The commander of the [Yegong River] Navy Colonel Mantan learned about the conflict on the French-Siam border half an hour before setting off. The Bangkok Command did not inform them of the situation of the war, but only asked them to pay attention when returning.

At that time, the sea defense ship was docking in Nakhon Mansion on the Malay Peninsula. The ship was carrying seventy officers and interns from the Royal Naval School. As usual, [Ye Gonghe] was carrying out long-distance training missions, and he never expected to be involved in the war.

Because of fear that these officers and students were making trouble on the ship because of their passion, the captain did not inform the students of the war. As a result, in the post-war military court, this became the most unforgivable crime of Colonel Mantan.

[Yegong River] could have continued to stay in Nakhon Port, but because of concern that the sea area would be blocked by the French fleet, Colonel Mantan insisted on setting sail according to the original plan. The sailing was very smooth at the beginning. Except for the busy merchant ships on the sea, he did not encounter any French warships. The captain judged that the French Far East Fleet might not be ready to attack, because the distance from the local area was too far, and these European colonies usually performed very slowly when encountering emergencies.

After lunch, the deck under the scorching sun was hot. In addition to the officers and watchmen on the bridge, the off-duty sailors and students hid in the cabin, turned on the portholes and ventilation systems to prepare for a nap, because you could arrive at your home port Bangkok before dinner, and the atmosphere on the ship was very peaceful and peaceful.

At about 1:30 p.m., the lookout post on the mast tower found an unknown ship southwest of the ship, and was approaching the ship quickly. The sleepy first mate was immediately frightened. He was one of the few officers and soldiers on the ship who were informed. The first mate quickly notified the resting captain via the ship phone and asked whether he wanted to raise the alarm to prepare for battle.

Captain Mantan showed a naval officer's calmness in handling affairs, and he immediately rejected the suggestion of the first mate to sound the alarm. The facts proved that the captain's judgment was correct, and this was indeed a false alarm. The unknown warship was another naval training ship [Palun King] sailed out of Peking University Nian. She also received a telegram from the Navy Command and was accelerating its return to Bangkok Port.

Although it was an old British R-class destroyer, its speed was far higher than that of the newly built sea defense ship of [Yegong River].

Because he disliked the other party's speed too slow, the [Palun King] refused the request of the formation of the [Yegong River] formation. The destroyer passed by the side of the [Yegong River] at a speed of 25 knots, and soon left the sea defense ship far behind.

[Yegong River] can only continue to complete her last voyage alone at a cruising speed of nine knots.

At 2:15 pm, when the temperature was the highest in the day, the two lookout hands at the top of the bridge were not covered by any obstruction, and their heads began to become dizzy due to the sun. They could only rely on constant drinking of water to cool down.

"Look at what that is? Dolphin?" First-class sailor Na Long wiped the sweat from his hands on his uniform and lifted up the heavy high-power telescope again.

"What did you find?" Lonnie, a sailor in the same squad, asked with a kettle.

"There is a white thing flashing over there, and I can't see it now." Na Long pointed to the sea in the distance.

"Oh, maybe it's a dolphin. Do you still want water?" Lonnie shook the kettle.

"Save some drinks, there will be half an hour before you can change shifts." Na Long said to his companion with a smile.

"It's the [Yegong River] class sea defense ship." In the command cabin of u106, Captain Wang handed the identification manual to Captain Robin.

"The right rudder is fifteen degrees, two-thirds of the two cars, and the course is 270." Robin glanced at the manual, and then issued a turning order.

"This is a new type of sea defense ship, equipped with four 120 mm main guns and no anti-submarine weapons." Igor marked the position and course of the [Yegong River] on the chart.

"We only have one chance, Wang, let your people take a closer look." Robin said to several Navy officers of the National Government who were guarding the corner of the command cabin.

"Yes, Captain Wang." Captain Wang took the lead in agreeing loudly.

[Yegong River] lost its last chance to escape. At this time, no one knew that under the water less than two thousand meters away, a ferocious steel shark was approaching him quietly.

"Time is up." Robin looked at the navigation clock on the bulkhead, turned around and climbed the escalator leading to the command tower enclosure.

"Keep the course, Igor." The captain sat in his dedicated seat inside the enclosure, and then opened the cover on the attack periscope protective case.

"The periscope is in place, captain." The first mate raised his head and reported loudly.

"Okay, let me see." Robin put on his combat hat and his eyes turned to the periscope.

"She is there, the beautiful guy, facing us from the side, 700, heading 060, speed 9 knots." Robin reported the target parameters, and the first mate entered the data into the torpedo computer.

It is a complex mechanical equipment. By inputting the heading speed of the boat and the target, the steering angle required after the torpedo is out of the tube can be automatically calculated. The submarines were most commonly used to use direct torpedoes. When attacking moving targets, a front angle was required. The torpedo computer greatly reduced the time spent on manual calculations, and there would be no calculation errors, wasting valuable attack opportunities.

The situation at sea changes rapidly during real combat, and the attacks of German submarines are not successful every time. In order to increase the hit rate, German submarines often launch multiple volleys and set up a death fan with torpedoes, but even so, they often get empty for various reasons.

However, this time, u106 has approached within one kilometer of the target, and there is little possibility of a torpedo attack at this distance.

This is also because this sea defense ship does not have any anti-submarine capabilities, and does not even have a basic listener. Apart from searching with naked eyes, it is impossible to find a submarine sailing underwater. When she meets her opponent, she is a veteran of the battlefield with rich combat experience. From the moment she is set as a target by U106, she has lost the opportunity to escape.

"The torpedo tube hatch is opened." The deputy captain reported loudly.

This is the most critical moment, because the air squeezed out when the torpedo tube enters water can easily expose the whereabouts of the submarine.

"No. 1 torpedo tube, launch, No. 2 torpedo tube, launch, No. 3 torpedo tube, launch." Robin decisively and loudly ordered.

With the captain's order, several dull explosions came from the torpedo compartment on the torpedo cabin on the bow of the submarine. If you are at the scene, you can still hear the sound of the torpedo rubbing on the rails in the tube.

The piston locking the tail of the torpedo was pushed by high-pressure gas, which pushed the heavy torpedo coated with lubricating oil on the outer shell over seven meters long and pushed out the launch tube at a speed of fifteen meters per second. The torpedo engine immediately started and pushed the torpedo forward quickly towards the target. The piston retracted the launch tube along the bottom guide rail of the tube, and the high-pressure gas in the launch tube was also retracted back to the submarine by a special pipeline.

The entire launch process is completed within one second. In order to control the balance of the hull at the moment of launch, some sailors must enter the torpedo compartment during the launch to prevent the sudden loss of the weight of the torpedo launch. The bow of the boat suddenly rises due to the increase in buoyancy, which will be fatal on the battlefield.

After the water balance of the ballast tank at the bow is filled with, the additional sailors return to their original positions, and the officers and soldiers of the bow torpedo tank begin the next round of loading.

"Put off the periscope! Right rudder for fifteen degrees and dive to twenty-five meters." Although the other party did not have anti-submarine equipment in terms of information, the u106 still evaded maneuvers according to regulations.

"Fifteen seconds left to reach the target." Igor held the stopwatch in his hand, and everyone in the command pod held their breath.

Before the first mate finished speaking, a dull roar came from the sea water outside the boat, followed by another sound. After five or six seconds, the third explosion sounded, and a cheer suddenly sounded inside the u106 boat.

"Three shots hit, congratulations, captain." Igor shook his hand and gave Robin a playful military salute.

"What a perfect attack, worthy of being the trump card of the German Navy, it really opened our eyes." Captain Wang and other officials of the State Government also stepped forward to congratulate.

"The left rudder is fifteen degrees, the two cars are at full speed one third, and they float to the depth of the periscope." Robin smiled and replied to the first mate, then ordered loudly.

"The depth of the periscope, captain." The third-level value officer looked at the depth table and reported it.

“Rise the periscope.”

"Yes, sir, raise the periscope." The silver main periscope rose quickly from the guide well, and Robin stepped forward and opened the folding handle.

[Yegong River] was attacked by three German electric torpedoes in a row, but the lookout hand discovered a faint torpedo trail on the water until the moment before the torpedo hit. Before the two soldiers could figure out what it was, the torpedo had hit the hull directly under the bridge.

The torpedo immediately exploded a hull five meters square, and the shock wave destroyed all the cabins under the bridge. Colonel Mantan, who was resting in the captain's room, was immediately seriously injured. The water column triggered by the explosion exceeded the mast of the warship.

Before the huge water column fell, the second torpedo arrived. The torpedo hit the power bay. The bulkhead of the ship without armor protection was like aluminum foil in front of the two hundred kilograms of charge. The hull was blown open with a large seven-meter-long crack. Within a few seconds, the sea water had already passed the knees of the surviving officers and soldiers.

However, the nightmare of [Ye Gonghe] was not over yet. Just as the sailors who survived the power compartment tried to rescue themselves, a third-party torpedo hit the stern of the ship, giving the poor sea defense ship a final blow. The torpedo destroyed the hull structure of the stern of the sea defense ship, and the entire stern broke completely from the hull from the front of the No. 4 main gun.

The huge water column fell back to the sea, and the warship, which was only 1,300 tons, began to sink rapidly.

The people on the ship were almost unprepared when they were attacked. Most of them took a sweet nap in the cabin hammock in the warship's bow. When the hull sank rapidly, the open vents and portholes accelerated the inlet of water. As a result, among the more than 90 Siamese naval officers and soldiers in the bow, only a few lucky people were able to escape from the ship.

When Robin began to observe through the periscope, he found that the entire deck of the warship had sunk below the water, and only half of the bridge was still exposed on the water.

u106 waited in the water for a while and found that there was no danger, the captain ordered the submarine to float and ordered the crew to go on the deck to rescue the Siamese naval officers and soldiers who fell into the water.
Chapter completed!