the British fleet.

"It's still far away, so you can magnify the lens several times." Xu Jun hurriedly learned to toggle the magnification conversion disk. The few small specks of black smoke in the eyepiece suddenly turned into a majestic fleet in front of Xu Jun's eyes.

Two large destroyers were a kilometer or two apart, one left and one right, opening the way in front, and in the middle of the rear was a huge battleship, with a high string and painted in black and gray camouflage. There are tall one-legged crossmasts in front and rear, and the mast walls are high. The superstructure did not look simple at all, with a large square bridge, two huge main turrets in the front and rear, three tall chimneys in the middle of the battleship, and behind the chimneys a seaplane was prominently placed. Behind this battleship, there were also two destroyers on the left and on the right. The small fleet swaggered across the sea.

Xu Jun left the periscope, and then Catherine pressed the cāo vertical button, lowering the periscope from the sea.

"What do you think? My marshal. Giselle asked.

"It's wonderful, I don't recognize what class it is, but I know it's qualified enough to be our prey, hahaha."

"Yes, my marshal, it was a London-class heavy cruiser. Judging by his livery, it should be Devonshire, a 13,000-ton big one. Those destroyers are not very good, either S-class or V-class, they are all old-fashioned goods. It's no wonder that their most advanced tribal level was carved by you in Dunker, and now they have to send these things out. Giselle picked up the phone in the cabin. Wolfgen, notify me immediately if the other party turns. ”

"Yes, Mr. Captain."

"Be sure to keep an eye on each other's movements."

"Understood, Mr. Captain."

Gissell put down the microphone of the intercom, then ran to the chart table with a ruler and drew the course of the attack on the chart.

"Judging by the enemy's reaction so far, we can carry out a sneak attack. They didn't turn on their active sonar, which means they haven't spotted us yet. With our current line, we could get into an ambush before they do, and if nothing else, I'm sure we'll be able to take out that cruiser. Catherine said excitedly.

"No, the first thing we have to deal with is those destroyers, that heavy cruiser has about 111 millimeters of armor, although our torpedoes can tear through such thick armor, but to sink her, it will take more than three hits. We had to fire all four torpedoes from the first torpedo compartment to achieve this effect, and then we would have no torpedoes to deal with the counterattack of the destroyers, and I think it would be enough to kill the destroyer first, and only to damage the cruiser. When we finish off the destroyer, we can take her out slowly. The navigator said on the side.

"Whatever the target, I'm only going to attack the easiest one at the time. The situation on the water is changing, and any plan is a pipe dream. Giselle stopped the discussion between the two subordinates with a single sentence.

"Captain, the torpedo is ready. We're in three minutes before we get into the attacking position. ”

"Very well, how about the other two submarines."

"It's not clear, they all seem to have disappeared."

"Well, it looks like they've found their attack positions too. My marshal, we can only wait patiently for the enemy to enter our guns. Gisel smiled and said to Xu Jun.

"Haha, I have patience, you have to remember the problem of torpedo depth. Don't hit the bottom of the ocean again. Xu Jun said with a smile: "I hope we can succeed, otherwise hundreds of depth charges will fall on our heads in a few minutes." ”

"Don't worry, my marshal."

U37 was heading towards the predetermined launch position at a top speed of 7 knots in 15 meters of water, and she drew a beautiful arc on the chart. When she reached the launch position, she turned off the engines, and the large ocean-going submarine taxied forward for a few hundred meters before slowly coming to a stop.

Now U37 was hovering just a few meters above the surface of the sea, waiting for her prey, where she floated silently, except for a few bubbles from the torpedo ports that had been opened. The rumbling of the battleship's engines in the distance was already distinct, and the rhythmic screech of the sea water as the battleship spiraled down at high speed and flipped against the hard hull of the submarine.

Suddenly, a large high-pressure bubble ejected from the torpedo port, and then the two silver torpedoes left the launch tube in turn, and they paused in the sea water for a moment, as if they were not used to the cold temperature of the sea, and then with a screech of propellers, the two torpedoes swooped forward, and began to scramble and cheer towards their target. Before the first two were out of view of the submarine, two more torpedoes were fired.

The U37, having fired all the first torpedoes, came back from the dead silence and began to slowly move away from her current position, two 1,000-horsepower electric motors began to propel the large submarine towards the next attack position.

;