Chapter 640: Charles Helped Us
Admiral Scheer, who had done his homework, seemed very confident. He took out a nautical chart from his jacket pocket and spread it out on the coffee table, analyzing:
"Fighters are different from bombers. A fighter's combat radius is usually one-third of its total range."
"One third of the fuel is used to reach the target battlefield, one third of the fuel is used to chase the target and shoot it down, and the remaining one third of the fuel is used to return."
"So, although the Camel fighter is invincible, its combat radius is only more than 100 kilometers, which is its biggest weakness."
As he spoke, Admiral Scheer looked up at Falkenhayn, his eyes filled with inquiry and a hint of provocation.
Falkenhayn could only nod and reply muffledly, "Yes, you are right."
General Scheer put on a smug smile and continued his analysis:
"Not to mention that the British 'Camel' fighter planes had not yet been mass-produced. They only had a few dozen of them and most of them were deployed on the Western Front."
"Even if they are mass-produced, they can only control the sea area about 100 kilometers along the coast if they take off from the British coast."
"But our bombers can use telescopes to conduct reconnaissance along this line, which can cover almost the entire North Sea."
William II exclaimed: "The whole North Sea?"
"Yes." Admiral Scheer nodded. "This is very beneficial to us. Sometimes I think that Charles seems to be helping the British by doing this, but in fact he is helping us."
"What?" William II and Falkenhayn simultaneously cast puzzled glances at Admiral Scheer.
How could Charles help the German Navy?
Admiral Scheer explained, looking at the map:
"The British blockade of ours stretches from the north to the south of the North Sea, with many escort fleets and merchant ships in between."
"The total length of this line is nearly 1,000 kilometers. If all of them are under the surveillance of our bombers..."
After hearing this, William II and Falkenhayn understood and nodded thoughtfully.
"That's right," said William II. "The longer the defense, the more weaknesses it has, and the more opportunities we can find to attack."
Falkenhayn added: "Our army was originally trapped in the Heligoland Bight by the British fleet. The weaknesses and loopholes in our defense line are very small, or even non-existent."
"No loopholes?" William II looked at Falkenhayn in surprise. He didn't understand why there were no loopholes.
But Admiral Scheer nodded in agreement: "It is impossible for the Royal Navy to change its long-range blockade strategy, so we have no loopholes and no weaknesses."
William II was stunned for a moment, then he understood.
What if the British discovered a loophole in the German defenses?
Send a fleet to attack?
impossible!
Because that would mean that the British Royal Fleet would have to abandon its strategy of long-range blockade and instead actively attack the Heligoland Bight.
At that time, they would have to face Germany's massive torpedo boats and even coastal defense guns in the near sea, which was obviously not cost-effective and was also what the German fleet hoped for.
So, there were no loopholes in the German fleet's defense line.
But soon, William II frowned again:
"But even if our fleet finds the British's loopholes and weaknesses, it cannot attack them."
"I mean, if the British use enough Caproni bombers for reconnaissance, they will be able to accurately grasp the movements of my fleet."
"As soon as our warships leave the Heligoland Bight, they will be followed by their bombers."
Admiral Scheer replied calmly: "Your Majesty, the weakness of aerial reconnaissance is that it is difficult and even dangerous to carry out missions at night."
"Is it dangerous?" William II looked confused.
He could understand the difficulty, it was hard to spot the target at night, but it was dangerous...
Falkenhayn again agreed:
"Yes, especially when flying over the sea."
"If there are no stars or moonlight in the sky and it is pitch black all around, the pilot cannot even tell which direction is the sky and which direction is the ocean."
"He probably dove into the ocean and thought he was getting high."
William II seemed to understand.
He had never been on a plane and didn't know what it felt like to be weightless, so he couldn't understand why the pilot mistook the ocean for the sky.
But he didn't ask any more questions.
Falkenhayn and Admiral Scheer both said so, so it must be right.
William II knew the result: "So our warships can be deployed at night?"
"Yes." Admiral Scheer answered confidently: "Once we find the British's loophole, we can send a fast fleet to attack at night. As long as we reach the target location before dawn, launch the attack and retreat immediately, the British will have no way to deal with us."
The German fleet's light cruisers had a speed of 27 knots, and its destroyers 29 knots.
Based on the speed of a light cruiser, it can travel 48 kilometers per hour, so it is not impossible to reach the target location from Heligoland Island overnight.
"We can have many targets to attack." Admiral Scheer's eyes flashed with excitement. "Not only the British Third Fleet, but also the British fleet. As long as we use submarines and aerial reconnaissance to obtain accurate intelligence, the fast fleet can avoid their patrol fleet and directly attack their merchant ships."
William II was delighted when he heard this: "You mean, we don't even need to use submarines?"
"Yes." Admiral Scheer nodded affirmatively: "We may be able to achieve greater results at a lower cost, and may even be able to seize some supplies, if time permits."
"That's great." William II rubbed his hands excitedly.
Only Falkenhayn frowned and said nothing. After a while, he hesitated and said, "But why did Charles do this? I mean, didn't he think of this?"
Falkenhayn had been fooled several times, and he believed that Charles would not be as simple as Admiral Scheer thought.
But Admiral Scheer did not hesitate at all: "I think this is because Charles did not consider that we have bombers, or he did not even know that we have bombers."
As he spoke, Admiral Scheer stared at Falkenhayn, waiting for his answer.
Falkenhayn nodded slightly:
"Yes, this is the bomber we developed last year, competing with Charles' Caproni."
"Except for our military leaders, no one else knows."
(The picture above shows the German Gotha G.1 bomber. The first one was produced in July 1915, and only 20 were produced.)
"That's right." William II said excitedly, "Charles didn't know we had bombers so he wasn't prepared. He didn't even realize that he had made an irreparable mistake."
William II didn't know at this time that Charles actually wanted them to know this on purpose.
From the perspective of the French Navy, Charles did not want to see the German Navy trapped in the Heligoland Bight and unable to move.
Therefore, his goal was to help the German Navy so that they could fight a good battle with the British Royal Navy.
It would be best if the battle could be so fierce that the sky and earth would be dark, the wind and rain would be bitter, and the scene would be miserable and unbearable...
(End of this chapter)
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