Chapter 4 The Seriously Injured Sedelitz

  In the darkness, Zhang Hainuo felt his way forward, fortunately, this cabin was not large, and he soon touched the metal handle of the cabin door. Turning clockwise, then pushing, the thick cabin door didn't budge, using more force, still no movement at all.

  Is it that I have no strength left at all, or is this cabin door locked from the outside?

  Zhang Hainuo had a bad feeling, could it be that his determination and great plan were going to come to nothing in front of this small cabin door? Fortunately, he didn't give up, but instead stood still and gathered his strength. At this moment, he suddenly remembered that the cabin doors on ships are usually opened inward, only he rarely took boats and hadn't thought of it for a while.

  Then he changed his push into a pull, and the door creaked open with a groan.

  Zhang Hainuo didn't have time to feel embarrassed about his recent sluggishness, when a smell that was hard to describe hit his nose. It smelled like burnt electrical wires, with a hint of charred food, and on top of that, the pungent smell of nitrate and sulfur mixed together.

  The foul smell made Zhang Hainuo's stomach churn instantly.

  The world outside the cabin door was much brighter, but overall the light wasn't strong. Zhang Hainuo's eyes quickly adapted. What presented itself before his eyes was a passageway two people wide, with dim yellow wall lamps spaced every few meters being the only source of light here, while the metallic floor and white-painted walls reflected faint cold glows.

  Zhang Hainuo took a step forward with trepidation, and the feeling of his bare feet on the floor was not good. Before he could take a few more steps, the front door suddenly opened. Out came a sailor who was not tall but quite sturdy, holding a metal tray in his hand, which was filled with bloody gauze.

  "Attention!" The man stood at attention with a loud "click".

  Is it Lieutenant? Who is it? Yourself?

  Zhang Hainuo lowered his head to take a look at himself, and under the light of the wall lamp, he only now discovered that he was wearing a full set of dark military uniforms. Unfortunately, the torn openings and gauze made him look utterly devoid of any heroic flair, instead giving off a somewhat tragic air.

  Is the other party calling himself "Provisional Lieutenant" because of his own attire, or is it because he originally knew himself? If it's the latter, then there can only be one explanation: when crossing over, he also occupied someone else's body.

  If so, then the previous owner of this body is what that young man called "Haino"?

  Zhang Hainuo stood there blankly until the other person repeated this title with great concern:

  "Second Lieutenant von Fenkenstein? Second Lieutenant! Are you all right?"

  Feng Fenkenshui

  Zhang Hainuo's second guess was confirmed, but he quickly came to his senses. Now is not the time to study this. Others think that they have suffered a brain injury and lost their memory, which is fine. But if they are mistaken for a mentally ill person or a spy, it would be terrible!

  However, Zhang Hainuo did not know what to do next in this situation. Should he raise his right hand and say "take a rest" or just raise his hand? Fortunately, his right hand wrapped in bandages saved him the trouble of saluting, and he nodded at the other person.

  "I'm fine! Uh... just take a break!"

  The other party indeed dispelled that standard standing posture and explained:

  "Sorry about that, I saw you were a bit distracted just now, and I was worried about you..."

  "I'm fine! That... he's okay, I guess!"

  There was obviously a wounded person in this cabin, but Zhang Hainuo had no idea who it was, so he could only use "he" as a substitute. Anyway, there were unlikely to be any women on this warship.

  "Wo Gen hasn't woken up yet, I just helped him change his bandage!" The sailor replied in a serious tone, then he looked at the bandages on Zhang Hainuo's body and said, "Lieutenant, I'll help you change your bandage an hour later!"

  It seems that this person should be a medical soldier on the ship, or a sailor who is in charge of similar duties. At this time, Zhang Haino tried his best to find some words that fit his military identity, but unfortunately, he was completely incapable of doing so.

  "Oh, if he wakes up, say hello to him for me! Now... you go ahead and do your thing! I'll just take a walk around... nothing much!"

  "Be careful then!"

  The sailor spoke with a cautious tone and ended with a salute.

  Zhang Hainuo hastily walked forward along the corridor, not caring where this side was leading to or whether walking barefoot would make people feel strange. After turning around the corner in front, he had a feeling of relief after the exam was over. But just as several sailors came from the front, one of whom was lying on a stretcher, and several others were also injured.

  "Acting Lieutenant!"

  "Acting Lieutenant!"

  "Take a break! Take a break!"

  Zhang Hainuo quickened his pace as he spoke, but the pain in his left foot made him walk unsteadily. At this moment, he regretted not turning back to his room earlier, which would have avoided the risk of exposing his "identity" by wandering around the unfamiliar cabin.

  Although he thought so in his heart, Zhang Hainuo continued to walk in this winding passage, where the air was filled with a foul smell and wounded sailors could be seen everywhere, but there were no huge holes caused by shells piercing and exploding as imagined. After seven turns and eight bends, a section of steel lattice stairs finally appeared in front of Zhang Hainuo.

  This might be the way to the deck!

  Zhang Hainuo took a deep breath and bore the pain as he walked upwards...

  Pushing open the heavy cabin door, a refreshing sea breeze hit him in the face, and Zhang Hainuo suddenly felt refreshed. He clearly heard the distant rumble of cannons in his ears, but everything in front of him was blurry.

  "A night without moonlight, darkness ruled the North Sea" - this is how historical records describe the night of the Battle of Jutland.

  Zhang Hainuo opened his eyes wide, trying to adapt to the darkness outside, but his line of sight could only reach the handrail of the ship's passage. Further out, except for the occasional flashes of light, it seemed like an endless black fog.

  Zhang Hainuo initially thought the light was distant cannon fire, but he soon discovered that the flashing light was lonely and quiet, with a certain regularity. So, it was a signal lamp used for close communication between ships, thinking of this, Zhang Hainuo couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

  But just now those rumbling cannon sounds were so real and clear, where is the battlefield after all?

  Zhang Hainuo took a step forward, turned around and gently closed the cabin door. For someone who was "boarding for the first time", it seemed simple to distinguish which side was the bow and which side was the stern, but when you were really on such a huge warship and the surrounding light didn't allow you to see the ripples on the sea surface clearly, it wasn't easy to tell.

  After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Haino chose the direction of his left hand, but he had only taken ten or so steps when he found that there was no road ahead - in front of him was a single-barreled naval gun hidden in a fully enclosed turret, its muzzle pointing towards the side like a fishbone, while the secondary guns were arranged on both sides of the hull in a single mount, a design that was very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

  Enduring the pain that came from various parts of his body, Zhang Haino turned around and walked in another direction. After passing by the cabin door he had just exited, he suddenly felt that the space in front of him was vast and open. Unfortunately, the limited light made it impossible for him to see clearly what was in front of him, but in his daze, he saw two huge black shadows, one tall and one short.

  At this time, Zhang Hainuo's heart was excited, because he remembered that the "Sedritz" had a total of five main turrets, one at the bow, two on either side of the middle of the hull, and only the stern had two tightly packed in front and back. Just as he was about to go to that black shadow to take a closer look, a cold voice suddenly came from the darkness:

  "Who is it?"

  Zhang Hainuo didn't know how to introduce himself, so he simply said "it's me", and in his heart hoped that this guy would also be familiar with "himself" just like the medic he had met before.

  "Who?" Next was the crisp sound of a rifle bolt being pulled back.

  In Germany, Zhang Hainuo felt the stereotype of locals doing things more than once, and this time he was both helpless and helpless.

  "I am Heino...Heino von Finkenstein...Rank: Lieutenant!"

  A weight off his shoulders, or perhaps the unease after a lie, Zhang Hainuo had already lost track of that strange feeling in his heart by the time he finished speaking.

  In the darkness, there is also an illusion of the yuan Shen returning to its position.

  "Ah, Lieutenant Fenske! Hello! Seaman Second Class Helmut reporting for duty!"

  "Take a break!" Zhang Hainuo hastily said.

  The footsteps started again and got closer and closer, but until the two were very close, Zhang Hainuo could only see the other's general appearance.

  He was a sturdy young sailor with a round cap on his head and a long rifle slung over his shoulder.

  "Adjutant, you're wounded!"

  "It doesn't matter!"

  "Is there something I can help you with?"

  "Uh... it's too stuffy in the cabin, I'll just come out and take a walk around... how's the situation outside?"

  After a moment of silence, the sailor said: "I'm not entirely sure, but our ship just exchanged fire with the British again!"

  In the distance, a burst of gunfire sounded on the surface of the sea. The light in front of Zhang Hainuo changed slightly, but returned to its original state after an instant.

  "It's our main fleet engaging them in battle!"

  "No, it should be just the vanguard squadron engaging the British! You hear, from earlier till now there hasn't been any sound of battleship cannons!"

  Zhang Hainuo had read a lot of texts and audio-visual materials related to naval battles, but this "listen to the sound and distinguish the flavor" really made him difficult. The distant sound came from a 105mm light-type naval gun, a 203mm medium-caliber gun, or a heavy-caliber gun over 300 meters? A person who had only been on a warship for a few hours was clearly unable to distinguish between them.

  Although he had no understanding of pure naval warfare technology, Zhang Hainuo still wanted to find the captain of this warship as soon as possible and see what he could do for this strongest fleet in German history with his knowledge of history.

  "Uh...do you know where the captain is right now?"

  "I heard his injuries are severe, now maybe in the infirmary, or perhaps in his own quarters, I'm not sure! Now 'Seydlitz' is commanded by Oberleutnant von Laurtz, but with our current situation...” The sailor turned around to glance at the two main turrets looming behind him on the dark edges, “We'll be lucky if we can make it back to Kiel!"

  "Colonel von Laurents..." In Zhang Hainuo's mind, this name was just like the previous few, without any impression.

  "Is he in the command tower on the bridge?"

  "Command tower?" The sailor looked extremely surprised when he heard these words.

  "Our bridge was knocked out this afternoon! Now there's nothing left but a pile of scrap metal!"

  Zhang Haino finally came to his senses, and the historical "Seydlitz" had an experience in the Battle of Jutland that was fully worthy of the word "thrilling"! "The hull was severely damaged, combat effectiveness was completely lost, and it took more than 100 days to repair" - with Germany's developed shipbuilding industry and wartime system during World War I, more than 100 days were enough to overhaul a large warship from top to bottom, and Seydlitz was also the German High Seas Fleet's most damaged warship that took the longest time to repair, which is enough to illustrate the extent of damage this battleship had suffered at the time!

  "I think Colonel Lorenz and the remaining officers should be in the auxiliary command center, right there!" The sailor pointed with his right hand above Zhang Hainuo's head, still only seeing some vague outlines, but fortunately he still knew that large warships usually set up the rear bridge of the ship as an auxiliary command center.

  "Oh, I see! Thanks!"

  Zhang Hainuo took a step forward with pain, but he immediately remembered something very important.

  "Can I get on from here?"

  "Hmm, the ladder hasn't been blown up yet!"

  The sailor apparently misunderstood Zhang Hainuo's meaning, and he didn't even know where there was a ladder to the rear bridge on this side. At this time, Zhang Hainuo couldn't ask again, but at least he knew that the general bridge could be accessed from both inside the cabin and outside the stairs. He really didn't want to wander around in the maze-like ship's passageway anymore, so he followed the direction of the sailor's finger, feeling his way forward, and soon found the external ladder leading to the upper deck.

  After a difficult climb up, he was questioned again by another sailor and then allowed to pass through the external ladder to go up one more level to the rear deck of the ship.

  After arriving at the external corridor of the rear deck, Zhang Hainuo hesitated for a moment about how to speak up. At this time, the sea surface in front suddenly flashed with red light, followed by a very dense cannon fire, and the noise was much louder than before. Unfortunately, the ship was still too far away from the battlefield, and Zhang Hainuo could only see that faint glow.

  Just then, the cabin door in front of Zhang Hainuo suddenly opened and several military officers rushed out. They ran to the end of the corridor, holding binoculars and looking in the direction where the flames and sounds were coming from.

  Zhang Hainuo didn't want to disturb them in the past, so he could only stand silently on the spot and wait. However, the dense cannon fire came one after another, and the flashing flames continued to reflect the edge of the sea and sky in red. The battle there seemed to have no intention of stopping at all.

  The officers standing a few steps in front of him sometimes silently observed the distance, sometimes whispered to each other, occasionally someone would go into the bridge to convey orders, and someone would bring new orders from above, but no one cared why Zhang Haino, such a small figure, was standing here.

  The view from the rear deck was not good enough, and the smoke coming out of the chimney was very choking. However, the first few officers were still on duty there, and this shift lasted nearly an hour!

  During this time, Zhang Hainuo did not have the opportunity to say even a word. But he was not afraid, it's just that for a moment he didn't know what he could say. Should he tell them that an aircraft carrier can deal with warships? Should he tell them that setting up a large ambush circle with submarines would make the British suffer heavy losses? No, this is an ongoing naval battle, and all strategic things are useless.

  The current Zhang Hainuo is neither a magician nor a goddess of fate. He's just a wounded soldier with zero combat power, not even able to withstand a single cannonball!

  The cannon fire gradually subsided and finally stopped, and the sea surface in front of them returned to calm. The leading officers finally put down their binoculars, and under the leadership of a medium-sized officer, they turned around and started walking inside.

  What should I do? Zhang Hainuo fell into a moment of confusion, and just go back to his own cabin like this? No, can't be! His original intention was absolutely not to act as a pure spectator!

  Thinking of this, Zhang Hainuo plucked up his courage and walked forward.

  "Hainuo, how did you end up here?"

  Before Hai No spoke, the officer who was in charge opened his mouth first.

  "Colonel von Laurence..." Zhang Hainuo said the name nervously, he was really worried that the person in front of him wasn't the temporary commander mentioned by the sailor, but fortunately he had guessed correctly.

  "Is your injury okay?" The officer took two steps closer, his tone sounding quite concerned.

  "I'm fine! Captain, may I ask... can I know the current situation of the fleet?" Zhang Haino was still nervous, he knew that with his military rank, he might not have the qualification to ask too many tactical questions, but he still decided to try his luck.

  "The high seas fleet is basically safe now, but..." The officer's words trailed off as he took a step forward, his left hand lightly grasping Zhang Hainuo's shoulder. "Come on in!"

  Xiang Hainuo followed him into the bridge, now he was surprised at the relationship between his body's owner and Colonel Lorenz. From the colonel's tone and actions, the two were not in a normal superior-subordinate relationship, but he didn't have more energy to think about these things, he just wanted to help the fleet as much as possible.

  "At our current course, the fleet will soon pass through the Horn Reef and return to base, but we..."

  The principal paused for a moment, as if it took great courage to say this sentence.

  "Our speed can't keep up with the High Seas Fleet, to preserve the overall situation, I think Admiral Scheer will make the right choice! We... alas, we may never return to Germany again!"

  Zhang Hainuo fell into a daze again, "Sedlitz" can't return to Germany? How is this possible! Although the ultimate fate of this high-speed warship in history was at the bottom of the sea, it was definitely not here!

  "All our main guns are out of commission, the hold is flooded with several thousand tons of seawater, it's a miracle we've made it this far! Hayno, I hope you understand, our glorious battle has ended, everyone has given their all! Even in death, we will be proud of ourselves!"

  The principal spoke proudly with his head held high, and at this time, everyone around him also adopted the same posture. This fearlessness of death, this arrogance, all made Zhang Hainuo fall in love with this world in an instant.

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