Chapter 53: Final Route (Part II)

"The target has entered the G91 area...... 20 nautical miles away! ”

In the XXI-class submarine UA-055 of the 1st Submarine Squadron, the backbone of the Renaissance Force of the Greater German Empire, the report after the full-time communications corps interprets the code is like a trace of ozone molecules in the air after a heavy rain, and the smell is invigorating. "Captain Oberst. Lieutenant Commander Braun, who was also the deputy commander of the submarine squadron, immediately ordered the crew to enter the highest state of combat readiness, the quiet inner compartment of the submarine was full of vitality again, and the crew went to their respective positions in a nervous and orderly manner.

"The battery level is 94%, the cabin pressure is normal, the water pressure of the torpedo tubes is normal, all 68 crew members are in place, and there is not a single injury."

"Well done." Braun replied to his lieutenant with his usual brief comments, and as he circled the periscope, the radar, active sonar, and rudder were not activated, while the passive sonar and radio reception were always running, and the crew was busy attentively, and he sniffled slightly, feeling that the whole team was like a cannonball with an overly sensitive fuse, which had detonated before it had even penetrated into the enemy's fortifications.

Thinking of this, Braun crossed his waist with his left hand and scratched his head with his right hand, looking like a young man thinking about life in a confused manner, within a few minutes, the crew was all in place, because many of the equipment turned on early would cause the combat to be exposed, they had to wait until the last minute to do it, so the cabin was calm again.

"Guys, I feel like I've found the state I was in when I first went to sea, nervous, excited, impulsive, and of course, I guess that's the same mood when I date a girl for the first time!" Braun said in a teasing tone, and the crew in the command cabin quickly burst into laughter.

"Okay, how about we relax a little bit and sing a song quietly?" The stern and quite affable captain proposed.

"Let's just sing "We are sailors on the U-boat"! It's still the same, I'll lead the singing! After glaring the captain's approval, Lieutenant Dickfield paused, and then the voice that came out of his mouth was as if it were two people who spoke normally, as if a magic pair of scissors had cut off the baritone's generosity, leaving an almost neutral and clean tone. Following the brisk rhythm of the lead singer, the crew sang to the beat:

We never closed our eyes day and night

Hunt in the ocean, stand behind a telescope

until you are soaking wet

Searching for enemy transports

Diesel engines rumble, the sea is choppy,

The submarine is so small, and the ocean is so big

Just rely on every waterproof suit, from the captain to the last man

Home, you are so far away

Hometown, we greet you

For your sake, we give death to the enemy in ambush in torpedo tubes

Advance to England

We are sailors on U-boats

……

As night fell, the commander of the U.S. Special Fleet, Rear Admiral Jetlika, recalled three destroyers operating on the periphery, allowing the combined fleet to regain the most basic anti-submarine escort force. Not only that, but during the day, he ordered the officers and men of each ship to take turns to rest and cope with night battles, and as soon as night came, he issued an order for the fleet to prepare for war. Of course, the situation of the "Boston" is more peculiar, and the combat readiness order is sent down to every post and every sailor by the officers, rather than alarming all the unrelated people on board the ship by the shrill alarm bells.

"In the face of a squadron of fighters, it is not easy to hover over the fleet with ease and ease, and see the position and composition of the fleet clearly!"

This sentiment was expressed by Colonel Brad, chief of staff of the USS Oliscany, who had been commissioned by Admiral Niken to coordinate the fleet's operations. It is worth mentioning that he was able to change ships during the fleet voyage, not a traditional transport boat, but the HNS-1 carried by the "Oliscany", a helicopter developed and produced by the Sikorsky Aircraft Company, first flown in 1942 and delivered to the US Army in the same year, which was put into mass production in 1943 and was the only helicopter used in actual combat by the Allied camp during World War II. It received the designation R-4 in the US Army and received the strange nickname "Aphid-Eater" in the British Air Force and "Gadfly" in the British Navy. As crude and grotesque as its name suggests, it looks like a six-year-old child's cardboard patchwork and has a top speed of only 130 kilometres per hour, slower than the classic airplanes used by the belligerents in the early days of World War I, and a maximum load of only 250 kilograms, meaning that it can barely carry anything more after refueling and taking a pilot and a passenger. Despite the shortcomings of one kind or another, and the fact that it was difficult to perform the role of observation and firing due to the threat of enemy fighters and anti-aircraft guns, they were unique in that they only needed a small area of open space to take off and land on their own - on the Boston, which could not land fixed-wing aircraft, the fore and aft decks and even the top of the main turret could be its foothold. …,

Facing Brad, an old neighbor and long-time Navy colleague, Jetlika smiled bitterly without hesitation: "Before you arrived, we had been tossed by this guy for two nights, and we didn't live much during the day, now you can feel our pain!" ”

Brad nodded sympathetically.

Jetlica lit a cigarette and showed her exhaustion between the clouds and the mist: "If you are only provoked and unable to fight back, learn from the ostrich and stick your head in the sand, but the real test has just begun, I hope the officers and sailors of your fleet can be mentally prepared." ”

Brad replied: "After witnessing the scene of the evening, everyone realized that they had encountered a more difficult adversary than the Japanese Navy and Air Force, and General Niken had ordered to prepare for a night flight, with fighter planes for interception and helicopters for anti-submarine - in fact, it was not really anti-submarine at all, but only a few light bombs to scare and frighten the enemy." ”

"Scare and scare the enemy......" Jetlica paused as if to ponder the relevance of this powerless wording, and after a moment he asked, "How many helicopters do you have?" ”

Brad did not shy away from giving the answer: "2 for liaison, 1 for spare, both with 100-pound and 50-pound bomb pylons installed outside the aircraft." In the case of calm and well-lit conditions, their medium- and short-range anti-submarine utility is still worth looking forward to. ”

"But what about at night?" Jettrick shaved his forehead with the back of his thumb, "I hope your pilots don't get lost." ”

Brad neither justified nor smiled bitterly, but squinted and said: "This kind of aircraft is like a fixed-wing aircraft in 1914, the pilot will either wave his hand and greet when he encounters an opponent in the air, or pull out his pistol and shoot indiscriminately, and the only thing that can really rely on the anti-submarine aspect is the professional anti-submarine equipment and well-trained personnel on the destroyer." ”

"Four destroyers to protect an aircraft carrier and three cruisers, enough to choke!" Jetlika sighed bitterly, the night before he had lost three escort destroyers almost inexplicably, and if they were still there, the situation should be much more optimistic.

"Just hold on until the second half of the night, Mike. Three destroyers in Davor will be able to be included in the escort list. "Tomorrow morning at the latest." ”

Jetlica suddenly felt that this world was really ridiculous, and when she went to the Naval Operations Department to receive orders, she saw that the Atlantic charts in the command hall were marked with a large number of ships at sea, but few of them could come to help in time when they really needed it. The three destroyers that Bullard had just mentioned had set sail from French ports in a hurry, and their operational conditions were unknown, and the officers and men on board might not be able to quickly comprehend the bad situation reflected in the reports of friendly ships.

"It's time to go, old man!" Brad put on his military hat and solemnly extended his hand to Jetlika.

Jetlica shook hands vigorously with the other party without hesitation: "Greetings General Nikon for me, if you can reach Europe smoothly, I will hold a banquet in Paris to entertain you." ”

"It's a deal." With that, Brad hurried to the stern, and soon, the characteristic roar of the helicopter starting was heard in that direction.

Seeing this crude little grasshopper take off and fly towards the aircraft carrier thousands of meters away, Jetlika's expression was still complicated, and before he could put away his thoughts, Anglo's staff officer hurriedly ran over and reported: "High-speed aircraft have been detected, and nine times out of ten it is that damn Russian flying saucer, which is flying towards us from eighty nautical miles to the north!" The colonel is waiting for you on the bridge of the battle ship. ”

Jetlica let out a long breath and turned and walked quickly to the bridge.

On the other side, on the flight deck of the Essex-class aircraft carrier "Oliscany", when the small liaison helicopter landed in the rear area of the island, the first "Hellcat" was flying off the deck in the familiar roar, this kind of carrier-based fighter that broke the Japanese zero battle has extremely excellent performance, and there are two improved models equipped with radar to become night fighters, but the production is very limited, this time from North America to Europe to fight, "Oliscany" was not carried. Colonel Brad left the swirl area of the helicopter propeller and slowed down to watch the take-off scene of the F6F in front of him, and then looked up at the sky, it was a bright moonlit night, the flight vision was not bad, and with the guidance of the aircraft carrier radar, the pilots should be able to accurately find the target. …,

Right front of the flight deck, left of the front of the entire fleet, John Brown. The Butler-class escort destroyer USS Conlinke, the smallest tonnage ship in the combined fleet and the only one designed to position anti-submarine vessels, has the most sensitive active/passive sonar in service, and has anti-submarine firepower consisting of 2 depth charge slots, 8 depth charge droppers, and 1 hedgehog launcher. While the officers and men of the ships were mainly focused on night air defense operations against enemy aircraft, most of the officers and men on the escort destroyer were dedicated to guarding against underwater attackers, and in the sonar room, which was isolated from external noise by noise walls and heavy hatches, experienced sonar crews worked to eliminate noise interference from their own ships and trace the submarine's activity.

Boom Boom Boom ......

A sound similar to the churning of a steel cable broke the silence, and the officer on duty walked over and took off the receiver of the telephone: "Sonar room...... Yes, understood! ”

Putting down the receiver, the officer turned around and said loudly to the sonar soldiers, "Guys, we can rest for a while!" The speed of the fleet will be increased to 25 knots, which means that the engines on our ships will be running at full speed, and the noise will cover everything! ”

The sailors, who had been engrossed in the sonar equipment, took off their headphones and stood up to stretch their limbs, teasing their companions with relaxed faces, or walking to the closet to get a cup of water. Only the officer on duty with the rank of lieutenant raised his hand to look at his watch with grim eyes, muttering something in his mouth.

The sonar equipment had been suspended, and soon a sailor opened the hatch and walked to the ship's side deck to breathe, and the roar of machinery outside became clear, and after a few minutes, the sound of the rushing water became louder and louder, and the sonar soldiers who came out of the cabin were chattering outside, sounding enthusiastic about the naval warhawks that had risen into the air at night. The officer on duty walked alone in front of the entire row of sonar displays, looking at the empty seats, his willow-shaped eyebrows, so beautiful that many women would envy them, that they furrowed at the center of the eyebrows. Although the fleet has been moving at a high speed, there are many examples of anti-submarine warfare in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II - as long as the fleet is discovered by a German submarine during the voyage, the next voyage may be surrounded and intercepted by multiple submarines, and once there is a fatal omission in the escort system, the fate of this fleet will be unimaginably tragic.

"Wow! Flaming flying machine! Show off! Suddenly there was an exclamation from the sailors outside the hatch, and many rumors were heard, and the officer on duty knew that the mysterious saucer-shaped flying machine had reappeared. He looked out of the porthole, his eyes on the sea rather than the sky, the waves of the ship's voyage tumbling outward, the escort destroyer as if it had been sped up to its maximum speed.

"Rather than slowing down the fleet, why not leave us alone on the perimeter." The officer on duty muttered worriedly.

Boom...... Boom...... Boom......

Bang Bang Bang ...... Bang Bang Bang ......

The sound of large-caliber anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft guns came one after another, some sounding close, some sounding like they were at the end of the fleet, and the light outside the porthole jumped with the echo of these sounds, and the officer on duty found a chair and sat down, trying to put on headphones, and the noise of the roar of the engine and the high-speed operation of the propeller was all inside.

Reluctantly putting down the headphones, the lieutenant made a cross on his chest and said to himself: "God bless America!" ”

In most cases, the big guy's thinking foothold is very different from that of the little guy, Jetlica sticks to his judgment: the course adjustment has allowed him to bypass the enemy submarines that are not as fast as he imagined, no matter how the damn flying saucer hits, no matter where the submarine radar pulse comes from, as long as he continues to sail fast, the dark night that lasts for eight or nine hours will be passed safely, and then a new escort force will join the fleet, and before the next night comes, The fleet was to arrive in the French port, and no matter how powerful the submarines were, it would not be possible for them to quietly cross the channel and enter the port - Jetlica had even thought of asking the French authorities to put the entrance channel on strict alert as soon as they arrived in Brest, and never let the Soviets replicate the miracle of the German submarine entering Scapa Bay and sinking the "Royal Oak". …,

As for whether the enemy in front of him was Soviet, Jetlika's doubts always existed, but instead of exploring the identity and true plan of the opponent, leading the fleet through the trap was the absolute center of the moment.

"It's too slow, that escort destroyer is too slow!"

A wonderful show was going on in the night sky, but Angelo had no intention of watching, pacing irritably on the bridge of the battle ship.

In Jetlika's eyes, the dedicated captain is excellent in every way, but the fact that he is naturally impulsive can do more harm than good.

"Slow down and consume less fuel! What's more, we are walking in a straight line, and if the opponent wants to volley, we have to take a diagonal line, and 25 knots is enough! ”

Angelo reluctantly stopped: "Sir, this is true, but I always feel that the faster the sail, the higher the chance of safe passage." ”

On the left side of the sea, another cannon flame flickered, and within seconds, the roar of artillery fire was heard one after another. Jetlica frowned, her fleet had learned a lesson not to fire indiscriminately, but the crews under Admiral Kenny didn't have that awareness. The two cooperated with each other without being subordinate to the command, and all he could do was to shake his head and sigh except to frown, and it was not up to him to leave behind the escort destroyer, which was very old but had a speed of only this level.

"How long?"

Angelo raised his hand to look at his watch, although the officer's watch had a fluorescent agent, but the external light here interfered with his vision, and he could only read the reading clearly with the help of the light of the ship's navigation lights: "It has been 46 minutes since it appeared. ”

Jetlica raised her head, I don't know if it was a technical feature or intentionally, the dull saucer aircraft during the day will bloom like a flame at night, and the carrier-based fighter plane that took off from the "Oliscany" left a fluttering trajectory like a butterfly in the chase, this scene is much more wonderful than the acrobatics in the circus, and the round luminous body sometimes dives to a low altitude to attract a shelling of the escort ships, and sometimes rushes to the high altitude to make those invincible "hellcats" in the Pacific theater helpless, It's like an unpredictable magic, constantly unleashing air maneuvers that transcend the principles of pneumatics in front of people's eyes.

"It's a lot longer than the previous ones!" The fleet commander said worriedly.

"Yes, I don't know if we were deliberately pinning us down or ......," Anglo said at this point when he suddenly stopped, and he looked at the front of the fleet in amazement, and in that direction a huge fireball was rising from the starboard side of the leading light cruiser "Vincennes", and it all came so suddenly that the Colonel was unprepared, and when the loud roar struck like a thunderbolt from the sky, General Jetlica followed his subordinates into shock.

*J@a