One day in July, it was drizzling down the waters of southwestern Norway, and the Norwegian cargo ship Sorensen, laden with iron ore bound for Germany, was on its normal voyage. The maximum load of this cargo ship is 3,340 tons www.biquge.info and the maximum speed when fully loaded is 10. 5 knots, which is not outstanding among the many Norwegian mineral sands ships. It is well-known in the industry because its ownership is not attributed to any company, but to the private property of the old captain Helamette Sorensen.

In the wheelhouse of the "Sorensen", the old man with white hair and a pure white goatee was Helamette Sorensen, who wore a short-brimmed hat and a double-breasted dark blue uniform, which was quite similar to that of the early German naval officers. However, the elder Sorensen had not joined the German Navy, and his relationship with the Germans was merely a business dealing, and he spent most of his life adrift at sea, hard-working, thrifty, in order to keep his descendants from the same downfall as he had been when he was young.

"The war is good for us, in peacetime, the remuneration for transporting 3,000 tons of iron ore from Narvik to Hamburg is usually 60,000 marks, which is equivalent to 20 marks for a ton of freight, excluding fuel, labor, depreciation, and the net profit for one trip is only 4,000 to 5,000 marks, which is quite meager, while in wartime, the same voyage, the same consumption, the remuneration is tripled, and the net profit of one trip is increased tenfold! Let's fight! Let's fight! As long as the war doesn't reach Norway, it doesn't matter if they fight for a year, two years, or three years! "Old Sorensen's chatter at this time is his eldest son Derlink Sorensen and second son Moon Sorensen, the two young men are athletic, but they seem to lack life experience, so they seem a little childish.

"If it is a simple pursuit of profit, why don't we ship such a shipload of iron ore to the British?" I heard that their price is 50-60% higher than that of the Germans, and if we buy a shipload of iron ore in Narvik, as long as it can be transported to Dandy, we can earn at least 200,000 marks per trip! ”

"If it were in peacetime, it would be a good deal, but in wartime it would have to be fully considered for risk - the voyage from Narvik to Dandy was not long, but the probability of being intercepted by the German navy was more than 80 percent, and it was possible to seize it at least or confiscate it at worst, and even destroy the ship in the event of an engagement between the British and German fleets. The voyage from Narvik to Hamburg was long, but the vast majority of it sailed within the territorial waters of neutral countries, and judging by the current war situation, the probability of being intercepted by the British Navy should be no more than 10%. ”

“10%？” Big Sorensen pouted, "Looking at the news in the newspapers, more than 120 ships have been sunk off the coast of Germany in the past month, an average of 4 per day, some of them were sunk by mines, some were sunk by submarines, and this route is not as safe as imagined." ”

At this moment, little Sorensen suddenly shouted: "Boat! Boat! There's a fast ship coming towards us to the south! ”

Old Sorensen hurriedly raised his big binoculars, watched for a moment, and said slowly: "It seems to be a German warship, look, its mast has the German tricolor flag hoisted." ”

Big Sorensen held the binoculars and looked at the shadow of the ship in the distance, the rainy weather had a certain impact on the clarity of the line of sight, and when the distance between the two sides was closer, he frowned: "But...... The Germans simply did not have warships of this model! ”

Little Sorensen was puzzled: "Could it be that there is another country in the world whose warships fly the black, white and red tricolor?" ”

"This is the usual tactic of pirates!" Old Sorensen also sensed that the situation was not good at this time, and his jaw trembled and said, "If one day you become the captain of the ship, don't be deceived by such tricks!" ”

In sight, the battleship was approaching at full speed, the bow of the ship setting off a snow-white spray, the black hole of the gun muzzle pointed this way, and the Norwegian cargo ship did not even have a single gun or machine gun.

The distance between the two sides was soon shortened to within three nautical miles.

In the command tower of the battleship opposite, officers in the snow-white uniforms of the British Royal Navy were doing their duties, and one of the tall, lanky colonels had a cigar in his mouth and his eyes were bright.

"Commander, it's time to change our flag!"

"Yes, sir!" The officer turned and walked over to the microphone, "Signalman, raise our naval battle flag!" ”

The tricolor flag on the top of the battleship's mast was quickly lowered, and then it was raised and unfurled with the wind was a striking cross-battle flag with red stripes on a white background!

"In the name of the Royal Navy, I order you to stop the ship......"

"God, St. George's flag...... It must be a British raider! But this is Norwegian territorial waters, how did it end up here? How could it be possible to be here? The elder Sorensen was amazed at this.

"What do we do now?" Little Sorensen asked in trepidation.

"What now?" Old Sorensen muttered his head, although the position of the "Sorensen" at the moment is only four or five nautical miles from the Norwegian coast, there is no port within sight, let alone a military fortress, so there is no way to seek the protection of the Norwegian Navy, not to mention that his eldest son, the big Sorensen, who has first-class eyesight, is interpreting the other party's signal: "Forbid your ship to use the radio, otherwise it will be sunk!" ”

Despite the doubts in their heads, the three sons made a sane decision to slow down the speed of the "Sorensen".

In the blink of an eye, the battleship with a lead-gray background and white markings rushed to the front like a fast horse. Under the guns of the British battleships, the Norwegian crews neither sent a distress signal through their radios nor made any hostile moves. When the ship stopped, everyone, including the cooks and stokers, went up to the deck, and there were people standing on the bridge, all of whom looked at the British warship with curiosity and horror.

On the starboard side of the British 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 but 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.

In a short time, the traffic motorboat full of commandos suddenly drove past, and the two were only less than 100 meters apart, and it quickly approached the freighter, and the heavily armed commandos quickly climbed up to the deck of the freighter along the soft rope ladder. To these uninvited guests, the Norwegian sailors retreated to the other side with their hands raised to be examined.

On the bridge observation deck of the British warship, Louis Mountbatten, who served as captain with the rank of colonel, calmly watched the scene on the Norwegian cargo ship, he is the great-grandson of Queen Victoria of England, his father was a member of the German royal family - Prince Louis of Badenburg, and later renounced his German citizenship to join the British Royal Navy, and served as Chief of Staff of the British Navy and First Sea Secretary, such a prominent background made Louis Mountbatten's military career smooth sailing, born in 1900, he entered the ranks of colonels at the age of 25, At the age of 33, he was promoted to Colonel and became the commander of the new cruiser "Brave". The ship is the lead ship of the brave class large cruiser, with a standard displacement of 10,500 tons, about half more than the light cruisers built in the 20s, but only two-thirds of the ordinary heavy cruisers, with 8 203 mm naval guns and 8 533 mm torpedoes as the main weapons, the top speed reaches 34 knots, and can sail 8500 nautical miles at a speed of 12 knots. Increasing the side projection area reduces wind resistance, increasing the chance of hitting when attacked by enemy weapons.

This kind of large cruiser has a lot of similarities with heavy cruisers, but it is essentially an enlargement of light cruisers, although it is equipped with the largest caliber of main guns, has the highest speed, and the design ideas basically do not jump out of the category of light cruisers, and its defense is in the same class as light cruisers.

"It must be full of Swedish iron ore transshipped through Narvik, and if it can be transported back to the British port, the Minister of Industry will apply for a Victoria medal for us, right?" Adjutant Mountbatten's joke reflects the current predicament of Britain itself, which has fallen by 95 per cent in the last little or so under the joint blockade of Germany and Ireland, the lack of raw materials for industrial production, and the fact that only a few ships have been able to reach the ports of the British mainland via the North Atlantic and the North Norwegian Sea Route, but they have only been able to do so in a small way.

In less than ten minutes, the commandos on board signaled through a small flag that they had completely occupied the ore-laden cargo ship, which was destined for Hamburg, Germany, according to the official registration documents and voyage records seized.

Moments later, the Brave gave instructions to the commandos who boarded the Norwegian ore ship. Some of the commandos escorted several crew members to the steamboat first, others sat on the deck with their heads crossed under the supervision of two commandos armed with rifles, while the others busily continued to check the freighter. Take all the valuables, destroy them as necessary, and plant bombs on the bottom of the ship, so that the ship can be blown up when everyone has withdrawn.

After a while, the sunset completely disappeared at the end of the sea level, and the light on the surface of the sea gradually dimmed.

The transport motorboat on board the ship rendezvoused several times, and finally transported the entire crew of the cargo ship back to the battleship, and shortly after the last commandos left the ship, three muffled sounds came from inside the cargo ship, and before long it began to sink and capsize to one side.

On the starboard side of the battleship, large cranes began to work again. With another whistle blowing, the transport vaporetto was lifted out of the water, along with the commandos and prisoners 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.

Having seen the British sailors on board the ship go to the bilge with explosives, old Sorensen expected the situation to be terrible, and as soon as he boarded the British battleship, he shouted in English: "I protest! You are despicable acts of piracy! How were you able to break into Norwegian territorial waters and attack Norwegian ships? Did the glorious British Royal Navy turn into a pirate? Does the restraint of the Neutrality Act have no effect on you? ”

Mountbatten, who was standing on the bridge, could hear it clearly, and he smiled contemptuously, and ordered the adjutant: "Escort them to the confinement chamber, and tell them that when the British have won the war, we will consider compensating their ships at the price." ”

After the lieutenant left, Mountbatten turned to the first mate at the helm and ordered: "Speed up to 25 knots, course due north!" ”

As the command to turn to speed up was executed, the British raider's steel body vibrated slightly, and it quickly drew a beautiful arc across the sea, leaving the sinking Norwegian cargo ship on its way to the next prey.

(End of chapter)