Chapter 642 We Can't Be Faster Than the Germans

Vice Admiral Gueprat was the commander of the French Northern Fleet. He was a typical Brest faction, that is, a group of people who were opponents of the British Royal Navy and were unwilling to fall behind.

But in fact, Lieutenant General Geprat was just "unwilling to give up". He occasionally confided in his subordinates: "Everything we do is probably just a fish struggling helplessly in the net, and we will eventually find that we can't change anything."

The subordinates expressed their understanding.

The gap between the French Navy and the British Royal Navy is so huge that it is probably not something that can be changed by manpower or personal will. They have to acknowledge this reality.

Just like in the battle of the Dardanelles, France and Britain were equal allies of the Allied Powers, but it was natural for the British Royal Navy to command the French fleet, and no one even spoke out against it.

It will be no exception now, Vice Admiral Geprat thought, the most we can do is to become a subsidiary fleet of the British in the North Sea, and all we can do is to escort the fleet instead of fighting.

With a heavy heart, Lieutenant General Geprat stepped into Charles's headquarters.

"Welcome, General." Charles came forward and shook hands with Lieutenant General Geprat. "How are you doing recently?"

"Very good." Lieutenant General Geprat nodded. "Perhaps it's because of the storm. The Germans haven't made any moves this month. Even their submarines rarely attack."

"That's good news." Charles stepped aside and led Lieutenant General Geprat into the conference room.

The orderly immediately brought them a cup of coffee, as well as some cakes and freshly cut apples.

Since the French fleet entered the war with the "echo sounder", the supply situation has improved, especially the supply port of Antwerp.

Lieutenant General Geprat sat down in the chair, picked up the coffee and took a few sips. When he put down the cup, he said, "But there are some new situations in the past few days. I think you may need to know this."

"Oh?" Charles replied, "You mean to say that the Germans have a new type of seaplane in the North Sea?"

"You know?" Lieutenant General Geprat looked a little surprised, but he understood the next second: "Yes, of course you know, you have planes in the air to scout the Germans."

"Yes, General." Charles nodded.

"You should shoot them down." Lieutenant General Geprat stared at Charles. "Those guys are very dangerous. With them in the sky, they know exactly how many warships and merchant ships we have and where they are. If they want, they can organize a fleet stronger than ours to launch a surprise attack at any time."

"I know." Charles said helplessly, "But we can't do it."

Before Lieutenant General Geprat could ask, Charles explained: "Our fighters can't fly that far, and our bombers are about the same speed as them."

There is almost no difference between a speed of 137 kilometers per hour and 135 kilometers per hour, and neither can catch up with the other.

As long as the opponent is willing, you only need to fly in a straight line at the highest speed to maintain your distance, and you don't even need to maneuver or dodge.

Lieutenant General Geprat had a strange look on his face: "But that is the British 'Caproni', not ours. I heard that you have replaced the engine for our 'Caproni'. It must be faster than the other one, right?"

"That's just... a legend." Ciel was a little embarrassed. "I did have such an idea and even put it into practice. But after replacing it with a more powerful engine, I found a series of problems such as unstable structure and loss of control in flight."

Of course, this is not the case. The new "Caproni" has a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour. As long as it does not carry torpedoes and has machine guns, it will not be a problem to chase down the German "UWD" bombers.

Lieutenant General Geprat looked at Charles doubtfully: "Is that so? That's a pity!"

Charles smiled and said meaningfully, "We can't be faster than the Germans, General."

"No?" Lieutenant General Geprat looked at Charles, and he seemed to understand the meaning of these words.

"Yes, we can't." Charles nodded: "Otherwise, you know what will happen."

Lieutenant General Geprat was stunned for a moment, then he understood.

As soon as the new "Caproni" came into play, the few German seaplanes would be wiped out immediately.

Then, the British would no longer pose any threat.

"But," Vice Admiral Geprat said worriedly, "We are also part of the escort team. Our fleet is also cruising in the North Sea. They are also in danger."

"Yes, I know." Charles said confidently, "We will even become the Germans' main target, or the best target."

"What do you mean?" Lieutenant General Geprat was surprised.

"It's very simple." Charles analyzed: "In the eyes of the Germans, the British Royal Navy is definitely stronger than the French Fleet. At the same time, the French Navy will also pose a great threat to their submarines."

Lieutenant General Geprat understood instantly.

The French fleet was the weak point of the North Sea defense line because it lacked combat experience, had backward tactics, and its warships were inferior to those of the British.

From the Germans' perspective, of course they would pick on the weak and defeat the French fleet first.

Vice Admiral Geprat frowned: "But you knew that the French fleet would become the target of the Germans, but you still left their seaplanes alone?"

Shouldn't the German seaplanes be eliminated immediately?

Charles said nothing. He stood up and made a gesture of "please". "I want to show you something, General."

…

In the enclosed hangar of Antwerp Airport, Carter and several pilots were studying offensive tactics against the Caproni bomber.

"It is not enough to just meet the throwing requirements," Carter said to the pilots. "Have you ever considered that the best angle for a torpedo to successfully hit the target and sink it is to hit the warship vertically."

"Yes, Colonel."

"So," Carter said as he held a model airplane in his hand and pointed it at a wrench on the ground, "We should fly the airplane in a circle to lower our altitude and cut in at a vertical angle, while also estimating the speed of the warship and taking into account the lead time..."

At this time, Charles appeared at the door of the hangar, and Carter hurriedly took his subordinates to greet him and salute him.

"This is Lieutenant General Geprat," Charles introduced. "I think you know him."

"Yes, General." Carter and his party stood up again, saluted Lieutenant General Geprat, and shook hands with him enthusiastically.

Lieutenant General Geprat glanced at Charles in confusion. He didn't understand why Charles brought him here to meet this group of pilots.

Suddenly, he stared blankly at the plane parked in the hangar, so shocked that he was speechless for a long time.

God, is that a torpedo?

What was mounted under the plane was not a bomb, but a torpedo?

(End of this chapter)