Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve

This time the "Squid" was hit hard one after another.Rumbling metal impacts, shaking of the earth, severe pain in the ears, extinguishing of all the lights, a dark submarine bouncing and tossing desperately on the seabed, the sound of the hull breaking, terrified shouts, invisible things A blow to Byron's face--something sharp and slit his cheek--all of it seemed natural, uncanny, part of a common experience, a time The unexpected disaster meant that he was going to die on the "Squid".This time, the black lights and blind people could only hear the rumbling, rumbling, and chaos, and even the depth bomb bombing just now was nothing in comparison.

"I'm going to raise the submarine. Drain the tank! Surface! Surface!" He finally heard the captain shouting hoarsely through the speaking tube, but before he had time to give the order to the level helmsman, another voice came. Rough roar. "Stop, Byron. I'm raising the sub to fifty feet! Negative tank drained! Maximum stern angle! Full speed ahead!" The lights came on, showing that the helmsman was desperately trying to steer on the horizon.A piece of iron protrudes from the east and west of this space. I don’t know how many pieces of iron there are!Now it is constantly bumping and vibrating, and the other sailors are holding on to the pillars and valve heads tightly, and they are holding on to everything that can prevent arms and legs from being broken, and skulls from being smashed.The depth charges rumbled and exploded, causing endless disturbances.Books, cups, and measuring instruments were banging and flying everywhere; splinters of cork were raining down.Even so, the level helmsmen still obeyed the order and turned the steering wheel desperately. With a rattling sound, the submarine jumped and drove forward, bouncing, swaying and swaying in the turbulent sea water. drive forward.The submarine was really solid.However much the havoc has been so far, the hull has withstood it; there's some charge left in the batteries, and the engine's still running; but there's a scene in the cockpit, with two sailors bleeding—bye Lun also covered a wet wound on his cheek with one hand, and it turned red when he took his hand away-Sergeant Sergeant Dringer fell behind the automatic dead reckoning tracer and vomited and vomited.Death was still near.

From this attack, however, the submarine finally gained the slightest advantage of concealment.Even in the deep sea, the violent explosion creates a sonar-impenetrable turbulent barrier, so there is another chance to slip away.Because the "Squid" was hiding on the bottom of the sea, the rain of depth charges raised a burst of mud, and the submarine drove away through the large swath of mud, temporarily avoiding the enemy's sonar search.Depth charges rumbled loudly behind the stern.It was clear that the captain of the destroyer was bombing by means of the echo sounder. He was bombing the area indiscriminately, and wanted to blast the wreckage to the surface as evidence of victory.

But Byron knew nothing about the situation.All he knew was that the sub was somehow moving again.He was just covering the blood from the cut on his face with a handkerchief when Qatar came over the loudspeaker.Esther's voice startled him. "Ask the medical assistant to go up to the command tower as soon as possible." The Airmail sergeant rushed down from the command tower and told Byron in a low voice that the captain was too shaken by the explosion just now, fell down in the dark, and injured himself. head.When the lights came on, Esther saw him lying on the deck with his eyes closed and blood dripping from his forehead.He hasn't woken up yet.The mate didn't want to disturb the crew; he sent the sailing officer to inform Byron why he was temporarily giving orders through the voice tube.

Esther did not change Huban's tactics.While the medical assistant was treating the captain, the "Squid" was clinging to the bottom of the sea, expending the last bit of reserve voltage, and advancing at a speed of ten knots per hour.The depth charges aft of the stern ceased firing.The sonar ping continues to echo high Doppler in a narrow frequency band.That said the destroyer was once again in action, now getting closer.Are you searching, or are you following directly?This is out of the question. At this time, according to the report of the sonar team, the sound of the propellers of two other enemy ships was received, and they were approaching at high speed from the direction of the mouth of the bay.Dellinger began to mark the position of the enemy ship on the tracer, five miles away. "Mr. Henry, here are two more goddamn destroyers," said the sergeant major, eyeing Byron wryly. "Thirty knots." He repeated the news on the phone to the conning tower.

Esther's voice in the talking tube was choked and nervous. "Periscope Depth Blaney!" "Yes, sir. Periscope depth." The level helmsman turns the wheel.The oily shaft of the attack periscope rose silently behind Byron.The submarine went up. "The level of the chief is adjusted to sixty——" Before Byron finished speaking, he was interrupted by a cheer: "Wow, it's raining! It's pouring rain! It's so violent and stormy, it's as black as the bottom of a pot!" Esther turned to the loudspeaker and said: " Get out of the water! Get out of the water! Get out of the water! First-class bucket ready, twenty-one knots!"

Byron.Henry had seldom heard a more exhilarating word or sound than the rattling sound of draining water from the inflating tank. The "Squid" rose briskly.He could feel the waves of the sea, the hull of the boat bumped back and forth, and returned to level sailing, knowing in his heart that the submarine was encountering a rainy night.He could feel the change in pressure in both ears.Cozy, moist air pours in through the vents.The internal combustion engine coughed, roared, and came to life. The "Squid" braved the wind and waves, marched forward bravely, and became a surface ship that breathed and consumed the fresh air in the open air again!

Every cabin in the long submarine resounded with savage cheers, jovial curses, and rowdy obscenities.In any case, the time to pray to God is over for the time being. They are still on combat posts.Byron covered his face with a blood-stained handkerchief and climbed the steps to his post on the bridge.Esther was at the chart table, and said: "Get ready for battle, Braney." The medical assistant was bending over to take care of the captain, who was sitting with his back to the torpedo launch data computer, with his eyes open and his face pale. Bluish, with a bandage on his head and blood splattered on his khaki shirt.Huban smiled at Byron. "Hey, I think you've failed too." His voice was hoarse and weak.

"It's just a cut, sir." "You're luckier than me." Esther said, "Captain, do you want to try walking?" "In a bit.You said you were driving south?Why are you facing south? "This questioning sentence is spoken weakly, but with a little anger." The mouth of the bay is on the other side. " "That's right, sir. We're nailed. They know where we're going. They'll know when they see a straight line between the two points of tangency. There's two destroyers on our way, and I think we'd better Well, let's make a big detour. Go south ten miles, go east ten miles, and follow the east coast toward the mouth of the bay."

"Great. Help me stand up." Esther and the medical assistant took his elbows and helped him up.Huban stood staggeringly and clung to a post. "Oh! dizzy. That's not a bad plan, 'ma'am. But keep everyone on their combat posts. I'd better sleep in my bunk for half an hour." "Yes, sir." With the help of the doctor's assistant, the captain stumbled to the steps and opened the hatch, where the bloody and bandaged head disappeared.Esther picked up the ruler and the two-legged rule. "Brani, you'd better be treated by Dr. Helvesten."

"I'm fine, 'ma'am. I'm going to my post." Byron wanted to climb out of the cabin, look at the waves, and get some fresh air. Esther gave him a sharp look. "Do as you are told. Put on your raincoat and galoshes." "Yes, sir." When he boarded the bridge, he saw a vast expanse of darkness, splashing waves, howling wind, and rolling waves.These are all beautiful to him.The gunnery officer had overall responsibility for everything on deck; he was a blond Virginian with the rank of captain and his name was Wilson.Takeer's second, nicknamed "Hoo Hoo," which began in a long-forgotten event in Annapolis.Only the captain and Esther still call him "hoo hoo" now.He was an accomplished officer, with two prominent traits: his silence, except on board business, and his penchant for getting drunk by himself as soon as he landed.Takeer said nothing when Byron came out on deck, and hasn't said a word since. The bridge is the captain's combat station.He was still half an hour later. O Este shouted an order through the open hatch to turn east.At this time, Takker's dark figure said five words: "This is really bad." Byron was taken aback when he heard it, almost as if he heard a tree open its mouth. "What did you say? Why, Wilson?" Unexpectedly, after the tree said a few words like a log, it didn't say anything again.Thaker said nothing except to issue orders. Half an hour was spent in torrential rain, back and forth, swaying silence and darkness.Sonar couldn't find the three destroyers. The Squid turned back and drove along the coast.A piercing shout came from the loudspeaker: "Release from combat duty. Officers' meeting in the officer's room." The captain was not present at the meeting.Esther sat in his seat, livid and smoking a gray cigar.When all the officers were seated, he drew the green curtain. "Well, I'll keep it short," he said softly, in an uneasy tone. "I've been with the captain just now for an hour. His concussion appears to be severe. The doctor says his pulse has increased, his blood pressure has increased, and his eyesight has decreased. Possibly a fractured skull. The Squid had to return. base." Esther paused for a moment, looking at the astonished faces of the officers present one by one.No one uttered a sound, and no one made a gesture.He took a deep drag on the foul-smelling cigar. "Right now I guess you all feel as bad as I do. We are here on a mission. But there is no other way to go. We can't communicate on the radio. If we can communicate, the commander of the Submarine Squadron Twenty-six will agree. Will order us back. Captain Huban can't command the attack, and he can't delegate command. Know that the safety of the submarine and crew is the top priority. The only way is to get out of here quickly. I hope the "Fresh Fish" , 'Dolphin' and other submarine brethren are somewhat rewarding at the landing beach." "How do we get out, 'ma'am'?" Thaker asked casually. "When will you get out?" "Walking on the surface, 'hoo hoo,' straight across the mouth of the bay at twenty-one knots"—Esther glanced at his watch—"about forty minutes to go." Thaker just curled his lips visibly, and nodded his head as an answer. "What's your opinion?" Esther asked after a moment of silence. "We share the same difficulties." The engineer officer raised his hand, an embarrassing gesture among the officers of the Squid.He was a Philadelphian named Sumto, a sharp-tongued, short midshipman who was serious and obsessed when it came to mechanical repairs, but usually very funny. "Is the captain sane? Does he know what's going on?" "Of course I know. He is sick and dizzy. He feels that he is not good enough to direct the attack, and it is no use wasting torpedoes." "Does he know we're going through the mouth of the bay on the water?" "Know." Takeer's lips barely moved. "That's what he meant?" "Oh, 'huhu', we've been thinking about it upside down." Esther looked listless, puffing on a cigar, putting down some barely put on airs. "It's difficult. There are as many destroyers and submarine hunters as there are bitches in the vegetable market. We know that. These monkeys may even mine the mouth of the bay. Although our The intelligence agencies say they don't have radar, but as far as we know, they do." Esther.Spread your arms out and shrug your shoulders. "On the other hand, we have zero visibility on the side of the sea, right? With the internal combustion engine, we can drive across in less than a quarter of an hour and get away. This bay is twelve miles wide, and on a rainy night, this large body of water needs to be used. The patrol ships are only here to hold tight, which is terrible. But if we let go of the air and dive, it will take us four times as long to get through this dangerous area because of so many destroyers with pulsing sonar. , I admit that two hundred feet of water overhead is a good margin of safety. The captain finally said, I will command and do as I please. So I repeat, what's your opinion?" The officers all looked at each other in blank dismay. "There's only one way to go," Thaker said. Esther endured for a while, and no one said a word.He nodded. "All right then. One more thing. Captain Huban asked me to apologize for the interruption of the patrol on his behalf. He said the whole submarine, crew and officers were all doing well. If the torpedoes hadn't failed, our return voyage would be memorable. Two big credits for sinking an enemy ship. We figured out that the Squid was still fighting, despite her suffering. The patrol mission was not a failure, and he said it was a good job." Esther completely Said it in a monotonous dry tone.Then he said in his usual tone, "That's it. Get back to combat duty. I'm taking a break from combat duty just to give the crew a chance to nibble on sandwiches and take a piss." Sumto said, "You mean there are still people in this boat who haven't wet their pants?" The meeting broke up amid vulgar and light-hearted laughter.Escaping from the mouth of the bay feels anticlimactic.Esther, Byron, and Takeer stood on the bridge in rubber raincoats, gazing out at the black, pouring rain.The sonarmen, stuttering with excitement, reported increasing propeller sounds and pings; at first just far ahead, then closer, then right around the Squid.Apparently, the sonar receiver sent echoes from all angles of 360 degrees, making a mess, which was very scary, but the bridge was damp, pitch black, and nothing happened.In this way, they drove straight across the heavily guarded Japanese patrol line. When they rushed out of the bay safely in the dark and drove to the open sea, they did not see the slightest movement. Despite the chatter of the sonar troopers, Esther said to herself, "Brani, just to show you, ignorance is bliss. We're surrounded by yellow ghosts, but it's like a Tour. Let's hope we don't run into a devil." He had the sub ready for combat until the pings on the sonar faded away far behind the stern; so he made a watch. "Brani, you change shifts and come to my cabin." "Yes, sir." Byron was lying on the bunk in baggy shorts, smoking a cigar, when he entered the cabin. "Hey, close the curtains and sit down." Esther propped herself up on one elbow. "Did you like the submarine mission?" It took Byron a while to answer, and he just told the truth. "It's fine for me." Esther's green eyes were shining brightly, and the corners of her mouth were pursed into a very unique, almost sullen smile. "Okay, listen carefully," Esther said, leaning towards him with their heads only about a foot apart, almost whispering, "Captain Huban's fine, it's just that he's scared Fuck the crap." "What? Not a concussion?" "No! He told Dr. Herveys himself. The doctor told me. So the three of us talked it over. He did fall, but he didn't pass out, he pretended it was. It's not that he's running away, it's not that he's being timid, he just can't take it, Braney. He had a sign of it when the first depth charge went off. You know, I look at him and think so. Guess. Poor thing to see. He crouched like a naked girl you've been caught on the spot. I reckon he's doing the right thing, because he sure as hell can't command an attack. He's broken. He feels Terrified. The doctor had to give him a strong sedative and put him to sleep. As soon as we got to Manila, he was going to call out the submarine." Hearing the news, Byron couldn't help being surprised. "Oh, he'll think about it a little later. His whole career—" "No, he won't think about it. He's screwed. He told me so, Blaney." "Ten years in a submarine, 'Ma'am'—" "Look, he's in the wrong business. He really couldn't figure it out in the first place. I don't blame anyone who decides he can't stand it. I feel sorry for him. In his condition, he Really well done. He's got himself under control and he's maneuvering well under the enemy attack." "Who else knows about him?" "Speaking of which, 'Hoo Hoo' was there: you can't fool 'Hoo Hoo'. But he's not quick to talk. Dr. Herveys is very quiet, and he's a very moral man. Sailors are too late to be afraid, I thought. , won't notice. I support Huban's own statement. When he is transferred, the truth will come out. Now, we have to pilot the submarine ourselves. We are now returning to the base with our tails between our legs. Bad for the morale of the crew. So if I come across a big fish on the way back, I'm going to ask Huban for permission to fire. Don't we have twenty torpedoes left? If we strike, 'hooooh' do it My staff officer, tell him to press the bearings, and you operate the torpedo launch data computer, understand? You're probably the best dive officer I've ever seen in my life, except for myself, but this job has to be done Quinn went to work." "My God." "What's the problem?" "I have no control over the torpedo launch data computer." "You did a good job in the assault trainer. Better than Samtor. Can't pick anyone else." "Dive! Dive, dive." Byron fell into a drowsy sleep, and vaguely heard the voice from the loudspeaker, as well as the sound of water entering the ballast tank.He immediately jumped off the bunk naked.His cabinmate Samto, who was sitting at a small desk writing a report, yawned and said, "Don't worry. It's almost dawn, so Ma'am is letting the air out." "It's dawn? Really? How can I sleep for five hours?" "It's a lot of patience." "What happened?" "We're only fifty miles from Manila." "What's the matter, Captain?" Samtor shrugged. "Not even a shadow of him." Byron put on his clothes, drank coffee, and went to the torpedo cabin at the bow and stern to check the work.There was a stench in the sub.There are people cleaning and repairing listlessly everywhere, but the emotion of failure permeates the whole boat like the stench of malfunctioning and damaged parts.Most of the sailors are taciturn, but their feelings are clear—that is, the officers and soldiers of the "Squid" who were in high spirits were beaten by the Japanese for the first time when they went on patrol, and they managed to save their lives. It's astonishing to show off your face. The sonar crew later reported hearing a faint popping sound from the thrusters.The marking team is on duty.Calculated from the speed of the propeller per minute, the approximate speed of the ship was obtained. Compared with the submarine, the ship moved very slowly, about forty miles away.The distance is amazing, but depending on the sea conditions, the sonar can sometimes pick up the sound of long-range propellers.Contact was broken and restored several times, still advancing at the same speed and on the same course. At once a rumor spread from cabin to cabin that Captain Esther was following the ship; and then, like a blast of compressed air, the sickly atmosphere on board was swept away. .The torpedo troopers came back to life, examining their weapons excitedly.Engineers were busy fixing clogged valves, failing pumps, and ruptured oil and water pipes.The sailors began to clean up nervously.A tantalizing smell of fried chicken chases away the stench of leaky drains and filthy human bodies.Near noon, Byron's curiosity could not help but arise spontaneously.He walked into Esther's cabin, opened the door curtain and saw that the first officer was sitting naked, proofreading the typed logbook. "'Ma'am, any inside information?" "what news?" "Are we going to attack this target?" "Oh, do you need a special briefing?" "Forgive my presumptuousness." "Come on, since you asked, I'll tell you that the captain approved me to approach the ship and observe it." Esther's attitude was cold and rude. The sound of the propeller gradually sounded, ringing every hour.Dellinger's plots showed that with such an underwater push, the "Squid" would not be able to see the ship until late in the evening, but it was too risky to sail in this area of ​​the sea in broad daylight. Byron was on duty in the afternoon.At five o'clock, Esther came to the command tower. He was wearing a clean khaki uniform, freshly shaved, smoking a long Havana cigar, and humming "Washington Post March". He likes it. "Well, ok, guys, let's see if we can see the bastard now? It should be visible by the charts. Go up the periscope! — ok, ok, ok! My God, let's My friend is coming. Attention, bearing! Two one zero. Attention, distance! Fourteen thousand yards. Lower the periscope!" He shouted into the speaking tube: "Sergeant Major, the bet is on the lottery! This ship is on the horizon over there, and the mast is not visible." There was a happy laugh in the control room.Esther turned her head to Byron with a smile on her face. "Brani, let's get into combat readiness." As soon as the alarm was issued, there was a sudden rush as usual: the sound of loud running, shouting, the opening and closing of the watertight hatch, and the report of the telephone messenger.Thaker arrived, slung around his neck with an azimuth, a complex plastic instrument that would give bearings to torpedo launches should the torpedo launch data computer fail.Byron sat nervously at his computer.He had played with this black-faced instrument and the beating dial when he was in the submarine school and when he was practicing the simulation equipment on the shore, but he had never operated this thing at sea.This thing is to combine the three active factors in the attack problem-torpedoes, submarines, and live targets, and summarize all these evolving data into one key number: the final position based on the launch of the torpedo .The reliability of the data obtained varies from case to case. The Squid's heading and speed were precise; target ship data, including sonar readings and periscope observations, were often imprecise and changing rapidly.The operating officer of the torpedo launch data computer had to consider which readings were erratic and which were more or less correct as they continually fed new numbers into the machine.Wilson.Thaker has a unique contribution to this point.The burden that lay on Byron's shoulders weighed him down, but it also stirred him up. Whether on the plot or on the computer, the submarine and the target ship continued to move closer.Esther paced up and down, smoking a cigar, waiting for sunset so he could go up to the periscope again."I don't want to scare away our fat little friend up there," he said to Thaker. His often pale face flushed bright red, and he paced so nimbly and nervously, twitching his fingers. Xiangzi even aroused the psychological tension of the attack team, which Byron could see from the faces of the sailors. Esther squatted next to the periscope sleeve, and finally said: "Okay, go up the periscope!" He grabbed the handle and snapped it down.As neat as Huban used to be, he rose with the periscope, leaned in front of the eyepiece to watch while the mirror rod rose. "Distance. Attention! Six thousand yards. Bearing. Attention! Two two four." As soon as the periscope was raised, he ordered it to be lowered again. "Okay. Bow angle, twenty degrees to port. It's a medium tanker, 'hoo hoo.' About five thousand tons." "Silhouette of a Japanese ship?" "Hell, the silhouette of the tanker! What other country's ships are chug-ping in the South China Sea?" "We don't know that, 'ma'am,'" said a melancholy voice. blanche.Huban's stubbled face loomed over the hatchway like a grimace.He climbed up the conning tower, eyes so damn bright that it was almost sickly, his head was bloody and bandaged, his lean frame hunched over, and he wore an old tabby bathrobe that dragged across the deck. "Maybe some goddam ghost ship doesn't know it's fighting. Maybe one of our own ships sails out to join the fleet. We don't know." "Sir, I'm absolutely sure it's not like an American ship." "'Ma'am, we've got to find out." "Okay. Quickly bring the identification manuals for Japanese merchant ships and oil tankers," Esther said sharply to the NCO.He remounted the periscope and loudly reported the distance, bearing and bow angle. "Come on, come on, Bodin. Where's the manual?" "Here it is, sir!" The sailor hastily spread the open manual on the navigator's desk. "Silhouette of a tanker." "I see." Esther kept her eyes on the manual, grabbed a red pencil, drew a rough circle around the outline of a boat, and showed Huban. "That's the type. Forty-five hundred tons. You can't be wrong with the sinuous outline of the bridge chamber. It even looks like a goddamn pagoda. Please take a look, sir. It's like a cardboard silhouette in the sunset." "Come up to the periscope," Huban said.His movements were slow and lazy.He leaned over the eyepiece and looked around, without reporting the data. "Okay, lower the periscope. . . . Well, it's an easy opponent, 'ma'am. My eyesight is blurry. Now that you recognize it, go ahead and do it." "Attack, captain?" "Yes, if you want to attack, attack and fire." "Byron! Normal battle heading?" "Normal battle heading one six zero, sir," Byron reported loudly. "Helmsman, turn the rudder 160." "Turn one sixty, sir!" "Ten knots!" Esther picked up the megaphone. "Attention all personnel. The 'Squid' launched an attack on the tanker." Huban said hastily and hoarsely: "A word of advice. Those new magnetic detonators are terrible. I fought a battle over them at the Ordnance Bureau years ago. I knew it. I missed two rounds yesterday. Torpedoes Hit the hull, otherwise you will miss like I did yesterday." "Sir, we are ordered to strike ten feet below the keel." "That's a good idea, but I heard the Japanese are building flat-bottomed tankers, 'ma'am." Huban blinked.The sad look on that pale face was all the more comical. "Don't you know that? The draft isn't even six inches." Captain Esther took a keen look at the captain, and ordered the torpedo to be aimed at the target near the water. The beginning of this second attack was very similar to the drill on the Cavite attack training boat, so similar that Byron's sense of reality was blurred.Esther commanded dozens of simulated torpedo launches, all with Thaker as the staff officer and Byron operating the computer.This time, the situation looked exactly like the drills in the school. The same cannonball of reports, orders, questions and constant changes of course kept the operating officer of the torpedo launch data computer busy.The conning tower in the training boat on the seashore looked the same way back then, and even the smell was exactly the same—mainly the smell of sweat from the sailors, Este's cigars and the burnt hair smell of electrical equipment.All of a sudden Byron was engrossed.He wants to perform well in this competition and be commended.He knew that they were underwater now, and that there was a real target ship providing data, but it was only a vague awareness, which couldn't compare to the intense concentration of thoughts on numbers, trigonometric calculations and dials now. The jumping pointer focused on the moment when he was about to make an answer. This answer was the final position of great importance, and the gyro angle of the torpedo could be determined based on this position. The whole thing seemed to fly by, with Esther getting even closer to the enemy ship than he had during the drill.He waited until the computer showed that the target was 900 yards away, and then he gave the order in a nervous and energetic voice: "Fix the final position before releasing it. Raise the periscope. Pay attention! The position is ninety-eight. Lower the periscope!" "Bearing aligned," Byron yelled, "Gyro angle seventeen degrees to port!" "put!" "Fire No. 1!" The torpedo soldier pressed the fire launch button. "Number two fire!" The launch of the torpedo caused the hull to vibrate violently, and Byron suddenly came to his senses. It turned out that the two torpedoes loaded with Tisti were now being launched from the water to destroy a ship and those unsuspecting people on board. The two torpedoes were guided by the deadly arithmetic he calculated.The tanker didn't change course or speed at all.Never mind, this war is unrestrained, he thought: Shotgun pigeons to the head.Let's hope the torpedoes will work this time!Time passed by second by second——. Bang—another upset!The torpedo, which exploded nine hundred yards away, hit the Squid almost like a depth charge.The deck was bumping, the hull of the boat rumbled, and all members of the attack team were staggering.There was a burst of cheers in the submarine, and "Madame" Esther also yelled: "Oh, my dear! My God! My God, how beautiful it is! Captain, captain!" Hu Ban hurried to the periscope, his bathrobe flapped on his bare legs, he bent down to get closer to the eyepiece, "Ah, it's so beautiful! My God, Madam's patrol is successful this time! It's just right! Hit one! Oh, it's really beautiful! It's great!" Byron grabbed the ship's camera from a drawer and pointed it at the eyepiece as soon as the captain moved away.Esther laughed, patted him on the back and said, "Damn Borani, well done! Just got hit twice, take another look, baby, take a look. This ship's going to burn for a while. Once in a lifetime What a feast for the eyes! Hurrah! The next one is up to you. Let everyone take a look. All members of the attack team should come and see!" As soon as Byron bent down to get closer to the eyepiece, a spectacular night scene appeared in the black round frame of the periscope.Against the star-studded night sky, a great blaze of flame, hundreds of feet high, was burning from the black tanker half hidden in a darker ball of fire.Billows of black smoke erupted continuously from the flame above the candle flame, obscuring the stars, and the sea was bathed in a golden light. "Madame" Esther patted his bent back. "Well? You little sleepy man, you've got it right! Very well! Double hit! Well done! Have you ever seen a more beautiful scene than this in your life?" Byron was trying to make sense of it all: it was true, this was a massacre, the depth bombing had finally been done, the Japanese were dying in this amazing massacre, but he was still confused. Understand, it seems that none of this is real.What he genuinely felt was mainly the thrilling sense of victory after hitting an enemy ship, the admiration for the breathtaking wildfire spectacle, and the tinge of drama that one cannot help feeling at the end of a play or a bullfight. sad.In just a few seconds of watching in the periscope.He tried to search for sympathy for the roasted Japanese sailors, but he couldn't find any.They are abstractions, enemies, ants underfoot. "I've never seen a half-beautiful view," Byron said, giving way to Thaker's periscope. "Sir, I can swear, I really haven't seen it." "Of course you haven't seen it!" Esther stretched out her two long arms, wrapped her arms around the ensign, and held him tightly like a gorilla. "Merry Christmas to you! Now you have a story to tell Natalie!"