Chapter 6 Misunderstandings about Scapa Bay (III)

Even though the raid fleet exposed its whereabouts at Nez Point, the fleet still rested in Nez Point for nearly an hour.

This hour was not useless. First of all, German warships are famous for their short legs. Battlecruisers, old-fashioned battleships and light cruisers have large tonnages, and have more than enough coal water and oil, and their endurance is more than enough. However, in the face of a "long-distance raid" of nearly 300 nautical miles, the raid fleet's numerous small destroyers and minesweepers could not hold on.

The minesweepers converted from 1885-class torpedo boats and second-hand merchant ships were negligible in coal storage. They were almost dragged and moved to the desolate Nez Point by more than a dozen large destroyers and dome cruisers. Even if the coal storage and oil storage of ocean destroyers were reduced to below the cordon, the raid fleet urgently needed to add coal and water and replenish fuel in the middle.

Secondly, the raid fleet is not organized in a conventional manner, but is temporarily mixed by several reconnaissance, battleship, destroyer detachment and minesweeper detachment, so it is urgent to reorganize the team. Wang Heidi's effective integration and use of warships with different uses, performance and service status during Operation Thames has become a necessary case for scholars of the Naval Academy. The special mixed fleet first appeared in the German Navy.

Finally, the raid fleet had to install "plugs" for those disposable consumables - modified minesweepers. The dragged thick and solid cables were cut open, and the huge floating barrel pendants were placed in the front and sides of the modified minesweepers by the fleet's auxiliary ship crane. A limited number of sailors were sailing the ship in thick life jackets. Their mission was to raid the minefield at the mouth of the Thames River.

At 9:27 am on the 29th, the huge attack fleet was rested, with a total of 94 warships divided into four square arrays. The first minesweeping detachment's twelve temporary modified minesweepers and the fifth destroyer detachment's eight ocean destroyers were at the forefront. The fifth reserve battleship's five old battleships and the third reconnaissance fleet's four old dome cruisers followed closely. The sixth and seventh destroyers' detachment's sixth and sixth ocean destroyers were on the two wings.

The guards, four battlecruisers of the First Reconnaissance Fleet and eight medium destroyers of the Eighth Destroyer Detachment, landed behind to serve as reinforcements. The final team was composed of two seaplane motherships and more than a dozen auxiliary ships. They were covered by four modern light armored cruisers of the Second Reconnaissance Fleet and eight destroyers of the Ninth Destroyer Detachment, lined up a 15-kilometer front line on the North Sea, galloping towards the Thames 29 nautical miles away in a column formation.

Point Nez is only two hours away from the mouth of the Thames. At 10:36 am, the raid fleet approached the Thames, and Wang Heidi issued the first offensive order.

The atmosphere between the Zeppelin and the Lilintal seaplane mothership suddenly became tense.

The camouflage artillery arranged on the port deck like a hedgehog was dismantled before dawn, and a flight runway less than 100 meters was revealed. The Fokker e5 fighter was placed on the stern deck, and the fuel was poured into the fuel tank of the aircraft's belly. The 50-kg bomb modified from the old naval semi-armor-piercing bomb was pushed out by a cart and mounted on the wings and belly of the carrier-based aircraft. The maintenance technician was busy with his last maintenance for the fragile fighter.

In 1915, when aircraft generally had only 80 horsepower, designers had to work hard on the number of wings and wingspan area, allowing the aircraft to increase the area of ​​contact with air to obtain greater takeoff weight, more weapon load and longer air stagnation time.

The seaplane motherships of Zeppelin and Lilintal were modified from civilian merchant ships, and there was inevitably a lot of space. Because the Fokker E5 was not small, the deck could only accommodate up to eight carrier-based aircraft waiting to take off. In order to save time, the technician had to push the Fokker E5 left in the hangar to the vicinity of the electric-driven lift and standby at any time.

The observing officer on the watchtower grabbed the microphone in his hand and reported the wind direction, wind speed, sea conditions and roll period to the flight command tower behind the island. Based on the report of the observing officer, the sophisticated flight and navigation staff began to adjust the direction of the hull and strive to make the warship move against the wind.

The seaplane mothership, loaded over 10,000 tons, began to leave the column and, under the protection of eight large destroyers, advanced at full speed under the southwestern monsoon from the North Atlantic Ocean.

This is the first time that the seaplane mothership has participated in the fleet decisive battle. On the eve of waiting for takeoff, the island of ship consisting of three-story buildings, bridges and three chimneys arranged on the vertical axis was full of crew members.

"Captain, say something." Nine pilots from the first team of the Zeppelin Special Flight Squadron stood in a row on the deck. The unspeakable old captain coughed gently and sent the old sailors' blessing to the blue sky: "German eagles, we must come back alive!"

The nine pilots and their squadron captain saluted the old captain who had retired before the war but resolutely picked up his military uniform after the war broke out.

The pilot with a pilot's helmet on his waist and a Mauser pistol on his waist. The pilot with goggles in his hand rushed out of the lounge in a majestic manner and walked towards their car. At this time, Hanna Xiao, the captain of the special flight squadron, called his subordinates and began to speak to the leader.

"People, listen, I only have three requirements for this operation. First, after entering the battlefield, we will act on our own, pay attention to our own oil meter, try to avoid fighting with British fighter jets and air defense fire, and master the retreat time by ourselves. Second, our goal is to use the British civil ships, oil warehouses, and coal stations, and use limited ammunition to use British landmark buildings not worth the cost."

Hanna Xiao stretched out three fingers with his leather gloves and shouted out the first two requests with great enthusiasm. Before the third request was made, Hanna Xiao aimed at the old captain who was busy asking about the steering of the warship and said in a low voice:

"Third, if you really can't hold it, you are allowed to carry certain private goods, such as the fleet's decisive wrench..."

At 10:23, the flight command towers of Zeppelin and Lilintal issued orders to allow takeoff one after another. The signal soldiers on standby on the stern deck raised their flags high and signaled the pilot to prepare for takeoff.

The engine roared, the propeller turned violently, and the sound of military flags on the stern deck was immediately replaced by harsh mechanical noise. Otto Denos swept Hanna-Xiao's vehicle instrument. Seeing that everything was normal, he pinched the young man's shoulders, and squeezed his eyes and stuffed the small tool box in his hand into the cockpit.

"I know you have stole a lot of wrenches, hammers and bricks, maybe you don't recommend killing more..."

Hanna-Xiao tightened the purple ribbon around his neck and nodded slightly.

"The southwest wind direction is two levels of wind speed, and takeoff is allowed!"

The signal soldier gave the pilot a thumbs up, and the yellow striking flag in his hand flew up and down.

Hanna Xiao quickly took out a black and white photo from his shirt pocket, held it in his mouth, and slowly pushed the joystick. The slightly bulky three-wing fighter began to slide on the runway. At about 70 meters, the romantic Hanna Xiao threw away the photo that Count Lukner forced to send, and the plane staggered into the sky.

Soon, the last Folk e5 also rose into the sky and joined with 10 fighters of the Lilintal. Twenty fighters with combat radius of only 70-80 kilometers rushed towards Greater London, 45 kilometers away.

(--Gorgeous dividing line--)

The slightly straight coastline suddenly became deeply concave to the west, and the sea water also changed from the green color near the sea to the yellow with a foul smell, so everyone knew that their destination was here.

On April 29, 1915, there were no merchant ships that were shuttled back and forth, and there were no warships with majestic meter flags. The river that supplied blood to the heart of the Kingdom of Great Britain was quiet.

Twelve single-use minesweepers of the First Minesweeping Detachment rushed around the estuary of the Thames River in a trumpet-shaped mouth. Five Caesar-Friedrich III-class old battleships and four old Dome-armored cruisers of the Third Reconnaissance Fleet along the narrow channel where the minesweeper waded desperately, slowly approaching the estuary of only 29 kilometers wide.

In unknown seas, foreseeable mines, destroyers and fortress guns are always terrifying. On the lookout platform of the flagship Caesar Frederick III, four lookouts are carefully checking the nearby sea surface and coastline.

In the barrel of the high-power telescope, Gothic churches, quiet villages, lush jungles, desolate sea cliffs, towering coastal militia watchtowers and the stacked waves under the cliff are vivid in my mind.

"Is this the Thames of the British?" The young lookout had never visited the powerful ocean country across the North Sea. At this moment, he was looking at the alienated world in the lens tube with excitement. "Is this the so-called dragon and tiger den?"

"The Germans are here!" Looking at the German fleet that was coming in full swing, the militia stationed on the coastal watchtower were already panicked. After all, the British Empire had not encountered sea invasions for hundreds of years, and the British people had no corresponding experience.

It is unrealistic to expect these militiamen carrying shotguns and old-fashioned single-shot rifles. They scattered all the signal lights in one go and sent people to report to the town garrison two kilometers away. In fact, those town garrisons may not be reliable.

The British bulls who lost the sea barrier realized their weakness in the North Sea: Due to the implementation of the two strong principles, most of the limited military expenditure of the British Empire was spent on the navy, and the remaining military expenditure was only enough for Britain to preserve a pocket army. On the eve of the European War, the army recruited millions of soldiers without the consent of the parliament. This policy was once controversial, but it was decided at the end of 1914 and was considered a key measure to defend Paris and save France. After the decisive battle in the North Sea, public opinion was overturned and history was overturned. Millions of elite British troops were deeply trapped in the Western Front of the European continent. There were only some newly recruited soldiers and military academy students left on the ground. The awesome Britain regretted it with tears in his eyes.

It is unrealistic to transfer the army deployed on the French battlefield back, unless the British were already crazy. In desperation, the National Defense Commission decided to use the materials and forces originally used to support France for local defense: the soldiers in the new camp will be sent to any possible landing place for any Germans. The military academy student retained his or her academic qualifications and temporarily left school and served as a low-level military officer.

The town's garrison was naturally a kind of messy man. Fortunately, their commander was a military academy student. He knew the severity of the loss of composure and hurriedly reported the situation to the headquarters.

When the news was forwarded to the Secretary of the Army Lord Kitchener, the news that the Germans launched a large-scale attack on the city was already overwhelming, causing storms in London.

It is not that the Army's confidentiality measures are too clumsy: at 10:52, tens of thousands of residents in Hermione witnessed six Army fighter jets ordered to surround London being beaten up by a group of German aircraft. At 11:07, the first 50-kilogram bomb fell on a 300-ton cruise ship on the Thames River...
Chapter completed!