Chapter 728: Champagne

After a long voyage, a ship arrived at a port in Spain. Aboard this passenger liner from a distant land was a group of sailors in German naval uniforms. This ship was returning from Australia, and almost all the German officers and men on board were elites from the submarine force.

In groups of three to five, they walked down the gangway, talking and laughing. A few German naval officers were on the pier to welcome them. As soon as they disembarked, they received the treatment they had dreamed of: enough cash to eat, drink, and be merry in Spain, as well as a medal for honorable long-range service.

These were the most experienced soldiers in the German Navy’s submarine force for long-range operations. It could be said that they carried the future and hope of Germany’s quest for naval supremacy. According to the plan, they would be responsible for training the long-range combat units of the Third Reich’s submarine force, teaching them the experience of long-range, cross-regional operations, and transforming the German submarine force from a regional navy into a globally deployed one.

For this plan, Prien had led ten submarines out of Germany, traveling across the oceans to Australia, completing an operational deployment that spanned the Atlantic and Pacific. The facts had also proven that it was not an easy matter for a navy to expand its operational range. It required many people to put in their own efforts and to strive for this goal for a long time before it could be achieved.

Of the ten German ocean-going submarines, only eight were still combat-capable upon arrival. To ensure the normal operation of this submarine force, some repairmen and engineers had to be deployed with them. In the end, they even had to dismantle damaged submarines to salvage parts to repair those with minor faults. All of this was based on the fact that German submarine models were standardized and parts were interchangeable. One can imagine how important equipment standardization is for long-range logistical support.

As time passed, Prien returned with one submarine, while the remaining ones began to be scrapped and destroyed one after another due to malfunctions. The repair ships sent from Germany could only transport some easily damaged parts to Australia. Once a submarine had a major failure, the only way to ensure someone could go out to sea and fight was to dismantle one to repair another.

In order to balance the strength of the U.S. and Japanese navies, Akado had ordered the German naval squadron in the Pacific to begin all-out attacks on the American transport fleet. However, because the American anti-submarine defenses were relatively well-established, apart from sinking some merchant ships, the German submarines did not achieve any significant combat results.

They mainly attacked American transport ships, ambushing the slow-moving large vessels on the shipping lanes. These ships were piled high with supplies that the United States was shipping to the front lines. The sinking of each one caused great distress to the American soldiers at the front.

Now, of the seven submarines, only three were still capable of combat. The German sailors who had lost their operational submarines were ordered to return home. They were heroes, and so they were given a hero’s triumphant return. These men were allowed to spend three days in Spain or France before returning to their base to report to their superiors.

When Akado learned of the Japanese Navy’s retreat at Kauai, he knew that his goal of having Japan and the United States wear each other down had likely failed. His plan to balance the two countries was too hastily drawn up. It had not allowed the Japanese to maintain a good state and wear down the U.S. Navy fleet.

“Welcome back safely!” The leading German officer came up to a German submarine captain who was disembarking, stood at attention, and raised his arm with a smile. “Heil Akado Rudolph, our Führer.”

“Heil Führer!” The German captain also raised his arm, then walked forward with a smile and embraced the German officer in front of him. “It’s good to be back alive. I’m glad you could come to pick me up. Come, let me introduce you. These are my crew.”

The commander in front of him was the commander of the German-leased port in Spain. He and this captain had been university classmates. They were very close, and when the fleet had left for Australia, it was he who had seen them off from Europe, on their journey to the Pacific.

“The Führer is very grateful for the precious experience in long-range submarine warfare you have accumulated for the Empire with your courage. Everyone gets a vacation. Each person can spend 1,000 Imperial Gold Marks in Spain or France,” the officer said with a smile, shaking hands with the submarine sailors one by one, announcing news that made everyone cheer.

“How is the situation with the submarine force in Australia now?” the officer asked in the car on the way back to the base, inquiring about his old friend’s unit in Australia. After all, it was far from the base, and it was very difficult to find someone to ask in person. Although Prien had brought back a lot of news upon his return, the latest news had to be asked of the most recent returnees, right?

The returning captain did not seem very happy when he mentioned Australia. He thought for a moment before speaking slowly, “Actually, the conditions there are very poor. The Australians only provide us with fresh water and a small amount of support. The Japanese have already approached the east coast, and the situation is very critical. We lack ammunition, so we have had to give up many good attack opportunities. The maintenance and upkeep of the submarines themselves is also very poor. The soldiers are fighting on their faith.”

His words were not an exaggeration at all. In the battle for Australia, the German submarine officers and men were practically fighting on their faith. They would dismantle one submarine and use its parts to repair the remaining ones that were in better condition. The number of usable submarines was decreasing, but they still went out to sea on time to attack the designated American transport targets.

Ever since the United States and Germany had gone to war, the American ships heading for the Middle East had been under attack by German submarines. In return, the previously safe route from Spain to Australia in the Pacific had to endure a blockade by U.S. Navy destroyers. The German Pacific submarine squadron, which was already short on spare parts, was then completely plunged into the embarrassing situation of lacking both food and ammunition.

Some scarce parts could not be replenished, and the torpedoes that had been used up were also not replaced. At the beginning, this submarine squadron could still maintain five submarines in normal operation. Now only three were left. Even so, these three submarines still had to carefully select their attack targets when they set sail, so that their precious ammunition would not be wasted.

“How were the scrapped submarines disposed of?” the officer asked, listening to his old classmate complain about how his submarine had been dismantled for a minor malfunction and had eventually become a source of spare parts.

“We removed every part we could, then opened the sea valves and watched our own submarine sink to the bottom of the sea. It was our old partner of many years. Do you think we would dispose of it carelessly? We sang our military songs as we watched it sink,” the captain replied.

“I have a telegram here from Berlin. It was sent by the Imperial Minister of Propaganda’s men. It’s a statement for the media. You should read it carefully, and then if anyone interviews you, you will have to use this standard set of words to answer their questions,” the officer said, handing the captain a document. “I hear you’re going to be promoted to captain and will be teaching at the submarine academy. Congratulations.”

“Honestly, if I had a choice, I’d rather be drifting on the high seas,” the submarine captain said with a bitter smile. “A man who has fought on the sea has no desire to return to the land and live a quiet life. I still hope I can lead my soldiers to fight at the bottom of the cold sea. That’s where I truly like to be. There are no intrigues, no messy things. If you have the ability, you live and achieve great things. If you don’t, you die as you should.”

The officer who had welcomed them burst out laughing. “I knew you’d say that. But unfortunately, you are all the Empire’s most precious talents now. Just teach peacefully at the academy.”

With a sigh, the submarine captain nodded as if resigned to his fate. “Sometimes I really envy that guy Prien. He went to Australia with us, and I hear he’s still at sea, living the life of combat that he loves?”

“That guy is even more proud now. I hear he’s been burning, killing, and looting all along the American East Coast, just like a bandit. The American government has put out a bounty, offering a high price of 5 million dollars, just for Prien’s head!” As the commander of the port, his information was very up-to-date. Prien had now sunk a total of over one hundred thousand tons of transport ships between Iceland and the American East Coast, making the entire United States furious.

The new submarine, which had been renamed U-47, had become a ghost living in the North Atlantic. The U.S. Navy’s destroyers had detected this terrifying weapon more than once, but no one had been able to sink it. This submarine came and went without a trace, playing with dozens of British and American destroyers as if they were idiots, causing the British and American navies to suffer greatly.

Like Britain, Germany had committed its new weapons to the battlefield of the North Atlantic. But unlike Britain’s highly unreliable Meteor fighter, Germany’s new submarine was very reliable. Compared to the British, the weapons the German army had committed to the war were more mature and more deterrent. Just after Prien’s submarine began to fight, the transport efficiency between Iceland and the United States was reduced by more than five percent. And this was something that just one new type of submarine had achieved.

While Britain and the United States were at their wits’ end over the German ghost submarine on the East Coast, in the Wilhelmshaven naval base in Germany, the gates of three docks opened simultaneously. Three identical new submarines were launched one by one to the sound of a military band. Dönitz and Raeder smashed a bottle of champagne against each of the three submarines in turn.

Published: 2025-09-22T03:37:54.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-03-15T18:37:48.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c728-139443974

Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com