CHAPTER 287: CHAPTER 287 "U-21" SUBMARINE

Finally, Vice Admiral Robek brought General Gephardt to speak persuasively, and only then did Shire set the attack time.

"Five o’clock tomorrow morning," Shire pointed to a spot on the map. "Attack V Beach."

"What’s the battle plan?" asked General Gephardt.

"There isn’t one," Shire responded. "We only need the fire support from the Sixth Fleet of the ’Gauls’ battleship!"

Vice Admiral Robek reminded:

"I think this is unwise, Colonel."

"Everyone knows that the ’Dignity’ was sunk by enemy submarines at dawn."

"At dawn, it’s difficult for us to spot the periscopes protruding from the sea, which will put the ’Gauls’ at risk!"

Shire coldly retorted, "Otherwise, when do you think we should land? Only if we are prepared at dawn will we have a whole day for the attack."

Vice Admiral Robek was left speechless.

This situation did indeed exist before; when the landing seemed about to succeed, it was getting dark, and they had to withdraw the forces that had already landed.

Otherwise, the insufficiently supplied forces might be encircled and wiped out by the enemy at night.

Finally, General Robek left angrily, muttering in English on his way out, "Let them suffer a bit, after losses they will understand that war isn’t as they imagined. Initiating an attack without a battle plan!"

Robek didn’t know that Shire’s landing plan for the next day wasn’t actually for landing, but to lure out the German submarines.

And the ’Gauls’ battleship was merely a decoy.

...

In the pitch-black water, the German U-21 submarine was slowly navigating the Aegean Sea.

Captain Colonel Hering had not shaved for nearly a month; the beard was growing like a broom around the Colonel’s face. Colonel Hering’s weary demeanor and prominent cheekbones seemed to speak of the great pressure of submarine warfare.

Over more than a month, the experiences of the U-21 submarine were enough to write a legend.

It departed from German Wilhelm Port, replenished at Cape Finisterre in Spain.

For confidentiality reasons, higher-ups contacted German merchants in Spain to purchase fuel and lubricants, planning to continue to the Dardanelles Strait under the cover of night.

However, Hering discovered that the merchants had bought the wrong fuel, which was unsuitable for submarines.

Helplessly, the submarine continued without supplemental fuel.

All along the way, Captain Hering racked his brains to save every drop of oil, using the most economical speed and shortest path, sometimes even leveraging ocean currents. After 18 days of sailing, it finally reached its destination.

At that point, there were only 1.8 tons of fuel left on board.

Hering later reflected to his subordinates, "Even if I forget other numbers, even my birthday or age, this number is indelibly etched on my mind!"

Facts proved that Captain Hering’s gamble was worth it.

After arriving at the Dardanelles Strait, the U-21 submarine successively sunk the ’Triumph’ and ’Dignity’ battleships. Its presence even made the Allies reluctant to dispatch battleships casually to provide fire cover for landing operations.

Ottoman Empire commander Sanders generously praised the U-21 submarine: "You singlehandedly defeated the entire Allied fleet!"

(Note: Sanders was a German officer responsible for commanding the defense operations of the Dardanelles Strait, gaining fame because of it.)

In the past few days, Hering’s nerves tensed again.

He received a special telegram: "It is learned that Shire from France is leading a force to reinforce, the target fleet has arrived. If we can sink him, it will strike a heavy blow to enemy morale."

"Shire?" Hering hesitated for a moment, then handed the telegram to a nearby subordinate, in a flat tone, "Shire is here, right here."

The crew was immediately uplifted by the news:

"Really? Is he here for inspection?"

"I hope we get to see him, I heard someone saw him on the battlefield on Christmas."

"Yeah, my classmate Paul even got his signature!"

...

This was an unprecedented phenomenon. Shire was the enemy of the Germans, yet he gained a large number of German fans, even though Shire had never met them.

After they finished talking, Colonel Hering coldly added, "He’s not here for inspection; he’s here for combat! Our next mission is to sink him as best we can!"

Silence ensued, all stunned looking at Colonel Hering.

Colonel Hering nodded slightly and said firmly:

"I know what you are thinking, I too wish we didn’t have to do this."

"But this is war, gentlemen, a life-and-death war!"

"I know you like Shire, and he has a legendary life, but you must give your all; it’s the duty of soldiers!"

After a brief silence, the crew seemed to make up their minds, responding one after another:

"Yes, Colonel, we will do so."

"If it were Shire, he would undoubtedly sink us!"

"Indeed, it’s a soldier’s destiny!"

...

Colonel Hering didn’t say anything more; he believed in his subordinates—they were professional soldiers.

He simply ordered to check the equipment and torpedoes on the submarine, so it could be in optimal condition for battle when needed.

However, despite searching for days, Colonel Hering didn’t find a target worth attacking.

In fact, Colonel Hering had met Shire’s fleet at sea more than once.

But Colonel Hering thought they were just transport ships with a few escort destroyers, not worth wasting a valuable torpedo, so he let them pass easily.

If Colonel Hering knew that his target was on one of those transport ships, he would probably regret it deeply.

Soon, Colonel Hering received another telegram: "According to reliable intelligence, Shire’s fleet will organize a landing at V Beach at dawn tomorrow!"

Colonel Hering’s spirit lifted, excitedly shouting to his subordinates, "Gentlemen, the big fish is about to bite, prepare yourselves—the moment to change fate has arrived!"

What Colonel Hering didn’t know was that this was exactly the information Shire intended for him to know.

Shire instructed Tijani to send a telegram to the Minister of the Navy: "We will launch an attack on V Beach at dawn tomorrow—expect our good news!"

The Minister of the Navy smiled, "Arrogant guy, really thinks he can win easily; that’s the beach even the British couldn’t take!"

(The image above is of a German U-19-type submarine, one of which is the ’U-21’. This type of submarine was Germany’s first to use diesel engines; previously, they used kerosene, which would release large amounts of white smoke on the sea surface, easily exposing the target.)