The vast fleet sailed the waters of the Orkney Islands, and in order to avoid submarine attacks, the fleet moved in a rigid 'Z' course. www.biquge.info It's just that although the flagship is majestic and powerful, the cognitive limitations of the late World War I make its maximum speed only a pitiful twenty-three knots, so it is inevitable that the entire fleet can only travel at a speed of twenty knots.

"Full speed ahead!" The order was given in the submarine, for which the real opportunity was only in a moment. At the risk of being discovered by the opposing escort destroyers, the two electric motors were running at full speed, and it had to seize the best offensive position at the next 'z' turn of the fleet, which was not an extravagant hope - as if it were fate, thirty minutes later, the fleet turned again, the tall bridge of the battleship grew larger and larger in the periscope, and the rice flag on the stern of the ship fluttered in the wind.

"Torpedoes one to four ready." The captain gave an excited order, and the sound of his heartbeat seemed to drown out the noisy propellers.

"What about torpedoes?" Li Kongrong, who returned to U-38 again, inspected the whole boat as soon as he boarded the boat, and he was accustomed to start from the forward bow torpedo compartment. This is the case with Lieutenant Chang Xiangqi - he is the nephew of Chang Chaogan, the commander of the Navy torpedo battalion, and Li Kongrong has always inspired him with the phrase "you can't disgrace the Chang family."

"Report to the captain, everything is fine." Chang Xiang stood up and saluted, but it was not a verbal word, and he took out the torpedo daily checklist. The U-38 was armed with a total of twenty-two torpedoes, twelve of which were placed in the boat, and the other ten were stored between the hull and the upper deck, and the twelve MKVIII thermodynamic torpedoes in the boat were checked every day.

Looking at the record on the checklist, Li Kongrong nodded: "Although we use the British torpedo with the least fault, we must also pay attention to the inspection to avoid problems with the torpedo." After that, he asked uneasily: "When I was in the United States, what were the results of the random inspection of these British torpedoes, and were there any torpedoes that were hit but not exploded?" ”

A torpedo costs tens of thousands of dollars, but Li Kongrong demanded that every time a shipment arrives, five percent of the goods should be spot-checked for live firing, and this method of drawing made Lin Xianxi's heart full of blood, but it was not unreasonable, the opportunity for a submarine to attack a target was very rare, and it was beyond regret to lose a torpedo just because of tens of thousands of dollars.

"Report to the captain, the spot check is completely qualified, and all three hits exploded." Chang Xiangqi reported.

"Very well, let's take a break." Li Kongrong returned the daily checklist to him, and at the same time smiled and said to the crew in the bow torpedo compartment: "The torpedo is the lifeblood of the submarine, and if there is a torpedo problem, then all our efforts will be in vain." This time I want to do a big one, so don't make a mistake in your busyness. ”

"Yes, Captain." The twenty crew members living in the torpedo compartment answered with a loud voice.

After the inspection of the bow torpedo compartment, he walked through the non-commissioned officer's cabin and the officer's cabin to the galley, and the cook of the boat stood there respectfully on the way, and the salute was still not standard, Li Kongrong personally put his hand in the correct position, and then smiled and nodded, and the cook was very satisfied. The officer's cabin, the captain's room, the radio room, the control cabin, all the way through the power cabin to the aft torpedo compartment at the very end, this time the patrol is completed.

When he returned to the control cabin again, Li Kongrong suddenly felt that something was missing, and it took him a long time before he remembered that Lin Zhun had been sent away - according to Lin Xianxi's meaning, he hoped that he could be the captain of the aircraft carrier, so Li Kongrong asked him to go to the Tongji training aircraft carrier as the first officer.

At this time, the submarine was heading for the North Bay at normal speed, and the night wind poured in through the watertight door on the top, and it was cool inside. Looking at Su Jinghu, the chief engineer who was calculating the trim of the submarine, Li Kongrong smiled and said: "I feel annoyed when Zunzhi is here, and I miss him when he leaves." ”

"Huh." Su Jinghu, who was holding a pencil, only smiled and did not answer, and Liu Yongren on the side said: "Zunzhi said that the chief didn't want him, and he asked him to leave because he was in this eyesway, and he said that he would have nothing to do when he went back." ”

"Who says idleness? When he went back, he was the deputy commander of the Tongji training aircraft carrier, and he also had to learn to fly an airplane. Everyone knows what Lin Zhun is going to do, and many people are still full of envy, Li Kongrong simply opened his words, he said: "And you, after the war between the United States and Japan, the U-38 will let the newcomers take over, and let me go to the aircraft carrier." ”

"...... to the aircraft carrier" Su Jinghu leveling is not counted, he is concerned, "We, we are really on the aircraft carrier?" So what to do here? ”

"It took a year to train a group of new people to take over, and at that time, the Pacific Ocean was full of broken American submarines, not many more of them, and many of them less. You can't go to sea. Li Kongrong said his thoughts. But before the war begins, we must persevere, and we must do everything possible to strike at the enemy, and the Gulf of Tonkin is the first battle. ”

Li Kongrong did not forget everyone, and several people listened to it with a complete smile and did not speak. After a long time, Liu Yongren got down to business: "Sir, although Beibu Gulf is a bay, there is only one exit, is it possible that the Japanese army will arrange anti-submarine nets between Annam and Hainan?" ”

The chart on the table shows the route of the U-38, which will bypass Sanya and enter the Beibu Gulf from the south instead of the Qiongzhou Strait. Even so, the distance between Hainan and Annam is not too long, only one hundred and twenty nautical miles. The old people of the U-38 were all apprehensive about the German anti-submarine network in the Skagerrak Strait, so Liu Yongren reminded him so.

"The Japanese don't have that many nets in a hurry." Li Kongrong has his own opinion on this. "Although the water in the Beibu Gulf is not deep, the water outside the continental shelf is as deep as 200 meters, and Japan's anti-submarine nets may not be able to stop the entire bay. Recalling the Japanese Navy's method of dealing with US submarines in World War II, Li Kongrong said: "They were more focused on the surface of the sea than one destroyer, rather than several destroyers, patrolling the sea area endlessly day and night."...... Forcing the submarine to run out of power and oxygen to float. We are not afraid of this! There was enough electricity for us to dive out of the North Bay, there was plenty of oxygen, and we had a snorkel that we could charge at night without floating, and we could go out without charging, and we could go further if we recharged. ”

Li Kongrong analyzed the enemy and us, and he did not know that the Beibu Gulf was a mortal enemy, but the problem was that without entering the Beibu Gulf, it was impossible to ambush the Japanese fleet landing in Qinzhou, and the U-38 had to enter the urn.

Li Kongrong hid his worries, because the crew was in high spirits because of the imminent war and because the commander promised that everyone could serve on the aircraft carrier in the future, everyone wanted to ambush the Japanese naval fleet immediately. However, although the route from Hong Kong to Sanya into the Beibu Gulf was short, in order to save oxygen, the submarine only sailed at night, and during the day sat and sank near the islands and reefs, using ventilation ducts for ventilation. At this time, the snorkel is carefully camouflaged, and the end that emerges from the water is like a reef. After several days of silent waiting, on November 5, the U-38 finally sailed into the Gulf of Tonkin at night.

“…… Good morning, friends of the United States. I have only taken a few minutes to ...... to ask all freedom-loving people to know that China should receive immediate and righteous assistance. After nearly three years of bloodshed and arduous struggle for justice, we ask you, the members of Congress who make the laws of the United States, to do one of the following two things, either to stop expressing fear of aggression or to stop encouraging aggression, that is, to embargo gasoline, kerosene, and other raw materials for war against Japan. ”

In the roar of diesel engines, the radio on the submarine was on, and it was the Chongqing Central Radio Station that was listening at this time, and the one who spoke was Chang Kaishen's wife Song Meiling. She spoke English, but all the crew could understand English.

Li Kongrong was writing the logbook in the captain's room, and was slightly surprised to hear Soong Meiling's voice, but what surprised him even more was some of the words used in her speech: 'China should get ...... immediately' and 'one must do a ......'. A very urgent and extremely affirmative tone, he is indeed a figure who has the ability to fascinate the American people for a while.

Li Kongrong closed the log at the end after writing in the log. It was still early, less than nine o'clock in the evening, and the wind and waves in the Beibu Gulf at this time were calm, and only the main engine of the submarine was roaring. Soong Meiling's radio speech to the United States ended quickly, followed by international news, which was nothing new, mostly about the European war. By this time the Polish campaign had ended, the Soviets had divided the country, and the German navy and air force had been attacking British cities and merchant ships since the declaration of war, and unrestricted submarine warfare had resumed twenty years later.

"The British Admiralty-Chancellor, who had been wounded in a German submarine attack a few days earlier, had died today, the greatest sacrifice of Britain since the declaration of war on Germany, and the people of London spontaneously attended his funeral. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gives a speech at the grave......"

The astonishing news was broadcast on the radio, but unfortunately Li Kongrong was on the bridge of the submarine at this time, and in the telescope, he saw the lights of the seaside city of Annam on the west side.

"That's Rong City in Annam," Gao Guangyou, the first mate on the bridge, was on guard, and he immediately explained when he saw Li Kongrong looking west.

"It's Rong City, it seems that you can get to Qinzhou Bay early every morning." Li Kongrong put down the binoculars and said.

The U-38's destination was Qinzhou Bay, and the officers on the bridge did not say anything when they heard this, because there were not only Japanese patrol boats but also French training boats in this area, and they had to concentrate and be foolproof.

"Sir......" Someone in the control cabin shouted quietly, it was Lu Ruping.

"What's going on?" Li Kongrong went down to the control cabin and saw the telegram in Lu Ruping's hand.

"Sir, call from Sanya." Lu Ruping said. After Li Kongrong finished reading the telegram, he casually said the news he had just heard, "Just now it was said on the radio that the British Admiral was killed by a German submarine. ”

"Hmm." Li Kongrong only thought about when the Japanese would sail from Sanya, and did not listen carefully, but when he turned around and was about to return to the captain's room, he turned around again. "Say it again."

"The radio said that the British Admiral had been killed by a German submarine." Lu Ruping repeated what he had just heard. He remembered the news not because he cared about the British Admiralty, he cared about the fact that the submarine could take out such a big person, and he envied his German counterpart.

"It can't be!" Li Kongrong shouted violently, startling Lu Ruping, but he didn't argue, just sat back in his place honestly.

"Say it again." Li Kongrong is really insane, the current British Admiral is the later British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, how could he be killed by a German submarine.

"What happened to Hansheng?" Su Jinghu was sitting in the captain's room reading the newspaper, and when he heard Li Kongrong's drinking, he came over.

"He said the British Admiralty Secretary is dead!" Li Kongrong pointed at Lu Ruping, very helpless and puzzled. "Did you hear that?"

"I hear you." Su Jinghu was very puzzled when he saw Li Kongrong like this. "Didn't you listen to the radio the other day? The battleship Nelson was sunk by a German submarine, and the Admiral happened to be on board the Nelson at the time, and Hitler commended the captain ......"

"How is this possible?!" Li Kongrong's face changed abruptly, "Those few German torpedoes don't have a ...... at all"

Li Kongrong wanted to say that the torpedoes that concentrated Nelson in history did not explode at all. But when it came to German torpedoes, he instantly knew the reason - when he was in Germany, he repeatedly mentioned to Dönitz the reliability of submarine-launched torpedoes, and used the United States as an excuse to develop magnetic torpedoes, and comprehensively explained that magnetic torpedoes could not be realized under the existing technical conditions. In addition, the problem of air pressure inside and outside the submarine was mentioned, which was a major cause of errors in the depth determination of torpedoes. In addition to the German torpedo, he also highlighted the Japanese Navy's Type 93 oxygen torpedo, believing that it was the most perfect torpedo in the world, if it were slightly improved—the Type 93 torpedo was so fast that it was prone to form cavitation bubbles at high speeds, which in turn allowed sensitive fuses to be triggered early.

Snorkels, torpedo problems, Type 21 submarines, and password problems are all important tips for improving the combat effectiveness of the German submarine forces, but what he didn't expect was that the German torpedoes were fine, but Churchill hung up in advance. Without Churchill, who would lead the declining British Empire? Will the prime minister after Chamberlain negotiate peace with Germany after the defeat of France? If Britain and Germany had made peace, would the Yunnan-Burma Highway be completely closed in July '40, instead of just three months as in history......

A series of questions jumped out of his mind, Li Kongrong's face turned pale and sweated like rain, and he finally tasted the taste of interfering with history: that is, lifting a stone to shoot himself in the foot.

"Hansheng, Hansheng......" Su Jinghu also began to panic when he saw him like this, but he couldn't wake up no matter how he screamed like an idiot. He immediately said, "Quick, call the doctor!" ”

Lu Ruping was frightened by Li Kongrong's heavy drinking just now, and now he was frightened by his strange appearance, so he hurriedly ran to the front cabin to find the military doctor Chen Shunqi. When Chen Shunqi arrived, Li Kongrong's sweat had stopped, but his face was still pale. "I'm fine." He said. "I'm just a little worried about the future."

Chen Shunqi saw that Li Kongrong was clearly conscious, and immediately let go of most of his heart, there was everything at sea, and he had long known the importance of Li Kongrong to the navy, he said in a harmonious voice: "The captain should rest first, this should be caused by excessive intentions, don't think about it again!" (To be continued.) )