While the Battle of Britain was still in full swing, the German navy was doing everything it could to disrupt Britain's lines of communication. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Don't think that the German Navy really made a shrunken turtle, in fact, within a few months, the German battleships, including the Admiral of Count Spee, marked the German naval engagement with a tragic interpretation with their sinking.

The losses are heart-wrenching, but the results are also huge. With the refitting of the main fleet of the German Navy and other reasons, it was completely withdrawn from the sea to break the engagement, and the only ones who still insisted on fighting in the Atlantic were the submarines of the Third Reich.

Prien's U-47 submarine is one of these submarines. And the strong combat effectiveness of these submarines now made Churchill, who had been the Minister of the Admiralty, feel the pressure.

Many film and television works have reproduced World War II submarine warfare, but the real World War II submarine warfare, especially the submarine warfare 42 years ago, is actually different from what everyone imagined.

During this period, German submarines were more likely to attack British convoys by using the method of launching attacks from the surface.

And not to dive to the height of the periscope, and then suddenly launch a torpedo attack, sinking the enemy's transport.

Instead, German submarines would swagger up at night and then fire torpedoes in the middle of the entire convoy to stir things upside down.

This also shows from another side how weak the British anti-submarine forces were at that time, and how beautiful the combat environment of the German submarine forces was.

"Report! Captain! We got a telegram sent by the old code...... Content...... Well, the content you want to see for yourself. The telegraph officer lay on the vertical ladder at Prien's feet, and shouted at Prion standing above him.

Prien heard his shout, frowned, took the last puff of his cigarette greedily into his lungs, and climbed down the ladder into the interior of the submarine.

"This is a message sent with the old code, because the Navy's order to change the code was given after we went to sea, so this message should have been sent specifically to several of our submarines." The telegraph officer handed a telegram to Prien, who had just climbed down the ladder.

The ace captain who had sunk the battleship Royal Oak took the message, opened it, and looked at it carefully.

The contents of the message were also encrypted, and what was said inside shocked Prien.

"What did it say?" Following Prien, the first mate also climbed into the interior of the submarine, the air here made him a little sick, but after a few breaths, he got used to the unpleasant smell.

There's a reason why French perfumes are popular in the German submarine force, after all, dozens of big men are crowded together, and the smell is so sour.

"It says that a convoy of transport ships codenamed J-18 will pass by here in a few hours, and ask us to intercept the attack." Prian said as he handed the telegram in his hand to the first mate.

Knowing in advance the route that a British convoy had to pass was a rare occurrence for the German submarine forces.

Submarines can preserve themselves better than warships in the ocean, and can stealthily engage enemies, as if they were born assassins.

But it also has its own shortcomings, because it has no reconnaissance capabilities, and it does not have advanced intelligence equipment such as satellites, and it is also a short-sighted eye, and it cannot detect targets that can be attacked in time.

Short legs combined with myopia restricted the efficient play of German submarines. This is also the reason why Dönitz invented the wolf pack tactic, which he intended to use to compensate for the shortcomings of submarines in intelligence detection.

Now the enemy's intelligence was actually sent to the submarine commander in advance, and what does this mean for submarine tactics?

Prien felt as if a window had opened to him. The glory of the German submarine forces is coming!

At this time, Prien's adjutant also finished reading the message, and his face was also full of disbelief.

"The British's intelligence leaked?" The first officer's first question was to the point of this matter.

After all, the route of an organized transport fleet is quite a high-level secret. And once the itinerary of this route is confirmed, the fleet will be radio silent most of the time to avoid news leakage.

But now, such a "sailing schedule" of the British transport fleet is in Prien's hands.

"Let the soldiers on duty go out to breathe, and the officers on duty come back to check the state of the torpedoes! Get ready to attack! Prien pinched the telegram in his hand and opened his mouth to give the order to prepare.

He is not afraid of any mistakes, because now the anti-submarine forces of the British Navy are not strong, and the quality of the soldiers on the anti-submarine ships is not high.

Once something happens, he only needs to dive calmly and go around a few circles to get rid of the enemy's pursuit.

"J-18 transport fleet? Looks like we're going to catch a big fish this time. Prion looked at his busy men and muttered to himself.

At a time when there was only one cruiser left in the German Navy, the Prien felt that his submarine was the hope of his homeland to defeat its opponents at sea.

The U-47 submarine was ready to attack, with one order after another. And just when they were ready and kept on guard of the surrounding sea, the British J-18 transport fleet appeared in the distance at sea level.

"Dive! To the height of the periscope! We're here in ambush and waiting for them to get closer! Prien gave the order to dive with confidence.

With his order, the lights inside the submarine suddenly dimmed, and the diesel engine used the last chance to replenish the power of the battery in the submarine, and at this time, the saving of electricity had already begun.

In order to make the submarine drive faster underwater and dive long enough, all the electricity in the submarine has been compressed to the extreme.

Except for the propellers at the tail of the submarine and the necessary parts such as rudders, most of the equipment is in a dormant state.

It was so dim that he could only see the outline of his palm and equipment, and everything in the cabin could only be judged by his own memory and experience.

The lights were a little brighter, but not too bright, and he felt his submarine diving, and the distinctive tremor proved that everything was going well.

Saltwater began to pour into the reservoirs on both sides of the submarine, and under the effect of gravity, the U-47 submarine began to dive little by little, and white waves appeared around it.

As the water moved in more and more, only one of the U-47 submarines was left with a conning tower enclosure still exposed.

The U-47 submarine is an advanced ocean-going U-boat, this submarine has a full load displacement of 857 tons, and can conduct ocean-going patrols of more than 7,000 nautical miles.

This submarine has 4 torpedo tubes in front and can fire standard 533 mm caliber torpedoes. In the rear of the submarine, there was also a torpedo tube, in addition to which 88 mm anti-aircraft guns and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns were armed.

Just looking at the appearance, the U-47 is the most typical German U-boat, with a beautiful appearance and strong force.

When the U-boat sailed, the torpedo compartment was also full of food and other supplies.

But the U-47 has been adrift at sea for a long time, so now it is empty, only stout and cold torpedoes remain, lying on the spare torpedo racks where they are stored.

Because it has been prepared for a long time, the four torpedo tubes in the bow are already equipped with torpedoes to attack large ships.

Unlike modern torpedoes, torpedo parameters were set manually during World War II and then stuffed into a torpedo canister after adjustment.

Moreover, the submarine is also equipped with a simple launch calculation device, similar to a modern ballistic computer. It can calculate the set angle before the torpedo is launched based on some parameters.

Every German submarine officer and soldier has undergone rigorous military training, and they receive a subsidy twice as high as that of ordinary soldiers, so they naturally have to have corresponding skills.

The captain of the submarine can easily calculate the forward speed and course of the enemy ship based on simple measurements and pre-recorded silhouettes of the warship.

It is precisely because of such a powerful "human computer" that the torpedoes of German submarines can accurately destroy merchant ships in the distance.

Over time, U-47's enclosure had entered the icy water, and it waited quietly like a shark, waiting for its prey to approach.

The rest is to test the patience of the commander. Because there was still some time before he encountered the other team's fleet, Prion went to the rest room prepared for him alone, closed his eyes and recuperated.

Every space on the submarine was precious, and when it first went out to sea, the cramped beds were piled high with food, and now there was only a crumpled deck of playing cards, messily thrown in the corner.

The captain's cabin is not large, and it is even a little oppressive in comparison. But in a small space like a submarine, it is already an extreme privilege to have a private space where the curtain can be drawn.

You must know that most submarine officers and men can only hold torpedoes in the torpedo compartments in front and behind when they are resting, holding torpedoes and dreaming of their own spring dreams......

As the minutes ticked by, Prion leaned back on his bed, his eyes closed and he felt the stuffiness around him.

His little single room was some distance from the engine compartment, and the temperature was relatively pleasant—but only relatively, of course.

"Sir! They're getting closer! The curtain was drawn, and the first mate's whispered reminder made Prien open his eyes suddenly.

"Get ready to fight! The attack begins! He came and opened the curtain, walked through the narrow corridor, and stood in his commanding position.