Chapter 19: Crossroads

December 24, 1918, the first Christmas after the end of World War I.

Despite being far from Germany, Hersonissos and his comrades did not feel lonely. There was wine, meat, Turkish music, and dancing. Alşaran brought his ud and was quite skilled in playing it, while Elga, although not good at singing, joined him in lively Turkish folk dances. Eventually, many German sailors joined in, and the small island was filled with laughter.

In the quiet of the night, Hersonissos still remembered this time last year. Though the days of joy were short-lived, they were precious to him. Just a week ago, he sent an anonymous letter from the port of Antalya to the Fenik Estate. In the letter, he assured Hastin of his safety and instructed him to take good care of Anna's family if they arrived, providing the addresses of the poor sailors' families and requesting monthly support for them.

As the war had just ended, Hersonissos knew Germany was still in a relatively chaotic state. He wasn't sure if the letter would reach its destination safely. But it wasn't the time to return yet. He could only plan to send another letter later, and if he had the chance to go to Istanbul, he could try to telegraph back to Germany from there—although ports like Antalya had a small telegraph office, it could only send telegrams to major cities within Turkey!

After Christmas, the weather continued to grow colder, but the crews of U21 and U148 didn't stop their efforts in salvaging and searching for sunken ships. They had to be careful to avoid Turkish vessels and British warships passing by on the sea surface, as well as battle the bad weather at sea. A sudden storm or thunderstorm could interrupt their salvage and search efforts. Fortunately, the sea here was warmer than the North Sea and the North Atlantic, and after more than forty days of hard work, nearly one-third of the sunken ships recorded by Hersonissos had been crossed off the list. They had sailed as far as 800 nautical miles from the Hersonissos Island, covering almost half of the Aegean Sea.

The sporadic gold and silver coins, vases, and pottery were the crews' recent discoveries, although not comparable in value to the jewels in that safe, the continuous discoveries boosted everyone's confidence in the future. Moreover, after selling more than thirty diamonds and some ancient gold coins to Solak, they had a large amount of Turkish paper money, gold and silver coins, and gold bars in their hands, stored in the captains' cabins of the two submarines.

Hersonissos made a preliminary estimate. With the ancient gold and silver coins salvaged later, each person here could get at least $50,000 to $60,000, which was a considerable sum of money in the early 20th century!

"Should we try our luck near Crete or search for more distant wreck points?"

After replenishing the fuel, freshwater, and food supplies available for the two submarines to sail far, Hersonissos raised this question at the officers' meeting. The attendees included the captains, first officers, torpedomen, gunners, engineers, navigators, and operational staff of both submarines, totaling fourteen people. After spending several months together, they had become very familiar with each other.

"I suggest going to Crete!" Lieutenant Sevket, the navigator of U21, was the first to speak up, followed by his reasons: "If we search for more distant wreck points, not only will we easily encounter British and French ships, but the fuel consumption will also be very high! We'll need at least forty tons of diesel for a round trip!"

What Sevket said was also the recent concern of Hersonissos and Zhang Hainuo: as the sailing distance increased, the fuel consumption for each voyage of the two submarines also increased. Although Elga and his Fastboat made one to two trips between Hersonissos Island and the port of Antalya each week, carrying forty barrels of diesel each time. Although there were no problems with the oil depot for the time being, the funds spent on purchasing fuel were considerable!

War is costly. Hersonissos had never realized this truth as deeply as he did now: considering the conversion, one ton of diesel cost £12,000, and forty tons equaled £480,000. It would take five excellent diamonds to sell for this price at Solak's, and they had already made two such voyages from Christmas to now!

As soon as Sevket finished speaking, Wolf, the first officer of U21, spoke up:

"Everyone should remember our findings when we searched the 7th and 9th wreck points! I'm not very knowledgeable about history, but from our findings, there are indeed many ancient wrecks in the southeast waters of Crete! Even if we can't find the Turkish treasure of Crete, I think we have a good chance of finding valuable things from other ancient wrecks!"

Following that, the chief engineer of U21, Proll, and the navigator of Hersonissos, Reck Lehmann, also expressed their support for trying their luck near Crete.

"Have you all considered that I have detailed coordinates for almost every recorded wreck point, but we have no clues about the positions of those ancient wrecks? Relying solely on luck seems a bit blind!" Finally, a different voice came out, from the experienced Hessen. Although his words were somewhat dampening, everyone had to admit that there was truth in what he said.

Hersonissos supported the idea of ​​searching for the Turkish treasure near Crete, but he couldn't find a suitable rebuttal immediately. After a moment of silence, a young but composed voice broke the silence.

"Regardless of the choice, salvage work like this involves a significant element of luck, doesn't it?"

Among these sailors, there were only three from noble backgrounds, and the youngest of the three was Otto von Glenncor. Initially, many people thought he was too arrogant, but after spending a long time together, everyone found that this young officer's "arrogance" was just a manifestation of his calmness. Except for very few occasions, this young officer, who hadn't been in the military for long, would consider issues very comprehensively, which was particularly valuable in Hersonissos's view.

Most people's eyes were focused on this spirited young officer, waiting to hear what further brilliance he would bring.

"If the Turkish legends are true, the locations where those treasure ships sank shouldn't be far from the route between Cairo and Istanbul. Considering that Sultan Selim I led his army into Cairo at the end of January 1517, historical records indicate that he stayed in Egypt to consolidate his gains for a summer before returning to Istanbul in the autumn. Therefore, those treasure ships either returned to Istanbul in the spring or accompanied Selim I's army back in the autumn! If Selim I had encountered such a storm and emerged unscathed, he would have surely boasted about it, but there are no such records in history. So, it's more likely that the treasure ships sank in the spring! With the wind directions in the Mediterranean during the spring, we can still calculate a rough range of the shipwreck locations!"

Otto's words left everyone stunned. While there were military officers who graduated from reputable military academies among them, most knew little about history, especially the history of the Ottoman Empire. As for the wind directions in the Mediterranean, the Hersonissos team knew some, but they hadn't thought of applying it in this way.

"After delineating the possible range of shipwrecks, we can divide it into several target points and search them one by one! However, searching all of them would probably be a massive undertaking!"

With everything said, Otto handed the final decision-making power back to everyone.

Initially, everyone felt confident about this plan, which seemed feasible. However, upon hearing "massive undertaking," they began to feel uneasy. Would it take one month, two months? Or one year, two years?

Soon, everyone's gaze returned to Hersonissos. Judging from the major events they had experienced before, undoubtedly, he was the only one in the team capable of foreseeing the future.

"Considering Germany's current situation, U21 and U148 won't be able to return for the next two years! Regarding fuel and supplies, staying near Crete for half a year won't be a problem! What worries me the most is everyone's morale. If we operate at sea for a long time without any gains, the impact on morale cannot be ignored!"

Glancing at everyone, Hersonissos spoke while pondering,

"If we indeed choose this plan, we should make it clear to the crew and prepare them psychologically for long-term salvage operations here! For safety reasons, we can't send anyone back to Germany during this time!"

"Does anyone have any other opinions?"

Seeing everyone remaining silent, Hersonissos concluded in his usual manner, "If not, then we'll go with Captain Hersonissos's suggestion!"

In terms of seniority, Hersonissos was unquestionably the top figure here. However, in terms of "reading the situation," Hersonissos's influence permeated the entire plan. Although Hersonissos's words seemed plain, they indirectly reflected the collective recognition of these officers regarding who the leader was.