Chapter 13 Those Fake Nobles (4)

  The hesitant footsteps were detained by the ultra-secret telegram from the High Seas Fleet Command, and Wang Haitian grasped the telegram paper, regardless of the new Baltic Sea Blockade Squadron Commander, General Behncke, who was standing beside him. Countless orders poured out: "Staff officer, order, Lützow and Derfflinger to start firing and anchoring immediately, and complete combat preparations before 6:30; Generals Royle and Maas must arrive at the chart room of Lützow within ten minutes for a meeting; notify the three battlecruisers of the First Reconnaissance Squadron in the southeastern waters of Norway to quickly approach the Swedish coastline and stand by; reply to the High Seas Fleet Command that the First Reconnaissance Squadron has taken action; cable the Operations Division of the Naval General Staff, Colonel Erich Raeder: Long live the German Empire!"

  A dim lamp on the desk in the chart room of Lützow cast a faint light, barely illuminating the desk and Commander Behncke, who was standing with his back to the lamp, while Kapit?n zur See Ludwig von Riedemann, commander of Derfflinger, Kapit?n zur See Paul Heinrich, commander of Lützow, and Kommodore Leberecht Maass, commander of the Second Scouting Group, were lost in the boundless darkness.

  "Commander, it seems the British have abandoned their North Sea battlecruiser plan. They've shifted the location to Portland Bay or possibly the west coast of Scotland." The red pencil drew a loose circle around the Orkney Islands, Lewis Island and Portland Bay area. Paul-Henri dropped the pencil back into the darkness, his tightly furrowed brow relaxing slightly as he spoke in a low tone.

  "May I add a word, what is...?" Young Lieutenant Commander Bihanik scratched his blond hair and asked in a low voice: "The North Sea Battle Cruise Plan?"

  "General Beatty, since the start of the war, the British battlecruiser squadron has conducted two combat cruises, both in the depths of the North Sea. Interestingly, Beatty's first combat cruise was after the completion of the Tiger-class battlecruiser, and the second combat cruise also coincided with the completion of the Queen Elizabeth-class fast battleship. In March, the Queen-class refit work was completed, we have reason to suspect that the third British fast fleet North Sea combat cruise is about to begin."

  Paul-Henri glanced at Wang Haitian, until Wang Haitian nodded slightly without a word, Paul-Henri continued to explain reluctantly: "The High Seas Fleet has a plan to intercept the British battlecruiser squadron, this plan was devised by Captain Redel of the Naval Staff Operations Department and our commander, and has been approved and supported by General Scheer and Admiral Hipper."

  "Cut off the British Fast Division!" The coffee that Admiral Beatty had just picked up spilled out unintentionally, staining the brand new European naval chart.

  In March, the naval political storm seemed to be raging on, with the High Seas Fleet constantly adding ships and guns, the First Scouting Group of Scheer scattered in the Baltic Sea and Norwegian waters, under such conditions, intercepting the British fast fleet with five battle cruisers and two fast battleships, this plan is not crazy and hysterical. Behncke's face turned red as he tried to dissuade him, but the words that had been brewing just rose to his throat when he remembered that the man standing in front of him was the greatest strategist of the German Navy.

  "Perhaps the British do not want to take risks, they have shifted their cruising grounds to the safe west coast of Scotland or Portland Bay in the north!" Commander Behncke pulled out a handkerchief and repeatedly wiped the blackened sea chart until the blurry Baltic Sea on the map could no longer carry any plans.

  "No, the British will not give up the North Sea cruise easily." Wang Haitian stood up, looking at the sea chart stained with coffee, and said firmly with his hands around his chest: "Firstly, after the Royal Navy's defeat in 1914, they urgently needed to make a change, and the battles of redemption - the Battle of the Falkland Islands and the Dardanelles Campaign did not achieve their expected goals. Therefore, Britain urgently needs to take more powerful action; secondly, my first scouting fleet is scattered among the Baltic Fleet, and the main force of the High Seas Fleet left in Wilhelmshaven is far inferior to that of Britain, and they are all slow-moving battleships, which is the best opportunity for the British to take action; thirdly, I have planned a raid on the Gulf of Riga with torpedo boats and submarines, although the specific battle report has not come out yet, I believe in the determination of the Turks more than the strength of the German youngsters. Gentlemen, that will be a great victory, and the Royal Navy has no way to retreat!"

  The three musketeers of the Kiel naval school, the twin stars of German naval strategy, rarely showed off their ability to verbally spar with members of Congress at a 1898 congressional hearing. General von Hanneken had already been conquered and merely asked out of curiosity: "And what's the last point?"

  "Finally, the commander of the British Fast Fleet is my old friend - 'Sea Light Cavalry' David Beatty." Wang Heiti turned her head, and her deep eyes seemed to penetrate through the hundred-millimeter defensive armor, seeing the British Fast Fleet speeding across the North Atlantic. "I fought side by side with Beatty in the Far East, we have a 15-year friendship, I understand that young man, he is not lacking in strategy and wisdom, but the adventurous spirit deep in his bones can't be shaken off. Bravery is his most valuable advantage, but also the biggest flaw in his North Sea combat cruise plan!"

  From the British habit of fighting in cruising formation, to the Imperial Navy's breach, then to the Royal Navy's arrow on the string that had to be fired, and finally to Davide-Betti's personal command style, Bi-Hanik couldn't find any reason to oppose it, but he couldn't shake off his habitual hesitation, stammering:

  "Westheim, the Naval Staff will never agree to this plan! Admiral Hugo von Pohle is a crazy old fossil who worships saving ships and existing fleets. Without an order from the staff, the First Scouting Group can't take any action!"

  Before Wang Haitian could explain, Royte, Henry and Mas generals, who were familiar with Wang Haitian's command style, simultaneously burst out laughing. The laughter was not accompanied by any ridicule or disdain, but it was bold and impudent enough to be un-German!

  "Besides, it's not the first time we've been deceived from top to bottom. Moreover, there is still the assistance of Lieutenant Colonel Redl, head of the Operations Department...". General Mas looked away from the sea chart and closed his eyes for a long time, hesitating: "However, even if Lützow and Derfflinger are new warships, from the Oran Sea to the Jutland Peninsula is over 700 nautical miles, and at full speed it would take us more than 28 hours. Coal-fired boilers can't run at full speed for a long time, which means that by the evening of the 3rd day, we can only reach the Norwegian sea area at most. The British set out earlier than us, if they re-entered the North Sea on the morning of the 2nd under cover of darkness, we simply wouldn't have time to intercept them!"

  "It's impossible for the British to sneak back into the North Sea by dawn on the 2nd, and if I'm guessing correctly, my old friend David Beatty is currently conducting a northeast-bound exercise in Portland Bay, completely disregarding any need for stealth. And those two Queen Elizabeth-class battleships will never be part of the battle lineup!" Wang Haitian picked up General Henry's red pen from the table and drew two distinct routes on the map, one from the Orkney Islands to Jutland Bay, before pressing the pen down on the Baltic Sea with a flourish: "And we won't take the Kattegat and Skagerrak route either, but rather..."

  The red pen could no longer leave a bright red mark on the Baltic Sea area that had been dyed black by coffee, just as Wang Haitian was slightly annoyed, the intelligence staff hastily pushed open the door of the chart room and walked in, handing him two telegrams.

  "General, here is a top-secret telegram for you from the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet."

  Wang Haitie sat back at his desk, sitting back in the darkness, feeling for the new thing in his pocket - glasses. After searching both pockets and not finding the old glasses that had been newly fitted in Berlin during the naval political storm, he suddenly remembered that the glasses had fallen off with his luggage on the ferry, so he could only hold the telegram paper close to his increasingly blurred eyes.

  As expected, the Earl of Lucan, who had slipped out to sea at the end of February with his battlecruiser HMAS Australia, chanced upon the British First Battle Cruiser Squadron making a high-profile passage. The earl reported that they had only five battle cruisers and were heading for the Orkney Islands.

  "Gentlemen, today is a glorious day for the Allied Navies. In the distant Aegean Sea, in the bay of Mudros, the Turkish Navy fought side by side with the Imperial Navy and won a great victory! We have sunk at least one battleship of the Anglo-French combined fleet, four old-style battleships, and heavily damaged three to four old-style battleships!"

  A house full of generals burst into cheers, and the normally composed generals in front of the sailors hummed the naval military song in a hidden chart room. Wang Haitian hid himself in the darkest depths, with only his slightly trembling hands left under the dim light of the desk lamp, tightly grasping the iron office table.

  "In the European war, Betty became an enemy, Auden died in the Falklands, and the long-brewed friendship of honor and shame gradually faded away. God, forgive my selfishness, don't let Rauf and Lütgens die so easily...". Accompanied by the high-pitched tune of "We're Going to England", Wang Haitian silently recited in his heart.