On a snow-white moonlit night, a group of several people quietly walked through the snow-capped steep rocks. Despite their bloated clothes and carrying a small group of people, they walked as agile as mountain apes in this rough terrain, and apart from the sound of footsteps and the slight friction of equipment, they were as quiet as the air when the heavy rain had just stopped. After a long journey, they finally reached a position where they could smell the sea, and stood on the high mountain rocks and looked in the direction where it was difficult to distinguish the boundary between sea, sky and land, and a faint, star-like light faintly flickered on the horizon.

"Cam, Telescope One! Cent, get your bearings! ”

The leader spoke in an extraordinarily low voice, fluent and capable German, the language that touched the nerves of the people during the war. A man then quickly removed a cannon-barrel-shaped object from his backpack, which was finely crafted and looked like a home-style telescope when used with a tripod. Such a cloudy night was naturally not a good time to watch the sky, but the leader unhurriedly took off the windproof goggles covering his face, dragged off the thick flannel gloves on his right hand, and left only the simpler and more flexible thread knitting gloves. After the entourage had set up the monoculars, he looked into the distance roughly parallel to the ground and with the front mirror slightly lower.

At the same time, two other members of the team turned on the searchlights mounted on the upper part of the firearms and did not emit visible light, and carried out all-round surveillance of the surrounding area through a viewing scope similar to a sniper scope.

For a moment, the person who looked at the compass and compass with a small lamplight reported in a low voice: "Our position is in the K-7-6 area, right hand northeast and facing northwest. The time is 1:44 a.m. ”

"Very well, the main force of the Russian landing is still encamped 6 kilometers from the coast, and they have almost nothing to gain from this past day, except for sending small reconnaissance units to wander around?" The leader seemed to be talking to himself, while the entourage beside him listened very attentively. At this time, the outdoor temperature is still very low, and once people stop walking, the heat accumulated by exercise quickly dissipates, so it is necessary to rub hands and stomp feet.

The self-talker continued to murmur as if no one was around, "Gurgle...... Let me see what's on the surface of the sea. Ships, and there should be a lot of them, seem to be anchoring near the coast. The water here is so deep that it will not run aground even if it is close to the coast, which is conducive to submarine and torpedo navigation. Then again, will the Soviets also send submarines, in that case the situation is not very optimistic! ”

The watcher continues to be vigilant, the listener continues to listen, and no one interjects halfway through the breaking of this invisible rule.

Suddenly, two ethereal gunshots rang out from a very distant place, and they sounded like they had traveled through time and space...... Ethereal and invisible. Several people who were carefully observing the rock looked back in unison, but the direction behind them was still completely dark, and there was not even a match-like light to be seen.

The leader quickly turned his head and muttered, "Leave them alone...... Those fierce, cruel, hungry guys, cast bait and wait for a stupid fish to take the bait! ”

The people accompanying him pretended not to hear anything, and continued to maintain the posture and state just now. With the two lonely gunshots, there was gradually movement in the ice field to their right, and the angular white snow mounds disappeared one after another, and from time to time flashes of flashlights, those swaying black figures were like ants that sensed the presence of food, and gradually converged into a long, scattered thin line. The wind from north to south brought the faint sound of passwords and footsteps, and the guys were clearly following the direction of the gunfire. After about half an hour, all kinds of sounds that were different from the environment gradually disappeared, and the cold world returned to its original calm.

After a long period of monotonous and calm observation, the leader who led the team finally made a move of "calling it a day", and when the subordinates quickly put away the telescope equipment, one of the vigilantes with night vision equipment came to the cat's waist: "Sir, there is a situation...... There was a patrol in the northeast, the Soviets, they were moving this way, they were not coming straight for us, but they happened to cut off our rear road, what should we do now? ”

"How many are there?" The leader narrowed his eyes and looked in that direction.

The vigilant replied: "About ten people, almost a combat squad......"

According to past experience, it would not be too difficult for a seven-man night combat squad to take out an opponent's unsuspecting ten-man patrol with the silenced firearms they carried with them. But now is obviously not the time to be brave and strong, the leader quickly judged the time and situation, and ordered: "Go, go down the mountain, turn over the opposite hill." ”

Anyway, the sturdy soldier led the way in the direction of the sea, and after a while, their movements became more and more agile, and they rarely made the obvious sound of the creatures in the ice field moving.

Reflecting the white moonlight, ships of all sizes float up and down with undulating waves, and dedicated sentinels can be seen on their decks. Even though there was no movement throughout the night, the men kept an eye on their guard area with rifles on their backs. It's just that manpower can't replace the role of science and technology when it is used to the extreme, and they don't have the slightest awareness of the man-made equipment that swims quietly like trout under the surface of the sea, even if it has approached an extremely dangerous distance within fifty meters. At this moment, if it were the opponent's free attack time, a special torpedo would be powerful enough to fatally damage any ship here.

"There are probably only two of them that keep their engines running, one end and the other...... Minimal passive defense, complete lack of tactical mobility. ”

The crew at the front of the cramped cabin was dressed in British naval attire but spoke German with a southern Austrian accent. In order to avoid extreme surprises, such as irreparable mechanical failures and irresistible decay, everything related to the Third Reich has been erased from the submarine, with standard Arabic numerals for German symbols, mechanical markings, and even instrument dial indications. In this cold sea of ice, such a small submarine of such tonnage and volume is very reminiscent of the "XXIII class", an offshore submarine built and equipped by the German Navy in large quantities before the war, which, like the XXI-class ocean-going attack submarines, uses the best German construction technology at that time, and is also very good in terms of design, so that it still achieved impressive results in the precarious situation at the end of the war. Based on its unique design and technical equipment, it was easy for the allies to identify their class models by using the captured unfinished submarines, and according to the actual situation at the end of the war and the distribution of the Potsdam agreement later, the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union each obtained a certain number of such submarines.

Under the ass was a 500-pound explosive for self-destruction, but the officer sitting in front of the periscope was observant and analyzed: "It's hard to imagine that our opponent is so rash, is this a complete ignorance of our existence or is it intentional?" The situation at hand looks like it can be completely solved by using only the 3rd and 4th submarine formations. ”

The sailor sitting at the stern of the boat had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he said solemnly: "Maybe the Russians are careless, maybe they did it on purpose, but no matter what, we have only one way to go through the struggle." Come on! Guys, let's go to the glory of destiny in a vigorous battle! ”

There is no lack of heroism in such words, but he used the wrong time and place, and the "Ying [***] official" who was observing the sea through the periscope raised the corners of his mouth: "This guy has been hypnotized again, I have to say, we have the best hypnotic master in the world, but his biggest flaw is that he can't hypnotize our enemies, that's all." ”

As the words fell, a light and relaxed laugh rang out in the cabin, and everyone knew that this "hypnotic master" was Goebbels, the former Minister of Propaganda of the Reich and now the chairman of the so-called Revival Committee. Although he changed his post, when the shelter base was facing an unprecedented test, he still made an impassioned speech on the radio after the Führer issued the battle order, and encouraged the officers and men to move forward in his usual way. During the war, many ignorant and naïve young people were influenced by this agitation to join the battlefield, but as time went on and the situation deteriorated, more and more people realized that bragging did not bring victory, and although they did not abandon their beliefs, they gradually became immune to the slogans on the radio.

Although he was teased, the thick-eyed "British non-commissioned officer" was not discouraged or annoyed, and when the officer in the periscope gave the order to "turn the rudder to the right", he adjusted the small rudder very cooperatively. With the electric motors completely out of work, the submarine steered very inefficiently, and moved more and more slowly by means of habits and currents, but the officer on board was very patient at this time, and he calmly said: "Well, we are almost at the tail of the Russian fleet, and see what is here...... Minesweepers, torpedo ships, trawlers? It seems that none of them are of the highest grade, not even large destroyers? Oh poor Russians, their navy is even poorer than ours! ”

One of the sailors corrected very seriously: "The main forces of the Russian Navy are in the Baltic and Pacific Seas, as well as in the Black Sea!" The Northern Fleet was their weakest force. ”

"I know, of course I do!" The officer muttered disapprovingly, "Alright, the last one, armed trawlers, further north there should be just some cargo ships." Man, start the motor and go slow. ”

The hum of the machinery soon sounded, and it sounded like an American GI's electric shaver, loud but irritating. After letting this sound sound for a few minutes, the officer said, "Turn off the motor!" We have arrived at the berth of the cargo ship, one, two, three, four...... There are about twenty cargo ships of all kinds...... Ooh! There are two large destroyers hidden in the middle, and wait...... I saw that there were freighters with unusual things on their decks, Russian rocket artillery vehicles...... These guys are so cunning! ”

At this point, the crew sitting at the front of the cabin said, "We're not going to give them a chance to be powerful, are we, sir!" ”

The officer grinned and licked his lower lip with his tongue: "Yes, of course, it must be so!" Their draft is deeper than that of a normal cargo ship, and it takes a lot of experience and keen judgment to be able to pass through the bottom of a cargo ship and kill them directly as long as the torpedo depth is cleverly set...... 1100 or 1200 tons, 60 meters long, the draft should be about 4 meters, and these cargo ships ...... 3 meters or 3.5 meters? It seems that this is indeed a technical job! ”

"I have a ridiculous idea." The sailor sitting near the stern of the boat interrupted, "Maybe we can dive to the bottom of their ships in advance to plant time bombs, just as the Italians sank the Austro-Hungarian battleships and the British attacked our battleship Tirpitz!" ”

The officer thought for a moment: "This is also a solution, and lo and behold, we will be able to return to the ship now and set off again in the afternoon with timed mines, which is enough to give these Russians a huge surprise tonight." ”

Everyone in the boat laughed.

As the sky darkens, a gap appears in the steep and steep rocks outside the Vault base, which is not easy to find from a distance, and behind this gap, a group of generals wearing Imperial Guard uniforms and various medals are taking turns using the high-powered binoculars placed here. Standing high and seeing far away, in good weather conditions, people can observe almost the entire fjord and the ice fields more than ten kilometers away, and with the help of sophisticated telescopic equipment, they can vaguely discern the edge of land and sea, but it is beyond the limits of these conventional optical devices to directly identify ships anchored near the shore. However, the appearance of the dark figures on the ice field was enough to make these aggressive professional soldiers eager to try, and they discussed enthusiastically, as if the landers were a group of wild boars who did not know whether they were alive or dead, and they had rashly broken into the hunter village...... "Everyone! Ladies and gentlemen! ”

The voice of Field Marshal Rommel, the commander of the base, quickly silenced everyone, and the cold north wind blew through the observation window into the sentry post that had been temporarily set up as a war conference room. On a large makeshift table, Rommel laid out the map: "The operation begins at 8 p.m. tonight, and at 7:55 a.m. our 'Caesar' radar will be activated to finalize the sea and air conditions; Anton's jamming system is fully activated, and the Soviets will not be able to communicate with the rear by radio for 3 hours, that is, we must try to end the main battle within these 3 hours, and the cleaning work can be maintained until 5 o'clock tomorrow morning, when the participating troops must withdraw to their bases, otherwise they must find their own hidden places until it gets dark tomorrow. The Führer set the goal of ensuring that not a single Soviet ship or Soviet soldier escaped from our exclusion zone and turned this night into a night of terror that the Soviets remembered...... More than 1,000 Soviet and Russian officers and soldiers, sixty-two ships disappeared en masse, everyone, this will be an unprecedented battle, which will make a miracle in military history! ”

Out of respect for Rommel and recognition of this bold battle plan, the generals applauded and cheered without hesitation. At this moment, the Soviet reconnaissance detachment at the forefront had reached the eastern shore of the fjord, no more than ten kilometers away, and the wind might have brought these sounds to them, but they would not have believed that there were so many evil and strange beings hidden in such a seemingly barren mountain.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this battle of unprecedented importance can be seen as a decisive battle for the revival of the Empire, and we must faithfully carry out every detail of the battle plan. Tonight's advance force will be Lynn. The night troops led by General Gargo, who was an expert in this field and the main planners of this brilliant plan, gave him the right to make decisions on the battlefield in this battle, which was the highest honor, and his night troops would once again become a nightmare for the Soviet army......" At this point, Rommel glanced at Lynn, this was indeed the command that Lynn had asked the Führer alone - in fact, he himself had been prepared for a polite refusal at first, but unexpectedly, The Führer agreed to come down this time, and it was the one who brought Laurentz . Bach's entire night army was placed under Lynn's command. Rommel did not object to this, but Lynn always felt that he was not happy to take on the position himself.

Without interval, Rommel pointed his baton to the map and said: "The 1st Regiment of the Guards is the main force of tonight's battle, divided into left and right wings. The left flank is dominated by infantry, outflanking the southern flank mainly along the fjord, with the mountain corps company fully cooperating with you, the main force marching along the fjord on foot, and twenty task forces of combat squads taking submarines to these predetermined fire support points. The right flank, which consisted mainly of mounted combat companies and tank battalions directly under its command, bypassed the east-west 'triumphal iceberg', cut off the enemy's retreat to the north, and quickly interspersed until the coast, just as we did in the French campaign. The 2nd Guards Regiment was deployed as a strategic reserve, and four infantry companies were deployed to carry out resolute and decisive assault operations on the front in conjunction with the night combat units. The base's fortified artillery battalion is responsible for providing precise fire support, and the air force's paratrooper battalion and glider assault teams will also take part in the battle. In addition, there is no need to worry about the battle at sea, the naval forces will send all the submarines and torpedo boats in good condition to participate in the battle, and we have an absolute superiority of four to one over the enemy's combat ships, and if it goes well, the battle at sea will be over in half an hour to an hour. ”

The operational map on the table has clearly marked the key combat deployments with various lines, and for the past 11 months, the officers and men of the Imperial Guard have basically conducted combat drills once a month, and the regular training has not stopped. In the past, such combat maps only meant virtual fantasy battle scenes, and it was not until this moment that the estranged combat atmosphere really returned. The generals and officers had a complex and emotional look on their faces, their eyes flashing with a desire to fight and a vision for the future, and all the promises, prophecies, and dazzling plans and schemes finally appeared in a way that was not entirely active......

(To be continued)