"Germany will formally declare war on Britain at 8 a.m., and the alert ships will quickly return to defensive positions. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

At 5:14 a.m., the Irish destroyers F-3 "Cork" and F-4 "Waterford", sailing to the waters off the Cornwall Peninsula, received this very important coded telegram. The commander of the formation, Major Dylan Drenand, immediately ordered the two destroyers to adjust course and quickly sail to Waterford Harbour at a speed of 30 knots.

The four British destroyers gradually disappeared from the sea level in the stern direction, but the world of the Irish crew did not calm down, because the fat British "Walrus" was constantly hovering in the nearby airspace. It can be seen that its flight speed is slower than that of any active military aircraft of the Irish Navy, and it is like a stupid goose flying only on the surface, but with the speed of the destroyer, there is no way to get rid of it, and the Irish officers and men on the two Agni-class destroyers have no choice but to let it monitor themselves from the air, just as they have monitored the British destroyer detachment in the previous hours, and the only positive measure is to use radio jamming technology to block the radio communication frequencies of British seaplanes, but it is difficult to confirm the effectiveness of this means.

On the broadside deck adjacent to the bridge, the 39-year-old Major Drenan was sullenly smoking a cigar produced in the Ottoman Empire, the spicy smell swept away the fatigue of the overnight guard, and a pair of bright eyes stared for a long time at the "fat goose" flying at an altitude of two or three hundred meters, wondering what kind of plans the potential opponent would have.

Among the medium-sized destroyers in service in various countries, the Agni-class is undoubtedly the most well-equipped and the most balanced in performance, and as long as they make sufficient preparations, they do not need to be afraid of the attack of a small number of enemy planes, not to mention that in just over an hour, the "Cork" and "Waterford" will be able to enter the effective protection range of Irish fighters. In the current situation, it is unlikely that Britain will attack Ireland before Germany declares war, so the situation of this alert formation is nothing to worry about. Of course, Major Drennan, who had never experienced even a real naval battle, was still worried: could there be any surprises?

There are often many hidden secrets behind wars, and a mid-ranking officer like Major Drenan would not be the first to know all kinds of inside information. The German ambassador to Britain, Neuhaus, was ordered to submit a declaration of war to the British government at 8 o'clock in the morning of the same day, and from midnight, the German Navy had already taken a series of military actions, and at 3:22 a.m., the British Navy patrol ship "Short Archer" sank in the waters northeast of the Thames estuary, killing 19 crew members, 4 missing, and 9 wounded, becoming the first trophy of the German Navy in this war. Just 40 minutes later, the German light cruiser Bremen and the destroyer Z-16 Hertha intercepted a British cargo ship returning to Britain from Russia in the Skagerrak Strait. All over the world, special martial law was imposed in ports under German control, prohibiting British cargo ships from leaving.

War had reached the point where it was inevitable, and the British no longer had any illusions in peace, and they also acted in advance, albeit with more caution in military action. Upon learning that the Germans had begun to close the port, the British government immediately issued martial law orders to all British mainland and British colonial ports, and after the "Short Bowman" struck a mine, all British ships were warned of the imminent outbreak of war, and those British submarines operating in the waters of Horders and Jutland were given special instructions: once the German capital ships were discovered, they could track as much as possible, and if there was an excellent opportunity to attack, they were allowed to attack.

There are people who have good instincts when it comes to certain things, and Major Drenan may be in that category. As 6 o'clock approached, dawn had arrived, and the speed of the "Watford," which had been closely following the "Cork," had slowed down, and its flag signal indicated that the ship's engine had suffered a mechanical failure, and that it could only sail slowly at a speed of about 15 knots, and it was initially estimated that it would take two hours to clear the fault.

This surprise came as a surprise to almost everyone, as all ships of the Irish Navy have undergone extensive overhaul and maintenance in recent months in order to maintain optimal operating conditions in the event of war, and HMS Waterford is no exception.

The concern became a reality, but Major Drenan calmed down, and after the previous high-speed voyage, the Irish destroyer formation was fifty nautical miles from the British coast, roughly halfway between Ireland and England, which was by no means a safe position. He ordered the "Cork" to slow down to 15 knots, still maintain the original formation with the "Waterford", and had the communications personnel send secret code to the headquarters to report the mechanical failure of the "Waterford" and the fact that the British reconnaissance plane was still watching nearby.

The 2nd Alert Fleet Command in Waterford Harbour soon sent a telegram saying that two IR-29s would be coming from the Watford base for reinforcements, and that the light cruiser "Ausen" deployed in Cork Harbour would be led by a number of wingmen.

With this telegram, Major Drenan became more and more reassured, and he instructed the officers and men of the "Watford" to patiently repair the malfunction and be cautious in carrying out the guard. After more than 20 minutes, two gray-green painted biplane warhawks accurately found this destroyer formation, and their appearance made the British "walrus" who had always done whatever they wanted no longer have to be unscrupulous. In the face of IR-29's repeated "personal harassment", the British pilots felt threatened and continued to hold out for about ten minutes, and they finally turned around and withdrew.

Although it was a trivial victory, the Irish officers and men on the two destroyers cheered, and the communications department of the "Cork" made radio contact with the two IR-29 long planes, unexpectedly the pilots quickly gave them the bad news: a British fleet of cruisers and destroyers was approaching from the southwest, just over twenty nautical miles from the destroyer formation.

Two Agni-class destroyers may be able to defeat two British destroyers of the same class, but against the two light cruisers and four destroyers of the British alone, it is the greatest victory to be able to retreat.

Time passed minute by minute, and before long, a bright red sun leaped above the sea level, and the black dot like a sunspot was the galloping British fleet. Despite the prayers of the crowd, the "Waterford" did not pick up speed, and the two IR-29s were equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks and could continue to stay in the area for some time, but their cannons and machine guns did not pose a real threat to the British fleet. As the 8 a.m. deadline approached, the situation of the two Irish destroyers, the USS Cork and HMS Waterford, became delicate. If Ireland fulfills its military agreement with Germany and follows Germany's declaration of war on Britain, then the British fleet will have every reason to attack the two Irish ships, and if the first naval battle is completely won, even if the result is only two destroyers, it will be a great boost to the morale of the British military and civilians.

In the process, the "Cork" frequently sent reports to the command. Seeing that the time for Germany to declare war on Britain was getting closer and closer, the German general Lev Secker, who was under command in Waterford, knew that the situation was serious, so he called the Joint Staff of the Three Services, the highest wartime command organ of the Irish army, and once again reported to the senior generals the special situation of the "Cork" and "Waterford", and put forward his own opinion: If Ireland is about to enter the war, it is advisable to send the combat ships deployed in Cork and Watford to support. Fight a quick battle with the support of the Air Force and Naval Aviation.

The senior generals did not make a decision immediately, but said that they needed to report to His Majesty before they could make a decision, but fortunately the process did not take much time, and the final order was quickly sent to the headquarters through the contact staff.

Half an hour before the 8 o'clock deadline, 16 IR-29/30s flew into the waters where the "Cork" and "Waterford" were located, followed by 12 IK-20 "Swordfish" and 9 IK-30 "Ospreys". The Irish Air Force had changed the mood in the sea with a strong sortie, but the British fleet continued to pursue, and the Irish crew was able to clearly discern the silhouettes of the two second-generation Lynsen-class light cruisers, which were capable of naval combat against the Irish Fiona-class light cruisers, armed with long-range twin 6-inch guns, compared to which the Agni-class destroyers had almost only an advantage in speed, and now the only advantage was lost by the mechanical failure of the "Waterford".

The situation remained unpleasant, and Major Drenan did not allow the Cork to retreat alone, nor did he allow it to turn around and cover the Watford. The Irish naval commander's mind was running at high speed: no matter what kind of report the previous "Walrus" provided to the commander of the British fleet, only by firmly holding his own position could he try not to let the other side get into the loophole.

At 7:45 a.m., a group of British fighter jets appeared to complicate the situation. These "long gloves" and "gladiators" were no match for the IR-29/30, but they were enough to give the Irish fighters no time to take care of the situation at sea. At this time, the British fleet was only 15 nautical miles away from the two slow-moving Irish destroyers, and if this continued, in another ten minutes or so, the Irish destroyers would fall into the range of the main guns of the Linxian-class light cruisers.

In the sky, dozens of British and Irish warplanes flew around, which was not spectacular; On the sea, the ships of both sides turned into battle formations. The slightest carelessness on the part of the pilots of any aircraft or the weapons operators of any ship could have had catastrophic consequences in a tense atmosphere, but this did not happen.

At 8 a.m., the very special time finally came, when the German ambassador to Britain, Neuhaus, duly handed over the declaration of war to British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, and the news of Germany's declaration of war on Britain was also transmitted through the world by radio waves at an extreme time - most people were surprised by the arrival of war, and a few people watched the situation closely to develop further.

The British government did not immediately declare war on Germany, and although the power to declare war was in the hands of the Prime Minister, he had to seek the support of the cabinet and the consent of the king before a formal declaration of war could be made, which usually took anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

However, the war has begun, and this is an indisputable fact. A few minutes before eight o'clock, the guns of the German fleet were already resounding across the North Sea, and Yarmouth and Newcastle trembled in the sound of violent explosions; By the time Neuhaus was speaking in crowned, euphemistic diplomatic terms, the Luftwaffe bomber formations had reached Plymouth, Weymouth, and Dundee, dropping a barrage of black bombs on the heads of the British; When the German Prime Minister made an impassioned statement at the press conference, German naval vessels, marines and air paratroopers had launched the first three-dimensional attack of the war on the Isle of Man, in which the Irish army was essentially involved.

(End of chapter)