Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

A month later.

Mawei, Fujian. Submarine training base. Offshore training area.

It was five in the morning. The sky was still dark.

A thin layer of mist floated on the sea, and the distant lighthouse flashed every few seconds, like a half-open eye.

Fifty Chinese soldiers stood on the dock, soaked to the bone, their lips purple, their legs trembling uncontrollably.

They have just completed a training exercise: swimming across a 400-meter training area in 12-degree water, wearing full combat gear and carrying a 10-kilogram load.

Three people sank halfway down, but were pulled up by the German instructors with ropes.

Heinrich stood on the dock, rhythmically tapping his iron pointer on the concrete ground.

"Twenty-eight days," he said in his broken but increasingly fluent Chinese. "You've disappointed me."

None of the soldiers dared to utter a sound.

"Three men drowned while crossing 400 meters. If you were on the U-47, you three would be dead, and you'd drag all thirty-two of your brothers down with you."

His pointer pointed to a tall, thin man in the front row.

"Zhao Dezhu, your breath-holding time has improved from forty seconds on the first day to two minutes and ten seconds. Not bad."

The tall, thin man puffed out his chest.

"But that's not enough." Heinrich's voice suddenly turned cold. "Two minutes and ten seconds, and you can't even load a single torpedo tube. Three minutes. That's my bare minimum. If you can't do it, get back to land."

Zhao Dezhu gritted his teeth. "Reporting, Instructor! I can do it!"

Heinrich didn't speak. He turned around and looked at another group of people standing at the end of the dock.

Those were the fifty German veterans he brought with him.

They stood ramrod straight, dressed in matching dark blue overalls, their faces expressionless.

But something was burning in their eyes.

That's the look in someone's eyes who has actually killed people in the deep sea.

Heinrich walked up to them and whispered something in German.

Fifty Germans stood at attention at the same time.

"Jawohl!"

The responses were as synchronized as cannon fire.

Heinrich turned around and faced all one hundred people.

"Today is your last day of training."

Everyone straightened their backs.

"U-93 will depart early tomorrow morning."

He raised his hand and pointed eastward. Behind the sea fog lay the unseen East China Sea.

"Target: Patrol route of the Japanese Third Fleet. Mission: Close reconnaissance, underwater lock-on."

He paused.

"This is not a drill. From the moment you step onto the submarine, it is real combat."

The dock was so quiet that you could hear the waves crashing against the breakwater.

Then, Zhao Dezhu suddenly took a step forward.

"Reporting, Instructor! I request to board the submarine!"

Heinrich glanced at him.

"You can only hold your breath for two minutes and ten seconds."

"I can last three minutes underwater," Zhao Dezhu said steadily. "Because there's no way out underwater."

Heinrich's lips twitched slightly.

An extremely small arc.

It could almost be called a smile.

"Approved. You are the first Chinese soldier to board the ship."

……

Mawei Base. Underground communications room.

Chen Zijun sat next to the telegraph machine, with a cup of tea that had gone cold in front of him.

Shen Li stood behind him, clutching a newly translated coded telegram in his hand.

"Young Marshal. Heinrich's report."

Chen Zijun took it and glanced at it.

"28-day training summary: Of the 50 Chinese soldiers, 7 were eliminated, and the remaining 43 have basically mastered the submarine compartment operation procedures. Among them, 6 performed exceptionally well and can be directly assigned to combat submarine crews. Heinrich's comment: 'These Chinese soldiers are stronger than I expected. They are not afraid to die.'"

Chen Zijun placed the report on the table.

"Not afraid of death," he repeated. "Heinrich only saw the surface. These people aren't not afraid of death. They've seen too much death and no longer care."

Shen Li remained silent for a moment.

"Young Marshal. Regarding the U-93's departure tomorrow... Heinrich asked whether it would be permissible to bring six Chinese soldiers aboard for observation."

"Six is ​​too many," Chen Zijun thought for a moment. "Bring three. Pick the three best ones."

"Does Zhao Dezhu count?"

"Fine. That kid's got guts."

Chen Zijun stood up and walked to the nautical chart on the wall.

He drew a line along the patrol route of the Japanese Third Fleet with his finger.

"Sato has been using this route for a month now. Our intelligence station has recorded the daily patrol times, speeds, and turning points."

His finger stopped at a point.

"Here. 29 degrees north latitude, 123 degrees east longitude. About 60 nautical miles from the mouth of Wusong. Satoda passes by this point every morning at 10 o'clock sharp."

"What the young marshal means is..."

"Tell Heinrich: Set sail at 2:00 AM tomorrow, pass through the Mawei Strait into the East China Sea, and expect to arrive at this location in the afternoon. Set up an ambush along Satoda's patrol route."

Shen Li's fingers trembled slightly.

"Young Marshal... what if we get discovered?"

Chen Zijun turned his head and glanced at him.

"If Heinrich can't even stay undetected, then he doesn't deserve to be my submarine instructor."

Shen Li stopped talking.

……

The next day. Two o'clock in the morning.

Mawei Secret Dock

The sluice gate opened silently.

U-93, like a giant black python awakening, slowly slid into the dark seawater.

From the control tower, Heinrich took one last look at the lights on the shore.

Then he crawled into the hatch, and the metal cover closed over his head.

"Close the upper hatch! All stations, report!"

"Engine room in position!"

"Forward torpedo room in position!"

"Sonar booth in position!"

"Navigation room in place!"

The reports from the German veterans came one after another, flowing smoothly as if they had rehearsed a thousand times.

Heinrich walked to the center of the command module and held onto the periscope's support.

Zhao Dezhu squatted in the corner of the command cabin, his back pressed against the cold steel wall, barely daring to breathe.

This was his first time entering a real combat submarine.

The space was so small it was suffocating. Pipes, dials, and valves were everywhere. The air was thick with the mixed smells of machine oil, sweat, and rusty metal.

The overhead light bulbs emitted a dim yellow light, making everyone's face look like a bronze statue.

Heinrich glanced at Zhao Dezhu.

"Scared?"

Zhao Dezhu shook his head. Actually, his palms were sweaty.

"Okay." Heinrich turned his head. "Inject ballast water! Dive to a depth of thirty meters!"

Wow.

The sound of seawater rushing into the ballast tanks came from all directions, like countless hands pounding on the hull at the same time.

The submarine began to sink.

Zhao Dezhu felt as if an invisible hand had pressed hard against his eardrums. Then came the churning of his stomach. Then came a feeling of weightlessness he had never experienced before.

The underwater world is eerily quiet.

Apart from the low-frequency hum of the motor, you can't hear anything else.

Even my own heartbeat became clear.

Zhao Dezhu suddenly understood what Heinrich had said—

"On a submarine, your greatest enemy is not the warships overhead, but your own fear."

He gritted his teeth.

……

Fourteen hours later.

East China Sea. High seas. 29 degrees north latitude, 123 degrees east longitude.

Thirty meters below the sea surface.

U-93 floated motionless in the water like a dead fish.

The entire boat fell silent.

Heinrich stood in the command module, his left hand on the periscope and his right hand holding a pocket watch.

The soprano soldier suddenly raised his head.

"Captain! Bearing 035, propeller noise detected! Twin-shaft propulsion, approximately 120 RPM! Distance... approximately 4,000 meters!"

Heinrich's pupils contracted slightly.

"Twin-shaft propulsion. 120 revolutions per minute." He calculated rapidly in his mind. "Light cruiser class. Displacement of three to five thousand tons."

He put down his pocket watch.

"Rise to periscope depth."

"Understood! Drainage! Raise to twelve meters!"

The sound of the ballast tanks being drained was exceptionally clear in the silent deep sea.

The submarine slowly surfaced.

Heinrich bent down and pressed his eye against the periscope's eyepiece.

In the shot, there was a blurry blue-green color.

Then the periscope broke through the sea surface.

The sunlight made him squint slightly.

The field of vision was quickly adjusted.

Then he saw it.

Three kilometers away, a gray light cruiser was slowly passing by at a speed of ten knots.

The chrysanthemum emblem on the bow of the ship gleamed in the afternoon sun.

On the mast, a Japanese flag fluttered in the sea breeze.

Tama number.

Flagship of the Third Fleet of Japan.

Sato's flagship.

Heinrich's breathing remained unchanged. His heart rate was even slower than before.

This is the instinctive reaction of an experienced hunter when he sees his prey.

Not excitement. It was calm. Utter calm.

He slowly rotated the periscope, positioning the crosshairs on the midsection of the Tama's hull.

Below the waterline. That's where the engine room is. One torpedo will suffice.

Zhao Dezhu squeezed behind him and saw the image reflected through the periscope eyepiece through the gap.

In that instant, his blood almost froze.

That is the enemy.

That's what they're hunting.

Right above my head. So close it felt like I could reach out and touch it.

"Former torpedo room." Heinrich's voice was low and calm.

"Forward torpedo room in position!"

"Tube No. 1, filling status confirmed."

"Tube number one is loaded! Ready to launch at any time!"

Heinrich slowly gripped the launch handle with his right hand.

Zhao Dezhu held his breath.

Everyone in the command center held their breath.

Three thousand meters. The Tama's side was perfectly exposed in the center of the crosshairs.

Heinrich's finger was on the firing trigger.

He closed his eyes.

eight years.

It's been eight years since I last pulled that trigger.

He could feel the coldness and roughness of the metal, the resistance of the spring inside the trigger, and his own pulse pounding against his fingertips.

Just press it.

The Tama will be torn in two within thirty seconds.

Satoda would be swallowed by the sea in terror.

And the whole world will never know who the killer is.

Heinrich opened his eyes.

He glanced at the note hanging on the wall of the command center.

It was written by Chen Zijun himself, and it only contained four Chinese characters—

"Just doing reconnaissance."

A very faint smile appeared on Heinrich's lips.

He released the launch handle.

"Record the target's course, speed, and draft. Retract the periscope. Descend to 50 meters."

"learn!"

The periscope silently retracted below the sea surface.

U-93 sank into the deep sea again, like a ghost that never existed.

Meanwhile, the Tama continued its leisurely journey on the water under the sunlight.

Sato Tadashi stood on the bridge, drinking tea, completely unaware of the Grim Reaper lurking thirty meters below.

……

Mawei Base. Underground communications room.

late at night.

The telegraph machine suddenly went off.

Shen Li grabbed the telegram, glanced at it, and his expression changed drastically.

He turned and rushed out of the communications room, running all the way to Chen Zijun's temporary office.

"Young Marshal! Heinrich's telegram!"

Chen Zijun took it.

There is only one line of text.

"Prey has been spotted. Dinner is ready anytime."

Chen Zijun looked at the words and smiled.

His smile was faint, but the light in his eyes shone brighter than the lighthouse outside Mawei Harbor.

He turned the telegram over and wrote four words on the back.

"Okay. Let's wait a little longer."

Then he stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window was the pitch-black sea at night.

"Satota," he whispered. "Your days of swaggering on the water are numbered."

The sea breeze howled.

In the darkness of the East China Sea, an unprecedented storm is brewing.

At the eye of the storm was a black submarine quietly returning to port in the deep sea.

The wolf pack's fangs are sharpened.