"Gentlemen!"

When Rear Admiral Jetlika's hoarse voice came from the gangway, Captain Anglo, nuclear weapons expert Dr. Mante, and White House Special Envoy Legerhall were still stunned from the command position of the battleship with a wide view.

The three of them turned to the side in unison, and the tone in which Colonel Angelo spoke was reminiscent of a child who had been bullied by his friends and asked for help from his parents.

"Sir・・・・・・ UFO・・・・・・ it's a Soviet UFO, oh there's no way to ・・・・・・"

It had only been more than half an hour since he left his command position and descended to the cabin, and General Jetlika probably hadn't slept at all, and the complexion on his face was typical of tiredness and weakness caused by lack of sleep. For Captain Anglo's pitiful demeanor, he gave an elder-like care and encouragement with a generous and calm look, even though the age difference between the two was almost the same.

"I saw the silver-grey plate, and it was quite amazing! Think about it, one of our two powerful enemies created an unprecedentedly large super battleship, and the other created an incomparably advanced flying machine, and we actually won decisive victories in two battlefields, which is not easy! ”

As soon as these words came out, the consternation of the three people on the bridge of the battle suddenly eased a lot, and the German-Japanese axis during World War II did have many advantages ahead of the allies in terms of technology and tactics, but the results of the war showed that the superiority in overall strength was more decisive than being outstanding in a few aspects alone.

"You guessed it." General Jetlika walked up to the envoy Leghall and stopped, looked at the other party and said, "We are indeed regarded by the enemy as a delicious meal, and the process of guessing is not really important, what matters is what will happen next. ”

Colonel Angelo had already asked the same question once before, and Legerhall shook his head in trepidation: "I can only think that they are trying to use us to severely demoralize the governments and people of the allied countries, as for what tricks they have, how they will do it, whether it is a submarine attack, an air strike, or some other means・・・・・・ I am not good at military analysis, and I know almost nothing about operations, I can't think of it." ”

The general reached out and patted Leghall on the shoulder, which was rude in terms of status, and in terms of age, it reflected a certain mentality of the seniors towards the juniors - recognition, comfort, care, or mere encouragement.

"On the worst day of December 1941, Black Sunday in the United States of America, I was on the battleship USS California as weapons commander and experienced a nightmare that I could not look back on. For countless nights after that, as soon as I closed my eyes, I would see the horrific scenes of purgatory, the distorted faces of my comrades struggling, the blazing flames and the chilling scorching oil slick, and many times I thought I was going to suffocate in my dreams, but I woke up anyway. Day after day, until today......"

General Jetlika recounted his experience in a slightly hoarse voice, and at the same time looked out at the vast sea and sky, the flying saucer had long since disappeared, and the white water reconnaissance plane was bewildered over the fleet over and over again. To the west, the sunset gradually changes from dazzling to a relatively soft orange-red; To the east, a brilliant sunset is forming. This should have been a natural and beautiful sunset seascape, but what happened in just a few minutes just now made it impossible for every officer and soldier in the fleet to maintain a calm mind.

"What would be the worst thing in the world? Everyone has their own ideas. In my opinion, there is nothing worse than watching my comrades being swallowed up by death and unable to help, and after that day, the war that lasted for nearly four years was full of twists and turns, and we were also caught in very unoptimistic sea battles, and we were also attacked by enemy submarines, and the two warships I stayed on later were sunk and the other was seriously injured and overhauled, but there was never a nightmare scene again. Slowly, I untied the knot, the key is not how bad the situation is, but the mentality - when you suddenly fall into a predicament from being unprepared, you may give up out of despair when the situation is still in a turning point, so every time I change ships, I will tell my crew to always be ready to deal with the situation, as long as you have a strong enough heart, even the most vicious enemy can be defeated. With that, General Jetlika took off his military cap, stroked his short gray hair in the wind, and swept them one by one with a meaningful gaze. …,

Anglo seemed to have an important life philosophy from the general's words, his face, which had been slightly twitching from panic and nervousness, finally returned to normal, and he no longer looked around to watch out for the arrival of the enemy's flying saucer again. Dr. Mante, on the other hand, was clearly in the category of IQ far higher than EQ, and his emotions were far less intense than those of the other two, and he pondered thoughtfully—not knowing whether he was chewing on General Jetlika's words or about the unfinished speculation of the envoy Leghall.

Listening to the general's words, the most complicated reaction was Leghall, who held the title of "White House Special Envoy", he hung his head slightly, looking a little annoyed and a little lost, or perhaps he had overcome the panic and tension in his heart, and his thoughts were becoming active again.

"Colonel, send an order to all ships: the most dangerous battle is coming, and only the officers and men can work together to overcome this difficulty!" General Jetlica commanded.

"Yes!" When Colonel Angelo moved again, the staggering posture when he saw the flying saucer just now was completely gone, and the communication order was assigned to the ship's staff officer to carry it out, and it took him nearly ten minutes before he returned to the battle bridge, during which time he probably carefully examined and took care of this sharp weapon of naval warfare under his direct command -- the Baltimore-class class was recognized as a first-class heavy cruiser in the war, and the world peace that lasted for several months once caused the US team to put its swords in storage and put its horses in the South Mountain, and it had to spend a considerable amount of time to reorganize the Soviet Union after the war. Most Baltimore-class ships were in active service during the transition period between the two wars, and their condition was ideally higher than that of many older battleships, ordinary escort aircraft carriers, and wartime destroyers.

Angelo's first sentence was: "Fortunately, the mood of the officers and crew is relatively stable, and they are all speculating while sticking to their posts, and it seems that it is still good to not know the inside situation." ”

General Jetlika had a grim face at this time, and he asked with a grim face: "Our reconnaissance plane found an enemy submarine before?" Are you sure it's a submarine? ”

Angelo realized that he had just forgotten to report this equally non-negligible situation to the captain of the fleet, and he thought that he came out of the cabin and went straight to the bridge of the battle ship, and saw the traces of the flying saucer on the way, but did not ask the staff officer about it specifically.

"I'm sorry, sir, I ...... when I was excited."

Admiral Jetlika waved his hand a little displeased: "With the strength of the Soviet Navy and the acquisition of UFO technology, it is not enough to turn into an invincible armada, but if they can ambush the submarine, we will try to find a safer and more reliable path." ”

Colonel Angelo suddenly hung his head a little frustrated: "We also thought this before, but since we intercepted the radar wave last night, we temporarily changed course, and it is unlikely that the enemy will be informed in advance and set up ambushes along the way. ”

The general was momentarily speechless, and the envoy Leghall spoke: "Although we can't rule it out now, I have a hunch that the cunning enemy is likely to have taken advantage of our fear of unknown technology to orchestrate a highly misleading magic trick in some clever way. ”

"I agree with you." General Jetlika raised his eyebrows slightly, "The reason is simple, we can think backwards, if the Soviet Navy has advanced submarines with high speed, they can use this technology to drive our fleet out or destroy it in the Baltic Sea, then their army will be even more invincible." It's hard to understand why they didn't use it to defend against the Allied air forces' continued bombardment of their industrial areas, apparently they had received UFO technology from the Germans, and they already had a technical entity. ”

Envoy Leghall continued the general's analysis, saying, "Either they don't have any offensive power; Or, they are just illusions created using optical technology. Whatever the truth is, we don't need to defeat the seemingly invincible demons we are facing at all, and we only need to watch out for those ...... that are truly powerful."

"Soviet submarines!" The envoy and the general said in unison.

Colonel Angelo also paused: "Aha, the truth is here・・・・・・ suppose that the Soviet Union will put all the ocean-going submarines into this plan, the number of which can reach up to one at most, divided into four or five ambush battle groups, select the sea area that we are most likely to pass through to set the combat area, and then use the radar wave source to affect our course and drive us into their trap step by step." ”…,

General Jetlika frowned, but this time the emotion in his heart was not helpless anxiety but calm thought. After a moment, he looked at Colonel Angelo and said, "This is probably the enemy's true combat intentions, go back to the command room and analyze our course and position, so that we can reverse the approximate location of the enemy's submarines in a concentrated ambush, as long as we avoid them from a distance, the fleet will be safe." ”

The colonel was eager to raise his hands and feet in agreement, and the four of them hurried under the bridge

Forty minutes later, the flagship, the Boston, signaled the turn of the fleet, and the eight ships in high speed adjusted their course in more or less unison—the turning radius of different ship types varied, so this "unanimity" could not be as neat as a well-trained infantry platoon, but standing on the ship and looking around, the tail of the ship in front of it raised a tumbling white wave, the thick water marks in the continuous expansion showed an elegant arc, and the sharp bow of the ship behind split the waves, and the corresponding rotation of the hull of the ship, The front of the hull reveals a graceful curve that resembles the edge of a saber. On the towering masts, the brightly colored Star-Spangled Banners fluttered in the same direction; On the majestic turrets, the mighty barrels of the ship's guns point proudly into the unknown distance.

Just as the fleet turn was about to be completed, the silver-gray saucer-shaped aircraft appeared silently again. Without the comparison of the water reconnaissance plane, its speed does not seem so exaggerated, I saw it flying over the fleet like a leisurely stroll, hovering, descending, circling, diving, and rising, this process lasted about the same time as the previous tail of the US water reconnaissance plane, but this time the anti-aircraft guns in the fleet did not shoot in a panic, under the command of the flagship, the ships accurately completed the steering action, the crew was on duty on the anti-aircraft gun position, and all the guns were pointed at the arrogant and domineering invaders, All eyes were fixed on each other in a state of apprehensive anger, and when it disappeared from sight like a lion that had failed to hunt, the destroyer "Anthony" erupted in enthusiastic cheers, and this feeling of freedom from a compressed spring suddenly infected every ship in the fleet, and the crew shouted, waved their arms, high-fived or hugged, and the officers came out of the closed cabin one after another to look at this breakthrough that was more important than victory.

After moving due north, the rendezvous between the fleet and the Essex-class aircraft carrier "Oliscany", which had turned around to support, would be postponed by two hours, but this would not affect the mood of the officers and men of the fleet. The following afternoon, the mysterious flying saucer painted with five red stars disappeared completely, and even the strange radar waves did not reappear, and the fleet's speed was adjusted to 20 knots, allowing engineers and engineers to take advantage of this opportunity to carry out a marching overhaul of the ship that continued to travel at high speeds. At dusk, the formation of carrier-based aircraft and the sumptuous dinner of the "Oliscany" with extra dishes raised the mood of the crew to the bottom.

In early spring, the alternation of day and night in the Atlantic Ocean follows the natural pattern, and by 7 p.m. the sky is almost dark. The special fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Bentlica adjusted its course and informed the "Oliscany" battle group of the rendezvous by secret telegram of its position and sailing plan.

Just as all this was turning in the direction that Bentlica and his colleagues had hoped, a troublesome pulsed radar wave appeared at about 9 o'clock in the evening, and this time it was not a short-term detection of dodging, but lasted more than 20 minutes, causing the radar officers on the US ship to calmly detect and calculate the theoretical position of the radar wave source -- it was close to about 5 nautical miles. Jetlica then dispatched the destroyer "Anthony" and the fast minesweeper "Emmons" to reconnoiter the enemy, and authorized them to launch a direct attack if they found a target. The rear admiral originally expected that the enemy submarine would dive and evade, so after the two escort ships left the group, he ordered the fleet to speed up to 30 knots, preparing to use a period of high-speed sprint to get rid of the enemy's radar tracking, but the development of the situation surprised Jetlica and his temporary staff team - the "Anthony" sent a signal for help: the friendly ship "Emmons" was torpedoed, the hull exploded and was sinking rapidly, due to the unknown number of enemies and the position of the enemy slowed down to go to the rescue, it is very likely to be attacked by the enemy for a second time!

To go for reinforcements or to abandon them, the heavy choice was before Rear Admiral Jetlika, and now it was far from being possible to seek the advice of the Naval Operations Department. At the reminder of Colonel Angelo, he had no choice but to send the destroyer "Patton", which was in better condition, to come to the aid alone, and asked the "Anthony" to immediately report the course of the battle. …,

The rapid expansion of the US Navy during the war is certainly astonishing, but this does not mean that there is a phenomenon of indiscriminate use of numbers by commanders at all levels; a good academy system and reserve aircraft have provided the US Navy with a large number of qualified officers, and the vast majority of those who can serve as captains have been trained by naval academies, and some have even served in the Navy for as long as 20 or 30 years. Soon, the "Anthony" sent a concise report. It turned out that after approaching the reconnaissance area, the surface radar of the "Anthony" detected the traces of the submarine's periscope, and on the one hand, it used the fire control radar to guide the ship's guns to carry out shelling, and on the other hand, it coordinated the "Emmons" to drop depth charges; the "Emmons" did not hesitate to act, but on the way of approaching, it was attacked by torpedoes fired from the side, and these torpedoes accurately hit the target under poor optical visual conditions. After all, the unfortunate "Emmons" was only a combat ship of tonnage, and the bow and stern of the ship were hit by a torpedo and exploded violently, and the ship caught fire on the spot and lost all power, and then sank rapidly, and most of the surviving crew did not have time to use the lifeboats and life rafts.

Holding this battle report from the first scene, the expressions of General Jetlika, Colonel Angelo, and Special Envoy Leghall were the same as the shock, hesitation, and even despair of the night before, and the enlightenment and psychological victory of the day were like a self-deceptive joke at the moment. In the vastness of the sea, even a layman like Dr. Mante could see how high the chances of the fleet temporarily changing course and then breaking into the enemy's submarine ambush zone were. The myth of high-speed submarines is coming to reality from fantasy, and the mood of people in the prey position is heavy!

"This may be a new tactic for the enemy, based on fast and flexible silent submarine technology..."

Leghall muttered unwillingly, but he claimed to be a military blind one, and how could Jetlika and Angelo, who had been in the Navy for many years, deliberately ponder?

"Regardless of whether this is a submarine ambush position set up by the enemy in advance, our two cruisers, which basically do not have anti-submarine capabilities, cannot go over and risk in any way, and it is at least necessary to maintain the escort strength of the two destroyers, at most send one more・・・・・・ and we must immediately notify the Oliscani and its escort ships to strengthen their night alert, let them turn around and sail east, and then join us after dawn -- if we can hold out until then." Jetlika's words were full of helplessness and sorrow, and before Angelo could speak to comfort him, he heard the ship's staff officer running in in a panic: "Flying saucer...... Flying saucer... ・・・”

A flying saucer during the day is as intimidating as a kite or a cloud, but what difference does it make at night? Dr. Mante, who was close to the porthole, suddenly shouted "God", Jetlica and Angelo hurriedly went over to take a look, and at this time, a high-speed moving ball of fire appeared in the night sky, it did not have the light of the sun, but it was extremely dazzling in the darkness, if it was not a raging flame, it made people feel that it had the terrible power to devour everything. Clear