Admiral May did not pay too much attention to the battle outside Helgoland Bay. Hipper's fleet was an accident, but such harassment was of no avail. The loss of a few troop transports sunk and thousands of soldiers killed was insignificant. His fleet
A total of 100,000 troops were brought. As long as the blockage at the mouth of the Elbe can be resolved and the two divisions are sent to Cuxhaven as quickly as possible, then this operation will be considered a victory.
At this time, the British cruisers and destroyers blocked by drifting mines had gradually moved out of the minefield and were attacking the German battleships in two groups like wolves. However, during this period, a British light cruiser and four destroyers were also hit by drifting mines.
Exploded and sunk, these sunken battleships lay across the waterway, causing a lot of trouble for the British battleships that followed, and the drifting mines flowing down the water also began to hit these sea monsters.
Both captains and ordinary sailors on the British battleships seriously lacked sufficient vigilance for these old antiques that appeared and disappeared in the waves. As the German cruisers and destroyers that posed a serious threat to them were forced to turn around to block the approaching British cruisers and destroyers.
, the thirteen German battleships that had lost their cover were exuding an alluring aroma like thirteen pieces of fat. In this case, the British captains, who were overwhelmed by the victory, didn't care about this. They could just avoid it.
Not to mention up to 100 kilograms of black poison, even if it is replaced by nitrocellulose of the same weight, it is no different from a mosquito bite. A lion will certainly not let mosquitoes get close to it when it is taking a nap. Who will do it when it pounces on an antelope?
Will take care of them.
In this way, the two British battleships ran straight into the first wave of drifting minefields downstream. Almost in the blink of an eye, two not too big explosions sounded on the water surface. The battleship Sovereign and the battle cruiser Audacious
Almost at the same time, they each hit a mine. As the third Edward VII-class ship at the core of the British Home Fleet, the Sovereignty only slowed down a bit, but it launched a HMS Daring with the same name as the original historical ship.
The explosion tore a large hole at the waterline, and then seawater poured into its cabin under heavy pressure.
Ordinarily, such injuries are not serious. Several of the German battleships currently fighting on the sea have them, and there are even more than one. But what made Admiral May almost put the telescope into his eye sockets, and then boldly
The huge body of the No. 1 obviously began to tilt, and then after a few minutes, the tilt began to intensify. The signal soldiers frantically issued a request to withdraw from the battle. Before Admiral Mei could agree, this ship had a displacement of 20,000 tons.
The giant ship no longer cared about fighting. It tilted its huge body like a whipped dog and sailed hastily to the shoal in the distance. It was obvious that its goal was to run aground there, otherwise it would once
If it rolled over in deep water, it would be difficult for a few of the more than 700 officers and soldiers on board to escape.
The German naval officers and soldiers who were fighting in adversity on the sea were all invigorated by this scene, and even cheers rang out on some battleships. So far, three British battleships had been sunk. This pair of outnumbered enemies
For the crowd, it was indeed worth cheering. Unfortunately, before their cheers could end, the Thuringia sank due to too many bullets and serious flooding under the concentrated fire of the French Lombard and Paris.
This was the first German battleship sunk by the French Navy, and it was also the most significant victory for the French Navy since the Vietnam War. Everyone on the four French battleships cheered for a while.
In the command tower of the Deutschland, Prince Heinrich watched this scene calmly.
In fact, at this time, even he understood that the High Seas Fleet would definitely be annihilated here this time. After hearing that Britain and France formed a joint fleet to enter Helgoland Bay, he and the main generals of the High Seas Fleet had already
Knowing their fate. Everything now is just stalling for time, buying as much time as possible for the army's reinforcements. In order to protect their territory, William and Count Schlieffen had to shrink their defense lines again, at the expense of abandoning Lithuania from the eastern front.
An extremely valuable army group was brought back by train, and another army stationed in the Netherlands was also coming, but it would take at least a day for the latter to complete the adjustment.
Prince Heinrich and his fleet must use their lives to hold off the British for at least one day. Considering the balance of strength between the two sides, this is obviously an extremely difficult task.
"Start sinking the ship." His Royal Highness the Prince said expressionlessly as he looked at the sinking Thuringia.
Scheer saluted him, then turned and gave the order.
After receiving the order from Prince Heinrich, six merchant ships that had just arrived from Hamburg were prepared to block the channel, as well as two Saxony-class ironclads that had been towed and were actually used as naval museums.
The sea valve was opened at the mouth of the Elbe River and then slowly sank underwater, leaving only the upper half of the ship still above the water. With the sinking of these ships, the Elbe River channel was completely blocked, not only the Elbe River channel, but also the road leading to Bremen.
The waterway at the mouth of the Wichy River is blocked by several old ironclad ships sailing from Wilhelmshaven.
Of course, this is completely expected for the British. They were not prepared to go north through the Elbe River to Hamburg. Their goal was only Cuxhaven, which was already occupied by their cruisers.
Within the control range, there is no need to worry about this problem at all. Now we only need to sink the German High Seas Fleet blocked in the middle. The landing ships currently waiting behind can swarm up, quickly solve the small number of hastily put together German troops there by seizing the beach, and then occupy this place.
A port.
So all they need to do next is to continue fighting until their old rival is completely eliminated. The brutal bloody battle at sea continues. The two fleets are like two gladiators in the arena fighting endlessly, and the shells are roaring.
Steel warships shuttled between the water columns, and the wreckage that was torn apart by the explosion slowly sank with flames. The leaked diesel was ignited and burned fiercely on the sea surface. The tracks dragged by the torpedoes under the water moved forward rapidly. The torpedoes
The huge cannons were still spraying flames while the giant sea beasts in front were hurriedly dodging. At this time, the Helgoland Bay had completely turned into a bay of fire.
While the decisive battle was in progress, Haijing and the Austro-Hungarian Minister to China Roestorn also came to the palace in Beijing with the last hope of the Allied Powers group and once again requested His Majesty the Chinese Emperor to join the war immediately.
"I'm afraid this is impossible. Declaring war requires a reason, and China is a democratic constitutional country. Although I have the right to declare war, it also needs authorization from Congress. As for Congress, you should also know that you expect those members to
It is very difficult to make a decision in a short time, let alone a big thing like declaring war. After all, they need to be responsible to the domestic people, and China's domestic feelings are actually very deep for either of you. If there is not enough
I'm afraid they will find it difficult to accept it if they rashly declare to join the Allied Powers for various reasons." Emperor Yang said sincerely, as the chief director of this drama, of course he could not go and disrupt it right after it opened.
But what he said was also true. Joining the Allies was only a guarantee made by him and the Chinese government. The Chinese Congress never guaranteed anything to Germany and Austria, although everyone knew that the Chinese Congress at this time was completely under the control of Emperor Yang and had the authority to declare war.
Ninety percent of the qualified members of the House of Lords follow his lead, and the remaining 10% are just used as decoration. At this time, Yang Feng only needs to speak, and he can immediately get authorization to declare war, but everyone knows the rules.
Yes, the fact is that it cannot be said like this.
Although they still returned in vain, fortunately, the mobilization of China's navy and land forces still reassured Germany and Austria, because at this time, a force consisting of all nine battleships, 16 battle cruisers and 16
A huge fleet of more than ten cruisers and destroyers is gathering at the Cam Ranh Bay Naval Base in the Kingdom of Vietnam, which has just joined China with Laos and Khmer. In addition, there are almost all the large landing ships and troop carriers currently owned by the Chinese Navy.
The three marine divisions and six infantry divisions of the army that are preparing to take these ships are also taking trains to the assembly point at Cam Ranh Bay.
It is obvious that China is already making final preparations for participating in the war. All it takes is a reason, an excuse, and the first ten divisions will sail to Europe at the fastest speed, and they will be ready within fifteen days at the speed of those high-speed troop carriers.
You can sail from Cam Ranh Bay to Kuwait, and then go directly to the battlefield along the railway in Ottoman territory.
Of course, it is unrealistic to expect the Chinese army to relieve Germany's current danger. All William needs is for China to announce its joining the Allies. At that time, Yang Feng's allies in Europe will naturally help Germany turn the corner, and the Ottoman Empire's one million army will join the Eastern Front.
, the Russian army can only shrink its current defense line, and Germany can draw out another army group on the eastern front to join the defense of Hamburg. Similarly, when the Spanish army attacks north, the French can only draw troops from the front line to defend their rear, and Germany can draw out at least one
Army group, so even if the two armies that Britain took from the Italian battlefield were all sent to the German battlefield, there would be only a dead end.
The large-scale mobilization of China's navy and army also made the Allies full of confidence. From the perspective of Britain, France and Russia, it was obvious that Yang Feng was going to make a bet. Since it was a bet, it was natural to bet on the side that would win. Now
In this situation, they are the sure winners, let alone them. At this time, most countries have determined that before the end of the year, this four-year world war will eventually end with the defeat of the Allied Powers.
It's a pity that no one knows that at this moment, more than one million Chinese army troops, including three armored divisions, are continuously gathering towards Mongolia. (To be continued...)