As the two British destroyers rapidly approached, the British minesweeper with the pennant number "J-36" slowly lowered the St. George's Cross flag from the mast and raised a white flag!
Just two minutes ago, the soldiers on board were preparing to hoist a hand-painted makeshift German flag. The reason for this change was entirely due to a submariner named Emanuel who had spotted an object on the nearby sea surface, more precisely, a periscope protruding from a submerged submarine.
As the white flag was raised, Navy signalman Sigmund also sent a short contact signal in flag code in the direction of the periscope.
The periscope promptly disappeared from the sea surface.
Logan adjusted his collar and appeared on the bridge, still wearing the combat uniform of the German Air Force, standing tall.
Gunners and machine gunners lined up on both sides of the minesweeper.
Indeed, the British destroyers did not open fire. In terms of firepower on both sides, their commanders had no reason to worry about such a minesweeper—no torpedoes, no mines, and the few guns on board were of limited power.
"They are asking us to reduce speed, and all personnel are to assemble on deck!" Sigmund translated the signal from the British destroyer.
"Reduce speed!" Logan said calmly, "All paratroopers, except those guarding British prisoners and those maintaining the boilers and engines, gather on deck. Replace the submariners!"
After that, Logan walked up to the bridge with Stephenberg. At a distance of over two thousand meters, the outlines of the two British destroyers were becoming quite clear. In Logan's memory of military documentaries, there was once an Italian submarine that couldn't dive due to a malfunction and encountered two British destroyers. In a one-against-two battle, the crew of this Italian vessel actually used its only deck gun to sink one of the British destroyers—an incident that seemed to involve a pre-war state-of-the-art destroyer. The role of luck in naval battles is difficult to quantify, but this particular case at least illustrated the value of courage.
Shortly after, the paratroopers assembled on the deck in accordance with orders. About forty people reached the standard complement for this minesweeper. The paratroopers who were already on deck, influenced by their commander, took off their outer British uniforms, while those who had just arrived still wore British military police uniforms with insignia torn off. The combination of the two was quite an incongruous sight!
The commander on the British destroyer apparently saw the situation on board the minesweeper. Immediately after, they sent another signal: "We will send men to board. Do not attempt to resist, or you will meet your end."
From the last sentence, Logan guessed the opponent's anger. Was it because of the carnage at Portsmouth? Was it because of the signal trickery earlier? Or was it because of the radar equipment?
"Don't panic, everyone, wait for my command. Gunners, get back to your positions and fire as soon as possible. Machine gunners, do the same. The rest of you, help with ammunition. We'll beat those Brits to a pulp!" Logan shouted in German to the paratroopers on the deck, without worrying about being heard by the other side.
The paratroopers looked up at their commander, with a mix of nervousness, anxiety, but mostly friendly smiles. In their view, maybe they could really solve the problem as easily as they did with sinking the British minesweeper at Portsmouth?
Due to time constraints, Logan's troops did not explain their operational plan to these paratroopers. Although they only saw a solitary periscope, Logan was confident that it was a German submarine and would assist in the operation—and most likely, it was U-6 as Falkenberg had said. Of course, nothing is certain. If it turned out to be a British submarine that had been idle throughout the war, or a German submarine passing by without torpedoes, encountering such a low-probability event, Logan would just have to accept it!
The battlefield is where nations compete in strength and commanders vie with tactics, but the importance of luck has been proven over millennia. The British Empire benefited greatly from luck during its zenith, from the reinforcements arriving just in time for the Battle of Waterloo to the stray shell disrupting the German offensive plan at Verdun (although it was fired by French artillery, the British as allies were also beneficiaries), to the sinking of the Bismarck, which has been studied countless times by historians (of course, referring to history, as the Bismarck had not yet been commissioned at this time). Luck was an indispensable factor.
But this time, luck clearly favored Logan's burst of luck. Seeing the minesweeper willing to surrender, the two British destroyers closed in from both sides. Instead of boarding, the commanders on board chose to send armed sailors in motorboats to control the situation. Due to the high-speed maneuvering, they couldn't lower the motorboats, so the destroyer on the right side reduced speed first. At this point, it was only four or five hundred meters away from the minesweeper!
As two strange white streaks appeared on the sea surface, Logan quickly turned his head to look at the other destroyer, which was slightly further away, approximately six to seven hundred meters. However, its speed had already slowed down, and the ship's crew on the side was lowering a launch from the ship's davit.
"Everyone, pay attention, prepare for action, listen to my command..." Logan shouted in German.
The paratroopers began to nervously get excited, like athletes waiting for the starting gun to fire.
"They're doomed!" murmured Stefenberg, standing next to Logan. Indeed, due to the backlight, the crew on the British destroyer had not been able to spot the torpedoes on the sea surface immediately. Even at a speed of 40 knots, it would only take twenty-something seconds for the torpedoes to traverse this distance!
After a good four or five seconds, the British finally noticed the long white streaks on the water's surface, and the ship's side machine guns were evidently in a state of readiness, immediately roaring into action.
Seeing the opportune moment, Logan clenched his fist and vigorously waved it, "Let's go, guys, aim for the bridge on the left side of that ship! Pound them!"
The crew on the distant British destroyer still seemed not to have fully grasped the situation, thus missing the optimal moment to organize the minesweeper's attack. In just a few seconds, Thomas Miller and his gun crew made the adjustments, no loading needed, and the cannon burst into a bright flame!
"Full speed ahead!" Logan turned to Falkenberg in the helm room, though the submarine's engineer had made that decision five seconds prior.
Boom!
Thomas's shell accurately hit the distant destroyer's not-so-prominent main bridge, and under the action of the impact fuse, the warhead exploded immediately. Although the rising flames and smoke were not enough to engulf the entire bridge, Logan still eagerly hoped: How good would it be if this hit could take out the captain and his main assistants!
Almost simultaneously with the explosion of the shell, the twin guns at the front of the destroyer also opened fire. The shells whistled over, raising tall water columns on either side of the minesweeper. The flying shrapnel instantly knocked down several German paratroopers running along the ship's side, including Logan standing on the bridge, who faced a significant threat. But before the spray had completely settled, two deafening booms came from another direction — the destroyer had ultimately failed to evade either of the torpedoes!
Suppressing his inner excitement, Logan shifted his gaze to that side. For a 2,000-ton destroyer, torpedoes launched from a submarine were indeed too powerful. Two clusters of dazzling flames and gray-white smoke rose respectively from its low stern and rounded bow. The entire hull seemed to bend like a flimsy chopstick, with the bow sagging downward due to the arched explosion points at the stern and bow. The high mast leaned forward even more noticeably! The white number on the stern, which had been completely above the waterline, now had half submerged, and the flagpole bearing the military flag had also clearly deviated from its original position...