The telegram sent back by the U-9 submarine immediately alerted the top German military officials, including William, who went to the Naval General Staff in person. However, he, Tirpitz and others were confused by this intelligence. They really did not understand what the British were doing.
What do you want to do? Do you want to land in the Netherlands again? Judging from the course, it is obviously not the case, because the current position of the U9 submarine is just after leaving Helgoland Bay. If the British land in the Netherlands again, it is impossible to appear in this position.
But there is no place for them to land to the north. The entire Helgoland Bay, including the German coast of the North Frisian Islands, is protected by a large number of mines. Unless they forcefully land on the Danish coast like they did with the Netherlands last time, but
In that case, the United Kingdom will anger the entire three Nordic countries. Besides, although Denmark is a small country, it also has hundreds of thousands of troops, and relying on Sweden's military industrial base, which is very well equipped, its strength is not much weaker than that of the Netherlands. If it really wants to fight, Britain will
The few people who evacuated from Italy really don't have much hope.
but…
After this incident, William and Tirpitz suddenly became excited at the same time. What if Denmark joins the Entente? Although the relationship between the two parties has always been good, and Denmark has repeatedly assured Germany of their neutrality principle, after all, there are still differences between the two countries.
Regarding the issues of Schleswig and Holstein, to put it bluntly, Germany is still grabbing other people's territories! It is impossible for the Danes to know that China is about to join the Allies. Under the current circumstances, it is not impossible to make a misjudgment.
Fortunately, at this time, the reconnaissance aircraft sent out to search on Helgoland Island sent back the latest intelligence via wireless telegram. The British fleet was sailing towards Helgoland Bay.
Now William and his generals are even more confused. How many anchor mines have been deployed there? How many anchor mines have been laid there?
William didn't know much about it. Anyway, he knew that except for those reserved passages, other than fishermen's small fishing boats, any other vessel entering the sea area would be dead ends.
It's a pity that he doesn't know the specific number of mines. Admiral May, Commander of the British Royal Navy's Home Fleet, knows it very well. This Commander is currently in the command room of the battleship Nelson. He is facing a picture sent from China.
A huge map showing the location of every mine in Helgoland Bay is used to arrange combat missions.
Of course, this task is easy to arrange. The fleet he leads can be said to have concentrated all the current British naval forces, plus a huge fleet of more than 30 French warships including two battleships. According to this mine map, from the middle
Just go directly through the safe channel. The German High Seas Fleet will definitely come out to intercept it, and then the British Home Fleet will have a final decisive battle with this old rival on their doorstep. At the same time as the naval battle, the landing ship will directly
Seize the beach on the coast of Cuxhaven. There is still a little poor coastal defense force here. Two elite British divisions can easily swamp it, and then seize Cuxhaven and let the troop transport ships, especially the two large rolling boats,
The ship docked at the dock, and the 500 trucks loaded inside were driven out directly. After loading the infantry, they headed towards Hamburg along the road. This trick was learned from the Germans' raid on Washington.
"Admiral, what are you thinking about?" Lieutenant General Jellicoe asked the somewhat absent-minded General May with a smile. The joy that the war was about to end was spreading among all the British officers and soldiers participating in the operation.
"I'm wondering how the Chinese got this mine map, and also, they were able to get the Helgoland Bay. So are the mine layouts along our coast also under their control?" Admiral Mei looked at it.
Shui Lei Tu said.
"Admiral, you are overly worried. The relationship between China and Germany has always been friendly. The two sides have cooperated a lot in the military industry. Maybe their spies have infiltrated into the German Navy. You also know that His Majesty the Emperor's employees from various countries have
There are many. It’s not surprising to have such a nail buried,” Jellicoe said.
"Then did he plant nails in our army?" Admiral Mei asked rhetorically.
Of course, this is just a little doubt in the mind of the Commander, and has nothing to do with this operation. Under the surveillance of German reconnaissance planes taking off in the wind and snow in the sky, the huge British and French maritime cluster slowly approached Helgoland
They entered the minefield in the bay, and then began to enter the mine passage that was originally impossible for them to know.
"What, what did you say?" After the news reached Berlin, William and Tirpitz were immediately dumbfounded. For them, it was no different from a bolt from the blue. The Emperor even grabbed the staff officer with some gaffes.
The collar exclaimed.
"Your Majesty, the British fleet has entered the mine channel in Helgoland Bay and is now heading towards the mouth of the Elbe." the staff officer repeated again.
"This is impossible!" William howled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"Spies, the British have spies in the Admiralty, and they still have the ability to contact the senior generals of Breto." Tirpitz said with a livid face and gritted his teeth.
"These traitors of the German Empire must be found. I will hang him with my own hands!" William said viciously. Of course, this issue must be considered later. The question now is how he should deal with the people who are killing him at his door.
The enemy, this huge fleet will arrive in two or three hours at most.
"Order the High Seas Fleet to attack immediately. All warships on the coast of Helgoland Bay will attack. Regardless of battleships or torpedo boats, even if the battle is fought to the last battleship, the British must be stopped. At the same time, the remaining warships from Kiel Naval Port will be mobilized to reinforce Hull.
Golan Bay, and also sent a message to Lieutenant General Holzendorf, the First Squadron immediately withdrew from the battle and returned home. The Russian sea attack was just a trick to deceive them. In addition, all the stocks in the naval bases of Kiel Port and Wilhelmshaven were removed.
All the floating mines were transported to the mouth of the Elbe River to prepare for their release." Tirpitz issued the order as quickly as possible.
In fact, just before he issued the order, Prince Heinrich had ordered all the battleships of the High Seas Fleet to start their main engines. Although the diesel engine battleships started up much faster than the steam engine battleships, it still took some time, and he had to get ahead of the British
The fleet rushed to the mouth of the Elbe River. As for the absence of an order from the General Staff, there was no need to consider this. Now the High Seas Fleet has no choice but to face the enemy. Even if all the warships are used up, the British cannot be put into German soil.
.
"This is the decisive battle for the fate of the empire. Warriors of Germany, the invaders have arrived at our door. For our motherland and our relatives, we must not allow any enemy to set foot on German soil. Today, regardless of civilians or nobles, regardless of
Cowards or warriors, we all have no choice. We must fight to the end, and the flag of the Hohenzollern family will be with you!" His Highness the Prince's speech was played repeatedly on loudspeakers throughout Wilhelmshaven, but
This is indeed effective. This prince who is always with his fleet and never flinches no matter how fierce the battle is. The only brother of the Kaiser who is still alive has become the soul of the High Seas Fleet. Even Tirpitz
Not comparable.
Just as the thirteen battleships of the High Seas Fleet were leaving Wilhelmshaven, the battle in Helgoland Bay had actually begun. Stationed on Helgoland, the force led by Rear Admiral Hipper consisted of four light cruisers and sixteen small ships.
After learning that the British fleet had entered the mine channel, the destroyer squadron immediately left this meaningless base and launched an attack on the British.
He is a very cunning commander, knowing that running to the mouth of the Elbe at this time is no different from committing suicide, and it is unlikely that he will arrive earlier than Prince Heinrich's main fleet. In this case, there is no need to go there.
, the most deadly thing for the British is not the main fleet, but the landing ships and troop carriers that follow behind. These slow but full of infantry ships can sink an entire battalion and regiment of British troops if they are casually sunk.
belly. And in order to go all out to deal with the High Seas Fleet, the number of British warships left behind to protect them was not very many. They were crowded in the narrow mine channel. The British warships in the front could not turn back to support, and they launched the attack from the rear.
But there is enough room for advancement and retreat.
In this way, this insignificant little fleet did not follow the orders given to them by the General Staff to sail to the mouth of the Elbe to participate in the interception of the British fleet. Instead, they sailed in the opposite direction and circled the sea at a high speed of 35 knots.
, just when the Battle of the Elbe Estuary started, the bloody massacre of the British also began.
The first victim was a troop transport carrying two thousand British soldiers. This old-fashioned ocean-going cargo ship, which was actually still powered by steam, was waiting leisurely outside the minefield under the protection of a light cruiser, and then in the distance
Suddenly a German destroyer appeared, and then rushed up and tried to launch an attack. The escorting light cruiser immediately accelerated to intercept it. After a brief exchange of fire with naval guns, the German destroyer immediately turned around and fled. The British cruiser captain was eager to make a contribution.
A pursuit was immediately ordered. Just as the two battleships were fighting one after another and moving away from the troop transport, Hipper and his fleet appeared from the clouds on the sea like a pack of wolves.
The poor British, before they even landed on German soil, first lost almost a regiment of infantry. Two destroyers in Hipper's fleet fired two heavy torpedoes at the unlucky troop carrier, one on the left and one on the right.
Hitting the middle of the ship at the same time, the entire ship was blown into two pieces, and all the crew and soldiers on the ship completely disappeared from the sea within two minutes. When the nearby British warships arrived, the murderers who caused this tragedy
It disappeared in the clouds long ago, leaving only one survivor to the British. (To be continued)