Chapter 32: Omens Surrounding Him

  Before a battle begins, the commander's words are the most influential on the soldiers' emotions. Whether to fight with all one's might or to make a desperate last stand, this largely depends on the commander's mouth.

  "Maintain one-third speed, dive to a depth of 35 meters! Fellows, we may have to stay underwater for several hours, so from now on everyone should minimize unnecessary activities and try to remain as quiet as possible! When the British are tired, we'll go up and give them a good thrashing!"

  Standing on the commanding position of Hesenping, Zhang Hainuo felt his heart beating fast, but his expression was still very calm, and his tone was also leisurely. He tried to concentrate his attention as much as possible without guessing the outcome of the battle, although the enemy was much stronger than himself.

  The newcomers still looked a bit nervous, but the atmosphere was not too heavy. The three most important cabins, the torpedo room, engine room and command cabin, were all guarded by experienced lieutenants and officers. Zhang Haino didn't have to worry about his orders being executed accurately.

  As senior first officer on the boat, Simon would every now and then call out a number indicating the submarine's depth:

  "15 meters...... 18 meters...... 20 meters...... 25 meters...... 30 meters...... 35 meters......"

  "Cease diving! Five degrees to 350! Hold one-third speed!"

  Zhang Hainuo was not as good at grasping time as He Sen, but he still tried to reduce the frequency of looking at his watch, so as not to make himself appear too tense and infect the sailors with this bad mood.

  Time is ticking away second by second, except for the engine, there are basically no other sounds on the boat.

  Ten minutes later, Zhang Hainuo ordered the shutdown of the engines.

  People began to prick up their ears, and at first the world was silent, but before long a faint humming noise came from the surface of the sea. The crew members, whether new or old, subconsciously raised their heads, although they couldn't see anything except for the pipe-filled ceiling.

  Zhang Hainuo clasped his hands to his chest, his head slightly lowered, thinking about the various tactics that Hersen had used. In the eyes of the enemy, U21 was like a small viper, you wanted to catch it but couldn't, and if you weren't careful, it would slip out from some corner and bite you, and this one bite would make you grit your teeth in pain.

  As a modern person from the 1990s, Zhang Hainuo should have had more examples to draw upon and a broader mindset, but when it came down to actual combat, he found that he couldn't think of much.

  Dong...

  As expected by Zhang Hainuo, the first muffled thunder soon sounded, followed by the second and third ones. The continuous booming sounds made people feel as if they were experiencing a violent thunderstorm, and also like participating in an ancient military parade. These sounds were sometimes near and sometimes far, sometimes loud and sometimes small. Although at the beginning, the submarine did not produce even the slightest vibration due to them, the sailors' faces still showed anxiety.

  Zhang Hainuo really wanted to tell everyone that this was a common tactic used by the British, they were just making empty threats, and no shells or torpedoes would accurately fall near U171, but in the last moment, he changed his mind, because at first Heisen was one-on-one teaching himself, and now he was facing a group of newcomers, such an explanation might be considered intentional comfort by them.

  Maybe it's better for them to experience real combat themselves!

  In addition, Zhang Hainuo had a faint worry in his heart, which came from that British airship. It must have seen the location where U171 dived down. Although the submarine went forward for a distance after diving down, this was obviously not enough to be safe.

  Things often go like this, the more you fear something, the more it comes. After the initial few minutes of thunder with no rain, the sea surface suddenly calmed down, and when people's eardrums returned to their original state, they found that the buzzing sound was closer than ever before.

  Rumble...

  The U-171 in the water suddenly shook violently, and Zhang Haino, who was standing at the periscope position, almost lost his balance and fell. Before he could give any instructions, another loud noise made the submarine's shaking even more severe.

  This scene, Zhang Hainuo had seen in many movies. When the depth charge exploded at close range, the submarine not only shook violently but also experienced a brief blackout, then some pipes suddenly burst, and people had to rush to close the corresponding valves.

  Fortunately, U171 was only shaking violently with the explosions for now. Zhang Haino and the crew members were all looking for something to hold onto to prevent themselves from falling over, and for a while, they didn't have time to care about the shockwave hitting their eardrums. Before long, Zhang Haino's ears started ringing. Looking at the others, who were also contorted in pain, he felt a surge of anger rising up his chest.

  "Start the engines, full speed ahead!"

  In just a few minutes, U171 changed from a stationary hover to an underwater cruise at nearly 8 knots. Next, Zhang Haino constantly changed the submarine's course, and at first, those violent explosions seemed to be getting farther away, but in no time they followed again like sharks smelling blood.

  *silence*

  This time, the shock was so strong that Zhang Hainuo didn't fall down, but he stared blankly as several cabin wall lamps burst. Immediately after, the engine room reported that a water pipe had ruptured and they were working hard to repair it.

  Almost all eyes in the command cabin were cast on Zhang Haino, and after a moment of confusion, he immediately came to his senses. As the commander of this submarine, his primary task was not how to kill the enemy, but to protect the submarine and its personnel.

  The current situation has far exceeded his expectations, but he can't just sit and wait for death, and should think of a way to get U171 out of the current predicament as soon as possible.

  Taking advantage of the explosion's interval, Zhang Haino grabbed the loudspeaker, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and commanded in as calm a tone as possible:

  "Dive to 40 meters! Edwin, take two people to the engine room for support. Everyone else, stay at your posts. If you find any leaks or other situations, report to me immediately!"

  At this time, the quality of German sailors quickly emerged. Under the leadership of officers and old sailors, the danger in the engine room was soon brought under control, and the submarine also went full speed ahead to dive deeper.

  The explosion sound went away again, but Zhang Hainuo didn't have time to catch his breath, the British bomb was coming after him once more.

  "45 meters!" Zhang Hainuo gritted his teeth.

  "Ensign!" The first lieutenant, Simon, who was controlling the submarine, turned around, "We're afraid we can't dive again!"

  "What?" Zhang Hainuo looked at Simon not far away, and after a dizziness just passed, he let go of his hand and thought for a few steps to cross over, but another dizziness came too tightly, and he fell heavily on the hard floor, his elbow hitting painfully. But now he can't take care of so many things, half crawling and half walking to move to Simon's side.

  "Why can't we dive again?"

  "Sorry, Lieutenant, I haven't had a chance to tell you about this! Our submarine was tested to its designed maximum depth of 45 meters when it was first commissioned, but at less than 43 meters, the pipes inside burst due to excessive pressure. We invited experts from the shipyard to inspect and they said it's a technical flaw in U171's construction, but as long as we don't exceed 40 meters, there won't be any problem! Since then, we've never dived below 40 meters again, so..."

  "Damn it!" Zhang Haino finally cursed, but he wasn't blaming anyone. In fact, he also knew that even if they simply dove down another 5 or 10 meters to get out of the current unfavorable situation, the possibility of success was not great.

  Just then, a report came from the battery compartment that gave Zhang Haino a big headache:

  "The battery's power can only supply the submarine with full speed for 15 minutes!"

  15 minutes! Was it hoped that after 15 minutes the British ammunition would be exhausted?

  No, on the battlefield one cannot hope for the enemy's mercy!

  Zhang Hainuo kept telling himself to calm down, he must calm down, only by calming down can he think of a solution! He absolutely cannot give up like this!

  At this time, he suddenly remembered the experiences of German submarines during World War II. Being attacked by Allied warships was almost a routine for them. Some were unfortunately sunk, while others managed to escape safely again and again thanks to the cleverness of their captains. The methods they used...

  "Edwin! Are you still in the engine room?"

  "Yes, Heinrich, what instructions?"

  "Edwin, listen to me, listen carefully! Bring several barrels of engine oil from the engine room to the torpedo compartment at the bow of the boat. Fire two torpedoes with maximum depth setting and put the oil into the empty torpedo tubes. Find some clothes, bottles and cans, etc., and stuff them all in. Don't ask why, just do what I say immediately!"

  "Alright!"

  After finishing all this in one breath, Zhang Hainuo only discovered that his heart was beating so fast. In this era, the captains who used this method were only a handful, he thought, and the British should be deceived, otherwise his journey through time would have ended here!