Iron Cross

Captain Hassler, the commander of U-107 submarine, felt that his brain was running out - he really couldn't understand what the commander of this huge British and American combined fleet was thinking.

As an ace submarine captain who hunts merchant ships off the coast of Africa, he received a secret mission more than a month ago - to track the huge allied naval fleet until he can no longer hold on. He only needs to report the location of the allied fleet once a day, but Attacks are strictly prohibited! The words "no attacks are strictly prohibited" were emphasized several times by his superiors - for fear that he would not be able to hold back and take action. He received the same mission as another LCD submarine with the hull number U-178.

Hassler can understand the chief’s good intentions, not only because the two submarines are familiar with the conditions along the African coast, but also only this class of submarines has the ability to maintain combat capabilities for such a long time - the theoretical endurance of the IX class is as high as 13,000 nautical miles. Before the XXI-class submarines with larger tonnage, more advanced technology, quieter navigation and faster underwater speed were put into service (Dönitz and the Führer requested that construction be started before June 1943), the IX-class was the largest of the sea wolves. Excellent variety. In order to ensure that they can effectively complete the long-term tracking mission, the Atlantic Submarine Command also specially sent them an additional XIV-class supply submarine, which is usually affectionately called "Cow" by the officers and soldiers of the submarine force.

He has been following this fleet since the beginning of Operation Torch in early November. Off the coast of Morocco, he silently witnessed his companions' attack on this huge fleet, and then saw the entire fleet scurrying around like a group of headless flies. It was not until 2 days later that we changed to sailing south. The fleet sailed very slowly, even less than 10 knots per hour - later he realized that there were a large number of American Liberty ships in the fleet. The fastest speed of this kind of transport ship was only 11 knots. It would be easy to sail at 11 knots all the time. The malfunction, coupled with the fact that the fleet had to take a Z-shaped route for anti-submarine purposes, made the overall speed even slower, so his tracking work became very easy. During the day, he lurked far away in the water without moving, and since dusk After surfacing on the water and sailing, using the submarine's maximum speed of 18.3 knots, he could easily hang behind the fleet and take photos of the relevant positions and directions at the same time. He was happier on days when the weather was bad and it was stormy. This meant that the submarine could sneak up on the surface during the day and follow it at a leisurely pace - chasing at top speed was a waste of fuel.

Taking advantage of the 10 days when the British and American fleets rested and resupplied in South Africa, he not only bypassed the Cape of Good Hope in advance and waited in the distant waters, but also accepted supplies from the "cow". He even dared to come out of the water to take a breath of fresh air, and by the way, he went fishing with his companions - fishing is much easier than hunting merchant ships! Although the whole body is often soaked by the rain, everyone likes this feeling of taking a break from the busy schedule.

After the fleet set off from South Africa, he began to repeat the work day after day, until Admiral Cunningham led the fast column and drove away - he would never be able to catch up with that speed, but it is really difficult to have such a high-speed transport ship. Not much, he estimated that it only accounted for one-fifth of the entire fleet, and most of the remaining ships could only move slowly. Every day U-107 would find ships that had fallen behind due to engine failure. They had been the best prey in the past, but this time Hassler decided to let them go. As for the enemy fleet's behavior of conducting anti-submarine drills from time to time and taking a Z-shaped anti-submarine route, he always laughed at it - even making a Z-shaped anti-submarine route at such a slow speed would not help, and besides his own two submarines, there were no other ships in this area. Others, the Allies were really too cautious.

In the early morning of December 21, he sent out the new position information. He actually wanted to ask the headquarters what the meaning of this was, but he finally held back. On the 22nd, the truth finally came to light - the submarine radio station was exploded. Overwhelmed by the telegram information, the telegraph operator stood up with joy and reported to the whole ship. Only then did he realize that the Japanese naval combined fleet had sneaked into the Indian Ocean without anyone noticing, and it took only one day to wipe out the enemy that Juechen had killed ten days ago. Go to the fast column. There is only one word that can sum up how he feels now - happy!

The officers and soldiers were sincerely happy for the victory and proud of their work - it was U-107 and U-178 that provided accurate intelligence for this victory. Hassler made an exception and opened the only bottle of champagne on the ship to celebrate. Of course, the pursuit of the slow column must continue.

However, something even more incredible happened to him. At dusk the next day, the submarine poked its head out, preparing to surface again as before, but found that there was no need to make such an effort, because in the afternoon the fleet began to turn around in a chaotic manner, returning to the same place they had been in the early morning. Judging from the situation, it was going back to South Africa; at dusk on the third day, the submarine surfaced again and was shocked to find that the enemy fleet was still at the same position, but this time it changed its direction - because the fleet was in accordance with Washington's The command turned around again and returned to the position the day before yesterday in a chaotic manner.

If it weren't for the strong sense of discipline of the German soldiers, he would have wanted to shoot all the torpedoes above and reward this idiot commander - what a great opportunity! It is quite certain to sink a battleship or aircraft carrier. In the back and forth of the slow fleet, he has commanded the submarine to enter excellent ambush positions three times, and every time he is sure to achieve a decisive victory.

On the fourth day, something even more surprising happened. The fleet began to split into two groups, one heading north and the other heading southeast. After discussing with the captain of U-178, it was decided that U-107 would be responsible for the southeast direction, and U-178 would be responsible for the larger northbound column. Then the intelligence was sent out, and the order he received in reply was simple: "Agree to the request, and continue to report the position until new orders are given."

But the chief engineer told him with embarrassment that since the southeast direction was far from the original supply point, considering the need for the return journey, U-107 could only chase for a maximum of 10 days, and had to turn back after 10 days, otherwise it would sink in the South Indian Ocean.

Hasler shrugged helplessly: "Okay, then report truthfully. The whole ship should save as much as possible. One more day is good."

Within an hour, the call came back again, and the content was very straightforward: "10 days is enough! Keep an eye on the latest instructions."

Hasler didn't understand where the determination of "10 days is enough" came from, but he still set out unswervingly - maybe the headquarters has a backup plan?

Just when Roosevelt made the decision to divide the troops, as if with telepathy, Hori Teikichi first divided the fleet: Vice Admiral Tsukahara Jishizo led the two main aircraft carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku to the west under the escort of the two battleships Ise and Hyuga, the four Takao-class heavy cruisers of the 4th Squadron and eight destroyers. The aircraft carriers first used the two tankers captured by Takagi Takeo to fully resupply, and then reorganized the fleet and reorganized the First Guerrilla Detachment. Although it was called a reorganization, it was actually just strengthening the two aircraft carriers to the original First Guerrilla Detachment, and the other warships that escorted the aircraft carriers took over Takagi Takeo's original work of rescuing transport ships.

The newly formed First Guerrilla Detachment had much fewer warships than the Mobile Fleet, including only 2 aircraft carriers, 4 Kongo-class ships, 4 heavy cruisers (4 Mogami-class ships of the Seventh Fleet) and 8 destroyers. Ise and Hyuga, together with 4 Takao-class ships and 8 destroyers, formed the Second Guerrilla Detachment, which continued to rescue the stranded transport ships under the command of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita. Although Takeo Takagi and Jishizo Tsukahara were both vice admirals, Tsukahara was a 36th-term marine and Takagi was only a 39th-term marine, so Tsukahara was in full command of the First Guerrilla Detachment.

After getting 2 tankers and a large amount of U.S. military supplies, Hori Teikichi finally no longer had to worry about calculating the fleet's supplies and fuel supplies, and regained his will to fight, preparing to let the First Guerrilla Detachment form a fast force to attack the slow column southward.

But by the night of the 25th, the news from Germany about the division of the slow column sparked controversy again.

Kusaka Renji asked: "The enemy has divided its forces... The northern column is slightly larger and closer to the guerrilla detachment. Should we give priority to attacking this column?"

"No... Don't attack them. Go south and attack the southeast column."

"But the northern column will be let go... From a time perspective, it is completely in time to attack the northern column first and then the southeast column."

Hori Teikichi thought again and again, and shook his head slowly: "Two birds in the bush are not as good as one bird in the hand." Then he told the confidential staff the reasons for making this decision:

First, the escort force of the southeast column after the division is weaker, with only two escort aircraft carriers, a few old cruisers and destroyers, and it is more difficult to attack a weak enemy. grasp;

Secondly, the Southeast Column was heading southeast. Although he could not guess its intention, Hori Teikichi's intuition told him that the column would go to Australia, which would add new variables to the Nanyang Campaign;

The last and most important point was that the Northward Column was advancing along the coast. After the two sides entered the battle circle, the entire First Guerrilla Detachment would not only face the threat of the other side's own aircraft carriers, but also face land-based aircraft from Kenya and Somalia. Based on the lessons of Midway Island, he did not want the mobile fleet to be exposed to the threat of land-based aircraft for a long time, but there was no such concern for the Southeast Column - in another three days, the Southeast Column would be out of Madagascar's land-based defense circle.

"As for the Northward Column..." Hori Teikichi smiled meaningfully, "We still have a way to deal with it. Don't worry, we have to stay in the Indian Ocean for a long time. Do you remember the content of my public telegram?"

"Remember - British and American allied ships will be destroyed as soon as they are discovered!"

"General Tsukahara will tell them that we are serious, and this is not a joke!"