The Adriana sank much faster than the German High Command's intelligence had estimated.

The 300 kilograms of plastic zha medicine placed in the valuable luggage compartment on the third deck tore a fifteen-meter-long and eight-meter-wide opening in the hull near the waterline at the lower part of the bridge, and the huge shock wave instantly blew away the seven watertight doors around the luggage compartment, and the turbulent sea water filled the three compartments connected to the luggage compartment in thirty seconds, and the huge cruise ship tilted five degrees to the right in an instant.

Saltwater poured into the 10,000-ton* cabin like a flood from a burst bank, pouring into the three huge boiler compartments on the ground floor before the huge watertight gates were lowered.

The unprepared sailors rushed for their lives, and the regular entrance and exit had turned into a huge waterfall, and more than a hundred crew members were crowded around the four narrow escape stairs.

Two minutes and fifteen seconds after the explosion, seawater had begun to pour into the engine room, and the three steam turbines began to depressurize, accompanied by a deafening shrill roar, billowing steam erupted from the chimney of the cruise ship like a volcanic eruption, and according to the observation report of the German submarine, the column of steam smoke emitted by the Adriana was as high as 1,200 meters.

A few minutes later, a boiler in the No. 3 boiler compartment that had not had time to close the temperature observation port was poured into the seawater, and although it did not cause a catastrophic boiler explosion, it produced a large amount of suffocating toxic steam.

This made the crew members who clinged to the escape ladder like ants climb even more frantically, fighting for the last chance to escape.

The Adriana lost power after the last bit of pressure in the steam pipe, and by this time the ship had rolled twelve degrees.

The explosion was so sudden, the violent shaking knocked everyone on the bridge to the ground.

Captain Cooper's first reaction was that his ship had been hit by a German torpedo, but when he roared and asked the six lookout sailors on both sides of the bridge, all of them swore to God that they had not seen any torpedoes in the vicinity before the explosion.

The experienced Cooper estimated from the scale of the previous explosion that his ship must have suffered heavy damage.

But at this very moment, he still held on to the hope that the Adriana would be able to survive the disaster with her massive tonnage.

Unfortunately, the reality is often harsh. Just as Cooper was about to ask the damage management department about the damage to the ship, an urgent call had already arrived from the third deck where the outbreak occurred. Several compartments near the starboard waterline were already flooded, and the volume of water was quite large and simply uncontrollable.

In the following minutes, reports of water ingress from various chambers at the bottom were also reported one after another. Cooper already sensed by this time that the Adriana could not be saved.

"Abandon ship!"

Cooper immediately issued an order to abandon ship.

"Yes, Captain. Abandon ship! Abandon ship! ”

The third mate, who was waiting on the side, immediately stretched out his hand and sounded the report of the death.

With the sound of the long and mournful whistle, the entire cruise ship suddenly became chaotic like a pot of boiling porridge.

The Adriana carried 1,327 passengers and more than 350 crew members of all ranks, most of whom were refugees from all over Europe who had fled to the United States via Spain, and some were officers and officials who had left for the British colonies, including a retired king and two retired generals.

"You go to the first-class deck yourself, and you must get the duke and his men on the first lifeboat."

Cooper whispered three times.

"Understood, Captain."

The third mate nodded vigorously, saluted Cooper, and walked briskly out of the bridge.

The cruise ship continued to tilt hopelessly, and the deck was already crowded with crying passengers. Because of the American sense of justice of the low-class attendants, the passengers in the bottom few cabins rushed to the third-class deck, which was closer to the lifeboat deck. This act of mercy, which is beyond reproach in the eyes of ordinary Americans, seriously affected the rescue at this time.

"Don't crowd, come one by one, we have enough lifeboats for women and children to get on first!"

The officers roared with their horns, and the sailors, led by their respective team leaders, slowly moved the lifeboat hanger overboard.

Less than 30 years have passed since the tragedy of the Titanic, and the shadow of that tragedy has not yet dissipated from the hearts of people at that time, and passengers rushed to climb into the lifeboats that had not left the deck.

Most of the refugees here are at the bottom of society, and there is no concept of gentlemanly spirit in the minds of these people.

The first to climb into the lifeboats were often the able-bodied men, and the American crew was outnumbered, and the unarmed crew had no control over the situation they hated.

When they found out that it was impossible to get the men to give up their seats again, they had to let it go. The crew could only try their best to put the women and children who were lucky enough to be close to them into the lifeboats in line with the concept of how much they could save.

"Try to lower the lifeboat on the port side first, and if you tilt it like this, the lifeboat dawill on the left will soon become unusable! Throw down all the improvised lifeboats on the port side, and so do the lifebuoys! Let the newspaper continue to signal the distress and call for help from all nearby ships! ”

Cooper stood on the bridge and shouted orders.

"Immediately signal that British destroyer to assist in the rescue immediately."

"Captain! That destroyer is leaving! ”

The signalman shouted loudly.

"What!"

Cooper jumped to the starboard side in three steps and two steps. Cooper could scarcely believe his eyes at the sight before him, as the British destroyer turned and accelerated away.

"These bastards! Are they crazy! ”

The British ** ship was unexpectedly unable to save a sinking American cruise ship. Could it be that today is the end of the world? Are you crazy?

Cooper could no longer contain his anger, and he stood by the bridge fence and yelled loudly at the British destroyer, which had run five kilometers away.

"You English cowards, God will punish you! I'm going to accuse you! I'm going to curse you! Bastard! ”

Swinging his fist vigorously at the other man, feeling that it was not enough to vent the anger in his chest, Cooper threw his captain's hat out of the sideboard.

"These damned British cowards, they must have been afraid of being attacked by German submarines while rescuing us. If I can return to the United States, I will accuse the whole world of their despicable and shameless behavior of cowards! ”

Cooper angrily said to the signalman.

"I'll testify for you then, Captain."

The signalman spat hard at the distant shadow.

The evacuation was still in the midst of chaos, and the only consolation to the crew was that Adriana's mad-driving roll had miraculously stopped because the bilge was all flooded.

However, due to the roll of 20 degrees, the lifeboat davit on the port side was no longer usable, and most of the lifeboats on the port side had been put into the sea before then. Although two of them did not make time to get into the water, for the adequately equipped Adriana, the waste was theoretically bearable.

The boat didn't last long, and Cooper knew it well.

The temporary stabilization of the hull is not a good thing, which indicates that the ship's center of gravity is decreasing. The lower compartments are full, and the sea is spreading towards the upper compartments, and the ship could quickly roll over and sink to the bottom of the sea at any moment.

Half an hour into the evacuation operation, the deck is still crowded with crying passengers, and at least forty percent of the passengers have not boarded the lifeboats.

Even more worrying to Cooper was the fact that many of the lifeboats on the port side were not fully filled because they were in a hurry to lower the hangers before they failed, which suddenly created a gap between the number of remaining lifeboats loaded and the number of passengers remaining.

"Captain! German submarines! It's on our starboard side! ”

The signalman shouted loudly again.

Cooper hurriedly ran to the side of the gangway to look, and a submarine painted with black and white fragments camouflage was slowly emerging from the sea less than a hundred meters from Adriana's starboard side, and the shield emblem on the conning tower was clearly visible.

"What do these Germans want to do? Are they ready to kill them all? These are innocent civilians. ”

Remembering the rumors he had read in the newspapers about German submarines, Cooper looked desperately at the wet killing machine in front of him.

The submarine stopped quietly, and then three or four figures appeared on the conning tower, and a German naval flag was soon raised on the flagpole of the conning tower.

"Captain! They're signaling to us, they're coming to our rescue......"

"I saw ......"

Cooper watched in amazement as a dozen German sailors climbed onto the deck of the submarine and quickly inflated an inflatable lifeboat.

"It looks like it's really the end of the world."

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Snow-white Florentine openwork tablecloths, 17th-century royal blue brown porcelain plates inlaid with sterling silver lace, creamy grilled shrimp with tantalizing aromas, and King Louis' crystal cups filled with fine Burgundy wines. On the freshly baked French white bread in the rattan bread basket, the salt grains are as clear as snowflakes.

In the bright and charming light of the silver candlestick of nine vines in the middle of the table, the Imperial ducái raised his knife and fork gracefully.

"Don't worry so much, dear Werle. Everything is still under our control, isn't it? ”

Xu Jun picked up a small piece of pink shrimp meat, dipped it in the milky white sauce on the edge of the plate, and then put it in his mouth leisurely.

"My Führer, I don't want to worry about anything, as you said, everything is under our control. I now only feel a little doubtful that a king who has gone down can continue to have the loyalty of his subjects. Do we have the need to take such a huge risk for such a person. ”

Weirle put down his knife and fork and replied respectfully.

"Your Excellency, I think it is enough to see the reaction of the British Prime Minister to know the value of this former king. My personal guess is that the fat man may be tugging at the last of his hair in his cramped basement right now. ”

As he spoke, Dogen happily cut the prawns on his plate, and Xu Jun hurriedly picked up his wine glass and saluted approvingly to his lieutenant, who had a rare sense of humor.