On the rough sea, a small thing made waves, and this metal pipe moved slowly on the sea, revealing weirdness and danger.

At a depth of several meters, it seems that the surging feeling of the water surface has been lost, and although it is still shaking, it seems to be much calmer.

A huge submarine was sailing silently here, squeezing away the fish, and the light and shadow cast on the surface of the water were reflected on the shell, looking mottled and vicissitudes.

Its bow is still as sharp as a knife, but it is even larger, this submarine combines the most advanced submarine technology in Germany, is the backbone of the German Navy's submarine force, and is also the world's top underwater killer.

It is equipped with diesel snorkel technology, which is not widely available in the world, and can charge the entire submarine at periscope depth and maintain a high speed at this depth. Of course, it also has a wider hull, carries more fuel and supplies, and travels to more distant places to ambush its prey.

In the periscope, the round field of vision, and the degree gauge depicted on it are tools for judging distance and speed, although primitive but quite accurate. And at this moment, the German submarine captain was staring at his own prey not far away, a huge prey.

"Keep course! Slow down and standby!" he pressed his face to the periscope and ordered in a loud voice: "Enemy ship! This is a British merchant ship! It has a British flag on it! It can be sunk...... The two torpedo tubes in the bow 1 and 2 are ready to be filled with water!

The captain's order came out of the submarine, and everyone waited quietly, they were like sharks waiting for an opportunity, fierce and witty, not afraid of hardships and dangers, and more calm.

"Aim at the target!" the captain kept his eyes on the scope, looking intently at his target, and gave the order as he saw fit.

"The torpedo is ready!" replied the torpedo operator.

"Bow torpedo tubes No. 1 and No. 2, ready!" the captain continued.

"Torpedo No. 1 and No. 2!" the torpedo operator replied.

"Fire!" the captain gave the order to attack.

"Fire!" the torpedo operator pressed the button to fire the torpedo.

"Bang!" everyone in the boat heard the sound of the submarine firing torpedoes, and with the sudden tremor of the submarine and the dull noise of the machinery, two torpedoes with bubbles ejected from the front of the U-211 submarine, leaving their unique traces on the surface of the sea, and rushing towards their targets.

Unlike Prien's stationary ships, attacking an opponent with a torpedo weapon in real combat is a trivial task that keeps commanders busy for a while. Contrary to the common idea, attacking a moving surface target on a platform as moving as a submarine with a torpedo is a very difficult and tedious task.

It required courage and patience, as well as simultaneous joint operations, as well as some shooting skills and talents that captains and commanders were born with that no one else had. Most of the time, submarine officers and men cooperate to complete a powerful attack with a torpedo.

When the sentinels of the scouts see the ship on the distant horizon with a specially made oversized telescope, they immediately notify the other officers and soldiers, and if the captain decides to attack the prey that has come into his range, they will immediately begin to deal with many questions, such as whether the ship is a friend or foe, a warship or a freighter, and what the draft is.

Submarine officers would learn to distinguish the contours of these ships, and they would carry with them a detailed manual from the hard-working spies of the Wehrmacht's spy agency. The manual records and indicates in detail the outline of the side, 45-degree, and 60-degree head angles, and as long as you compare them, you can know a lot of detailed information about the other party.

Then it is necessary to further determine the speed and direction of the ship in the distance, and calculate how to attack the ship as the distance and bearing are constantly changing. Position adjustment sometimes takes hours - direct shooting, like Prien's style of play is the simplest, but the opposite is actually the least common situation in combat.

This simple attack mode of aiming at the bow target, then firing a torpedo, the torpedo reaches the target, explodes with a bang, and then the target sinks to the bottom of the sea, is almost impossible to appear in a real combat firefight.

What often happens is that the submarine fires a torpedo while attacking in a vertical direction, or traveling in the opposite direction, so the most common situation that people encounter is to launch the torpedo at a certain angle, and then use experience to make the torpedo hit the target or let the target hit the torpedo.

The launch angle can be calculated very accurately and quickly, because there is a computer-like device on the submarine, which is called the torpedo number jù calculator in the submarine. This mechanical calculator stores information such as the position and speed of the submarine, the speed and distance of the target vessel estimated by the captain, and the route. The machine then immediately calculates an angle based on these parameters and displays it on the scale.

If the number jù is adjusted temporarily, then the calculator will also change the corresponding angle answer, very accurately and quickly. The result was immediately sent to the torpedo compartment, according to which the operator adjusted the corresponding number on the direction of the torpedo to set the angle at which the torpedo was fired.

Once this is done, once the torpedo is fired, it will travel in a straight line for a distance of less than ten yards, then turn at a special angle set by the direction finder, and then adjust to a straight line to rush towards the target - if the captain, the calculator, and the crew are correct and everyone has done their job without any problems, the torpedo will crash into its own target, completely destroying the ship in the distance.

The captain had already estimated the parameters of the target, the calculator had accurately calculated the angle, and the torpedo had been adjusted, so there was no possibility of failure in this attack, and soon, a huge explosion was heard in the distance, and the sonar soldier told the captain what he heard the explosion: "Sir, our torpedo hit the target!"

After looking around with the periscope and finding no other ships, the captain finally nodded and gave the next order: "The submarine floats! Let's go see what ship was sunk!"

"Float, pay attention, steady, steady!" the first mate repeated the order in detail on the side.

Just two minutes later, the submarine burst out of the water, revealing its slender form. The hatch was opened, and a stream of residual seawater spilled down and hit the hat above the head of the man below, splashing a cold splash.

The German captain took off his hat and shook the water above it, then buttoned it over his head, then he shook off his fur coat twice and took up his binoculars to admire his masterpiece. And several soldiers behind him let out cheers representing victory.

In the distance, a British transport ship was billowing with smoke, and the whole ship was slowly sinking, and on the deck of the German submarine, the huge and conspicuous billowing smoke could be seen with the naked eye. However, the telescope is even more exciting, the British crew is jumping ship in a frenzy, and it looks like they know that their ship is hopeless.

A few Britons were panicking and hoisting the ship's lifeboats, some of them were waiting anxiously, while their transport boat seemed to be breaking in the middle due to the influx and squeezing of the sea, and the fire spread across the deck, like a hell on earth.

"Prepare your camera! Start taking pictures!" the captain put down his binoculars, and then said to the first mate and the two officers beside him, "Get the submarine up, grab a live and ask what this is a ship transporting something." Keep detailed records and don't be lazy!

"Load the Bofors anti-aircraft guns behind the conning tower!" the first mate nodded immediately, and then began to help the captain give orders, he shouted through the open hatch at his feet, "Send the rifles up, we will take the prisoners!"

Soon, the submarine was driven to the location of the wreck, and two dozen British sailors in life jackets were floating on the water, who watched in horror as the German submarine passed by them, and the enemy on it pointed at them with rifles.

"Who's your head?" asked a German sailor in broken English, and all the Englishmen in the water subconsciously looked at an elderly man.

"Nothing else, we just wanted to ask, what is your ship transporting?" the German soldier continued.

"Steel, that's why it sinks so fast. The British captain was pointed at gunpoint, and without hesitation, he told the truth: "Steel bought from the United States, and some aluminum ingots." Don't shoot, I'll tell you everything I know. ”

"Thank you. The German officer, who was leaning on the conning tower, spoke a word of more authentic English, and then gave the order to drive the submarine away.

"Sir, don't we carry out the necessary rescue of the seafarers of these sunken ships in accordance with the national law? This is a flagrant violation of international treaties and will be used by the United States and Great Britain to make a big fuss. An officer asked with a frown, looking at the British sailors drifting farther and farther away on the undulating sea.

"The war has begun, young man, we don't have time for mercy, we don't have time for charity, understand?" the captain sighed and said, "Let's go down! ”

He couldn't help but be careless, this is an important shipping route for Britain, and there are hundreds of trading ships coming and going, so such an important passage that passes by countless ships, of course, can't float casually. If the destroyers see it, it's over, but if the merchant ships see it, and the cooked duck flies, it's enough to make everyone depressed for a while.