Chapter 5 The British Two-Front War (Five)

  Haha, Hei Qiuji'er is so cool... Speed up the pace, second update, exhausted...

  "The Battle of Heligoland Bight, Harwich Force was almost annihilated and has not yet recovered; the Battle of Coronel, Cradock's squadron except for the old battleship Canopus, 4 cruisers were sunk without exception, Commodore Cradock died in action; the Battle of Cape Sarych, our ally Russia's Black Sea Fleet suffered a disastrous defeat, two old battleships sank, Commander-in-Chief Andrei Eberhardt was killed; German raiders Emden and K?nigsberg wreaked havoc on the Indian Ocean, the Royal Navy was powerless to stop them; in the North Sea, German light vessels chased our merchant ships with impunity, we were unable to do anything; 500,000 troops are stuck in the French battlefield, the French and our army brothers urgently need support from their homeland, but German U-boats always easily broke through the Channel Fleet's defense line and attacked our transport ships!"

  On November 5, all members of the British Admiralty Board, frontline commanders of the three fleets based in the motherland, officials from the intelligence department, technical advisors, senior staff of the Navy General Staff, and representatives from the Supreme Defense Committee and the British House of Commons gathered in a slightly old-fashioned conference room in the British Naval Headquarters building in London.

  November 1, 1914 was undoubtedly a day of mourning for the Allies. The British battleship HMS Audacious struck a mine in "safe" Swilly Bay and sank after poor armor, bad watertight subdivision, and ineffective salvage efforts; the German army launched another land offensive just as things were getting tight, and the busy strait transport line was paralyzed by German mines; just when the subjects of the British Empire were at their wit's end, on November 2, a London tabloid broke the news that the Royal Navy had been defeated in the Battle of Coronel.

  The UK is an island nation, with a shortage of manpower and limited land resources. The ocean made the British Industrial Revolution possible and enabled the empire to last for centuries. This young island nation has never been bound by land, and its people have always understood the sea better than any other country in the world. They have a deep connection with the sea, which is reflected in their blood and bones. That's why they invested their best talent, most military spending, and greatest pride in the navy. Whenever faced with danger, the first reaction of the nation was to look for their navy. However, during World War I, the British people were shocked and embarrassed to find that the Royal Navy had failed to live up to their expectations. The Grand Fleet not only failed to take the initiative but also failed to defend the coastline and sea lanes. The people of the British Empire continued to expect and hope for a turnaround, trying to find excuses for their pride, but the defeat at Coronel gave them a rude awakening.

  The whole of Britain was shocked, and London was the first to erupt in riots. A large number of irrational civilians marched and demonstrated in front of the Prime Minister's residence and the Admiralty building, throwing stones and homemade incendiary devices. The Prime Minister led the cabinet members to resign collectively, Churchill's position as First Lord of the Admiralty was on shaky ground, and a strange atmosphere of "the tree falling and the monkeys scattering" pervaded the entire Admiralty.

  Winston Churchill's voice rose from its somber tone, he stood up and pushed open the windows of the conference room, letting in the din of the demonstrating crowds outside the Admiralty building.

  "Gentlemen, the Royal Navy's centuries of accumulated honor are about to be lost by us. I do not intend to criticize anything, I do not intend to blame anyone, but we must do something! The Royal Navy needs to regain its lost honor, regain the trust of the people!"

  Outside the building, British civilians held up Churchill's portrait and burned it in public. Winston Churchill sniffed at the pungent smell of burning, his face expressionless, with a slightly provocative gaze sweeping across the ashamed faces of high-ranking officials.

  "Mr. Churchill, the Defence Committee is unconditionally at your disposal for any action you may take!"

  "Mr. Churchill, the House is with you!" The Defence Committee and representatives from the Commons rose to their feet in support of the beleaguered First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Churchill.

  Although Churchill lacked military experience, as a civilian he had sufficient connections in Britain to resign as Prime Minister and still stand at the head of the Admiralty Boardroom at the age of forty.

  Fischer's chief assistants, under the vague warning of the Defense Committee and parliamentary representatives, maintained the silence belonging to soldiers. The romantic Chui returned to the podium in the conference room, talking about the huge sea chart hanging on the wall.

  "Gentlemen, we are now facing many great problems and challenges: the Battle of Coronel and the Battle of the Falkland Islands have taught us that even more old-fashioned battleships cannot withstand even one dreadnought and battlecruiser. The South American Squadron, which we had high hopes for, has been unable to stop the advance of the Spee Squadron. The British Empire, with its natural barrier of the ocean, will be facing a two-front war for the first time; Admiral Berkeley Milne's Mediterranean Fleet has been weakened, the old pre-dreadnoughts and armoured cruisers have been sent to South America, and large numbers of light vessels have been withdrawn to the Indian Ocean to participate in the game of hide-and-seek with the Emden. Now, all that remains in the Admiral's hands are two Invincible-class battlecruisers and one temporarily assigned Agincourt; if the German Goeben breaks out of the Dardanelles, the Mediterranean Fleet will be powerless to interfere with any German actions. The Emden and K?nigsberg have been roaming the Indian Ocean, severely impacting the Empire's maritime lifeline. We have thrown more than thirty cruisers into the Indian Ocean at one go; the question is how many warships or what strategy can calm down the Eastern route? To defend France and Paris, the Royal Navy will withdraw all light vessels from home waters and those assigned to the Grand Fleet for convoy duty in the English Channel. However, German U-boats carrying mines and seaplanes carrying small bombs are still able to break through the blockade line of the Channel Fleet and raid convoys. The situation in the North Sea is also chaotic; the Audacious has been sacrificed!"

  "Gentlemen, the situation is not optimistic, it's even precarious! Admiral Fisher's and the Grand Fleet's long-range blockade theory has been rendered useless, it's time for the Grand Fleet to take action! Let Rear-Admiral Moore and his Second Battlecruiser Squadron, New Zealand and Australia, sail south to annihilate Spee's squadron and avoid the British Empire facing a terrible two-front war; let HMS Agincourt become an official member of the Mediterranean Fleet, maintaining the blockade of the Dardanelles; gather more cruisers to counter German raiders with regional blockades; completely seal off the English Channel and recall the temporarily assigned light fleet from the Channel Fleet to respond to the relentless German naval offensive!"

  Churchill drew four clear lines of battle on the huge sea chart, took a deep breath, raised his arm and shouted: "It's time for the main fleet to strike! We need to give the Germans a thunderbolt blow, let them know the reverse scale of the Royal Navy!"

  Winston Churchill's impassioned oratory ended, without the expected applause, without flowers, only the stunned gaze of battle-hardened soldiers. John Jellicoe finally stopped his cold smile, coughed lightly and slowly stood up.

  "On November 1, the battleship Audacious sank; Iron Duke and Ajax were undergoing engine overhauls at the factory; Orion was returning to the factory for repairs due to a steam turbine failure; Erin (formerly Turkish Re?adiye), Benbow, Emperor of India, and Tiger had just entered service and were not yet effective in combat; Agincourt had departed for the Mediterranean in September. Admiral Jellicoe did not directly contradict Churchill but quietly listed a series of data: 'Mr. Churchill, if you take away the three battlecruisers from the Second Battlecruiser Squadron, for a long time to come, the Grand Fleet will only have 17 battleships and five battlecruisers available, while the German High Seas Fleet has 16 battleships, four battlecruisers, and one quasi-battlecruiser (Blücher), our numerical superiority over the High Seas Fleet will be gone!'"

  "With the German Emperor Wilhelm in power, the High Seas Fleet will never take the initiative to attack!" Jellicoe countered with cold data, refuting Winston Churchill's emotional and less rational argument. Churchill's face was flushed with drunkenness, and he became enraged.

  "You said the same thing before the Battle of Heligoland Bight!" Admiral John Jellicoe, one of the few surviving senior naval officers, exchanged a glance with his superior Churchill and shook his head lightly.

  ****

  "If the British do not divide their forces, the South American Squadron will be unable to stop Spee's advance and the West Coast of Britain will face a great threat; if they do divide their forces, the numerical superiority of the Grand Fleet will vanish."

  In a black-lacquered room in the German Navy Headquarters in Berlin, the floor was littered with cigarette butts, and the air was thick with the smell of tar. A single dim lamp cast a warm glow over the pale faces of the men gathered around a worn map on a desk. Rear Admiral Reinhard Scheer, Commander of the Third Battle Squadron; Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper, Commander of the First Scouting Group; Rear Admiral Eberhard Schmidt, Deputy Commander of the High Seas Fleet; and Captain Erich Raeder, Chief of the Operations Division of the Naval Staff, were all huddled together, their brows furrowed in concern.

  "Commander, our ships are better than the British ones. This is the best opportunity for us to break through the British long-distance blockade!" Wang Haitian threw down the pencil in his hand and handed over the draft plan book to General Ingraham, commander of the Great Ocean Fleet, summarizing with a tone that implied there was more to say.

  "The Emperor's Ears" General Ingénue did not carefully review the plan, good old man raised his head and said to the energetic young man: "Xylam, are you sure you want to fight this battle, and can the Ocean Fleet win?"