Chapter 4: Is it the River Thames or Scapa Bay?

At 3:00 a.m., the night was dark, and a fifty-ton patrol ship modified from a trawler equipped with 40mm machine guns and powerful searchlights cruised towards the mouth of the Stour River.

"Jane, what is that?"

The searchlight rays shone out from the main mast of the patrol ship. The dazzling light passed through the main channel of the Stour River. It paused a little in the far corner, and then moved back. The sailor Hardy, who had just put on military uniform, held his telescope tightly, pulled the corner of the sergeant Jane Austen's clothes, and asked in a trembling voice.

"Hardy, don't worry, it's just some floating things!"

As the sea overlord of the Seven Seas for hundreds of years, the Royal Navy's foundation is not reflected in the powerful shipbuilding industry, the huge battleships and light ships, but also in the naval mobilization and war damage supplements in the state of war.

Before the outbreak of the European war, the Royal Navy formulated a core mobilization mechanism, that is, retaining a small and concise reserve fleet composed of sealed warships and core crew members.

The Royal Navy has a large number of warships and officers and soldiers retired every year. The core mobilization mechanism is to select some old-fashioned warships from those retired warships that are in good service status and still have potential to explore, edit and book them, seal them in some secret dry docks, and equip them with a small number of core officers and technical sailors. According to the mobilization mechanism, once the war breaks out, the warships that are unsealed and re-sent, will soon be able to recover their combat effectiveness.

The patrol ship s-234 was not in the core mobilization plan, but the "T124 Charter". In order to enhance offshore defense and patrol forces and ensure the maritime military transportation of the British Empire, the British Empire planned to recruit a group of trawlers and merchant ships at the beginning of the war and transform them into multi-purpose patrol ships, notorious Q ships and military transport ships.

Recruiting civilian ships and installing simple reconnaissance, minesweeping, anti-submarine and self-defense firepower is just the simplest step. In the context of retaining civil crew members - "persons who should be conquered only in wartime", commanders, gunners and sergeants appointed by the Navy Department are the guarantee of the combat effectiveness of auxiliary warships and the top priority of the "T124 Charter".

Jane Austin is a sergeant appointed by the Admiralty Department to the patrol ship No. 234. He raised his telescope and joked with Hardy, the stunning former civilian sailor:

"Look, the night in Great Britain is quiet!"

"But, have you seen a tubular floating object moving upstream?"

At 3:12, eight German uc-class mine-bracing submarines were mined in semi-submarine near Harriche Port. Due to perspective issues, the UC-1, which was closest to Harriche Port, failed to find the British S-234 patrol ship heading south, so the periscope raised by UC-1 was discovered by two loyal British sailors.

The only 40mm machine gun on the patrol ship opened fire. The rapid-fire gun fired across the night sky, and the sound of the gun woke up the sleeping Harrich Port.

Even though Major General Charles Madden, who was transferred to commander of the Harrich fleet, used various measures to try to boost the morale of the Harrich fleet, the fleet, whose dignity and backbone were trampled by the Germans twice, had obviously lost the battle. The S-241 patrol ship, the closest to the fire exchange site, took five minutes to reach the fire exchange site, and the three sturgeon-class destroyers that retained all the steam, took nearly ten minutes to drive out the Harrich Port waterway, and the two Havok-class destroyers deployed at Cape Fenixto took twenty minutes to block the possible retreat route of the German submarine.

The UC-class submarine began to dive in an emergency, and the black shadows and periscope quickly disappeared on the main channel. Only the UC-4 mine-branch submarine was caught off guard and was hit on the spot by the patrol ship.

Deep diving is not a good choice. Although the main channel at the estuary of the Stauer River is more than 30 meters deep, this water area is too unfamiliar with the Germans and its width is too narrow. The estuary of the Stauer River is far from enough to provide submarines with space for flashing and maneuvering.

At 3:35, Major General Madden gathered most of the Harrich fleet's wealth - two Edinburgh-class patrols (Duke of Edinburgh, Black Prince), two Warrior-class patrols (Warrior, Achilles), a reconnaissance cruiser, nine destroyers and four patrol ships began to bombard the estuary of the Stour River, encircling and annihilation of the German submarine forces.

Four patrol patrols and a reconnaissance cruiser set up search formations on the not-wide river surface, and dozens of searchlights shone the surface of the Stour River pale. Surface warships with weak underwater protection always had natural fear in the face of highly concealed submarines. The nervous British gunners frantically turned the 76mm sub-cannon guns, and the guns of the two-pound fast guns, and opened fire at any suspicious location on the river surface. Destroyers and patrol ships walked on the z-shaped channel on the Stour River. On the stern deck, small anti-submarine deep bombs were mounted on track by temporary recruitment civil crews and pushed to the river surface.

The deep bomb penetrated into the depths of the river, and after reaching a fixed depth, it triggered the explosion of the fuse bomb. So, heart-wrenching sounds came from the depths of the water, and a column of water mixed with light yellow river water and silt at the bottom of the river surged from time to time on the river surface, and the Stour River suddenly boiled.

Another violent explosion. After the bursting water column, a little bit of broken wood, broken clothes and oil were floating on the surface of the Stour River. It was later confirmed that it was the wreckage of the uc-7 submarine.

The surface ship was shaking, and the Stour River was crying!

"Damn it, why are those two Caesar Frederick III-class battleships still coming to reinforce?"

A deep bomb exploded ten meters away from the port side of the uc-5. The hull of the uc-class submarine was shaking violently less than 200 tons, and the command cabin suddenly fell over.

"Master Sergeant, count the damage to the submarine!" Captain Gustav Jeseritzky grinned and climbed up from the deck and greeted.

The telephone line inside the submarine had been interrupted long ago. Gustav Jeseritzky, who had sent a sergeant commander to check the submarine's losses, just walked out of the command cabin and ran into the embarrassing commander and the troop.

Looking at the sailors who were swarming in the power cabin, bad thoughts surged in the hearts of the crew. The bloody captain quickly confirmed the sailor's speculation and informed the cruel news.

"Captain, our power cabin shell is seriously damaged, and the river water seeps in a large amount of water, and it is confirmed that it cannot be plugged!"

The uc-5 submarine, which was in a deep diving state, fell into a dead silence instantly, and even the most optimistic sailor had to admit in frustration that the uc-5 was in big trouble.

The UC-class mine-burning submarine is just a small submarine less than 200 tons. Even a near-burning deep bomb is enough to end its service career on the spot. But why is it just a far-burning deep bomb?! Why is the position of the bombing in the power cabin?! It should be noted that the UC-class mine-burning submarine has only one diesel engine and a set of lead-acid batteries. Once the power cabin is damaged, it will completely lose power and electricity.

"Master Sergeant, take people to destroy the password machine and all documents! Male mines, clear your mine mouth!"

The river water spread from the power compartment at the stern of the boat and quickly covered the ankles. The situation was extremely critical. There was no need to consider urgent floating. The British who were waiting for the rabbit on the river would use rapid-fire guns and machine guns tore the uc-5 to pieces. Staying underwater is not a good choice, because the power compartment filled with river water is enough to prevent the uc-5 from breathing fresh air. Of course, the sailors were not desperate, because they still had six mine outlets that could be filled inside.

Captain Gustav Jeseritzky did not hesitate and stubbornly gave the order to abandon the ship, leading his sailors to the mine cabin at the bow of the boat.

In addition to a sacrificed mechanic, the remaining fifteen officers and soldiers of the uc-5 submarine were automatically divided into three teams and gathered in the narrow mine cabin.

"When you quickly pass through the brine, remember to exhale the air in your lungs during the process of floating to prevent damage to the lung lobes. After escaping from the submarine, try to swim towards the river embankment, be careful of the British guns and cannons. If the British find out, then... then surrender and stay in the prisoner-of-war camp to wait for news of victory!"

The 30-year-old captain slapped the shoulders of the first wave of escaped sailors, explained the precautions and cheered them up. At a depth of nearly 30 meters, the shrapnel flying around the river, the escaped sailors will die for a lifetime. It’s not that Gustav Jesseritzky was too pretentious, but that these young people are the future of Germany!

The first wave of escaped sailors disappeared at the submarine's imprisonment. At this time, the sea water had already flowed through everyone's thighs. The second wave of sailors had completed the equipment work, and the sailors took a deep breath and sneaked into the imprisonment.

The third wave of retreating officers had completely smashed the telegraph plane and smashed the documents that might have leaked intelligence. When the second wave of escaped sailors disappeared at the Blude, the officer of the uc-5 submarine, which was facing the chest-sliding river, finally began to evacuate.

The navigator, the commander of the pilot, the mine took a deep breath, and then groped towards the Blu's mouth after diving. At this time, the sergeant found that their captain had no intention of evacuating.

"Captain, let's go together..." The sergeant seemed to realize something. He stopped his escape and asked in a trembling voice.

"Hardy, please forgive me, I will stay on my uc-5! This is my personal oath, and it is also Germany's oath to the ocean!"

The chief sergeant moved his Adam's apple and wanted to say something, but in the end he found that he was indecisive. The blue ocean was different from the yellow land, and the navy sleeping in the hammock was also different from the army standing on solid land. The oath was an oath that belonged to the navy only!

The sea is fair. It will not open its side because of a person's identity and status. It will not give up its dignity because of a strong group of individuals. The blue sea has never been conquered only by sailors who are the bravest, wisest and most knowledgeable about teamwork.

The navy is conservative. Compared with the often-energy army, navy people always wander on the sea. They have too many things to learn, too many opportunities to travel, and too much time to think, so navy people always subtly infect the characteristics of the sea, which is introverted and deep.

A century-old navy, an indestructible navy can stand on the ocean, relying on not only simple paper digital games, not only monotonous training, but also spiritual things. The accumulation of experience, the exploration of mission, the tempering of time and the invasion of marine culture. The strength of the navy is always accompanied by the rise of a powerful country in the century, and the temperament of the century empire will in turn affect the navy, forming a tension based on courageous progress - the sea soul of a great power.

The sea soul of a great country is not illusory, something that can only be understood and cannot be expressed. Behind the four shallow words is often the most pious and cruel promise to the sea, just like the captain’s oath!

The characteristics of the sea and the structure of the navy have created the captain's unparalleled dominance over a warship. The sailors hand over their life's future to the most experienced and wise captain, and the captain needs to lead his sailors to compete in the sea and win. This promise cannot tolerate a little blasphemy, because its end is to sink with the ship.

Although the British Empire's navy had already shown signs of decline after entering the 20th century, the sea soul of this navy's great power is still there, and examples of sinking with ships are everywhere in naval battles. Sinking with ships is a naval tradition that continued the British Nelson era. The young German navy did not need to bear this heavy historical burden, but the Battle of Dogers and the Battle of Falkland Islands, and the Captain of the Germans used his life to fulfill their most loyal promise to the sea!

"The sailors of uc-5 are honored to be able to work with you, and I wish you good luck!"

In his ten-year military career, Gustav Jeseritsky, the unknown captain of the uc-5, straightened his military cap, smiled brilliantly at the sergeant, raised his right arm from the sea with difficulty, and gave the final military salute to the sergeant.

The sergeant nodded and saluted the captain with tears in his eyes. He turned his back with difficulty, took a deep breath, sneaked into the river that had covered his neck, and found the bleak mouth and drilled out.

Pacing, kicking, exhaling the air from the lungs bit by bit. The little bit of air in the sergeant's lungs was quickly exhausted, his eyes were filled with golden flowers, and his lungs were extremely uncomfortable. The efficiency of paddling was also decreasing, but the boiling river surface seemed to be far away.

I was about to suffocate, so I gave up like that? No, because he was the glorious sailor of uc-5, because he was Gustav Jeseritsky's soldier!

The gun bullets were flying above his head, the smell of gunpowder and coal smoke filled the smell. The culprit's mine was shattered by the broken corpse. The chief sergeant was unaware of it. He floated on the turbid river surface, covering his swollen throat and breathing in.

I'm still alive! The sergeant commander finally recovered and searched for the river bank. At this time, he unexpectedly discovered a huge fleet of ships heading towards the North Sea.

"Haha!" Tears finally came out, and the sergeant slapped the water with a little resentment, and repeatedly murmured: "Our battleship is here, British, go to hell!"

(--Gorgeous dividing line--)

"Commander, wake up quickly, something happened!"

At the Great Fleet Base in Scapa Bay, the door knocks sounded in the aisle of the officers' apartment. One after another, the lights were turned on and after whispering, the quiet building finally became turbulent. Countless senior officers of the Great Fleet who had just woken up from their sleep ran towards the Great Fleet Command building in military uniforms and carried their pants.

Admiral Jackson, the commander-in-chief of the Fleet who stayed up late to check the information, was awakened just after he was sleepy. The general rubbed his sleepy eyes, pulled off the bedside lamp, and pulled a coat to open the door.

"In the Mediterranean, two transport fleets were attacked and suffered heavy losses. In Harrich Port, the Germans launched a despicable sneak attack, and the losses were also considerable!"
Chapter completed!