The telegram sent back by the U9 submarine immediately alarmed the German military high-brass, including Wilhelm, who personally ran to the Navy General Staff, but he, Tirpitz and others were confused by this information, they really didn't understand what the British were trying to do? Do you want to do the Holland landing all over again? From the course of view, it is obvious that it is not, because the current position of the U9 submarine is shortly out of the Gulf of Helgoland, and it is unlikely that the British would have landed in the Netherlands again.

But there is no place for them to land in the north, and the entire Helgoland Bay, including the German coast around the Northern Frisian Islands, is protected by a large number of mines, unless it is forced to land off the coast of Denmark like the last time it treated the Netherlands, but in that case, Britain will anger the entire three Nordic countries, and although Denmark is a small country, it also has hundreds of thousands of land forces, and relying on Sweden, a military industrial base, is very well-equipped, and its strength is not much weaker than that of the Netherlands. There's really not much hope.

But...

After this, William and Tirpitz suddenly became agitated at the same time, what if Denmark joined the Entente? Although relations between the two sides have always been good, and Denmark has repeatedly assured Germany of their neutrality principle, there is still the Schleswig and Holstein problem between the two countries, and to put it bluntly, Germany is still grabbing other people's territory! It is impossible for the Danes to know that China is about to join the Central Powers, and it is not impossible to make a miscalculation in the present situation.

Fortunately, however, at this time, the reconnaissance planes sent out to search for the island of Helgoland sent back the latest information by wireless telegram that the British fleet was sailing for the Gulf of Helgoland.

Now William and his generals are even more inexplicable, forcing their way into the Helgoland Bay? It is impossible for the British to lose their minds like this, there is arguably the largest mine array in the world at present, and even William does not know how many anchor mines are laid, anyway, he knows that except for those reserved passages, the rest of this sea area, except for the fishermen's small fishing boats. Any other ship would have no choice but to die.

Unfortunately, he did not know the exact number of mines, but Admiral May, commander of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, knew very well that His Excellency the Commander was in the command room of the battleship Nelson at this time, arranging a combat mission in front of a huge map sent from China showing the location of each mine in the Gulf of Helgoland.

Of course, this task is very well arranged, and the force he leads can be said to have concentrated all the naval forces of the British mainland at present, plus a huge fleet of more than 30 French warships, including two battleships, and can be killed directly from the middle safe passage according to this mine map. At that time, the German High Seas Fleet will definitely come out to intercept, and then the British Home Fleet will have a final decisive battle with this old adversary on their doorstep, and at the same time as the naval battle. The landing ship grabbed the beach directly on the coast of Port Cux. There was also a pitiful shore defense, which could easily be submerged by two elite British divisions, and then immediately after the capture of Cuxport and the troop carriers, especially the two large Ro-Ro ships, docked at the dock, loaded with 500 trucks loaded in them, loaded with infantry, and headed straight down the road to Hamburg, a trick learned from the German raid on Washington.

"Admiral, what are you thinking?" Lieutenant General Jericho asked the somewhat absent-minded Admiral May with a smile that the joy of now the end of the war was spreading among all the British officers and men who took part in the operation.

"I'm wondering how the Chinese got this mine map. Also, they were able to get the Gulf of Helgoland, so is the mine arrangement along our coast also under their control? Admiral Mei said, looking at the mine map.

"Admiral, you're overthinking. The Chinese and Germany have always had friendly relations, and the two sides have cooperated a lot in the military industry, maybe their spies have infiltrated the German navy, and you know that the emperor's employees from all over the country have them. It is not surprising to bury such a nail. Jellico said.

"So did he plant a nail in our army?" Admiral May asked rhetorically.

Of course, this was only a little doubt in the mind of His Excellency the commander, and it had nothing to do with this operation, which was under the surveillance of a German reconnaissance plane that took off in the sky in the wind and snow. The huge Anglo-French maritime cluster slowly approached the minefield in the Gulf of Helgoland, and then began to enter the mine passage that they should not have known at all.

"What, what did you say?" When the news reached Berlin, William and Tirpitz were immediately stupid, and it was no different from a bolt from the blue to them, and His Majesty the Emperor even grabbed the staff officer by the collar and exclaimed.

"Your Majesty, the British fleet entered the mine passage in the Gulf of Helgoland and is now heading for the mouth of the Elbe." The staff officer repeated again.

"It can't be!" William howled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Spies, the British have spies in the Admiralty, and they are also high-ranking generals who have access to Breto." Tirpitz said with a grimace on the side, gritting his teeth.

"These traitors to the German Empire, they must find him, and I will hang him with my own hands!" William said viciously, of course, this question must be considered later, the question now is how to deal with the enemy who is killing at his doorstep, and this huge fleet will be there in two or three hours at most.

"Order the High Seas Fleet to strike at once, all the warships along the Helgoland Bay, whether battleships or torpedo boats, even if they fight to the last battleship, they must stop the British, and at the same time send the remaining warships in the Kiel military port to reinforce Helgoland Bay, and send a report to Vice Admiral Holzendorf that the First Fleet will immediately withdraw from the battle and return home, and the Russian naval attack will be nothing more than a trick to deceive them, and all the floating mines from the naval bases in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven will be transported to the mouth of the Elbe to be released." Tirpitz gave the order as quickly as he could.

In fact, just before he gave the order, Prince Heinrich had ordered all the main engines of the warships of the High Seas Fleet to start, although the diesel engine battleship started much faster than the steam engine battleship, but it also took a little time, and he also had to rush to the mouth of the Elbe River before the British fleet, as for the order of the General Staff, there was no need to consider this, now the High Seas Fleet has no choice, it must meet the enemy, even if all the battleships are destroyed, the British cannot be put into German soil.

"This is the decisive battle of the fate of the Empire, the warriors of Germany, the invaders have come to our doors, for the sake of our motherland, for the sake of our loved ones, no enemy must be allowed to set foot on German soil, today we have no choice but to fight, fight to the end, the banner of the Hohenzollern family will be with you!" His Royal Highness's speech was repeated on loudspeakers throughout Wilhelmshaven, but it did work, the prince who was always with his fleet, who never flinched even the fiercest battles, and the only brother alive of the Kaiser, had become the soul of the High Seas Fleet, and even Tirpitz could not compare.

Just as the thirteen battleships of the High Seas Fleet set sail from Wilhelmshaven, the battle for Helgoland Bay had actually begun, and the detachment of four light cruisers and sixteen small destroyers under Rear Admiral Hipper, led by Rear Admiral Hipper, was stationed on Helgoland Island, and immediately left the base, which no longer meant anything, and attacked the British.

He was a very cunning commander, knowing that running to the mouth of the Elbe at this time was no different from committing suicide, and he was unlikely to arrive earlier than Prince Heinrich's main fleet, in which case there was no need to go there, the most lethal thing for the British was not the main fleet, but the landing ships and troop transports that followed behind, these slow, but infantry-filled ships could sink a single one and kill the entire battalion of British troops. Moreover, in order to go all out to deal with the high seas fleet, the number of warships left behind by the British to protect was not very large, crowded in a narrow mine channel, and it was impossible for the British battleships in front to turn around and come back to support, but he had enough room to advance and retreat when attacking from the rear.

In this way, this insignificant small flotilla did not sail to the mouth of the Elbe to participate in the interception of the British fleet, as ordered by the General Staff, but went in the opposite direction and then circled the sea at a speed of thirty-five knots, and just as the Battle of the Elbe Estuary began, the bloody massacre of the British began.

The first victim was a troop carrier carrying 2,000 British soldiers, an old ocean-going cargo ship that was actually steam-powered, waiting leisurely outside the minefield under the protection of a light cruiser, when a German destroyer suddenly appeared in the distance, and then rushed up to attack it. The escorting light cruiser immediately accelerated forward to intercept, and as soon as the two sides exchanged fire with naval guns, the German destroyer immediately turned around and fled, and the British cruiser captain, who was eager to make meritorious service, immediately ordered the pursuit, and just as the two battleships were fighting one after the other and moving away from the troop carrier, Hipper and his fleet appeared like wolves from the clouds on the sea.

The poor British, before they even landed on German soil, first lost almost a regiment of infantry, and the two destroyers in the Hipper's fleet fired two heavy torpedoes at the hapless troop carrier, one left and one right hit the ship at the same time, the whole ship was blown in two, and all the crew and soldiers on board completely disappeared from the sea in two minutes, and by the time the nearby British battleships arrived, the murderers of this tragedy had long since disappeared into the clouds, leaving only one survivor for the British. (To be continued......)