Chapter 5 The Road Ahead

  For the German civilians who had suffered four years of war, the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II was not bad news, as it meant that the disastrous war would soon be over.

  But for some military men with strong traditional consciousness, this news is even worse than a crushing defeat. They lost the object of their loyalty overnight and felt empty inside.

  On U-148, the joy of having safely traversed the Strait of Gibraltar was utterly shattered by this ruthless message. The crew's faces were ashen; silently they removed their caps from their heads and clutched them tightly to their chests.

  Here is the translation:

  It's probably Zhang Hainuo who has no special feelings about the abdication of the German Emperor. This young man from decades in the future has a lukewarm view of imperial power, thinking that as a historical trend, it will only be symbolically preserved in a few countries, and while the autocracy of the monarchical system can strengthen centralization, some mistakes may lead the country down a path of no return.

  However, Zhang Haino still observed a ten-minute silence with the sailors to pay their last respects to the deceased monarch. After that, he spoke to the sailors in a firm tone:

  "Gentlemen, although His Majesty the German Emperor has abdicated, we will not abandon the duties and responsibilities of a German soldier. We must continue to fight for Germany, and we will never surrender to our enemies! Let us preserve our U-148 and not let it fall into the hands of the British or French - this is what we need to do now!"

  The crew members all cast their eyes on the young captain, who was as young as themselves. Although his words were inspiring, everyone's mood at this time was generally not high, and the fighting spirit revealed in those pairs of eyes with various meanings was still very weak.

  This was also one of Zhang Hainuo's greatest concerns, because according to the historical process, in three days Germany should have announced its surrender, which would be another heavy blow for these German soldiers who valued loyalty and honor above all else.

  "For our country, for our navy, for our families! Everyone, cheer up, let's go and complete the arduous mission that others dare not think of, and make our enemies restless in panic and fear!"

  Zhang Hainuo was like a cheerleader at this moment, constantly using his motivational words to boost the morale of these depressed sailors, letting them walk out of their dazed state, raise their heads and chests again, and regain their courage and vitality.

  "Our family is waiting for us to return home safely, and we not only have to return intact to them, but also bring back the highest honor and wealth that can make them live a good life!"

  When the country's predicament has lost all chance of redemption, a small family is often people's last psychological dependence. Zhang Hainuo's speech, although not brilliant and cannot be compared to Hitler's passionate oratory skills, still gradually moved the crew members. More and more of them stopped hanging their heads in shame, some slowly put back on their hats, and some began to focus all their attention on the prospects painted by Zhang Hainuo.

  "In four to five days, we will be able to enter the Aegean Sea. I believe that Captain Hosen and his crew are already waiting for us there! The situation there may be better than we imagine, boys, brave adventurers, the place where our dreams come true is ahead of us. It won't take long before we return to Germany and start our new life!"

  Not long after Zhang Hainuo's words fell, the first applause came from the silent air, followed by the second and third. Zhang Hainuo turned his head and saw that Otto von Grenwitz, Edwin, and Simon were all applauding, although the applause of these officers was not intense and seemed a bit sparse, but the atmosphere on the boat finally ushered in an important turning point.

  "Captain, I support you!"

  Firehead Army Blatz, also the strongest man on this submarine, let out a mighty roar with his powerful voice.

  This is not a script, if Zhang Hainuo had been in the medical profession before, he might have thought of finding such a script to set off the atmosphere, but every word and sentence of Brat's comes from his heart.

  "Captain, I support you!"

  "Captain, we support you!"

  As such voices grew in number, Zhang Hainuo kept nodding to these young sailors. He knew that he had already taken the most solid step on the road to success.

  To avoid being discovered by Allied ships, Zhang Haino deliberately chose to navigate in waters far from the usual shipping lanes over the next few days. The officers and men of U-148 took turns standing watch on deck and in the conning tower, and since the submarine was small in size and had better performance in terms of turning, reversing, etc., they were able to safely avoid reefs, whirlpools, and other hazards along the way.

  The only accident occurred on the evening of November 10, when U148 was avoiding a cargo ship in the waters south of Italy and accidentally scraped against a submerged rock. Although the submarine quickly escaped danger, Zhang Haino had to order the submarine to stop for inspection, with mixed results. The good news was that the power equipment, oil tanks, and main lines on the boat were not damaged, and its navigation ability was basically unaffected. The bad news was that the sharp rocks had scratched open a hole in the position of the freshwater tank at the bottom of the boat, instantly reducing the submarine's freshwater reserves by half, and this breach would have a very unfavorable impact on the submarine's deep-water diving!

  This time, Zhang Haino did not hide from the crew members, but frankly told everyone that they must conserve water as much as possible before the submarine arrived in the Aegean Sea. To his surprise, the mood of the crew members was not affected by this unexpected event, but instead became more united.

  November 11th, the day when Germany surrendered to the Allied Powers in World War I, was a day that Zhang Haino paid great attention to. Since the German Emperor had already "timely" abdicated, he believed that everything here had not changed much due to his arrival. However, until midnight on that day, no telegrams related to the end of the war were received, and both the radio stations in Wilhelmshaven and Berlin unexpectedly remained silent.

  This night was quite hard for Zhang Hainuo, he let the communication officer Luozi and his deputy take turns to stick to the radio station, while he himself would go to the command cabin every one or two hours, intuition told him that this night was very important.

  As expected, at 5 o'clock in the morning, Berlin Radio finally sent a plaintext telegram, which was aimed at all German troops and civilians. The content was very heavy, requiring "the army to withdraw from Germany in an orderly manner and be responsible for maintaining domestic order, the navy to strictly guard each port and wait for further orders".

  After this, Radio Berlin sent a plain-language telegram with the same content every fifteen minutes.

  The day finally arrived, and coincidentally, Zhang Haino and his U-148 entered the Aegean Sea area through the Antikythera Strait between the Greek Peloponnese Peninsula and Crete in the early morning of this day.

  This is destined to be the end of an old era and also a brand new beginning.