"There are two islands at the mouth of the Gulf of Riga, and Earel, which are in a favorable defensive position, and where the Russians have for many years rusted strong coastal artillery forts, which, together with the mines laid in the nearby waterways, form the first line of maritime defense in the Gulf of Riga. www.biquge.infoAt dawn on July 19, Scheer personally led his main fleet to the Gulf of Riga, and the six battleships "King", "Caesar", "Frederick the Great", "Catherine", "Helgoland", and "Oldenburg" lined up, and the sound of fire was comparable to that of the most violent storm. After more than two hours of shelling, the Russian fortifications on the islands of and Æssel were on fire, and we were ordered to cover the minesweeper formations together with the 'Braunschweig', 'Prussia', 'Long', and 'Glaudenz' to open the channel. ”

In the spacious and comfortable living room of the "Long Live Freedom", the captain of the armored cruiser "York", Colonel Muktar, recounted the battle that had taken place a few days ago with a serious expression.

"It may be that the minesweeper unit was too eager to clear a safe lane, and while sailing through the strait between the islands of and Össel, we lost two excellent minesweepers one after another, one of them with a full crew and one with a third of its crew. At that time, I had a vague bad feeling. By the time the sun had risen, the 1st and 2nd Landing Craft Detachments had sent our Marines to the shores of the two islands, and we had thought that the defenders on the islands had been almost wiped out, but the reality was quite the opposite. At 7.20 a.m., we received a new order to support the troops landing on Island, and the 'Long' was sent to support Earel Island. Because we were worried about causing accidental damage, we tried to get as close to the island as possible, and bombarded the Russian artillery and positions with naval guns, everything went smoothly at the beginning, but it didn't take long for the Russian artillery hidden in the fortress to suddenly fire at us, although those are relatively old cannons, but the caliber is very large, the power of the shells is very sufficient, the battleship was soon damaged by the near miss, and the hull was leaked in many places, so I had to order a maneuver to evade, and the reconnaissance plane found and pointed out the location of the Russian artillery in time, But our firing failed to destroy the Russian artillery deployed in the ramparts, which attacked us through a wide angle projectile, and at 8:11 we finally received a shot, and the shell landed at the position of the fourth secondary gun on the starboard side, 17 crew members were killed on the spot, and it took us more than a quarter of an hour to completely extinguish the fire caused by the explosion, and you can still clearly see the wounds left by the large-caliber shell. ”

When I saw the "York" before, Natsuki noticed its new injury, which was indeed shocking, but the high seas fleet from Jutland to the Irish Sea, all the way was difficult and bumpy, 97 ships sank, more than 20,000 naval officers and soldiers died, almost every participating ship was traumatized, and the main battleship staggered back again and again with scars, and after repairs, it re-embarked on the journey, as the former director of the German Navy shipbuilding and the chief of staff of the high seas fleet, Natsuki has long been downsizing about life and death, Strong-willed as iron.

After obtaining Natsuki's consent, the colonel took out a cigarette and lit it, and then said slowly: "After that, we received an order to retreat from Admiral Scheer, so we regretted missing the fierce artillery battle that day. As far as we later learned, at about 11 a.m. our landing force had largely occupied the island of, and had captured the Russian artillery in the ramparts, while the battle for Össel Island was still going on, when two Russian battleships, damaged by aircraft the day before, suddenly appeared on the north side of the Gulf of Riga and opened fire on our minesweepers and torpedo boats, with which 'Braunschweig' and 'Prussia' immediately engaged, and 'Helgoland' and 'Oldenburg' soon joined the artillery battle. Although these two Russian battleships were built and commissioned more than ten years ago, the Russians were familiar with the geography and hydrology of the Gulf of Riga, they skillfully used the cover of the coastline, and they interfered with the communications of our reconnaissance planes with radio, and in this artillery battle, which lasted almost an hour, we had a minesweeper and a torpedo boat sunk, the 'Prussia' was slightly damaged, the 'Helgolan' was almost torpedoed, and we also taught two Russian battleships a lesson, and it is said that the 'Prince' was shot and caught fire. Glorious' also took a few shots. Our aviation units also took the opportunity to launch a torpedo attack, but did not achieve any results, but fortunately our side did not lose any more aircraft. ”

"That's because the Russian battleships were operating in shallow waters." Natsuki interjected, "The draft of the Borodino-class battleships is only 8 meters, and the same is true for the 'Prince', they can move freely in areas with a depth of less than ten meters on the seabed, and the aviation torpedoes have a process of diving and then floating after being projected, and the maximum depth depends on the flight altitude and speed of the aircraft when the torpedo is dropped, and it also has a certain relationship with the fixed depth of the torpedo." ”

Colonel Mukhtar and his officers widened their eyes: "So all the aerial torpedoes dropped by our planes were stuck on the seabed?" ”

Natsuki nodded in affirmation, and then said: "I have communicated with Colonel Luck on this issue, and later I have tested it with the carrier-based aircraft of the 'Bismarck'. ”

Colonel Mukhtar was silent, and from his expression, Natsuki saw a strange look.

"Colonel Lucker ......"

"He had already been transferred out of the Naval Staff last month to the Danzig Fortress as Quartermaster." Lutejens whispered, he had been with Natsuki for nearly two years, and he was well aware of Natsuki's relationship with Colonel Lucker.

"Why?" Natsuki was surprised.

Lu Teyans replied: "I heard that the personnel transfer order was issued directly from the Navy Office, as for the reason, there is more than one rumor, and we don't know what the truth is. Lieutenant Colonel Trins, who succeeded Colonel Luck in training operations for naval aviation, was Lieutenant Colonel Trins. ”

"Pol's cronies, huh!" Now that he has left the German Navy, Natsuki doesn't mind calling the name of the Chief of Staff of the Navy, and judging from Lecker's abnormal transfer, his former close comrades-in-arms will not have a good time even if they are not counterattacked.

Lütjens did not continue to speak, because in the German army, judging commanders had traditionally been considered unseemly.

Natsuki knew that if he was still in the German Navy, with his rising status, Müller and Bohr, who had been competing with Tirpitz for naval power, would definitely have to be more restrained. As for the highly decorated naval generals such as Schell, Hipper, and Spee, they are all professional soldiers with a decent style, who are neither willing to get involved in political struggles, nor do they have the ability and skill to do so, not to mention that they are more in awe of Tirpitz and are not very satisfied with his monopoly of power, so as long as they do not touch their own interests, they will always choose to stay out of the matter.

After a rather awkward silence, Lieutenant Colonel Neuhaus proposed: "Since our recent operations in the Gulf of Riga have not been going well, and Your Highness is passing by nearby, it is better to adjust your itinerary a little and go to join the fleet, Admiral Scheer will surely be happy, and the soldiers will be very excited to learn of your arrival." ”

Natsuki dismissed this suggestion without hesitation: "I have worked with Admiral Schell for many years, and I know that he is a capable and resilient and brave soldier, and he is currently the most suitable person for the position of commander of the German High Seas Fleet, and I do not want anyone to call him Joachim's 'marionette' in the future, and he will prove with a victory that he is as good a naval commander as Nelson, Tergethoff, and Heihachiro Togo." ”

Behind this reason, Natsuki did not have outspoken political concerns, and he did not want to deepen the confrontation with Müller and Boer, so as not to secretly stumble in Ireland when it needed help from the German navy in the future, and he did not want to incur the disgust of Crown Prince Wilhelm.

"The use of aviation torpedoes has nothing to do with the overall situation, the key is to eliminate the threat of Russian mines and submarines, even if I am asked to command this naval battle, I am afraid there is no shortcut, it can only be like peeling an onion, endure the stimulation of tears and sneezing, calmly and patiently peel off the layers of layers, it will take a little longer, but there is no way. Perhaps before the end of the Battle of the Gulf of Riga, the entire front of the Russian army collapsed due to civil strife? ”

"Your Highness is right." Colonel Mukhtar replied positively, "In the present war situation and the comparison of strengths, the German Navy will inevitably be the ultimate victor in the battle of the Gulf of Riga, and we should believe in the ability of Admiral Schell and the Fleet Staff, just like you two young and promising young men - those who can be appreciated by His Highness are excellent officers who will become great weapons." ”

Neuhaus and Ruetjens looked at each other, relieved but a little confused.

"It is estimated that the 'York' will be repaired for a month or two this time." Natsuki diverted the topic and said.

Not to mention the moderate trauma of the "York", the "King", which was beaten beyond recognition in the Battle of the Faroe Islands, only docked for three weeks, returned to the battle sequence with full vitality, which shows the work efficiency of the major German shipyards in the war, so Colonel Mukhtar showed a surprised expression when he heard Natsuki say that it would be repaired for a month or two, but he thought about it for a while, and nodded helplessly: "In this way, we can only serve as spectators of this war for the rest of our time." ”

"Not necessarily." Natsuki said quietly, "If war breaks out between Ireland and Great Britain soon, with Ireland's existing naval personnel, it is far from enough, and His Majesty the Emperor will certainly fulfill his promise to help Ireland, but it is inconvenient for Germany to openly enter the war, and then it should be sent in the name of volunteers." ”

The colonel hesitated for a moment, and gave a more official response: "It is our honorable duty to assist our allies, and as long as it is an order from His Majesty the Emperor, we are absolutely happy to carry it out." ”

Lieutenant Commander Neuhaus asked curiously: "Haven't the 'Scharnhorst' and the 'Gneisenau' basically retained their original crews?" If war breaks out between Ireland and the British, they can remain in the Irish Navy as volunteers! ”

Natsuki smiled vaguely at this question and did not answer. The German officers present here are not in high-level circles, and certainly do not know about the secrets that are taking place on the international stage. Under the terms of the London Armistice Treaty, the British Navy handed over 79 ships of 320,000 tons to Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Turkey, Italy, and Bulgaria. Capital ships such as the Tiger Cruiser and the Collingwood Dreadnought were on the list of ships to be handed over, but how could the British be willing to let the blade of their sword become a weapon of the enemy, and before the Allied armistice supervisors arrived in Britain, all the ships that were being repaired in the dockyard were considered to have been destroyed, and even if the Allied countries dragged them back for overhaul, it would be difficult to restore their original design performance. Since it is not cost-effective to invest large sums of money in these wrecked ships, and both Austria-Hungary and Italy, which have limited economic capacity, intend to transfer some of the ships for resale, and Ireland's economic and financial situation is poor, but at least it is supported by Germany's generous aid and loan funds, so at the request of Natsuki, the Irish government secretly purchased 14 military ships with repair value from Austria-Hungary and Italy, of which half are combat ships and half are transport service ships. The largest tonnage was the 14,000-ton armored cruiser "Warrior" - which was not towed back to Dublin by the Irish, but sent to the French port of Brest, where it was repaired by French workers under the supervision of German naval engineers. In the absence of special accessories, the work was intermittent, but fortunately, the battleship's injuries were not serious, and after a month of docking repairs, it has gradually returned to its former majestic and vigorous posture.

(End of chapter)