Chapter 143 The Thin Line of Life and Death "In such light conditions, the distance is really difficult to estimate. Man, how about you give it a try?" When encountering a difficult challenge, Lieutenant Colonel Wisler finally changed his title to "Man "It obviously sounds much more cordial than "Mr. Major" or "Your Excellency". (Stealing Heaven Ludendorff did not refuse. In combat operations in the North Sea and Atlantic waters, more than half of German submarines chose to attack targets at night. The corresponding experience and skills were naturally richer than those of the Americans who only actually participated in the war in 1941. " Target the lead ship, 55oo meters away, bearing? " The staff officer standing on the other side of the periscope immediately reported: "Target No. 2 the second ship, 68oo meters away, bearing? " " O39! The staff officer reported the scale on the periscope without hesitation. After measuring the distance and orientation of the target, Ludendorff directly judged: "The torpedo depth is set to 9 meters, and the navigation is set to 4o knots! Start the motor and set it to three degrees. One sail forward! "Everything went smoothly without any delay. If it weren't for the clear distinction, people might think that he was the real commander of this submarine. At first, the crew was a little hesitant, but they got Weiss. After Lieutenant Colonel Le's signal, they immediately passed on the German officer's order. When starting the motor and moving forward at one third of the speed, the mechanical noise in the submarine was still at a very low level. People invariably remained silent, and the only sound in the command module came from the sonar equipment. At such a distance, the sound of the high-speed propellers could be clearly received, but there were too many sound sources, and the sonar soldiers could not judge a single ship. The accurate distance and orientation of the ship. "The enemy destroyer is approaching, retract the periscope, and dive to a depth of 30 meters. After reaching the depth, the motor stops running and everyone remains quiet!" This should have been an exclamation point, from Ludendorff. What came out of his mouth was as calm as a windless lake. He put away the handle of the periscope and turned around and walked to the sonar soldier. (Tou Tian stood there quietly for a while, then motioned to the sonar soldier to turn on the earphones. Give it to yourself. Although this sonar instrument is made in the United States, and the instructions under the indicator lights and buttons are also professional American terminology, this does not trouble Ludendorff at all with the inherent rigor and seriousness of the Germans. I stayed next to the sonar equipment for a full ten minutes. During this period, the sound from the sea surface grew from nothing to small to loud, making everyone on the submarine nervous - even Ludendorff, to say the least It is impossible not to be nervous. After all, he is on the battlefield. If he is not careful, he will lose his life. And he is not alone without worries. His family, friends, colleagues and subordinates who get along well with each other are all This is the value of his pursuit of survival. Ship boilers and turbines are usually located in the middle and lower parts of the hull. Therefore, in addition to the noise caused by the propeller stirring the seawater, the roar of the boiler turbine is equally clear to the ears of a lurker underwater. At the closest distance, the rumbling sound seemed to come from the upper cabin. Although only the bulkhead could be seen upwards, most of the crew members in the submarine instinctively raised their heads in this uneasiness. After a long time, those sounds finally weakened until they became very faint. ¡°Start the motor, move forward one third of the way, float up to the periscope depth, and raise the periscope! Ludendorff once again issued a series of instructions. Although the submarine can use the air compressor to adjust the ballast water tank to achieve static snorkeling, it is difficult to accurately adjust the depth by this method, and bubbles are inevitably generated during the process. Therefore, adjusting the depth underwater is mainly achieved by changing the horizontal rudder angle while the submarine is moving. At this time, even the faint sound of the motor makes people nervous. Ludendorff finally returned to the periscope depth. Without hesitation, he stood in front of the periscope. He grabbed the handle and turned half a circle. He and the staff officer on the opposite side reported the data: "Target No. 1, distance 33oo, bearingo11; Target No. 2, distance 4000, bearing. o13! The weapons commander adjusted the torpedo firing parameters and prepared to fire" At this critical moment, the crew members were also highly concentrated. Ludendorff suddenly took a step back and gave up the periscope position to Lieutenant Colonel Wiesler. At the same time, it was telling him that the order to fire the torpedoes was given by you. In less than half an hour, Wiesler seemed to have adapted to the role of a bystander and enjoyed this unburdened state. After Doff gave way, he stared at the periscope for more than ten seconds and asked: "Can we directly attack the enemy's flagship¡ªthe largest warship in the center of the battleship column? ¡± Ludendorff said sternly: ¡°I do not recommend attacking that ship because it is in the midst of manyUnder the protection of escort ships, it is difficult to find a direct attack route! " "Even if the chance of sinking it is very small! "Wesler said righteously, "We should also make this attempt, because this move may save the lives of many U.S. Navy officers and even shorten the course of the war. On this issue, you and I are obviously at different starting points! " Ludendorff did not argue. Wisler immediately returned to the captain's position: "Okay! Now adjust the goal, the only goal! Distance 65oo, direction? " "o19! "The staff officer deliberately raised the volume. Invisibly, the atmosphere in the command cabin rose to a higher level. Everyone's eyes were filled with the desire to fight - except Ludendorff. "Weisler immediately ordered: "Check The torpedo depth and stability remain unchanged at 9 meters and 4o knots! " A response came quickly from the torpedo room: "It is confirmed that the torpedo is set at a depth of 9 meters and 40 knots. All torpedo tubes No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are ready! " "very good! "Wessler gritted his teeth and stared at the periscope. If he attacked the first two targets, he would have fired the torpedo half a minute ago, but the new target is located in the center of the huge fleet. It will take more time to wait for it to enter the torpedo range. A little time. ¡°Damn it! Put away the periscope! "Weisler suddenly shouted, and the sound made the crew's hearts tighten. However, before they had time to guess what happened on the water, a loud bang answered the question! "What the hell, what the hell! "During the process of retracting the periscope, the submarine shook violently under the impact of the shell explosion, but Wesler murmured in frustration, "The Japanese actually discovered it, bad luck! "When the second and third deafening roars came from overhead, the American captain, who had only sunk two Japanese transport ships so far, was still frustrated and could not extricate himself, allowing his submarine to sink. It continued to shake violently. Ludendorff couldn't stand it anymore and shouted: "The submarine dives to a depth of 60 meters, maintains a third course, and turns 15 degrees to the left! " "It's just a little short of entering the effective range! "Weisler said unwillingly. Ludendorff glared at him fiercely: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, we were just a hair away from becoming a dead fish! " "But" Wiesler still wanted to argue, but the ensuing roars were accompanied by strong impacts. The submarine simply turned into a roller coaster in an amusement park, although the equipment on the boat had not yet flashed flames. It was a scene, but the crew members could hardly stand, and some unfixed items fell to the ground with the shaking. "Shut up, sir!" The Japanese destroyers are coming soon! "Ludendorff finally lost his patience. He grabbed Wisler's shoulders with both hands and tried to shake the captain who lacked real experience to wake up. Fortunately, the submarine was already moving at one-third of its course. After the horizontal rudder was adjusted, , the submarine quickly dived towards the deep sea, and the changes brought about by being away from the sea were also obvious: the roars and impacts were relatively weakened, and the crew returned to order after the initial panic. Weiss looked at all this. Lieutenant Colonel Le suddenly sighed: "Submarines are indeed not something ordinary people can control. I'm obviously still far behind! " "Everyone starts their career as a rookie, and I am no exception! " Ludendorff comforted him kindly. Although the title of "rookie" hurt the opponent's self-esteem, the fact is not far different! Although the captain who was quite timid failed to give the order in time, the American crew members still stayed at their posts. , except for necessary reports, everyone said nothing to reduce the possibility of being picked up by passive sonar of enemy ships. Ludendorff took the initiative to pull Wisler up from the ground and whispered: "Actually. If we are any different, Germany has very poor resources and cannot build enough large warships, so it has long attached great importance to submarines - we can stand on the shoulders of our predecessors, just a centimeter or two higher! " This was the only humorous remark made by the Germans after they boarded the boat. Unfortunately, Wesler could not laugh at this time. He looked at Ludendorff helplessly: "After enduring the Japanese deep bomb attack, we still Any chance of taking out their flagship? " "certainly! Ludendorff replied affirmatively, "Sinking prey does not always rely on pre-set ambush. When dealing with the British fleet, we often follow them day and night, constantly looking for opportunities to attack and attack again until we run out." Torpedoes, or entering offshore waters that are not suitable for combat! Of course, we have to survive the Japanese counterattack now! " Two minutes after I finished speaking, an unprecedentedly loud explosion came from overhead. The submarine was like a magnitude 7 earthquake, except it didn't turn upside down. " 48 meters! "The staff officer reported the depth reading. "Full forward, turn left 10 degrees! "Ludendorff directly overstepped his authority and issued combat orders.¡ª¡ªAt such a critical moment, it is obviously unreliable to let a guy who has not yet fully awakened to control everything. Amid the roar of the motor, the submarine accelerated forward and dived at the same time. However, those huge explosions followed like hounds, each time more violent than the previous one, quickly exceeding people's psychological bottom line! "55 meters!" the staff officer reported in an almost trembling voice. "Turn off the motor and stop everything!" Ludendorff shouted, and for a moment, the entire submarine fell silent, leaving only the noise from the outside world. The sea water is boiling! (