"It's hard to imagine, it's hard to imagine! 4500 meters, this is probably the farthest hit distance of a torpedo so far!"

On the U-34, which was suspended at a depth of 10 meters underwater, Lieutenant Wothel Fersteman, the 31-year-old German submarine commander, clenched his fists with uncontrollable excitement. After learning the good news of the torpedo two shots, the crew slapped their high-highs to celebrate. The young team was only four months old. After 16 weeks of hard and rigorous training, everyone was confident when embarking on the journey, but their first war journey was not going smoothly since leaving Wilhelmshaven on August 2. After the British declared war on Germany, before the Battle of Jutland broke out, German submarines sent to the northern waters were mainly reconnaissance and surveillance, and unless they found a great opportunity to launch an attack, Fersteman and his crew had to watch those British ships who were not prepared to wander on the sea.

In the Battle of Jutland, the German High Seas Fleet severely damaged the stronger British fleet with an unexpected performance. On the day of the naval war, the German submarine group lying ambush south of Scapa Bay attacked the retreating British main battleship group and sank the epoch-making battleship "Dreadnought" battleship. The u-34 missed this feast because it was targeted by British patrol gunboats. Not only that, in the next few days, the British Navy strengthened the guard patrol of the waters around Scapa Bay. On August 9, the u-34 held it underwater for 13 hours to avoid the British anti-submarine patrol ship. You should know that the initial submarine designed for the u-25 submarine was only 4 hours, even if it was not suspended, the

Oxygen and electricity were only enough for 8 hours. Fersteman and his brave crew endured the torment of turbid air and suppressed atmosphere. They used the compressed air in the boat and finally used the oxygen regenerators in emergency reserves, which was only to overcome the difficulties. On August 12, Fersteman saw the British fleet transporting the "big figure" to Scarpaflo on the sea. This time, they were still suffering from the enemy's strict guard and could not start. After eleven days, they only fired four torpedoes, sinking one armed tugboat and one small cargo ship. The U-31 that sunk the "Default" had returned to Germany and enjoyed the honorary treatment of heroes, while Fersteman and his crew were still patiently waiting for their own Teutonic Forest.

On the night of August 12, the U-34 and several other German submarines received instructions to cooperate with the German Navy's two mine-branch cruisers "Nautilus" and "Albatross", to carry out mine-branching in the southeastern waters of Scapa Bay. That night, the starry clear night sky provided excellent convenience for the German ships to determine the location, and the German Navy's General Staff had long divided the huge North Sea into small squares. The U-34 connected the designated location with the designated mine-branch ships at the designated time. In order to cover them, the U-34 was ready to sacrifice himself to lure British patrol ships at any time, but during the more than four hours of mine-branching, no British ship visited this waters slightly far from Scapafro. The two professional German mine-branch cruisers were able to calmly drop more than 600 anchor mines!

After completing the mission, the Nautilus and the Albatross left the scene with all their might. Several German submarines that arrived at the scene were scattered and lurked around the minefield. After dawn, British patrol ships swept in an abnormal manner. Because of their shallow draft, they would not trigger these German anchor mines set at a greater depth even if they passed through the minefield. This led to the scene where the British fleet broke into the minefield and damaged three ships in a row. However, when the British fleet stopped and waited for the thunder array to avoid losses, the surrounding German submarines were restricted by the activities of British seaplanes and escort ships, and on the other hand, they were worried that they would accidentally trigger those terrible anchor mines when approaching the minefield. They had to go to the outer waters.

Waiting for the opportunity. Soon after, the British Navy's minesweeper ships arrived from Scapa Bay. They carefully cleared a road for the main fleet. Only then did the dozen large warships of the British Navy slowly retreat from the minefield. During this period, the U-34 floated several times, and the attack position was not ideal. Seeing that the opportunity to make a contribution was about to slip away, Lieutenant Fersteman decided to take a risk. He ordered the crew to set the speed of the torpedo to 30 knots and the depth was 7 meters. The advance amount was calculated for the targets moving slowly away 4,500 meters away, and then launched three torpedoes. The bow of the submarine had 4 500 mm torpedo tubes, but the U-34 had not been very lucky before, and only three were available due to technical failures.

In the joyful atmosphere, Lieutenant Fersteman did not fall into a state of selflessness. His gaze quickly returned to the sea. Soon, his tone changed from hot to cold, and his smile instantly converged: "I found that the enemy ship was sailing towards us! Hurry up! Put away the periscope and dive to 40 meters!"

Without the reminder and urge of officers and non-commissioned officers, all crew members immediately returned to their battle positions. The huge submarine suddenly became silent, and only the loud noise of motors and the sound of water flow were in people's ears. With the infusion of the water storage compartment, the submarine began to dive, but as soon as the process began, the explosion of shells came from the sea. It sounded so close, and there was a slight trembling on the submarine, but after accumulating some combat experience, the crew was no longer as nervous as they were at the beginning. They were waiting calmly. As long as the submarine continued to dive, the small-caliber naval guns of British patrol ships would only make noise.

Since the USS Defender was sunk by a German submarine, the British Navy has put almost all light ships into anti-submarine patrols. They cruised day and night near Scapa Bay, witnessing the torpedo sinking and injury of their own ships on German submarines again and again. As a result, they only sank a German submarine on August 9, and captured a group of German crew members floating on the sea and claiming that they had submarines sunk due to failure on August 11. The British Navy, which has been rampant in the ocean for hundreds of years, naturally did not want to sit and wait for death. Before studying the real deep-water bombs, they kept trying various countermeasures: bombard the location of the German submarine with large caliber guns, throw bombs equipped with waterproof fuses into the water, and use shells equipped with special delay fuses. These methods are like equipped with pistols and grenades for pilots, which are creative but have few results.

Seeing his escort ship searching for the traces of German submarines like a group of headless flies, Sir Bailey on the bridge of the Thunderbolt seemed lifeless, and his originally firm and determined eyes turned into a stagnant water. A few hours ago, when the fleet sailed through the waterway of Scapa Bay, he looked up at the British naval battle flag flying in the sun, and secretly swearing in his heart: If he could lead the British fleet to reverse the situation, even like Nelson, he would sacrifice his life before victory.

At that time, he never expected that this fleet with combat power and morale would be trapped at home in this way. At the critical moment, the naval intelligence department, which had been highly respected before the war, could not play any role. The Germans were willing to implement their combat plans even in a wild manner. The British Navy became Bella IV's heavy armored cavalry, and they could not play their strengths in front of Mongolian archers and cavalrymen. Their advantages were weakened step by step and eventually became a completely defeated side.

The thunder array set up by the Germans completely exceeded the expectations of the British Navy, but the explosion of the "Martial Person" was not without warning. When it was attacked by torpedoes, there happened to be a seaplane nearby. Although the pilot did not observe the submarine's periscope, he realized that there were several torpedo trails on the sea. He quickly issued a warning. The mothership "Erjadin" received a radio signal from the aircraft and immediately notified the "Martial Person" to avoid it with a flag signal. At the same time, the British pilot tried to reduce the flight altitude and suddenly sway the wings to attract the attention of his own ships. However, the "Martial Person" was evacuating the minefield at a slow speed of 6 knots. When the personnel on the ship realized that a torpedo was coming, it was too late.

As the second ship of the Giant-class, the waterline armor of the "Martial Perse" is enhanced to a certain extent than the "Dreadnought" and the Paleluofeng class, and the internal lightning protection compartment design is also more advanced. However, it was hit by two G-type torpedoes this time, and the amazing explosion broke two cracks at the lower part of its main armor belt. Even if the crew tried their best to plug the leak, the drainage speed of the water pump could not keep up with the speed of the inlet at the bottom of the ship. Realizing that its warship was facing the danger of overturning, Captain Colonel Acheson ordered the acceleration of the evacuation. The command ship of the minesweeping boat fleet quickly dispatched four minesweeping boats to open the way for the "Martial Perse", two destroyers and three gunboats to protect it strictly. However, these

The measures ultimately failed to save the fate of the steel giant. At 1:12 pm on August 13, the "Martial Perse" triggered the anchor mines laid by the German Navy during its voyage. The mine containing 450 kilograms of strong explosives instantly exploded half of its bow. The ammunition depot filled with shells and launching medicine packages avoided the death of the explosion due to water in the bottom cabin. This is a blessing in disgrace. Due to the sharp deterioration of the water inlet of the hull, 15 minutes later, the British main ship, which missed the Battle of Jutland due to mechanical failure, sank 15 nautical miles from the Scarpaflo Naval Base. 46 of 718 crew members were killed and 17 seriously injured, and the rest of the officers and soldiers were all transferred safely.

More than an hour later, the British super-dreadnought "Emperor" who was seriously injured by a mine staggered back to the Scarpaflo Naval Base. All dry docks and floating docks here were filled with repairs to the injured ships in the Battle of Jutland. It had to find a dock with a depth of 12 meters for temporary mooring, so that even if the cabin was broken and lost control, the warship could still sit on the seabed and wait for repair.

Witnessing such a sad scene, King George V, who insisted on waiting for the triumphant battle in Scarpaflo, was suddenly lost. The king, known for his resoluteness, went to the Navy Hospital to visit the crew injured in repairs and plug the leaks, but did not go to the dock to inspect his broken fleet. On this afternoon that made Britain feel desperate, Sir Bailey finally rescued the fleet he was ordered to command from the abyss of disaster, "thunder and lightning", "
Chapter completed!