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

The Iron Duke swayed slightly under the caress of the sea. The strong army was in full swing during the tactical exercises in Willis Bay in 1914, but the reality was the coldness and coldness after the disastrous defeat in 1915.

The combat staff silently moved the model of the Ocean Fleet placed on the sand table near Scapa Bay to Nez Point, and a few inches below was the heart of Britain, London. Telegraph Office confidential officers and intelligence staff came in and out, informing the bad news.

The models of the German First Reconnaissance Fleet and the Fifth Reserve Battle Fleet that were blocking the Thames River were still advancing westward little by little, and the situation was even more cruel than the ones shown by the sand table: because the chart room of the large fleet did not have a model of the reserve aircraft, the German raid fleet that was fluctuating over Greater London could not be reflected.

At 11:34, the traffic boats successively leaned on the gangway that the Iron Duke had laid down early, and rushed over to attend the senior fleet meeting of the fleet and rushed into the commander tower with frowns.

"At around 10:30 am, the German raid fleet approached the Thames estuary. They carried out fierce attacks and minesweeping on the minefields deployed on the outskirts of the Thames. Although the coastal fortress tried hard to intercept and sank more than six minesweeping ships and a destroyer, the forwards of the raid fleet still infiltrated the Thames River, or had already entered Greater London!"

As Jackson's confidant, the chief of staff of the fleet looked at the depressed commander-in-chief with a worried look, holding a thick stack of telegraphs, and ignoring the bad news:

"The Fifth Reserve Battleship of the German Raid Fleet had an artillery battle with our Fortress on the north bank of the Thames. An auxiliary fortress was damaged and the commander was injured, but we also injured an old German battleship."

The main force of the Ocean Fleet appeared in Nez Point, and the large fleet made an erroneous attack. The captains who rushed over thought they were mentally prepared, but the severity of the situation was far beyond their expectations. The captains were not worried about the Germans' forced attack on minesweeping because the Thames River had enough depth, but the artillery battle between the Fifth Preparatory Fleet and the Fortress Group on the North Bank of the Thames River meant disaster.

The Thames estuary also belongs to Greater London. Even if only one German shell lands on the coastline, it is also "the German Navy bombards the capital of the British Empire!"

The commander's tower was in an uproar, and the captains flocked to the sand table, as if they had found any mystery and possibility from the clear situation.

"Chief of Staff, I found this!"

A nautical staff came out of the chart room, raised two models of Zeppelin in their hands, and handed them to the combat staff. The combat staff carefully compared the information they received earlier and placed them in close proximity to the heart of London.

If it was already heartbroken that the Germans' shells fell on the land of London they loved deeply, the place where Zeppelin would undoubtedly stop their hearts from fearing the ocean.

"Gentlemen, at around 10:30, twenty German fighters broke through our Thames defense line from the air and approached the center of London. Although the Royal Flying Team dispatched a three-wave interceptor group, the Germans used new fighters and we were no match for the Germans at all."

The Chief of Staff pointed to the Zeppelin models used to replace the plane and smiled bitterly:

"We shot down one aircraft with a pound gun and injured one, but the Royal Flying Team lost a total of sixteen fighters. What's even more terrifying is that hundreds of thousands of London residents witnessed the Germans strangled our fighters in the air and then bombed civilian ships deep in the Thames!"

The commander of the Iron Duke battleship, Tah, suddenly fell into a dead silence. You should know that the hundreds of years of history of the Empire of the Sun Do not Set, could not find a more humiliating disaster than it is now. The strong national self-esteem made these captains angry, and they looked at the commander-in-chief with resentment or playful eyes.

Before the war, Jackson kept claiming that the Germans' target was Scapa Bay. Even though the Germans' attack on Thames' attack on London was already obvious, Jackson still insisted on his own opinion.

It’s not that no one saw through Jackson’s thoughts. Jackson was the commander-in-chief of the Great Fleet, not the commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy. He didn’t care about the tragedy that happened in the Thames River. Even if someone accused him after the war, Lord Jackson could use the large fleet to be too weak at this stage to make excuses. He tried his best to obtain an order to retreat from the Admiralty, and found a way out for the retreat order that might cause an uproar.

Jackson has rarely made achievements in military affairs since he took office as commander-in-chief of the Great Fleet, but he can always put himself in a favorable position where he can advance, attack, retreat and defend. Haha! This guy is here to be an official rather than a front-line sea commander!

It was not that Jackson could not see the anger of his subordinates, but that he had nothing to say. The gentleness and elegance he had trained in the office had completely receded at this moment. Jackson had lost the strength to speak, his head was messy, leaning softly on the chair.

"How dare he betray the big fleet, how dare he fool the whole of Britain, how dare he... how dare he deceive me!

The chaotic thoughts jumped to David Betty again, and Jackson remembered that sleepless night. David Betty, the former "Sea Cavalry", told him firmly that the Germans' target was not the Thames, but the Great Fleet! So he asked the Admiralty to give him the authority to withdraw Willis Bay, so he led the Great Fleet to sea to avoid war as soon as the Ocean Fleet was moving. So he threw the empty Scapa Bay defense to Major General Osmond Brock, deputy commander of the Scapa Bay base. Considering the defense strength of the Thames River, Jackson could almost conclude that he was in an unbeaten position whether the Germans attacked Scapa Bay or the Thames River.

"You must stand firmly on the stage before you can make a difference." This is the experience that Jackson summed up after being promoted to commander-in-chief of the Great Fleet. However, the civil servant of the office who looked down on the sea never expected that the experience he gained from serving in the advanced ship command class and warships of the Naval Academy would not help him deal with the complex situation at all, and could not compete with Heidi Sileme, who was about to be mythological. He never expected that the Germans did not take advantage of the victory to attack the weak and lonely Scapa Bay, but instead attacked the Thames River with a strong defense, and did not expect that the seemingly powerful Thames defense line would not make any achievements in the face of the Germans' new tactics.

Ten minutes ago, Jackson could still use the surround to comfort himself. The Germans attacked the Thames River just to lure the large fleet out of Scapa Bay, and the main force of the Ocean Fleet was trying to surround and fight for the support in a corner of the northern North Sea. However, when "the news of the main force of the Ocean Fleet was discovered at Nez Point," Jackson's only reserve was completely lost.

The shells eventually landed on the periphery of Greater London, and the bombs finally shattered the myth of Britain. Even though Jackson did not make unforgivable and unforgivable mistakes in legality, anyone would connect the fleet to the retreat of Willis Bay to the death of London.

Maybe half an hour, or just a few minutes, Jackson, in a daze, found a trace of light in the darkness. He stood up and ordered the telegraph room confidential officer:

"Send reports to the Navy and the Navy Staff respectively to ask if there are any arrangements for the large fleet!"

"Ha, before the war, I did not hesitate to use all kinds of dirty means to force the Admiralty to agree to you to retreat. Seeing that the situation could not be cured, I kicked the ball to the Admiralty!" The captain of the battleship Ajax snorted coldly, making a sound that Jackson could hear. "Why, I want the Navy General Staff to issue an endorsement that allows me to avoid the war to the end?"

The sound of the bang cannon fire resounded outside London, and nineteen fighter jets with iron crosses passed through the sky like locusts. The huge roar and the unfamiliar commotion of Londoners walked up the Thames.

A shrill alarm sounded, under the golden dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, in the square outside Buckingham Palace, in front of the Big Ben Tower.

The car driving on the street unconsciously went against the road. The police directing the traffic could no longer wield the traffic rod. The couple kissing on the Thames suspension bridge was confused for a moment. The old man walked out of the basement with a tool box held the armrest of the corridor, put his old hand on his brows, and looked at the rare sky without haze with surprise.

"This is not an exercise, repetition, this is not an exercise!"

A convertible military vehicle rushed out of the corner, and a sergeant stood in the car, holding a loudspeaker and shouted desperately to the stunned residents by the river. Two army sergeants in yellow uniforms jumped out of the car and dispersed the stunned citizens.

Not an exercise?

This is a common doubt among the people of the British Empire. Although a series of port mines hit on the 28th caused a panic on the east coast of Britain, resulting in a wave of migration to the inland, this is the capital of the British Empire, with hundreds of artillery pieces, more than 200,000 troops and more than 50 aircraft. The Admiralty vowed to ensure that the Germans could not break through the Thames defense line, so where did the alarm come from?

Just as Londoners were suspicious, a heart-wrenching rumbling sound came from the Thames River. The sound was tight and loose, as if it was far away, as if it was close. The gunshots were like fried beans and they were all hitting the proud hearts of Londoners.

Londoners looked at each other until the explosion that shocked the whole city began.

The earth was swaying slightly, and the heat wave rushed towards the streets, burning his face slightly. Looking at the direction of the Thames River blocked by gray buildings, Londoners were surprised to find that there was thick smoke, orange-red flames were looming, and there were also many small black dots shuttled back and forth in the smoke of fire and blood.

"German! God, that's German!"

On the river not wide, more than ten fighter jets with iron crosses were hovering like hens laying eggs, leaving behind black things. A 300-ton oil tanker was shot, its fragile hull was torn apart, tons of oil were lit, and the oil tanker exploded in a flash.

The oil ship was made of paper and was easily torn apart. The thick smoke and flames were ignited, and even fifty kilometers away, the smoke columns could be seen. Tons of oil were leaked out, and the entire river surface seemed to be burning. The air waves crossed the river surface and climbed the river beaches and streets. The glass of cars and buildings on both sides was shattered, and pedestrians nearby were caught off guard and overturned to the ground.

The military vehicles drove over, and soldiers pulled out of the recruits battalion jumped out of the military vehicles in panic. Some soldiers set up machine guns and thumping cannons on the riverside, and desperately opened fire into the sky. Some soldiers helped the police evacuate the citizens stranded on the riverside.

Accompanied by the shrill alarm, the Londoners were like the evil waves of a typhoon, and quickly lined up to both sides of the Thames. At this time, a young man was madly hiking out of the crowd. He jumped onto a high platform, threw stones at the retreating crowd, tearing his clothes, and shouting desperately:

"The Germans have fought, Britain has failed, and we are about to destroy our country!"

The crazy young man was smashed by several soldiers with butt stocks and was dragged away by the police in black. A foreign reporter raised his camera to this side, and the London police hurriedly stopped the reporter from taking photos.

The alarm lasted for more than ten minutes before it ended, but London, which was turbulent by the explosion, could not calm down from shock and panic. The Thames River still shone in the sky, and the streets of London were rioting. Police, MPs and members of the National Defense Committee were hiding in the chaotic crowd, struggling to rush to key departments such as the police station, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.

"Mr. Belfort, please give me an explanation!"

In the study room at No. 1 Downing Street, the new British Empire Prime Minister Bonalao threw a report on the table and said furiously to Arthur Belford, who also belonged to the same party.

~.-~
Chapter completed!