At 4 a.m. on August 13, 1942, a large submarine formation was quietly moving forward in the morning mist at dawn in the Gulf of Finland 15 nautical miles west of Cotlin Island.

Lieutenant Colonel Hans von Diesenhausen stood in the command tower of the brand new 9D1 submarine U195, which was only served a month ago, and was very excited because he finally waited for an important combat mission.

As the sea power on the Atlantic changed ownership, U-boat captains who were still serving the submarine force had few combat missions. Blocking Britain is now a job of battleships, heavy cruisers, missile cruisers and aircraft. Submarines can only conduct reconnaissance, lay mines, or act as means of transportation to transport supplies to areas where large surface ships are inconvenient to go.

Major Issenhausen, the former captain of the ace u boat, was no exception. Since April 1942, he has never performed a combat mission. A month ago, the superiors simply retired the submarine he had originally commanded for the Atlantic Ocean, and then replaced him with a "special transport boat" U195.

Just when he thought he was going to act as a transport captain for the rest of the war years, his "special transport boat" U195 was allocated to the Marine Corps. He also learned that the large submarine with a water displacement of 1,616 tons and an underwater displacement of 1,804 tons would transport tanks.

This is a submarine that can transport amphibious tanks to land on the enemy's beachhead! The submarine and tanks are actually combined together, which is really incredible.

I heard Captain Rudolph Von Ribbintrov, the company commander of the 1st Amphibious Assault Battalion of the Marine Corps, said that this "genius idea" comes from the Japanese Navy, a navy with tank troops! Those with strange ideas were full of strange ideas that the Japanese Navy soldiers did not put their tanks on the landing ship, but used submarines to transport tanks to launch surprise attacks, and even achieved good results.

So senior officials of the German Marine Corps decided to follow the Japanese tactics and also built dozens of large submarines to be modified to transport tanks and landing troops.

At the same time, a "customized version" of the No. 3 tank that can be used for amphibious landings was also made. This tank was improved on the basis of the No. 3 n-type tank, waterproofing, and equipped with a detachable float and propeller thruster, which can propel at a speed of 5-6 kilometers per hour on the water surface. The No. 3 n-type tank's kk40l/2475mm main gun was also retained, making this tank have quite strong firepower when dealing with infantry.

Now a No. 3 P tank and an LWS amphibious transport vehicle are tied to the deck of U195.

The lws amphibious conveyor is also a kind of equipment that has a big idea. It is a equipment that combines a crawler tractor and a water tug. It is 9 meters long, 3 meters wide, 3.15 meters high, 15 tons, and has 4 members of the crew. In the water, the lws can propel at a maximum speed of 12.5 kilometers per hour, and the maximum speed on land is 40 kilometers per hour.

This kind of integrated vehicle-ship equipment was developed as early as 1935, but it was not put into mass production. It was not until the German Marine Corps was established that there were big buyers.

The first batch of troops to receive LWS was the Marine Corps' 1st Amphibious Assault Battalion. According to the plan, this strange "vehicle and ship" would drag the No. 3 P-type tank with insufficient power toward the beach of Cotlin Island.

At the same time, an amphibious commando of a squad will also ride on this lws amphibious conveyor and a No. 3 P tank to get ashore.

In addition, these LWS amphibious transport vehicles are equipped with anti-aircraft machine guns or anti-tank guns. The anti-aircraft machine guns are French m1930 13.2mm large-caliber machine guns, while the anti-tank guns are removable 28mm conical guns.

"Can you see the fortress of Kronstadt?" Captain Ribbentrop's voice came from below the command tower, and then there was a sound of escalators. Captain Ribbentrop had climbed up and squeezed to Major Issenhausen.

"How could it be possible to see Kronstadt?" Major Diesenhausen said with a smile. "If we can see it, it would be bad. We can see the fortress, and then the Soviet Red Army can see us."

Captain Ribbintrov stood firm on the top of the crowded submarine command tower, then glanced around, and was covered in misty fog, with a visibility of only a few hundred meters, and he was indeed unable to see anything.

"So how do we know when to set out to log in?" Captain Ribbintrov narrowed his eyes and tried to look forward, but he still couldn't see anything clearly.

"There will be a searchlight for us, and the Soviets' own searchlights," said Major Diesenhausen. "If you get closer, you will have it... Although we can't see Cotlin clearly, the direction of our sailing will not be wrong. When we see their searchlights, you can set off."

Through reconnaissance, the Germans had already learned that the Soviet Navy had set up many searchlights on the island to illuminate the waterways of the north and south of the island. In fact, what the Soviets were worried about was not the German landing, but the German submarine sneaked into the harbor of Leningrad and threw a few mines and then took a few spies to the ashore for sabotage.

So they pulled out submersible nets and mines on the waterways on both sides of Cotlin Island. When visibility is poor, they used searchlights to continuously illuminate the water surface. These searchlights now point out the direction for the German submarines that came to attack.

"Captain, searchlight! Direction at 11 o'clock in front." This was the lookout on the u195 boat and shouted loudly.

Diesenhausen and Trov quickly raised their telescopes and looked in the direction of 11 o'clock in front of them. They found that a flash of light was indeed passing by in the mist, and then another one.

Obviously, this is a searchlight that keeps sweeping across the sea.

...

"Comrades, cheer up and don't let any suspicious situation slip under our noses."

Nikola Glubkov, the squad leader of the 2nd Marine Brigade of the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Red Navy, held the Bobosha submachine gun on his neck, and then shouted loudly to the comrades behind him. On this foggy morning, he and his comrades were on a routine patrol on the beach west of Kotlin Island.

This is a task that makes people feel a little overwhelmed, and now it is the climax of the world revolution!

The invincible Red Army Western Front had occupied Warsaw (the news of the occupation of Warsaw was announced at the end of July). Although the German Nazis broke into the Soviet border from the Baltic Sea like a desperate attempt to support Empress Oliga, who had long been swept into the garbage dump of history, once again supported the throne of the Tsar. However, their plans would eventually go bankrupt, and the heroic Leningrad military and civilians would teach these imperialists who dared to invade the Soviet Union and their Belarusian lackeys.

While millions of Red Army commanders and fighters were on the front line to crack down on the enemy to make achievements in the world revolution, Glubkov and his comrades were walking on the beach of Kotlin Island... They said they were catching spies, but the problem was, where would such stupid spies run to Kronstadt and Leningrad to die?

Those living in Kronstadt are the families of Red Navy officers and workers and families of naval factories. They are the most politically reliable people. How can a mere spy confuse? As for the glorious working class of Leningrad, the Russian Revolution was initiated by them, and they were the mortal enemies of the Tsar!

So Comrade Glubkov had written a blood letter a few days ago, requesting to go to the front line to fight with the Nazi army. However, his request has not been approved yet, so he could only continue to patrol the beaches of Kotlin Island with a dozen as absent-minded Red Marines as he was.

"I understand, comrade comrade."

"We'll see with our eyes wide open."

"I'm afraid that the spies from Germany and the White Guards will not dare to come."

The soldiers responded loudly, and their morale seemed to be OK, but Glubkov still heard how impatient everyone was with the tasks they were carrying out now.

Just as Glubkov was scraping his stomach and trying to find a few words to encourage everyone's morale, someone suddenly screamed.

"Target! There are suspicious targets on the sea!"

This shout immediately made Glubkov's blood surge on his head.

The legendary spy has finally arrived!

He quickly looked up to the sea and saw a small boat, no, it was a few small boats slowly sailing on the water.

It seems that there are more than one spy!

"Hurry, find a place to hide, Sasha, get the machine gun up!" Glubkov immediately ordered.

"Yes, comrade comrade!"

Everyone's spirits suddenly got up, and they came there. They were spies, which were just an opportunity to join the party and promote their careers.

"Don't shoot first, wait until the spy gets ashore before firing. Remember, you must leave a few survivors." Glubkov rushed into the woods beside the beach, loading the submachine guns while giving orders to his subordinates.

After hearing his words, the comrades couldn't help but fire at the approaching boats. They moved closer and closer until they reached the beach, but no one came down from above.

"Comrade Squad Leader," machine gunner Sasha suddenly shouted, "The ship that was equipped with spies seems to have arrived ashore!"

The boat is on the shore? That is not a boat, what kind of amphibious vehicle is it?

Glubkov and his comrades immediately knew something was wrong. They were not rustic infantry, but marines, amphibious vehicles, and amphibious tanks.
Chapter completed!