The stars are twinkling and the moonlight is shining. The waves are rolling and the sea breeze is light.

With the sound of a wave opening and cracking, the waves on the microwave swaying sea suddenly surged; First the "fins", and then the whole "shark" emerged from the sea. Inky blue water cascades down from the hull deck, creating a foamy white splash against the ocean. Its cold, jet-black body was smooth and slender, reflecting a ghostly light like a night ghost in the moonlight.

Sonorously, the hatch opened, and a tall blonde young man poked out his upper body from the hatch at the top of the "fin". He wore a second lieutenant uniform with the emblem of the Black Vulture Iron Cross, a large telescope hanging from his chest, and his turquoise eyes were piercing. Looking at the gray-black coastline faintly appearing in the far east distance, the young lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief, and a smile quietly crept up his white face.

Cal? Dönitz was born in 1891 in Glenau, a small town on the outskirts of Berlin, and after graduating from high school, he was admitted to the Flensburg-Morvik Naval Academy, where he graduated with honors. Due to the construction of Qingying, the submarine force of the German Navy in this plane is far superior to the same period in history in terms of technical level and squad strength, which makes Dönitz, who is still studying in the military academy, come into contact with a lot of knowledge and information about submarines. And this experience also allowed the king of the sea wolves, who made the Allied fleet famous in history, to find his passion and shine as an amazing genius in this field. After graduating in the fall of 1912, Dönitz was promoted directly from the original alternate naval officer to second lieutenant because of his outstanding achievements in submarines; After half a year of internship, he became the captain of the U39 submarine.

"Carl. Have we reached our destination? A gruff voice came from the cabin below the conning tower. Dönitz observed for a moment. The hatch lid is then closed. Return to the inside of the submarine along the straight ladder; Through the bright lights of the boat's walls, a man with a beard on his face was looking at him. The corners of his mouth curled, and he said: "Leo, I have already seen the navigation lighthouse of the Kronstadt military port, and the Russian naval base is right in front of me. ”

Hearing Dönitz's affirmative words, the bearded man named Leo grinned, and the rest of the officers and men in the inner compartment of the submarine also let out a cheer of joy.

"Today, we are on guard outside the Gulf of Finland. I was extremely lucky to receive an order from the Imperial Admiralty to the U39 submarine: to infiltrate Kronstadt and take out the main warship of the Russians! Young Dönitz waved his fist excitedly, his words full of excitement and joy, "Now we have infiltrated the periphery of the target, and immediately let the Russians, who are in collusion with France, taste the iron fist of Germany." Now immediately do a 10-minute check on the submarine to make sure everything is okay, and then we'll dive in and set off! ”

After a short time, the hatch closed, the waves cracked, and the slender submarine sank into the black and blue water again. A black pocket periscope surfaced. It swirls quietly in the waves that have not passed it from time to time. With the low hum of the electric motor, the periscope on the surface of the sea began to move rapidly towards the gray and black coastline.

Spring 1913. With the change in the situation on the European continent, the German General Staff has decided to fight a preventive war under the pretext of France's annexation of Morocco. Field Marshal Tirpitz (promoted in 1911), who knew that he would be at war with Russia, immediately began to formulate a naval battle plan for Russia.

At present, the Russian Baltic Fleet has a total of 1 battle cruiser, 3 former dreadnoughts and 2 armored cruisers, as well as a number of slag protection cruisers and small auxiliary ships that were started at the end of the 19th century. Three powerful Sevastopol-class super-dreadnoughts are still floating in the inner harbor of the Baltic Shipyard for outfitting, and it will still take a year and a half for the decaying and incompetent Tsarist naval establishment to finally complete it. Although this force is fundamentally vulnerable to the German High Seas Fleet, since the main target of the High Seas Fleet is the Royal Navy's home fleet, which is superior on the other side of the Strait, it is naturally impossible to keep cutting-edge dreadnoughts permanently stationed in the Baltic Sea. At present, the Baltic Fleet under the command of Wilhelm II's royal brother, Prince Heinrich, has only 8 dreadnoughts, and the old cruisers are completely empty - due to the role of Qing Ying, the German Navy has converted all the funds for the loading and protection cruisers of the pre-dreadnought era into decisive battle cruisers, and these ships have all joined the ranks of the High Seas Fleet after the transformation!

In order to weaken the Russian Navy as much as possible and allow the German Baltic Fleet to move more freely in this area, Tirpitz made the decision to have the submarine immediately attack the Russian Baltic Fleet base Kronstadt at the beginning of the war. If the Russian battlecruiser Rurik II, which was the foremost Russian dreadnought in the Baltic Sea, could be defeated, the pressure on the German Baltic Fleet stationed in Kiel would be greatly relieved. In this way, whether it is sea shipping, shore bombardment support, or landing behind enemy lines, the German Baltic Fleet, which is composed of former dreadnoughts, can calmly deal with it.

Half a month ago, as relations between Germany and France deteriorated sharply due to the Moroccan dispute, Prince Heinrich ordered the Baltic Fleet to end its vacation and immediately maintain the ships ready for departure. A week later, the tentacles of the German submarine reached the depths of the Baltic Sea, extending straight to the northernmost Gulf of Finland, more than 1,000 nautical miles from the Kiel base. On May 3, while Dönitz's submarine U39 was defending the area, the German Admiralty, which had learned that Russia had declared war on Germany, immediately sent him an encrypted telegram to infiltrate the Gulf of Finland and attack the Russian military port.

The waves rolled, the blue sea water did not pass the observation port of the periscope from time to time, and Dönitz, who was more than ten meters underwater, tightly grasped the joystick that controlled the direction of the periscope, his heart was pounding, and his palms were also oozing a little wet sweat because of nervousness and excitement. Although he had already had countless underwater sneaking experiences in his usual training, when it came to the real battlefield, Dönitz, known as a submarine genius, still had a slight tremor due to his age of being a weak crown. Knowing that the periscope, which blended with the color of the sea, would be extremely difficult to spot in the dark night, he still couldn't help but beat a drum in his heart, for fear that a Russian destroyer would rush out and fire fiercely at him the next moment.

The lights were dim, the pocket watch was ticking, and Dönitz, who was always watching the sea, directed the submarine in a slightly hoarse voice. After a series of turns and shifts, the uninvited guest sprayed with iron crosses slowly approached the shoreline, and Dönitz slowly calmed his nervous mind in this calm dive. Gradually, a trace of doubt suddenly rose in his heart.

Since diving close to the perimeter of the military port, the submarine has been in the sea for more than an hour. And during this period, he didn't even see a patrol boat from the periscope, as if this core port where the main forces of the Russian Baltic Fleet were stationed was completely unguarded!

Not only that, but the navigation lighthouse on the shore is also fully open, showing the location of Kronstadt Harbour to the fullest; The fixed buoys in the channel were not removed, and Dönitz, who was looking around through the periscope, was guided by the route to the port. Coupled with the bright moon in the sky and the bright lights on the shore, the U39 is even more calm in this completely unfamiliar water, as if sailing at its own Kiel naval base. The unfavorable situation of Dönitz's fearful smearing into an unknown reef and running aground, and finally alarming the Russian guards did not appear at all, and he actually swaggered through the channel and entered the inner area of the Kronstadt base unimpeded!

"It seems that the Russians are not ready for war, and the geographical location at the end of the Baltic Sea has allowed them to let their guard down and continue to manage as usual." Dönitz let out a long breath, and the big stone in his heart fell to the ground, and a burst of happiness and joy for the rest of his life completely washed away his previous tension and fear. After a short while, the submarine slowly turned a corner; Leo, the torpedo chief who was waiting silently on the side, saw it, and a look of disbelief and ecstasy instantly surged into Dönitz's face.

"What's wrong, Carl?" Leo's heart tightened and he asked. Dönitz's face was full of excitement and pulled him to the periscope; Leo gave him a puzzled look, then turned his eyes to the observation port, and after a moment, the expression on his face froze suddenly.

What appeared in front of Leo's eyes at this moment was a spectacular scene that he would never forget; A large number of naval ships flying the Battle Flag of San André lined up in their berths, as if they were holding a military parade for their arrival. The sea breeze was blowing, the waves were inspiring, and these Russian battleships were like sleeping women stripped of their clothes, so naked in front of the German sea wolves!

In his ecstasy, Dönitz suddenly patted him on the shoulder and took over the use of the periscope again. Leo was slightly stunned, and in a moment he understood.

The U39 is a standard medium submarine produced by the German Navy since 1909: it has an underwater displacement of 620 tons, a surface speed of 15.5 knots, four 500 mm torpedo tubes in the bow and stern, and a range of 7,600 nautical miles / 8 knots. Since torpedoes take much longer to reload than artillery shells, the U39, with only 4 torpedo tubes, had to look for the most valuable targets to attack in the first place: Rurik II, Pavel I, St. Andrei, Nasimov, all armed with 305-mm cannons, the most threatening to the ships of the German Baltic Fleet! (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the monthly pass support of the old bookworm in the book friend diving ~~~

The results of the subscription have been so dismal in recent days, can you give the author some motivation for code words?