"Lieutenant Tosten, could you please tell us more about the morning of October 2, 1914, when you led your team to bomb the Russian naval base in Pokhala?"

Lieutenant Tosten, a 25-year-old Navy pilot, fiddled nervously with his military cap with his hands, his brown hair gave him a malnourished look, and his octopus-like slender body made one wonder how he managed to curl up in the cramped cabin of the plane.

This was a special investigation in the German Navy, because a previous battle involved a group of very important people, and the cautious attention of the officers made the atmosphere somewhat solemn, which made Tosten feel very uncomfortable.

"God can testify that I had no idea that the Emperor of Russia was on that pier!" Scratching his hair vigorously, Tosten began to recall that calm but extraordinary morning:

"Between 6 and 7 a.m. on October 2, we attacked the Russian fleet and fired our fleet! To be honest, the firepower of those Russian battleships is really fierce! At about 7:20 a.m. we returned to the fleet, by which time the Russian fleet had left us and was heading for the harbor. At 8 o'clock, I and the other five planes in my flight team were hoisted into the water from the seaplane carriers 'Ringer' and 'Torrential Rain' after refueling and ammunition. I was flying a 'Exocet III' seaplane with the number P-297. God, we have more than enough planes for the Baltic Fleet! I really envy those guys on the aircraft carrier, after the 'Prince' is commissioned, I must apply to be a carrier-based aircraft pilot on it! You know, it's unbearable to be hoisted from the boat to the water every time! ”

"Oh! I'm sorry! Belch...... I remember that at about 8:10 a.m., my P-297 was the first to fly out of the water, followed by P-299, P-300, P-301, P-302, P-303, and we were in formation over the fleet five minutes later. Poor P-296 and P-298 had malfunctioned during the flight the day before, and they had to obediently stay on the mothership. ”

"According to the arrangement of the fleet, this time our planes were loaded with all torpedoes, yes, 6 torpedoes! We have no other weapons than machine guns on airplanes that can be used for ground attacks! At 8:03 a.m., we had already flown to the Russian port of Pokhala, and at that time several Russian warships were approaching the port, and I saw a battery on the west side of the port, and two on the east side, both on the hills on both sides, and it seemed to be in a good location. Although we flew very low, almost at an altitude parallel to those batteries, the Russians did not fire at us, and perhaps they did not react at all. ”

"I saw more than 20 Russian warships of all sizes moored in the harbor, including the three big guys from the fleet that fought with us before! The dock is full of people, and it looks like it's a welcome ceremony! The Russians are so stupid, our fleet is not far away, and they are still holding a welcome ceremony, densely packed with thousands of people all standing on the slippery docks. I always regret not bringing a bomb with me, one bomb is enough to bring down a large number of Russians! ”

"To my surprise and my pilot, the Russians on the dock were divided into two camps, each with guns pointed at the other, and we didn't know what was going on there in the air, it seemed that the Russians themselves were making trouble! I didn't care so much, and then gave the order to attack freely! ”

"When our planes circled in the air looking for a suitable target, the Russians on the dock didn't seem to panic, they simply didn't pay attention to us. When we didn't know the depth of the water in the harbor, we had to keep the plane as low as possible so that the torpedo would not fall into the mud and sand at the bottom of the water! My plane descended to a height of less than 10 meters, and it flew almost in the middle of the masts of Russian battleships, and if I wasn't careful, I would crash into those damn masts. ”

"Finally, I dropped the torpedo about 1,000 yards from the Russian battleship docked, which was a bit far away, but I had no worries about the hit rate of the battleship at anchor. Then I pulled up the plane and flew over the battleship! I could even hear the screams of the Russians on the battleship, and then with a loud bang, the torpedo hit the battleship! ”

"When I flew back to the dock again, I couldn't believe my eyes - there was a mess on the dock, the Russians themselves were fighting, and I even saw the Russians on the other side of the dock shoot the Russians approaching the battleship with machine guns, it was so funny! What's even more exaggerated is that the Russian warships in the harbor also fought! I really don't know what kind of day it is, the Russians are either crazy or stupid and desperately fire at their own people! ”

"The other planes of our squad have also dropped their torpedoes, two of which hit the Russian battleship docked on the dock, but they did not hit its vital point, if it hit its ammunition depot, the whole ship would be blown up like a toy, in fact our torpedoes only made two openings on its port side. There were also 2 torpedoes that hit the Russian battleship that was docking, and 2 more were actually missed, I have already punished those two pilots well, they are really a disgrace to the Navy! ”

"We continued to hover over the harbor after the bomb was dropped, and we did not continue to attack, and there was no need to continue the attack, because the Russians seemed to be fighting fiercely. What surprised me the most was that the Russian batteries in the harbor actually fired at the Russian warships in the channel, which was the most exciting and wonderful scene I have ever seen in my life. I saw a Russian battleship lift a battery more than 3,000 meters away into the sky with a salvo, and the power was amazing! ”

"It's so chaotic in the harbor that I don't know which side has the upper hand. One of the three super-heavyweight Russian battleships had already left the port, and the battleship that had been hit by my torpedo slowly left the dock after a few minutes. Another battleship, which was hit by a torpedo dropped by other aircraft, was not so lucky, it leaned so badly to its left side that it could not set sail again. ”

"Two destroyers were damaged in the channel, but instead of blocking the channel, they leaned diagonally to the side of the channel. At this time, the whole harbor was filled with smoke and flames, and the Russians themselves made a mess of the port. We see the original Russian battleship coming out of the smoke, slowly heading in the channel, strangely at this time the Russian batteries did not shoot at it, but it kept firing at the batteries on both sides with its main guns, and by the time it left the port, the Russian batteries in the port of Pokhara were basically incapacitated! ”

"Most of the Russian warships were wounded or sunk in the harbor, and only two battleships left the port of Pokhara. We returned after that, but before we could refill our fuel and ammo again, they sank! An hour later, we flew to the port of Pocara for the last time, and it was already dead! ”

Several officers glanced at each other, "Lieutenant Tosten, thank you very much for your cooperation, if there is a problem, we will look for you again!" You're good to go! ”

Tosten breathed a sigh of relief, got up to leave, and when he reached the door, he turned again and asked:

"So is the Russian emperor dead?"

In another room, the captain of the German Baltic Fleet submarine U-049, Major Brack, was under the same investigation.

"Major Braque, could you please elaborate on the ambush of the Russian fleet by your submarine formation off the port of Pocara on the morning of October 2, 1914?"

The 29-year-old Captain Braque has long golden hair, the pure golden yellow is enviable, and his long life in the Navy has made him a strong body, coupled with a handsome face and a straight naval cadet uniform, if he appears at any banquet, he will definitely make many noble ladies fall in love.

"My submarine formation is composed of my U-049 and U-021, U-030, and U-059, and our submarines are all Sea Shark II submarines produced by the Königsberg Submarine Shipyard, with a surface speed of 15 knots, a speed of 8 knots in the water, and a cruising speed of 4 knots, and the armament on board is two torpedo tubes in the bow, one stern torpedo tube, one 77-mm rapid-fire gun on the foredeck, and two twin "Firebird" light machine guns in the rear of the conning tower. ”

"The submarine formation departed from the military port of Königsberg with the fleet in the early morning of 1 October, and our submarines were all towed by the destroyers of the fleet, and the whole fleet arrived at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in the evening of the same day. At 7 p.m., U-051, which was on a surveillance and raid mission in the Gulf of Finland region, sent a telegram saying that it had spotted a Russian fleet with 4 battleships setting sail from St. Petersburg. Soon after, the flagship, the Essen, signaled that the entire fleet was heading east at full speed, while we were still towed by the destroyer. ”

"The Russian fleet was not very fast, so U-051 kept following them and sent us directions. After a night's course, at 6 a.m. on October 2, we met the Russian fleet outside the port of Pokhala! Our fleet was 22 nautical miles southwest of Pokala, and the Russian fleet was 25 nautical miles southeast of Pokala, about 20 nautical miles apart from each other, after which our seaplanes took off. ”

"From 6:40 a.m., the two fleets exchanged fire for about 35 minutes, and we had one of our battleships hit, and so did the opposing side! A signal was then sent from the flagship of the fleet, the Essen, asking the submarine formation to advance alone towards the port of Pocara and to lay an ambush outside the port. At 7:25, the destroyer loosened the cable, and then all four submarines of the submarine formation turned around and headed for the port of Pocarra at a maximum surface speed of 15 knots. ”

"At a distance of 10 nautical miles from the port of Pocara, my submarine formation stopped, and then fanned out outside the port. At about 8:40 a.m., the fleet's seaplanes flew over us, and they flew all the way into the port of Pocara. Near 9 o'clock, there was a sudden explosion in the harbor, followed by the sound of cannon fire, which became more and more intense, and we initially thought that our seaplane had done it. But not long after, we discovered that the Russian batteries in the harbor were firing at their own warships! ”

"I think the Russians must be crazy, or we have a collective hallucination of our eyes. The shelling and explosions in the harbor continued for half an hour, and at 9:25 a.m., a Russian battleship was the first to burst out of the harbor, firing at the batteries on both sides of the harbor! The power of the salvo was so amazing that a volley of fiery red shells flew straight to a nearby battery, and then an earth-shattering explosion occurred at one of the batteries. I can't believe that our fleet was fighting such ships before! At that time, I made up my mind that I must sink such a powerful Russian battleship. ”

"So I signaled to the other submarines, and our submarines dived into the water and headed for the Russian battleship. The Russian battleship did not rush out of the harbor and circled around the harbor under the fire of the batteries. After about 10 minutes, we found another equally large battleship slowly moving out of the harbor, its main guns also firing at the Russian batteries on both sides of the harbor, which were finally reduced to rubble. After that, no Russian warships sailed out of the harbor. ”

"The two Russian battleships soon formed a two-ship formation outside the harbor, and the one that came out of the rear appeared to be damaged, the waterline was noticeably closer to the deck than the one in front, and the speed was slower. The last two ships were heading west at about 15 knots, but unfortunately my U-049 was on their course, and U-030 and U-059 were not far away, so we decided to ambush them! ”

"At 10 o'clock with 2 minutes to go, the U-030 fired two torpedoes at the uninjured Russian battleship at a distance of 800 yards, the Russians tried to evade it, but both torpedoes hit it."

"At 10 o'clock sharp, U-059 fired two torpedoes at a distance of 900 yards on the other side of the same battleship, and the Russians did not evade it, and the torpedoes all hit it!"

"At 10:01 a.m., I gave the order to fire a torpedo when I was 650 yards from another Russian battleship, and the battleship could not dodge our torpedo, and about half a minute later there was a violent explosion inside it, and the whole battleship became a large fireball, and a violent vibration could be felt in the submarine. I guess there was an explosion at its ammunition depot! ”

"At 10:20 a.m., U-030 made up two more torpedoes on the Russian battleship in front. By 10:30 a.m., both Russian battleships had sunk into the sea. After this, we surfaced and rescued the Russians who had fallen overboard with the main force of the fleet. At this flagship, a small Russian destroyer sailed out of the harbor, but was driven back by our cruiser! ”

The officer opposite Major Braque put down the pen in his hand, stood up and exchanged a military salute with the major, and said, "Major, thank you very much for your active cooperation, if you have any other questions, we may have to trouble you again!" Now you're good to go! ”

As Braque walked to the door, he remembered a very important question:

"I don't know if I should ask, but I'd like to know if Nicholas II is still alive?"

Finally, in the office of the interim commander of the Baltic Fleet, Rear Admiral Yanich, the Rear Admiral was also subjected to a special investigation.

"At 11 p.m. on September 30, I received a telegram from His Royal Highness the Prince, asking the fleet to be on alert and ready to set sail at any time. The next day, October 1, at 5 a.m., I received an order to go to the mouth of the Gulf of Finland and arrived there in the evening of the same day! ”

"At 7 p.m., our submarine U-051 reported that a Russian fleet of 4 battleships, 8 destroyers, and 4 coastal defense ships had sailed out of St. Petersburg and headed west. Then I led the fleet towards the Russian fleet. At 11:30 p.m., submarine U-051 reported that a battleship and a destroyer had broken away from the Russian fleet, presumably due to a breakdown. The U-051 then attacked the two Russian warships that had fallen behind, and the Russian destroyer was sunk, but the Russian battleship fled at full speed after being wounded, and the U-051 did not encounter it again! ”

"At 6 a.m. on October 2, my fleet encountered the Russian fleet outside the port of Pokhara. I sent six seaplanes to reconnoitre, attack, and calibrate, and they did a good job, not only sinking two destroyers, but also providing effective guidance for the fleet's artillery fire. However, we encountered a Russian fleet with 3 Russian 'Gangut' class battleships, and the firepower of one damn battleship was equal to the firepower of our entire fleet! Fortunately, the three ships had just been launched, and their combat effectiveness had not yet reached 100 percent. ”

"Our fleet and the other side engaged in long-distance firing for more than half an hour, and both the enemy and us had a warship that was shot, and the losses on both sides were not large. After that, the Russian fleet headed straight for the port of Pokhara, and while I ordered the fleet to turn, I sent 4 submarines to the port of Pokhara to ambush! I had hoped to force the Russian warships out with aviation and then break them down one by one as they sailed out of port, but my aviation reported that after they dropped torpedoes in the harbor, the Russians fought themselves. ”

"As I had guessed, the tsarist and revolutionary forces in the harbor were fighting, and the battle was so fierce that I could feel it on the battleships 20 nautical miles from the port. In the end, only 2 Russian battleships sailed out of the harbor, and before I could lead the main force of the fleet to arrive, our submarines in ambush had already sunk them, and one of them exploded violently. According to the Russian captives, the battleship that exploded was the battleship Sevastopol, in which Nicholas II was riding. They say that the Russian Revolutionary Party hijacked the Russian Emperor on the docks, and that while our planes were attacking the harbor and causing chaos, their guards rescued the Tsar back on board. ”

"As for the whereabouts of the Tsar, none of the captives knew about it, neither saw the Tsar fleeing, nor did anyone see the Tsar's body. In the ensuing search, only a few dozen sailors on the aft deck of the battleship survived, and most of the officers and soldiers and palace nobles did not survive! After the violent explosion, the bodies of those people had become almost unrecognizable, so we believe that the Tsar's family was dead. Due to the unknown situation in the port of Pokhara, I did not rush into the port with the fleet, but blocked and cruised outside the port! ”

The officers of the Special Investigation Team closed their notebooks, "Your Excellency, thank you very much for your cooperation!" If you still need it, we will ask you again! We say goodbye, goodbye! ”

On October 3, 1914, the Russian Revolutionary Party led by Lenin announced the establishment of a Provisional Revolutionary Government and made Moscow the seat of the Provisional Government.

On October 7, 1914, the Russian Provisional Revolutionary Government announced that the Tsar and his wife had been killed in a naval battle off the port of Pokala five days earlier. Subsequently, the German government issued a statement expressing regret and condolences for this tragedy, and at the same time repeatedly stated that the German navy had attacked the Tsar's ship without knowing it, and expressed its willingness to return the recovered remains of the royal family members to the Russian government.