Northern England, in the waters near Scapavolo Anchorage, underwater. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Through the sea water at a depth of more than ten meters, the bright sunlight is sharply reduced to a faint light. In this hidden environment given by nature, man-made mechanical objects with an outline similar to a barracuda and a pitch-black body are in a stable state of suspension - stealth ability, one-hit attack skills, and ruthless war missions, the U-boat loyal to the German Emperor is the most dangerous sea killer of this era!

At this moment, the German submarines painted with battle numbers on the side walls of the conning towers were as quiet and patient as sharks ambushing their prey. If you look beyond their double hard shells, you can see crews in boat-shaped hats and dark uniforms going about their business. Although they have been lurking underwater for a long time, they are not as muddy and smelly as the submarines of Britain and France. In order to provide the necessary air for the survival of the crew and the operation of the equipment, the long round tubes and periscopes extend side by side towards the sea, and the undulating waves make it difficult for the observer on the surface of the sea to see the optical equipment and dimple-shaped tracheal vents at the top of the tubes, which are only slightly larger than the canning box...... Thanks to this primitive but effective underwater aerator, German submarines with a displacement of 500 to 700 tons and a crew of 40 to 50 people have not surfaced since dawn. In the embryonic stage of anti-submarine technology, it was difficult for the British Navy's cruisers or the occasional British airships to detect these extremely dangerous lurkers, so that the British felt that the vicinity of Scapaflo's anchorage was safe, or at least not closely monitored, but it backfired, and the advance ships of their home fleet had just sailed out of the channel when a pair of cold eyes noticed this vital track.

On one of the U-boats, German officers in the command room worked together to observe, record, and calibrate.

"Bearing ......"

“4-6。”

"Azimuth 4-6, distance 10000+, ship shadow 3, preliminary estimate of cruiser."

After speaking, the submarine commander, who was wearing a military cap, leaned sideways to give up the observation position of the periscope, and his partner, who was of the same age and slightly lower rank, made up for it, and after careful observation, affirmed the judgment of the former.

"The duty level has been upgraded to the second level, and the duty officers are at their posts to ensure that our warships can be operated at any time."

Different from the later image of a submarine captain who was typified by a beard, this submarine commander who ordered in a righteous voice had to be neatly haired and cleanly dressed, he wore a standard straight-line upper lip mustache, a slim short-placket uniform, Western-style trousers with straight trouser legs, and spotless round scalp shoes, showing the elegance, conciseness, and calm temperament of a professional officer.

As soon as the military order was issued, the crew members on duty quickly and rigorously checked the equipment for which they were responsible. These energetic German sailors either wore shiny three-and-seven-minute hair, or they had lean short hair. Unlike the white summer coats of the surface fleet, the summer uniforms issued by the dive fleet are still dark blue tones, and the use of breathable and sweat-wicking cotton fabrics allows the crew to be in the best physiological condition for a variety of combat missions.

After about half an hour, a buzzing mechanical noise could be heard faintly outside the hull, and the submarine commander ordered the periscope to be put away until the hum had died away. This time, after only two glances, he said in a louder voice:

"Bearing ......"

“4-5。” His partner reads the angle reading from the back position of the periscope.

"Azimuth 4-5, distance 10,000+, ship shadow 10+, find enemy surface warship group, there are large ships!"

A slight excitement could be heard in the calm voice, and the atmosphere in the small submarine command room suddenly changed.

"The number of shadows is 20+, and the ships on the voyage are more than that, it seems to be the British home fleet!"

After that, the submarine commander, who was in his early thirties at most, gave up his observation position with a blazing gaze, and his partner tacitly took over the observation and confirmed the former's visual results.

After waiting patiently for a while, the figure of the ship observed through the periscope increased to the extent that the model could be distinguished, and the two submarine officers and their staff officers were busy with the latest Navy-issued illustrated books of various countries:

"The left column should be the Bellerophon class and its improved model - the St. Vincent class, the first model built in batches after the British Navy entered the dreadnought era, their common appearance is that there is only one twin main turret on the foredeck, one on each side of the port, two stacked on the rear deck, both 12-inch guns, the number of ships in service is 3 of the Palerophon class, 3 of the St. Vincent class, 5 of which are observed here, and the other may be in reserve, or hidden behind other ships, or it may not have sailed due to malfunction or other reasons."

"The middle column is 2 Giant-class ships and 4 Orion-class, the former is characterized by an asymmetrical configuration of five twin main guns - one on the foredeck, one each on the port side forward and starboard aft, and two on the aft deck; The latter's five twin main turrets were all arranged along the central axis, with two on the fore and two on the fore deck and one on the amidships, and the caliber of the main guns was upgraded from 12 inches to 13 inches. 5 inch ...... What a powerful guy! ”

"On the right are the George V class and its enhanced version, the Iron Duke class, the six most powerful ships in service in the British Navy. 2。 50,000 tons of displacement, assembly 13. With 5-inch heavy guns and five twin main turrets all arranged along the central axis, the main gun firepower of such a fleet was several times more powerful than that of the Japanese and Russian fleets that had been engaged in the Battle of Tsushima ten years earlier. ”

"At the far end of the left fleet should be the reserve of the British fleet, and the dreadnought should be able to see the three forward twin main turrets from the front, and if I were the commander of the fleet, I would certainly put this epoch-making battleship at the top of the left column, and let it enjoy the courtesy it deserves, even if it is the glory of the sunk...... Behind it, there were almost a dozen old battleships, which were on the same level as our Braunschweig-class and German-class, but unfortunately they no longer had the ability to decide the victory or defeat of the sea, and this era did not belong to them......"

"Second class armored cruiser...... 11 units, small cruisers of the third rank...... 17 or 18 ships, torpedo boat destroyers...... More than 50 ships, and about 10 service ships, what a huge auxiliary lineup, what a strong material base, this is the glory of the world empire...... Come on, man, take a good look at this scene, and hopefully in a few years' time, we'll be able to see the same spectacle in Kiel Bay! Telegraph man, send a first-class cipher telegram to the command, which reads as follows: U-21 is in sight of the British Grand Fleet at the DK position southeast of the Scappaflo anchorage, and preliminary observations are B1, B2×5, B3×6, B4×6, V9×2, V10×4, V12×4, V13×1, VL×18, C×50, G×10, airships and observation balloons are visible over the fleet. ”

After singing a one-man show, the submarine commander with a mustache on his lips could not see a sense of relief, he left the periscope position, frowned slightly, stroked his nose with his right hand, and hung his head slightly to think about something.

After a while, the submarine officer who took over the observation said: "Sir, the number of large ships is fine, I have observed 13 cruisers of the second class, 17 cruisers of the third class, 49 torpedo boat destroyers, most of them new ships of 1,000 tons, and one of the service ships is a seaplane carrier. ”

"Oh?" When the submarine commander heard this, he stared at it, and after a moment's pause, said to the telegrapher: "Send a first-class coded telegram to the command: the first report of the correction - a CLV has been discovered, the type is unknown, and it is at the end of the fleet. ”

With that, he turned to his partner and said, "Judging from the current position and course of the British fleet, it is likely that the left column will pass within our torpedo range, and it would be nice if we were allowed to attack freely." Just sink one, and we will immediately become the hero of the German Navy; Two ships, tsk ......"

The submarine officer felt the same way, but this mission had a clear prohibition, he first smiled bitterly, and then had an idea: "Why don't you ask the headquarters for instructions?" ”

The submarine commander thought for a moment, turned to look at the telegraph operator, and saw that his work of sending the telegram was not yet finished, so he walked briskly, picked up the paper and pen for receiving and interpreting the telegram, wrote a sentence on it quickly, showed it to the telegraph operator, and whispered: "Add it at the end." ”

The telegraph operator's fingertips were constantly firing ciphers, and he nodded in understanding.

All the officers could do was watch and wait, and as time went on, their mood gradually increased the element of anxiety, knowing that the reason why the submarine was able to receive telegrams in the water was entirely because of the special antennas installed on the periscope rods, and if the enemy ship approached and there was a risk of detection, they would have to put away the periscopes, and radio communication with the outside world would be cut off.

In the midst of the troubled wait for the submarine officer to raise his hand again and again to look at his watch, the telegraph operator suddenly began to write on scratch paper with a pen, and the last apprehension and anticipation ended in a minute. Without waiting for the telegraph operator to speak, the submarine commander took the scratch paper from his newly raised hand, scanned it with his head down, and read it carefully word by word, with no joy in his eyes, no obvious sense of loss, but an accident.

Reading the telegram handed by his partner, the submarine officer reacted almost in the same way.

Returning to the periscope position, the submarine commander turned the observation angle of the periscope with both hands on the handle, and his eyes skimmed over the majestic and majestic steel giants, searching for the inconspicuous shadow of the ship in the tail of this huge fleet.

The result was a three-chimney ship with neither sharp bows, slender hulls, nor armaments, and heavy defenses, with high and narrow fore and aft decks, low and wide middle decks, and full amidships, which facilitated loading and unloading of cargo rather than speed at sea. Such ships abound on the transatlantic commercial routes, and appear cumbersome and out of place in the lineup of the combat fleet, and the pontoon-type seaplanes on the deck only add an unstable and reliable means of reconnaissance to the fleet's operations, which can only be known to those with a truly discerning eye.

Is it more important to sink it than to take out a capital battleship?

The young and steady submarine commander was full of suspicion.

(End of chapter)