The situation is complex throughout the Mediterranean: the sea is not calm at all, the situation in North Africa is still deadlocked, and Malta is under siege. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

In February 1942, the German-Italian forces were still under a tight naval and air blockade of the British-controlled island of Malta, which was on the verge of running out of ammunition and food.

The British also suffered heavy losses in naval forces in the Mediterranean, but this also attracted some of the attention of Germany and Italy in the Mediterranean, and Malta, the most important naval and air base of the British Empire in the Mediterranean, was also the primary target of German and Italian attacks.

At sea, the greatest threat to the British was not the Italian or German air forces, but German-Italian submarines.

Italy occupies a central Mediterranean position, and their submarines can easily reach any part of the Mediterranean – Mussolini dreamed of returning the Mediterranean to Roman times and becoming Italy's "inner lake".

The Italians threw a large number of submarines into the Mediterranean, and its allies sent U-boats to the Mediterranean: for German submarines, the Mediterranean was an extremely dangerous arena, densely packed with dozens of Allied air bases and hundreds of anti-submarine aircraft equipped with radar equipment.

The calmer and clearer waters of the Mediterranean Sea also made it more difficult for submarines to escape, but because of the characteristics of the Mediterranean, German and Italian submarines were able to get the opportunities they hoped for here.

In 1941, the Germans sent a total of 35 submarines into the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar, of which 27 successfully entered the operational sea area and lost four in the battle. On 1 January 1942 alone, 15 new U-boats successfully passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the "Great Pond" of the Mediterranean.

On November 3 last year, the U-81 sank the British Royal Navy's aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and damaged the battleship HMS Malaya.

Twenty-two days later, the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship "Barham", with a full load displacement of more than 33,000 tons, was also sunk by U-331, and the U-boat was attacked under the cover of the British fleet's strong anti-submarine forces.

U-boats, the true wolves of the Mediterranean!

、、、、、、

Leonov knocked on the plank of the ship "with his head on it": "Vasily, did you sleep?" ”

"It's strange to sleep, like a coffin in a church!"

As he spoke, Vasily turned over to his bunk, "Let's go, get some air." ”

The sniper's suggestion was immediately supported by the crowd, and as soon as he exited the hatch, he turned to the left and entered the two hatch doors to the upper deck.

The destroyer hadn't set sail yet, and it seemed that it was going to carry some supplies, but Leonov didn't know what the warship was waiting for, most likely rare supplies from the Middle East to the British mainland.

"What a ghost ship, smaller than a rat's nest!" Vasily's whining was sentence after sentence, without the subtlety of a sniper.

"Yes, do you want to go and see the sailor cabin of the British? Their officers gave up their cabins and went to squeeze hammocks with the sailors. ”

It's rare, it's rare! The probability of asking a Royal Navy officer to squeeze together with a sailor is comparable to seeing a sow on a tree – and it is difficult for a British naval officer who has always been hierarchical about it.

But this is not the most special, the British even gave up the cabin of the deputy captain and senior captain for Lyudmila and another female member of the regiment. The "senior captain" does not refer to a specific officer, and it is not necessarily the rank of captain in the destroyer unit, but refers to the officer with the most seniority on the ship, in addition to the captain and co-captain (in the case of higher-ranking warships, it is generally a real captain). On destroyers, he usually lives in the same cabin as the co-captain.

This time, the destroyer was very generous to the Soviet allies, and even the Major Tony McNulty only implicitly indicated where it was best not to go - not including the gun emplacements on the deck or the depth charge launchers.

Leonov: They had already explored several "best not visited" places, and there was only one place where Leonov did not enter - it was a small cabin with the door closed.

Perhaps it was an oversight on the part of the British, who did not completely scrape the name of the cabin written in paint on the hatch: sonar room.

、、、、、、

Coming outside the cabin, looking at the city that was not bright and the Mediterranean Sea sparkling in the moonlight, Leonov was about to pull out a cigarette: he didn't smoke much himself, but this was given by the British captain today, even if it was cheap Pavlov.

A convoy of trucks appeared at the docks, breaking the silence. A squad of British sailors was waiting on the dock and did not see any dockers.

Small crates were unloaded from the car, carried up the deck from the gangway, and transported to the lower cabins.

Looking up and seeing Major McNulty watching the loading and unloading of supplies outside the bridge, Leonov wanted to ask when he would set sail.

"Why, Mr. Major can't sleep either." McNulty saw Leonov come up and asked casually.

"It's noisy, I can't sleep." Leaning his hand on the railing, "Mr. Captain, when will you set sail?" ”

The captain pointed to the trucks, "Set sail as soon as the cargo is loaded, in an hour." ”

Leonov didn't ask what the crates contained, but he probably guessed what they were, judging by the size and the difficulty of the sailors in carrying them.

"It's metal, it's not gold, it's probably silver."

Silver is a good thing, at least many military manufacturing needs to use it, and it seems that this time the two destroyers can be regarded as "pulling people and transporting goods".

Lead wasn't important enough to be shipped by sailors, and tin wasn't packed that way.

"Mr. Major, it is said that you are a staff officer of Marshal Plunyakov?"

In response to Mr. Captain's sudden question, Leonov nodded: "Yes, Mr. Captain. ”

"In London, Mr. Marshal is an enigmatic man, and talk of him is heard in many meetings of the upper circles. Of course, it's a mixed bag. ”

"The system is different. I can tell you that the marshal is the most courageous and man I have ever met. ”

"Well, I've heard of this."

For Lin Jun, it is rumored in British society that it is one after another, and there are all kinds of good and bad sounds. There is credit to the Soviet Propaganda and Agitation Department and, of course, to the "merits" of the Germans.

And after the Battle of Minsk, Lin Jun's reputation reached the highest point in so many years!

At this time, seeing that a female officer had also reached the deck below, Vasily and they gave up a place to come out and look at the scenery.

The only female soldier who appeared here was Lyudmila, and McNulty only knew her name, not why she was in the delegation, but admired her demeanor very much.

"Lieutenant Pavlichenko is a very special person."

Looking at the captain, Leonov smiled: "It's very special, and soon the whole world will be familiar with her name." ”

Then the curiosity of the English gentleman of Major McNulty came, "Oh? Can Mr. Major tell me why? Ladies are rarely seen on our warships. ”

"She is a sniper, a Hero of the Soviet Union, a former student at Kyiv National University, who joined the army last year. She killed more fascists in battle than the people on this destroyer of yours combined. ”

"Impossible! The Fire Dragon has a crew of 162 (peacetime staffing of 145 people. ）！ ”

"I mean add us. It is well documented that 309 people were killed, and in the same way as your sniper results are calculated, it is determined by one officer, two soldiers, or independent observation posts. However, we think it may be more, because the results are not counted in offensive support and defensive operations. ”

"The Virgin Mary!"

Major Tony McNulty was really a bit shocked at this time! A very charismatic young lady who has destroyed more than 300 enemies!

"The following are all combat heroes, and there are three snipers, each with a record of more than 300, and one is close to 500. As an officer, I think it's shameful to brag, so you probably take my word for it. ”

Major McNulty did a good job of expressing the surprise of a British officer, which, in Leonov's opinion, was a little contrived, but very polite.

"Look at the lieutenant who is smoking." Leonov gestured, "He and his comrades held the Pavlov building in the ruins of Minsk, not only destroying a large number of German troops, but also killing a German field marshal." ”

"I don't need to remind you who the German field marshal is, Mr. Captain."

"Klug." The captain was surprised again, "Now I understand who that Mr. Pavlov is." ”

"Yes, the Pavlov building is named after him."

"Mr. Major, my warship and I will be able to get you safely to the British mainland." McNoldy's tone became a little serious, he was a good British Royal Navy officer.

Leonov did not speak, but stretched out his hand and shook it with Mr. Captain.

、、、、、、

At noon on February 18, 1941, the office of the member of the Military Committee of the Command of the Northwest Front.

A tall, thin man was walking slowly, and the gold-rimmed glasses did not hide his forced gaze: in front of him, dozens of members of the middle and high-ranking military committees of the North-Western Front in Riga and officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had a chill on their backs!

The man standing in front of this group of political officers was angry, and hysterical - his whispered rebuke just now was like a religious maniac!

It's not who has the loudest throat.

Everyone understands that this will be the decision of the commander of the Front, Marshal Tukhachevsky, who will not be able to influence the person in front of him, because he is Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov!

"What have you been doing for the past year and a half?! Nationalists, you have a whole year and a half! Did you all herd sheep in Siberia for the first ten months?! It's been more than 8 months since the start of the war, look at the situation in Latvia and Lithuania now! ”

The rubber slippers under their feet didn't make a sound on the floor, but the barely audible sound of footsteps was like a loud noise of Thor's wrath to everyone in the room except the owner of the shoes!

Suslov, who was transferred from Ukraine just two months ago, will not care that most of these people in front of him are Latvian administrators, and not responsible for today's "protagonist" Lithuania.

He was really angry, because he thought that these subordinates in front of him were a bunch of rice buckets, a bunch of irresponsible bureaucrats!

Suslov's immediate enemy was not fascist Germany, but a class enemy from within! In half a year in Ukraine, he managed the entire central and eastern part of Ukraine like an iron bucket, and here is like a leaky sieve everywhere!

Now Suslov's enemies are Lithuanian nationalists, and this category of people also has them in Latvia! The war that is now going on has made the nationalists think that the time has come, that it must be resolutely and completely eliminated!

This morning, the convoy of the deputy commander-in-chief was attacked by Lithuanian nationalist partisans on the way to the Lithuanian front to inspect! Although there were no accidents in the deputy commander-in-chief, this was an unforgivable loophole and mistake for Suslov!

Suslov had only one attitude towards any class enemy who dared to split the Soviet Fatherland, and that was to completely exterminate it! Not a single one to stay!

No one dared to argue, because Suslov was going to kill!

Separatists, don't talk about killing! Eradicate it completely! Not a single one to stay! (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )