"Lieutenant Commander Sheleda's submarine C-11 is on a mission to break diplomatic relations in that area." Tributz replied: "I can order him to rush to the bay as soon as possible and attack the German ships anchored there." ”

"Comrade Admiral," Rokossovsky, after listening to Tributs' reply, said with a smile, "as long as your subordinates can disrupt the enemy's shelling of our troops, I will definitely personally award him the medal." ”

Rear Admiral Sheleda repeatedly established meritorious service as early as 41 during the mission to break diplomatic relations in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. When he received the telegram from Tributz, he could not help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly called the political commissar and deputy captain of the ship over and said to them: "Comrades, I have just received a telegram from the admiral, who told us to rush to Danzig Bay overnight to destroy the German ships anchored there. ”

After the deputy captain waited for Sheleda to finish speaking, he frowned and said: "Comrade captain, we are still fifty nautical miles from Danzig Bay, and it will take at least four hours to reach our destination. ”

"No, it won't." "According to the Admiral's report, several enemy ships are anchored in Danzig Bay, shelling our troops attacking Tsopot. I suspect that our attacking troops, who have suffered under the enemy's naval fire, will not leave easily since the enemy's ships have caused losses to our troops, and that they will certainly not leave easily when we reach Danzig Bay. ”

"Comrade Captain," the deputy captain always felt that he had only one submarine, so he recklessly lost the ship that attacked the German anchored in the harbor, which was a bit risky, and reminded Seleda: "We have only one submarine, and the enemy has several ships, and maybe destroyers, and I am afraid that I will not be able to complete the task of my superiors by then." ”

"That's right, Comrade Vice-Captain is right." The political commissar expressed his support for the deputy captain's statement: "Comrade captain, we have always carried out the task of breaking diplomatic relations, and we usually attack transport ships with little defense capability, and it is a bit too risky to deal with the German warships in the harbor. ”

Seleda saw that his political commissar and deputy captain were resistant to the order given by his superiors, but he did not stop them, but let them continue.

Seeing that Sheleda did not speak, the deputy captain continued: "Even if we have to carry out this order from our superiors, can we slow down and try to wait until dawn before rushing to the harbor?" At that time, there may be other ships of the fleet and the air force to arrive, so that our safety factor will be greatly improved. ”

"Comrades," said Sheleda, after waiting for the lieutenant to finish speaking, handed over the telegram in his hand, and at the same time said: "Tonight's operation, the admiral sent us to Danzig Bay at the request of Marshal Rokossovsky to attack the German ships anchored there. The telegram said that if we could disrupt the bombardment of the besieging forces by German ships, we would all be honoured. ”

If the deputy captain was worried about a submarine just now, it would be tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg to challenge the German ships in the harbor. After he understood that after completing this operation, he might be awarded the medal by Rokossovsky himself, and his attitude took a 180-degree turn: "Comrade Captain, since this is the case, then what are we still stunned about, let's go immediately." ”

Seeing that his deputy captain had changed so quickly, Sheleda couldn't help but laugh dumbly, and he deliberately said jokingly: "Comrade deputy captain, didn't you say that there may be destroyers in the German ships anchored in the harbor, which will bring us danger?" ”

The deputy captain handed the telegram to the political commissar beside him, smiled embarrassedly, and said: "Although we only have one submarine, there will definitely be a certain danger in dealing with so many enemy ships. But isn't there a saying: Darkness is the ally of the brave? I believe that if we launch an attack on the German ships in the darkness of the night, we will still have a chance to retreat. ”

After a four-hour voyage, the submarine C-11 finally came to the shores of Danzig Bay. When the fighters reported to Sheleda: "Comrade Captain, we have come to the outside of Danzig Bay, about two nautical miles from the port. ”

Sheleda hurriedly ordered: "Rise to periscope depth." ”

When the submarine rose to periscope depth, Sheleda looked through the periscope to see the situation outside. The moonlight outside allowed him to clearly see the German ships anchored in the harbor, and the constant flashes of fire on one of the ships indicated that it was shelling the shore.

Sheleda carefully observed the ships moored in the harbor, there were two light cruisers and two frigates, and no destroyers were found. After seeing clearly the types of German ships, he couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and quickly turned his head and ordered his subordinates: "Prepare to launch torpedoes!" ”

./9_

.。 m.