While the U.S. gods were discussing the next day's battle, the U.S. Navy submarine Nautilus was patrolling the waters south of Osaka Bay, southeast of the Naruto Strait and Awaji Island, in a surface cruising state.

Known as the Kii Waterway, this area was the only way from the Seto Inland Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and it was also the only route for the Japanese fleet to leave the safe Seto Inland Sea and head north to Tokyo Bay.

Six American submarines, including the Nautilus, were deployed here to monitor the movements of Japanese ships.

This Nautilus is certainly not the Nautilus in another time and space that went down in history as the first nuclear-powered submarine in the world, nor is it the powerful Nautilus in Jules Verne's novel. This is a V-class submarine of the US Navy with the port number SS-168.

The U.S. Navy in another time and space initially positioned submarines as a special weapon for coastal defense, and the U.S. Navy in this time and space at the beginning of this century believed that submarines were useless in front of the fleet's warriors, and would easily take out periscopes and then become ornaments. The U.S. Navy in both planes and regions was stimulated by the German submarine warfare in the last war and refocused on the development of submarines.

After the end of the war, the United States received war reparations from Germany included a German submarine, which the Americans thoroughly researched and then developed the V-type submarine.

The V-boats are the product of the U.S. Navy's exploration of submarine technology, and every few boats are built there will be major modifications, and a total of nine boats will be built, which is less than a double-digit construction volume, and it is divided into five distinct subclasses.

The Nautilus is one of the classes known as V3, which belongs to the intermediate product in the process of the U.S. Navy's technical exploration, and its performance is very mediocre, far less advanced than the "Sperm Whale", which is the most integrated after the United States.

Although a mediocre intermediate product, the U.S. Navy was almost outcast in this war, and the Nautilus was deployed to the northern exit of the Seto Inland Sea to monitor the movements of Japanese ships in Osaka Bay and Naruto Strait.

At this time, the captain of the Nautilus, Lieutenant Commander Worcester, was standing on the command platform, observing the sea in the night with Lieutenant Wells, who served as a lookout.

"Mr. Captain, I'll be on duty," said Wells, as he surveyed the sea with his binoculars, "and it's only a few hours before dawn, and you still have time to get some sleep." ”

"No, don't worry about me," Worcester shook his head, pulling out his cigarette and realizing that he had forgotten to bring a match, "Is there a fire?" ”

"Yes, sir."

After lighting his cigarette on fire, Worcester took a hard puff and spat out a large smoke ring.

Wells said in a joking tone: "If you tell the commander of the submarine fleet that you smoke on the command platform at night, he will be furious." ”

"yes, but I'm sure you won't tell me. Besides, there is no shadow of half a boat in this vicinity, and no one will see the little light of a cigarette butt. After Wooster finished speaking, he took another puff of cigarette before continuing, "This damn strait, once the Japanese fleet is pouring out, we have nowhere to hide, our broken ship is still slow to dive, if it is discovered in the daytime, it may be cut in two before it can dive underwater." Fortunately, the commander of the submarine fleet is not a fool who can only yell at his subordinates, otherwise I would definitely disobey. ”

These days, the submarine units of the US military have sailed into the sentry positions in the evening and withdrawn to the open sea before dawn, and the daytime vigilance patrols are handed over to the carrier-based aircraft of the aircraft carriers. This arrangement relieved many submarine captains, including Worcester.

"I heard that during the day yesterday, the guys of the carrier-based aircraft unit fought with the Japanese again." Wells said, "Jon said he heard very loud radio calls during the day when he was listening to the radio. ”

"He heard a fart." Worcester shook his head disapprovingly, although the Nautilus was equipped with radio equipment, but because it was shoehorned in after the submarine was built, the performance was really not flattering, and sometimes the friendly ship called the Nautilus a thousand meters away, and it couldn't hear it.

Wooster took another puff of his cigarette, then threw the remaining half of the cigarette butt into the sea, then he picked up the internal intercom on the command podium and ordered the bridge: "Heading 210, start the return flight." ”

"Yes, Heading 210, but Mr. Captain, it's not yet our scheduled evacuation time......"

"It's okay, let's just drive it slower, didn't the engine room report that there was something wrong with the machine? Let's be nice to those iron lumps. ”

"Yes, Captain."

After putting down the microphone, Wooster picked up the binoculars again, ready to scan the sea level as far as possible.

Then Wells said, "Mr. Captain, I seem to see something." ”

Worcester's right eyelid jumped.

"I'll see." He immediately picked up the telescope and pointed it in the direction Wells was now observing, and soon he saw what Wells was talking about "something."

"God, this head is at least a heavy cruiser." After Wooster muttered, he picked up the microphone and shouted to the wheelhouse, "The whole boat is ready for battle, and the telegraph room will immediately start sending a report to the fleet command that we have found a suspected enemy heavy ship entering the Kii waterway!" New heading 160, fast action! ”

Before the words fell, a single shell landed on the sea not far from the Nautilus.

"Urgent dive!" Wooster shouted, slapped the microphone into the small box on the side of the podium, turned around and jumped into the hatch, grabbing the straight bars on both sides of the ladder with both hands and feet and sliding all the way to the end, with terrifying skill.

When Vest slid into the interior of the submarine with a gourd drawing, Worcester had already slipped through the hatch next to it and entered the submarine command room.

"Change the lights, you idiots."

At this time, the U.S. submarine force had a rule that after floating at night, the inside of the submarine should be changed with red lights before opening the hatch, which is said to enhance the concealment of the submarine on the sea surface at night, but no one knows how useful it is.

Not long after Worcester entered the command room, the first mate and chief technical sergeant major also entered, just as the second round of artillery fire from the Japanese warship landed on the water near the Nautilus, and the explosion sounded like a boxer hitting sandbags for practice through the sea water and the submarine hull.

"Damn, can't we dive faster?" Wooster yelled at the bridge.

The navigator looked aggrieved: "I have already beaten the horizontal rudder to the end, and the water tank is also filling water at full power." ”

"What's attacking us?" The first mate asked with a calm face, "Destroyer?" Light patrol? ”

"I didn't see it clearly, it could be a Nagara-type." After speaking, Worcester turned his head to look at the weapons officer, "We're going to fight back, how long will it take for the torpedo bay to be ready?" ”

"Fifteen minutes, sir."

"I'd love to scold you, but I guess it will take longer for us to get into a favorable position, so I'll give you a chance to atone for your sins, and give me ten minutes to complete the pre-launch inspection!"

At this moment, the sonar crew, who had been silent, suddenly shouted: "Propeller sound! Enemy ships are right above us! ”

The sonar equipped with the Nautilus is also the most primitive version, in fact, the research on sonar in various countries in this era has only just begun. The sonar must control a ridiculous device like the steering wheel of a car, turn the earpiece, and determine the enemy's position by the direction of the earpiece when the sound is heard.

The Nautilus's sonar crew was a good player, and during the exercise, he was often able to accurately determine the approximate distance of the target, which provided a strong help to Worcester in formulating an attack plan.

Not long after the sonar crew reported it, everyone in the boat heard the sound of machinery running overhead.

"God," said the first mate, "I bet the bottom of its ship is almost against our podium." ”

"I hope it doesn't hit our periscope right now." Wooster muttered quietly.

As the voices faded away, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, except for the sonar man with a serious face, who held the ridiculous steering wheel tightly and tracked the movements of the enemy ships. Suddenly he shouted: "Depth charges!" ”

He took off his headphones as if flying, and at this moment, the explosion of depth charges spread throughout the submarine like a muffled thunder.

After violently shaking the internal organs of the person, Wooster stood up and asked, "Report the situation!" ”

"The bow torpedo compartment is normal."

"Cabin 2 is normal."

"The habitation pod is normal."

"There is a slight leak in the engine room, which is normal."

After the report of each section, the first mate took off his military hat and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "It dropped the bomb late, if it was dropped on our heads earlier, we would be dead." ”

Worcester said to the first mate, "This must be a revelation from God, who told us to give this Japanese fleet a good look." ”

Then Worcester asked the navigator, "The depth now?" ”

"The depth gauge is broken, but I think we could use a periscope."

Without saying a word, Wooster pressed the button to raise the periscope, and the "thick iron rod" in the middle of the command room rose upward, and then popped out the two handles.

Wooster dropped his big-brimmed hat in one direction, then pressed his eyes to the eyepiece and began to observe the surface of the sea.

"Good." He said, "I saw two big guys. ”

**

The next morning.

"The fleet command called, and our submarine discovered that the Japanese fleet had sailed out of the Seto Inland Sea and was heading north along the coastline." As soon as Marshall entered Charlotte's bedroom, he reported aloud.

Charlotte glanced at Marshall and continued to touch up her makeup, while asking, "What time is this telegram?" ”

"The dispatch time is half past four in the morning, and I don't know why the fleet command received this telegram at six o'clock in the morning."

Charlotte put down her thrush pen and looked up at the clock in her bedroom.

"You should wake me up as soon as the fleet receives the telegram."

"Actually, I just got the telegram," Marshall hastened to explain, "and the fleet command seems to think that this is not a situation to be overly concerned about." The command asked me to convey to His Excellency the President that today's attack could proceed as usual, and that they had planned to leave a fleet of three Colorado-class battleships and two Lexington-class battlecruisers as the core to guard against the Japanese fleet, which was sufficient to withstand all Japanese attacks. In addition, the submarine forces reported that the attack had already been carried out, the results of the battle were not yet known, and the reconnaissance aircraft of the aircraft carrier were looking for telegrams on this fleet. ”

Charlotte pondered for a while before nodding and said, "I understand, tell the fleet command, I trust their judgment, and today's combat operation will continue as usual." However, whenever they receive information about the Japanese fleet that has been attacked, they are to tell me at once. Xie Lu Xie. ”

"Yes."

After Marshall turned to leave, Charlotte continued to carefully adjust her makeup. Charlotte doesn't usually spend that much time dressing up, as she is quite confident in the appearance provided by her god's bloodline. But today was Charlotte's first real fight in her life, and she decided to be more solemn.

After a few minutes, Charlotte looked at herself in the mirror with satisfaction, then patted her ass and stood up.

"Alright, let's go and end this war." She said to herself.