On the fourth day of the German High Seas Fleet's expedition to Ireland, the waters of the southern Norwegian Sea. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The sea is windy and cold, and the ships are like leaves in the rain, swaying and trembling, although there is no risk of capsizing, the people who stay in the cabin are enduring the pain, especially those landing troops who are divided into old battleships and cruisers, they do not all have the experience of being seamen, some of them even learned to swim after joining the Marine Corps, this voyage of more than 1,000 nautical miles is a great test of their body and spirit, The most pessimistic estimate is that the 4,000 naval infantry will arrive on the shores of Ireland largely incapacitated and will need at least a day or two of rest to recover, and this will be a very dangerous transition period, and it will be necessary to hope that the British will be slow to react or the Irish Volunteers will provide strong cover to turn the corner.

In order to be able to refuel smoothly in the wind and waves, the ten coal ships sent by the German Navy were equipped with cranes, conveyors and special flexible pipes before departure, and the coal ships could be refueled at sea within 20 meters of the large torpedo boats. As far as the eye can see, two pairs of ships coaling at sea are performing acrobatics together, sometimes approaching the side of the ship to the side of the ship, sometimes pulling away to the distance of the soft pipe, and at the end of the day, there have been many collisions between the two ships or the collapse of the pipeline.

Under such conditions, it would be nice to be able to reach half the expected rate of coaling.

"Report...... The 4th Detachment of the 7th Detachment of the 1906 Type has completed the refueling, and the 4th, 11th and 17th detachments are still left, and with the current sea conditions, the replenishment will not be completed until early tomorrow morning at the earliest. ”

On the bridge of the "King", the young fleet staff officer, Captain Gold, reported to the commanders on the progress of refueling the large torpedo boats.

In the eyes of others, this outstanding graduate of the Kiel Naval Academy is capable and performant, a close friend of Prince Joachim, the chief of staff of the fleet, and now he has been awarded the Order of the Red Eagle by the Kaiser at the age of 30. Compared with Captain Gold's flamboyance, the young lieutenant who always followed Prince Joachim was much more low-key, he was about the same age as the prince, his clear eyes were like a lake in the mountains, and he could not see the smoothness and vicissitudes of the world, but reflected a kind of cold and arrogant loftiness, he never talked too much, he was always cautious in his words and deeds, so that people often ignored his existence.

After listening to Gord's report, both Scheer and Natsuki still had unhurried expressions on their faces, but the other officers on the bridge were not so calm, and the joy brought by the capture of Paris by the German Army cooled down with time, and they also began to consider the potential impact of this major event on the fleet expedition. Now that the situation on the Western Front has been decided, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the French pray for peace, and Britain cannot independently support the war, once the main German army advances eastward, the defeat of the Russian army is also undoubted, and the war may return to its starting point - the Serbian question, Austria-Hungary solves its political problems, and Germany wins the hegemony that Kaiser Wilhelm II has dreamed of since his accession to the throne. At this time, it is obviously a debatable question whether to continue this extremely risky sea expedition. After all, the German navy had gained great prestige through the previous three naval battles, and the officers had been honored one by one, and the thirst for victory was not as strong as it was at the beginning of the war, and most people had no hatred for Britain, and there was no need to push it desperately to divide it, and even if they wanted to support the Irish for independence, there were many ways to send troops directly than to send troops.

Outside the bridge, the north wind howling and the cold snap were raging, and it seemed that even the heavens were trying to dissuade the Germanic people, who were more accustomed to living on land, from ending this treacherous expedition early, but the unseen political struggle was often more dangerous than the harsh sea conditions. As the invincible German army entered Paris, the Kaiser must have left the palace and embarked on a journey to the front to comfort his soldiers, and many would take the opportunity to advise him that anything could happen......

The commander of the fleet and the chief of staff did not speak, and the officers on the bridge could not express their positions indiscriminately, so they could only wait patiently for now. Later in the day, the communications officer sent a coded telegram from the Naval Staff, but instead of a combat order, the message was a deciphered military intelligence indicating that a combined Anglo-French fleet of several armored cruisers was pursuing the Spee fleet in the North Atlantic.

For the past few days, the Speegh fleet has maintained radio silence, which means that at least they are not in danger, and the commander of the high seas fleet has instead speculated on the whereabouts of the Spee's fleet through intercepted enemy telegrams. According to the information of all parties, after attacking a number of Allied and neutral ships with great fanfare, Spee has quickly left the waters of the Azores with two Scharnhorst-class armored cruisers to sail north, while the fuel previously replenished in Cape Verde allows them to sail 6,000 nautical miles at cruising speeds, or 3,000-3,500 nautical miles at higher speeds, and their long-range maneuverability is not inferior to that of any Allied armored cruiser of the same period. In the vast ocean, the Entente wanted to encircle the Speese fleet with a mere few dozen ships, which was no less difficult than airhook fishing.

That night, the German Navy Staff sent another secret telegram, this time it was still not a combat order, but the content of the message was equivalent to a heavyweight bomb: according to the information sent by German spies from Ireland, probably because there were traitors inside, a secret warehouse of the Irish Volunteers in the south was suddenly searched by the British garrison, and dozens of members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood were arrested. Anticipating the imminent imminent imposition of martial law and a massive manhunt by the British garrison, the Irish Brotherhood decided to bring forward the armed uprising - two days later in Cork, Killarney, and Watford in the south-west of Ireland!

After reading this telegram, Natsuki raised his head and found that Scheer had arrived at the door of his cabin, and hurriedly invited him in.

After closing the door, the first thing Scheer said was: "If you set off now, at the previous speed, if you don't encounter British ships, you can go to the sea where you are scheduled to land the morning after tomorrow." ”

Starting from the Gulf of Kiel, passing through the waters of Denmark, Sweden and Norway to the Norwegian Sea, there is not even a shadow of British ships on this way, because after the Second Battle of Flanders, the scope of British naval activities has shrunk to the coastal waters of Britain, and the next step of the German fleet will be from the northern waters of Britain into the North Atlantic, and then to the intended landing position in southwest Ireland. Because of this, Natsuki insisted on carrying the landing force on the old cruiser, so that even if a fish slipped through the net and rushed into the array of the German fleet, there would not be a situation where a troop carrier would be killed by a few shells.

Natsuki lowered his head and thought, the first reaction of ordinary people was to rush to the waters of Ireland, transport 4,000 German naval infantry to land before the British garrison in Ireland had not launched combat deployment, and cooperate with the Irish Volunteers to control the situation, but this consideration only stayed at the superficial level of military politics. When communicating with the representatives sent to Germany by the Irish Brotherhood, Natsuki noticed the subtle mentality of the other party—they hoped to achieve the independence of Ireland with the help of Germany, but they were also worried that they would be led by the nose by Germany in many ways in the future, and even become a military occupation zone of Germany. Standing on his current position, Natsuki has no intention of turning Ireland into a German state or occupation zone, and the greatest expected reward for support for Ireland, including this controversial military adventure, is Ireland's strategic containment of Britain, which requires the future Irish government to reciprocate, even if it sacrifices some interests, to stand on the same front as Germany, but countries are different from individuals after all, and the two countries that were still fighting side by side yesterday may be tense against each other the next day, and revenge is not worth mentioning. Based on the farce that has been played out in human history, only the most naïve politician would base his expectations on feelings without practical constraints.

After thinking for a while, Natsuki said to Sher, "We'd better wait. ”

"Wait?" Scheer was a little surprised by this answer.

"Perhaps the Irish have driven all the British troops into the sea before our infantry arrives, after all, the Irish independence movement has already received most of the aid they have asked us for, weapons, ammunition, instructors, funds, etc. They themselves are full of faith! The accent of Natsuki's last sentence shows the mentality of waiting for a good show.

Scheer has worked with Natsuki for many years, how could he not hear the meaning of the words, he thought about it, and suddenly realized: "Then we will make the Irish suffer a little, and when they are cornered, we will stand in front of them like saints!" ”

Natsuki was not complacent because of his superior opinion, he mentally analyzed and calculated the corresponding changes brought about by the new situation, even if it could not guarantee the independence of Ireland in one fell swoop, at least let the Irish independence movement gain a foothold in the south, otherwise the previous foreshadowing and investment would be all in vain.

"If the Irish Volunteers suffer heavy losses in the initial battle, our Marines will be under greater operational pressure than expected, and it seems necessary to make some preparations in advance."

"Turn 4,000 people into 6,000 people." Sher took Natsuki's words and said. At the planning stage of the battle plan, they were ready to go: each combat ship was equipped with marines and corresponding guns and ammunition, and the entire high seas fleet could cobble together at least 2,000 marines with a little mobilization, and a part of the crew could be organized to land for combat as a last resort.

"So, we can wait and see." Xia Shu said, "There are still six days before the scheduled landing time, and it makes sense that we should arrive a day or two early, which is also conducive to fitting with Earl Spee's battle plan, don't you say?" ”

(End of chapter)