Chapter 795: Battle of Jutland
Berlin's Forgotten Palace, with the setting sun casting a long shadow on its back.
William II, who had not rested since last night, was still excited. He walked back and forth in the study, glancing at the phone on the desk from time to time.
Under his plan with Admiral Scheer, he decided to take the risk of launching a "breakout operation" against the British Navy.
They all knew that the German Navy could not match the British Royal Navy in terms of tonnage or quality.
Therefore, the battle plan was to send a small fleet to provoke, lure part of the British fleet forward, and then concentrate the main German fleet to encircle and annihilate it.
With a few more such victories, the German Navy would gradually catch up with the British Royal Fleet, eventually engage in a decisive battle with it and completely defeat it.
This is the only chance, William II thought.
He has already lost control of the army, and if the navy can no longer win or make a breakthrough, he will become an "emperor of existence" like the German fleet.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
William II rushed forward and grabbed the microphone.
It was the voice of the staff officer: "Your Majesty, we have won a victory on the Western Front. Marshal Hindenburg's troops have reached the enemy's Nancy Line."
"Oh, really?" William II looked disappointed. "Well, that's good. Congratulations to the Marshal and all the soldiers who participated in the attack."
After hanging up the phone, William II frowned.
What's the matter with this guy Charles? He was invincible when Falkenhayn was Chief of the General Staff.
While Hindenburg was Chief of the General Staff, he remained on the west bank of the Meuse River.
William II sighed deeply. This was not a good thing. The more victories Hindenburg won, the more solid his reputation and status would be, and the more he, the emperor, would become a decoration.
The phone rang again. William II picked up the receiver in frustration and said weakly, "It's me."
"Your Majesty, we won." Admiral Scheer's excited voice came from the phone.
William II's expression instantly turned into surprise: "Really? Victory, what kind of victory? Tell me, in detail!"
William II did not want to hear the result all at once; he preferred to know the whole process, just like tasting delicious food, step by step, which was an enjoyment.
Admiral Scheer replied: "This naval battle was unexpected. We encountered the main British fleet in the Jutland Sea. They dispatched at least 150 warships."
"Oh my God." William II's face turned pale with fear. "150 warships, that's almost twice as many as our warships."
In fact, it was not twice as many. The German Navy dispatched 99 ships, but the gap was big enough.
"Yes." Admiral Scheer spoke quickly. He seemed to have not yet recovered from the tension and excitement of the war.
"I thought we were doomed. The enemy was overwhelming us from all sides. Their fleet was 10 kilometers long from head to tail."
"We originally wanted to use our superior forces to surround their small fleet, but we didn't expect to be surrounded by them instead."
“This was a big, unexpected battle.”
William II asked nervously: "What then? How much will we lose?"
"We lost four light cruisers and five torpedo boats, Your Majesty," Admiral Scheer replied. "Another battlecruiser and a dreadnought were seriously damaged, and nine cruisers were slightly damaged, but they all returned safely and only need some time to repair."
(Note: German torpedo boats are actually destroyers. Germany called them differently during World War I)
William II said "Oh", unable to hide his disappointment.
Admiral Scheer would have called "breaking out of the enemy's encirclement" a victory.
Although this was indeed a "victory", it was not the "victory" that William II wanted.
Unexpectedly, Admiral Scheer continued: "We sank a total of 3 British battlecruisers, 3 armored cruisers, and 8 torpedo boats."
"What?" William II's eyes widened. "What did you say?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Admiral Scheer replied excitedly: "You heard it right, we sank a total of 14 enemy ships, including 3 battlecruisers!"
William II half opened his mouth and was stunned for a long time. After a long time, he excitedly exclaimed: "Great, Admiral, I knew it, I knew we could win. We have the world's most powerful navy, the best sailors, and the best commanders..."
"No, Your Majesty." Admiral Scheer interrupted William II: "This is Charles's credit."
"What?" William II didn't understand what this meant.
Admiral Scheer explained:
"'UWD' seaplane, your majesty."
"You didn't see the naval battle. Our seaplanes and torpedo boats launched a joint attack on the enemy fleet, which made them defenseless."
"I mean, when the enemy ship turned to avoid the torpedoes fired by our army, our seaplanes took advantage of the situation and attacked it."
"The enemy ships were caught off guard. They either remained motionless like targets or became a mess. Our army sank several warships in succession, including two battlecruisers, and we seriously damaged another one."
This is the tactic that Admiral Scheer has painstakingly studied.
When the war broke out, he found that more than 100 British warships were lined up in a "T" formation blocking the advance of the German fleet.
If the German fleet forced a breakthrough, it would be attacked by concentrated fire from the British fleet.
The German fleet, which was at a double disadvantage in terms of numbers and position, could only end up in a disastrous defeat.
Admiral Scheer then withdrew the main fleet and instead used a cluster of torpedo boats to launch a torpedo attack.
(Note: The British fleet occupying the advantageous "T" position was easily hit by torpedoes, even if the torpedo boats fired randomly without a target, because the British warships were connected head to tail with their broadsides facing the German fleet, showing the maximum side area to the enemy)
In order to avoid torpedoes, the British fleet changed direction and faced the German torpedo boats with their bows.
Just at this moment, the German Navy's "UWD" seaplane swooped down from the clouds with torpedoes and launched an attack on the flank of the British fleet.
There were a total of 35 aircraft. Admiral Scheer dispatched all the seaplanes that could be dispatched, but one of them failed to take off smoothly due to a malfunction.
They hardly needed to aim because there were more than 100 warships densely packed below.
Torpedoes were dropped one after another at close range, then sailed towards the warship along the white waterline.
The British fleet was thrown into chaos in an instant. They hurriedly turned to avoid the torpedoes dropped by planes, but were hit by torpedoes fired by torpedo boats in another direction.
Some choose not to dodge, but they can only become targets of planes.
At this time, the main force of the German navy turned around and launched a fierce attack on the British fleet again.
After listening to the whole process, William II was very excited:
"It's incredible that we actually defeated the British main fleet head-on."
"It's only because of the cooperation of the torpedo planes."
"If so, does it mean that we have the strength to break through the British fleet's blockade?"
(End of this chapter)
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