End of March, Northern Hemisphere. The footsteps of spring are approaching, the old trees are budding, the new grass is green, the rain is the breeze and drizzle, and the sun is warm and warm. The vast sea bids farewell to the cold rain and cold wind of midwinter, and enters the ideal sailing season of the year. When the smoke of war has dissipated, ships of various countries have been able to roam freely in the unimpeded blue sea, and people no longer need a huge and complicated escort system, no longer need a cautious escort of warships, and they can show their skills and compete in the economic and commercial fields...... It was a clear sky and a cloudless day, in the open sea north-north of the middle of the Atlantic, two fast boats, one large and one small, cleaving the waves from west to east. The larger one has a majestic body like a mountain, its hull painted dark gray, which is the most common paint color on cruise ships, and the cabins above deck look like warriors in camouflage uniforms, dark gray, dark green and bright yellow patches are mixed together, at first glance it does not play any protective role above the ocean, but if it is placed in some hidden, vegetated fjord on the shore, it looks like a mountain rock from a distance - this is the main reason why it has been able to escape the Allied air raids for many years.

That's right, it is the maritime pride of Germany, the mail ship "Europa" with a standard displacement of 49,746 tons, which reached an astonishing cruising speed of 27 knots alone, and even surpassed some cruisers at 33 knots at full speed. After being captured by the U.S. military, it became the "Europa" troop carrier, and over the past nine months, it has transported tens of thousands of U.S. troops from Europe to North America. Today, a bright red, white and blue tricolor flag hangs from its tallest mast, two towering chimneys spew billowing black smoke, the name of the ship "Europa" is prominently marked on the right side of the bow, and the round emblem is clearly recognizable, but the French have prepared a new name for it, the "Lorraine". When it arrives in French ports, it is given a new name, a coat of arms and a monotonous standard color, and then converted into a superliner that sails between the oceans, in the French way.

In this calm sea, the other ship sailing at the same speed as the "Europa" looks petite and slender, like a shepherd dog on the side of an elephant, but it looks like a majestic battle ship at first glance. There are two triple main turrets on the fore and aft decks, the muzzles are covered with waterproof canvas, the round searchlights on the bridge are also covered with protective cloth covers, giving people a sense of peace and tranquility when the knives are put into storage and unarmoured and returned to the field, and the St. George's Cross naval flag on the mast is the supreme glory of the British Empire.

On the side of the ship, two British [***] officers in white naval uniforms walked side by side, because they were only a short distance away, it was easy to hear the sound of music from the deck of a giant cruise ship, it was light and lively, and it could not help but remind people of graceful and dancing strippers. They all stopped, and one of them looked at the great ship and said to his companion:

"Behold, those Yankees, who enjoy life all the time, and it is such an army that has become the great winner of the war, and sometimes I really don't understand what God thinks!"

Another officer, with small eyes but deep eyes, a small but melancholy face, looked down at the white waves on the hull of the ship, and said with deep emotion: "The Germans lost the war after all, with such rigor and concentration; We have served our country so faithfully and fulfilled our duties, but we are still exhausted by two world wars in succession; The French are emotionally romantic and intellectually conservative, and as a result, they have lost the lives and dignity of generations. When the smoke of gunfire cleared, only the United States, which had been watching the fire coldly for a long time and waiting for an opportunity to move, enjoyed the joy of life and reaped the fruits of victory, and I think this is a new revelation from God to us -- the final victor may not be the real elite, and the scoundrel can also become the rich. ”

The first to speak, the sunny and handsome looking Ying [***] official with tangled eyebrows agreed: "From a philosophical point of view, the victors are often not the most heroic and the best. Every time I think of this, I always feel that the psychology is unbalanced, and the war of the Europeans has become a ladder for the scoundrels in North America to get rich. Comical! Satirize! ”

These words obviously also aroused the imbalance in the hearts of his companions, and he snorted coldly: "The best laugh is the last laugh, and it is far from the end!" ”

In the original historical time and space, Churchill, who was defeated in the 1945 election, should have delivered his famous "Iron Curtain Speech" during his visit to the United States -- openly attacking the Soviet Union's "expansion" and declaring that "from Szczecin on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic Sea, an Iron Curtain across the European continent has been lowered," and the Soviet Union exercised increased high-pressure control over the countries of Central and Eastern Europe east of the "Iron Curtain." The Western world cannot adopt a "policy of appeasement" toward the expansion of the Soviet Union, and the United States is standing high at the pinnacle of world power and should shoulder its responsibility for the future, and advocates that Britain and the United States form an alliance and that the English-speaking nations unite to stop the Soviet Union's "aggression." This speech is also considered by many historians to be "the prelude to the Cold War, which lasted for more than 40 years." However, the attack and sabotage of the Ras Amos atomic bomb test base in the United States in the autumn of 1945 pushed the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union from peaceful coexistence to antagonism, and after the assassination of Stalin in February 1942, the potential contradictions between the Soviet Union and the Western camp were further intensified. Against this complex international backdrop, the aggressive former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was uncharacteristically writing books on vacation in his country estate, neither agitating the United States to suppress the Soviet Union nor openly bleaching Britain, as if pleased to see the political heads of various countries overwhelmed by inextricable knots.

Looking back at the sea, there was not only the sound of music on the giant ship opposite, but also the singing and hearty laughter of wolves from time to time. Because of its high broadside, it is not possible to see the cruise ship deck directly from this deck, but it is not difficult to imagine the extravagant scene of hammocks, sun loungers, sunglasses and canned meat and wine, while on this half-new, half-used light cruiser, the officers and sailors on duty are still fully dressed - at best a little relaxed, sitting in the sun, reading a book or smoking and chatting. The difference in style is so great that the two ships do not look like they are all the way. In fact, the British light cruiser's voyage with the "Europa" was purely accidental. Prior to this, it had sailed from the British mainland to Canada on a mission, and while entering the port of Halifax to replenish fresh water, it encountered the Europa, which was undergoing temporary repairs there. According to the opinion of the engineers on board the "Europa", it is better for the giant cruise ship to return to New York for a complete overhaul, otherwise there is a high risk of mechanical failure during the transoceanic voyage and the anchor is trapped, but the French side is not willing to bear this additional cost, they hope that the overhaul and refit work will be combined into one, which will not only save money, but also provide some corresponding jobs for French shipyards and workers. However, after all, this matter was related to the lives and safety of thousands of people, and the French officials accompanying the ship soon learned that the British light cruiser in good condition would also return to Europe across the ocean, and was scheduled to go to the port of Portsmouth in southern Britain. The speed of the two ships is comparable, and it does not delay the voyage of the British [***] ship, as long as there are no major problems on the way, the British Navy can earn a favor for the political axe by just watching from the sidelines. By the time the two partners, who had been incompatible, set sail together, it had been more than a week since the Europa departed from New York.

In addition to the annoying noise of the American GIs, the sound of the wind, the waves, and the sound of the water crashing against the hull of the ship on the surface of the sea were natural and harmonious. Two British [***] officers in crisp white naval uniforms walked slowly to the stern of the ship, and then turned back to the foredeck, and at the end of the two-hundred-metre-long walk, a non-commissioned officer with a beard came out of the hatch on the lower deck of the bridge and hurriedly reported to one of them: "Sir, we have received a strange radar detection wave, like ...... Uh, it's like ......"

Seeing that this was also an experienced non-commissioned officer stumbling in front of him, the deep-eyed officer asked with a straight face: "What is it like?" ”

The non-commissioned officer seemed to be stalked, he swallowed his spit, and replied apprehensively: "It's like the radar wave of the German [***] ship that we detected during the war." ”

He spoke in a loud voice, and both officers were taken aback. The deep-eyed officer hurriedly said, "Huh? Make no mistake! Let's go, let's go! ”

The non-commissioned officer hurriedly turned sideways to give way, and although he was not a professional, the officer, who looked slightly young and handsome, followed his companion into the radar room on the ship.

On such a British light cruiser with a standard displacement of nearly 10,000 tons, its relatively complete radar facilities are its advantages over German ships of the same class. Walking through the cabin filled with various instrument lines, the two officers and the technical non-commissioned officer came to one of the devices that was similar to a normal radar but with a different instrument symbol, but at this time, its screen was like a pool of stagnant water, and the vertical lines moved parallel from left to right.

The non-commissioned officer followed and looked: "Huh? There was still a detection signal just now, why is there no more? Sir, I just transcribed the bands I received, you see...... 560 MHz, that is, 56 cm pulse radar, this is the common band of the German Navy radar as we know, and we and the American [***] team have long used the centimeter band! ”

"Germans? It's 1946! The deep-eyed officer reminded in a questioning tone.

The non-commissioned officer looked embarrassed and said, "I know, sir, but I just confirmed the measurement data repeatedly, there should be no mistake!" ”

"It can't be that the battleship Bismarck, which sank in the Atlantic, has surfaced again!" The younger-looking and more handsome officer joked from the side, and then he speculated in a more serious way: "It may be the newly developed radar equipment of France or any country, which is limited to technology, and it is not surprising that radars with poor accuracy are still being used at this time." ”

With such inspiration, the technical non-commissioned officer also speculated: "Could it be the Soviets?" I heard that their naval construction was seriously lagging behind, and the technical equipment and data drawings captured from the Germans were treasures, as well as those German experts who were taken captive to the Soviet Union. ”

The deep-eyed officer did not speak, his eyes still fixed on the equipment in front of him. At this moment, the ripples on the instrument screen changed, and everyone fell silent.

(To be continued)