In the Northeast Pacific, at night, a submarine is sailing lonely on the sea. The number of this "E" class submarine is 371, and the captain is named Xu Lei, a major in the Navy. At this time, he was standing on the observation deck of the submarine, looking at the sea in the distance, next to him four crew members with binoculars were searching the surrounding sea, and behind him, a sailor was measuring the exact position of the submarine.

The "E" class submarine is a new type of submarine that the Imperial Navy only began to build at the beginning of 27 years, and the biggest difference from the previous "D" class submarine is that the displacement has increased by nearly 500 tun, the system uses a more powerful diesel engine, and the battery has also increased by three percent, and its cruising ability has been significantly improved, and it is the most powerful conventional submarine with cruising capability built by the Imperial Navy.

The main purpose of the construction of the E-class submarines was to allow them to reach the waters off the west coast of the United States. Before the capture of Kauai, the closest submarine base to the west coast of the United States was on Saipan. The cruising capability of the "D" class submarines is not enough to fully meet the operational requirements, and they can only operate near the west coast of the United States for about 10 days at most. At that time, no one considered that the Imperial Navy could quickly take down the Hawaiian Islands, so the Navy needed a submarine with a much greater endurance, so the "E" class submarines were developed. To be precise, the "E" class submarine is actually an enlarged version of the "D" class, with a 40 percent increase in endurance and the ability to carry eight more torpedoes, and the submarine's sustained combat capability has been significantly improved.

It is precisely because the displacement of the "E" class submarines has increased a lot, and its maneuverability has decreased compared with that of the "D" class, and more importantly, its cost has doubled compared with that of the "D" class, mainly because the manufacturing cost of the increased pressure-resistant shell has risen sharply. After the Imperial Navy hit the Hawaiian Islands and captured the island of Kauai, the round-trip route of the submarine was shortened by thousands of nautical miles, and the cruising power advantage of the "E" class submarines was no longer useful, so the Imperial Navy only built a total of 24 "E" class submarines, and then did not continue to procure, and still used the "D" class submarines as the main combat force.

Submarine No. 371 is Major Xu Lei's fourth submarine and the third submarine since he became captain, and the first two submarines have been handed over to other captains, or sent to the second-line troops. Xu Lei was not very satisfied with this submarine that was launched only half a year ago, mainly because it was too big, slow to react, and inflexible, and what annoyed him and the more than 60 officers and men on board was that the strong endurance of the "E" class submarine was simply synonymous with disaster in the eyes of submariners. In the past, after using the "D" type submarines, they only needed to be at sea for two months, no more than two and a half months at most, and then they could return to the base and enjoy a happy life, but now they have to stay at sea for at least three months. For anyone, in a closed iron coffin, facing dozens of stinky men, living together for three months is definitely a fatal thing. If you can. He even wished to continue to command a ship "Ding".1

Xu Lei picked up the telescope hanging on his chest from time to time to look at the sea in the distance, he mainly came out to breathe, the air quality in the submarine was very poor. Even if it was just a gas change, it wouldn't be much better, and the noise from the engine was unbearable. Like him, the other five crew members had the same idea, so all the officers and men wanted to go outside to carry out the guard duty, rather than stay in the engine room, which smelled of engine oil and was full of oil stains.

"Major, nothing has been discovered."

Xu Lei patted the crew member on the shoulder: "Continue to observe, don't relax, we are only a few dozen nautical miles away from the US mainland, I'm afraid, now we are the closest unit to the United States." ”

Several people laughed, this is not a good joke, it means that they are in the most dangerous sea area, they can be detected at any time, and for submarines, it means being besieged by the enemy.

"Major, the course is correct, the error is less than 5 nautical miles.

"Very well, you go down first." Xu Lei nodded at the navigator, and then said to the four lookouts, "Continue to be vigilant, don't be careless." ”

Back in the boat, Xu Lei first heard the seemingly endless noise, and then smelled a pungent smell. The crew is taking advantage of the ascent, cleaning the only toilet in the submarine.

"Close the door,, I've said it a few times!"

The crew who was flushing the toilet immediately closed the door, and no one on the submarine dared to provoke Xu Lei. The major glanced at the aft compartment and walked into the command center.

"How's it going up above?" The chief engineer is instructing the two crew members on how to steer the submarine.

"It's not bad, the cloud thickness is larger than my preparatory course, and it is difficult for the US military's anti-submarine patrol aircraft to spot us from a distance." Xu Lei took out a cigarette, and only at this time could he smoke inside the submarine, but not outside the submarine. "Maybe a storm is coming, and this year's weather is more abnormal, which is a good thing for us."

"Yes, I hope we can have a few more days and let us live a peaceful life." The chief engineer took the cigarette, "I haven't encountered a US patrol plane in the past two days, and it seems that the Yankees are also afraid of bad weather." ”

As he spoke, the rain began to fall, and an lookout came in to report the situation, and then went out again with a raincoat. The rain is getting heavier and heavier, and the wind is getting stronger.

"It seems that we have nothing to worry about now." For submariners, the storm is not a good thing, but it is not a bad thing, because all anti-submarine patrol aircraft cannot fly in the storm. "How much is our battery charged?"

"It's full, so I'll let people go down and check it."

Xu Lei nodded. "Dive in ten minutes, and if the wind is stronger, we'll have to dive."

"Do you want to change course?"

Xu Lei glanced at the chief engineer and immediately understood what the chief engineer meant: "Let's take a look at the situation first, if the storm continues to strengthen, I'm afraid we won't have anything to gain in the past." ”

Ten minutes later, all hatches on the Project 371 submarine were closed, and the submarine slowly dived below the surface. At this time, the wind speed on the surface of the sea has exceeded 40 knots, and it continues to strengthen, and by the time the submarine reaches a depth of 80 meters, it is almost impossible to feel the shaking. This is the advantage of submarines, ships on the surface of the sea can never settle down in a storm, and submarines are not affected by wind and waves as long as they dive into the sea.

Xu Lei did not immediately order the submarine to change course, he lay on the chart table and looked carefully.

The mission of the No. 371 submarine is to patrol outside the port of San Francisco, although there is no task specified on it, but Xu Lei and they all know very well that their first task is to monitor the US fleet in the port of San Francisco. The second mission was to attack the American ships coming out of the port of San Francisco. Previously patrolling here was the 211 submarine, a "D" class submarine, it was this submarine that spotted the two U.S. convoys heading to Christmas Island, but the sneak attack was unsuccessful, and it was attacked by two U.S. destroyers, and it almost didn't surface again.

Xu Lei didn't want to take risks, and if he encountered a similar situation, he would send a telegram first, and then follow the fleet, while beckoning the surrounding submarines to come and "hunt". As long as there are several submarines acting at the same time, then the chance of survival is quite large, and the chance of a successful sneak attack is much greater, he doesn't want to go it alone, it is difficult for a submarine to succeed in a sneak attack, and it is even more difficult to survive under the encirclement and suppression of destroyers, it can only be said that the 211 submarine has a great fortune.

The port of San Francisco is just northeast of the submarine, no more than 60 nautical miles. Xu Lei quickly calculated the distance and calculated the time of the voyage. The maximum speed of the E-class submarine is 16 knots, and the optimal speed is 4 knots, at which the submarine can dive for two days and two nights. If the speed is controlled at 3 knots, then the submarine can stay under the surface for 60 hours. If the storm lasts for two days, then the US anti-submarine destroyers will not leave the port, and even if they come out, it will be difficult to detect submarines sailing at low speeds under the surface of the sea. Maybe you can take a walk outside the Port of San Francisco and then come back. When the time comes, they may be able to see in the periscope what the continental United States is like. Thinking of this, Xu Lei laughed, for hundreds of years. Never before has an Imperial army ever reached the continental United States!

"Chief Engineer, what's the air pressure outside?"

"Resists 20% of normal air pressure."

Xu Lei nodded, in the low-pressure area, the storm will continue, and this is also the most common climate characteristic in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, perhaps, the storm can really last for more than two days.

"Major, do you need to turn?"

"Yes, get ready to turn and dive down to 120 meters first."

"Prepare to dive, the first five, the last five."

"Maintain the current speed, and after reaching 120 meters, reduce it to 3 knots."

"Keep up the speed...... The depth is 120, and the motor runs at one-fifth power. Major, we have reached 120 meters at a speed of 3 knots. ”

"Good, the course is adjusted to 65 degrees." Xu Lei arrived at his position, "Now, enter the combat state and keep absolutely quiet." ”

A red light lit up inside the submarine, and the officers and men became nervous, and some of them thought that they had encountered an enemy destroyer.

"Now, let's quietly touch the past and organize the officers and soldiers to take turns to rest." Xu Lei called the second officer over, "It will take about 20 hours of sailing time." ”

The second officer immediately went to carry out the order.

"Calculate the route, I don't want to hit the anti-submarine net headlong." Xu Lei gave another order to the chief engineer, "The 20-hour route must be accurately calculated, and there must be no mistakes." "Don't worry, I won't be wrong."

Xu Lei nodded, and then called the gun commander over. "Go check all the torpedoes, maybe we'll need them then."

The gunners also immediately went to the torpedo compartment in front and organized sailors to inspect the torpedoes.

Now, Xu Lei must wait, wait patiently. For many people, 20 hours is nothing, and it may pass quickly, but for the officers and men on the submarine, especially when they know that they are heading to dangerous seas, it is an extremely long time. Xu Lei returned to his bed six hours later, and when he woke up, the only sound in the submarine was the sound of the motor running, and the officers and men were quiet. He glanced at the time, and only 14 hours had passed.

"How's it going?" Xu Lei first went to ask the listener.

"Everything is normal, there is no sound except the sound of the waves."

The major patted the listener on the shoulder, and then walked into the command cabin. The second mate was tracing the route on the chart, and he walked over to take a look, and if the course was correct, the submarine was now less than 20 nautical miles from the port of San Francisco.

"Major, are we going in?" The second mate looked up.

"Of course not, I can't break through the anti-submarine net, unless you want to swim in, I'll be happy to stuff you into a torpedo tube."

The second mate immediately laughed, this is a "mythical" story that has spread in the submarine forces. A submarine operating near Hawaii Island was hit by the US military and sank at a depth of more than 40 meters, as a result, the officers and men on the submarine slipped out of the torpedo tube and survived, but under normal circumstances, no one was willing to leave the submarine through the 650-millimeter-diameter pipe.

"Major!"

Xu Lei was startled and immediately turned his head to look at the listener.

"It's a big move, damn, it's definitely a fleet!"

Xu Lei walked over quickly, made a quiet gesture at the same time, and then picked up another pair of headphones. The noise was very loud, obviously, from a large number of warships with four thrusters sailing together, and it was still far away, about a dozen nautical miles away.

"Can you tell the general direction?"

The listener nodded, quickly adjusted the twist on the instrument in front of him, and finally determined a direction: "50 degrees, the distance is about 15 to 20 nautical miles." ”

"It's just outside the harbor." The second mate had already walked over.

Xu Lei nodded, pondered for a while, and said, "The route is adjusted to 310, and the speed is 4 knots." ”

"Route 310, Speed 4." The chief engineer immediately gave the order.

"Damn, let's go over and see, maybe this is the U.S. fleet." Xu Lei already had a bottom in his heart, "The Yankees really thought that they would set off in this weather, I'm afraid they didn't expect that we would suddenly appear here." ”

The other officers and men did not laugh, because everyone knew that one fleet meant a dozen, or even dozens, of destroyers, and they only had one submarine, and in front of so many destroyers, they did not even have a chance to fight back.

Xu Lei glanced at the officers and soldiers in the command cabin, he had already made a decision, if this was indeed the US fleet, then he had to figure it out, and then send the news back! Several major officers and sergeants answered Xu Lei's inquiry with their eyes, and they also made the same choice, at this time, there was no other submarine to replace No. 371, and they had to complete this task.