~.-~   Chapter 7: Fierce Battle with Thames (II)

When the Fork e5 aircraft swept through all civilian ships that could be attacked in the depths of the Thames, the raid fleet's clenched fists also pounded their weak chests.

The sudden attack fleet forced two reconnaissance fishing boats flying meter flags and traveled together outside the Thames River to a desperate situation. It is far away from the Thames estuary, which is protected by mines. The maximum speed of reconnaissance fishing boats is no more than 10 knots and heading north. It is obviously difficult for them to escape the German destroyer with speeds of more than 30 knots.

After sending an early warning telegram to the Navy headquarters in London, two reconnaissance fishing boats rushed towards the north-south coastline of Britain. It was the only life-saving opportunity for reconnaissance fishing boats, because eight large destroyers, the Fifth Detachment of the Fifth Destroyer, which covers the minesweeping fleet, have lost their thick cannon suits and show off the strong muscles of the Ocean Fleet; sophisticated German gunners also pulled away the 88mm main gun and 45mm secondary gun bolts. It can be imagined that any hesitation may lead to the killing of the metal storm.

The reconnaissance fishing boat rushed to the beach with difficulty. The shells fell like rain. The reconnaissance boat was like duckweed in the vast ocean, and was hit by towering water columns. Fortunately, the two ships were not far from the coastline, and the sailors had no time to pack up the high-shaped rice flags on the fishing boats. The two captains issued an order to abandon the boat and directed their warships to strand on the beach. The civilian sailors on the boat and the military officers dispatched by the Admiralty jumped out of the waist-deep sea like dumplings, and flowed towards the land in a panic.

The sound of gunfire from German destroyers woke up Great Britain.

Even though most of the intelligence of the spies lurking in Wilhelmshaven and the coastal reconnaissance aircraft showed that the Germans' real target was not Scapa Bay, but the capital London, the Admiralty's pledge guarantees and blind confidence in the empire of the Sun never set made the soldiers defending the Thames selectively ignore all this.

The militia on the coastline watchtower stared at the foul-smelling estuary of the Thames River and the ocean. There were twelve strangely shaped minesweepers, swaggering in front of the British homes, and six similar-looking minesweepers were at any time under the cover of eight light warships. A little further away, there were five big guys and four smaller warships eyeing. If these militants were careful, they could find five more tonnage cruising back and forth in the distant sea.

"I have a premonition that today may be the glory day of the Ocean Fleet!"

Major Martin Bowman, the commander of the minesweeping fleet, put down his telescope and said a battle declaration that has been recorded in history on the simple bridge of the minesweeping ship No. t-208.

The major's unrestrained ocean is not like a nouveau riche in the Far East. The minesweeper ship modified from the 1885-class torpedo boats and second-hand small cargo ships have been completely renovated after being packaged by the Imperial Navy designers. From a distance, it looks quite a bit like an old horse's shadow: lightning protection pendants composed of floating barrels of different sizes hung on both sides of their hulls and in front of the bow. The middle of the pendant is a large floating barrel, and the underwater part and top of the pendant is small floating barrels. Most of the small floating barrels underwater are filled with sea water, so they have strong lightning protection capabilities. The large floating barrels in the middle and the small floating barrels at the top are empty to maintain the buoyancy of the pendant and improve the sink resistance of the modified minesweeper.

The strong attack mine-sweeping tactic is also the reason why Martin Bowman is confident. The twelve modified mine-sweeping ships are enough to clear a safe passage of more than 120 meters in a high-density mine-sweeping field, which can accommodate two to three main battleships to sail side by side. However, this process is quite difficult - the mine-sweeping ship with severely aging steam engine can only take a difficult journey at a speed of less than 8 knots per hour.

Accompanied by the British sparse 14-inch heavy artillery shells, the first mine had close contact with the bucket of the Imperial Minesweeping Fleet, and then a violent explosion occurred. The muddy yellow water column flew into the sky, and the innocent minesweeping ship jumped like a float, suddenly jumping on the ocean surface of the outer sea.

This did not stop the Imperial minesweeping fleet from the north bank of the British Thames trumpet estuary, cutting into the Thames at a 45-degree angle.

18 kilometers is a very embarrassing and uncomfortable distance for the British, because the width of the Thames River is even more than 50 kilometers. The coastal artillery deployed on the south coast of Thames is only hopeless. Several submarines deployed on the main channel are trapped in the minefields of their own and are difficult to launch a torpedo attack. The coastal artillery on the north coast has only one newly deployed 14-inch gun and two 12-inch guns dismantled from the old warships, which can obtain the Imperial minesweeper. However, the distance of 18 kilometers is too far, and they cannot hit these minesweepers that lack water protection.

In the sight of the minesweeping fleet sailors, the north-south coastline was deeply sunk to the west, so they knew that the Ocean Fleet had invaded the Thames.

This is the pride of the German navy. In the French-Prussian War, the Empire also drank the Masseine River, but it was the glory of the army. In April 1915, the Ocean Fleet, which was once suppressed by the Royal Navy, was able to "drink horses" in another great power's capital.

Excitement and complacent were only three or five seconds. As the fleet deepened, the width of the estuary decreased to 30 kilometers, and the angry British coastal artillery fire became fierce.

In order to avoid the crossfire of over 100 coastal artillery on the north and south sides of the Thames River, the minesweeping fleet abandoned the water deeper and closer to the south coast of the main channel, and chose to approach the north coast. The distance between the fleet and the land was shortened to 13 kilometers, and the entire minesweeping fleet was immediately exposed to the attacks of 14-inch and 12-inch heavy artillery, 9.2-inch, 8-inch and 6-inch sea defense artillery deployed on the north coast.

The Thames River boiled, and large-caliber heavy artillery shells opened one after another of the stinking water columns on the river surface full of industrial sewage, and then hit the river surface heavily under the action of gravity. The underwater floating barrels hit the anchor thunder in the semi-submersible state. After the fuse was triggered, the ammunition part was detonated, and then a violent explosion occurred under the water.

The rumbling sound was endless. From a distance, the quiet Thames channel was filled with smoke, stirring up the water column. The turbid yellow mud was thrown on the sailors, and the turbid river water flowed around the deck. The dusty imperial sailors had no time to wipe the river water on their faces, and were thrown to one side by the violently shaking ship until the cable tied to the waist was straight.

At 11:19, the disaster occurred. A 12-inch near-lost bomb exploded on the north side of the minesweeping fleet. The powerful fragment directly destroyed the superstructure of the northernmost t-211 minesweeping ship and the starboard waterproof mine support. The minesweeping ship began to enter the water and capsize.

The tight attack mine-sweeping formation gradually loosened under the impact of mines. The hull of the old ship, which had been in service for more than ten years, seemed to be twisted, making heart-wrenching creaking sounds, as if it would fall apart in the next second.

"Keep the formation!" Despite the tilt, the old captain of the modified minesweeper of the T-208 still grabbed any corners and roared at his sailors: "Fleming, the bow floating barrel pendant has been blown up, go and fix it!"

As soon as the old captain finished speaking, a dull voice came from the left. The fragile hull of the modified minesweeper No. t-209 finally couldn't hold on and broke from the bow. The river surging in, and the modified minesweeper sank rapidly.

“Slow down, slow down!”

Major Martin Bowman, the commander of the minesweeping fleet, grabbed the signal soldiers and asked him to go to the bridge to send flags.

"Stand up with the formation and let the second minesweeper detachment t-221 take the lead!"

The minesweeper No. t-209 disappeared on the turbid river surface. Eight officers and soldiers dived and escaped one after another, and were rescued by two adjacent minesweepers. At this time, the minesweeper No. t-221, which was replenishing the line, sprayed coal smoke covering the sky and the sun, and inserted all his strength into the queue for the attack and sweeping. The minesweeper fleet stumbled and re-loaded on the road.

"God, how could the Germans come up with such a... such a strange trick!" Lieutenant Colonel Paul Kenner, the fortress artillery staff, took his sight back from the narrow observation hole and said worriedly: "It is only more than 40 kilometers from central London to the mouth of the Thames. At this speed, it may not be necessary for the Germans to hit the Tower Bridge under the London Tower Bridge and achieve a terrible landing!"

Starting from late at night on the 28th, sporadic intelligence was fed back by the inefficient Admiralty to the safe underground command room of the Fortress Group on the north bank of the Thames River. After a sleepless night, on the morning of the 29th, a large amount of contradictory intelligence poured into the Admiralty. The intelligence department responsible for screening and sorting out information often made a judgment and fed back to the Fortress Command. The next second, there would be completely different intelligences being reported by shocked spies and militias in the coastal watchtower.

Chaos was inevitable. Even though the considerable German Battlecruiser fleet was exposed at Cape Nez, which was only a short distance from the Thames, local defense officials, including the commander of the North Shore Fortress Group, were still afraid to make a final conclusion.

At 10:40, when a staggering number of German planes tear apart from the air the Thames defense line defined by the Londoners as "copper walls and iron walls", the sensitive British had already had a premonition of something when the sky in Greater London was turned upside down. At 10:50, when two reconnaissance fishing boats fled tremblingly under the fierce artillery fire of the Germans, the truth was revealed.

Perhaps the Royal Navy's panic in Willis Bay under the distracted feint of the Ocean Fleet would become the biggest joke of the century, but as of 11 o'clock, Major General John Kyle, the commander of the Thames North Shore Fortress Group, was still relaxed.

As the capital of the British Empire, the Thames defense system has been built for hundreds of years. Although the fortress construction along the Thames and the English Channel after the Battle of Trafalgar, the British-German naval arms race, the Admiralty, who realized the danger, picked up the Thames defense project again. After the defeat of Terrace that day, the progress of the entire defense project was even more rapid.

Although the German Zeppelin, which had a huge ammunition load, did not attack across the sea, the cautious British still secretly arranged anti-aircraft positions of pounding cannons on the west side of London. In order to defend the capital, the British did not hesitate to block multiple channels and deployed tens of thousands of mines on the Thames and overseas; the latest 14-inch heavy artillery and the 12-inch main artillery removed from the old warship were strengthened to the fortress groups on the north and south sides of the Thames, and 9.2-inch guns and 8-inch guns were also installed in auxiliary fortresses; in addition, four old battleships drawn from the Straits fleet, three armored cruisers and twelve tribal class destroyers were also deployed at the mouth of the Thames River, and they will rely on the sea fortress to repel invading enemies.

Judging from the momentum of the Germans who were willing to pursue the enemy with courage, the Londoners' indifference was unfounded: the minefields outside the estuary did not play their due role at all, and the minesweepers, old-fashioned battleships and old-fashioned dome ships of the German attack fleet rushed into the minefields that the British Empire was proud of.

"Kenner, it's not time to be deflated! Although the German minesweeping fleet is advancing very quickly, they lack support power!" Major General John Kay clenched his fists, and his strong arms are bulging: "Although the Germans have five old battleships, 20 240mm naval guns are not enough to destroy the fortress guns on both sides of the Thames. Although the First Reconnaissance Fleet has 16 350mm naval guns and 18 305mm naval guns, and the Ocean Fleet with unknown directions also has a large number of heavy artillery, they will definitely not let the expensive main battleships take risks in the minefield. Kenner, I can't imagine how the Germans can rush through the widest point and only 29 kilometers, which can form the Thames River with cross-fire!"

~.-~
Chapter completed!