Chapter 39: Prisoner of War

  Of the five submarines, U171 and U89 and U93 had all fired off their torpedoes in combat and were heading home together, while U122 and U145 still had some torpedoes left and continued to hunt in the Atlantic.

  After the most intense battle, Zhang Hainuo's boat not only had no casualties but also gained an extra "guest". After checking several lifeboats in a row, the sailors finally found a British naval lieutenant on a small boat. When announcing that the German Empire Navy had captured him, this British officer looked extremely unnatural, but he did not resist and asked the German sailors to provide some tourniquets and aspirin for his comrades.

  Standing on the submarine's deck, Zhang Haino noticed this small detail and felt in his heart that this man was the key to solving his own doubts. So he accepted the British request, gave those sailors a few rolls of hemostatic bandages and an anti-inflammatory medicine, and generously offered his captain's cabin as a high-end prison cell for the British officer, also arranging three crew members to take turns guarding at the door.

  Of course, to get this Brit to open his mouth, Zhang Haino knew he still had to put in some thought.

  This was the first time Zhang Hainuo had been so close to a British officer since he came to this era. He had heard long ago that British officers valued their reputation more than life, and after being captured, they would rarely attempt to escape or resist, only repeatedly asking for treatment as prisoners of war. It seemed that this was indeed the case. When the man boarded the ship, he was soaked from head to toe, but refused the clean German military uniform offered by Zhang Hainuo. Later, he reluctantly changed into a shirt and trousers with no military insignia, and repeatedly asked for his uniform to be washed, dried, and returned to him.

  However, the breakfast that Zhang Hainuo had sent in was quickly eaten clean, and afterwards he fell asleep without any worries on Zhang Hainuo's bed. After waking up, he asked the German sailor if there were any English books on the boat.

  Such a request made Zhang Hainuo somewhat cry and laugh, after handling the affairs on the boat, he came to the captain's room and had his orderly, Warner Stahldorf, brew two cups of hot coffee.

  "Is there any tea?" The Englishman had obviously considered himself a guest of honor, and only reluctantly accepted the cup of black coffee after receiving a negative response.

  Zhang Hainuo pulled out a notebook and a pen from his pocket, "Your name?"

  "Commander Turner, Royal Navy, aged 27! Lieutenant Müller of Germany, won't you introduce yourself?"

  This officer named Klaywu was quite straightforward. He reported his basic information in one breath, basically only missing height, weight and emotional situation.

  Zhang Hainuo was almost choked by his last sentence, where is the situation that the person being interrogated turns around to ask the interrogator? What's even more hateful is that the boatmen didn't find any military ID on him, presumably this guy had quietly thrown it away before being taken onto the submarine.

  "Captain von Finkenstein, German Navy! Now, Lieutenant Kliewer Turner, tell me the name of the ship you served on, its number and your position on board!"

  The British said calmly, "Sorry, the questions you asked are military secrets. Although I am your prisoner now, I still need to follow the confidentiality order of the British Navy!"

  As expected, he's a stubborn fellow. It seems that if I don't show him some color, he won't cooperate with me honestly, Zhang Haino thought. But before he could speak again, the British man spoke up:

  "Although this question is a bit abrupt, I still want to ask, Lieutenant, where did you learn your English?"

  Zhang Hainuo gave him a cold, white-eyed glance. This guy seemed to still not understand his current situation. Looking around the world, there were probably only a few prisoners of war who had such a relaxed mindset. But when someone is too relaxed, it's like a bad actor's performance, making people think he's deliberately hiding something.

  "Alma Mater!"

  "Tsk, tsk, tsk, forgive me for speaking bluntly, Lieutenant! Your alma mater's English teacher is indeed... not good at pronunciation, very not good at all!" The British man shook his head regretfully, with a rather disapproving look.

  Those English teachers who taught him in middle school and university domestically would have no idea what kind of thoughts they would have upon hearing Clay's words, but Zhang Hainuo now has a strong urge to go up and beat this guy up, that expression, that posture can't be described with just the word "pretentious".

  Zhang Hainuo put away his calm expression from just now, and a stern look gradually condensed between his eyebrows.

  "Mr. Clay Turner, I must remind you in a friendly manner that you are now a prisoner of the German Imperial Navy, please do not drag me into those irrelevant matters, otherwise..."

  The Briton first looked at Zhang Hainuo with a surprised gaze, but when he encountered the other's unfriendly gaze, he quickly shifted his eyes to another place.

  This small action made Zhang Hainuo even more certain of his guess, and he decided to take advantage of the situation.

  "We are now sailing 200 miles off the coast of northern Scotland, if I give you a life ring, Mr. Turner, can you swim back to Scotland?"

  "Of course not, but Lieutenant Colonel von Finkenstadt, you are committing murder of prisoners of war. Such behavior will be tried by the International Military Tribunal in Shanghai!" The British officer hastily pulled out the International Military Tribunal to make things right.

  "Don't worry, Mr Turner! I haven't decided yet whether I really want to do that!"

  Before the other party could catch their breath, Zhang Hainuo said again:

  "There's an old saying in the East, 'Victory for the king, defeat for the bandit!' Mr. Turner, even if I were to throw you overboard right now and not give you a life jacket, no one would take me to the International Military Tribunal. My subordinates wouldn't betray me, and your friends and country wouldn't even know what happened. Am I right?"

  "You..." The Englishman stood up with a start, but unfortunately he was a bit too tall and bumped his head on the ceiling of the cabin, causing him to grit his teeth in pain.

  "This is... This is trampling on international law, this is inhumane, you are simply not worthy of being a soldier!"

  "Thanks!" Zhang Hainuo replied coldly, and this time it was the British who were left speechless.

  The scholar met the soldier, and reason could not be made clear. This British officer, who had already become a prisoner of war, suddenly became numb. Before that, only the British Navy was superior to the Germans, but he never thought that he would end up like this today.

  "How about it? Can you now tell me the name, number and position of the ship you served on?" Zhang Haino looked at the raccoon dog in front of him with pride.

  Unexpectedly, the British man sat there without saying a word, but Zhang Hainuo had a way to deal with it. He called out towards the door:

  "Bravo!"

  In the next second, the strongest man on U-171 appeared. This tall sailor was only wearing a vest on his upper body, with powerful arms and rough chest muscles on full display. His dark skin looked sunny and healthy. Needless to say, Lieutenant Claymore of Britain, who had a slender figure and light movements, was at least one level inferior to him in terms of strength.

  "Prepare a life buoy, our British military officer friend wants to go back to Britain, we'll see him off!" Zhang Haino said with a smile and nodded at the Briton, "Goodbye!"

  Without waiting for Klayvud to say anything, the robust Brats grabbed his arm and dragged him outside.

  "Hey, Lieutenant von Finkenstein, what are you doing? You can't treat a British officer like this, even if I am your prisoner. I demand...I demand to be taken to the International Military Tribunal in The Hague!" The British officer shouted loudly while trying his best not to be dragged out, but the difference in strength between the two sides was too great and he was soon pulled out of the captain's quarters.

  "Good luck!" Zhang Hainuo said in English.

  "Let me go! Let go of my hand! You don't deserve to be called soldiers, you are a group of savages, savages!" Klay's voice was still heard from outside, but it sounded like it was getting farther and farther away.

  "A soldier?" Zhang Haino smiled, can't a soldier use some means to get information from prisoners of war? Must a soldier rigidly follow so-called international law? From ancient times to the present, laws have been made by the strong to restrain the weak. Has Britain never trampled on international law?