wuxianovels18 Chapter 1026 1026: The German Fleet Has Appeared
Chapter 1026 1026: The German Fleet Has Appeared
After a night of sailing, the British reinforcement fleet finally arrived at Brest.
Upon receiving reinforcements, Vice Admiral Forbes immediately intensified the attack on Brest, with three "Elizabeth" battleships launching a fierce bombardment on the port.
Under the cover of fire, mine-clearance ships cleared mines, and a large number of destroyers followed the mine-clearance ships to advance for close-range firing, striving to forcefully seize Brest Port to regain some dignity for Britain.
However, they completely failed to realize that this was precisely informing their opponents that the reinforcements had passed through the English Channel and fallen into a trap.
...
At German Wilhelm Port, the rising sun peeked through the clouds with a reddish-orange glow, illuminating the fleet of warships ready to set sail on the sea surface.
The gentle sea swayed, rhythmically lapping the side of the "Bavaria" battleship, creating shimmering silver ripples around it.
(The image above is of a "Bavaria"-class battleship, the most powerful German battleship during World War I, with firepower rivaling the British "Elizabeth" battleship. Only two of the planned four were produced, both entering service in March 1917.)
Admiral Scheer had a command cabin aboard the warship, designating the "Bavaria" as his flagship to personally direct the battle.
Many advised Admiral Scheer that he should oversee the grand scheme from Wilhelm Port.
But Admiral Scheer unhesitatingly refused:
"I can no longer play any role at Wilhelm Port," he said.
"We do not need to cooperate with other units, Germany relies solely on us, and the eyes of the world are upon us."
"If we lose, Germany is likely doomed."
"Therefore, this is our last chance, not just for me, but for all of you, understand?"
This was the German version of "burning the boats," telling the officers and soldiers that victory or defeat hinged upon this, and that there was no other path but victory.
Officers and soldiers expressed their determination to Admiral Scheer:
"We will be victorious, Captain."
"I will not see the moment of defeat because I'm sure I will already be dead by then!"
"Let's defeat those arrogant British!"
...
The morale of the German officers and soldiers was high, each determined to fight to the death.
But the British were unaware of this and still believed that the German High Seas Fleet had not regained their morale and combat power, that their own strength still overwhelmed the High Seas Fleet, and that the Second Fleet far in the Atlantic could return to support at any time.
...
Admiral Scheer didn't sleep all night, waiting for the moment when history would be made, afraid it would slip away if he closed his eyes.
He took the coffee handed to him by the orderly, stood by the porthole, and looked at the warships in front and behind him, emitting black smoke, feeling a mix of emotions.
This was the scene he had dreamed of.
To defeat the British Royal Navy, breaking through their blockade.
How many days and nights spent planning on navigation charts, how many times rehearsed with the staff, how many times awoken from dreams of defeat.
Now, it was finally happening!
Ironically, it was achieved with the help of his former enemy, Shire.
Admiral Scheer then considered another issue:
Even if they defeated the British Royal Navy, then what?
Could Germany realize the previous goal of replacing the British Royal Navy to become the world's number one navy?
Dream on, the strongest navy will always be France, always be Shire.
So, allying with Shire was the most sensible choice. Because in the near future, the world would belong to Shire!
Admiral Scheer felt fortunate that the interim government recognized this too.
Just then, a staff officer approached him with a telegram, softly saying:
"Captain, the telegram from Liege reports that the British reinforcement fleet appeared at Brest Port."
"They saw a 'Elizabeth'-class battleship, along with many destroyers and cruisers."
Admiral Scheer acknowledged with a "Hmm," handed the coffee to the staff officer, straightened his uniform, and ordered: "Set sail!"
"Set sail!"
"Set sail!"
...
The orders were relayed down, signal flags waved, signal lights flashed amidst the "pop pop" sounds, and telegrams were sent out one after another.
At the same time, the sailors sounded the steam whistles.
In the long whistles, warships began moving in the friction of anchor chains, accelerating rapidly, heading towards the unknown northern battlefield in an orderly fashion.
...
London War Building.
The Operations Command was tensely remote-controlling the attack on Brest Port by the Second Fleet.
They clearly understood their strategic goal, occupying Brest Port was paramount, the first step in defeating the French Navy, allowing Britain to declare its military might to the world.
"We need more mine-clearance ships," said Minister of the Navy Belfort, pointing at the map: "The newly reinforced mine-clearance ships have almost all been lost, and if we continue, we will fall into passivity like before."
"No," the Minister of Military Supplies objected:
"There are no more mine-clearance ships nearby, we must divert from the North Sea."
"This will delay a lot of time."
"And it's unnecessary, the current waters are within destroyer range, we can implement precision bombing!"
An officer shouted:
"We've lost two more destroyers, they were destroyed by enemy battleships."
"Colonel Vincent is requesting a retreat."
"They feel they are targets for the enemy battleships!"
Indeed, the battlefield situation was such.
Although destroyers were firing at close range, the mines in the waters hadn't been entirely cleared, severely limiting the areas where the destroyers could operate.
This restriction meant their advantage of high-speed maneuvering couldn't be leveraged, leaving them akin to fixed targets for the enemy battleships to sink one after another.
However, the Minister of Military Supplies firmly refused this request.
"Order them to keep fighting!" said the Minister of Military Supplies: "We are about to capture this port, no one is allowed to retreat, no one!"
Watching the attack formation for a while, Navy Minister Belfort suddenly realized.
He looked at the Minister of Military Supplies in shock: "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"What?" The Minister of Military Supplies feigned ignorance.
"There's no seaplane to adjust our artillery," said the Navy Minister, bitterly: "So you're using those destroyers to draw fire!"
Everyone else, including Prime Minister George, understood.
Using destroyers as targets in front of enemy battleships to expose the enemy battleships' positions while they bombarded them.
Then, the three "Elizabeth"-class battleships could focus their bombardment on them.
Cold-blooded, ruthless, cruel.
Willing to sacrifice anything to achieve the goal, even if it meant the lives of the entire ship's officers and soldiers!
The Minister of Military Supplies openly admitted, repeating, "Do you have a better way?"
The command center fell silent once again.
After a long while, Prime Minister George finally said: "Now, victory is more important than anything!"
The others nodded slightly.
At this moment, a staff officer reported loudly: "The Germans, the German fleet has appeared, they have mobilized en masse, with at least over 80 warships!"