Chapter 3 Keywords - Suffocation Plan (III)

It was getting darker, and the English Channel was filled with fog. The white waves crossed the breakwater and gently patted the transport ships anchored in Portsmouth Harbor. Army soldiers wearing clay-yellow twill serge uniforms jumped off heavy trucks one after another, took their thick luggage, carried the famous Lee Enfield rifle, and looked for their company on the busy dock.

The whistle was ringing, and a transport ship stumbled into the harbor under the escort of a tribal destroyer. This was a transport ship of 3,000 tons. A large hole with a diameter of more than one meter was blown up on the port side. The hull was tilted violently to the left, and the superstructure was filled with a mess of smoke.

The tragic situation of the transport ship made the young army soldiers' throats dry unconsciously. Since August 1914, the whistle sound of Buttsmouth Bay has been rusty transport ships, carrying British pocket army, heading towards the war-torn France. These soldiers may have been rural farmers, porters in factories, or small staff of trading companies a few months ago. They joined the army under the recruitment advertisements posted on the streets and alleys of the British Isles, and were sent to the strange France with a lot of passion.

Patriotism is valuable, but this does not mean that they are not afraid of death.

The soldiers' green faces were already filled with fear, but the Portsmouth people were no longer surprised by this. The entire harbor continued to operate in an orderly manner.

After the outbreak of the war, German submarines and destroyers slipped through Dover's patrol fleet and minefields. Samantabads against transportation lines occurred frequently, especially after the decisive battle in the North Sea, and sneak attacks became more and more frequent, and the English Channel became commonplace.

"Don't be standing there, one after another! The whole group gathered!"

"Stand all for me, and report the overall number!"

Under the urging of the officer, the soldiers with dry mouth began to line up in fear.

"Mr. Churchill..."

The black military vehicle was parked at the end of the dock, and the former First Sea Minister Arthur Wilson came out of the carriage in a dusty manner and quietly approached Lord Winston Churchill, who was standing with his hands behind his back.

Churchill was still the fat man Qiu who was bloated and holding a cigar in his mouth, but he was just a black tuxedo that lingered in various social occasions. The navy's uncensored ribbon uniform that wandered in the Navy was gone. Instead, he was an inappropriate army uniform with two ragged grenades hanging around his neck, and a half-standing lion and ten red sons embroidered on his uniform armband - it was the family badge of the Marlborough family, and a pair of high-power telescopes swaying on his chest.

"The Admiralty has officially abandoned the Battle of Dardanelles..."

Naval Secretary Belfort announced the indefinite end of the Battle of Dardanelles three days ago. Almost at the same time, the French occupied Corfu despite the strong protests of the Greek King Constantine and temporarily controlled several main battleships of the Greek Navy. Under the cover of the British Mediterranean Fleet, General Hamilton led the ANZ to forcibly land on the Port of Thessalonika in Greece, located in the Aegean Sea, and quickly approached the hinterland of Bulgaria.

"Report to the battalion commander, all the staff of the Scottish Rifle Battalion arrived, waiting for the order!" The army had completed the entire team, and a staff officer with the rank of Army Captain ran over in small steps and reported loudly after the military salute.

"Scottish ** Rifle Battalion, board the ship!" The white gloves flashed across the right corner of Churchill's frown brow. The outdated politician patiently cut the large cigar and turned his head to Wilson and asked, "Mr. Wilson, when will our Mediterranean fleet return to the local area?"

"The French's four dreadnoughts have set off. The Mediterranean Fleet will return to the mainland after the French fleet arrives, and will arrive at Davenport by the end of April at the latest."

After resigning, former First Sea Minister Wilson, who had just taken the position of dispensable membership on the Naval Technical Committee, seemed to have accumulated a lot of resentment. As soon as he opened the conversation, he kept complaining at the military port terminal with a fog that was full of uncertain future:

"Sir, I think the plan for the Battle of Dardanelles cannot be easily abandoned. Our turn of gunfire and forced landing in Greece will only make the Greeks who were originally inclined to us feel resentful, allowing Turkey to concentrate on attacking the Caucasus hinterland of its ally Russia, forcing Italy and Romania to join the battle in advance and make choices that are not conducive to the Allies!"

"Okay, Mr. Wilson, this is no longer a question we can consider." Churchill reached out and patted the former Minister of Sea on the shoulder, and changed the topic: "What is the judgment of the Admiralty on the next move of the Germans?"

"It may go north to sneak attack or blockade Scapa Bay, or launch a small-scale landing operation at any point in the long coastline of Britain, launch tireless harassment, or go south to the English Channel and cut off France's blood transfusion line. Who knows..." Wilson laughed at himself and joked: "Two Berlin naval political storms failed to suppress Heidi Sileme. Young people have indirectly grasped the high seas fleet. Who can guess the thoughts of Sileme?! The Admiralty can only adopt some passive defense measures..."

In order to win back the hearts of the people, the Admiralty Department specially discussed the response plan at the London Naval Conference in March.

The speculations taken by the Admiralty about the Germans' next step are different, but after the decisive battle in the North Sea, rumors spread everywhere on the east coast of Britain, and a large number of people moved inland have become a fact.

After all, the Royal Navy was still short of ships, which made the Admiral a little reluctant to take any action. In the end, it was Belford who took iron fist measures to end all disputes.

In the north, the Great Fleet will set up minefields in the 100-kilometer gap between the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands, and draw a number of new armored cruisers to strengthen the garrison of the 10th Patrol Fleet; the anti-submarine level of Scapa Bay is raised to the highest level. The construction of the Willis Bay naval facilities in northern Scotland is accelerated. At the same time, the Great Fleet has obtained the authorization of the Admiralty to "give up the Scapa Bay base when necessary" and retreat to Willis Bay in the south.

On the east coast of the British Isle, the Admiralty will set up a defense system composed of minefields, old destroyers and fortress guns at important ports; the Army temporarily reduced reinforcements and blood transfusions to allies France, completed training of the army soldiers in the training camp, and the arms supplies were urgently transferred to the East Coast to prevent possible landings by the Germans; the southeast end of the British Isle is the essence of the British Empire's economy. Given that the Harrich fleet had lost its fighting spirit and most of the ships in the Straits fleet were old, the Admiralty specially transferred Major General Charles Madden and the First Cruise Fleet to Harrich Port to form a new Harrich Fleet.

In the English Channel, dense minefields and 12 tribal-class destroyers have been the last fig leaf of the Strait Fleet. In order to avoid the situation deteriorating, the Admiralty decided to incorporate eight former dreadnoughts and three light cruisers into the Strait Fleet, so that the Strait Fleet with the assistance of destroyers, can at least fight against the vicious Germans.

On the west coast, the defense power composed of old patrol ships and coastal watchtowers is already slightly insufficient. Although the large fleet is extremely short of new destroyers at this moment, some old armored cruisers and a large number of new destroyers have been transferred to this sea area to carry out a mission to blockade the Irish Island while defending the west coast of the British Isle.

Finally, a measure regarded by the old navy as a "March countercurrent" was passed unanimously - Britain will build thirty medium-sized submarines within a year!

Arthur Wilson talked about the former Navy Secretary, and the current Army Major Lord Winston Churchill introduced the recent actions of the Admiralty. Churchill listened patiently, his frown gradually smoothed out, and then rose slightly in the last few seconds.

"How will the Admiralty deal with David Betty?" Churchill expressed his last doubts, and before Wilson could answer, he laughed at himself, shook his head and walked towards the beachfront of the breakwater a few steps away.

The telescopes on the major's chest floated around, and the long horse boots left footprints after footprints on the beach, and were soon washed away by the broken waves of the English Channel.

"Deprived of all military positions and ordered to retire..." Arthur Wilson raised his head slightly, not knowing whether it was gloating or sentimental, but indifferently revealed the cruelty of the success and defeat of the king.

"Ha..." Churchill snorted without comment, then turned his head and stared at the gray English Channel. Two fragmented grenades shone coldly in the fog, and long horse boots trampled on the shallow beach. After a long time, Churchill quickly took off the white gloves in his hand, pointed to the soil and shallow water under his feet and said seriously: "Mr. Arthur Wilson, I swear, I swear that Winston Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough's house, will come back."

"Certainly!"

(--Gorgeous dividing line--)

On April 7, 1915, it was dark in Portsmouth on the west side of the North Sea. Former British Navy Secretary Winston Churchill and the Scottish Rifle Battalion, the Volunteer Army he recruited from the Scottish Highlands, boarded a transport ship to Le Havre. On April 7, 1915, Berlin lights on the east side of the North Sea were on, and the German Navy Ship Design Bureau warship designer Clay grabbed his pen and flipped out a thick diary.

“On April 7, 1915, Berlin, haze

The villain interrupted my speech roughly with a little drunken blush. Yes, I was powerless, but I didn't have the courage to criticize the general. Not because he was the best commander of the Navy, not because he was the admirer of Director Bruckner, just because he was the author of "On Asymmetrical Warfare in the Age of Battleships", and Martin Luther of the Imperial Naval Ship Design Bureau!

It is undeniable that Heidi Sileme has a far higher prestige in the ship designer industry than in the Imperial Navy. Although I once lashed out at the general in my diary, I am actually an admirer of genius.

I stood in the corner awkwardly, looking at the dense data on the workbook, not knowing what to do. At this time, an accident happened, and General Silame stood up to relieve me.

‘What if I were to attack the British and guard the estuary of the Thames, which had numerous mines?’

When General Silame said these words, his expression was very solemn, and his every move was decisive. After a moment of shock, I finally realized that the anger of the deputy commander of the Ocean Fleet was not only aimed at us little people who were only obsessed with design and indifferent to politics and situations, but wanted to use the stage of the Navy Ship Design Bureau to bring a brainstorm to the rigid-minded Navy in a fierce way.

Perhaps this kind of effort has been a long time. Since "On Asymmetrical Warfare in the Age of Battleships", the talented Heidi Sileme began to use his influence to promote the development of the Imperial Navy and avoid the navy taking detours. Unfortunately, Sileme was too weak at that time. She had just accumulated a little popularity in the Naval Association, the Keil Naval Academy and the German Naval Yearbook. Under the open and secret attacks of some big names, General Sileme himself was exiled overseas.

But everything is worth it. At least Silame's view was recognized by Marshal Tirpitz. At least the development of the navy strictly followed Silame's expectations. At least more and more young officers and technical engineers became his supporters. When Marshal Tirpitz gave Heidi Silame a chance, the countercurrent could no longer stop this guy who was destined to lead the navy to glory.

The invincible Ares, the foresaw of the Dreadnought era, and the hero of the German nation. Although Silame was only the deputy commander of the Ocean Fleet, and although Silame only had the rank of lieutenant general, his prestige had penetrated into every corner of the navy. No designer would despise his suggestions, no staff officer would despise his prophecies, no important minister of the Imperial Navy dared to speak out about Silame's humble origin, and no naval officer would dare to fail to serve.

On April 7, 1915, without the care of Alfred von Tirpitz, Friedrich von Ingnor and Heining von Hetsendorf, and without the troubles of Navy Edward von Capelle and Naval Cabinet Minister George von Muller, General Silame, who had accumulated twenty years, finally left alone?

After the general decided to modify the 1885-class torpedo boat and second-hand civilian ship, the K-RMA shipbuilding conference continued to discuss the design of the 500-ton T-1915-class mine hunting ship and the U-135-class ocean submarine. The t-1915-class mine hunting ship will be equipped with two 24-connected hedgehog guns, each with 24 small deep bomb launchers. This small deep bomb warhead is only 20 kilograms, but it can clear the mineless area with a radius of 20 meters in just one shot. Only ten rounds of volleys can sweep out a minefield safety channel of 1 nautical mile. The over-water tonnage of the u-135-class ocean submarine has exceeded 1,000 tons, and the underwater tonnage is 1,500 tons, and the cruising capacity of 10,000 nautical miles. In order to further enhance the underwater raid and survivability, the u-135-class submarine is also equipped with telescopic underwater snorkel.

Although Silame was afraid that his wife was in the navy was not a secret and did not like to attend the meeting, this time at the shipbuilding meeting, the deputy commander showed his momentum and absolute dominance as an important official of the Imperial Navy at the conference table. Don’t doubt it, General Silame is finally leaving alone!

At dusk, the Navy Minister led the senior officer with the star-studded general left, and Mr. Good's office suddenly became much more spacious. The so-called young man began to complain that General Silame was too harsh. At this time, the old director Bruckner stood up, and his sharp eyes swept over the complaining young man, and pointed at his head that was thanking, and said sternly:

‘Maybe you should thank General Silame instead of slandering him! General Silame did not come to our ship design bureau to find the wrong answer, but instead he is helping us change our rigid thinking. The Royal Navy is no longer the Royal Navy of 1914, and our High Seas Fleet is not the High Seas Fleet in 1914, so we cannot continue to use the Royal Navy of 1914 as an imaginary enemy to design the High Seas Fleet in 1915. We must know that the vast and rich North Atlantic is now dominated and enjoyed by us Germans!’

The director was right, it was time to change his mind! For a long time, the Navy Design Bureau's design and planning of the Ocean Fleet were based on defeating the imaginary enemy - the Royal Navy. In 1915, the British Navy suffered an unprecedented defeat. Germany no longer had to worry about them threatening the coastline of the empire. On the contrary, it was time for Germany to block the British Empire and threaten the British mainland!

Compared to General Sileme's euphemism, the old director Bruckner was very straightforward. The young people here were once the best in design and machinery. After they were confused, they finally caught something crucial to the German Navy's continued progress in shame.

They finally caught something crucial to the German Navy's continued progress in shame, so Germany continued to advance on the road to seek the soul of the great power!"

——Excerpt from "Imperial Ship Management Storm", former Director of the Imperial Naval Ship Design Bureau, 1922.
Chapter completed!