Chapter 19 "Good Man" Heson

  "Down, sir! My name is Heino von Falkenstein. What's yours?"

  The officer in charge of leading Zhang Hainuo to the submarine looked a year or two younger than him, with naturally curly blonde hair, neat and clean clothes and appearance, only slightly shorter, about 1.6 meters tall.

  "Unteroffizier turned around and looked at him kindly, "Otis, Otis Olbach! Lieutenant, sir!"

  "Hello, Otis! Can I ask how long you've been on the boat? A year?"

  "Two years and six months now, Lieutenant!" said Otis, the boatman, who was more polite than that strange Hesson.

  For this answer, Zhang Hainuo was a little surprised. "He" had been in the army for more than three years and had already become a naval lieutenant, but the person in front of him was still just a small corporal. Is the gap between people really that big?

  "Mr. Lieutenant, did you come from Weihai Port?"

  "Oh, yes! I used to be the torpedo chief on the Sedlitz!" Zhang Haino replied casually, but unexpectedly the other person's eyes widened and his voice became somewhat distorted:

  "Seydlitz! Good God, you're from that unsinkable ship! Too wonderful! You must have been at Jutland too!"

  This was not the first time Zhang Hainuo had heard others praise Sedritz, but he didn't feel superior because of it. Instead, he replied truthfully: "Yes, I was seriously injured in that sea battle and took three months to recover!"

  "Oh, my god! You are a true naval hero!" Otis gazed at Zhang Hainuo with a look of adoration.

  "Mr. Lieutenant, do you know? My childhood dream was to fight on a large warship like the Sedlitz, to face the enemy's fierce cannon fire unflinchingly, even if it means death, it's worth it!"

  "Motionless?"

  In the eyes of Zhang Haino, who witnessed the miserable situation of SMS Seydlitz, this word is not worthy of its name. "Completely disfigured", "limping along" and "escaped from death" are the true portrayal of the situation at that time. However, in German newspapers, Seydlitz became a synonym for unsinkability, and it was also the pride of the German Navy and even the whole of Germany. Despite the fact that the German Navy lost 1 battlecruiser, 1 old battleship, 4 light cruisers and 5 destroyers in that sea battle.

  Otis didn't notice the change in Zhang Hainuo's expression, and continued to describe his ideal: "Lieutenant, if I had joined the Sedlitz instead of the submarine fleet when I first entered the navy, it would be great! Even if I were a torpedo man under your command, that would be good too! You don't know how boring life on a submarine is, and it's always full of danger!"

  This remark reminded Zhang Hainuo of the words of Lieutenant Commander von Lauterbach, and he asked the little submariner with a smile: "Then why are you still staying on U-21 without applying for transfer?"

  "Resign?" Otis shook his head, "A low-ranking officer like me can't just resign, especially since the submarine corps' allowance is much higher than other naval units. Out of 7 siblings in my family, only I and my brother are able to earn money!"

  This topic is getting heavy, Zhang Hainuo thought.

  "Is your brother also serving in the army?"

  "Yes, he's in the army, 21st Light Infantry Regiment of Mecklenburg! What a coincidence, my submarine number is also 21!" Otis said with a smile when talking about his brother, and his smile was very innocent.

  "Ah, there's our submarine!" he said, pointing to a black submarine parked in the dry dock not far ahead.

  As one of the best-scoring U-boats in the German Navy, the appearance of U-21 is actually no different from that of a normal German submarine. It was an Imperial German UB III-type submarine with a surface displacement of 428 tons and an underwater displacement of 620 tons, using twin shafts for propulsion. The entire boat was 53.5 meters long, 5.8 meters wide, and 3.6 meters high, with a maximum range of 6,200 nautical miles. It was equipped with five 450mm torpedo tubes, one 100mm deck gun on the forward deck, and one 8mm machine gun on the aft deck, with a standard crew of 26 people.

  These data, Zhang Hainuo had already been able to recite them fluently when he was studying at the naval school.

  "Can you tell us what kind of trouble you encountered before?" Zhang Hainuo asked as he walked.

  "We were attacked by a British gunboat while attacking a British transport fleet near Malta, and although the damage was not serious, we encountered an Italian-laid minefield on our way back to the Adriatic Sea and almost didn't make it back!" Otis said with some frustration, there were just too many enemies in this sea area!

  "Oh! How much longer will it take to fix?"

  "The new diesel engine and spare parts have just arrived, estimated to be back in the water within three to four days! As for departure from the port, that still depends on the arrangements above!"

  Otis didn't take Zhang Hainuo directly to the submarine, but instead went to a row of low houses less than a hundred paces away from the dry dock. Zhang Hainuo followed him in and saw that it was filled with double-decker beds.

  "When the submarine docks, none of us live on it!" Otis said, leading Zhang Hainuo to an empty bed inside, "Can you sleep in this one?"

  The simple conditions here are obviously incomparable to those on the Sedlitz, but Zhang Hainuo had long been mentally prepared. He put down his luggage and asked, "Does Lieutenant Herz also live here?"

  "No, he's sleeping in that office over there where you just came from!" Otis pointed to the two bunks and said: "The one sleeping here is Lieutenant Commander Wolf, the executive officer, and this one is Ensign Seafort, the navigator!"

  "Where are they?" Zhang Hainuo was somewhat curious. In this large dormitory, there wasn't a single person, could it be that they all went to the city to have fun?

  During wartime, submarine officers and men spend a long time at sea, with monotonous journeys, and are more dangerous than ordinary sailors. Therefore, after returning to the port, they often go to the harbor area to shop, eat, visit bars and casinos to alleviate their mental pressure. Their allowances are also much higher than those of ordinary soldiers, so they are very welcome in those places.

  Otis's reply was within his expectation: "These days are holidays, except for Sergeant Prole and some volunteers who stayed behind, most people went to the Pola district three days ago!"

  "So, you're also staying behind voluntarily?" Zhang Haino turned his head to look at this little boatman, although he still didn't know what specific position he held, but Zhang Haino felt that he should be the most agile one on the submarine.

  "Uh! I send all of my monthly allowance back home, and there's nothing good to buy in the city anyway!" The young man replied somewhat embarrassedly.

  "You're a very responsible person, a good brother!" Zhang Hainuo said with a smile, and then he asked:

  "What about Captain Hessen? Why didn't he go to the harbor district either?"

  "He's been busy with submarine repairs and replenishment these past few days!" Otis leaned against the bed frame, watching Zhang Haino take out towels, toothbrushes, cups and other daily necessities from his luggage, arranging them one by one.

  "Actually, Captain Heson rarely goes to the harbor area. Even if he does go, it's just to eat at a restaurant. He never sets foot in bars or casinos, and even less would he go find that kind of woman for a one-night stand! It's the same whether in William's Port or here!"

  "Is that so? He's really one of a kind!" Zhang Haino thought that such a submarine captain was like a good husband who goes home to cook every day, and although there were indeed some good men like him, they were truly too rare!