Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 45: Odin’s right eye (5)

　　

　　It takes several torpedoes to sink a transoceanic cruise ship. The German submarine captains are obviously the most authoritative in answering this question. They have experience in this regard that is unmatched by naval counterparts all over the world.

　　 Although they did not attack many similar targets during the two wars, and not every attack was successful, each of those few successes caused a worldwide sensation.

　　 To be honest, those behemoths are not as fragile targets that can be easily cleaned up by a small submarine as people think.

　　The difficulty for submarines to attack transoceanic cruise ships is much higher than people's estimates. This can be seen from the few transoceanic cruise ships sunk by German submarines during the war.

　　 Leaving aside the restrictions on similar attacks imposed by the laws of war and the German naval doctrine, the technological gap between the two parties alone is enough to make any German captain feel depressed when facing such a goal.

　　 Because providing passengers with comfortable and high-speed travel is one of the selling points of ocean passenger transportation companies soliciting customers, the luxury cruise ships of this year have been built with larger tonnage, power more than enough, and speed faster than each other. The speed of some super cruise ships has reached the point where even the slightly older military ships are willing to bow down.

　　 At this time, the highest surface speed of the world’s newest submarine is a bit difficult even to hunt down a medium-speed freewheel. This is the German submarine that brings together the most advanced modern submarine technology. If you change to an old-fashioned American or Japanese submarine at the time Submarines, even when they are sailing at full speed, a new-style trawler with a little more horsepower can easily circle them.

　　 Most of the time, the captains of the German submarine can only watch the huge luxury cruise ships in the periscope, spraying black smoke and swinging at high speed on the sea horizon, and then become A small black spot on the horizon.

　　 In bad weather with poor visibility, sometimes the submarine captains can’t even recognize the opponent’s ship type, let alone what launch position they occupy.

　　 But once a German submarine gets a chance to attack a cruise ship, it will generally hold on to the purpose of killing mistakes and never letting go, and will not utter a word and be cruel.

　　The tonnage of passenger ships can be much larger than those of small freighters, especially transoceanic cruise ships, which are a top three deals.

　　 Because the target speed is generally faster than that of cargo ships, especially in sea areas where submarines are infested, passenger ship captains will involuntarily increase their speed, giving the submarine the opportunity to attack fleetingly, so German captains tend to be in front of such targets Automatically ignore those necessary identification procedures, which directly caused some innocent civilian passenger ships to become the victims of German submarines, leading to a series of human tragedies.

　　 Now, in the eyes of people who have seen the trails of German torpedoes, the same tragedy is about to be staged. What's more sad is that they are the protagonists of this tragedy.

　　Four torpedoes, the Germans want to kill them all. Although the Adriana has a huge tonnage, advanced design and reasonable arrangement of watertight tanks, in the final analysis she is just a civilian vessel.

　　 One torpedo is enough to cause a heavy damage to a cruiser-class battleship with underwater protection system. Now the Germans are actually facing a civilian cruise ship without armor protection. There are four at once. It seems that the Germans are not going to sink Adriana, and wanted to destroy her completely.

　　 What is even more desperate is that Adriana’s manipulators are still ignorant of the danger of approaching. The attention of the watchmen on the bridge of the Adriana was drawn to the negotiation between the captain and the British destroyer captain, and everyone expressed concern about the result of the negotiation that concerns their own safety.

　　"Torpedo, supporting, supporting, supporting...Torpedo!!!"

　　 In the end, the first mate suffering from torpedophobia sounded the first alarm on the Adriana with a scream that was so terrible that it was not like a human.

　　 "Torpedo!!! Thirty degrees port side!!!"

　　 Lovell yelled at the sea outside the bridge with a twisted face.

　　 Just when everyone turned their eyes to the sea surface, a sharp sirens sounded from the British destroyer beside it, and the harsh whistle sounded across the sea.

　　 "Left full rudder! Turn left thirty degrees!"

　　 Cooper discovered those snow-white torpedo tracks in the first time, and he almost suffered a heart attack on the spot. The distance was too close to allow the cruise ship to make evasive actions.

　　 However, the experience he accumulated while serving in the navy made him immediately respond correctly, turning the cruise ship to the direction of the torpedo shot, and minimizing the area of ​​the ship.

　　 And compared to the hull, the bow is more able to withstand the blow of torpedoes, even if the entire bow is knocked out, as long as the damage pipe work is done well, the tonnage of the Adriana is enough to persist until all passengers board The lifeboat escaped safely.

　　If you are lucky enough, you can even hold on to the nearest port. There is no shortage of similar examples in the history of navigation.

　　In contrast to the chaos on the bridge of the Adriana, there is an unusual tranquility in the bridge of the destroyer HMS Double God.

　　The captain in the stiff Lieutenant Commander's uniform is now patrolling the upper deck of the huge cruise ship next to him with his spectacles.

　　"The torpedo distance is 800 meters... Captain."

　　 The chief mate reported coldly to the sharp sirens of the destroyer.

　　 "Hmm."

　　 Captain nodded slightly.

　　 "Stop the alarm, they have noticed."

　　 "Yes, sir."

　　 The alarm stopped abruptly.

The captain 　　 put down the telescope and turned to face a crew member standing behind him and asked in a low voice: "Did you find the target?"

　　 "Yes, I was in the viewing corridor a minute ago. It has disappeared now, I think the target has hidden in the cabin."

　　 the crew also replied in a low voice.

　　 The sailor was wearing a navy tarpaulin deck-long trench coat. The hood on his collar covered most of his face, looking like a medieval monk.

　　 This is a kind of overalls distributed to low-ranking non-commissioned officers who need to work in the open air on deck. It can only ensure that they will not be frozen to death when working in the severe Atlantic weather. But no one expects this kind of uniform to guarantee that you will not be flooded by the sea in that situation. In the event of a storm, whatever you wear on the deck will only end in this way.

　　 "You can take off this trench coat, now you don't need to continue disguising, Captain."

　　 Captain said with a smile.

　　 "No, wait a while."

　　 The opponent was unmoved by the captain’s kindness, and continued to scan the deck of the cruise ship with his binoculars.

　　"Five hundred meters...sir. At least one hit."

　　 The first mate's cold voice sounded again.

　　 "Right rudder fifteen degrees, full speed, pull the distance from her, pull the collision warning, and let everyone run on the deck."

　　 The captain shook his head slightly, turned his face and gave a loud order to the first officer.

　　 "Yes, sir."

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　　 "Captain! We can't escape!"

　　 Adriana’s captain wailed.

　　 "God bless us..."

　　 Cooper looked at the torpedo trail that was already close at hand and involuntarily grasped the handrail beside the porthole.

　　"Everyone grabs the fixed thing around, the torpedo is going to explode!"

　　 Lovell, who was still crying and howling a while ago, suddenly became calm. He hugged the pillar of Luo Jingyi and reminded the surrounding crew aloud.

　　 Two snow-white wakes swiftly passed the bow of the ship and brushed the port side of the Adriana. In order to see this scene, a watchman almost fell from the fence on the side of the bridge.

　　 Before he had time to report the situation to the captain, two loud knocks suddenly sounded on the other side of the bow, like when an air hammer hit the heavy oil storage tanks on the pier. The dull and hollow metal crashing sound.

　　 "We were hit, we were hit by two torpedoes, we are done! Captain!"

　　 Less than ten seconds after he calmed down, Lovell returned to his hysterical state again with two loud noises, and he screamed at Cooper!

　　 Captain Cooper can't wait to kick this noisy lunatic into the sea.

　　 "You shut up, bastard!"

　　 The captain yelled at his first mate who was sitting on the floor and hugging the compass pillar.

　　 "It's not like an explosion."

　　 Cooper looked suspiciously at the front deck through the bridge window.

　　 "There was no smoke, no vibration, and the deck remained intact. There was no water column on the side at the moment of the hit... Could it be that..."

　　 Cooper really couldn't believe his luck. Although the two German torpedoes hit the Adriana, they obviously did not explode.

　　"Immediately send someone to the bow cabin to check the damage! Go ahead at full speed! The left rudder is twenty degrees! Send a signal to the British destroyers to ask for their protection! Also, take the first officer to his room, he needs now Rest!"

　　 Cooper settled, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then quickly issued a series of orders.

　　 This is not the time to celebrate. Cooper, who has been in the Navy for a while, knows just how terrifying the destructive power of torpedoes are. He doesn't dare to expect that he will have such good luck in the next attack.

　　The Adriana has already been attacked by a German submarine. No one can guarantee that another torpedo will be shot at the cruise ship in the next minute.

　　 The sharp whistle sounded, and Cooper ran to the call tube quickly and pulled out the screaming rubber plug.

　　"Bridge, this is the front cabin."

　　 There was a dull report from his hand in the pipe.

　　 "I am Captain Cooper, how is the situation!"

　　 Cooper asked loudly.

　　"There was no major damage, Captain. God bless the two torpedoes that did not explode. The impact was very severe. There were two steel plates on the port side of the first cabin that were bent and deformed, and the rivets were broken, but the cracks were not big. We Thinking of ways to stop the water intake."

　　 "I understand, I will send some more people over."

　　 Cooper finally took a breath.

　　"Hurry up and dispatch a team of sailors to the first cabin and add a water pump. Also, let the cabin attendant to comfort the passengers as soon as possible. I think there is already a mess there, so we can deploy more staff. Let them pay special attention. Those in the first class, let them not panic. I will explain all this to them in person in a while."

　　After issuing these orders, Cooper walked to the porthole of the bridge and raised his telescope.

　　"Helmsman, return to the rudder, turn the left rudder thirty degrees!"

　　 He turned his face to the helmsman and gave a loud command.

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　　 "Captain, two torpedoes have hit the target, the target did not explode!"

　　 The first mate's cold report sounded again from the quiet bridge of the Double God.

　　 "Well, it seems that no matter how precise the plan is, it still can't keep up with the changes, Captain?"

　　The captain turned his face to look at the mysterious captain.

　　 "This is just a small question, let's wait a while." The latter answered calmly.

　　 "Captain, the Adriana asks us to provide protection!" The chief officer subsequently reported.

　　 "Well, tell them we are searching for the location of the German submarine, so they don’t panic!"

The captain 　　 asked his captain in a low voice: "Why haven't exploded yet, there won't be any problems."

　　 "Let's wait..." The captain raised his hand and looked at his watch. "Wait another three minutes, this is the limit. If there is no change after three minutes, only the final plan will be adopted."

　　 "Mr. Hansen, prepare for battle."

　　The captain turned back quickly to face the first officer.

　　 "Yes, sir, prepare for battle."

　　 "I sincerely hope that things will not reach the point where the final plan is implemented, Mr. Captain."

　　, the captain turned and stamped to the captain's side and frowned.

　　 "Neither do I, Mr. Captain, neither do I..."

Captain 　　 raised his binoculars again and looked at the fast-turning cruise ship.

　　 Suddenly, the cruise ship approached the waterline below the front bridge and a huge orange-yellow fireball lifted up, and the thick water column then rose into the sky.

　　 "It exploded!"

　　The first mate’s usual cold report was unexpectedly relaxed~IndoMTL.com~The explosion was so violent, the people on the bridge of the Double Gods truly felt the terrible destructive power. Because a piece of what looked like a crumbling steel plate of a cruise ship's hull squeaked past the porthole of the destroyer bridge a second later.

　　 "Everything is going according to plan. Mr. Captain, it seems that there is no need to implement the final plan."

　　 "Yes, Captain. It looks like it's not our turn to play now. To be honest, it really relieves me."

　　The captain walked quickly to the bridge.

　　"Mr. Hansen, turn to alert level 1 and let the soldiers run two more laps. Full rudder right, full speed, heading 310, we go home."

　　 After giving this order, the captain opened the hatch and walked to the outside platform.

　　"Our mission is finally completed. It's really an annoying mission, but it's finally over. Kaourich, if you have a vacation after you go back, come to the base to find me. I will take you We have a lot of fun there. I have a lot of good things that are hard to get outside. Okay, don’t cry, Mr. Captain, I know you have to report to your girlfriend first."

The captain 　　 took out a cigarette case from his pocket, took out a cigarette, and handed it to the captain who came to him.

　　"Holiday? I hope."

　　 Captain 　　 took the smoke, lifted his hand and uncovered his hood, his short golden hair shining brightly in the sun.