In the bright moonlight, Private Ivanov, who belonged to the 4th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade of the Soviet Navy, stood brightly on the back deck of the armed fishing boat "Triumph M7", wearing a naval round hat and carrying a PPS-43 submachine gun with a long magazine. Although it is already April, the weather in the north is still cold, and the daytime temperature is hovering at the edge of freezing, and it drops rapidly to minus ten degrees at night. In order to protect himself from the cold, Ivanov's military coat was equipped with a fur collar turned over and thick gloves on his hands, which was much better than in the most difficult period. But after enduring the sea breeze for a long time, a faint layer of frost had condensed on his eyebrows.

He left home to join the army at a young age, and now Ivanov has just turned 20 years old. He did not catch up with the series of tragic and tragic battles in the early stage of the war, but he was already a battle-tested warrior. In the Mongol Channel Islands landing, the East Prussian Campaign, and the operations to the East, he fought on the front line as a member of the Marine Corps, and cultivated a strong physique and quick reflexes in difficult and dangerous environments unimaginable to ordinary people, and his steely will to fight gave him and his companions sufficient confidence to defeat all enemies. In just over half a year, the reborn Union Republic has experienced one challenge after another, from being strongly questioned and attacked by the Western world because of the atomic bomb incident, to the confrontation on the border of the occupied territories and the loss of its spiritual leader without warning. A simple-minded soldier like Ivanov could not help but look forward to a war that would end in a short period of time, so as to eradicate all evils of imperialism and militarism once and for all. As long as this wish can be achieved, bloodshed and sacrifice will not be spared. Therefore, after receiving the order to sail with the ship, the elite naval infantry was excited. Although they soon learned that their destination was not Britain or Western European countries such as France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, Norway's political axe, which was ostensibly neutral but in fact clearly leaned towards the Anglo-American camp, was not a friendly neighbor. Its vast and sparsely populated geographical location made it a natural stepping stone for attacking Britain and Western Europe. At present, the Soviet army, which has matured through the experience of the Great Patriotic War, is at the height of its size and will, and its total active strength exceeds that of the Western world combined, and their tanks, which are more than twice as large as the opponent's, can easily rush to the plains of Western Europe...... Except for the faint laughter in the cabin, there was only the natural sound of wind and waves in my ears at this time. There are dozens of ships moored in sight, ranging from cargo ships and passenger ships with a displacement of several thousand tons, destroyers of about 1,000 tons, gunboats and submarines of several hundred tons, and barges, fishing boats, and minesweepers of more than 100 tons. As for the armed fishing boats here, they are equipped with machine guns and small-caliber guns on fishing boats with better hull conditions to make up for the lack of military ships. During the war, even the British, who had a strong navy, converted many of these civilian ships for auxiliary military operations such as coastal patrols, escort and anti-submarine operations, not to mention the Soviet Union, whose maritime power was at the end of the power.

The Soviet fleet assembled from Arkhangelsk could not match the huge Allied fleets that landed in North Africa and Normandy, but it was still mighty when sailing on the seas. During the voyage, the Soviet officers and soldiers learned from their commanders the true purpose of the trip - to find a secret camp for the remnants of German forces in the snowy glaciers of northern Norway. The enemy may not be strong, but it must be ferocious and violent, so the order issued to the Soviet soldiers made clear the principle of force, that is, no matter what kind of person they encounter, if they resist by force, they will be killed.

It is entirely possible to follow such an order, and to print a direct conflict between the Soviet Union and Norway, which could lead to a diplomatic siege or even a full-scale war in the Western world, but the concerns of the Soviet soldiers did not reach the far-reaching level of politicians. After receiving the new instructions, they were full of ambition and confidence. The Third Reich had collapsed with the fall of Berlin and Hitler's suicide, and after nearly a year, what kind of scale and combat effectiveness could those fleeing Nazi remnants muster?

In this way, more than 1,000 officers and men belonging to the 4th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade landed on the Norwegian coast with their heads held high, carrying mules and horses, machine guns, and artillery, and a company of T-34/85 tanks. In view of the possible changes in the course of the operation, and in particular the strong pressure from the international community, all transport vessels remained at the landing site in order to pick up all the landers and leave Norwegian territorial waters if necessary.

"Private, is there a situation?"

The officers who walked out of the cabin to the deck smelled of wine, and the trout caught during the day had become a delicious meal on the plate. The cold weather and the rough waves aside, the days in northern Norway were calmer than expected, especially since there was no need for rigorous military training and strict discipline, and the standard of food was significantly improved, and drinking vodka on a night like this without worrying about the discipline officers coming in small boats. For two days, the landing force found no signs of people moving in clusters, the only episodes were a few unlucky eggs who were injured by falling into a snow pit in the ice field, and sporadic gunfire the night before. Supposedly a Norwegian hunter with a shotgun, presumably resentful of the Soviet troops' footsteps on their territory, protested by firing warning shots, and then fled north using his familiarity with the terrain. A small group of Soviet soldiers were ordered to pursue, but it seemed that the rocky terrain would give them a lot of headaches.

Ivanov turned and saluted: "Everything is normal, Comrade Ensign." ”

The officer, wearing a fur-trimmed military cap, pulled a cigarette from his pocket and struck a match against the railing—Ivanov frowned slightly, although this was contrary to the order of the control of lights, but the landing troops stationed on the shore cooked food and kept warm themselves over open flames, and some of the fires in the fleet, two or three kilometers apart, seemed irrelevant. He didn't say anything after all, but quickly looked at the submarine that was quietly moored next to the cargo ship not far away. It was a Dogfish-class submarine, short and narrow, with an oversized command bay with only machine guns and no guns on deck, and its most powerful weapons were two 450 mm torpedo tubes, which was quite backward compared to German submarines and British and American submarines. At the end of the war, although the Soviet Union received dozens of completed or near-completed submarines from Germany, mastering them and then forming a full-fledged combat capability was not achieved overnight. Of course, the rapid recovery of industry has allowed the Soviet Union to build more advanced combat ships at an unprecedented rate, and it is conceivable that the dilemma of lack of equipment will gradually improve in the coming years.

On the Dogfish-class submarine, which is the Type III submarine of the Soviet Navy, several crew members can be seen smoking and chatting on the deck. During the day, it and other submarines that arrived in Norway with the fleet were operating in the surrounding waters, and ordinary soldiers like Ivanov were naturally unaware of their specific combat missions. With the cruising of long-range reconnaissance planes and the cover of these submarines, the safety of one's own fleet should be basically guaranteed.

Glancing inadvertently at the sea a little farther away, Ivanov suddenly saw a strange scene: undulating waves reflected the sparkling white moonlight, and a black "big fish" looming beneath the water's surface. In his childhood memories, he had seen similar scenes on the riverside on a summer night, but the appearance of this cold ice sea made him feel very bad, but the distance of the target object was thousands of kilometers away, and the naked eye alone could not determine whether it was an illusion or a terrifying existence. So, Ivanov asked the second lieutenant officer with a telescope for help: "Comrade second lieutenant, look at the sea over there, it seems that there is a situation...... Telescope! ”

"Huh?" The officer followed the direction of Ivanov's finger with his somewhat misty gaze, and his gaze did not pass the Dogfish-class submarine that landed on the sea in the distance, and he reluctantly picked up the telescope, but his attention was clearly not in the right place.

Ivanov was in a hurry, he rushed to the officer's side in three steps and two steps, saying "sorry" in his mouth, trying to borrow the binoculars in the officer's hand to look at the strange surface of the sea, but the binoculars of the telescope stuck to the officer's neck, and he immediately yelled in annoyance: "What are you doing here?" Do! ”

Ivanov didn't use the telescope at all after being pulled in a rude reverse by the officer, and he was anxious to explain, but the officer stubbornly took the telescope himself and looked at the sea just now, and said in a tone that was obviously drunk: "Nothing...... Belch! Nothing......"

In a state of impatience, Ivanov squinted his eyes and saw that more "big fish" appeared under the shimmering sea, as if a group of whales or dolphins were swimming in the same direction and almost close to the surface. At this time, someone on the deck of the submarine apparently noticed the situation, and then finally a heart-pounding scream was heard, and someone shouted "torpedoes" that no one here wanted to hear. Ivanov's heart sank, he quickly removed the submachine gun from his shoulder, and shouted "enemy attack" from his mouth. If those fast-moving "Blackfish" were really speeding torpedoes, they would have dealt an extremely fatal blow to the ships in a stationary and moored state, after all, this was an expeditionary operation that was not so well prepared - the troops were only a week from the time they assembled to the time they set off, and only those destroyers and frigates in the fleet were equipped with limited anti-submarine equipment, and the only thing to be thankful for was that the three-part ship berthing area was laid with anti-torpedo nets, and one could only and must hope that they would be able to prevent attacks from under the water as much as possible.

The officer next to him was startled and drunk, and hurriedly pulled out his pistol from the holster while holding on to the railing, and shouted in horror: "Comrades, come out quickly!" Nijir, Emir, Nikolai...... Hurry up and get out! ”

Before he could finish speaking, there was a flash of lightning in the distance, the red yellow light and the white moonlight formed a strong visual contrast, and the strong air wave was almost synchronized with the huge rumbling sound, and in the blink of an eye, more flashes, roars and violent air waves made the entire sea area boil. Ivanov was so stimulated by the bright light that he couldn't open his eyes, and his ears were buzzing. Due to the extreme disturbance of his primary perception of the outside world, he seems to have lost himself and suddenly falls from the human world into purgatory, all of which is far beyond his acceptable range, which is completely lost...... On the Soviet destroyer, which was "surrounded" by many cargo ships, although the lookout failed to observe the anomaly on the sea surface and raise the alarm at the first time, his position was the most able to get an overview of the sea situation after the incident. Mine nets placed around the perimeter of the berthing area were set to a depth of two metres and were towed and secured by spherical buoys, but the first explosion to be fired crossed them and occurred in the berthing area. The bewildered lookout watched in disbelief as the gunboats and gun-carrying cargo ships in the left mooring area, which had been ready to provide fire support to the landing troops at any time, exploded one after another. At first, the explosion was simple, taking place at the side of the ship, and the instantaneous column of water only temporarily shrouded the ship in mist and gunsmoke, but those shells and rockets that had not yet had time to use were soon affected, and the ensuing explosion formed an astonishing momentum and destructive force, some ships were torn apart almost instantly, huge flames rose into the sky, forming a formidable mushroom shape, and some decks and superstructures were completely lifted away in an instant, and all kinds of objects and fragments were splashed into the air. It is incomprehensible that the draft of these ships is either less than two meters, or it is only slightly more than two meters, is it possible that the mine protection nets have been destroyed without the buoys moving? Or did the enemy use the long-mounted, but not so reliable, magneto-surnamed torpedo?

The first wave of explosions was like an impermeable rainstorm, and then the lightning nets stationed on the periphery of the ship's berthing area played some role, they obviously hung some underwater attacks from the outside, and for tens of seconds, they, together with the buoys on the top, were like orderly retreating troops in a defensive battle, but the enemy's torpedoes were obviously equipped with time-delayed explosive devices, and when the power was exhausted, those torpedoes that were hung by the mine nets burst out with a terrifying impact in an instant, An unprecedentedly large column of water rose into the air in rows, and it was easy to overlook the landing fleet that was swaying and turbulent in the rough waves from the top. Once the underwater mine nets and buoys are reduced to fragments, the torpedoes that follow will be unfettered, and they will rush straight to the ships that are moored in a concentrated manner, and with the destructive power that they have just witnessed, they only need one to deal a fatal blow to a freighter of several thousand tons, and for those small ships of only a few hundred tons or even only about a hundred tons, those torpedoes that sail almost close to the surface of the water will not be missed, and one is enough to destroy two, three or more ships together.

Boom!

With this incomparably powerful and violent explosion, the ocean-going freighter on the left side of the destroyer, which was less than five meters apart, seemed to be pushed by an invisible giant hand, and the entire hull tilted to the right with an exaggerated amplitude, and the white waves of water came in the air, and the Soviet lookout on the destroyer had to hold on to the guardrail tightly to avoid being washed down. Before the waves had fallen, the freighter's hull, as if it had been fitted with a spring, suddenly reversed after reaching the extreme position of inclination, and the deck quickly returned to its level - but could not maintain this normal state, and the hull suddenly tilted to the left, and soon reached an extreme position close to the 45-degree angle. Next, the hull swung back again, but it was clear that this time the swing was much slower, as if the effects of the explosion were rapidly weakening. However, the successive explosions around the destroyer left the lookout and other personnel on the destroyer, who could barely react, in a completely dizzying state, and the torpedoes were fired like machine-gun bullets, and in just a few dozen seconds, only two freighters and barges on the outside of the destroyer were not attacked, and several were even attacked by two or even three torpedoes one after another. The ship in the worst condition, the bow, stern and middle hull of the ship were broken, and few of the seafarers who remained on the ship had time to escape from the hold, and even if they jumped into the water in a hurry, they were swallowed up by the waves of the ensuing explosion before they had time to flutter twice...... On the deck of the destroyer, an officer who didn't even have time to put on his military cap shouted hoarsely: "Return to your position, fire and intercept the torpedo!" ”

In such a short period of time, no more than ten sailors arrived on the deck from the cabin, and the first to enter the gun position were all the men on duty in shifts, who, although they were full of horror at the current situation, still dutifully put up the guns on the ship, and saw that the first double-mounted machine gun had been transferred to the position of the defensive gap caused by the sinking of the outer freighter, and without warning, there was a sudden roar from the bottom of the ship that was even more terrifying than earth-shattering thunder, and the destroyer of thousands of tons trembled. The waves stirred up by the two sides were so strong that they crossed the deck and reached a height of the bridge or even higher in an instant, and several Soviet sailors who had just arrived at the gun position but had not had time to stand firm were swept down by the sudden violent waves, and before they could get up with difficulty, the second, third, and fourth equally terrible rolling thunder came from under the ship, and its anchoring place was no longer the offshore area of Pingjin, it was simply a barrel of explosives with seawater!

"Ivan! Ivan! ”

The unusually rapid shouts of his companions finally brought Ivanov back from his nightmare to a reality worse than any dream, and he barely managed to get up from the deck, feeling the pain of his head as if it were cracking as his senses recovered, and the pain in his hands, feet, and body was nothing compared to it. He looked around blankly, the armed fishing boat he was in had obviously not been directly attacked by torpedoes, but the sea area was already completely boiling, full of burning and exploding ships, torpedoes with white wakes everywhere, and two companions had just set up the machine gun on the rear deck, it was rattling and roaring, like a cricket trying to block the progress of the car, powerless and hopeless......

(To be continued)