Chapter 28: Heson's Secret

  It was late at night, and the sea surface was blowing with cold winds. Fortunately, Zhang Haino wore a raincoat over his coat, plus a scarf and gloves, so standing outside the submarine command tower for two hours wouldn't feel too cold.

  After capturing and sinking the Italian freighter with deck guns, U-21 continued to prowl the Ionian Sea for three more days, during which it torpedoed a 2,000-ton armed merchant ship, surfaced to attack two old-fashioned Italian sailing ships, and even discovered and trailed a 4,000-ton Italian liner, only to see that liner escape with its superior speed and zigzagging anti-submarine course. Perhaps the whole crew except for Hansen showed regret at letting such a fat prey slip away.

  Cool but not deliberately show off, "crazy" but not casually go "crazy", this is Zhang Hainuo's evaluation of Hersen's personality after a period of getting along, he feels more and more that his decision to come to U21 at the beginning was wise!

  "Ensign, this is the battery room, the batteries are fully charged!"

  When the report came from the speaking tube, U-21 had already passed through the Otranto Strait into the Adriatic Sea, but this did not mean that the war was over. The long eastern coast of the Italian peninsula is located on the west side of the Adriatic Sea. Given that U-21 still had two torpedoes and a considerable number of shells, Hesemann decided to go to Bari and the Gargano Peninsula before returning to Pola - although the main force of the Italian Navy was in heavily guarded Taranto, their light cruisers and submarines were occasionally present in the western waters of the Adriatic Sea, and Bari was one of the important outposts and supply bases.

  "Got it, report any situation at any time!" Zhang Hainuo replied in a tone similar to Hersen's. As for that "madman", he should be sleeping soundly in his comfortable private space now!

  Just then, someone climbed up from the hatch of the watertight compartment, but it was not Hessen, but rather Wolf, the chief mate of this submarine.

  "Ensign, Lieutenant Hessen told me to come up and relieve you in two hours! How's that? Is the situation outside okay?"

  "Oh, it's Wolf! It's so quiet outside that you can hear a fart on the deck!"

  Ever since he understood what Hesen said, Zhang Hainuo felt that he had also become much more cheerful.

  "Ah, that's for sure! Italian warships rarely leave port at night, and besides, we're still a ways away from Italian territorial waters!" Wolf said with a chuckle, seemingly very pleased with this voyage overall. The total tonnage of the ships sunk so far was nearly 10,000 tons. Not every submarine can have a decent haul every time they go out - some might only sink two or three small cargo ships on an entire long and arduous journey!

  "Attention all compartments, this is Wolf. I am now in command of the entire vessel! Attention sleepers, you may continue to sleep! And attention watch standers, you must give me one hundred and twenty percent spirit from now on!"

  As Zhang Hainuo was closing the watertight door, he heard Wolf remind those on duty.

  He went down the gangway to the bottom of the cabin, where only a few people were still on duty in the command cabin. Due to the limited space inside the submarine, the sailors' bunks were usually shared by two people taking turns sleeping, and since it was nighttime and they were sailing, there might be fewer than 10 crew members on duty. As a result, some people had to find places to sleep outside of their fixed bunks.

  Zhang Hainuo usually shared a cabin with Lieutenant Colonel Prohl, but Prohl had already occupied the "hot bed", so he went to the torpedo room at the bow of the boat and turned around, and indeed all four empty torpedo racks were occupied by people. Zhang Hainuo walked towards the stern again, just as he passed by the captain's cabin, he found that there was a light shining from under the curtain. After hesitating for a moment, he stood at the door and called out softly: "Lieutenant Colonel, are you asleep?"

  "Oh, it's Haino! What's up?" The voice didn't sound like he was sleeping.

  "It's nothing, you let Wolf take over for me, and it just so happens that I was passing by here and saw that you hadn't turned off the lights..."

  He Xun lifted the curtain with one hand and said, "Come in!"

  The cabin, though called a separate room, was really hardly large enough for one person, and not half as big as Zhang Hainuo's quarters on the Sedlitz. Herr He? nodded to Zhang Hainuo to sit down on his bed, while he himself remained seated at the little table, on which lay an envelope and a pen.

  "Are you writing a letter home?"

  "Uh-huh, writing to my mother! The situation on the sea is still okay!"

  "Extremely calm!" Zhang Hainuo's words had a double meaning, referring to both the calm sea surface and the absence of enemy activity.

  "I remember you said you had a fiancée too!" Hessen said casually. "So are you two planning to get married after the war?"

  Hesen is 26 years old this year, and he has no fiancée or girlfriend, which really puzzles Zhang Hainuo for a while. Later, it was only from Otis that he learned that Hesen had originally intended to get married, but the danger of fighting with submarines was too great, and he did not want more people to worry about him, nor did he want to ruin someone's life because of a promise, so he deliberately chose to be single.

  As for this matter, Zhang Hainuo did not confirm or deny it. "This is a long story, after all, it's an agreement between parents. Now, even if she is my fiancée, maybe they don't take me seriously as a poor noble!"

  "What if you have the money?" Hesen said, putting away the papers and pens on his desk into a cabinet, then taking out a thick notebook and a stack of maps from the small compartment above his head.

  "Me? Just look at me, I'm just a poor officer, how can I have money?" Zhang Hainuo said with some self-mockery. Compared to his current income, it's better than that of ordinary civilians, but compared to those big merchants, it's not even worth mentioning.

  "Do you know where the greatest wealth lies?" Heson placed the ledger and map on the desk, but didn't rush to open them.

  "Britain? America?"

  "No, it's the seabed!" Hesen's serious expression told Zhang Hai that he wasn't joking.

  "Are you referring to those sunken ships?" Suddenly, Zhang Haino felt a flash of inspiration in his mind as he recalled the plan for salvaging sunken ships that He Sen had mentioned to him a few days ago.

  "That's right! I'm sure you've heard of the Spanish treasure galleons that returned from America loaded with gold, silver and jewels. Some were hijacked by the British, some were plundered by pirates, and others were sunk in storms, so only a few made it back to Spain!" Hessen said slowly, "No one knows where those treasure ships worth a fortune are buried, finding them is just a matter of luck, but some other sunken ships are different!"

  "Any others?"

  Zhang Hainuo was about to say something, when Hersen pulled out a few sketches from that thick notebook and handed them over to him. He flipped through them one by one, reading the text on top:

  "Tycoon... Mermaid... Montana..."

  A few days ago, when the Italian freighter was sunk, Zhang Haino had seen He Sen's sketch of this kind. To say that he drew a portrait of a high level, Zhang Haino really didn't dare to flatter, but these sketches could at least clearly depict the hull and outline of those freighters.

  "We didn't have time to go up and search for valuable things before sinking them, and even if we found something, we had to give half of it to the top. But after the war is over, when we take things from there again, we only need to pay a very small amount of tax!"

  "It seems you've already made a comprehensive plan!"

  At this time, Zhang Hainuo suddenly realized that Hersen's meticulous thinking was not only reflected in the military, but also in his love for his crew members. Even after the war ended, he hoped to make their lives better through his own efforts, which is why the crew members respected and supported him so much.

  "It's not like I've been planning this for ages!" Hessen said with a half-joking tone, "I'm always hearing Otis and the others talk about how tough their family situations are, and then thinking about those retired veterans' difficult lives, so that's when this idea sprouted! Hayno, I think you're a trustworthy friend and a kind-hearted person, which is why I'm telling you all this! Although you'll eventually be going to another submarine as an independent commander, once the war ends, this salvage company will also have a share for you!"

  "Thanks! Roderick!"

  Zhang Haino suddenly thought that when he became the captain of the boat, he could also collect information about sunken ships like Hersen, so the salvage company would have more alternative targets. Of course, recording coordinates and drawing rough sketches was not the only way, and useful information could also be found through literature records, official records and other channels. As he thought about it, his previous flash of insight gradually became clear.