Chapter 1030 The German Fleet Appears
After a night of sailing, the British reinforcement fleet finally arrived in Brest.
After receiving reinforcements, Vice Admiral Forbes immediately intensified his attack on the port of Brest, and three "Elizabeth" battleships launched a fierce bombardment of the port.
Minesweepers cleared mines under the cover of firepower, and a large number of destroyers followed the minesweepers and fired at close range, trying to capture the port of Brest by force to regain some face for Britain.
However, they were completely unaware that this was actually telling their opponents that the reinforcements had fallen into a trap by passing through the English Channel.
…
In Wilhelmshaven, Germany, the rising sun pierces the clouds with its orange arc of light, illuminating the warships on the sea that are ready to go.
The sea water swayed gently, rhythmically lapping against the side of the battleship "Bavaria", creating specks of silver light around it.
(The picture above shows the "Bavaria" class battleship, which was Germany's most powerful battleship during World War I. Its firepower rivaled that of the British "Elizabeth" battleship. Of the planned four ships, only two were produced in time and were commissioned in March 1917.)
Admiral Scheer had a command cabin on the warship. He made the "Bavaria" his flagship and personally commanded the battle.
Many people persuaded Admiral Scheer that he should take charge of the situation in Wilhelmshaven.
But Admiral Scheer refused without hesitation:
"I am no longer of any use to you in Wilhelmshaven."
"We don't need to coordinate with other units. We are the only ones in Germany. The eyes of the whole world are on us."
"If we lose, Germany will probably be finished."
"So, this is our last chance, not just for me, but for you as well, understand?"
This was the German version of "burning the boats". Admiral Scheer told the officers and soldiers that victory or failure depended on this one move, and there was no other way to go except to win.
The officers and soldiers expressed their opinions to General Scheer:
"We will prevail, Captain."
"I won't see the moment of failure because I'm sure I'll be dead by then!"
"Let us defeat the British and make them bow their proud heads!"
…
The morale of the German officers and soldiers was high and they were ready to fight, each of them determined to die.
But the British did not know this. They still thought that the German High Seas Fleet had not recovered its morale and combat effectiveness, still thought that their own strength could crush the High Seas Fleet, and still thought that the Second Fleet far away in the Atlantic could return to support in time.
…
Admiral Scheer did not sleep all night. He was waiting for the moment to witness history, fearing that it would slip away if he closed his eyes.
He took the coffee handed to him by the orderly and stood in front of the porthole, looking at the warships in front and behind him that were on fire and emitting black smoke, with mixed feelings in his heart.
This was the scene of his dreams.
Defeat the Royal Navy and break through their blockade.
How many days and nights have I spent planning in front of the nautical chart, how many times have I rehearsed with the staff, and how many times have I woken up from dreams because of defeat.
Now, it's finally here!
Ironically, this was achieved with the help of his former enemy, Ciel.
Admiral Scheer then considered another question:
What would happen even if the Royal Navy was defeated?
Can Germany realize its previous plan and replace the British Royal Navy to become the world's number one navy?
Stop dreaming. The strongest navy will always be France and Charles.
Therefore, forming an alliance with the Charles is the wisest choice, because in the near future, the world will belong to the Charles!
General Scheer felt fortunate that the Provisional Government also saw this clearly.
Just as he was thinking about it, the staff officer came to him with a telegram and whispered:
"Captain, telegram from Liege: British reinforcements have appeared in Brest Harbor."
"They saw three Elizabeth-class battleships, as well as a large number of destroyers and cruisers."
Admiral Scheer hummed, handed the coffee to his staff officer, straightened his uniform, and gave the order: "Set sail!"
"set sail!"
"set sail!"
…
Orders were passed down one by one, signal flags were waved, signal lights flashed with a "click", and telegrams were sent out one by one.
The sailor blew the whistle.
Amidst the long whistling sound, one warship after another started moving with the friction of anchor chains, speeding up and heading towards the unknown battlefield in the north in an orderly manner.
…
War House, London.
The combat command was nervously controlling the Second Fleet's attack on the port of Brest.
They were clear about their strategic objective: to capture the port of Brest.
This was the first step towards defeating the French navy, allowing Britain to demonstrate its military power and presence to the world.
"We need more minesweepers," said Navy Minister Balfour, pointing to a map. "The new minesweepers we received have already been mostly lost. If we continue like this, we'll be stuck in the same predicament as before."
"No," objected the Minister of Munitions.
"There are no more minesweepers nearby. We must transfer them from the North Sea."
“It will delay a lot of time.”
"And there's no need. The sea area is now within the destroyer's range. We can carry out precision bombing!"
The staff officer shouted:
"We lost two more destroyers, which were destroyed by enemy battleships."
"Colonel Vincent requests a retreat."
"They think they are targets for enemy battleships!"
This is indeed the situation on the battlefield.
Although the destroyer approached and fired, the sea area where the destroyer could operate was very narrow because the mines in the sea had not been cleared.
Therefore, its advantage of high-speed maneuverability could not be brought into play, and it was sunk one after another by enemy battleships like a fixed target.
However, the Minister of Munitions flatly rejected the request.
"Order them to continue fighting!" said the Minister of Munitions. "We will soon capture this port. No one is allowed to retreat. No one!"
After looking at the offensive formation for a while, Navy Minister Balfour suddenly understood.
He looked at the Quartermaster in shock: "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"What?" The Quartermaster General pretended to be confused.
"There are no seaplanes to calibrate our guns," the Navy Minister said bitterly. "So, you use these destroyers to draw fire!"
Everyone else, including Prime Minister George, understood.
The destroyers were placed as targets in front of the enemy battleships, and the enemy battleships exposed their positions when bombing the destroyers.
Then, the three "Elizabeth" class battleships could concentrate their fire on it.
Cold-blooded, ruthless, and cruel.
To achieve the goal, no matter what, even if it means sacrificing the lives of all the officers and soldiers on the ship!
The Quartermaster General graciously admitted it, but he still asked, "Do you have a better way?"
The command center fell silent again.
After a long while, Prime Minister George finally said, "Now, victory is more important than anything else!"
The others nodded slightly.
At this moment, the staff officer loudly reported: "The Germans, the German fleet has appeared, they are out in full force, at least 80 warships!"
(End of this chapter)
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