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

Chapter 1031 The Familiar Strait

I'm late today, only one update. Sorry!

……

"Damn it!" Prime Minister George cursed, his face pale. "They knew it all along. It was Charles who did it! Charles must have guessed that we would send troops to reinforce Brest, so he coordinated with the Germans."

No one doubts this.

France and Germany are now quasi-allies, and the timing of the German High Seas Fleet's attack perfectly matches France's needs.

The Royal Navy faced only two paths:

First, they continued their attack on Brest Port regardless of the consequences.

Second, troops should be immediately dispatched back to reinforce Beihai.

The Minister of Munitions chose the former.

"We should continue the offensive," he said.
"The Germans are just bluffing; they are incapable of breaking through the North Sea Fleet's blockade."

"Like I said, their morale and combat effectiveness have not yet recovered, even if they have more warships."

"They just want to disrupt our offensive rhythm!"

But First Lord of the Navy Balfour held a different opinion:

"What if the Germans win? We all know the Germans have been planning this for a long time, and they have more warships in the North Sea than we do."

“Once the Germans defeat us in the North Sea, it will be of no use even if we win in Brest.”

"By then everyone will know that besides the French fleet, the German fleet can also defeat us. We can't take that risk!"

The Minister of War, a complete gambler, objected loudly: "But what if we win on both sides? Wouldn't that be even better?"

Then everyone understood his idea:

They defeated the German fleet in the North Sea and the French fleet in the Atlantic.

Thus, all the colonies that were planning or had already revolted would be frightened, and the world would naturally return to British "administration".

“No.” Prime Minister George felt this was too risky: “We should blockade Brest Harbour with mines as originally planned and redeploy the Second Fleet back to the North Sea.”

He believed that there was no need to rush the attack on Brest Harbour; Brest Harbour was right there, and it wouldn't be too late to return and attack after defeating the German fleet.

This line of thinking was correct in principle, but in practice, they found that the Minister of Munitions was actually right, because the Second Fleet simply could not be recalled.

……

At Brest Harbour, the offensive by the Royal Navy's Second Fleet has reached its climax.

The Minister of Munitions' tactics were indeed effective.

The destroyer drew the fire of the French battleships ahead, while behind it were three super-dreadnoughts and five dreadnoughts, lined up with their broadsides facing Brest harbor and their guns pointed at the target.

Unable to launch seaplanes, Vice Admiral Forbes opted to use destroyers for gunnery calibration: the destroyers would enter visual range, observe with binoculars, and then communicate with the battleships via radio.

Destroyers face immense pressure because they are also targets for enemy battleships.

They could only hope that they hadn't been chosen by the enemy.

Then, only those who survived could relay the information back to the rear so that the battleships could avenge them.

The British dreadnoughts opened fire on the obtained coordinates one after another, with each warship firing at intervals of a few seconds.

(Note: The intervals between the warships' firing are for gun calibration. If all warships fire simultaneously, the destroyer at the forefront cannot determine which warship has the most accurate firing data. If there is a 10-second interval, the destroyer knows which warship has achieved "straddle firing" and then instructs all warships to fire based on that ship's firing data.)

Then Vice Admiral Forbes received a signal from the destroyer: "Ship number three has achieved 'straddle firing,' number three!"

Vice Admiral Forbes was overjoyed. The third warship was the Queen Elizabeth-class KLM Malaya, and its straddle-firing capability meant that all three Queen Elizabeth-class ships could fire accurately. This could very well severely damage the target.

(Note: Even if warships have the same guns, the ballistics of different classes of warships will have significant errors due to differences in parameters such as ship height and displacement. The error will be much smaller for ships of the same class. During World War I, the hit rate of naval guns was extremely low. In the Battle of Jutland, the hit rate of British dreadnoughts was only 3%. They could only rely on these methods to improve their hit rate.)

Lieutenant General Forbes shouted the order: "Adjust the parameters!"

Soon after, the relay shouts of the communications soldier and staff officer could be heard:

"Ready!"

"Ready!"

……

"Fire!" Lieutenant General Forbes shouted.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom!"

……

The cannons roared, and the ship shuddered violently with each shot. Sometimes, before the ship could even turn around, it was pushed in the opposite direction by the recoil. The smoke from the cannons bloomed like gray-black flowers on the enemy's side.

There was no whistling of shells, because it was inaudible, but towering columns of water were clearly visible more than ten kilometers away.

Then came two more rounds of shelling, the sea was filled with smoke, and the air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, which was blown into the entire command cabin by the damp sea breeze.

But Lieutenant General Forbes was used to it; he nervously held up his binoculars, staring toward the port of Brest.

A burst of fire erupted, the flames within the water column bright and accompanied by black smoke.

Vice Admiral Forbes was overjoyed. Years of combat experience told him that a flash of light meant a hit on the target, and a bright flash of light accompanied by black smoke was likely a secondary explosion of an enemy ship's shell.

The command center erupted in cheers.

But the telegram brought a report from the destroyer at the front: "One cruiser sunk, enemy battleships have moved away in time!"

The cheers gradually subsided. Sinking a cruiser was nothing, at least not compared to the destroyers they had lost.

However, Forbes was not discouraged. The British had gained an absolute advantage, and the enemy only had two dreadnoughts, hiding in the cramped space of the harbor. They could not afford to lose!

But just then, a staff officer reported: "General, a telegram from London, the Prime Minister orders us to withdraw from the battlefield and return to the North Sea!"

"What?" Lieutenant General Forbes looked at his staff officer in disbelief: "We're about to win, at this time?"

The staff officer said with a hint of helplessness: "The German High Seas Fleet is attacking the North Sea, General. Reinforcements are urgently needed."

Lieutenant General Forbes grunted in acknowledgment, glanced at Brest with a hint of regret, and ordered: "Withdraw the troops and return to reinforce the North Sea!"

However, what Lieutenant General Forbes didn't know was that this was just the beginning of his nightmare.

……

The English Channel.

The Queen Elizabeth-class super-dreadnought HMS Warspite, accompanied by two dreadnoughts and more than a dozen destroyers, was the first to enter the strait.

HMS Warspite had just passed through the straits from the North Sea to reinforce Brest last night, along with the other warships it was accompanying.

The reason they were sent back to Beihai first was that these ships participated in the battle for only about an hour and did not consume much ammunition.

Lieutenant General Forbes believed they could enter the North Sea in optimal condition to confront the German High Seas Fleet.

They had no idea what awaited them in that familiar strait!
(End of this chapter)