Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 21: Strait
11:30 PM on May 24, 1940. Strait of Dover.
British Royal Navy Superior Tony. Ralph was standing on the bow, smoking a cigarette, and it was his turn to watch the bow tonight.
Although summer has entered, the humid sea air at night still makes people feel a little cool. Tony bounced the cigarette **** into the sea and raised the collar of his short trench coat.
He manipulated the searchlight on the bow of the ship to shine back and forth on the water. There was fog on the sea tonight, and even the strong light of the searchlight could only reach a range of more than ten meters. Tony looked at the foggy water around him vigilantly, afraid that any abnormalities would be missed.
This is the English Channel, the most important barrier of the British Empire. Now that the war has started again, can it stop the enemy's invasion again? In Tony's mind, the answer is yes, the Royal Navy will be able to stop any enemy attack here.
Tony carefully observes the sea surface as the searchlight shines. I heard that German submarines have been active in the Dover Strait in the past two days. Maybe the Germans are planning some major military operations. Tony hopes that he will be lucky enough to find one or two German submarines, so he can clean up these **** Germans. But he also knows that his wish is more difficult to realize. German submarines have never dared to surface casually in the English Channel. Unless he is so lucky that he happens to run into a venting vessel, he will never think about it with this searchlight alone. Find the shadow of a German submarine.
The boat started to turn again. Tony looked back at the bridge. Is it Thomson's turn or Aite to take the helm tonight? He can't seem to think of it anymore, I hope it's not that confused Aite, that guy will deviate from the course one or two degrees every time, I really don't know why the captain will let him be the helmsman. However, I heard that the Navy has recruited experienced sailors into the first-line fleet. There are not many good players in the Coast Guard fleet. A helmsman like Aite is already considered good. But Tony always thought that if he knew a few more words and then learned to steer, he would be better than that fool.
Tony sighed long and turned his eyes to the oak parapet under the bridge, where there was a copper sign with the name of the ship, "Devil". The name sounds pretty impressive. People who don't know thought it was a huge battleship. At least Tony's neighbors thought so. This makes Tony feel very shameful, so he has been reluctant to tell his neighbors the truth.
In fact, this is just an offshore trawler with a displacement of more than 90 tons, but it was requisitioned by the navy and made simple modifications. The navy fitted her with a passive sonar that was removed from a retired patrol boat, and it often failed. That radio station is new, but the navy's operator for that radio station is also new. That kid is less than 18 years old. Watching him manipulating the radio station, he has to send out ordinary patrol reports two or three times. If there is an emergency, Tony suspects that he might even send SOS wrongly.
This boat has been thirty years old, older than Tony's. The original main engine was about to be scrapped, and the navy did not know where it got two used diesel engines for her to install. It turns out that the horsepower is not as big as the original one. The top speed of this ship is only a **** of 17 knots. Even some high-speed freighters can't catch up, but it should be enough for German submarines.
The only plausible armament of this ship is a 40mm cannon mounted on the simple platform behind him. I heard that it was dismantled from a retired navy destroyer and participated in the "Jylland" naval battle. It should be reliable. The rest are the twenty depth charges piled on the rear deck. Tony and the others were already half tired to install them on the release slide. I believe that a heavy object should be able to sink one. A German submarine.
Tony didn’t forget to swing the searchlight back and forth even when he was thinking about it. It’s too dangerous here. In addition to the possibility of encountering a German submarine, he may also hit a mine, not only by the German, but by himself. People also set up a large minefield here. Tony once saw an anti-submarine trawler like his own hit a mine. At that time, the entire bow was blown to pieces, and the crew had no life jackets. When it was too late, it sank to the bottom of the sea with the ship, and that was only a matter of one minute. From then on, as long as he was on duty at the bow of the ship, he was particularly careful about the situation on the water, afraid that he would follow in the footsteps of that ship.
Tony lit himself another cigarette and took a deep breath. Even if the boat is painted twice, it still can’t hide the strong fishy smell. The wooden shell boat is like this. She can penetrate her history deeply into her body. No matter how she changes her, it’s forever Can't completely erase the traces of her past. She will always be a fishing boat, even if it is full of cannons, she can't let her exude the breath of a battleship.
Thinking of the battleship, Tony thought of the captain of the ship. I heard that he used to be the captain of a carrier-based torpedo boat on the battlecruiser "Indomitable". Once, he was drunk the night before sailing and beat another officer, so he was put in the confinement room of the naval base. As a result, he could only watch his battleship set sail through the bars, and that was the last time he saw the Indomitable. On the same day, the "Indomitable" took part in the "Jytland" naval battle, and the ammunition depot exploded. No one was returned on the ship. Now think about the old guy really lucky, I hope his good luck is still useful.
At this time Tony felt someone walking towards the bow.
"Who?"
"It's me!"
Tony took a closer look, and it turned out that it was Hopkins, the ship’s first officer.
"Hello sir!" Tony saluted quickly.
The first officer is a good man, strong, brave and approachable, and he knows all about sailing. Sometimes even Tony regrets him. A good officer like him should command a battleship instead of a modified fishing boat. .
Hopkins walked up to Tony and replied.
"Prime soldier, what's the matter?"
"Report to the sir! Nothing happened. Sir!"
"Really, do you have a cigarette? Mine is done."
"Yes, sir!" Tony replied loudly, then quickly took out his cigarette and handed it to the first officer.
"Thank you!" Hopkins took the cigarette, drew a cigarette in his mouth, and handed the pack of cigarettes back to Tony.
"No thanks, you can keep it, I have a few more packages. Sir."
"Haha, then I will accept it, and I will return it to you when I return to Hong Kong."
"It's okay. Sir!"
Hopkins took a smart lighter from his pocket and lit a cigarette. He saw Tony's eyes fixed on the lighter. The first officer threw the lighter in his hand and said with a smile.
"My father gave it to me. It was a gift from an American officer when he won the 18th War. He was the captain of a troop carrier at the time. My father hopes this will be brought to me. Good luck, it's really good, do you want to take it and see." The first officer handed the lighter to Tony.
Tony quickly took over the lighter. He couldn't put it down a little with this delicate little thing, but reluctantly returned it to the first officer. The first officer took it with a smile. Two people stood on the bow and started smoking cigarettes silently.
"Tony, I remember your name is Tony." The first officer asked.
"Yes, sir!"
"Oh!" The first officer did not go on, he looked at the fog around him and thought.
"Sir, I have a question." Tony thought the two men looked awkward standing silently on the bow.
"Oh, what's the problem." The first officer woke up from his thoughts, and he was a little embarrassed to lose his mind.
"Who is at the helm today. Sir." Tony wanted something to say, he stopped manipulating the searchlight and turned to look at the first officer.
"It's Aite, why are you asking this?"
"It’s nothing, I’m just a little worried about this. Today’s fog is too thick, and our course is close to our minefield. I’m afraid Aite deviates from the course like last time. Sir."
"Aite is the old helmsman, he knows what to do. The last time it was an accident, the compass..." Hopkins stopped suddenly, turning his head to starboard.
Tony also felt something, as if there was a low and strange sound coming from there, he also quickly turned the searchlight in that direction.
"Did you hear that? First class soldier." The chief mate asked
"Yes, sir, I heard it."
"What do you think?"
"I don't know, sir, it sounds like an engine, but it doesn't seem to be."
The first officer poked out his head to discern the strange sound carefully.
"In that direction!" The chief mate pointed thirty degrees to starboard. Tony turned the searchlight quickly. But nothing can be seen except a thick white fog.
"This fog is too thick, gentleman, you continue to observe here, I will go to the cab."
"Yes, sir! Will it be our own boat?" Tony felt a little nervous.
"No, only our ship is patrolling here now. The other ships have returned to port. The ship changing the guard can't get here yet. Moreover, this sound is never made by the ship's engine."
"Is that the enemy?"
"It's still unclear, if you stick to your post, you will understand." The first officer hurriedly ran towards the bridge. Tony quickly turned his head and stared in that direction.
The sound became louder and louder, and Tony finally heard that this sound was not one but a mixture of many identical sounds, and he also distinguished the sound.
"Plane!" Tony exclaimed.
"Many planes!"
Just as Tony yelled in panic, a sharp alarm sounded from the boat at the same time. The first mate also heard that voice. The sailors hurriedly ran out of the cabin and entered their respective battle positions well-trained.
The only two Maxine machine guns on the ship turned to the direction of the plane, but they couldn't see anything except the thick fog, and the sailors could only look around blindly following the sound.
The captain was also woken up, and he walked into the bridge, which made the sailors rest assured that the captain’s good luck would bless the ship. At this time, the small anti-submarine trawler started to turn and pointed its bow in the direction of the sound.
At this time, the sound of the aircraft's engine became clearer, and it sounded like at least hundreds of aircraft, and the faces of the sailors became ugly. These weapons alone cannot fight against hundreds of aircraft. Now they are beginning to hope that the thicker the fog, the better, so that they will not be discovered by those aircraft.
"Turn off all navigation lights!"
Captain also seems to have the same idea. Although the Royal Navy has a tradition of never fearing any enemy, it is still a bit different from going crazy. At this time, the group of planes had passed the bow of the "Devil" and flew toward the north.
"It's a bomber, there seem to be hundreds of them." The chief officer said to the captain on the bridge.
"Yes, we have not received any reports. These planes must be Germans. I don’t know if those radar stations have spotted them. It’s weird. Although we can’t see them, it sounds like these planes are flying. It’s very low, only one hundred and fifty feet to two hundred feet at most. Those Germans are really crazy, flying next to the sea on a foggy day."
"Yeah, I don't understand where they are going. There is only a sea in that direction." The first officer was also puzzled.
"Turn the rudder, let's follow up and see where the planes are going."
"Our boat speed..."
"I said, follow up and move forward at full speed."
"Yes, sir."
The chief mate felt that the captain might not have woken up yet, so he sent a small fishing boat to chase a huge fleet.
"Would you like to report our findings to the Naval Command first?"
"Don’t report it, wait until we find out the situation. Now that those guys won’t believe us, they will definitely say that we are all drunk and all they hear are hallucinations." The captain stubbornly rejected Da Vice opinion.
"We have passed the middle of the strait and are now sailing along the French coast. Sir."
"Keep the original course! Looking at the hand, can you still hear the sound of the airplane?"
"I can hear them, they are right in front of us." The captain nodded in satisfaction.
"I think the naval command should still be notified. At least they can notify the army in Dunkirk Harbor to prevent German airstrikes."
"No~IndoMTL.com~ They definitely did not go to air raid Dunkirk. They flew a large arc along the coast, I think they have another purpose."
"Oh? What do you think is the purpose?"
"Mine Mine!!"
A mournful scream sounded from the bow, and Tony was crawling towards the stern. In the thick fog directly in front of the bow, a group of black and full tentacles emerged.
"Left full rudder..." the captain called to the helmsman. But it was too late. The fishing boat moving at full speed was too late to turn and hit the mine. The bow of the ship blew up a splash of water more than ten meters high. Before the water fell, the bow hit a second mine, and the entire bow, together with the 40 mm gun, was blown to pieces, a brilliant flower. The fireball rose from the front of the ship.
"Abandon the ship!" The captain yelled at the mess of sailors below. At this time, the fishing boat has been leaning towards the sea, and the stern has been lifted off the water.
The first officer was so stunned to watch all the chaos. After it was over, everything was too late. He finally understood the mission of the German aircraft. They were laying mines. They wanted to block the Dover Strait with mines, but why did they want to What to do? Before the chief mate could think about it, the sea had already rushed into the bridge, and the heavy water pressure pushed the chief mate and the people in the bridge to the back wall.
Five seconds later, the "Devil" anti-submarine trawler disappeared without a trace from the sea. Only a small vortex and some wooden debris were left on the scene. She was leading all her crew towards The deep Atlantic Ocean sinks.