Perhaps the most powerful German submarines are the commanders of the Allied ships that have been at war with them in the Atlantic for a long time, and they are frightened by this elusive wolf pack tactic, and the achievements of German ace submarines that are as mythical as myths are enough to explain why the British and American navies have changed their talk about German submarines.

These German submarine officers and men, who usually wore sloppy clothes and liked to lean against the railing of the submarine control tower, created the great myth of annihilating ten or even dozens of times the enemy in this area of the Atlantic.

It can be said that every German submarine can write a novel, and there is absolutely no shortage of legends and adventures in it, which is definitely attractive enough. And the German sailors, who were finally silent at the bottom of the icy sea, also fulfilled their oath to fight for the motherland until the last second with their actions.

"Stay on alert! We may have been targeted by a large German submarine battle group! Hell! There are no German submarines in this area, and our whereabouts must have been leaked. Putting down the telescope in his hand, the commander of the transport fleet, codenamed "Alpine Dog", complained with a frown.

Beside him, an adjutant reassured: "Maybe it's just a German submarine returning home, and this kind of unexpected thing happens here every day." Many people claimed to have encountered a German submarine, but it turned out to be just a whale or something. ”

"I hope you're right. The commander was obviously not as optimistic as his deputy: "Let the escorting destroyer continue to closely monitor the nearby seas, and don't let go of any clues! It is impossible for the German submarines to follow us and transfer 2 destroyers from the rear to the left flank to strengthen the defenses there!"

"Yes, General!" the adjutant immediately saluted and carried out the order, he was only reassuring his commander, not blindly optimistic—any carelessness would wipe out the entire transport fleet, and those terrible German wolves would never give up the fat on their lips easily.

......

"In the waters off the North Atlantic, the submarine U-136, returning from the waters off Canada, sent back a telegram in which the captain claimed that a huge Allied fleet had been spotted in the waters off No. 44, covered by many escort destroyers, and was speeding towards Iceland. "A German naval staff officer, at the same moment, delivered a telegram to Admiral Dönitz.

"Hell, will their presence on this route alarm the British and Americans?" Dönitz looked at the message carefully, then muttered quietly with his hands behind his back. The discovery of an Allied transport fleet in that area is definitely proof that the deciphered Allied code is indeed valid. However, German submarines were not often found on that route, and if two German submarines appeared there in a short period of time, would it make the Allied generals suspicious?

"We didn't stipulate the route for the submarine force to return, and it was an accident!" the staff officer, standing beside Dönitz, heard the general ask this question, and quickly explained: "If, if you really don't feel sure, send a telegram to Captain Prien to abandon the plan and withdraw it?"

"We have no intention of attacking this fleet on a large scale in the first place, and if we let them arrive in Iceland without paying any price, then wouldn't I, the commander of the submarines, be derelict in my duty?" Dönitz thought about it for a while, and immediately rejected his original plan, and then he pinched the telegram and instructed the staff officer: "Everything is still carried out according to the original plan, and now we will hand over the initiative to the British, and let them consider whether to change the password!"

Dönitz pondered several questions in his mind at this moment, and finally he felt that he should not give up this temptation easily. After all, it was only a small-scale submarine attack, which, strictly speaking, could only be a fortuitous event. The British could not have changed their cipher just because their fleet had been attacked by a German submarine - Dönitz was quite sure about this.

As the minutes ticked by, the sky darkened. Evening was the best time for German submarine operations, and the U-47 submarine under Prien's command had just arrived near the route of the Allied convoy. Because of the precise intelligence, everything was just right, and Prien's submarine maintained the periscope depth, cruising in the path of the Allied fleet, sharpening its knives and waiting for its prey.

"I've seen the enemy!" the first mate suddenly shouted with his eyes on the periscope. Prien, who was standing beside him, hurriedly took the periscope from the first mate's hand and pressed his eyes to it.

From the periscopes marked with scales, he could see the huge silhouettes of the ships in the afterglow of the setting sun. The speed of this fleet had increased, apparently fearing a night attack by German submarines, so some countermeasures were taken in advance.

It is a pity that these countermeasures are quite effective against the old German ocean-going submarines, and it is a bit child's work against the latest German U-boats. Prien smiled slightly, and then gave the battle order: "Discover the Allied fleet! Six torpedoes in the bow are ready to be fired." ”

"Heading 48, speed 22! Repeat! Heading 48, speed 22, torpedo tuning complete!" Command after command spread through the submarine, and everyone began to get nervous, the huge submarine swam quietly in the water like a shark, slowly adjusting its position, and then trying to keep its course on the side of the Allied convoy.

He was very particular about the position he chose, and at this moment the U-boat was sailing in front of the Allied fleet on the left. It was the most heavily defended area of the Allied fleet, but it took time for the torpedoes to cruise after launch, and when they arrived, they left the escort ships behind and burrowed into the convoy from their weak flanks.

The magnetic torpedo is a kind of torpedo that Germany finally began to use on a large scale after countless experiments, it is not a long-range active guided torpedo, but it can make some course corrections at close range, and it can attack Allied ships more effectively. Of course, this torpedo was not a panacea, so German submarines basically mixed it with collision torpedoes.

With an order, the German U-47 submarine shot out the entire 8 torpedoes on its submarine in one go, 6 in the bow and 2 in the stern in the most suitable position. The torpedoes immediately rushed towards the Allied fleet like wild horses, and with the launch of these torpedoes, the U-47 submarine trembled slightly, and then began to sink at full speed.

In order to avoid this kind of accidental collision, when launching a magnetic torpedo, the submarine should immediately dive and increase the distance between it and the torpedo. Of course, this is only a precautionary measure, but all submarine captains are very conscious of this rule.

Because no one wants to be sunk by a torpedo launched by themselves, even if this probability is only one in a thousand, everyone still does not want to gamble with their lives on this extremely small probability.

"Dive, dive!" the first mate held on to the handrail beside him, and ordered the helmsman and the sailors who controlled the water tank to hurry up, and Prien waited in the shaky submarine for the good news, as soon as the torpedo hit the target, the sonar crew would hear a wonderful noise.

......

Looking at the sun gradually sinking behind them, all the sailors of the entire "Alpine Dog" escort fleet were filled with uneasiness in their hearts, they were frightened by the warning order during the day, and they were very worried that more than a dozen German submarines would attack the fleet from all directions tonight.

And this time of time, when the sky is about to go dark and nothing is completely visible, is the ideal time for German submarines to attack. Everyone's eyes widened in the hope that they could discover their enemies in advance, and most were destined not to find what they were looking for.

"Something seems to be approaching on the left, it's dark, and I can't see clearly!" a left-wing lookout reported with a frown, holding up a telescope and taking advantage of the last rays of the setting sun. In the destroyer's cabin not far behind him, a sonar soldier also raised his arm at the same time: "Hear the noise! Sure it's a German submarine!"

The captain of the British destroyer who heard the news was immediately frightened, and what he feared most finally happened. Those elusive German submarines were very cunning, and even anti-submarine destroyers like him would be planted in the hands of these submariners. However, it is one thing to be afraid, and it is another thing to sit back and wait for death, so the commander of the destroyer hurriedly issued a combat order: "Sound the battle alarm! Pay attention to avoiding torpedoes!"

At about the same moment that he gave the order to fight, the soldier on the lookout position finally saw what was in the water. So he put down his binoculars and began to shout loudly: "Torpedo!

At the very front of the fleet, on the command ship of the entire "Alpine Dog" transport fleet, the general heard the warning of the approaching torpedo on the port side, his heartbeat immediately stopped for a moment, he frowned, and before he could say anything, he heard a huge sound on the flank of the fleet, a transport ship full of steel and cement, being blown in two.

Then, in just a split second, a transport ship was hit and exploded into a brilliant fireworks. In this near-darkness moment, the flame illuminates the entire convoy and plunges everyone into utter despair.

There was only one sigh left in everyone's heart: "It's all over! We've been discovered!"