As the sun gradually jumps out of the sea level, a new day begins, and the entire Mediterranean is bathed in the golden sunshine.

The Port of Tobruk in Libya is gradually becoming lively. It is the most important military base of the African Legion in North Africa. It not only has solid fortresses, a complete aviation base, but also has relatively good facilities. What’s more important is its location. The distance between Tobruk and Tobruk is not as far as Benghazi and not as close as Matruk, and it is a very favorable support point. It is a truck to transport supplies from Benghazi to Alahman, and the losses on the way, back and forth consumption, etc., and it is good to transport a ton of gasoline to the front line and still have half a ton of left.

Truk's port is too close to the front line, and British aircraft have to bomb almost every day, and sometimes they have to come twice a day. The port facilities are repaired and then repaired again after the bombing. There are almost no time intact for several months. Although Tobruk is also patronized by British bombers taking off from Malta or Cairo, because they happen to be in the middle of two enemy bases, the number of bombers coming to visit is relatively limited and the air stagnation time cannot be too long. In addition, the fighter wing of the 8th Air Force stationed provides effective defense, so the overall safety is still guaranteed.

The main reason for the busy port is to process the fuel transported to the port three days ago. Most of them will enter combat-ready oil tanks through various pipelines. In order to prevent bombing, the African Legion seized Tobrook from the British and spent a lot of effort to repair the oil storage facilities, setting almost all the oil tanks underground. Another part of the fuel was loaded into barrels and sent to the front line by trucks, which is an indispensable blood to maintain the war.

The Italians have always regarded the errands of transporting materials to the ports of North Africa as a fear of the way. If you can, you can, and if you can, you can escape. But this time, not only did the Prime Minister Mussolini personally issue a stern order, but the German garrison directly dispatched the military police under the order of Marshal Kesselin. The two captains set out on the voyage with almost a sad face. Although the military repeatedly stated that the route was safe and the Air Force would provide full-time escort, the captains were all elites. In the past six months, they have heard too many news that the cargo ships were sunk by the British, so they naturally would not take this cheap guarantee to heart. The ears simply filtered this kind of words, and just set off on time with fear.

Less than half a day after the captain asked the crew to prepare lifesaving equipment and boats to get the fastest time for escape. Unexpectedly, all precautions were not used in the end. Two Italian tankers successfully docked in the dark and unloaded the goods in less than one day. The whole process was completed in one go without any barriers. Until the evening, the two captains on the tanker were still in a daze, saying that they had never encountered such a smooth supply process. During the two days and three nights, it seemed that British warships, submarines and planes had deliberately avoided it. Even when they were operating in the port, there was no British planes coming to harass them, which made people involuntarily feel that they were still in peace.

When Guderian received a telegram from Tobrook, he smiled with satisfaction. The purchase of 6,000 tons of fuel means that the African army's next phase of combat plan had the most solid foundation. No one expected this clever counter-use in case of unfavorable control of the British army's password. Guderian used a typical trick to falsely report the supply time to the British to ensure transportation safety - on the British's calendar, the two ships would not arrive until the afternoon of September 6. The stereotyped British believed in their intelligence and were too lazy to spend the useless effort to travel around Tobrook two days ago.

At this time, less than 60 nautical miles outside the port, two dark and shiny periscopes rose up at the same time, observing the surroundings vigilantly, and after finding nothing abnormal, they landed again with satisfaction. Soon after, two long and iron-gray narrow bodies emerged from under the sea level. These were two T-class submarines affiliated to the Second Royal Navy Detachment of the British Royal Navy, with a displacement of 1090/1571 tons (underwater). As a subsequent submarine designed to replace O-class, P-class and R-class boats, the T-class submarine was built under the restrictions of the London Naval Treaty. Compared with the S-class boat, its tonnage has increased, the number of torpedoes and fuel is more reasonable, and the design is relatively reasonable. The seven submarines of the Second Submarine Detachment are all T-class, and after the war begins, they are organized into the Mediterranean Fleet.

In order to deal with the two Italian tankers, the Mediterranean Fleet Command ordered the Second Submarine Detachment stationed at the Malta base to send capable troops to complete the mission. The Second Submarine Detachment carefully studied the combat mission and sent two submarines, Turbulent (Royal Navy Hull No. N98) and Traveller (Royal Navy Hull No. N48) to ambush outside the port. The combat order clearly stated that not only should the enemy ship be completely sunk, but the task must be completed before they enter the port and unload. To ensure the success rate, the detachment selected an Italian tanker target for each submarine and stipulated that the overall operation was commanded by the commander of the higher-ranking Captain of the Flesh, Major John Wallace Linton.

The message informed the Italians that they appeared on the afternoon of September 6th. Although Italians usually have a habit of being late and not early, for the sake of safety and navigation safety, the Furious and Voyager left the port from the Malta base in advance, and left the road all day and night. After reaching the designated location in the early morning of September 6th, they lurked. Taking advantage of the opportunity of improving vision in the early morning and greatly improving visibility, the two submarines decided to float up at the same time. On the one hand, they determined their own location, and on the other hand, they observed the surrounding situation.

In the view of Captain Michael Beauchamp St. John, the command of the Voyager, the Fleet Commander, was carefully considered. Although submarines usually use the means of setting up ambush on the way, because they do not know the Italians' clear route, this tactic is likely to pass by the target, but the ambush outside the port is different unless the Italians do not come to Tobrook,

Otherwise it would not be able to escape. He remembered the solemn expression of the former detachment commander when he conveyed the order of Lieutenant General Henry Harwood, commander of the Mediterranean Navy: "The Mediterranean Fleet has an important responsibility to ensure the logistics of the Eighth Army. They are now fighting fiercely with Guderian's African Army. They must not allow the enemy to obtain fuel supplies from the above. This is very important to us." He made up his mind to send these two tankers to the bottom of the sea.

As an important port in North Africa, Tobruk was originally a hub with dense shipping, but since the war began, especially after the Italian transport fleet was repeatedly attacked, the entire route is now empty, and after searching for a long time, no ship can be seen passing by. Major Linton was very satisfied with this, because it means that the difficulty of searching for ships has been greatly reduced. He is very confident about the ambushing of oil tankers. They have performed this task many times in the past six months. Since the black room far away in the country of England used a Turing machine to decipher German passwords, all Germany and Italy have been doing it many times in the past six months.

The secrets of the military's military operations in North Africa are fully visible. The ridiculous Germans have always thought that the Italians were unreliable to betray them. On the contrary, although the Italians are not very reliable in many things, their passwords are still relatively useful, at least they have not been cracked yet. Of course, it is not interesting to crack the Italians' passwords. After a series of naval battles such as the night attack of Taranto, the Battle of Cape Matapan, and the Battle of Malta, the Italian naval fleet, which was damaged by soldiers and lacks fuel, has basically huddled in the base port and refused to come out.

From early morning to morning, from morning to noon, until the sun sets, the two submarines finally couldn't hold back. At the beginning, they could still insist on lurking underwater and strictly follow the plan of reaching out to observe the periscope for one hour apart, but the more they went, the more anxious they became. Before the sky became completely dark, they would reveal the water to recharge the battery. Major Linton had more experience and a deeper understanding of the Italian temper. He sent a telegram to the Voyager, asking them not to be discouraged, especially after nightfall. Under the comfort of the two commanders, the restless morale of the crew gradually calmed down, and they persisted in the dark for a whole night to observe the sea to prevent Italian tankers from slipping into the port at night, but still had no results.

The sun rose again the next day, but the two submarines did not dive quickly this time. They stayed in the water for so long, and had not seen the sun for several days. In addition, the dirty air in the cabin, the ubiquitous engine noise and the stuffy heat caused by the Mediterranean climate, the two commanders discussed it by telegram and decided to seize the time to breathe, let the air flow, and increase the morale of the crew.

With the captain's order, the young men cheered and climbed out of the hatch cover, breathing in fresh air. The sailors first took a walk in the bow of the ship in groups of three or three, but later they simply formed a circle to brag and chat. Captain Braukamp faithfully performed his duties and kept observing from a distance with the high-power telescope on the deck. He could see Libyan fishermen fishing near the port, but there was no trace of Italian tankers, and he was sure that two tankers of this size could not slip under his nose.

Where did the Italian ship go?
Chapter completed!