In the view of later generations, the most outstanding in World War II was Germany's submarine force, which is understandable, after all, the wolves in the Atlantic really annoyed the Allies for a long time.

However, if we talk about the scale of submarines, in fact, the USSR was much stronger.

On the eve of World War II, the underwater fleet of the Soviet Navy was already the largest in the world, with twice as many submarines as the United States and almost four times as many as the German Navy.

There is also a reason for this, although the Soviet Union straddled the Eurasian continent and had multiple outlets to the sea, it was limited by its geographical location, and the Soviet Union could not compete for control of the ocean. The USSR had free access to the high seas only in two areas, the Arctic Ocean and the Far East, but neither of them had the conditions for the full deployment of naval infrastructure. The rest is closed seas, such as the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea.

Therefore, the development of an underwater fleet is the only logical decision compared to the surface fleet, which costs a lot of money. Due to the relatively low cost of construction, it is possible to build a force strong enough to play an important role in the maritime theater.

In fact, in World War II, the submarine forces of the Soviet Navy also had certain results, but these results were covered up under the glory of German wolf pack tactics and disappeared into the long river of history.

And now, the surface ships of the Black Sea Fleet have suffered huge losses, and they can only retaliate by underwater forces, as long as the location of the German fleet is known, they can easily strike at the German fleet!

If you set out now, you will reach the vicinity of the German fleet at night, and if you do so, you will suffer great losses to the German Navy!

On the surface of the sea, the wind and waves are not large, the wave height is less than half a meter, in the waves, the M-class submarine breaks the wind and waves, sails forward, and the M-98 on the conning tower is very eye-catching.

M, from Malyutka, means baby, so sometimes called baby-class submarines, this kind of submarine has a displacement of about 353 tons, if you look at its appearance, it is very similar to the early German submarines.

Yes, in the design of this submarine, the Germans received great help, and according to some agreements, Germany handed over the design of their Type IIA submarine to their Soviet counterparts as a cooperation during the honeymoon period.

Therefore, this submarine was built very quickly, and all kinds of properties satisfied the Soviet side, although the displacement was not high, but it was completely sufficient for cruising in such a sea area as the Black Sea, it was inexpensive and convenient to manufacture in large quantities.

So the USSR produced a large number of such submarines, and this M-98 submarine was the third of the first batch.

In the tub on the conning tower, Captain Bristov looked at the sea in the distance with a telescope, and next to him, the officer on duty was locating the submarine with a sextant.

The bathtub is a name for the top part of the control tower, during the voyage of the submarine, personnel will be arranged here to lookout, if the situation is not very urgent, the crew will take turns to come out to release the wind, but when the wind and waves are strong, there are often waves rolling here, so it also has the title of bathtub.

Now, in the distance, the German fleet is still far away, and Bristov-on-Don thinks about the recent battle report, and he feels that his task is extremely difficult.

The two diesel engines in the stern of the ship are still rumbling, the two diesel engines can only provide 600 horsepower of thrust, and the maximum speed of the submarine is only 15.5 knots, which can't help but make him a little anxious.

He turned to the left, and a few nautical miles to port on his port, the M-172 was sailing alongside him.

As he turned around, the other man was waving vigorously at him, looking at his old friend, and Bristov waved his hand as well.

Advance! The Black Sea Fleet will not admit defeat!

At the same time that one submarine after another was sailing forward in the wind and waves, the remaining bombers of the naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet also began to take off.

The German airborne troops observed the hidden airfields on the Crimean Peninsula, mainly to observe their bombers rising into the air to determine their position, and the bombers in these two bases, because they were not properly prepared, did not take off immediately when the order was given, but a few minutes later, when the false alarm came, they were just ready to take off.

Without lift-off, there was no exposure, and the German airborne forces, although they were at a distance of about fifty kilometers from their airfield, could not have detected their presence.

Now, on the contrary, they have survived, and at the same time, they have taken on an even more difficult task.

On the tarmac, the bombers, which had dispersed, were preparing for takeoff.

These bombers, all twin-engined Il-4, came from the DB-3, the original model was DB-3M, and soon after production was changed to DB-3F. In 1942, it was officially renamed Il-4. (For the sake of convenience, Huadong Zhixiong will now call it Il-4.) ）

Like the SB-2, this is also a medium-range bomber that the Soviet Union is heavily equipped with, with a simple, effective and reliable structure, a large bomb load, and its performance has been improved after the change of variable pitch propellers two years ago.

Now, too, they know the grave situation they are facing, and their task is daunting, but the Black Sea Fleet will not admit defeat.

One by one, the pilots were all in their bombers, preparing for takeoff, but on one of the Il-4s, the navigator and the machine gunner behind were already in place, but the pilot was not seen for a long time.

The ground crew was also quite anxious, standing on the starting car, looking into the distance, only to see a pilot in a flight suit, stumbling over.

Looking at this lieutenant, the ground crew immediately frowned, and soon, the lieutenant of the aviation of Trofim Kozlov ran over, floating under his feet, and a smell of vodka could be smelled from a distance.

"Comrade Lieutenant, can you still take off?" The ground crew asked.

The ground crew needs to maintain the aircraft, and now this lieutenant is like this, if the plane crashes, what if he relies on a mechanical accident and says that he has not maintained it well?

However, they are not as advanced as pilots, so they can only ask each other.

"Of course." Kozlov said, then staggered up the gangway and sat in his cockpit.

Seeing Kozlov like this, the ground crew had no choice but to prepare him for takeoff.

It's not the first time anyway.

The navigator in front also frowned. The crew members all know each other well, this Lieutenant Kozlov, who is usually very arrogant and bold, has a very good relationship with his comrades, but he is a heavy drinker!

It is understandable that Lao Maozi loves to drink, but ordinary people, during the battle, will secretly drink one or two sips at most, and it will be enjoyable, but Kozlov is different, he must have a good drink.