By the time the first rays of the morning sun had fallen, the commander of the U.S. Navy's Special Fleet, Admiral Jetlika, had been standing on the damp battle bridge for a long time. The radar antenna on the mast rotated tirelessly, and from the high observation tower, the ship's observers used high-powered telescopes to keep an eye out for the situation on the surface of the sea - there was no anomaly, not even a small unidentified floating object appeared, but this did not mean that the danger was lifted. General Jetlika, who had not slept all night, held his heavy eyelids, and only a pair of dim eyes remained in those originally bright eyes.

With the clear sound of leather boots stepping on the steel gangway, the fleet staff officer, who was athletic but also tired, walked quickly onto the battle bridge: "Sir, the friendly ships Davidson and Emmons are approaching the fleet from the front, and it is expected to meet in an hour and a half. ”

The two Benson-Graafs-class destroyers were converted into fast minesweepers during World War II to clear the shores of the landers for their landing ships during fleet landing operations. A learned and sociable admiral like Jetlika was well aware of the realities of his country's various ships, which improved their own protection while installing minesweepers, but the naval guns and anti-aircraft firepower were only mediocre, and in the early days they were only equipped with conventional radio equipment and "Hedgehog" depth bomb launchers. With the end of World War II, a large number of redundant ships were piled up in military ports on the American mainland, waiting for them to be sold or dismantled, the war against the Soviet Union changed their fate, and ships above the destroyer were successively equipped with fire control radars and enhanced anti-submarine capabilities. Benson. The overall performance of the Graves-class was somewhat worse than that of the Fletcher class, and the analysis of White House envoy Legerhall was "appalling", and in Jetlika's view, the addition of two ordinary escort ships was far from enough to improve the situation of the fleet.

"The envoy and the doctor are resting?" The rear admiral asked lightly.

"Yes, sir, they went back to the cabin with some bread in the morning, and Colonel Angelo was in the radar room." Without thinking, the staff officer reported what he knew......

Angelo is a captain from the communications department, and his radio technology is better than that of ordinary officers, and he went to the radar control room to study those L-wave pulse radar waves intercepted last night, L-wave radar can be used for long-distance target detection, but the detection accuracy is relatively poor, and the American and British armies have been generally equipped with more advanced centimeter waves and even microwaves (the US Navy's SG-1 surface search radar) in the late stage of World War II. During World War II, German submarines were equipped with radars mainly in the L-band, and it was not until later in the war that the British centimeter-wave radar was captured and copied, and they were able to acquire new radars with higher accuracy. However, until the end of the war, German centimeter-wave radars for submarines were only in the testing stage, and there is no indication that they had been put into mass production.

It was not uncommon for the Soviets to use the equipment that Germany had not put into use, but General Jetlika now had neither the heart nor the conditions to get to the bottom of it, and his primary concern was the safety of the fleet and its special cargo. Strangely, the mysterious radar waves that had been making noise all night had not appeared since dawn, as if all this was just an illusion of the night.

Seeing that the general did not speak but looked at the sea with a solemn face, the staff officer cautiously asked, "You don't want to eat something?" ”

The general said in a deep tone, "I don't want to eat it yet." ”

The relationship between the superior and subordinate levels was also far and near, and the staff officer did not say much, and he was worried that the communications command department on the ship would have a new situation to report at any time, so he silently walked off the bridge.

Jetlika's deep, melancholy gaze searched aimlessly ahead and on the surface of the sea, and there were probably many people in the fleet who shared his fears of a terrible torpedo trail approaching if they were not careful, or the appearance of a high-speed aircraft that the legendary mission weapons could not shoot down, but this fear never materialized as time passed. About an hour later, two small gray dots appeared on the sea in front of them as scheduled, and the twists and turns of the night made the officers in the fleet dare not be careless, and they finally determined that they were their friendly ships - two fast minesweepers had been fighting in the Baltic Sea for more than half a year, and this trip was to return to the mainland for a rotation. The sailors, of course, were like arrows, but in the face of such a special situation, and having received instructions from the Naval Operations Department, they were duty-bound to join the escort procession. …,

For the two friendly ships that were the first to be reinforced, Admiral Jetlica arranged them on the left flank of the fleet without much thought, thus forming a strange and asymmetrical escort formation.

Colonel Angelo personally organized radar and radio technicians to measure and calculate the radio waves received last night, and determined that the wavelength of the pulsed radar waves was 55 centimeters, which was consistent with the radar signals intercepted by the British cruiser in the "Europa" cruise ship incident, and although the other party's communication radio waves could not be deciphered for a while, from the perspective of the law of coding and the frequency used by radio waves, It can be preliminarily judged that they belonged to the Soviet military coded telegrams.

After reporting all this information to the Naval Operations Department, the fleet received optimistic news: the Essex-class aircraft carrier "Oliscany," which had sailed from the continental United States to Europe in advance, turned around to provide support, and by the time the afternoon tea had taken place, the special fleet would be able to enter the effective combat radius of its carrier-based aircraft, and another escort fleet sailing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean had also temporarily dispatched a light cruiser and a large destroyer. Relieved by the news, Admiral Jetlica finally decided to go back to the captain's quarters to get some sleep and recharge his batteries for the challenges of the night.

Colonel Angelo, who was temporarily acting commander of the fleet and relied on cigarettes and coffee to refresh himself, had not yet sorted out his thoughts when the radar control room reported the discovery of an L-wave pulse radar.

The surface search radar of the cruiser "Boston" was able to detect the submarine periscope within 5 kilometers and the metal floating objects the size of a sampan within 15 kilometers, but this time there were still no foreign objects on the radar screen, which means that the detectors cunningly took advantage of the size difference between the two sides and the technical limitations of the radar equipment, Angelo stomped his feet angrily, and viciously cursed the opponents who plotted against him: "Those bastards with primitive equipment as treasures, cowardly weasels!" ”

In order to find out the true face of the opponent, Angelo directly ordered the "Vincennes" to catapult a water reconnaissance plane to investigate the location of the calculated radar wave source. On alert, the water reconnaissance aircraft and pilots on the light cruiser were already on standby, and only a few minutes later the white "waterfowl" took off with a slight buzz.

General Jetlika had just gone to rest, and Angelo had no intention of sending anyone to disturb him before he made a discovery, but White House envoy Legerhall and nuclear weapons expert Dr. Mante had made up for a good night's sleep and had returned to normal after lunch, and after carefully inspecting the "special cargo" that had been securely held to the amidships in special containers, they came to the battle bridge together. Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Leghall's face had returned to normal compared to last night, and he asked in a stern tone: "Is there a situation again?" ”

"Uh-huh, it's about the same as last night, northeast, far beyond the visual distance, we just sent a water reconnaissance plane, and I believe we will soon find the answer to the problem that bothers us." Colonel Angelo said this with more expectation than confidence.

"I heard - just heard that before the defeat the Germans developed a super-high-speed submarine that could dive in the water faster than any surface ship, and if Hitler's government had been given another year or two, the tide of the Atlantic naval war would have been reversed, and the Germans would have won the war." Although Leghol tried not to be subjective, his tone still gave the impression that he was deeply worried.

"I've heard this too, and I thought it was as ridiculous as the Aryan divine power, but after listening to your story about the UFO last night, and the photos taken by intelligence officers to support it, I suddenly felt that I should re-examine the scientific and technological power that Nazi Germany once had." The colonel replied with some frustration.

"Maybe the fact is that we won the race in the field of the atomic bomb, that they made a breakthrough in power or something, and that's entirely possible from a technical point of view." Dr. Mante chimed in.

Colonel Angelo reluctantly speculated: "I hope the Soviets are not so efficient at digesting these technologies." ”

"It is said that when Germany was defeated, many of the core experts fled to Switzerland and Spain, and some fled to South America, where they lived in seclusion among German immigrants." As a White House envoy, Leghall's greatest mystery is that he always has so many "said". …,

Colonel Angelo was comforted by this, and he took the opportunity to ask: "There is a version that Hitler did not die in the basement of the headquarters in Berlin, but fled Germany in a submarine to a secret base located in the polar regions?" ”

"It's just that it's supposed." The corners of Leghall's mouth were raised, and it was a cold smile with extreme doubt.

The Colonel was trying to find out what he had been curious about and couldn't get answers to, but the communications officer in the cabin below interrupted him.

"Sir! The reconnaissance aircraft reported spotting a submarine about 30 nautical miles north-east, which they dropped but did not hit, and that submarine escaped by diving. ”

"Sure enough, it's a submarine!" Colonel Angelo gritted his teeth and said, "Hey! It didn't hurt it, if only there were aircraft carriers to provide air support! ”

"Not going to send a destroyer to search for traces? Force it to float with depth charges? The White House asked in a layman's tone.

The colonel shook his head: "If it is only one submarine that is monitoring us, then its speed is already so fast that it is difficult for us to track, if it is many submarines, even if it is staring at one, it will not help, not to mention the fact that the German XXI-class submarine has excellent silent technology is a recognized fact." ”

The envoy looked to the northeast as if he didn't understand: "What are we going to do next?" ”

"You don't have any suggestions for this?" Colonel Angelo asked rhetorically.

"What do you mean?" Envoy Legerhall asked, puzzled.

Seeing that the other party's reaction was a little strong, Angelopin raised his hand and said, "I don't mean anything disrespectful to you in what I say, I just think that your analysis last night was very wonderful, and your thinking is far more open-minded than any of us. At the moment we have at least figured out that the adversary is using submarines to spy on us, and that we have a slight advantage during the day, but once it is night, the situation is far from ideal. ”

Leghall sighed, "I don't have any ideas, the things that just bothered me for a long time last night, suddenly found inspiration to untie the knot, that's all." ”

Colonel Angelo was a little disappointed by this answer: "You advised us not to turn around and return to our homeland, and we did, and it will be two days and two nights from here to the Continent at the earliest, and the key is two nights—the enemy is likely to launch an attack which we cannot parry." ”

"But time is making us stronger, isn't it?" Legerhall cheered up.

"Yes, two more fast minesweepers, and an aircraft carrier that could join the fleet tomorrow morning...... The best time for the enemy to do so is probably tonight. Do you think they want to sink us outright, or will they forcibly snatch our special cargo? The Colonel was consulted that, after last night's discussion, he preferred to rely on the White House envoy for operational matters rather than those career Navy staff officers.

"Sinking us is to reduce the two atomic bombs sent to Europe, which is of little strategic significance, and the technology of the atomic bomb has been stolen last year, plus the captured German physicists and some related equipment, they should have the ability to manufacture atomic bombs, but there are not enough industrial facilities for refining enriched uranium, and the speed of manufacturing atomic bombs is not fast enough, they may urgently need the bomb bodies we ship, plus the self-developed detonation equipment can be used to increase the deterrence of the allies." The further back he went, the more painful his expression became, as if the truth had caused him to suffer great pain in the depths of his soul, and his originally upright face had many wrinkles due to his frowning posture.

"I have a different opinion on this." Dr. Mante habitually touched his baldness, "The Soviet Union had developed heavy industry technology and scale, there were uranium ore raw materials in the country, there is evidence that they also indirectly controlled the uranium-rich Norwegian uranium mines, and it is entirely possible that they have ...... in time"

Before he had finished speaking, Dr. Mante realized that Colonel Angelo and Envoy Legerhol's attention was completely absorbed by the other affairs, and he turned his head somewhat slowly to look in the direction they were staring at, and above the turquoise sea, a pelican-shaped seaplane was flying lightly at low altitude - this was only the first impression, and on closer inspection, one could easily see that the seaplane was swaying from side to side, as if it had been followed by enemy planes in an air battle, and had to swing its body to avoid the bullets. Dr. Mante's pupils dilated, and his mouth opened to reveal a crooked mouthful of smoky yellow teeth. …,

"Oh God......" Colonel Angelo said a faint syllable, although he had heard of the UFO Phantom that appeared in Las Amos from his colleagues before, but the impact and shock brought by what he saw with his own eyes was still incomparable, and it was not like the "dazzling light of the sun" as described by people, it looked like a silver-gray painted fighter from a distance, but there was no traditional vertical tail, no small tail wheel and no fast-rotating propeller, under the sun, it came and went freely, The action when changing direction is as if it is not bound by any known principle of inertia. Against the backdrop of its broad, flat body, the seaplane ejected from the Vincennes was like a poor helpless chicken, panicking in search of a place to hide.

"Sir! Radar detected a high-speed vehicle rapidly approaching from the northeast, and ...... The pilot of the reconnaissance plane, who reported being pursued by UFOs, asked the fleet to launch an anti-aircraft artillery bombardment, and he would lead the other side over the fleet, he said that there was no need to worry about his personal safety, let's tear this terrible demon to pieces with shells! ”

The communications officer below seemed to be deeply stimulated by the sudden situation and the pilot's tone, and his words were a little incoherent, and the three people on the bridge tried to exchange glances, but this simple intention was actually missed due to the inopportune action.

Judging from the scene, the water reconnaissance plane was obviously being targeted by the other side on the way back to the fleet after losing its target, and when Leng Buding saw such a strange guy behind him, the pilot immediately panicked - he probably didn't think about what kind of threat this high-speed aircraft would pose to his own fleet. If the fleet is lost, what is the use of taking his small life?

After a moment of hesitation, Colonel Angelo finally roared and ordered: "Sound the air defense battle alarm!" ”

Before the sirens sounded, the buzzing sound of the aircraft engines was already rapidly approaching, and the huge difference in speed made the trailing person easily pass past the white reconnaissance fuselage, ignoring the existence of dozens of large and small anti-aircraft guns of this fleet, and unscrupulously brushed over the mast, and it was extremely surprising that the saucer-shaped body was sprayed with bright red five stars!

By the time the first anti-aircraft gun opened fire without receiving the flagship's command, the saucer-shaped flying object had already flown thousands of meters away, and at first glance it seemed that it was faster than a shell, which made the panicked gunners embarrassed.

On the bridge of the heavy cruiser "Boston", three people with very different identities stood dumbfounded, and many of what they heard turned into reality one day, and they could no longer express their true emotions in words. Remembering the analysis and speculation of Agent Leghall last night, the worst prophecy seemed to be coming true, with Colonel Angelo, Dr. Mante, and Legerhall himself all frozen there.