Chapter 4: Daring to Cross Over
"The interval between two patrol boats may be 2 minutes or it may be 15 minutes! Is the British patrol completely irregular?"
Staring at the periscope's observation port, Zhang Hainuo muttered to himself.
He had been lurking at the westernmost end of the strait for more than two hours, observing the surroundings. As is well known, the Strait of Gibraltar is like an ancient hourglass laid flat - narrowing slowly from west to east, and the most effective way to blockade this strait is between the British-occupied Rock of Gibraltar and Morocco's Mount Alho, where the narrowest point is. The heavy artillery deployed in the fortress of Gibraltar can seal off the exit of this 13-kilometer-wide strait!
There's no doubt that the submarine wants to pass through here without being detected, and a dark night is more advantageous than broad daylight. Today, heaven seems to be especially favorable to these bold German sailors: thick clouds cover the moon and stars, and not a speck of natural light can be seen on the surface of the sea.
But those British patrol boats, perhaps only a few hundred tons in size and equipped with small-caliber guns and machine guns, appeared frequently around here like a group of vigilant hunting dogs, making it impossible to navigate through the surface!
Why don't we let the submarine pass through here in a submerged way like Hessen?
Staff officer Otto was advised in this way. After learning the news of the German Emperor's abdication, he remained silent for a long time until after dinner Zhang Hainuo took the initiative to have a face-to-face conversation with him, and the emotions of this Baden nobleman were somewhat relieved. However, when the action of crossing the Strait of Gibraltar began, he returned to being that Otto von Grenzbach who was good at and dared to offer opinions.
No! That's too reckless!
Intuition told Zhang Hainuo that the British could not have made no changes to their Gibraltar blockade line for more than two years, and their intelligence department may have learned a long time ago that a batch of German submarines had slipped into the Mediterranean under their noses. Perhaps the depths of the strait were already filled with bottom mines and anchor mines designed to deal with submarines. If all this was unfortunately guessed by Zhang Hainuo, then the larger U-148's attempt to pass through the blockade line in front of it would pose a huge threat!
In an era without boat-mounted radar and active sonar, U-148 was fundamentally unable to probe ahead for the presence of mines, and a single conventional contact mine would be enough to send it to the bottom forever!
Considering these, Zhang Haino felt that passing through the 15-kilometer "narrow section" of Gibraltar in a surface or semi-submerged state, although it looked adventurous, would actually have a higher success rate - because the British also thought that German submarines would not dare to drift past their own eyes. This was Zhang Haino's reverse thinking gained from previous battles.
Another half hour passed, and finally something different appeared in the periscope. Far away, there were two lanterns floating on the surface of the sea, but as the distance gradually drew closer, a glint of light flashed through Zhang Hainuo's eyes: although it was only a ship with a tonnage that might not even reach 4,000 tons, its body was enough to serve as cover for U-148!
"Start the engines, proceed at one-third impulse speed!"
The sea creature that had been lurking underwater for a long time finally slowly moved its icy hard body, the propeller spinning and creating a cluster of bubbles. Fortunately, this slight movement on the surface of the water was able to evade the British patrol boats under the cover of night.
"Angle!"
“191！”
After getting this answer, Zhang Hainuo almost didn't need to think much, "Turn 2 degrees to 358!"
He immediately closed the periscope handle, "Dive!"
The bulge on the surface of the sea, which was not much larger than a can of sardines, had just sunk beneath the water when a beam of searchlight swept over the spot where it had last been seen.
Not far away, a patrol boat flying the St. George's cross naval flag was slowly approaching this way, and its signal lamp was flashing signals:
"Ship's identity!"
"Spanish merchant vessel Olusk, SP711, departing New York, bound for Malaga, requests passage through the strait!"
The freighter unambiguously signaled this series of signals, and the Gibraltar fortress, although it is Spain's "land within a country", has long decided on the situation between countries. Even if it were a Spanish ship, it would have to lower its head to pass through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Before long, the British patrol boat verified the identity of the other party and then struck out another string of signals: "Agreed to pass through, please follow me through the strait!"
The Spanish ship unwillingly ran up the signal: "Saluting the great King George V of England!"
At this time, neither the proud British nor the resentful Spanish had thought that there was a German submarine under the water surface nearby, and no listening device was used to monitor the underwater situation on such small patrol boats and the following cargo ships.
16 minutes later, Zhang Haino ordered the periscope to be raised on time. If someone is not mentally prepared, they will definitely be frightened by the white hull of the ship that appears to be within arm's reach in the periscope. However, after reducing the magnification factor to the minimum, people will find that this ship is still 30 or 40 meters away from them!
"Angle!"
“183！”
"Come two degrees to port 003! Take in the periscope! Simon, report submarine's course!"
Ximon, a few steps behind Zhang Hainuo, glanced at the instrument panel in front of him, "East by North 5 degrees 30 minutes!"
"Very well, proceed at one-third speed ahead! Prepare for surfacing!"
Zhang Hainuo issued one order after another very smoothly, and everything seemed to be pre-arranged.
No one asked why preparations for surfacing were being made in such a situation; at this moment, everyone would trust completely the sole commander of the submarine, Heino von Finkenstein.
Before long, a calm and collected voice came through the loudspeaker:
"The ballast tank is ready for drainage and can float at any time!"
"Raise periscope!" Zhang Haino's command came exactly 10 seconds after the previous order to lower it.
This time, the white hull was really close at hand - even with the magnification reduced to its lowest power, the person standing in front of the periscope had a feeling that the other side would touch him at any moment, but an experienced commander could still distinguish between the opponent and the true distance from the periscope.
"Turn 2 degrees to 001!" After a 10-second pause, Zhang Haino estimated that the distance between the ships was just right and quickly gave the order:
"Hard to port 358! Take in the periscope! Rise to half-submerged state!"
If someone stood at the stern of that Spanish freighter and looked carefully aft, he would be astonished to find that less than 20 meters off the ship's starboard quarter, a dark, oval-shaped iron container was visible, and what made it even more eerie was that this seemed far from being all of the underwater object.
The Spanish freighter was just ahead, and a few dozen meters further on was a British patrol boat, but neither the Spaniards nor the British had noticed that they were being followed by an uninvited guest!
The most dangerous place is often the safest place!
At this moment, Zhang Haino finally felt what it was like to combine bravery and skill. If he were to write a memoir in the future, this experience would definitely be a highlight! It's just unknown whether the British people would sigh with emotion or scold it as a pure lie after reading it, but these are all unimportant! After safely passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, the world in front of him suddenly became bright and clear!
