Chapter 42: Cruel Choice

  Until the U-171 sailed, there was no response to the report submitted by Captain Georg von Trapp to the Navy Department, so Zhang Hainuo and his crew had to set off on their own. This time, the command sent them to operate in the northwest waters of Scotland, although the voyage was a bit far, but at least they didn't have to risk crossing the Dover Strait like some other submarines.

  During the war, the British Navy blockaded the Dover Strait with anti-submarine nets and minefields, but technical limitations left large gaps in their patrol lines, allowing a significant number of German U-boats to successfully pass through the strait into the Atlantic.

  The second time he came to the North Atlantic Ocean to hunt, Zhang Haino no longer had the novelty of the first time in his heart. At this time, his battle log was no longer a blank sheet of paper. However, the rich harvest of the first attack did not make him overestimate himself. On the contrary, he was very clear that there were still many things to learn and explore in terms of single-boat command technology. As for opportunities like last time, he felt that luck played a big role in it.

  In the first week of entering the hunting area, Zhang Haino's "humility" was indeed fulfilled. Under his command, an attack was launched on a lone cargo ship, and at a target distance of only 1600 yards, the torpedo unexpectedly missed, and the opponent did not give Zhang Haino a second chance to launch a torpedo - after discovering the torpedo trail on the surface of the water, the ship quickly turned around and accelerated out of U-171's attack range.

  A few days later, while attacking a British armed merchant ship, U-171 narrowly escaped disaster. Zhang Hainuo hadn't even had time to launch torpedoes when the other side opened fire - it was clear that they had spotted the periscope on the surface. Fortunately, the shells didn't hit the submarine directly, and Zhang Hainuo quickly ordered U-171 to dive and retreat, while the British sailors also left the area after repelling the German submarine.

  At the same time as missing another opportunity, Zhang Haino also began to seriously consider how to minimize the probability of being discovered by a submarine periscope during observation. Distance, sea waves and light on the sea surface are all conditions that can be used for this purpose. He also discussed with Edwin, Simon and other main military officers on the boat. During the long hunting process, they also conducted actual operations and drills many times. Although these things were not something that could be explored overnight, Zhang Haino still clearly felt his own progress. What also made him happy was that the friendship of this command team was deepening with the joint discussion and joint learning.

  As the saying goes, "things don't go beyond three", after a few days, Zhang Hainuo finally went crazy.

  The freighter carrying grain and vegetables, meat products was really too full, the speed of a single ship voyage was less than 12 knots, and the thick smoke emitted by the old coal-fired boiler could be seen more than ten nautical miles away. Such prey Zhang Haino indeed did not want to miss, a torpedo sent the opponent to the seabed. After the submarine surfaced, the crew members were surprised to find that there were some fresh vegetables floating on the sea surface. At this time, U-171 had been at sea for two weeks, and the crew's table only had smoked meat, canned goods, bread, and pancakes, seeing green vegetables again, everyone was overjoyed.

  The days of waiting and searching for targets were wearing down people's patience while consuming food, sometimes not a single ship could be seen on the sea surface all day long, with only waves and blue sky with white clouds in sight, even seagulls didn't bother to visit this desolate sea area. Sometimes Zhang Hainuo was so eager for prey to appear that he almost wished to dive directly into the British harbor and wreak havoc - there must be many large ships that couldn't avoid torpedoes in time docked there.

  As he turned to June 3rd, 1917 in his logbook, Zhang Haino spotted a target on the surface that would soon trigger a series of events.

  It was a liner, an overseas liner flying the Stars and Stripes of the United States of America from the direction of North America, with a displacement of at least 6,000 tons in terms of its size.

  A cruise ship or a mail steamer is a large passenger ship used for ocean voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way. After the 20th century, these ships mainly transported passengers and small amounts of cargo. Even during wartime, there were still many civilian passengers on cruise ships traveling between continents, including military personnel, low- to mid-level government officials, but mostly merchants, family members of military personnel, and other ordinary citizens.

  The American cruise ship was moving very quickly, but unfortunately its route happened to pass through the sea area where U-171 was lurking. Zhang Haino easily commanded the submarine to take up an attacking position and waited for it to approach, two torpedoes would be able to ensure that it would sink.

  Since the United States declared war, German submarines have been able to sink any ship heading for Britain without warning, whether it is a British, American or neutral vessel, and whether it is a warship, an armed merchantman, an ordinary merchantman or a liner.

  To avoid scaring off the target due to the periscope's exposure, Zhang Haino carefully estimated the distance by guessing the time, raising the periscope every 5 minutes to confirm that the other party had not temporarily changed course. Each time, he quickly retracted the periscope after confirming the target's position, never exceeding 15 seconds.

  Just as they were confirming the position of the other side for the last time, the cruise ship was less than 3000 yards away from U171. It was daytime and the visibility on the sea surface was good. Zhang Hainuo could even see the situation at the edge of its deck through his periscope. There were women with parasols and men in suits, but these people had no idea that death had already quietly stretched out its claws towards them.

  Chang Hai-no had considered surfacing and capturing the liner, allowing the passengers to leave in lifeboats before sinking it with torpedoes or deck guns. However, his final glance at the target changed his mind as he saw several large objects covered with canvas on the deck, which could have been quick-firing guns that could be trained on the submarine at any moment. As a submarine commander, it was his duty not to risk his vessel and crew.

  Attack or let go, Zhang Hainuo had to make a choice in a very short time. Attack, that would be hundreds of lives, the British liner "Lusitania" was sunk by a German submarine in May 1915, and 1,198 people died among the 1,959 passengers; let go, the personnel and supplies on it would arrive safely in Britain, and there might be tens of thousands of bullets and other military supplies on it, which would be used to shoot and kill German soldiers on the battlefield...

  On the one hand, there were countless civilians struggling on the surface of the sea; on the other hand, countless German mothers wept for their fallen sons. Zhang Hainuo was caught in a fierce ideological struggle at that moment.