"Mr. Captain," the telegraph operator burrowed into the command cabin, "we have received an enemy briefing from the Eastern Mediterranean Command that the enemy Grand Fleet is heading towards our patrol area. ”

Captain Erich, who was directing the simulation drill in the command cabin, heard this and immediately issued an order: "The whole boat will terminate the drill and float for ventilation." ”

At Erich's order, the captain and deck officer immediately gave the corresponding order, and the sound of the dewatering pump immediately resounded throughout the submarine, and the deck under his feet was tilted by the upturned bow.

The U571 slammed into the water at full speed, and soon the hull was once again stabilized with a drastic amplitude, and the deck officer shouted at the same moment: "The hull is out of the water, and the command station enclosure has been drained." ”

"Open the cabin." As soon as the order was given, one of the sailors immediately got out of the command cabin, opened the hatch of the personnel shaft set up in front of the command module, and the water in the enclosure of the Zài command platform was still drenched, wetting the crew's clothes.

Erich strode to the door of the command module, climbed the ladder, and in three or two strokes passed through the enclosure of the continuum equipped with periscopes and snorkels, and emerged from the top of the enclosure.

Outside the cabin, the sea and blue sky are blue, and you can't see anything but seagulls as far as the eye can see.

"Pay attention to the radio, it is possible that the nearby radar guard will use the radio to notify our ships in the square after discovering the enemy ship." Erich tonguò, a microphone placed on the surface command platform, ordered the command cabin inside the boat.

"Yes, sir." Immediately from the microphone was the voice of Erich's left and right hands, the technical sergeant major on board, "We won't miss a word." ”

Behind Erich, the antennas of the high-power radios and the projection surfaces of the small on-board radars on board were slowly rising.

"Radar, radio, new sonar, I always feel that what I learned in submarine school is gradually becoming useless." Erich whispered, "There are still such wire-controlled torpedoes, and even the basic skills of submarine captains such as seizing positions have become unimportant." ”

When the sailors who were on the lookout on the surface command platform heard Erich's complaints, they said, "Sir, isn't it very good, the threshold for achieving military exploits has become lowered." ”

"That's the problem, what we're expecting is a real matchup. Have you ever heard the older generation talk about their battle of wits with the British Q boats, when I joined the Submarine Academy, I was full of thought that I could also go through that kind of battle. The kind of blood-pumping fight is exciting just thinking about it. But now we can only keep doing the math on the paper, watching the computers assigned to us click and spit out the parameters, and then bang and fire the torpedo to end the battle. This is a bit far from what I expected. ”

"Sir, don't you like this way of fighting?"

"No, I like this kind of battle very much, who doesn't like easy things, I'm just lamenting that the battle that used to be like a knight duel is gone. This is the same reason that there are still so many people practicing swordsmanship, and now it is clear that swordsmanship is useless, but the Junkers still like to practice swords, and they often choose swords as weapons when dueling. ”

"Is that so...... Choosing a sword as a weapon? ”

"I've never dueled, so I've heard it too. In short, this is a feeling, do you understand feelings? ”

The young sailor nodded as if he didn't understand. Erich didn't ask him if he understood, but turned his head to observe the sea level.

The blue sea and blue sky of the Mediterranean Sea are as beautiful as ever, and a bunch of seagulls have appeared behind the submarine that has surfaced, and they have followed the submarine and preyed on the fish in the wake left by the submarine.

Erich watched intently as the seagulls fished, and after a moment he said, "Actually, I haven't seen the sea until high school, and it was only after I was admitted to the Naval Officer Preparatory School for the first time that I was lucky enough to see the sea." ”

Since the German Navy was all but abolished, no young people were able to attend military schools such as the Naval Officers' Preparatory School for a long time after the last war – because even the teachers in these schools were unemployed.

The reopening of the school was a matter of the last decade, and Erich was sent to France to complete a basic submarine training course under the pretext of helping the French form a submarine force in the first year of re-enrollment, and after two years of study. It can be said that Erich was one of the first submarine officers trained after the revival of the German Navy.

If this were not the case, he would not have been chosen to be the captain of the new weapon.

After a little bit of talking about himself, Erich fell silent again - I don't know if it was because the first actual combat of the new weapon was imminent, Erich was a little excited, and he talked more today than usual.

The silence on the surface command platform did not last long before it was broken by the sailors on the lookout.

"Sir, I heard that the man with the Eye of Odin on the boat is ......"

"You don't have to think about it to know that there must be such a cutting-edge technology, if we sink, if we are captured by the British, then things will be bad. So there must be agents on the boat who are responsible for monitoring everyone and blowing up the ship at a critical time. ”

"If he blew up the ship, wouldn't he have to die here himself?"

"Yes, but those people are agents of Odin's Eye, and they are a bunch of people who are not afraid of death." As he said this, Erich showed a slight tone of admiration.

Silence fell again, but after a while, the lookout asked again, "How are we going to escape after we have finished our attack?" This is the Mediterranean, and the depth you can dive at is limited, right? ”

"Yes, correspondingly, the hydrological conditions here are much more complicated, and it is difficult for the British to find us with sonar after sitting at the bottom." Erich was very experienced when he said this, worthy of the meritorious captain who once commanded the U59 to achieve great feats, "Moreover, this time we have a chemical air purifier that can last longer underwater, and the British will definitely think that we are suffocating after patrolling for a while." After they leave, we can take advantage of the opportunity to run. ”

"Well, that sounds ......"

At this moment, a voice from the microphone interrupted the lookout's words.

"Sir, our own radar has found the target, although the echo is very vague, but there is a large fleet in the west approaching."

"Very good, call the surrounding units by radio, inform us of the location of the enemy, and urgently dive in five minutes." With that, Erich jumped into the personnel shaft of the command console enclosure, slid down the ladder and slid into the hatch at the bottom of the shaft, and entered the pressure-resistant hull.

"Guests, let's take a good look at the hospitality of the German Navy."