Trapp's desire to do a big vote is obviously not out of recklessness, but out of two dependencies. The submarine under his command was not the only one to participate in the exercise, and after previous radio communications, Trapp knew that five submarines, including himself, were heading to the waters.

Their own submarine is the closest, and the underwater speed is also the fastest, so it should be the first to arrive, but the other submarines should not be too late, once the other submarines attack, then the anti-submarine action of the escort ship will inevitably lead to the exposure of the defensive circle, and then it is the time to break in.

Although this is suspected of betraying his teammates, Trapp also has his own considerations. First of all, in addition to his own submarine, the other four are all older Type III submarines, that is, small submarines of the same model as the Ub-4 that smuggled Boer gold back then.

Although some improvements have been made in the process of batch construction, the design of the submarine itself restricts performance, so the Type III submarine was divided into three batches to build a total of 40 units, except for the first batch of Type A is now accepted by the Naval Academy as a training boat, the remaining two batches of 34 are slowly beginning to be converted into inshore defense submarines, deployed in the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

These submarines have a small tonnage, slow speed, poor endurance and a small diving depth. Although it has an underwater speed of 9.4 knots, it has a range of only 35 nautical miles at this speed. And even if the new C/08 wet thermodynamic torpedo is refitted, it has a range of only 1,500 meters at a maximum speed of 37 knots, and even if it is launched at a speed of 27 knots, the maximum range is only 5,000 meters. If you attack on the inside of the defensive circle, you will be hit by the escort ships on your head after barely a few steps. And if you can't run far, it is estimated that you will have to float, and then it will be a meal of naval artillery.

Therefore, it is safer for these submarines to attack the escort ships outside the defensive circle, so Trapp believes that it is very likely that the escort ships will be attracted away. I just need to wait, wait for the moment when the flaws in the defensive circle are revealed.

Trapp's other reliance is on his own car, the V-shaped submarine Ub-67, which has just been built and put into service for a short time. The Mediterranean Fleet did not have a Type IV, and all Type IV boats were deployed in the North Sea, which was the first type of ocean-going combat submarine of the German Navy. However, since it was still equipped with 450 mm torpedo tubes, and the Navy was said to be not very satisfied with its underwater combat capabilities, the V type was developed.

In terms of hull specifications, the V and IV are almost identical. The surface displacement is 760 tons, the underwater displacement is 870 tons, and the depth of the dive is 50 meters. However, there is a significant difference between the two in appearance.

Unlike the Type IV hull, the V has a vertical bow like the head of a sperm whale, and the streamlined and smooth hull brings excellent underwater performance, but this design also affects the surface performance of the submarine.

The two 1,000 hp diesel engines are from a merger with Maschinenfabrik Nuremberg. and changed its name to the Augsburg Maschinenbaurek in MAN. With an output of 2,200 hp, the ship was able to reach surface speeds of 14 knots, which was 2 knots slower than the Type IV.

However, two 750 hp electric motors allowed the V-boat to reach an underwater speed of 13 knots, making it the first submarine equipped by the German Navy to have an underwater speed of more than 10 knots, and the underwater endurance was up to 4 knots and 240 knots at speed, and the new submarine had an amazing underwater hunting capability with four bow and one 550 mm torpedo tube.

However, at the cost of the V-boat, there was no surface attack capability, and the 105-mm deck guns on the Type IV, which obviously increased the resistance of underwater navigation, were cut by the designers from the beginning. Although this would have left the V-boat with no self-defense capability after lifting, Trapp determined that the submarine was well suited for operations in the Mediterranean.

Unlike the vast North Sea and the vast Atlantic Ocean. The Mediterranean Sea is a bathtub within which it is. Submarine forces should not worry about not finding their prey, but should be more worried about becoming prey. In this calm and crowded sea, it is difficult to feel safe to navigate on the surface, and it is safer to hide under the surface, so excellent underwater performance is extremely important.

The V-boat's tremendous underwater endurance allowed it to maneuver underwater at speeds no less than surface speeds, seize attack positions, and stay on the dark ocean floor for long days to avoid enemy detection, which in Trapp's opinion was the most suitable submarine for the Mediterranean.

With these two supports, Trapp is confident that he will achieve a big result in the first exercise of this submarine, so that he can also surprise his fiancée.

Trapp was born into a naval family in the port of Zara in the province of Dalmatia, and the von in his name was born from his grandfather August when he served in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and his father did not join the Croatian-Slovenian Navy with the Dalmatian province that was included in the Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, but decided to join the Mediterranean Fleet of the German Navy with the warships he served.

This decision now seems very sensible, and two years later Trapp was admitted to the Royal Maritime Academy of the Kingdom of Austria and subsequently joined the Imperial German Navy. However, due to changes in the world line, Trapp did not participate in the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, nor did he show bravery in the battle against the Dagukou Fort, but was directly selected to join the submarine force of the Mediterranean Fleet, and then was sent to the Whitehead Torpedo and Shipyard to learn torpedo and submarine related techniques because of his excellent performance.

There Trapp met his own fiancée, the founder of the factory, Robert the inventor of the famous bald torpedo? Whitehead's granddaughter Agat? Whitehead. The actor of The Sound of Music still met his destined first partner in his life.

The two have decided to get married next year, and the Ub-67 was named by Agaté himself at the launching ceremony, so as the captain of this submarine, Trapp believes that this is a double witness to his career and feelings, and he naturally hopes to use this submarine to make beautiful achievements, and now that there is no war, he has to practice with his own people.

The submarine is sailing at full speed underwater, Trapp calculates his current position and the enemy's current position on the nautical chart, with the underwater speed of the Ub-67, there is no problem at all in seizing the attack position, and the real thing is that after arriving at the attack position, he must keep maneuvering, waiting for the opportunity to break through the defensive circle.

This requires patience, and the nature of the submarine as a weapon determines that a patient person can perfectly exert its power. Unlike those in the navy who believe that chivalry at sea can only be fully demonstrated by proper artillery battles, Trapp loves submarines and has an unusual obsession with this new weapon, believing that it has a mysterious power.

To tell the truth, the environment inside the submarine is really bad, even worse than the early large torpedo boats, in a sealed stuffy jar like sardine cans stuffed into dozens of sturdy men, can not distinguish between day and night, can only through the different colors of lights in the boat to adjust their biological clock, the confined space is filled with sweat, sour, diesel smell mixed with humid and hot air, unbearable.

Except for the civilians who chose to stay because of the higher treatment of submariners, few young officers like Trapp who were born into the nobility, received a good education, and even had a very good musical literacy took root in the submarine force.

But the feeling of hiding in the darkness and waiting for an opportunity, then seizing the fleeting gap to stab an unsuspecting enemy with a killing blow, and then immediately fleeing thousands of miles away fascinated Trapp, which is why Trapp was willing to stay on a submarine in extremely poor conditions.

And now, it's my first chance to taste that feeling for myself.

"Two cars at half speed, raise the periscope!" After calculating that he had arrived at his intended position, Trapp left the drawing table and stood in front of the periscope again.

"Slow down! Two cars and half speeds! Raise the periscope! Leerch repeated the captain's order aloud.

Pulling down the periscope and putting his eyes in front of the eyepiece, Trapp exclaimed: "What a spectacle, for the first time I have seen a large fleet sailing on the surface of the water from this perspective, and in front of me I am all the capital ships of the entire German Mediterranean Fleet!" ”

After reducing its speed, the Ub-67 moved slowly underwater at a speed of 6 knots, and the small track dragged out by the exposed periscope was not detected by the escort ships.

"The nearest destroyer to me is only 3 kilometers, their course has not changed, the speed is 9 knots, we have to follow them. Heading 50, the speed remains the same! Trapp ordered that the surface ships only had a speed of 9 knots to help him a lot, otherwise it would be difficult for him to regain the superior position even if he was not thrown away, and now he only had to wait for the opportunity next to the fleet.

Trapp didn't wait long, and soon, he found that the two destroyers began to accelerate out of formation, while a light cruiser began to adjust course, and the strange turn made Trapp conclude that she was dodging the torpedo attack, and there was no doubt that the fleet's attention would be drawn to it, and Trapp knew that the opportunity had come.

"Opportunity! Put away the periscope! Heading 235, full speed ahead! We're going to rush in! Trapp shouted. The UB-67 had to break through the defensive circle at full speed underwater, so it could not expose itself to the periscope's track until it approached its target.

"The target is not going at a high speed, so we can attack two targets with the torpedo tubes in the bow, and then turn around and attack one target with the torpedo tubes in the stern." Lehrge was infected by the captain's emotions and wanted to come to the big ticket as well.

However, his proposal was rejected: "No, the U-turn is too slow, we will pass directly under the enemy fleet, and then attack with the aft torpedo tubes, and then disengage from the rear of the flanks of the fleet on the reverse course." "Trapp came up with a bolder idea. (To be continued......)