The waters around Seattle are tense and filled with a strong atmosphere of war, and the original endless flow of cargo ships and fishing boats can rarely be seen, but due to the lack of information in today's era, many Citigroup cargo ships returning from the Far East do not know about it, and they are heading for the port of Seattle.

There are mines outside the Port of Seattle, and if these unwitting freighters collide with them, they will inevitably blow up and die.

From either point of view, the Washington state government cannot allow this to happen.

Therefore, a "Montgomery" class protective cruiser flying the Stars and Stripes has always been dispatched to patrol back and forth more than 10 kilometers outside the entrance of the strait, the purpose of which is to prevent American cargo ships from straying into minefields and to direct civilian cargo ships to go to other ports to dock and unload their cargo as much as possible.

If the ship is short of coal, or if it is necessary to enter the port to unload the cargo for other reasons, the cruiser "Montgomery" will send sailors on board to search the ship and strictly examine its identity, cargo and destination port.

After eliminating suspicious factors, it is a wartime last resort to arrange for pilots to guide the cargo ship into the port inside the strait along the reserved minefield.

The USS Montgomery protective cruiser is an old ship built in 1894, with a displacement of 2,094 tons, 5,400 horsepower, a maximum speed of 17 knots, and nine 127 mm guns.

This kind of old ship is invisible in the Atlantic Fleet, and only in the nursing home of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy can you see this kind of sail cruiser with a great sense of age, which retains a full set of sail structure.

It was around 3 p.m

A whaling ship from Alaska, loaded with whale oil, is guided by a harbor pilot and slowly sails into the strait along a reserved minefield.

At this time, the weather is overcast, and it seems that a long rain is about to be ushered in, and if the temperature drops suddenly, it will be a bad weather with rain and snow.

The sea was cold and windy, and the wind and waves were stronger.

The officers and men of the protective cruiser "Montgomery" shrank their heads and hid in the leeward part of the ship, and no one wanted to stand in the cold wind like a knife for a long time, which was really too guilty, and it was possible to suffer severe frostbite.

What they didn't know was that at this moment, there were two submarines in front of them and one behind them, keeping them at the level of snorkels, and quietly diving into the strait following the whaling ship.

The two submarines waited patiently for many days outside the strait, and finally waited for this good opportunity to penetrate.

In the rear T101 submarine, the submarine detachment leader Colonel Chen Mantun personally commanded, he tightly controlled the periscope with both hands, and gave orders from time to time;

"The left car stops, the right car idles, and the left rudder moves slowly at 15 degrees."

"Report depth?"

"Report sir, the depth of the strait is 77 meters."

"Where to report?"

"Report to the chief, our boat is 3.7 kilometers from the left bank and about 11.5 kilometers from the right bank, and the water depth has been reduced to 63 meters."

"Continue to observe and report on developments at any time."

"Yes, sir."

"Start on the left, start on the right, and keep driving slowly in first gear."

"Yes, sir."

After entering the strait, there should be no torpedoes, and in the ports of Nieubay and Angeles, where the submarine passed, dozens or hundreds of fishing boats were often docked in the harbors, and there were many freighters moored at anchorage.

If mines were to be laid, it would be a complete disaster for these civilian ships.

The strait is about 16~23 kilometers wide and more than 130 kilometers long, and at the end is a "T" shaped wide water, less than 100 kilometers to the north to reach Vancouver, the second largest city in Canada, and about 140 kilometers to the south to reach the Port of Seattle in the depths of Puget Sound.

After three hours of carefully maneuvering the submarine, it was already dark.

At this time, the periscope could not see anything, Colonel Chen Mantun could only take the risk of letting the submarine float, and soon the slender submarine surfaced, and in the dim night of the sea and sky, the T101 submarine could not observe where the T103 boat that dived in with it was?

Now that there are enemies on all sides, for safety reasons, the T101 submarine does not dare to use light signals and radio communications, for fear of being observed by the batteries on the shore or in the harbor, then it will be a lot of fun.

The swells in the strait are very large, and the submarine has only two options: driving or anchoring, and if it stops and drifts with the current, it is easy to be pushed by the waves to the shore on both sides and run aground.

Colonel Chen Mantun considered it and arranged for the chief navigator and deputy captain to take turns watching from the submarine command platform to guide the submarine to continue deeper.

After continuing to drive for about 8 hours, according to the calculation of the trip, it was almost at the "T" mouth of the strait, when Lieutenant He Guanghui, the deputy captain who was watching from the submarine command platform, suddenly screamed loudly; "Quick, stop quickly, the enemy's large fleet is found ahead, about two kilometers away."

This shout frightened all the officers and soldiers to the point that their heartbeats slowed down by half a beat.

What it means for a submarine to be exposed in front of the enemy's large fleet, you know that it will not end well if you think about it on your toes.

Colonel Chen Mantun immediately climbed onto the submarine command platform, regardless of the rain and snow whipped in the face like a knife and looked into the distance, he was immediately stunned, and after reacting, he ordered one after another; "The left car goes into two, the right car goes back one, and the right rudder turns 45 degrees, ready to dive."

"The right rudder has been turned at 45 degrees, and the dive is good."

"Dive, get ready to sit down."

"Understood, ready to sit down."

Colonel Chen Mantun ordered to dive without saying a word, and then closed the hatch cover above his head with Deputy Captain He Guanghui, and slipped down the slide one after the other, with a still lingering look on his face.

It's so exciting!

At the wide T-shaped mouth of the strait, all the main ships of the Great White Fleet are anchored here, and strict light control is implemented, and in the harsh weather of rain and snow, the huge black shadow is like one mountain after another on the sea.

If you don't pay attention, you won't be able to see at all.

Fortunately, a coal supply ship was working with its lights on and was resupplying a cruiser at anchorage, and the lights reflected the terrifying silhouette of the battleship, and the deputy captain, Lieutenant Ho Guanghui, was lucky enough to find a target 2 kilometers away.

Otherwise, even if you rush in front of you, it will be difficult to spot.

Look the other way around

Due to the small area exposed by the submarine on the sea surface, coupled with the extremely harsh climate, rain and snow on the sea surface, and low visibility, the probability of the submarine being discovered by the fleet is very small.

The sea water "gurgling" into the ballast tank, and the submarine slowly sank to the bottom of the water in a steady manner, and it was only then that the nervous crew breathed a long sigh of relief, as if freed from the gaze of death.

Now the remaining question is; To fight or not to fight?

It is very simple to fight, the front 2 kilometers densely docked is the enemy's large fleet, after the periscope depth is slightly aimed, all 4 torpedoes are shot out, and then the spare torpedoes on the torpedo rack are pushed into the launch tube at the fastest speed, and they are shot one by one again, the whole process takes about 10 minutes, and the rest is to escape.

After thinking about it for a while, Colonel Chen Mantun still decided not to fight, but he was ready to fight at any time, why did he say that?

Also diving into the strait was the T103 boat, and if the 103rd boat fired a torpedo, then the 101st boat had to fight as much as possible in order to maximize the results of the battle, there is nothing to say.

in accordance with the operational discipline of the submarine detachment;

After the T103 boat loses command, when it encounters a suitable target, it can decide whether to attack or not?

There were also ample reasons not to fight, and Colonel Chen Mantun felt from experience that it was unusual for the US Navy's Great White Fleet to be parked at the mouth of the "T" bay.

After thinking deeply, he could probably guess some clues.

The Great White Fleet, which includes the elite main battleships of the US Navy, can be said to be an important weapon of the country, and there can be no mistakes, and it should normally be docked in the port to ensure safety.

Why did it temporarily anchor at the mouth of the "T" bay?

Combined with the geography surrounding the Port of Seattle, the answer is imminent.

The U.S. Navy's Great White Fleet departed from Seattle Port in the morning, traveling at a speed of 6~8 knots, and the 140-kilometer journey was about 3~4 o'clock in the afternoon to reach the mouth of the "T" bay.

Continuing to break through the strait at night according to the original plan means continuing to drive for 9~10 hours in extremely harsh climatic conditions, and also passing through a very dangerous minefield.

To be on the safe side, anchoring in a wide bay with a decent line of sight is an option.

A ship of tens of thousands of tons is different from a car, and it is impossible to stop at a slow speed of 6 to 8 knots, and when you want to stop, you can rush out several kilometers away if you want to.

In this era, there was no advanced navigation equipment, and night navigation was especially dangerous, and the distance could only be seen by eye (the night optical rangefinder could not be used), and when something was found wrong, most of them were too late.

Accidents can easily occur when sailing in formation in bad weather, especially when the sight is poor at night, there is no emergency that endangers life and death, and night sailing of large ship formations is strictly prohibited, especially in narrow straits.

If an accident does occur, then a collision is a string.

Let's say the weather gets better tomorrow

The Great White Fleet set sail at noon and sailed through the 130-kilometer strait for about 10 hours, and could break through the minefield of the strait at about 10 o'clock at night and escape into the vast Pacific Ocean under the cover of night.

With experience, Colonel Chen Mantun felt that his guesses were not far from ten.

If this is the case, their own submarines will not be able to startle the snakes, quietly drag them all the way behind, and send a telegram at the appropriate time to inform the Grand Fleet to encircle and destroy the enemy.

Although he may have lost some of his military exploits, Colonel Chen Mantun was still able to carry out the major issues of right and wrong, and he informed all the crew members of his decision, and then directed the crew to get busy.

The current T101 boat is too close to the enemy's large formation, and it must quietly move its position and widen the distance.

Colonel Chen Mantun was confident in his judgment;

Even if the judgment is wrong, it is nothing, it is nothing more than a delay of a few days, and there is no loss.

The T101 boat is now like a mouse that has fallen into a rice tank, and the white rice is in its mouth, and it can be eaten whenever it wants, so why hurry?