The East Baltic Sea was quiet at night, and the waves crashed against the side of the destroyer Richard Baizern, a Z1-class destroyer with a standard displacement of 2,300 tons, as if asleep, sailing alone on the pitch black sea. On its tall mast paper, www.biquge.info hangs an observation balloon in the shape of a sausage – a standard equipment for British convoys during the last war, which will act as a 'scavenger' for the entire convoy.

The scavenger hurried by, followed by a blackened merchant fleet, whose sparse searchlights emitted snow-white columns of light that patrolled the entire sea, but it was not enough. U-35, rising to the sound of propellers, was in disbelief at the situation it was facing, and the fleet was making a zigzag turn in front of it, on the front left side of the fleet, a position that had been overlooked by the searchlights of the merchant ship. Those huge black shadows were less than five hundred meters away from it. Unfortunately, this was not a live-fire exercise, not even a training bomb, and the captain, Captain Werner Tello, could only watch as the entire merchant fleet disappeared from view.

That night, five submarines reported in a telegram that they had encountered convoys, and they all claimed to have been able to sink two or four merchant ships. Lieutenant Colonel Eberhardt Gott, who received the telegrams, smiled and handed them to Dönitz as he said: "If these telegrams are true, the convoy should have been sunk." The ring array is indeed the best. ”

In what formation did a large group of submarines ambush the merchant fleet? And how far should the interval be? At what distance should they attack? These questions had been bothering Dönitz before the exercises. The 'swarm tactics' had not been practiced before, and all the Submarine Fleet Command had done was to hone the crew's will and overcome their fears – the British claimed that their probes could detect submarines up to two kilometres away, so when the Naval Operations Department asked him to explain the situation, he was speechless.

Of course, this is not the Admiralty's troubles for the submarine fleet, they just need to find trouble and seize one point: that is, breaking the radio silence will expose the submarines and not help the fleet concealment. As a matter of fact, many people in the Navy Command have this concept: That is, in future wars, submarine operations will still be in the single-boat mode, and any behavior that destroys radio silence will not be tolerated, and they demand the construction of large submarines of 2,000 tons, and only such submarines can penetrate deep into the Atlantic Ocean to carry out operations to break diplomatic relations.

Because of this, the exercise was not supported by most people except Admiral Raeder, the Secretary of the Admiralty, and even the Edwin Varsner, on which Dönitz was riding, was allocated for the submarine fleet exercise under the personal supervision of Admiral Raeder. The success of the swarm tactics exercise made Dönitz's smile bloom from the depths of his heart, which is so important! With the success of this exercise, he will be able to convince more people to support submarine swarm operations.

"Order them to continue the pursuit," Dönitz ordered calmly after finishing his pleasure, and although the exercise had a good start, it was not over. "We're going to make sure that this convoy never reaches the port of destination!"

"Understood, Colonel." The chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Gott, with Dönitz's latest order, asked the radiomen to be sent to the boats at once, and even from thousands of miles away, he could imagine what kind of feast the captains would have.

Towards the end of the month, Dönitz finally returned to Berlin after completing the exercise. There seemed to be a myriad of things waiting for him, but one small thing reported by the adjutant, Captain Loirat, was of great concern to him, and that was that Lieutenant Commander Li Kongrong of the Chinese Navy called his office every day. What can the Chinese do? Dönitz knows it all.

At this time, China and Japan were engaged in a fierce war, and from Germany's standpoint, the best outcome would be an armistice, so that Germany would not lose its economic interests and would not lose its strategic interests. Of course, such a grand decision was not for Colonel Dönitz to think about. He only knew that shortly after the war between China and Japan began, the Admiralty had made a decision: it would never deliver the two submarines ordered by the Chinese Navy, unless there was an armistice between China and Japan and peace was restored. It is said that this is an order from the Prime Minister's Office.

If he had met with Lieutenant Colonel Lee of China, he would obviously have brought up something that he could not solve, and he himself could not tell him why he could not solve it; But if you don't meet with Lieutenant Colonel Li of China....... Dönitz's huge head hesitated to think, he actually hoped to discuss this successful exercise with the Chinese, and then listen to his opinion, and he also hoped that the Chinese could share the joy of this success, after all, from 1935 to the present, he finally initially realized his plan and realized the submarine cluster tactics. What to do? Dönitz thought as he stroked his chin.

"******," Dönitz called to his lieutenant a few minutes later, and when he came in, he said, "help me call Lieutenant Commander Li of the Chinese Navy and say that I would very much like to have dinner with him." If he has time, it's better tonight. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Lee Kong Young, of course, has time! For more than half a month, he called Dönitz's office every day, and each time he got a reply that the colonel had been out and asked to call again in a few days. Every day like this, if you don't really go out, then say that Dönitz doesn't want to see him. But do you really not want to see it? It was impossible for him to judge privately, and there was always an endless conversation between him and Dönitz about submarines, and Dönitz was happy to hear some 'new' ideas from him.

Dönitz is no news day by day, and his broken bones in a car accident are getting stronger day by day. Just last week, he finally threw away his pesky crutches and walked freely. It really felt better, he was completely free. However, the current situation is deteriorating in an all-round way: after the government has discussed, the secret ambassador Cheng Tianfang has handed over the file of the Berlin Police Department to the Minister of Defense, Field Marshal von Blomburg, after Jiang Baili arrives. Li Kongrong didn't know what the outcome would be, but it obviously didn't work.

This is the case in Germany, and the domestic war situation is not optimistic. Just the day before yesterday, the Japanese army occupied Dachang, which was China. The defense center of the army, here and there is a loss, China. The best option for the army is to withdraw from Shanghai, but in fact China. The army retreated again and again, and it was difficult to move forward, but it did not mean to completely withdraw from Shanghai. It seems that Chang Kaishen still wants to hold on to Shanghai, the economic center, in order to seek the intervention of foreign powers.

If Li Kongrong remembers correctly, on the 20th of this month, the Japanese high command will transfer the 6th, 18th, and 114th divisions, as well as the Kunizaki Detachment, totaling 120,000 people, to form the 10th Army, which is planned to land from the Jinshanwei area in the northern part of Hangzhou Bay. Once landed, along the Sujia Railway, which was completed last year, the Japanese army could easily cut off the back route of hundreds of thousands of ****, and then the army that was completely out of control would abandon everything and flee in the wilderness. According to the statistics of later generations, the casualties during the retreat actually exceeded the casualties of the three months of the battle.

Are Jin Shanwei's four torpedo boats and mine arrays really capable of saving the day? Li Kongrong was unsure. In fact, he was also very disappointed in the navy, there was nothing wrong with sealing the west and retreating, and the losses in the Jiangyin naval battle were also reasonable, but why did the Chinese navy not even have a working mine after the war? ! He remembered that Chen Shaokuan and Zhou Yingcong used foreign exchange to buy ship decorations all over Europe, and these decorations finally returned to China with Zhou Yingcong and Lin Xianxi.

There was not a single mine in the arsenal that could be used, but I bought some bronze, musical instruments, and ceramics for decoration. These two things happened almost in the same month, and he couldn't help but think together: Chen Shaokuan is an official gangster who only needs to save face, he cares about decoration, the seat of the emperor when he ascends the throne and is crowned, and he doesn't care about the necessary materials for fleet operations. He was extremely skeptical that such a naval minister would be able to arrange the Jinshan naval defense line.

What a group of reluctant officials! Li Kongrong had to come to this conclusion. In addition, they have a party-state leader who lives in a fantasy world and cannot see reality. Fortunately, he was already desperate for the group of people in Nanjing, so he no longer did the stupid thing of tearing the national flag back. He is familiar with the inside affairs of the navy, and he is not worried about someone complaining, since he will be sent abroad by the Navy Department, it is naturally a descendant of the Fujian family, and those loyal to the party and the state have all been put into a separate book - don't forget that last year, the fourth class was expelled from the whole class, and it was just the day before the graduation ceremony. It is said that the fourth class violated the school rules and did not exercise, and the fundamental reason was that Wen Jianmin, a political teacher from Nanjing, developed members of the Fuxing Society in the fourth class and asked the students to be loyal to the party-state leader. After the incident, Wen Jianmin was immediately detained by Li Shijia, the commander of the Mawei Fortress, who first threatened to shoot him, and finally gave him a gift out of the country.

If the navy is a fart in the Ministry of Military Affairs, and it cannot receive 500,000 military salaries every month, and it still has to rely on bank loans for turnover, then Chang Kaishen and his Kuomintang can only be regarded as a fart in the hearts of the navy, and from top to bottom, everyone has the obligation and responsibility to put an end to the subversion and infiltration of the party-state. In this context, no one will sue for tearing the national flag, let alone report it to the government. But this matter is still a hidden danger, if one day he wants to compete with Lin Zhun for the commander of the submarine fleet, the matter of tearing the national flag will definitely come out of nowhere, but now, he is safe for the time being.

"Report!" In the afternoon, Li Kongrong was bored in the garden to recuperate, and Liu Zhenren, a student on duty who hurriedly ran over, shouted a report before he arrived, and he walked up to him and said: "Colonel Dönitz's adjutant called, saying that the colonel wants to have dinner with the chief, and the place is at the Henk Hotel at No. 34 William Street, and he hopes that the time will be tonight, if the commander is free!" ”

Liu Zhen froze there after finishing a few words in one breath, and Li Kongrong thought for a while before replying quietly: "Well, I know." Go back. ”

Seeing that Li Kongrong was indifferent, Liu Zhen twisted for a moment before saying, "Chief Lin is waiting for the chief to come over to discuss." ”

"Okay, I got it." Li Kongrong finally changed his position, and after a while, he began to pack his clothes and kettle and go back to the dormitory.

As soon as he returned to the dormitory, Lin Zhun ran out, he looked very anxious, and only said: "Colonel Dönitz called, Brother Hansheng, what should we do?" ”

"Aren't you going to dinner?" Li Kongrong wiped his sweat. "Don't forget, it's not the fashion for Germans to talk about business at the dinner table. Besides, he is only the commander of the submarine fleet, not the commander-in-chief of the navy, I hope it is not too big. ”

"He is the commander of the submarine fleet, if he doesn't agree, we will have such a large number of ......" Lin Zhun pointed to the officers and cadets who were taking German lessons, "I will have an internship after next month, and I will just go to the merchant marine school, if we can't see the submarine from beginning to end, it will be really ......"

Obviously, Lin Zhun is really anxious, he no longer expects his people to enter the formal submarine school in Kiel, his minimum requirement now is to go to the submarine for internship, and then gallop across the ocean like the Ninghai - the Ninghai has now become a legend of the Chinese Navy.

But no matter how anxious you are, you have to do things little by little. At seven o'clock in the evening, Li Kongrong and Lin Zhun in formal clothes appeared at the agreed Henk Hotel, which was not far from the Admiralty, and it seemed that Colonel Dönitz was not worried that his banquet for Chinese would be known by others.

The Henk Hotel is a Western-style restaurant, and when he finished ordering and waiting, Dönitz, who had a big head, greeted Li Kongrong, "Li, I gathered the submarine to practice the group fighting tactics you mentioned during this time, and the effect was very good, but there were also many problems......

Dönitz got straight to the point, and set the atmosphere on the discussion of submarine tactics at the beginning, in fact, he mentioned these issues in his later recollections, such as the command of submarine operations, the distance between submarines during sieges, the tracking of merchant fleets, and so on. Li Kongrong was not in a hurry to raise the question of the training boat in the boat construction contract, he answered Dönitz's question little by little according to his recollection, and waited for all the questions to be answered, he suddenly said: "Colonel, are you interested in the free entry and exit of submarines in the Strait of Gibraltar......

Li Kongrong didn't finish his words, Colonel Dönitz, who was drinking the pre-dinner drink, squirted out, but fortunately, he bowed his head early, and all the wine was sprayed into the white napkin stuffed on his chest.

"Lee, what do you have to tell me? How do you know ......" Dönitz's big head turned and his blue eyes stared at Li Kongrong, for fear that he would disappear immediately. 'Free entry and exit of submarines in and out of the Strait of Gibraltar', that was something he had been thinking about.

"I'm just paying more attention than others. That strait was a chokepoint, and I remember the last war, when German submarines could only be transported by rail to the Austro-Hungarian military port of Pla. Yes, I remember you were at the Pula military port at that time......"

Li Kongrong had a smile on his face, in fact, Colonel Dönitz was captured by the British in the Mediterranean Sea due to a submarine failure in the last war. Train transport submarines will naturally limit the tonnage of submarines, and the Mediterranean Sea is the main shipping route of Britain and France, it is not enough to block the Atlantic, if there is a real war, the Mediterranean must also be blocked, and he knows exactly how submarines can freely enter and exit the Strait of Gibraltar.