On a clear afternoon, a Portuguese-flagged merchant ship sails alone on the rippling sea. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 Info said goodbye to the beautiful and peaceful Azores, which is heading to the smoky and war-torn continent of Europe. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria, and Cyprus, the six major belligerent countries, accounted for two-thirds of Europe's population and land area, and since the war against France, Europe had never had a war of this scale, and the development of gun technology had caused the army to be attritioned at an unprecedented rate. In less than three months, more people have died on both sides of the war than in the last 100 years!

War means both killing and death, as well as opportunity and wealth. Even so, a large number of Allied ships still shuttled through the waters declared by the Germans, and many neutral merchant ships were secretly transporting supplies for the Allied powers, driven by their interests. At this time, the German Navy had already seized the initiative in the North Sea theater, and there was no need to resort to unlimited submarine warfare, so the German submarines had to have conclusive evidence that the neutral country ships had violated the neutrality laws before they could attack them, which gave the neutral ships carrying contraband the opportunity to escape at full speed before being stopped by the German submarines. However, with the entry of two notorious German assault ships, the Blucher and the Glaudenz, into the Atlantic, the chances of such a fluke became less and less. From mid-September to mid-October, the two attack ships intercepted a total of 42 neutral ships in the Atlantic Ocean, and all of them were boarded and inspected, and all 17 cargo ships carrying embargoed goods to the war zone were sunk after the crew was forcibly evacuated. The situation forced many neutral merchant ships carrying embargoed goods to take refuge in ports or transfer to neutral countries far from the war zone, resulting in a shortage of grain, fodder, and ore from major belligerents such as Britain and France, and the price of food rose sharply.

The merchant ship in front of us is a typical ocean-going cargo ship, with large tonnage, deep draft and fast speed, suitable for carrying bulk materials for transoceanic voyages, equipped with dozens of crew members. Despite the fine weather and calm weather, the crew of this ship had gloomy expressions, as if a deep fear had enveloped their hearts.

"Plumes of smoke found on the northern sea!"

The sound coming from the observation deck was like breaking a plate in a quiet dining room, and it immediately attracted everyone's unpleasant attention. Standing on the bridge in the middle of the hull, the middle-aged captain with a goatee walked out of the cockpit quickly, raised his large binoculars and looked north, a pair of bright thick eyebrows quickly furrowed.

"Two battleships...... Bad luck, we won't run into the Germans! ”

The sturdy first mate, in his mid-thirties, stood beside the captain, who opened his coat to reveal the revolver stuck in his belt, and muttered, "Are they the two German raiders that have suddenly lost news?" It's almost a thousand nautical miles from the northern route, so it's really cunning to jump out of the British Navy's encirclement and interception! ”

Before seeing each other's faces, the captain comforted himself: "Well, if we really run into those two German attack ships, we will definitely not be able to escape, but we can gamble on luck, as long as they don't find the brass hidden in the wood, we don't have to worry for the rest of our lives." ”

The first mate continued to stare at the sea, and after a moment, he suddenly laughed: "Hehe, those are two identical warships, and they will never be Don Quixote and his stupid servants!" ”

Don Quixote is a classic novel published in the 17th century, and the British seamen first compared the "Blucher" and "Gloudenz" to Don Quixote and his stupid servants to show their contempt and ridicule, but the British Navy never managed to take down these two "arrogant and ignorant" German warships, which in turn became a great irony for the British.

At the end of the line of sight, two gray figures of the same silhouette and size were speeding towards this direction, although the possibility that they were "Blucher" and "Glaudenz" could be ruled out, but the captain's face was not as relaxed as that of the first mate, and he stood motionless. In a short time, the crew of the ship learned the news that two warships were coming from the north, and those who were not at work came to the deck one after another, and they exchanged heads and ears, and their mood seemed very restless.

"If it's really Germans, before they board the ship for inspection, you must explain to the crew, let them stay as calm as possible, and don't miss out in front of the Germans." The captain commanded his fierce first mate, "Also, all the weapons have been hidden for me, and it is impossible for a gun to beat a cannon." ”

"Got it!" The first mate of the urn responded angrily.

When the two twin warships got closer, the people on board finally saw the flag on the mast through the binoculars: a white background, a black cross, and a black eagle with wings outstretched in the middle, and a black, red and yellow iron cross in the upper left corner.

This is the naval battle flag of the Second German Reich!

"Stop-stop-forward-advance-receive-receive-Germany-country-navy-military-inspection-inspection!"

When the captain read the code softly, there was silence on the bridge.

"It's actually an armored cruiser of the German Navy!" The first mate said with a glare.

"They can send us to the bottom of the sea with one shot, stop the ship and be inspected!" The captain commanded, both unexpectedly and helplessly, "Tell the operator to immediately send a telegram to Angra Sansseemo, and we have been intercepted by two German armored cruisers on our normal course." ”

"Wait, it's giving another command." The first mate interpreted word by word, "Forbidden-stop-you-ship-use-use-no-wire-electricity-no-then-open-cannon-hit-sink!" ”

The captain was dumbfounded, as he himself said, it was impossible for a gun to beat a gun, and the Portuguese cargo ship quickly slowed down, and the operator's fingers never touched the transmitter button as the German battleship approached.

Because of the sea breeze, the Portuguese flag on the mast did not fall, but it was so declining and lifeless in the face of the German naval battle flag, which was a lot higher than itself.

"Put down the motorboat, and the starboard secondary gun is on alert!"

On the majestic German armored cruiser "Scharnhorst", the captain of the ship, Colonel Schulz, directed his crew to board the ship through the microphone, while Count Spee leaned on the railing alone, quietly watching the Portuguese cargo ship in front of him.

On the starboard side of the battleship, the large crane on the ship turned outboard, and a transport motor boat was tied to the hook on it, and the crew slowly and steadily lowered it until the bottom was safely touched by the water, all of which were operated according to the sound of the ship's naval whistle.

From above, the whistle looked so small on the side of the battleship that it looked like a child's toy. In fact, the huge steel bulwarks of the armored cruiser were a full ten meters above the surface of the sea.

Under the guns of the German battleships, the Portuguese did not make any hostile moves. At the request of the Germans, after the ship stopped, everyone, including the cooks and stokers, went to the deck one by one, and there were people standing on the bridge, all of whom looked at the two mighty German battleships with curiosity and horror.

Two motorboats full of marines drove by, and as soon as they approached the freighter, the heavily armed German sailors showed their agility and quickly climbed up the deck along the rope ladder.

For a moment, the deck was filled with loud footsteps.

"Gneisenau" was on guard on the perimeter, and the "Scharnhorst" was eyeing the side. The German marines who boarded the ship quickly took control of the deck and wheelhouse of the Portuguese merchant ship, they were received politely by the well-dressed captain, and all the crew members remained on deck obediently, and everything seemed to be normal. After a while, the marines who boarded the ship sent a signal through a small flag: the ship was a Portuguese cargo ship Faro, with a total registered tonnage of 7,240 tons, carrying 4,850 tons of logs from Halifax, Canada, to Lisbon, Portugal.

Schultz quipped: "Five thousand tons of logs are enough to make hundreds of thousands of sets of tables and chairs, or a three-story sail battleship." ”

Count Spee said lightly: "The Iberian Peninsula produces high-quality beech and oak, so why bother to import logs from Canada?" ”

Schultz understood, and he immediately asked the communications officer to send a signal to the officers who boarded the ship: Strictly inspect the cargo!

As long as you have the heart to do it, no matter how strict the camouflage is, you can see through it. After more than half an hour, several German sailors returned to the deck with yellow lumpy metal, and there was a small commotion among the Portuguese crew.

On the opposite battleship, Count Spee snorted softly, and Schultz immediately ordered the soldiers on board to drive all the crew to the lifeboat. The Portuguese, apparently aware of the fate of their cargo ship, and that it would be good to be able to save their lives in such a situation, had no choice but to lower the Portuguese flag from the flagpole and obediently leave in a number of paddle lifeboats.

On the starboard side of the "Scharnhorst", the large crane began to work again. With another whistle blowing, the motorboat was lifted out of the water, along with the Marines on it. Gradually, the steamboat rose to level with the main deck, and after a few seconds it rose above the deck again, and staggered up to the middle of the warship, moving horizontally for some distance into the open garage. Eventually, with a heavy thud, the motorboat came to rest on the skids in the garage.

"Accelerate to 18 knots, course due west!"

With the order of Count Spee, the 10,000-ton body of the "Scharnhorst" vibrated slightly, and it quickly drew an arc beautifully, and the bow of the ship proudly pointed to the direction of the Azores, and the 150 mm secondary guns on the ship had already aimed at the waterline position of the Portuguese cargo ship. The hapless Portuguese merchant ship capsized quickly, apparently because the logs in the hold added extra buoyancy to it, and it sank slowly, perhaps even for days, but there was no chance that the other ships would tow it back to port, given that the weather in the Atlantic was unpredictable, and there were not many calm days.

(End of chapter)