Chapter 284 Depth Charge

Just two days later, another Allied battleship was sunk.

This time it was the British "Dignity".

Its defense was even tighter. In addition to the anti-torpedo net, there were also merchant ships and transport ships, which surrounded the battleship in a circle. In addition, there were three destroyers and two trawlers patrolling around.

But the German submarine still succeeded in sinking it.

The Germans were very smart. They chose to attack at dawn. At that time, the slightly bright sky would make the water surface dark. The sailors could not see the periscope, but the submarine could accurately determine the position of the battleship through the huge shadow of the ship.

So, the German submarine fired a torpedo 500 meters away. It rode the waves in the calm water, miraculously passed through the gap between the two merchant ships guarding it, and then cut through the anti-torpedo net and accurately hit the center of the "Dignity".

Because the explosion was in the middle, the "Dignity" sank in just seven minutes.

Fortunately, the "Dignity" was near the coast at the time, and the hull ran aground. In the end, only more than 40 sailors were killed.

…

People seem to have gotten used to the news of battleships being sunk by the enemy. Although newspapers still publish headlines on the front page, there is not much discussion among the people.

Galieni just shook his head: "It is hard to imagine that a battleship worth millions of pounds was destroyed by a small torpedo."

At this time, Kobdo handed a telegram to Gallieni: "General, the Germans may have five or six submarines in the Dardanelles."

"How do you know?" Gallieni looked at Kobdo in confusion.

This is information that even the Second Bureau cannot find out. The British may be able to, but he did not share this information with France.

Kobdo replied: "Someone saw a German submarine replenishing in neutral Spain. People didn't care before, but now they suddenly realized that it was probably a submarine heading to the Dardanelles. In addition, there are several small coastal submarines that are transported by train, but these are just guesses."

Galieni nodded.

The intelligence Kobdo received was mostly "rumors", but it was extremely valuable when there was no intelligence at all.

"The enemy has only six submarines in total." Charles was a little unconvinced: "And with only one large submarine, how could it be so embarrassing for the Allies?"

Lieutenant Colonel Fernan said helplessly: "Even if there is only one, it is enough to give people a headache, not to mention there are five or six."

Charles looked at Lieutenant Colonel Fernan in confusion.

The Allied fleet has more than thirty destroyers and more than a dozen cruisers. Such a large fleet can't stop a submarine?

Lieutenant Colonel Fernan explained: "The submarine is only in danger of being attacked the moment it surfaces, otherwise no one can do anything to it!"

Charles was stunned, and then he thought that depth charges might not have been invented yet.

After asking a few more questions, Charles found that the situation was indeed the case.

Warships have very limited ways to deal with submarines: using naval guns or directly ramming them, there may only be a few minutes before and after, and once it dives, there is only hope.

Charles said "hmm", and he thought it was necessary to go to the police training base.

…

Galiene used the police training base as the training ground for the 105th Regiment because its facilities were much better than most of the temporary military bases.

On the other hand, the police training base had been training soldiers for a long time, such as mortars, 37 guns, etc. People were used to the coming and going of troops, and the arrival of the 105th Regiment would not attract the attention of spies.

As soon as the car that Charles was riding in drove into the training base, he heard the roar of the engine and shouting.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw dozens of cars on the playground, or more precisely, modified cars, with high-rise planks installed at the rear, just like the pedals in front of the landing craft.

Charles immediately understood that these cars were used to simulate "landing craft":

The rear compartment was full of soldiers coming and going.

The car was driven backwards, and when it drove to a slope and the planks were placed, the fully armed soldiers rushed out of the compartment holding rifles.

Charles sighed in his heart: It is worthy of being Tijani, and he can get so many cars at this time.

However, Charles soon found out that he had underestimated Tijani.

"Colonel!" Tijani must have received a notice from the signalman. He ran to Charles with sweat all over his head. Seeing Charles looking at the training ground, he sighed with guilt: "There are not enough landing craft, and this place is not suitable for training, so we can only make do with it."

Charles was speechless. You actually called such training "make do with it"?

Do you know how many people on the front line are waiting for cars to transport ammunition and supplies? You easily got more than 50 cars, and you actually made do with it?

However, Charles didn't say anything. He just said "um" and replied: "Not bad, but there is another problem to consider. The troops who fight on land all year round may have never been on a ship. If they are affected by seasickness and their combat effectiveness..."

"I have already contacted them." Tijani replied: "Starting tomorrow, they will go to the Toulon Naval Base for training. Let them ride on warships for a few days!"

Charles: ...

The expression on this guy's face when he spoke was as if he could have warships whenever he wanted.

Are you sure this is not showing off your wealth?

"Colonel." Tijani asked hesitantly, "Do you want to..."

Charles said, "It's just a boat ride. I don't need it."

Charles had experience riding a boat in modern times, so he was very confident.

However, he forgot that a warship that sails through the wind and waves in the hail of bullets is different from a modern ship that sails smoothly.

"There is something I need to discuss with you." Charles took Tijani aside: "You should have heard about the sinking of the Dignity, right?"

"Yes." Tijani nodded, and then seemed to understand Charles's concerns: "If you think we will have a problem of insufficient landing warships because of this, then there is no need. I have contacted Rear Admiral Geprat, and he decided to send the battleship Gaul and five destroyers to provide us with cover, and there will also be several minesweepers and transport ships."

Charles: ...

He was sure that the commander had made the right choice, at least he was quite powerful in the navy, and everything was settled.

"That's not what I'm talking about." Charles' expression was somewhat difficult: "I was wondering, should we have something to deal with submarines?"

"Deal with submarines?" Tijani looked puzzled: "But it's underwater, how can we..."

"Bombs." Charles answered very straightforwardly: "Bombs that can explode underwater."

Tijani's eyes widened instantly.

This is indeed a feasible plan, and it's very simple, but why is it that only Charles can think of it? !