In the vast Indian Ocean, a flotilla is sailing in a southwesterly direction, this is the N-1 flotilla. The fleet consisted of 23 merchant ships and 3 warships, which departed from Kolkata and were bound for Liverpool, the mainland of the country, and the fleet was loaded with a large number of goods needed in the mainland.

Speaking of which, there is also a reason for the formation of the fleet. Because after the outbreak of the war, due to the abnormal activity of Italian submarines in the Indian Ocean, British and French ships suffered heavy losses, and the British Empire accounted for eighty percent of the ships lost. (Since the outbreak of the war, the East African submarine fleet has sunk a total of 970,000 tons of ships)

Although the British Empire had a large number of merchant ships (more than 20 million tons of gross tonnage), the total tonnage of British shipbuilding at this time was only 2.4 million tons, and it can be said that the sinking volume of the submarine forces in East Africa alone offset 60% of the annual capacity of the British Empire's shipbuilding industry. If there were more submarine attacks, the British Empire would not have to shut down in a few months.

So in order to target the submarine attack, the Royal Navy, as the main responsible party, came up with a lot of ideas, such as sending camouflaged submarine hunters to find opportunities to take out these annoying Italian submarines. Of course, the most important thing is to quickly develop means that can detect and attack submarines.

However, this will take time, and now that the method of reducing the loss of merchant ships can be used immediately, the mathematicians have given the Royal Navy the answer, which is to concentrate merchant ships and protect them by warships.

According to the calculations of mathematicians, the chance of surviving by concentrating merchant ships and protecting them by warships is much higher than that of merchant ships transporting them on their own.

The Royal Navy tried and tested the way of the mathematicians, and formed the first escort fleet, which was the N-1 fleet, and the commander of the 1st destroyer detachment of the Far Eastern Fleet commanded the fleet, Major Kipsiel.

Of course, having an experienced officer in command also shows how much the Navy attaches importance to this.

At this time, Major Kipsiler was on the flagship cruiser Daffodil, observing the movements around him. As the commander of the escort formation, Major Kipsyel's cautious personality was the main reason why the Admiralty chose him.

At this time, Major Kipsiel, who had finished observing the surroundings, lowered his binoculars and spoke. "Order the ships to send more lookouts, we are now in the range of the Italian submarines, and we must watch carefully for any suspicious situation. In addition, the lighting control will continue to be enforced, and no lights other than the course lights will be turned on, and violators will be punished as espionage. ”

Major Kipsiel, who was worthy of the prudence, brought the vigilance of the fleet to the maximum.

Unbeknownst to him, though, his fleet had been targeted. Behind the left of the N-1 flotilla, a submarine periscope was sticking out of the water, observing the N-1 flotilla.

This was the U27 submarine that had been with them for two days, and Captain Claudio was carefully observing the N-1 fleet's every move.

"It's really cautious, it seems that we really have to wait for the others to come."

In the two days since he encountered the N-1 fleet, Claudio has observed it many times in a row. As a result, the other party was very cautious, and he didn't dare to get too close for fear of startling the snake, so he could only wait for his teammates to come.

By the way, at present, the Italian submarine force has learned the simple version of the Seawolf tactics. Because of the different times, it was impossible to completely reproduce Dönitz's tactics. Of course, the core idea of this tactic can be learned by the Italian Navy, after all, how can a submarine fight alone be compared with a team operation.

And Claudio followed for two days in a row just to wait for the arrival of his teammates, how could he not eat a submarine with such a large fleet, so he naturally called friends.

"I'll send a telegram to the other boats telling them to start the operation tonight."

"Yes, Captain."

Claudio didn't want to wait any longer, he couldn't bear it anymore when he saw such a big piece of fat in his mouth for two days.

Of course, he didn't make this decision recklessly, but his teammates were coming.

At this time, when the fleet was far away, Claudio and the others also rose to the surface, and then slowly followed the fleet.

Although the C-27 submarine only has a maximum speed of 14 knots, the merchant ship is slower and only has a speed of 10 knots, which is still considered to be a submarine infestation area, and the speed is increased, otherwise the speed of seven or eight knots is normal.

As for why they didn't speed up, they had to cross most of the Indian Ocean, and there were only three or four ports that could be replenished along the way, so they had to save fuel.

Time passed slowly on the way, the sun had set, and a full moon appeared in the sky with twinkling stars, a beautiful night sky scene.

However, although the night sky is beautiful, it hides a murderous intention.

At this time, the N-1 fleet was sailing forward under the cover of night, and except for the course lights at the stern, the ships in the queue were useless and unlit, but the bright moonlight still reflected the silhouettes of the ships.

"Order the ships to speed up, and raise the speed of eight knots to ten."

At this time on the Daffodil, Major Kipsiel, as the commander of the fleet, always felt that something was wrong, this was his sixth sense. Although he didn't find anything at this time, he still planned to raise the speed for safety.

It was a bit dangerous to raise the speed at night, but he decided to do it anyway.

The darkness of night does provide cover for the fleet, but if it is discovered, then it will provide cover for the enemy.

"Hey, the speed is up."

At this time, Captain Claudio, who had been staring at the other side, noticed that the speed of the fleet had increased.

But this is useless, because the four submarines are already in place, and the attack is about to begin.

By this time, the C-27 had moved to a kilometer or two from the flotilla, as had three other submarines.

"Report, the torpedo has been loaded."

At this time, Claudio calmed down the excitement in his heart and gave the order. "Send a telegram telling the other boats that we are about to attack."

Then he took the calculation tool and quickly calculated it in the combat book.

After a while, after calculating, he gave the battle order. "The order torpedoes were set at 35 knots at a depth of four meters and fired sequentially."

With Claudio's order, three rumbling sounds were heard in succession from inside the submarine, which was the sound of torpedo firing.

I saw three white lines heading straight towards the three merchant ships at the head, but due to the cover of the night, the original obvious traces were not conspicuous at all.

And after firing three torpedoes, the entire crew of the C-27 waited.

Three explosions followed, and the officers and men shouted in unison. It's all hits, how can this not be pleased.

As for the flotilla, when there were three loud noises in a row, Major Kipsile felt a tightness in his heart, this was definitely an attack by a submarine.

"Immediately ask where they were attacked. In addition, let the Vespa and the Reef immediately prepare for anti-submarine preparation. ”

At this time, the officers and men on the Daffodil were also making anti-submarine preparations. However, unlike the depth charges we are familiar with, the anti-submarine work at this time involves hanging a special bomb with a rope, dropping it into the water, and then being towed by a battleship to attack the submarine by touch.

Although this method may seem a bit incredible, it is the best way at the moment, rather than shelling the surface with naval guns.

At the same time, the merchant ships that were attacked also reported the location of the submarine.

Just as Major Kipsy was about to order the Vespa and the Reef to attack the opposing submarines, three more explosions were heard, coming from the back half of the flotilla.

"Not good, the enemy has more than one submarine."

This result was utterly unfortunate for Major Kipsiel. "Order the ships to drive at maximum speed, we ......"

"Boom, boom."

Suddenly, two more loud explosions, coming from the front half of the flotilla, directly interrupted him.

"Hurry up and send a message, let the transport ship leave quickly, and our three battleships will stay."

Major Kipsiel, who had been interrupted by the sound of the bombing, roared at the communications staff officer, who was still dazed. This can also see how nervous this person is.

Just as the transport ship was about to accelerate away from the dead zone, three more explosions rang out.

At this moment, Major Kipsiler could not sit still, and the sound of the explosion alone showed that there were at least four submarines here.

"Revise the order so that the Wasp will go first with the transport vessels, and we will stay with the Reef to deal with the enemy."

At this time, the successive attacks on the ships made the convoy transport ships panic, after all, they were civilians and had never experienced such a terrible situation. Although there was an order from Major Kipsiel, there were captains who had their own ideas. This led to a mess of ships that had not yet been attacked in the flotilla.

"Boom" This is two merchant ships meeting in a panic.

There are also boats that turn on their lights, which avoids collisions, but also attracts attention like bright lights.

"Boom!"

A torpedo hit it with precision.

Seeing the flotilla in disarray, Major Kipsiel, as the commander, saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart.

"Let them retreat first, retreat to the southwest."

Perhaps Major Kipsiel's words had worked, or perhaps the merchant ships had finally recovered from the chaos. At this time, the flotilla, which had lost nearly half of its vessel, finally picked up its speed, and they ran southwest at a speed of 14 knots.

The Italian submarine officers and men, who were originally preparing to launch a second attack, had no choice but to give up the attack.

But they are not in a hurry, because there is still a long way to go, and they still have a chance.

Three days later, in the Seychelles at Victoria Harbour, two warships arrived with four merchant ships.

Through a large radio station in the Seychelles, the news of his attack was reported to London.

Of the N-1 fleet of 23 merchant ships and three warships, only six remained, losing 140,000 tons of tonnage, and more than 3 million pounds worth of cargo on board also sank into the sea, which surprised London, which received the news.

This also made some people in the Navy question the role of the formation escort, but with the strong support of the respected Marshal Fisher in the navy, the formation escort continued.

I'm sorry, but I wrote the chapter that was updated yesterday so far, and thank you all for your continued support.

(End of chapter)