Chapter 32: One Link Leads to Another

According to the calculations of the German radar technology officer Patrick Eber, who was basically in a bystander state throughout the entire battle, it took less than four minutes for the British naval minesweeper with the designation "J-36" to sink the German submarine "U-2". During this time, a total of 21 shells were fired, and countless rounds of gunfire were exchanged. The German paratroopers occupied "J-36" in about 5 minutes, without using shells or grenades, and the gunfire was also countless.

In regard to these two battles that occurred within less than ten minutes of each other, the Germans lost a 300-ton submarine, with over ten casualties, and captured a 700-ton minesweeper. They also killed or wounded more than thirty enemy soldiers and captured several. It might seem like a small gain, but no German commander was willing to voluntarily engage in such a "trade". After all, the role a German submarine could play at the moment far outweighed that of a British minesweeper!

Leaning against the steel railing ladder under the bridge, Logan tremblingly lit a cigarette for himself.

Having experienced the "Night of the 32nd Bastion," which shocked the Allies, the German infantry's classic "Highway Ambush," and the infamous "Monk Night Battle" known for its cruelty and ferocity, one would think that the combat experience and mental resilience of this Air Force captain had been greatly strengthened. However, the shock and impact of the recent battle in the cabin far exceeded the scene he witnessed a few hours ago in the basement of the Kalvertang Radar Station!

Just minutes ago, Logan had personally killed a not particularly robust British sailor, and this "killing" was fundamentally different from his previous shootings of enemies: in the narrow cabin passage, as his weapon was knocked away, he engaged in a face-to-face melee with the British sailor, a duel where one must emerge victorious—due to the fact that the German paratroopers who followed closely were engaged by other British sailors, Logan independently completed this duel without any external assistance.

When the unnamed British sailor died with his eyes rolling back and his face turning blue, Logan's hands were still tightly squeezing his neck.

Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, trying to forget the overly shocking images in his mind, Logan suddenly realized that human nature was indeed extremely fragile at certain moments.

It wasn't until Lieutenant Stephanberg, his arm wrapped in bandages, and Lieutenant Scherme, who had an old and experienced face, appeared before him that Logan suddenly returned to the real world.

"It's settled, took down twelve, captured four, and there are several who seem to be local patrolmen, completely defenseless!" Scherme spoke. He was the platoon leader of the outstanding paratroopers in the Western Front campaign, responsible for commanding the German paratroopers left on the dock to fight against the British sailors who had disembarked to capture German submariners. They were few in number, equipped only with pistols and rifles, naturally unable to contend with German paratroopers who had armored vehicles and machine guns.

"Well, good, hurry up and have the soldiers bring the equipment up!" Logan turned his head to look eastward, where the end of the sea had changed color; it wouldn't be long before the first light of dawn rose.

Before this unexpected battle erupted, Logan and his paratroopers were like vampires who could only survive in darkness, extremely fearful of the arrival of daylight. However, when they lost the submarine that could stealthily navigate beneath the sea surface, the sunrise didn't matter anymore.

Fortunately, the previous British shelling hadn't threatened the two trucks carrying equipment; otherwise, all of Logan's previous efforts would have been in vain!

"Are we going back on this British warship?" Lieutenant Scherme's surprise at this point, as an important commander of the entire operation, inevitably disappointed Logan a bit. He was an excellent grassroots commander but lacked sufficient strategic vision like most company-grade officers.

"Is there a better option now?"

Logan asked in response.

"Isn't there supposed to be another submarine to pick us up?" No omissions. Lieutenant Scherme said.

"Maybe... who knows?" When Logan said this, he had already connected the events before and after: the so-called cannon sounds that the British heard must have been from British warships attacking German submarines!

"Damn it, really damn it!" Lieutenant Scherme muttered disappointedly, taking out a cigarette box from his pocket. "It's already bright out, the British will definitely send bombers to hunt us down. Even if we manage to escape, we might end up dying at the hands of our own people!"

"Don't worry, having a ship to go back is better than standing here helplessly watching the sea!" Lieutenant Stephanberg said kindly, trying to reassure.

Logan took a drag of his cigarette, feeling gloomy, and remained silent. In the process of seizing this minesweeper, due to the stubborn resistance of the British sailors, he and his paratroopers had to resort to the most direct and violent means of attack. As a result, out of the 28 British officers and soldiers on board, 19 were killed, 6 were seriously injured, and only 3 surrendered without a fight. Thinking back to when they captured the "Black Elf" and sank it in the Dunkirk Channel, Logan and his team only needed to rely on the inertia of that cargo ship, but today, if they wanted to return to the German-controlled area, they had to cross the widest stretch of the channel. In the initial operational plan, after two U-boats successfully rendezvoused, it would take about 15 hours to complete this route by alternating between submerged and surfaced navigation. However, for a surface vessel traveling at full speed, a distance of less than a hundred nautical miles would only take a few hours—provided they weren't attacked by enemy ships and aircraft!

The situation wasn't great, but it wasn't too bad either. The German submarine sent to pick them up was standardly equipped for 25 people, but due to the need to accommodate far more German paratroopers than usual, the boat set sail with only 18 crew members. Six died in battle, and another four were severely injured, leaving 8. Although they couldn't fully utilize the capabilities of "J-36", according to Falkenberg's estimation, controlling it for the journey back to German territory was still feasible.

Falkenberg's full name was Kim Riet Falkenberg, a German Navy petty officer who served as the engineer on U-2 and was currently the highest-ranking surviving crew member—just as Logan had feared, both the captain and the executive officer of U-2, along with the staff officer, were killed in the British shelling. Fortunately, Falkenberg had experience serving on surface vessels, so his seamanship was extensive, and among the remaining seven crew members were a torpedo officer, a sonar operator, a communications officer, and a mechanical maintenance technician, as well as part-time doctors and cooks. With some assistance from the paratroopers, controlling this British minesweeper wasn't difficult.

"Do what we can and leave the rest to fate! Lieutenant, carry out the orders!"

Logan exhaled a long breath of smoke from his nostrils, resolutely flicked the remaining half of his cigarette onto the deck, and stomped it out with his foot.

Less than a minute after Lieutenant Scherme disembarked, a temporary lookout named Small Scobe shouted from the observation platform above the bridge, "Attention, there's a ship entering the harbor, it's a British warship!"

Logan hurriedly ran up to the bridge and picked up the binoculars left by the British naval lieutenant to take a look: sure enough, in his line of sight, he could see a ship flying the Royal Navy flag slowly entering the channel. Regardless of appearance or description, it was quite similar to the one he was standing on, and there was also an open-gun on the foredeck!

Having finally turned the situation around, could they still not escape the fate of being destroyed? Logan refused to believe it. He forced himself to calm down and think for a few seconds: the fact that the two minesweepers hadn't entered the harbor together was already a stroke of luck. At this point, they had to fight for it!

"Marko, go call Petty Officer Falkenberg to the foredeck! Thomas, quickly bring two men up here to see if we can use that gun!" 

Thomas Miller was a non-commissioned officer under the heavy equipment platoon of the exemplary airborne regiment. In addition to being able to drive a car, he was also a gunner for a 37mm anti-tank gun. Although this anti-tank gun and the ship's gun were different in purpose, there should still be considerable overlap in basic operation.