At noon on October 2, the fierce Russian civil war in the port of Pokhara had long since ended, and many members of the Russian royal family disappeared into the brilliant fireworks with the "Sevastopol", and the German fleet outside the port was busy cleaning up the scene.

It was at this time that U-051 joined U-046 and U-054, which had come to support, 130 nautical miles northwest of St. Petersburg. Captain Wolf, after discovering that the Russian battleship had not made its way to Pokhara, turned back with U-051 after dawn. In this way, the three submarines searched blindly in the vast ocean.

After receiving news of the end of the battle on the outskirts of Pokhara, Wolf had planned to take the three submarines to Pokhara to participate in the fleet blockade, but a group of uninvited guests on the distant sea made him change his mind.

Spotted in Wolff's telescope were several lifeboats, and dozens of Russian soldiers in yellow uniforms were floating helplessly on the sea. So U-051 drove over, and in front of the cannons and machine guns on the deck of the submarine, the unarmed Russian soldiers did not resist much.

A Russian officer was allowed to board the submarine alone, and Wolf found a Russian-speaking sailor from the submarine and talked to the Russian officer on the deck.

"Second Lieutenant Company Commander of the 3rd Hussar Regiment of the Russian Royal Guards Chikalkin!" The Russians were as arrogant and disdainful as they had been when they had boarded the Gangut the day before.

Wolf looked a little surprised after listening to the sailor's translation, "Russian Guards? How did you end up here? ”

After the sailors conveyed the question, the Russians' expressions suddenly changed from arrogance to anger, "Those damned revolutionaries! Rebels! Someday I'm going to send them to the gallows! ”

"Ensign, please answer my question seriously!" Wolf was clearly unhappy with this guy's attitude.

"I'm sorry, Captain! This is a military secret, I'm afraid I can't answer you! The Guards company commander named Chikalgin reverted back to his previous arrogant tone.

"Mr. Ensign, this is the sea, and if you want to keep drifting, I don't mind sending you back to that boat!"

Wolf looked coldly at the ugly face, and then glanced at the small boats next to the submarine, the Russian soldiers on them were very quiet under the guns of the German sailors, and they were all looking at their officers with longing eyes, hoping that he would bring back good news.

"By the way, the fleet that arrived in the port of Pokhara has been completely wiped out! I'm afraid no one will come to your rescue, but if you're lucky, you'll probably be ashore in a week, and if you're still alive, you'll be saved! Wolf smiled disdainfully.

Chikalkin looked at the German captain in amazement, and he pondered the words of the other man over and over again in his mind.

"Impossible, how could our fleet be wiped out? Mr. Captain, it is a shame to lie to deceive us into surrendering, unless you and the German Navy do not have even a little chivalry! Chikalgin stretched his neck as far as he could so that he could look at the German captain, and he cursed in his heart that the German man's legs were longer than his own. If you can look down on each other, you can take advantage of the momentum.

"Yes, Mr. Ensign! As you say, I will definitely not tarnish the reputation of the German Navy! I swear, everything I say is true! Just this morning, our fleet met with your fleet outside the port of Pokhara and there was a fierce battle, the details of which I don't know very well, but just two hours ago, your last battleship also sank to the bottom of the sea! Wolf had intended to see the Russian ensign's depressed expression, but as soon as the sailor had finished translating the last sentence, Chikalgin pounced, but was stopped by two strong German sailors next to him.

Captain Wolf was so surprised that he asked his sailors what was going on, and the Russians calmed down a little.

"You damned Germans, how dare you offend our Emperor Majesty?" Chikalkin's eyes were red as he glared at Wolfe.

"Your Emperor?" Wolf was particularly surprised to hear Chikalkin's words, "You mean your emperor is in that fleet?" ”

In fact, the Interim Commander of the German Baltic Fleet, Rear Admiral Yanich, had only recently learned from the Russian prisoners who had fallen into the water that the Tsar was on a warship, and Wolff, the submarine commanders, were not aware of it.

"Yes, our Emperor His Majesty and his family, as well as numerous members of the royal family, were on the battleship 'Sevastopol' in that fleet! If you sink all the ships, then our emperor will not be spared! Agitated, Chikalkin gasped for air.

"I see, it looks like the situation is really bad! According to the reports from our fleet, your fleet has indeed been destroyed, but as for your emperor, the report does not mention it! Either way, there is no way back for you, it is better to surrender to us honestly and tell us everything you know! In exchange, I'll pass on the latest news about your Emperor, how about it? ”

Chikalkin thought for a moment and agreed to Captain Wolf's suggestion.

"We were on the battleship Sevastopol, where the emperor was located, yesterday, and at about half past ten o'clock in the night, one of the battleships in our fleet, the Gangut, broke down, and I was ordered to take my company to the battleship to check on it. Those sailors were damned to deceive us into a boiler failure, so the Gangut and another destroyer remained behind the fleet. Soon after, we were attacked by your submarine and the destroyer was sunk, and the impudent captain intimidated us and put us all in the cabin. It was only this morning that we were released, and after disarming us, they announced that the ship had been taken by the revolutionaries, and that we who wished to join them could remain on board, and that the rest, including me, had to drift about the sea in this poor little boat until we ran into you! ”

"I am very honored that it was this submarine that attacked you last night! The battleship you were on was also hit by one of our torpedoes, wasn't it? Wolf looked at the Russian ensign with a mocking smile.

The Russian lieutenant's head pulled down weakly, "I think so, we heard a very loud explosion last night, and we thought the ship was sinking, but then nothing happened!" As we were being thrown off the boat, I saw a big hole in the waterline on the side of the ship! ”

"How long have you been away from that ship? Also, do you know how fast that ship is now? Wolf suddenly felt that it was getting interesting.

"About three hours, damn it, Captain, can you give me some water? Those revolutionaries didn't even give us a sip of water! ”

After a while, the German sailor took a kettle and handed it to the Russian, and he took a big sip before he continued: "I am a cavalryman, and I have no idea about the speed of a warship, I only know that its current speed is about less than half of yesterday's!" It's slowly sailing eastward! ”

"Ensign, thank you for the information, I will send a submarine to tow your boat back to the fleet! Pray that there will be no rain or strong winds during this time! Wolf felt that his opportunity had come, and that he might still have hope of catching up with the Russian battleship.

"Well, Captain, good luck too! Give me a good lesson about the revolutionary parties! I think there is one more piece of information that will be of great interest to you, that battleship is not yet officially commissioned, and it is full of poor novices, and the number is far from full strength! Chikalkin said with a smirk, a look that disgusted Wolf, but he politely sent the Russians away.

"Let U-046 drag these poor Russians back to the fleet! U-054 followed us after that Russian battleship! Based on the description of the Russians, Wolf calculated that he would be able to catch up with the Russian ships before evening, and it might not be that long.

"Captain, Captain Zandi, the captain of the U-054, sent a signal, and he asked if we were sure we were going to chase a Russian battleship?" The signalman reported to Wolf with a wry smile.

"Tell Captain Zandi that we're chasing a lame Russian battleship!"

A few minutes later, U-051 and U-054 were like two sharp canning knives, cutting two narrow gaps in the calm blue water, and quickly cleaving the waves to the east, while the U-046 dragged a long tail with several lifeboats attached to it towards the northwest port of Pokhara.

The battleship Gangut, which had escaped from the clutches of U-051 the night before, was sailing about 100 nautical miles west of St. Petersburg. After being filled with hundreds of tons of seawater, the high-speed battleship, which could reach a top speed of 25 knots, had become staggering like an old woman. Despite the damage to the battleship, the Russian sailors above were in high spirits, as they were rushing towards the embrace of the revolution. No one would have imagined that two German submarines were chasing after each other like piranhas smelling of blood.

Afterwards, Wolf recalled his seemingly crazy order to capture the battleship by submarine: "It was our perseverance that allowed us to catch up with and capture the Russian battleship, which, after less than two months of repairs, would become a useful member of the German Navy and the Baltic Fleet." ”

At 4 p.m. on October 2, smoke from the chimney of the battleship Gangut appeared in the sight of Wolf and the German sailors, and Captain Wolf immediately gave the order that U-051 and U-054 maintain their surface course and cut diagonally from the right side to the front of the Russian battleship's course.

At 5 p.m., U-051 and U-054 came in front of the battleship Gangut after making a half-circle at sea, and had not yet been aware of them by the Russians as they had maintained a distance of more than 5 nautical miles from the Russian battleship.

On the battleship "Gangut", the old captain sat calmly in the command room with a pipe in his mouth, and Sergeant Zakhwagi tried to get in touch with St. Petersburg with a transmitter, but he and the others were so busy that they could only receive and not send it, and he finally had to walk back to the command room in a huff.

"Captain, we still can't get in touch with St. Petersburg, and now we can only receive telegrams from there! Just don't be attacked by your own people when you're close to the port! Zakhwagki said with a look of frustration.

The old captain still looked calmly into the distance, "Sergeant, don't worry, let's just hang a red flag on the mast!" Didn't you say that the flag of your revolutionary party is red? ”

"But we don't have a red flag in our hands!" After Zakhwagi finished speaking, he patted his head and laughed: "It's not difficult to find something to make a side!" ”

Just as the battleship "Gangut" was getting closer and closer to the German submarine lurking in the water, a red flag rose on top of the mast.

"Red flag?" Wolff spotted this move of the Gangut from the periscope, and he quickly remembered the order: "If the other side declares itself a Russian revolutionary, then try to avoid exchanging fire with them, and detain or expel them!" The symbol of the revolutionary party: the red flag! ”

Just then, U-054 sent a telegram: "Ambush and sink it? ”

Without much thought, Captain Wolf immediately gave the order that made him famous throughout the army: "No, ambush and capture it!" ”

The Russian sailors standing on the bow deck and side of the "Gangut" were horrified to see the sea water suddenly boiling a hundred meters in front of them, and then a huge black object appeared in the water, which had the size of a whale and dark skin, and an even larger and stronger back, and a column of black vulture crusaders soon fluttered on its low flagpole. Just when the Russian sailors were stunned and at a loss, the German sailors in gray-black military uniforms quickly opened the hatch and jumped out, and one of them swaggered on the submarine control tower and waved the flag: "Don't fire, we ask to stop the ship and talk!" ”

The old captain stood on the bridge and watched this scene in amazement, and after thinking about it for a few minutes, he agreed to the request of the German submarine, ordered his own battleship to stop advancing, and invited the opposing captain to his battleship.

Both expected and somewhat unexpected, the old captain watched as Captain Wolf boarded his ship with only one sailor. The Russian sailors stood on both sides of the passage with their weapons clenched, but there was no nervous expression on Wolf's face, and he went straight to the majestic bridge of the battleship, walked up to the old captain and offered a military salute.

"Hello, Captain Wolff, captain of the German submarine force U-051, greets you!"

The old captain talked to Captain Wolf with the help of a sailor interpreter brought by Wolff, while Sergeant Zakhwagi stood next to the old captain and listened.

"Dear German Captain, I would like to know if the purpose of your trip is to ask us for help?"

Wolf shook his head, "No, we're here to take over this ship!" ”

The old captain was stunned for a moment, and then laughed, "Mr. Captain, you are joking!" One thing I must state is that this battleship is currently under the control of the Russian Revolutionaries, and we are no longer part of the navy of the Tsarist Empire! ”

"That's why we didn't fire torpedoes at this battleship! I'm sure you've all experienced the power of those torpedoes yesterday, and it was my submarine that attacked you yesterday! Wolf said calmly, obviously surprised.

A few seconds later, Wolf added: "Last night we fired a total of three torpedoes, two of which hit the destroyer, one hit your battleship, and then you turned around and ran away!" ”

Soon the old captain's face returned to calm, "I see, I didn't expect us to be injured by the submarine led by such a young captain!" But as you can see, our battleship is now on course in the sea! ”

"To be exact, sail at an extremely slow speed, and the generals know very well that it will be difficult for you to avoid torpedoes at this speed! The order of our superiors is to avoid the exchange of fire as much as possible when encountering a warship controlled by the revolutionary party of your country, and to seize it! Wolf raised the pitch to the last sentence, and here he deliberately omitted the command to "expel him."

"Uh...... Thanks to the mercy of your navy! But you are on our ship, and your submarine is under our fire, so why should we surrender our guns to you? The old captain smiled slyly.

"Your Excellency, first, my submarine is now only a few meters away from this battleship, and not a single gun on this battleship can hit my submarine; Second, we are not the only submarine in the vicinity of this battleship, there is another battleship that is monitoring the battleship under the surface. I have already given them an order to sink this battleship with a torpedo in the event of any abnormality, without concern for our safety! Wolf paused and said in an emphatic tone: "I vouch for the honor of the German Navy that everything I say is true!" For the sake of the lives of all the officers and men on this battleship, you have no choice! ”

The old captain became silent, and Zakhwagki suddenly leaned down and whispered in his ear:

"Earlier we received a telegram from the revolutionary command, in which the superior asked the warships that had already revolted to avoid any kind of conflict with the German Navy as much as possible! I'm afraid we can't detain the German captain or sink his submarine! ”

The old captain's eyes suddenly widened, and after a few seconds, he deflated like a ball that had been deflated, "Well, Dear Mr. Captain, from now on, this battleship will be taken over and seized by your navy!" I hope that not a single Russian will be harmed during this period! ”

"Of course, I'll vouch for this with my life!" It was only then that Wolf felt his heart beating desperately, and joy and excitement rushed over him.

After this, 10 sailors from each U-051 and U-054 boarded the Russian battleship, and the submarine also dived in turns for safety. In this way, the strange mixed fleet slowly turned around and headed westward, and it was not until the German cruisers that had come to support them arrived in the middle of the night that the German sailors on the submarines and Russian battleships were relieved.

Finally, after raising the red flag at the Pokhara naval base, the German Baltic Fleet began to return with the captured battleship "Gangut". In the battle on October 2, the German Navy suffered seven sailors wounded in the morning artillery battle alone, while the Russians not only lost more than 100,000 tons of naval ships and tens of thousands of naval officers and men, but also a large number of members of the royal family and princes and nobles.

A week later, the Russian Commander, Rear Admiral Kudrin, and more than 700 sailors on board were repatriated to Russia shortly after, and the battleship "Gangut" officially joined the battle sequence of the German Baltic Fleet and was renamed "Poseidon" after 50 days of repairs and refits at the Königsberg shipyard.