章 31: Chapter 31 Encounter with a Strong Enemy
Some say that since the outbreak of the war, apart from British warships, the only other thing visible in the North Sea has been German warships. Zhang Hainuo found this statement not entirely accurate because on the second day after U171 left Wilhelmshaven, he encountered another massive man-made object in the northern North Sea — an airship!
Unfortunately, the style and color of the airship clearly indicated that it belonged to the hostile nation of Britain. The fortunate aspect was that the airship could hardly pose a direct threat to the submerged submarine. It attempted to drop two small bombs, but they fell far from the three German submarines, about a kilometer away!
In contrast to Zhang Hainuo's composure, First Lieutenant Simon Pratens, the chief mate, appeared somewhat anxious and uneasy.
"What rotten luck! We haven't even left the North Sea yet, and the British have already spotted us!"
"Don't worry, Simon! It can't harm us. At most, it can only report our position to their base! After nightfall, we'll easily shake it off!"
After obtaining the other's agreement, Zhang Hainuo affectionately referred to this veteran figure of U171 as "Simon". The experiences on U21 made Zhang Hainuo believe that evading a group of non-sonar British warships was not a difficult task. Although Hessen's tactics were strange, each one was very effective.
"Lieutenant, you don't know! Last time in the northern waters of Scotland, we were targeted by a similar airship. It couldn't directly sink us, but it quickly attracted a large group of British destroyers! Last time, we were besieged by five British destroyers. If it weren't for U116 showing up at the last moment and sinking one of them, we would have probably sunk to the bottom of the sea!"
"Ah, I see! Simon, don't worry. Now we have three submarines. If the British come, we'll ambush them together! By the way, can you tell me about the details of that battle?"
Recalling a painful defeat, especially one where close comrades were sacrificed, required courage from anyone, and Simon was evidently an exceptionally brave person. He organized his thoughts slightly and began,
"It was a sunny day, and the visibility on the sea was excellent. We were returning to shore. The British airship spotted us around 10 a.m. when we were more than 160 nautical miles north of Pass of Flodigarry in northern Scotland, planning to cross the British blockade line into the North Sea at night!"
"At around 2 p.m., a group of British destroyers appeared ahead of our route. We only had one torpedo left at that time. The captain immediately ordered the submarine to dive. The British destroyers couldn't find us, so they started shelling randomly on the sea surface. We stayed underwater for about two hours and then surfaced to periscope depth to observe. The British destroyers were no longer in sight, so we surfaced confidently to recharge. Unexpectedly, that British airship had been monitoring the sea surface nearby, and the British destroyers quickly returned!"
"We urgently dived again, but this time the British destroyers opened fire before we completely submerged, raining down shells like hail. One of them hit our periscope and damaged it. Without the periscope, the submarine was like a blind man underwater, and our situation became extremely passive! When we were forced to surface due to oxygen depletion... alas! The captain was killed on the spot, five gunners died, and four in the torpedo compartment died. We thought we were done for, but thankfully U116 arrived just in time!"
Zhang Hainuo patted Simon's shoulder. The young officer with a neatly trimmed black mustache bore a heavy expression of grief and anger.
"Stern!" Zhang Hainuo called the signalman on board, "Send a signal to U89 and U145. That British airship is likely to attract British destroyers. Ask them what they think, whether they want to dive now to avoid it or wait for the British to come and ambush them!"
"Yes!" The tall and thin Stern was about to send the signal, but suddenly stopped.
"Lieutenant, U89 is signaling us! They... they say the three submarines are sailing separately, so the British airship doesn't know which one to track!"
"What?" Zhang Hainuo didn't doubt his ears or Stern's eyes, but this approach did seem a bit foolish — voluntarily dispersing their forces would only make them more passive when encountering the enemy!
"Tell them I suggest the three submarines act together. If the British destroyers come, we'll join forces to take them down!"
This was Zhang Hainuo's genuine thought. He used to think that the German submarines during World War I were far inferior in technology to those in World War II, but after studying submarine specialization at the Kiel Naval School, he found out how wrong he was, and very wrong indeed. In this era, Germany's diesel engine technology was ahead of other countries. Although their attention to submarines came later than in Britain and France, they surpassed them in design and application! Their UB and UD series submarines were the most advanced attack submarines in the world at present. Apart from battery capacity and sonar radio equipment, they were no weaker than some early World War II submarines!
For these reasons, Zhang Hainuo believed that borrowing the wolf pack tactics prevailing more than two decades later was entirely feasible in this era!
"All right!"
Stern faithfully carried out the order. In less than two minutes, U89 replied with a signal, which almost made Zhang Hainuo spit blood:
"According to the customary action of submarine formations without a designated commander, please obey my orders!"
Before leaving the port, Zhang Hainuo had met the captain of U89, a polite officer in his thirties. But now it seemed that the man was conservative and even somewhat backward in thinking.
Zhang Hainuo was annoyed, but he couldn't do anything about it. From whichever angle he looked at it, he indeed had no right to dictate to that captain. After a while, he said angrily,
"Then let them fend for themselves!"
More than ten minutes later, U89 was the first to turn to leave the formation, and U145 did not linger either. In less than an hour, the two low-profile German submarines disappeared into the vast sea.
Zhang Hainuo looked up at the sky. The airship did not turn to leave. It seemed that today it had set its sights on him!
Come on! Let's take one down, and if two come, let's take them both
down!
Zhang Hainuo was furious. A bunch of cowards, let me show you the essence of submarine tactics! I will avenge the ancestors who died on U171, and I will let you know that the German Navy is not that easy to bully!
Thinking of the time when U21 single-handedly took down three British destroyers outside the port of Malta, Zhang Hainuo's confidence soared as never before.
Just after lunch, a small black smoke cloud finally appeared in the telescope. It was not a cloud of the natural world. As time passed, it grew closer and denser, and gray dots appeared on the western horizon.
"They're coming, and it's perfect!" Zhang Hainuo put down his binoculars. To have a beautiful ambush here, to adorn his first battle with victory, was what he most desired at the moment.
"British fleet sighted to port! All compartments, prepare to dive, check the status of all watertight doors, prepare to dive in five minutes!"
Calm and composed, Zhang Hainuo gave orders over the loudspeaker on the conning tower. At this moment, he felt he understood the coldness of Hessen, which was an elegant composure and a disdain for the enemy, a pride in believing in oneself.
At 1:40 p.m. on May 12, 1917, U171 began to dive. Two minutes later, everything, including the hull, conning tower, and periscope, sank beneath the surface, and a British anti-submarine formation consisting of a light cruiser and three destroyers approached menacingly less than a few nautical miles to its starboard.
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