Chapter 43: Knight Spirit

  Looking at the shocking scene on the sea surface, Zhang Hainuo felt that even the Titanic sinking scene was not as tragic as this.

  Two 450mm T-type torpedoes, one of which struck the bow of the American liner, had a warhead weighing over 100kg loaded with a mixture of explosives that was 7% more powerful than pure TNT. In an instant, it blasted a hole several meters wide in the hull without any armor protection. However, this was not the most fatal - the second torpedo of the same type hit the middle of its hull, and the intense explosion actually broke the keel of the ship. An animal that loses its spine will be paralyzed, and a liner that loses its keel will break into two pieces in tens of seconds, greatly accelerating its sinking process.

  When U-171 surfaced off Shanghai, the last mast of the liner also disappeared beneath the surface.

  The Germans' attack came so suddenly and violently that the people on board had no time to lower even one lifeboat. Some were killed in the explosion, some were trapped inside the ship's cabins and went down with the wreckage, others were swept away by the whirlpool caused by the sinking ship. Only a few dozen survivors remained, including women and children. The vast majority of them did not wear life jackets. Some had followed their companions to death, some were on the verge of dying, some clung to floating objects on the surface of the water, and more people continued to struggle with the cold sea water.

  The joy of sinking an enemy ship was gone in this moment, the German crew fell silent.

  Zhang Hainuo suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of guilt in his heart, war is indeed the most terrible thing for humanity, and it is also the shadow that humanity cannot shake off.

  But war is not something that can be stopped by one person!

  "Edwin, is this the cruelest aspect of war?"

  Zhang Hainuo stared blankly at the sea surface.

  "They were all innocent civilians!"

  Edwin standing beside him looked equally glum.

  "Let's do something!"

  "I agree!"

  "Alright!" Zhang Hainuo immediately turned his gaze back to the deck of this submarine and shouted loudly: "Everyone, our duty is to sink that freighter, we have fulfilled the responsibility entrusted to us by the country! Now, let's save these poor people!"

  The sailors on the deck turned their heads one by one to look at Zhang Hainuo, and instead of surprise, they showed a relieved expression. It seems that their hearts were also suffering, during the battle they were the strongest warriors, but now, their honor, their spirit are calling out: save these poor civilians!

  Under Zhang Haino's command, the crew quickly sprang into action. Those who were good swimmers put on life jackets and tied ropes around their bodies, while others on deck took charge of pulling the ropes. Before long, people began jumping into the water.

  Zhang Haino stood on the command tower, leading the submarine to approach the fallen person's most likely location while also paying attention to avoid the propeller's vortex from sweeping away the fallen person.

  The crew members wearing life jackets kept searching for survivors on the sea surface, and after pulling out those who had fallen into the water, they were pulled back onto the boat by people on board with ropes. This process looked simple but was actually time-consuming and laborious, yet not a single German crew member complained, some of whom were already exhausted still gritted their teeth and swam towards the next person in the water...

  Two hours later, the last person who fell into the water was finally rescued onto the submarine.

  Zhang Haino believes that since U171 was launched, it has never carried so many people. Looking around, the foredeck and afterdeck are all crowded with people, men and women, old and young, due to the limited space on the deck, many of them have to stand, while the extra seats are given to the elderly, women and children.

  These people were all soaked to the skin, fortunately it was already June and the afternoon sun could bring some warmth to these poor people. The several children and old men had clean blankets draped over their shoulders.

  As he watched his crewmen busy on the deck settling down the survivors rescued from the water, Zhang Haino felt a deep sense of comfort. Although these German sailors were as brave as lions in battle, they showed their simplicity and kindness when dealing with civilians from enemy countries.

  "Make way! Make way!"

  Following the sound, a sturdy man with only a vest on his upper body climbed up from the watertight cabin on the deck, holding a small bucket in one hand, and the contents of the bucket were emitting hot air. This is the strongest man on U171, "Firehead" Brats. Don't look at him being rough, climbing the ladder was not clumsy at all, it's just that the small bucket in his hand didn't match his figure, looking like a child holding a small toy bucket.

  Behind Brats, Werner Stahl emerged with another small bucket in his hand, containing cups and lunch boxes of all sizes that the crew members used themselves, which were now also contributed to serve the castaways.

  The people on the deck made way for a path, and although Brats had to push his way through as he walked, there was no confusion in the crowd. Brats soon stopped in the center of the crowd, took a lunchbox from Werner, scooped some soup from the bucket with a large spoon, and handed it to the nearest man.

  The man hesitated for a moment, then handed the lunchbox to a woman sitting next to him. The woman looked dazed, clearly still recovering from the previous shock. When she saw someone hand over hot soup, she didn't think twice and grabbed it, pouring it down her throat in one gulp, only to start coughing violently.

  "Slow down, it's hot!" Brats kindly reminded the woman as he was ladling soup into another rice box. The woman stared at him for a while, then looked at the rice box in her hand and started sipping slowly.

  At this time, Edwin climbed up along the gangway outside the command tower.

  "There are 41 people in total, 9 females, 29 males, and 3 children! This should be all the survivors!"

  Zhang Hainuo looked at the sea surface, and indeed, no one was in sight now. A medium-sized ocean liner that could carry three or four hundred passengers and sailors, and now only less than 50 people were left to be rescued.

  "Let Hei Bai Zha finish his work and have him take stock of the provisions on our boat to see how many meals they can feed these people!"

  For these cases, Zhang Hainuo had a general idea in his heart, but he still hoped to get an exact number.

  "Alright!" Edwin said, "Haino, I found a few guys with suspicious gazes when I was downstairs just now. I suspect they might be carrying weapons. Shall I have Morette and the others check on them later?"

  "Let me handle this matter!"

  After that, Zhang Hainuo asked the orderly soldier Stalde to bring him a simple loudspeaker made of iron sheet - this thing not only had Hersen, but also found that almost every German submarine was equipped with such a primitive and simple tool.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet!" Zhang Hainuo said in English, although not very fluent, but the people on this deck all looked up at him.

  "I am deeply sorry for the two torpedoes that sank your liner, but this is war time and it's our duty as military men to follow orders from above and attack enemy targets! Out of humanitarian spirit, my crew and I will rescue you, provide food, water and medicine before transferring you to another ship. You must all follow our command and arrangements. I don't want any unpleasantness between us, nor do I want to see more bloodshed or loss of life!"

  The people below looked different, and finally a gentleman-like man asked loudly:

  "German officer, sir, may I ask where you are taking us? As prisoners back to Germany?"

  "No, we will put you on a neutral country's ship or send you directly to a neutral country's port, and then you can figure out how to get back to Britain or America yourself!"

  What Zhang Hainuo said was also the most feasible method he could think of at present. Obviously, U171 would not have been able to take such a group of people through the blockade line of the British Navy back to Germany, and it was unrealistic to hand them over to the British Navy on the spot - neither the British nor Zhang Hainuo himself would risk being accused of treason for handing over these civilians.

  Here is a relatively rare piece of information:

  Submarines were discouraged from rescuing enemy personnel during combat, which was also in accordance with the 1907 Geneva Convention. However, in the Atlantic, the German Navy initially maintained a certain gentlemanly demeanor. They would go all out to rescue people from sunken ships, treat them with courtesy, and safely send them to neutral ports. This polite practice was later disrupted by the barbaric behavior of the Americans.

  At that time, a German submarine sank an Allied ship and found too many survivors in the water. It radioed for two other submarines to come and assist with the rescue. Suddenly, a US aircraft spotted the German submarine's rescue operation and, disregarding the prominent Red Cross flag flying above the submarine and the struggling survivors in the water, strafed the surface of the water crazily. The German submarine had no choice but to dive and hide.

  This is the famous "Laconia incident" in World War II.

  After this incident, Hitler ordered the termination of such chivalrous behavior at sea. D?nitz issued an order known as the "Laconia Order", which stated that no U-boat was to participate in rescue operations, and survivors were to be left in the water. Nevertheless, German naval officers sometimes disregarded Hitler's and D?nitz's strict orders and continued to carry out humanitarian rescues.