Chapter 28: Hessen's Secret

Late at night, with cold winds sweeping across the sea surface, Zhang Hainuo was fortunate to have wrapped himself in a heavy raincoat over his coat, along with a scarf and gloves. Standing outside the submarine's conning tower for two hours, he didn't feel too cold.

After capturing and sinking the Italian cargo ship with deck guns, U21 continued to roam the waters of the Ionian Sea for three days. During this time, they used torpedoes to sink an armed merchant ship of 2,000 tons, surfaced to attack two old-fashioned Italian sailing ships, and even discovered and tracked a 4,000-ton Italian cruise liner. Unfortunately, the liner had the advantage in speed and cleverly zigzagged its way on an anti-submarine course, slipping away from their grasp. Perhaps only Hessen showed no signs of regret at letting such a juicy prey slip away.

Cool but not deliberately so, "crazy" but not recklessly so—this was Zhang Hainuo's assessment of Hessen's character after spending time with him. He increasingly felt that his decision to come to U21 was a wise one!

"Lieutenant, this is the battery compartment. The batteries are fully charged!"

When the report came over the intercom, U21 had already passed through the Otranto Strait into the Adriatic Sea. However, this did not mean that they were out of combat readiness. The long eastern coast of the Italian peninsula lay to the west of the Adriatic Sea, and since U21 still had two torpedoes and a considerable amount of ammunition, Hessen decided to try their luck near the Bari and Gargano Peninsula before returning to the port of Pola. Although the main forces of the Italian Navy were stationed in heavily guarded Taranto, their light cruisers and submarines occasionally prowled the western Adriatic Sea, and Bari was one of their important outposts and supply bases.

"I understand. Report any situation as it arises!" Zhang Hainuo replied, imitating Hessen's way of speaking. As for that "madman," he was probably sound asleep in his comfortable private space!

As Zhang Hainuo was thinking, someone climbed up from the hatch, but it wasn't Hessen—it was the submarine's first officer, Wolf.

"Lieutenant, Captain Hessen asked me to take over for you in two hours! How's the situation out there?"

"Oh, it's Wolf! It's very quiet outside. You can hear a pin drop on the deck!"

Since understanding the words Hessen had spoken, Zhang Hainuo felt much brighter.

"Haha, of course! Italian warships rarely set sail at night. Besides, we're still a good distance from the Italian territorial waters!" Wolf chuckled. It seemed that he was quite satisfied with the overall outcome of this voyage. The tonnage of the ships they had sunk added up to nearly 10,000 tons. Not every submarine could achieve such substantial results on every outing; some might only sink two or three small cargo ships, which was meager considering the long and arduous journey.

"Attention all compartments, this is Wolf. I am taking over command of the entire boat! Those who are sleeping can continue sleeping now! Those on duty, pay extra attention, you must be fully alert now!"

As he descended into the watertight compartment, Zhang Hainuo heard Wolf's reminder to the duty crew members.

He returned to the lower deck via the ladder. At this time, there were only a few people left on duty in the control room. Due to the limited space inside the submarine, the sailors' berths were usually shared by two people who took turns sleeping. On a night like this, with the submarine in motion, there might not even be ten people on duty, so some had to find sleeping spots outside of their designated bunks.

Zhang Hainuo usually shared an officer's berth with the chief engineer, Proell. Proell had already occupied the "hot berth," so he went to the torpedo compartment at the bow of the boat. Sure enough, all four torpedo racks were occupied. As he walked towards the stern, passing by the captain's cabin, he noticed light seeping out from under the curtain. After hesitating for a moment, he stood at the doorway and called out softly, "Captain, are you asleep?"

"Oh, it's Hainuo! Is there something you need?" The voice didn't sound like someone who was asleep.

"No, Captain, you asked Wolf to relieve me, and I happened to pass by and noticed your light was still on..."

Hessen pushed aside the curtain with one hand. "Come in!"

Although the captain's cabin was a separate room, the space was still incredibly small, not even half the size of Zhang Hainuo's quarters on the S-36. Hessen motioned for Zhang Hainuo to sit on his bunk while he remained seated at the small table, where an envelope and some papers and pens lay.

"Writing to your family?"

"Yeah, to my mother. Is everything calm on the surface?"

"Very calm!" Zhang Hainuo's words carried a double meaning, indicating both the calm sea and the absence of enemy activity.

"I remember you mentioning you also have a fiancée," Hessen said casually. "Do you plan to marry her after the war?"

At 26 years old, Hessen had neither a fiancée nor a girlfriend, which had puzzled Zhang Hainuo for quite some time. He later learned from Otis that Hessen had someone in mind, but the dangers of submarine warfare were too great for him to burden others or risk holding someone back with a promise, so he deliberately chose to remain single.

Zhang Hainuo didn't give a definite answer to the question. "It's a long story. It's ultimately an agreement between our parents. Although she's my fiancée now, perhaps she doesn't take a poor nobleman like me seriously!"

"What if you were wealthy?" Hessen asked casually as he tidied up the papers and pens on his table, then took out a thick logbook and a stack of maps from the overhead compartment.

"Me? I look like a poor officer. How could I be wealthy?" Zhang Hainuo said somewhat self-deprecatingly. Compared to his current income, he was doing alright compared to the average civilian, but he was nowhere near the wealthy merchants and tycoons.

"Do you know where the most wealth is?" Hessen placed the logbook and maps on the table but didn't rush to open them.

Zhang Hainuo naturally replied, "England? America?"

"No, it's underwater!" Hessen's serious expression told Zhang Hainuo that he wasn't joking.

"You mean those sunken ships?" Zhang Hainuo recalled Hessen mentioning his plan to salvage sunken ships a few days ago and suddenly felt a spark of inspiration in his mind.

"Exactly! I'm sure you've heard of the Spanish treasure galleons returning from the Americas loaded with gold, silver, and jewels. Some were seized by the British, some plundered by pirates, and others sank in storms, with only a fraction returning to Spain!" Hessen explained calmly. "No one knows exactly where these priceless treasure ships sank. Finding them relies on luck. But other sunken ships are different."

"Other sunken ships?"

Just as Zhang Hainuo was about to speak, Hessen pulled out a few sketches from the thick notebook and handed them to him. Zhang Hainuo flipped through them one by one, reading the text written on them:

"The Plutocrat... The Mermaid... The Montagna..."

A few days ago, when they sank that Italian freighter, Zhang Hainuo had seen Hessen draw sketches like these. While he couldn't praise Hessen's sketching skills, at least these sketches clearly depicted the shapes and outlines of those freighters.

"We didn't have time to search for valuable items before sinking them, and even if we found something, we'd have to hand over half. But after the war ends, we'll only need to pay a small portion of taxes when we retrieve things from them!" Hessen explained calmly.

"It seems you've already planned everything out!" 

It was only then that Zhang Hainuo suddenly realized that Hessen's meticulousness wasn't just limited to military matters. He cared for his crew, and even after the war, he wanted to ensure they lived good lives through his efforts. It was no wonder the crew respected and supported him so much.

"It's not like I've been planning for a long time!" Hessen half-jokingly explained. "Listening to Otis and the others talk about how poor their families are, and thinking about the difficult lives of retired veterans, I came up with this plan! Hainuo, I think you're a trustworthy friend and a kind-hearted person, which is why I'm telling you all this! Although you'll eventually become an independent commander on other submarines, when the war ends, this salvage company will also give you a share!"

"Thank you, Roderick!"

Zhang Hainuo suddenly thought that when he became a captain himself, he could also collect information about sunken ships like Hessen did. This way, the salvage company would have more target options. Of course, recording coordinates and sketching wasn't the only way; useful information could also be found through literature, official records, and other means. As he thought about it, the spark of inspiration he had just experienced began to crystallize in his mind.