"I'm against this battle plan!"

"I'm not asking for your opinion, I'm ordering you to carry it out!"

Just when Jochen let the Army General Staff be shrouded in low pressure, the Navy General Staff was also in a tragic situation at this time.

In the conference room, the two naval tycoons, Field Marshal Tirpitz, Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, and Admiral Herzendorf, Chief of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, made the young staff officers who were qualified to attend the meeting silent one by one.

"It's too risky to carry out this battle plan now! I'm responsible for the ocean fleet! "Herzendorf

"The commander of the Ocean Fleet is at the same level as you, and Ingnoll doesn't need you to help him take charge!" Tirpitz unceremoniously slammed back: "And what responsibility is there, it's also me, the chief of the general staff of the Navy!" ”

Herzendorf, who was angry with this sentence, couldn't wait to jump up and punch the bearded man in front of him twice, and Ingnorr on the side could only show an embarrassing expression that I don't want to speak, big guy, don't pull it on me.

Tirpitz is right, theoretically, the commander of the Ocean Fleet is indeed on the same level as the head of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Navy is indeed the number one commander of the Navy.

Tirpitz, the old rascal, was so uncomfortable that Herzendorf couldn't get out of his mind.

That being said, the truth is true, but this does not mean that Ingnorr, a newly promoted admiral who has only been in command of the Ocean Fleet for only one year, is really qualified to be on an equal footing with Herzendorf.

Moreover, the function of the Navy General Command is to formulate operational plans and wartime commands, and if there is a problem with the operational plan, the General Headquarters is not responsible, who is responsible? If the battle was really lost, how could the chief of the General Staff alone bear it?

Is it amazing? Is it great to have a higher rank?

Well, it's really remarkable.

For now, at least, Herzendorf was suffocating.

The chief of the general staff of the Navy took out a copy of the countless battle plans made by the Navy General Headquarters, and regardless of whether it was in line with the current actual situation, he directly slapped himself in the face and said: I think this plan is good, you should sign and implement it.

Who can stand this?

It is also an extremely risky battle plan that may disrupt the future naval strategy.

As the head of the Naval Commander-in-Chief, he cannot question the authority of the Chief of the Naval Staff in front of everyone in the entire conference room, and he cannot directly say that the commander of the Ocean Fleet should listen to his own opinions, and the Ingnoles are sitting next to him.

"The plan is to put the entire ocean fleet in a very dangerous situation!" Herzendorf could only refrain from arguing with the old scoundrel Tirpitz and argue according to his own ideas.

"This plan is still from your naval headquarters." Tirpitz threw out another sentence about the elevated blood pressure of Herzendorf.

"But now is not the time to execute this battle plan!" Herzendorf endured his anger and reasoned with facts: "The balance of power between us and the British is not the minimum standard with which we can fight!" ”

"We are now 3:4 in terms of the number of capital ships compared to the British! Now is the time to fight the British! Tirpitz yelled, "Don't make excuses for your cowardice!" ”

"You are an insult to my honor!" Herzendorf could bear other words, but his lungs were about to explode when he was accused of cowardice by Tirpitz: "I'm going to duel with you!" ”

"Alright, Alfred, you're going a little too far." Seeing that the difference of opinion was about to turn into a personal vendetta, Admiral Pol, the Minister of the Navy Cabinet on the side, had to open his mouth to play a round: "Henning, you too." Your Majesty has returned from Pula Harbor today, how shall I tell him that the Navy has suffered the greatest losses since the beginning of the war, and that his Admiral and Admiral have suffered casualties as a result of the duel? ”

As the head of naval personnel, and in a sense, the spokesperson for His Majesty the Emperor's control of the navy, Pol knew that he could not express his position at will.

However, he was indeed more inclined to Herzendorf's opinion, so he decided to say a few words for the head of the Navy Commander-in-Chief: "The main decisive battle plan is also made by the Commander-in-Chief, and we all know very well the difference between this plan and what you are going to do now." ”

"Now we are not talking about the battleship fleet, we are talking about the 1st reconnaissance fleet" Admiral Müller, head of the Navy Office, also spoke: "And now is not the best time in the plan for the decisive battle of the main forces, we are well aware of this. ”

4 East Prussian-class ships have just completed refit work, and even sea trials have not been completed. At this time, the battleships of the Ocean Fleet had 6 Deutschland-class, 4 Nassau-class, 4 Helgoland-class, and 4 West Prussian-class, a total of 18 ships.

In the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, there are 1 Dreadnought, 3 Bellerophon class, 6 St. Vincent class, 3 Neptune class, 1 Agincourt, 4 Orion class, and 4 George V class, a total of 22 ships.

Indeed, it far exceeded the minimum standard of 2:3 expected by the Navy's psyche.

However, the East Prussian class was refurbished, and it was not a new ship that had just been completed, and the crew was all the original crew. Moreover, the core content of the transformation, the replacement of the ship's guns, and the artillery crew were also trained on the West Prussian class, so the East Prussia did not need to undergo 6 months of training to familiarize itself with the ship, and it was expected to return to the combat sequence around January 1915.

The British side will also have new battleships to complete the training mission during this time, but these ships are all 343 mm gun battleships built under the 1911 budget, and the new battleships under the 1912 budget will not have time to complete the training even if they can be completed at the beginning of next year.

At that time, the ratio of the number of battleships will change from the current 9:11 to 11:13, and the quality advantage of the super-dreadnoughts is still on the German side, so it is the best time to fight the British after the East Prussian class returns to the combat sequence.

But Tirpitz was going to let Hipper's 1st Reconnaissance Fleet touch the tiger's ass of the British, and the situation was different.

Now Hipper had only 6 large cruisers under his command, while the British had 10 battle cruisers, a ratio of 3:5.

The lineup of 1 De Fringer, 3 Moltke class, and 2 Blucher class is also far inferior to the British's 3 Lion-class, 4 Indefatigable class, and 3 Invincible class.

This exceeded the Navy's psychological expectations.

And unlike Hipper's previous mission of shelling the British mainland, this time the First Reconnaissance Fleet was going all the way north to the nose of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet.

"Will there be any change in the quantitative comparison between our large cruisers and the British battlecruisers after the East Prussian class returns to the operational sequence?" Tirpitz laughed angrily and teased: "Does the Imperial Navy still have to wait for the two Marquis Bismarcks to form combat effectiveness before executing this plan?" That was going to be 1917, right? ”

"We just hope that there will be no surprises before the decisive battle of the main forces! At least until then, the precious avant-garde fleet cannot afford losses! ”

"Timid, if Otto were like you, he probably wouldn't be able to get a PLM with an oak leaf ornament in his life." The old rascal's words choked the head of the Navy Office again.

After the victory at the Ionian Sea, His Majesty the Excited Emperor once offered to promote Didrichs to the rank of Marshal of the Navy. However, Didrichs was able to serve as the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet with the rank of admiral entirely because he was old enough, in fact, in theory, the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet was one level lower than the commander of the Oceanic Fleet in terms of position.

If Didrichs is promoted to marshal, then his continued stay in the position of commander of the Mediterranean Fleet will make the Navy's General Staff four troikas, and the four admirals of the Navy Commander-in-Chief, the commander of the Ocean Fleet, the head of the Cabinet of Naval Forces, and the chief of the Naval Office will be very embarrassed.

But it would not be appropriate to transfer Deedrichs back to the General Staff of the Navy after the great victory of the Mediterranean Fleet.

In the first place, it was not a good idea to arrange the post of new admiral marshal, and it was obviously not a good idea to let Didrichs, who had just achieved an unprecedented victory, and his old superior, Marshal Montecucori, sit in the general staff of the navy as a mascot.

Second, Didrichs' successor may not be able to convince the public for a while in the glory of his predecessor.

If you can't get a military rank, you can only get a medal.

As compensation, His Majesty the Emperor personally hung a medal of merit with oak leaf on the front of Didrichs' neckline.

This is the first PLM with oak leaf ornament issued by the empire since the iron-blooded Prime Minister His Excellency Bismarck in 1884, and the 10th PLM with oak leaf decoration issued by the Order of Merit since its establishment (because there was no invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, Waldzer did not get his PLM with rubber leaf decoration).

The army is a place where seniority talks about capital, a big victory, a PLM with oak leaf decoration, if Didrichs were in this venue today, the four troikas of the Navy General Staff would have to be half a head shorter.

Bol and Müller, who had planned the Battle of Ionia, were also opposed, also because they were too risky.

If it weren't for the resolute attitude of the two naval marshals Tirpitz and Montecukori, and the resolute support of his chief of naval staff after His Majesty only hesitated for a short time, the Battle of Ionia might not have begun.

Did the Ionian naval battle fight an adventure? Adventure, of course! But this risky head of your Navy Office will speak loudly in front of the Mediterranean Commander in the future, and he will not have the confidence to speak at all!

It has to be said that the phrase "only the wrong name, not the wrong nickname" is true most of the time, and Tirpitz's performance at this time is completely worthy of the title of "evil old baton" given to him by the British media. A mouth made the head of the Navy Command and the head of the Naval Office tremble.

"The concerns of the Navy General Command are justified, and all the current operations of the Ocean Fleet are centered on the plan for the decisive battle of the main forces in the first half of next year, so we understand that combat operations that may endanger this plan should be avoided."

Seeing that if it continued like this, he would really become the marshal's three generals, and Ingnorr, who had no way to continue the meeting, had no choice but to open his mouth and pull the content of the meeting, which was about to deviate, back to the normal track.

"But this combat operation is not just an impulsive risk-taking, it is necessary."

Compared to the "evil old army stick" who slapped the battle plan directly in your face, Ingnorr's attitude is much better. Moreover, the opinions of the commander of the Ocean Fleet, as the concrete implementer of combat operations, must also be heard. The situation in the conference room finally did not continue to develop in the direction of the vegetable market.

There are four main reasons for this conclusion: first, the reaction of the British side; 2. The opinion of Lieutenant General Hipper; 3. The current state of affairs in the Mediterranean Fleet; Fourth, for the sake of international response.

The preconditions for our plan for a decisive battle with our main force were clear, and the British had to come out to meet the battle before this plan could be carried out. What if they shouldn't fight? This question was raised by His Excellency the Chief of the General Staff on the very first day that the British declared war on us.

And our answer was an artillery campaign on the British mainland.

Although nominally this was an act of retaliation for the British attack on the Gulf of Helgoland, it was clear to us that it was a means of forcing the British to come out and fight.

Through the shelling of the British mainland, it caused panic among the British people, so that public opinion could exert pressure on Whitehall, so as to achieve the purpose of forcing the Grand Fleet to fight.

But as far as is known, that operation did not have the desired effect. ”

The Ocean Fleet began to carry out retaliatory actions after the end of the Battle of Helgoland.

After the use of submarines for preliminary reconnaissance, the port of Hartlepool, which had a relatively busy shipping route and a wide dock and a large number of factories, was selected as an ideal target for the attack.

And for the purpose of causing panic among the population, Hipper did not rush away after a boot-tickling shelling of the beach outside Yarmouth Harbour, as was the first time in history when he attacked the British mainland, leaving only a few craters on the beach.

The port of Hartlepool, which was attacked by Hipper, who had been smothered in the Battle of the Gulf of Helgoland, suffered even more heavy losses than it had been the target of the second attack in history.

The 4 light cruisers and 9 destroyers of the 2nd Reconnaissance Fleet and the 5th Destroyer Group under the command of Rear Admiral Maas did not need to return to the shipyard for overhaul at this time tore apart the four destroyers that were on patrol duty in the local garrison fleet.

Two large Blücher-class cruisers, with a squadron of the 9th Destroyer Group, seconded from the Ocean Fleet, suppressed three 6-inch shore defense guns from the seafort positions along the harbor of Hartlepool.

Then 4 large cruisers fired more than 200 rounds of large-caliber shells at 2 reconnaissance cruisers anchored in the harbor. Two reconnaissance cruisers, which had not had time to leave the port, became pitiful fixed targets, and were smashed into two piles of scrap metal by large-caliber shells that were split into heads.

Immediately after that, under the calibration of the released seaplanes, four large cruisers began to fire on the Harbour Harbour City, and the light cruisers of the Second Reconnaissance Fleet, which had eliminated the British destroyers, joined in.

Due to the heavy losses of the Harwich fleet in the Gulf of Helgoland, the Germans did not have to worry at all about what fleet the British would be able to disturb their retaliatory actions in a short time.

The attack lasted a full 90 minutes, including 40 minutes of shelling of the city, and the German fleet fired more than 5,000 rounds of large and small caliber shells into the city of Hartlepool. When Hipper returned with the fleet, the port of Hartlepool was devastated.

As a result of the German attack on Hartlepool, two reconnaissance cruisers, four destroyers, one seafort and shore defense battery were destroyed, and the garrison was shelled, resulting in the death of 129 naval officers and 82 army officers.

And in the channel outside the port, the 5th Destroyer Group intercepted 5 civilian ships and forced them to sink themselves, with a total tonnage of 7,862 tons. At the same time, 3 other detachments of the 9th destroyer group also laid a 20-kilometer mine belt here before evacuation,

The damage in Hartlepool was even worse, and even with seaplane fire attempts, the German fleet focused on non-residential areas such as factories and dockyards, but it still inevitably caused a large number of civilian casualties.

Docks, docks, steel works, gas plants, and railway station yards were severely damaged, while shells that fell into the city caused the collapse of a large number of civilian buildings. As a result of the shelling, a total of 214 citizens were killed and 587 injured, including 14 children and 47 women.

The German Navy did not know the exact data on the damage caused by the shelling, but it was well aware that it would cause an uproar in Britain.

The Hague Convention IX prohibits naval bombardment of undefended cities, seaports, villages, houses and buildings, in accordance with article 25 of the annex to the Hague Convention IV, which prohibits the use of any means to attack or bombard undefended towns, villages, dwellings or buildings.

Although it is possible to exploit the loopholes of the law, this is what the Army did after the air raid on Baledik:

1. Baledik, as a distribution center for French troops and supplies, is not an undefended city.

2. The French army, as the defending side, should prohibit civilians from being involved in the fighting, and have the obligation to evacuate civilians for refuge.

3. Citizens who remain in the war zone to provide all types of logistical services to the army shall be treated as militia and not as civilians.

Therefore, Baldik should be regarded as the absence of civilians as a war zone, and the German strikes on Baldik are fully in line with the international laws of war against military targets.

The naval shelling of Hartlepool explained it this way:

1. Hartlepool Harbour has a Royal Navy garrison fleet, shore defence positions and garrisons, and cannot be regarded as an undefended city.

2. The German Navy focuses on military ports, wharves, docks, and other facilities that provide services to the army, and should be regarded as military targets.

3. The casualties caused by the shells falling into the city were collateral damages, and the German Navy regretted the presence of unevacuated civilians among them, but the British side was also responsible for keeping civilians in dangerous areas and not evacuating.

That being said, the German Navy knew that the shelling of Hartlepool had in fact violated the laws of international war, and that there was no honor in the Navy's actions.

But again this is inevitable.

In order to blockade Germany, the British have also torn off their faces and begun to openly violate international law.

The London Declaration of 1909 provided that all goods destined for neutral countries, with the exception of arms, ammunition and other obvious war materiel, should not be confiscated, even if they were to be transited to a hostile State.

However, the British imposed import restrictions on neutral countries at pre-war levels, and all goods shipped to Germany and goods in excess of the pre-war import quota were confiscated or forcibly purchased by the British.

As the text of "On War" blatantly exposes the nature of war: "In something as dangerous as war, the erroneous ideas born of mercy are the most harmful." The side that uses violence at all costs and at the expense of bloodshed will inevitably gain an advantage when the other side does not do the same. ”

The cold writing written by His Majesty the Emperor in the Theory of Total War marked the complete degeneration of chivalry.

"The advancement of technology has made the army's strike capability more and more in-depth, the scope of the battlefield will become wider and wider, and the definition of the combat area will become more and more blurred.

In the mode of 'total warfare', the production of materials and productive forces have become an equally important part of the entire war system, and the boundaries between the front and the rear are erased, and civilians will not be able to exist independently of the war machine of the whole country, and will inevitably be drawn into the war.

In this mode of warfare, there is no honor for the soldiers,"

However, the Navy's disgrace of its sense of honor and the violation of the laws of international war did not have the desired effect.

Whitehall issued a communiqué on the evening of the same day after the attack on Hartlepool, defining the actions of the German fleet as "demonstrations" and stating in the communiqué: "The Admiralty takes this opportunity to point out that a demonstration of this nature against an undefended city or commercial port, while not difficult, is subject to a certain degree of risk and that such military action has no military significance."

The loss of civilian life and private property caused by such acts is deplorable; But under no circumstances can the General Naval Policy being implemented be modified as a result. (Historical facts)

This communiqué was leaving the Imperial Navy to judge, and the Royal Navy did not take the bait.

"In the absence of the response of the British, the Ocean Fleet must continue to operate and put pressure on the Royal Navy until they are forced out, otherwise the plan for the main decisive battle will not be able to continue.

Judging from the current situation, it may be difficult to change the determination of Whitehall in one or two attacks on the British mainland, and it is not possible to accomplish in a short period of time if the pressure from all sectors of British society develops to the extent that it is sufficient to change the established policy of the Royal Navy, and the need for more shelling operations and the fermentation of the effects caused within British society

Therefore, we need bolder actions to stimulate the nerves of the Royal Navy. ”

Bolder also means more risk-taking, although Ingnoll has a point, but in the eyes of Herzendorf, Ball and Müller, even if one or two times do not work, as long as they insist on attacking the British mainland once a month, and little by little increase the weight of British domestic public opinion, there will always be a day when Whitehall will succumb to the pressure of public opinion.

It is much safer and more secure than putting Hipper's fleet under the nose of the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet.

However, Ingnorr's words were not finished, so Herzendorf, Bol, and Müller did not interrupt without a sound.

"And Lieutenant General Hipper, as the executor of this battle plan, believes that the danger of this operation is not high."

"It's not very dangerous to attack the British fleet under the nose of the Grand Fleet in Scapa Bay?" Muller couldn't help but speak.

"Yes, it's not high." Ingnoll nodded and continued: "Vice Admiral Hipper believes that although the area of engagement is close to the lair of the Grand Fleet, he is not going to engage the Grand Fleet.

The Royal Navy's 10th cruiser squadron is very weak, and its main combat ships are 8 Edgar-class first-class protection cruisers under the command of Rear Admiral de Schell, and you should know what level these 20-year-old ships are.

The main patrol area of the 10th Cruiser Fleet is 35 nautical miles between the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, and 87 nautical miles from Shetland Islands to Norway, totaling about 120 nautical miles.

If the 1st Reconnaissance Fleet had attacked the 10th Cruiser Squadron in the stretch between Shetland and Norway, the battle would have been ended in a very short time, and the Ocean Fleet in Scapa Bay could have retreated before it could react.

Vice Admiral Hipper's suggestion that the aircraft carrier USS Stosch, which was transferred from the Third Reconnaissance Fleet, be incorporated into the Second Reconnaissance Fleet to join the operation, so that the fleet could obtain aerial reconnaissance covering the entire combat area and completely avoid contact with the main forces of the Royal Navy.

In addition, ocean-going submarines operating in the area can also cooperate with this operation.

As long as we can do a good job of confidentiality and the action can be sudden enough, there will not be much risk in this operation. ”

As for the Mediterranean, although the Mediterranean Fleet has achieved a brilliant victory, the current situation of the Mediterranean Fleet is not optimistic. In fact, at this time our sea dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean is nothing more than an illusory bubble.

We have to get the attention of the British and make sure they don't try to throw troops in the direction of the Mediterranean. To restore the combat effectiveness of our Mediterranean fleet, to be able to gain time for substantial sea supremacy in the Eastern Mediterranean.

As for the last point, friction between the British blockade fleet and neutral ships has been occurring since the violation of the London Declaration, and from what has been learned from Norway, the Netherlands, etc., there are not a few cases of neutral crews being treated barbarously and clashing.

But we have to admit that the actions of the British are effective, and in the long run, the neutral Congress chooses to submit to the violence of the British, which is very disadvantageous to us.

So we took the initiative to give the British blockade fleet a hard blow, so that the neutrals could see that the British blockade line was not as strong as we thought, and that this would have a favorable effect on us internationally. And if neutral ships start to try more to break through the British blockade as a result, whether they succeed or not, it will be a good thing for us. ”

Can you break the blockade of the British with a single attack? None of you would be so naïve, breaking the blockade is nothing more than a joke until the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet is completely defeated.

But to provoke more intense friction between Britain and neutrals with one attack would be a gain for Germany.

As long as a neutral ship tried to punch the card and succeeded, Germany could get more supplies through the neutral nation. Failure doesn't get any worse.

But in any case, relations between Britain and the neutral countries will deteriorate, and after that the British will use tougher means to intercept the neutral ships, or even provoke bloodshed, the Germans do not care at all, and will even condemn it on the surface, secretly believing that there is not enough blood.

"The Ocean Fleet has thought it through!" Tirpitz raised his voice and shouted: "This plan will be finalized today, Your Majesty is back, and I will report to him." ”

"Then Your Majesty will not see my signature on that plan!" Relying on the trust of His Majesty the Emperor to do nonsense, Herzendorf could feel the green tendons on his forehead jumping wildly.

The atmosphere that had finally eased down was over again.

"Alfred, until we have reached a unified opinion, if you want to report the battle plan to Your Majesty, you must attach our dissenting report."

After a little blocking Tirpitz. Müller turned to Ingnoll: "We understand the opinion of the Ocean Fleet, and we will seriously consider the opinion of Vice Admiral Hipper." We need to analyze and evaluate the opinions of the Ocean Fleet, and I believe that Your Majesty will also hope to have a clearer picture of the situation from the results of our assessment. ”

"I understand." Ingnoll nodded: "The fleet will also take time to prepare, but hopefully we won't have to wait too long to get the results of the assessment." ”

"Of course, we'd love to come to a conclusion as soon as possible."

No one could have imagined how quickly this conclusion would appear in front of them.