Chapter Eleven: The British Counterattack (I)

  "Gentlemen, I'd like to say that the Royal Navy has never been afraid of any challenge!"

  Facing the throngs of neutral nation journalists, the Royal Navy's nominal Commander-in-Chief, the suave and urbane John Jellicoe yielded the stage to a younger man. David Beatty stood at the podium in the Admiralty Conference Room, chatting affably with reporters from various countries:

  "Under the 'War Emergency Programme', Britain will build three new battleships, which can be expected to be more powerful than the Germans' Sachsen class!"

  After a brief silence, British journalists and naval headquarters' civilian officials cheered, neutral country reporters were boiling with blood, and Allied spies who sneaked into the meeting room were shocked, multiple emotions gathered in the old and dilapidated naval headquarters building, and the steel-reinforced concrete building shook instantly.

  Even the thick door panel could not block out the noise outside, Winston Churchill picked up a golden pen and heavily crossed out the first page of his notebook, then turned to a new page, where a line of elegant handwriting caught his eye.

  "1915, keyword - counterattack!"

  ****

  In response to the three Saxon-class battleships of Germany, in the last moment of 1914, the British Empire suddenly announced the construction of three unprecedented fast battleships with the code name Hood.

  This is a super battleship with a German warship style, with a design displacement of 41,000 tons, 22 oil-fired boilers and 4 steam engines, 4-axis drive, 144,000 horsepower, and a maximum speed of 29 knots. It is equipped with 4 16-inch main guns. In response to the painful experience of Dogger Bank, the armor defense of the Hood-class battleship was strengthened, the thickness of the main armor belt at the waterline increased to 13.8 inches, and the coverage area also expanded. The frontal defensive armor of the turret increased to 15 inches, but the endurance decreased to a pitiful 5,100 nautical miles/14 knots.

  Excerpt from "The Struggle of the Rice-Character Flag"

  By the end of 1914, the chill of war was spreading across the Northern Hemisphere, and the whole world was blinded by the escalating arms race between Germany and Britain, unaware that both countries were masters of feigning weakness while secretly preparing for battle.

  The construction of the Mackensen-class battlecruisers Stein and Hardenberg was proceeding smoothly, with funds, resources and manpower being prepared for their secret laying down in early 1915. Across the North Sea, the British were also working on a design for what would become the Nelson class fast battleships.

  This battleship can be considered a scaled-down version of the Hood-class battleships, with a design displacement of 34,000 tons, three 16-inch main guns all located at the bow, two raised gun turrets, equipped with 12 boilers and 2 steam turbines, with a main engine power of 60,000 horsepower and a top speed of 26 knots. To enhance protection, the British adopted the concept of concentrated defense, concentrating secondary guns and engine rooms in the aft part of the hull, using 14-8 inch side armor and 16-12 inch turret armor to concentrate on the three turrets at the bow, gun seats, and magazines. There is no gain without loss, the Nelson-class stern's engine room and secondary guns only have 10-3 inch protective armor.

  Fisher finally breathed a sigh of relief, as it turned out that his chosen David Beatty was able to take responsibility, the three Nelson-class battleships were the young man's letter of introduction; Tirpitz finally breathed a sigh of relief, Emperor Wilhelm did not like Heidekamp Westphalen, this sword-wielding young man, Tirpitz had wasted a lot of political resources to promote this young man, and Westphalen did not disappoint, once again using naked schemes to consume the British resources and national strength.

  Fisher and Tirpitz's hatred and heroic duel has not ended yet, David Beatty and Hipper's fateful duel will continue. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowd discussing which is better, the Saxon class or the Hood class battleship, the cruel and bloody year 1915 finally arrived!

  The New Year's bell tolls away not only the old age of a year, but also the memories of 1914, which were either painful or tenacious or sweet.

  I still remember August 4, Westminster Palace voted, King George V of England as the head of state declared war on Germany, at that time the British island was jubilant.

  The British have reason to be displeased with Germany. For the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth's accession, the Germans sent only one old cruiser to participate in the grand naval review, which is an affront to Her Majesty! The Boer War, Germany and its emperor were not clean, this is a trampling of the supreme rights of the British Empire in the colonies! The Baghdad Railway, Berlin wants to spread its influence along that damned railway to the Ottoman Empire, to the Indian Ocean, even to India, which is related to the rise and fall of the British Empire, is unbearable! Most importantly, the Germans have established a high seas fleet capable of challenging the Royal Navy's maritime supremacy.

  The ocean made the British Empire prosperous for a hundred years, the ocean is the untouchable reverse scale of the British people, the ocean is the last bottom line of the empire on which the sun never sets. As early as before Germany's "First Naval Expansion Act" in 1898, the British had boldly proposed the two-power principle, that is, the strength of the Royal Navy should be equal to the sum of the world's second and third! In 1898, the expansion of the German navy touched the sensitive nerves of the British people, and the naval arms race entered a state of white heat.

  As the year 1914 approached, the competition was still ongoing, but Britain had already shown signs of decline. The stagnant economy of the British Empire made it impossible for this meaningless competition to continue. Although the Royal Navy held an advantage, this advantage would inevitably be overtaken by the rising power of Germany with the passage of time.

  From this perspective, World War I was not a one-man show by the Germans. The British, like Winston Churchill, who were eager for war, perhaps even more so than the militaristic Germans. It is worth noting that after Germany and Britain declared war on each other on August 4th, the Germans were dreaming of victory, while the island of Great Britain was resonating with "God Save the King" this battle cry!

  War broke out in Europe, battles were fought in Europe, the Middle East, Far Eastern colonies and South America, gunfire echoed for tens of thousands of kilometers, British troops hummed "The Song of England" to join the battle.

  The Boer War left the British Army's reputation in tatters, but after a decade of rebuilding and reorganizing, it surprised the world with its performance in northern France. It was the blood sacrifice of the British Army that saved France from collapse, stabilizing the front lines for the French people who were busy relocating their capital. However, this was also the limit of the British Army's strength, and the French ultimately lost a large amount of territory; the shroud of Britain was almost sold out, and the elite forces that had been trained for so long were exhausted.

  The Royal Navy, which had triumphantly defeated the invincible Spanish Armada and destroyed the mighty Dutch sea-borne empire, was the most feared force on the blue planet. However, the performance of the British Navy left the world in shock: the maritime transport lines were severely disrupted by German raiders, suffered a series of setbacks in the North Sea battles, and also lagged behind in the naval arms race.

  The British and the whole world are wondering what happened to the powerful Empire on which the sun never sets, whether it has been lying in the book of merits for too long, so that it has lost its momentum to move forward, or whether Darwin's survival of the fittest is at work, and history has chosen the Germans?

  Fortunately, the British Empire did not let its subjects be bewildered for too long.

  In December, the unusual movements of the German army and navy made the Allies smell a conspiracy. As allies of Russia, Britain and France naturally understood its weakness. Whether weak Russia could withstand the lightning strike of the German army and continue the miracle of Alexander in the Napoleonic era, the leaders of the Allies were uncertain. Therefore, providing material assistance to Russia, pinning down the Western Front, or even launching a comprehensive counterattack became an unavoidable topic.

  It was then that Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, produced a novel and unorthodox plan - the Dardanelles Campaign!

  The so-called Dardanelles Campaign was to take advantage of the German army's shift eastward, organize a powerful landing fleet to land on Turkey's Gallipoli Peninsula, occupy the Turkish Straits with important strategic value, and force Turkey out of the Allied countries. This move not only had the advantage of strategically encircling the German-Austrian abdomen, forcing the Balkan countries to make choices favorable to the Allies, but also allowed for blood transfusions from the Black Sea to Russia.

  Churchill's proposal of the Dardanelles campaign exposed not only his own ambition but also the British strategic hand in a most unfavorable light.

  The disastrous 1914 left Winston Churchill's reputation in tatters, and despite having a large number of allies in Parliament and Downing Street, this could not silence the mouths of the British people. Churchill urgently needed a tangible victory. It was obviously foolish to send the Grand Fleet into a head-on collision with the High Seas Fleet before regaining numerical superiority, as the Grand Fleet did not have the strength to challenge the High Seas Fleet at that time. Fortunately, the German Navy's main force went eastward, and after waiting for the outcome of the Battle of South Atlantic, Churchill could calmly deploy troops and achieve a landing operation in the Dardanelles Strait of Turkey.

  Churchill's idea coincided with the global strategy that the British Empire had adhered to for many years. Although Russia was an ally of Britain, the British never reduced their fear and vigilance against the double-headed eagle, controlling the Turkish Straits not only benefited from guaranteeing the Suez Canal, a vital strategic point, from the side, strengthening British control over the Indian Ocean, and in the long run, it also helped to curb Russia's attempt to reach the Mediterranean, blocking the polar bear's probing hand into the Indian Ocean on the Black Sea.

  For the Dardanelles Campaign, France was more concerned with recovering territory and counterattacking Germany on its own soil, but still agreed to send troops. The Russian bear's ambitions for the Turkish Straits and Constantinople dated back to Peter the Great's time; although the British Dardanelles campaign would have helped alleviate Russia's multi-front pressure, the outcome of Britain and France occupying the Turkish Straits was not one that Russians were eager to see, so they declined Churchill's proposal.

  In fact, even if the Russians agreed to send troops, they would be powerless. After the Battle of Cape Sarych, the Black Sea Fleet was severely damaged and gave up control of the Black Sea, leaving the Russians helpless. Moreover, the Turks launched a fierce offensive in the North Caucasus region of Russia, and the Russians were already overstretched on multiple fronts with no troops to spare.

  Whether Russia participates in the war is insignificant. Since the German army's focus shifted eastward, the British and French high commands decided to take action on the Western Front, with over three million Allied soldiers waiting for battle, about to launch a spring offensive from the Swiss border to the North Sea coast. General Joffre was eager to announce that the Allies' goal was "to drink champagne in Mainz by autumn 1915".

  At the same time, a force of 100,000 British and French troops was to be landed at Lemnos in Greece under the command of Admiral Sackville Carden. The fleet would consist of the British battleships Agincourt and Erin, eleven pre-dreadnoughts, one French Danton-class pre-dreadnought, and three Dantons, with the intention of proceeding to Moudros on the island.

  In January 1915, the Allies completed their preparations for the Dardanelles Campaign. Sixty years after the last time British and French soldiers had fought on the peninsula where their forebears had fought and died, they were once again approaching the Dardanelles. History was full of ironies; this time round the former enemy Russia was an ally and the former ally Ottoman Empire an enemy.

  "Jazz, Carden has brought over the Gallipoli campaign plan...". First Lord of the Admiralty Arthur Wilson placed the slightly thin document on Churchill's desk and said lightly: "The bugle call for the counterattack of the British Empire is about to sound, and you are the one who will create the glory!"

  Churchill sat on the sofa, weighing the notebook in his hand, and easily flipped over the page marked "1915, keyword - counterattack!"

  The next page was filled with the names of naval officers waiting to be promoted, and the name "David Beatty" appeared repeatedly, although it had been crossed out many times, still stubbornly and persistently jumping off the paper.

  The tedious and chaotic plot has finally come to an end. The Emperor's counterattack, the friendship forged in the flames of war... My Denmark!