บท 81: The Baltic Wolf
In the port of Königsberg, three devastated warships slowly sailed into the harbor accompanied by four submarines. Although the crew was exhausted and many of them were still bandaged, they were all on the deck and on both sides of the ship. The side lined up and the pier was crowded with people, all of them greeted them with flowers and flags.
The commander of the Baltic Squadron, Prince Heydrich, also came to the dock to welcome this heroic fleet. Since the outbreak of the war, the German Navy's previous record was only that Tirpitz's submarine sank two British merchant ships in the North Sea. The light cruiser Königsberg stationed in East Africa captured a British merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, and the light cruiser Emden stationed in Qingdao captured a Russian mail ship near Tsushima Island. Russ' task force was launched by the German navy. Later, he exchanged fire with the opposing warship for the first time, and achieved the record of sinking three opposing warships. Kaiser Wilhelm II personally ordered the commendation of the fleet commander Russ and the brave sailors.
As outstanding naval generals yearn to join the battle fleet, Chen Tian has never found a suitable commander for the Baltic Squadron. Finally, he thought of his father, Prince Heydrich. The prince used to serve as a fleet commander in the navy, but he retired from the navy a few years ago due to physical discomfort. Chen Tian invited him to preside over the overall situation. The specific action plan of the Baltic Squadron was formulated by the Fleet Staff. Chen Tian When he is away, Prince Heydrich decides whether to implement the combat plan established by the staff.
Dunnitz was a little sour in his heart. When he and his submarine unit silently followed the Ras fleet into the harbor, almost no one on the dock noticed the group of ugly ducklings.
However, the opportunity for the ugly duckling to become a big swan soon comes!
Despite the victory in the first naval battle with the Russian Navy, Prince Heydrich clearly realized that the ships of the Baltic Squadron could not directly confront the main forces of the Russian fleet. He gave up this tentative offensive strategy and instead sent Submarine forces were dispatched in turn to blockade the Baltic Sea, some destroyers went to the coast of the Gulf of Finland to mine at night, the naval air force began to patrol within range, and the "Super Duck Mother" and "Lisa" aircraft carriers also departed several times. The Port of Königsberg carried out tactical exercises, and the German naval forces were fully active in the Baltic Sea.
On August 27, Deniz and his U-039 set sail in the morning light. He and the other five submarines were tasked with going to the waters off Hiiuma Island and ambushing Russian merchant ships and warships entering and leaving the Gulf of Finland.
At dusk, they arrived at their destination and started snorkeling. The exit of the Gulf of Finland is very wide, so these 6 submarines will fight independently at intervals of more than a dozen nautical miles, and they will keep their radio silent before returning.
After the last battle, the activity of the Russians on the Gulf of Finland has decreased a lot, and occasionally one or two rare Russian aircraft patrolled the sea until night fell on the U-039 in Dunnitz without waiting for any prey. Taking advantage of the dark cover, U-039 slowly surfaced.
The sailors who had been holding back in the small submarine for a long time climbed onto the deck one after another, chuckling quietly while breathing in the salty sea breeze. The sky full of stars indicates that the next day will be a sunny and good weather.
Dunnitz, wearing white gloves, stood on the command tower and observed with the bridge observation telescope.
"Quiet!" He suddenly found a looming smog floating to the west.
The sailors all calmed down, and everyone listened. In addition to the sound of the sea breeze and waves, there was a vague rumble of the steam engine.
"Go slow!" Dunnitz directed the submarine through the microphone to slowly start to move forward. Even on the sea where the starry sky is shining, the dark submarine is very difficult to find at a distance of thousands of meters.
Rumble's voice became clearer and clearer, and a few spots of light were shining on the west sea. When the spots of light became clearer and clearer, a look of joy appeared on Dunnitz's face. Those were two large ships. , They are coming from the direction of Stockholm and are heading towards the Gulf of Finland. Judging from the silhouette of the opponent, one of them is a cargo ship of at least 6,000 tons, and the other is a low-hull warship.
"Away at 1/3 speed! The bow torpedo is ready!"
"Our ship's course is 10 degrees east of true north, and the speed is 6 knots. The opponent is located 11 nautical miles northwest of our ship, one left and the other heading to the due east, and the speed is 14 knots." The rangefinder estimated the time when the two sides met.
"Captain, we will meet in about 40 minutes!"
Denitz held his chin in thought, he decided to occupy the ambush position first, and then attack according to the specific situation.
"Go at full speed! Stop at a distance of 2 nautical miles from the opponent's route!"
Half an hour later, U-039 floated quietly on the surface of the sea. In the darkness, several pairs of piercing eyes were watching the prey with a gross tonnage of about 10,000 tons-a 3,000-ton cruiser and a 7,000-ton cruiser. Freighter.
Dunnitz frowned, and the huge hull of the freighter just blocked the cruiser to its left. Launching a torpedo from the current position of U-039 would definitely hit the freighter first. From a tactical point of view, he hoped to sink the cruiser. . If you sink the cargo ship first, you can only expect the cruiser to choose to save people instead of fleeing.
"Slowly move forward! Everyone enters the submarine and begins to dive!"
The red cabin lights in the submarine began to flicker, and all officers and soldiers prepared nervously and orderly.
"The submarine begins to dive!"
"Depth 3 meters!"
"5 meters deep!"
"Stop the dive and raise the periscope!" Dunnitz would pull down the periscope and start observing the situation on the sea. The freighter still tightly shielded the cruiser.
"Torpedo No. 1 is ready, torpedo No. 2 is ready, confirm the ship!"
"The ship has been confirmed! The nearest ship! The distance is 500 yards and the launch angle is 87 degrees!" The weapon commander quickly calculated.
"Okay, torpedo No. 1, launch!" Dunnitz saw a white line on the surface of the sea from the periscope. His steam torpedo dragged countless bubbles towards the opponent, but at this time he did not order the bow of the boat. The second torpedo was launched.
"Torpedo No. 2 is on standby, torpedo No. 1 is loaded quickly!"
A few dozen seconds later, there was a loud noise on the sea, and the officers and soldiers in the submarine gave high-five hands to celebrate. This was U-039's first prey.
Denitz did not join in their celebration, but kept his eyes tightly on the periscope. The Russian freighter ignited a raging fire, and the sailors on the deck ran in panic. Many people jumped into the sea from the side of the ship where it started to lean.
Suddenly, the fire in Dunnitz's eyes was half blocked by a dark shadow. It turned out that it was the cruiser returning to rescue the sailor who fell into the water.
The captain of the Russian cruiser was scolding the shameless Germans for planting mines on the channel, and another torpedo was approaching them silently.
Boom!
The torpedo hit the ammunition depot at the front of the cruiser, and then triggered a series of huge explosions. This time the nearby sea was enveloped by fire, and the night became as bright as day.
A few minutes later, U-039 fired a second torpedo on the struggling Russian freighter and sent it to the bottom of the sea. There was only a pile of floating burning matter on the sea, and hundreds of Russian sailors were floating helplessly on some wooden boards or boxes.
U-039 did not leave. Deniz thought that the Russian base should send rescue ships soon, so his submarine surfaced 3 nautical miles away from the battle site. Everyone waited patiently.
At 9 o'clock in the morning on August 28, U-039 intercepted a clear telegram from the Russian Pokhara naval base, asking about the location of the light cruiser and accompanying freighter that set sail from Stockholm on the 27th.
At 10 o'clock in the morning, the Russian Navy sent a telegram again and requested Russian warships in the nearby waters to search.
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, a 700-ton patrol gunboat of the Russian Navy appeared. When it stopped to rescue Russian sailors, a torpedo launched by U-039 was sent to the bottom of the sea, and the number of Russians floating in the sea increased.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, a Russian freighter approached the scene and was also sunk by U-039 torpedoes when it stopped for rescue. After that, U-039 began to return and notified the Königsberg naval base of the results.
In the early morning of August 29, when Denitz and his blockade submarine returned to Königsberg, they did not see the grand welcome scene that they expected. The people on the dock were working silently, with sadness on their faces.
"Well, what's going on?" Seeing the flagpole of the naval base dropped at half-mast, Dunnitz and his sailors were all stunned there.
Just the day before, British submarines and destroyers, supported by battlecruisers, attacked the German naval base in Helgoland Bay. The German navy was caught off guard. Three light cruisers and one destroyer were beaten to pieces, and another three The ship was hit hard, and more than 1,000 naval soldiers, including an admiral and a brigadier admiral, were killed by gunfire. In addition, more than 200 people, including the son of Grand Marshal Tirpitz, were captured by the British. The British warship suffered no losses and about 75 casualties.
The bad news came, and Germany was flagged at half-mast in mourning.
Tears slid down Dunnitz's young face, and the heart of every German naval soldier was crying...
When he heard this news, Chentian and his East Prussian Army had already crossed the border and were marching towards Warsaw. After a long period of thought, he sent a telegram to Prince Heydrich: "Operation of Destiny"!
On August 31, the darkness before dawn enveloped the Königsberg Harbor, and a group of ghostly warships quietly sailed out of the harbor. This fleet gathered almost all the main ships of the Baltic Squadron, 12 standard-class destroyers, "Super Duck Mother" and "Lisa" aircraft carriers, 22 submarines and 4 transport ships entered the vast Baltic Sea in turn. The fleet commander Prince Heydrich stood on the flagship "Lisa" aircraft carrier, looking at the neat rows of sea eagles on the deck, he couldn't help feeling very proud. He would be the first person to command an aircraft carrier to attack the opposing military port. Although the entire fleet of more than 6,000 naval officers and soldiers did not know the purpose of the trip, everyone was eager to avenge the dead naval warriors in Helgoland Bay.
Dunnitz's U-039 sailed on the left side of the fleet. He watched intently at the huge hulls of the two aircraft carriers in the fleet. He was surprised at such a huge body with such a fast speed. Except for submarines and transport ships, The speed of all destroyers and aircraft carriers here exceeds 22 knots, and the design speed of the "Lisa" reaches an astonishing 26 knots.
After leaving the port of Königsberg, the flagship sent a signal: the fleet is advancing at full speed, target the port of Kiel!
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