I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 1030 The German Fleet Appears

After a night's voyage, the British reinforcement fleet finally arrived in Brest.

After receiving reinforcements, Vice Admiral Forbes immediately intensified his attack on Brest Harbour, with three battleships HMS Elizabeth launching a fierce bombardment of the port.

Minesweepers cleared mines under cover of fire, while a large number of destroyers followed the minesweepers to close in and fire, attempting to forcefully capture Brest port and save face for Britain.

However, they were completely unaware that this was precisely telling their adversaries that the reinforcements had fallen into a trap after crossing the English Channel.

……

In Wilhelmshaven, Germany, the rising sun, with its orange-red arc of light, pierces through the clouds, illuminating the warships poised for departure on the sea.

The seawater gently swayed, rhythmically lapping against the sides of the battleship "Bavarian," creating shimmering silver spots around it.

(The image above shows the Bavarian-class battleship, the most powerful German battleship during World War I, with firepower comparable to the British battleship HMS Elizabeth. Only two of the planned four ships were actually built and commissioned in March 1917.)
Admiral Scheer had a command center on the warship, and he personally commanded the battle from the "Bavarian" as his flagship.

Many people advised General Scheer that he should take charge of the situation in Port Wilhelmshaven.

But General Scher refused without hesitation:

"I can no longer make any difference in Port William."

"We don't need to cooperate with other units. We are the only ones in all of Germany, and the eyes of the whole world are on us."

"If we lose, Germany is very likely to be finished."

"So, this is our last chance, not just for me, but for all of you, understand?"

This is the German version of "burning the boats," where General Scheer tells his officers and soldiers that victory or defeat hinges on this moment, and there is no other way but to win.

The officers and soldiers expressed their support to General Sher:
"We will win, Captain."

"I will not see the moment of defeat, because I am certain that I will be dead by then!"

"Let us defeat the British and make them bow their proud heads!"

……

The German officers and soldiers were in high spirits and eager to fight, each one determined to die.

The British, however, were unaware of this. They still believed that the German High Seas Fleet had failed to recover its morale and combat effectiveness, that their own strength far surpassed that of the High Seas Fleet, and that the Second Fleet, far away in the Atlantic, could return in time to provide support.

……

General Scher didn't sleep all night. He was waiting for the moment to witness history to arrive, afraid that if he closed his eyes, it would slip away.

He took the coffee from the orderly and stood by the porthole, looking at the warships in front of and behind him that were already on fire and emitting black smoke, feeling a mix of emotions.

This was the scene he had dreamed of.

Defeat the British Royal Navy and break their blockade.

Countless days and nights spent planning in front of nautical charts, countless drills with staff officers, and countless times waking up in the middle of the night from defeat.

Now, it's finally here!

Ironically, this was achieved with the help of his former enemy, Ciel.

Then General Scherr considered another question:
Even if we defeat the British Royal Navy, what then?

Is Germany really going to achieve its previous plan of replacing the British Royal Navy as the world's number one navy?

Stop dreaming. The strongest navy will always be France, and always the Cisalpine Navy.

Therefore, allying with the Ciel is the wisest choice. Because in the not-too-distant future, the world will belong to the Ciel!

General Scher felt fortunate that the provisional government also recognized this.

Just then, the staff officer came to his side with a telegram and whispered:
"Captain, a telegram from Liege: British reinforcements have appeared in Brest harbor."

"They saw three Elizabeth-class battleships, as well as a large number of destroyers and cruisers."

General Scheer grunted in acknowledgment, handed the coffee to his staff officer, straightened his uniform, and ordered, "Set sail!"

"set sail!"

"Set sail!"

The orders were passed down one by one, signal flags were waved, signal lights flashed with a "pop" sound, and telegrams were sent out one after another.

The sailors sounded the ship's horn.

Amidst the long, drawn-out whistling sound, warships began to move with the scraping of anchor chains, their speed increasing as they orderly sailed toward the unknown battlefield to the north.

……

War House, London.

The operations command is working closely to remotely control the Second Fleet's attack on Brest Harbor.

They were well aware of their strategic objective: to capture the port of Brest.

This is the first step in defeating the French navy, allowing Britain to demonstrate its military power and presence to the world.

“We need more minesweepers,” said Navy Secretary Balfour, pointing to the map. “The newly added minesweepers have been almost entirely lost, and if this continues, we will be back to being on the defensive as before.”

"No," the Quartermaster objected.

“There are no more minesweepers nearby, so we have to bring them from Beihai.”

"This will take up a lot of time."

"And there's no need. The current sea area is already close to the destroyer's firing range, so we can carry out precision bombing!"

The staff officer shouted:

"We have lost two more destroyers, which were destroyed by enemy battleships."

"Colonel Vincent requests a retreat."

"They believed they were targets for enemy battleships!"

That is indeed the situation on the battlefield.

Although the destroyer was able to fire at close range, the area where it could operate was very narrow because the sea mines in the area had not yet been cleared.

Therefore, its high-speed maneuverability advantage could not be utilized, and it was sunk one after another by enemy battleships, like a stationary target.

However, the Minister of Munitions flatly rejected the request.

"Order them to keep fighting!" the Quartermaster said. "We will capture this port soon. No one is to retreat, no one!"

After observing the attack formation for a while, Navy Minister Balfour suddenly understood.

He looked at the Minister of Munitions in shock: "You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"What?" The Minister of War feigned ignorance.

"We don't have seaplanes to provide us with gunnery correction," the Navy Minister said bitterly. "So you're using these destroyers to draw fire!"

Everyone else, including Prime Minister George, understood.

By positioning destroyers as targets in front of enemy battleships, the enemy battleships could expose their positions when they bombarded the destroyers.

Therefore, three Elizabeth-class battleships could concentrate their firepower to bombard it.

Cold-blooded, ruthless, and cruel.

To achieve their goal, they would stop at nothing, even at the cost of the lives of all the officers and men on board!
The Minister of Munitions readily admitted it, repeating his previous statement: "Do you have a better method?"

The command center fell silent once again.

After a long silence, Prime Minister George finally said, "Now, victory is more important than anything else!"

The others nodded slightly.

Just then, the staff officer shouted, "The Germans! The German fleet has appeared! They've come out in full force, at least 80 warships!"

(End of this chapter)