Chapter 21: No Fight, No Recognition

  When the frequency of wiping his nose from every half hour to every two minutes, Zhang Hainuo knew that he was probably going to catch a cold this time. Since recovering from injury and returning to the team, he had been exercising every day and felt that his physical condition was getting better day by day, but still hadn't recovered to his best state before.

  According to the doctor, even if it's a young person, with many holes in their body, bleeding a lot, and taking so many anti-inflammatory drugs, the body needs a very long time to fully recover.

  Under the moonlight, Zhang Hainuo took a glance at his watch.

  "Three hours and one minute!"

  Madman Hesson, was he really just a trump card captain on a technical level?

  Thinking of this, Zhang Haino couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment in his heart. Perhaps his choice this time was indeed wrong - if Hersen was someone without any chivalrous demeanor, then even if his submarine command skills were exceptional, and even if he could become a hero all over Germany through his military achievements, Zhang Haino still wouldn't deign to learn from him!

  Zhang Haino truly respected were naval knights like von Tirpitz, Raeder and even von Lützow who were both upright and capable.

  The cold sea breeze seemed to never know when to stop, and Zhang Hainuo's body was getting colder and colder. But he didn't even look for a place to take shelter from the wind, instead continuing to patrol back and forth on the dry dock with his gun at the ready. He remembered what his mother had once said: whether or not others keep their promises is their own business, but you have to do what you think is right and worth doing!

  In the following time, Zhang Hainuo did not look at his watch again, but repeated the same action over and over: mechanical pacing, turning around, continuing to walk forward, turning around...

  At the same time, in the Austro-Hungarian Navy's military police station in Pula, Hessen was anxiously waiting. The reason for this was not complicated: two sailors from U-21 who were on leave and out drinking at a bar in Pula got into an argument with several Austrian officers, resulting in both sides being arrested by the military police and brought here. As the direct superior of the two sailors and just happened to be in the city, Hessen arrived immediately, while other sailors and the truck that followed were waiting outside the military police station.

  The sailors' drunken brawl in Pola was a common occurrence, and the usual outcome was just fifty strokes of the cane. However, since Hessen's crew belonged to the German Navy, it had to be handled by the German military attaché in Pola and the relevant Austrian authorities before they could be released. The parties involved also had to sign a guarantee that they would behave in Pola from then on and not cause any more trouble.

  Hessen kept glancing at his watch, but there was nothing he could do. The German military attaché in Pola had gone to a dinner party and without him, the Austro-Hungarian provost marshal refused to release anyone. After a long wait, the German colonel finally arrived, dusty from his journey. He looked at Hessen with an expressionless face, then followed the Austrian official into the office.

  Given the close relationship between Germany and Austria at present, such negotiations are usually formalities. However, formality is still formality, and officials from both sides often need to exchange pleasantries and engage in a lengthy conversation of polite phrases. If they're interested, they can also chat about family matters.

  Finally, Hessen was able to get the door open again. Two senior military officers came out laughing and chatting, and the German colonel made a gesture to Hessen, indicating that he could now go and collect his people. However, there was no relief on Hessen's face because it was already midnight, 5 and a half hours since he had set off from Pula harbour, and adding the return journey, he wouldn't be back at the dry dock until at least 1 am!

  All the way, Heson was so anxious that he wished the truck could fly, which made the sailors in the carriage suffer.

  Far away, Zhang Hainuo saw that the truck was bouncing and jumping as if it had drunk wine. It seemed that those guys from Hesen were having a great time tonight, which suddenly ignited a fire in his chest. He would rather have Hesen explain clearly at the beginning that he wouldn't come for 5 or 6 hours or even all night, and he would still stand guard here without complaint, but he couldn't take pleasure in such low-level lies!

  The truck finally stopped next to the dry dock, a tall guy jumped down from the cab first, and then walked quickly towards Zhang Hainuo. Zhang Hainuo wiped his nose one last time, put away the handkerchief that was almost unusable, and then let out a loud shout:

  "Who?"

  The angry roar and the subsequent gunfire were so clear in this quiet night.

  "It's me! Roderick... von Hessen!" The voice was completely sober.

  Zhang Hainuo still held the gun, but no longer pointed it at Heisen.

  Hesen walked too fast and had to stop to catch his breath when he arrived at the dry dock before he could speak smoothly.

  "Ensign, you... are still here, didn't I tell you to stand watch for three hours?"

  "Captain, you can continue eating and drinking past the agreed time, but if I leave here, who will take over the watch? U-21 is an important asset of the Imperial Navy, I cannot irresponsibly leave!"

  "But... Lieutenant von Fenkenstein, where is your coat?"

  Less loaded, Zhang Hainuo thought in his heart.

  "My coat is in the dorm! Captain!"

  "You're not going back..." Hesen glanced at the dormitory not far away.

  "Are your soldiers allowed to leave their posts while on duty?" Zhang Hainuo asked bluntly.

  Hesen was stunned for a while before saying tactfully: "We... we ran into some trouble in Pola Port!"

  Zhang Hainuo didn't show any gratitude, but instead replied coldly: "Captain, you don't have to explain these things to me! Now, may I ask if I still need to continue standing guard here?"

  Hesen's tone was somewhat dismal, "Oh, never mind! Lieutenant, you can hand over the gun and go back!"

  "Thanks!" Zhang Hainuo handed the gun to him, saluted, and then walked towards the dormitory with a expressionless face. When passing by the truck, he also didn't greet any of the sailors here, including Prole and Otis.

  After returning to the dormitory, he didn't even drink a sip of water and fell asleep on the bed.

  Zhang Hainuo was drowsy and didn't know how long he had slept, until his thirst became unbearable, and he woke up from a dreamless sleep.

  "Ensign, you're finally awake!"

  What entered Zhang Hainuo's eyes was the small-sized lower officer Otis from yesterday. He saw him turn his head with a joyful face, "Captain, Lieutenant is awake!"

  Zhang Hainuo only then discovered that he was not only dry-mouthed and tongue-tied, but his head was also a bit dizzy, with a cool towel on his forehead. As for all over his body, there was a kind of soreness and fatigue that was completely different from injury.

  "Just as Zhang Hainuo was about to ask Otis, he saw Hersen's handsome face with sharp facial features and quickly remembered what happened last night."

  "Ensign, you're awake!" Hessen's words were as soft and gentle as Otis', with a mixture of concern and care that was not usually part of his normal demeanor, but unfortunately, the degree of gentleness seemed to be somewhat lacking.

  "Ah, Captain Heson! How long have I slept?" Zhang Haino raised his left hand, but found that the watch was gone, and he only had a shirt on.

  "Here it is!" Otis picked up a watch from his bedside table and handed it back to him, "It's already afternoon now! Lieutenant, you've slept for 16 hours!"

  "Last night you had a fever, probably from the sea breeze!" Hesen said, with no hint of disdain in his tone or eyes.

  "Oh? So long... I should get up then!" Zhang Haino struggled to prop himself up, not to mention the fever, even the severe injury last time couldn't knock him down.

  "Take a rest for a while and drink some water! I've asked them to cook fish porridge, it's good for your body!" Hesen's tone was vastly different from yesterday.

  "Thank you!" Zhang Hainuo was not stingy with these two words.

  "Actually we last night..." Hesen was about to explain something when Zhang Hainuo retorted coldly:

  "Captain, you don't need to explain anything. My cold and fever are just because my own body is too weak, can't blame anyone else!"

  "Ensign!" Otis handed Zhang Hainuo the water cup on the bedside table, saying with a sincere face: "We didn't understand your meaning at all yesterday. In fact, we went into town to buy things for a welcome dinner for you, and each of us bought some gifts! Look, this is indeed our 21st tradition!"

  Zhang Hainuo's hand, which was about to catch the water cup, stopped in mid-air. He looked at Otis and the small coffee cup on his other hand, then at Hersen, both of whom nodded almost simultaneously.

  "Look, we haven't even touched those dishes yet! And there are all the gifts!" Hesen turned sideways, pointing to the table by the door, on which were placed roasted chicken, bread, fruit and many large and small packages, including a big cake.

  "I...". Zhang Hainuo suddenly didn't know what to say, it seemed that he had really misunderstood He Sen.

  "It was all Mayer and Fink's fault last night, those two got drunk in the bar and started a brawl with some Austrian officers. When we heard about it, we were ready to head back, but Lieutenant, we can't leave our comrades in the Austrians' military police..."

  Hesen recounted the events of last night, and Zhang Hainuo thought that if it were him, he would also help his subordinates first. After understanding, he got out of bed, standing in front of Hesen wearing only a shirt and autumn pants, then stretched out his right hand.

  "I'm terribly sorry, Captain Hessen, I think I misunderstood you yesterday!"

  Hesen grasped Zhang Hainuo's hand without hesitation, smiling and saying: "It doesn't matter, as long as we don't continue to misunderstand each other! Actually, I didn't give you a good face at first because I was worried that you would take advantage of your military rank and noble status to bully these young men, but now I think you wouldn't be that kind of person, right?"

  This was the first time Zhang Hainuo saw Heisen smile, and he had to admit that this handsome "madman" captain was also charming when he smiled. There must be many girls in Germany who fell for him!