Chapter 56: Happy Hunting

  June 2, 1918, 3:00 AM

  In the drizzle of small rain, the sea surface is dark and heavy, and the swordfish-like long and sharp hull is well hidden in the waves under the night sky.

  Standing on the conning tower of the submarine, Zhang Haino saw a lighthouse in his line of sight. The rainy day and the simple nautical chart made him uncertain about his exact location, but judging from the route, this should be the east coast of the United States. And the lighthouse in front, which still emitted bright light beams during wartime, must be a directional mark outside some American port.

  If it weren't for the storm that lasted for two days and one night, causing U-148 to deviate from its planned route by over a hundred nautical miles, Zhang Haino should have arrived here three days ago. At the same time, the excessive consumption of fuel beyond the plan also made him somewhat worried.

  *sigh*...

  On the vast and dark sea surface, a majestic whistle sound suddenly came. Zhang Hainuo had been in this era for one year and eleven months. Except for the first three months of recuperation, the rest of the time was spent on submarines and ports, so he could still easily distinguish between various ship whistles. The whistle just now was not something that an ordinary ferry or a light warship could produce.

  "All hands enter the inner compartment, check the closure of each watertight door, and prepare the torpedo room for launch!"

  Although the guy who made a huge noise had not yet appeared in his line of sight, Zhang Haino still issued the combat command in time. As the urgent alarm bell rang out, the crew members rushed to their respective battle stations, and the deck was quickly empty, while the fore and aft torpedo compartments also reported "ready" two minutes later.

  *sigh*...

  That sound rose again, clearer and louder, even giving people a sense of oppression as if it was right in front of them: the next moment this enormous beast would burst out of the fog and capsize the submarine without mercy.

  Still standing on the submarine's conning tower were Zhang Haino and his staff officer Otto von Grenzbach.

  Although there was a sense of impending collision in his mind, and his heart had a hanging feeling, experience told Zhang Haino not to worry, that big guy was at least 5 or 6 nautical miles away from here, it should not have passed by the lighthouse yet.

  So Zhang Hainuo gazed calmly at the sea in front of him, which also comforted the young lieutenant beside him who was slightly tense.

  Otto von Grenwitz is only 19 years and 8 months old, graduated from the Kiel Naval Academy half a year ago, and can also be considered Zhang Hainuo's younger brother. He is a noble of Baden, and it is said that their family has some reputation in Baden, but because he is the fifth son of the family, Otto neither inherited his father's noble title nor had much opportunity to become the leader of the family, so he chose to serve in the German submarine force. This young man is very humble in front of Zhang Hainuo and works very hard, but there is one thing, he seems not to be willing to get too close to the sailors from civilian backgrounds, and when talking to them, he often takes on a superior attitude.

  After a few minutes, Zhang Hainuo finally saw a vague shadow of a ship passing by the lighthouse through his telescope. The light from the lighthouse can play a very good guiding role for ships entering and leaving the port, which is beyond doubt. However, during wartime, it becomes an unsafe factor that exposes the location of the port and attracts enemy warships. Therefore, after the outbreak of war, the ports of countries such as Britain, France, and Germany will basically close their lighthouses with a heavy heart and switch to navigation lights with smaller targets. However, Americans far away from the European battlefield apparently have not yet developed this habit.

  Zhang Haino didn't know how many submarines the German Navy had sent to the eastern seaboard of the United States before U-148, but he believed that U-148 was neither the first nor would it be the last, because the military supplies, food and the threat posed by American soldiers to Germany were too great!

  Although the distance was quite far, Zhang Hainuo could still judge that it was a 10,000-ton merchant ship. It didn't necessarily have to be from America to Britain, nor did it have to be an American or British ship, but he decided to use this "jinx" to boost the morale of the boat's recent slump.

  "Proceed at one-third speed, set depth of No. 1 and No. 2 torpedoes to 3 meters, gyro angle zero! Set depth of No. 3 and No. 4 torpedoes to 2 meters, gyro angle zero!"

  Two minutes later, he ordered: "Maintain one-third speed, 2 degrees turn to 25!"

  The sleek hull largely offset the disadvantages of increased volume on maneuverability and enhanced the submarine's ability to adapt to sea conditions while sailing on the surface, so Zhang Haino was still very satisfied with the navigation performance of this U-148. If the battery storage capacity is a bit more and the detection equipment is better, then this submarine can be called perfect in the early 20th century.

  That vague ship shadow soon left the lighthouse illumination range and disappeared into the darkness. Nevertheless, Zhang Haino quickly calculated its approximate route of advance based on its last course and speed. After estimating that he was close to the opponent's route, he ordered the submarine to shut down the engine, and all 4 torpedoes at the bow were ready for launch.

  Compared with the previous medium-sized submarine, the 6 x 500mm torpedo tubes equipped on U-148 have not increased much in number, but the carrying capacity has almost doubled! The bow torpedo room is equipped with 6 spare torpedoes, and there are two more at the stern, plus the 12 mines carried on the boat. Once U-148 sets sail, it poses a threat to the enemy equivalent to two medium-sized submarines sailing alone!

  Perhaps due to the previous cargo ship being attacked near the US coast, the merchant ship discovered by Zhang Hainuo was not navigating with a searchlight and did not continue to sound its horn. However, when it appeared in front of U-148 at over 2000 yards away, the sparse lights on the ship and its originally very large hull were enough for Zhang Hainuo and his torpedo to lock onto the target.

  Under such visual conditions, the sailors on that ship did not discover the black German submarine 2000 yards away with its hull close to the water surface, and the calm sea conditions also favored the Germans - the gentle wind and rain would not affect the torpedoes advancing underwater two or three meters, but reduced the chances of the other side discovering the torpedo.

  Then, after comfortably calculating the optimal launch time of the torpedo, Zhang Hainuo confidently ordered the launch of No. 1 torpedo. A white line composed of a large amount of bubbles quickly extended forward like someone drawing a line on a blackboard with chalk, and then disappeared from his sight about twenty or thirty meters away.

  In the early 20th century, although fluorescent powder had been discovered, the manufacturing process was not yet advanced, and the high cost made it impossible to popularize, so Zhang Hainuo's watch or pocket watch on his body did not have night vision capability in the dark. Therefore, Zhang Hainuo also developed a habit of counting seconds silently, and counting sixty times at most would only differ from the time on the watch by one or two seconds, but the premise was that he had to concentrate during the silent counting process, which was still some distance from Hersen's precise sense of time.

  When Zhang Hai counted to one hundred and three, the dark sea surface suddenly brightened up, followed by a deafening explosion sound coming from the front. A huge fireball rose stubbornly in the drizzle. At this moment, Zhang Hai saw clearly the appearance of that cargo ship and the flag on its mast - it was an ill-fated American ship!

  Zhang Hainuo raised his head, letting the fine raindrops fall on his face. He felt that being a German submarine commander was the coolest and most handsome thing at this moment.