741 Icelandic Waves

Just as Prien's U-boat sank into the sea quickly, less than ten kilometers away, a huge British battleship was rapidly heading in another direction under the protection of several cruisers and destroyers. , the sharp bow was lifted high by the waves, and the huge artillery pointed majestically at the position directly ahead.

The entire fleet is not in a state of combat readiness, but the destroyers on the periphery are as if they are facing a big enemy. After all, this sea area is often haunted by German submarines. They must be fully prepared to guard against possible torpedo attacks. In addition to making the German Navy a powerful presence in the world's attention, those record against the sky also had the effect of completely waking up the British Navy.

The layout of this battleship is very weird. The three huge turrets are concentrated and arranged directly in front of the battleship. As one of the Nelson-class battleships, the Rodney battleship has just been transferred back to Canadian waters and was ordered to join To the Home Fleet, prepare the driver for another battle with the German Navy.

The British finally relieved the breath they were holding in their hearts in Iceland. In fact, the Royal Navy still has a huge advantage in the number of battleships, as well as an absolute advantage in the tonnage and number of combat ships. With these advantages, the King of England and his staff felt that it was not impossible to regain control of the sea, and Britain definitely still had the power to fight.

The sea surface of the North Atlantic Ocean seems to be always gray, and the tones here are mixed with some gloom, which makes people feel uncomfortable when they see everything in front of them. The British who once conquered this area, as well as the Germans who are now conquering this area, regard this place as an exciting paradise, and all the people who sleep here seem to hold their cold souls with grievances. Blending into every scene here makes everything here darker.

The roar of the engine is definitely a very effective hypnotic method in the cabin of an old-fashioned aircraft with poor sound insulation. At least when performing patrol missions, there are rough waves and endless sea below. After taking off from the airport, I have been facing In this environment, anyone will be tortured and drowsy.

Although the plane is turbulent due to the airflow, although the cold outside will still pass into the interior of the plane, making the temperature in the cockpit very low, but this does not affect the sleep that boredom brings to people*.

This B-17 long-range patrol and reconnaissance aircraft imported from the United States, if it is in a country that advocates original imports and a certain time that advocates original imports, then this aircraft will definitely be sold at a very good price. However, this plane is obviously not worth much. It is just a small exchange item in the Anglo-American technical cooperation agreement.

And this plane is actually not that beautiful original imported product. Its sound insulation layer has been cut corners to the point of heinousness, and the seat materials are also very simple. Even its self-defense weapons have only been simplified. The 4 30mm cannons, the pilots who have driven this kind of aircraft have only one very ironic phrase: "grandma's broken bicycle".

Some British pilots once climbed into this kind of aircraft and were frightened by the huge skin seams and refused to take off.

There are also people who were scratched by the lifted iron sheet in the narrow cabin passage. Compared with the Americans' own b-17, the workmanship of this foreign aid model has simplified more than one process, and many edges have not been passivated.

But such aircraft can fly, and there are plenty of them. What's more, the United States only offers this disgusting model, love it or not. Therefore, the British coast patrol squadron stationed in Iceland still received 40 of these aircraft without temper, and used them to conduct combat patrols on the near end of the Icelandic route.

The bombing compartment of this aircraft can carry some small bombs, and the 30mm cannon on the belly can fire at the sea by itself. As long as a German submarine on the water is found, this aircraft can attack.

It is a pity that, for some reason, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to find German submarines floating on the water, but more merchant ships have been sunk. Accompanied by the roar of His Majesty the King, the frequency of coastal patrols became more intensive, and more planes were dispatched.

Compared with the Germans investing in the vast land and building their own industrial facilities, the difficulty of the British building their own base in Iceland, which is poorer and lacks resources, can be imagined. The most basic thing, even if it is bricks and planks, most of them have to be transported from the distant United States-if Germany lacks everything, then the British in Iceland have nothing.

From basic building materials, to hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition supplies, various aircraft parts produced in Canada, and large-scale machinery for leveling the land to build airports and other facilities, the British relied on the help of the Americans to finally find a place in Iceland. Stand firm on your feet.

As a result, the British base in Iceland has only built less than one-third of the entire counter-offensive plan, and because of the German submarine attack, it has fallen into an embarrassing dilemma.

On the one hand, if you want to expand the size of Iceland's garrison, build more airports and docks, and increase Iceland's strategic significance, you will need to invest more materials, and consume more food, ammunition, and fuel. Increased burden on the entire US-Iceland route.

On the other hand, the threat of German submarines is becoming more and more serious, and it is becoming more and more uncontrollable. The new type of U-boats entered the war, which greatly angered the British government in exile, which was eager to expand Iceland. The United States is also worried that once the Icelandic route is strangled by the Germans After the paralysis, the investment in Iceland will eventually collapse quickly because of its own size.

Now, in order to avoid this embarrassing situation, the construction of the whole of Iceland has come to a weird standstill. The half-built barracks are empty, and the damaged planes in the airport are empty. Only a few airports and radar stations close to Europe are still busy, and only a few jet fighter squadrons still have enough fuel to maintain training and patrols.

Just as Prien missed a British battleship, the British patrol plane missed Prien. The observer at the foot of the drowsy pilot mechanically scanned the sea with a telescope and found nothing unusual. At this time, Prien, together with his submarine, has dived to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 45 meters.

But soon their drowsiness was dispelled by the burning wreckage on the sea surface. The captain drove the plane hovering in the sky, and the observers observed the burning sea surface with binoculars, and finally confirmed that it was a ship that had just been sunk. transport ship.

So the captain grabbed his walkie-talkie and began to call the on-duty personnel at the ground command center: "I am patrol plane No. 4, check the arrangement list of the transport ship, we found the wreckage of a ship near coordinates 537 and 449, Please confirm."

"This is the ground tower, we are confirming, please carefully check the nearby waters, and get ready to attack the German submarine!" In the headset, the officer on duty at the ground tower immediately issued an order. After a few more minutes, it was clear that the control tower had found the information it wanted to know: "Patrol Aircraft No. 4, we have confirmed that an oil tanker that took the risk to seize the cargo should be nearby, please confirm whether it is still there! Please confirm Is it still on the surface."

The captain smiled wryly, and then immediately replied: "I think this is the ship that was sunk. Tower."

"..." After receiving the bad news, there was a brief silence on the tower side, followed by a routine conversation. In short, another British supply ship was sunk, and there is no worse news than this. .

However, the tower on the ground seems to have thought of something again, telling Patrol Aircraft No. 4 not to cut off the communication: "Patrol Aircraft No. 4, wait a minute, there should be a squadron coming from the colony, and there is no need for patrol aircraft to follow the escort. But there is German submarine activity in your vicinity, you'd better go there to help. The location is about 17 kilometers to the west of you."

"Okay! Patrol plane No. 4 understands." The captain flew the plane back to this suspicious sea area, and after still not finding any targets, he turned around and flew towards the direction of the mission.

"This is Patrol Aircraft No. 4, no enemy situation has been found! After changing the route, we will continue flying westward, and it's over!" He withdrew his gaze from looking at the sea, and after some communication, the captain put away the walkie-talkie listlessly, and then resentfully He drove his own plane and left this sea area.

At this moment, in the deep sea below the plane, a German submarine is slowly cruising, and fish schools pass by it from time to time. Because of the noise, these fish schools keep a considerable distance , never get close to the big guys whose size is very dangerous for them.

Standing at the captain's command position, Prien could only use the faint lights from sonar and other equipment to see his entire command room clearly. However, for a veteran who has been commanding submarine operations all year round, this environment is the most secure environment for him. Holding the handle to prevent falls, he opened his mouth and ordered: "Full right rudder, heading due east, let's meet those rushing boats." The new submarine that came, show these British people what is called real submarine warfare!"

The school of fish next to the submarine suddenly seemed to be frightened, and made an evasive movement as fast as lightning. The speed of the propeller at the end of the u-47 submarine turned a little faster, and the forward speed of the entire submarine also followed this obvious The changes have accelerated a lot.

At the tail of the u-47 submarine, the rudder swung to the right, and the entire submarine changed its direction in the water. Using the fastest speed of an ordinary old-fashioned submarine, it easily sailed towards the darkness in the distance.