Chapter 200 Actions of All Parties

"Extraordinary number! Extraordinary number! A great victory for the navy!!"

On the streets of Berlin, several newsboys were selling desperately. Today's newspapers were so popular that they were sold out before I even walked two streets away from the newspaper office. He had already gone to the newspaper office twice, and there were so many coins in his pocket that it was rattling.

This news can be said to have pushed the confidence and morale of the German people to a peak.

You must know that since the British Navy and the Spanish Armada engaged in a large-scale naval battle in 1588, which ended in the complete defeat of the Armada, the British Empire has firmly established its position as the world's number one naval power, and it remained so until the 20th century. With this status as the king of the sea.

Achieving even a slight achievement against the British Royal Navy is enough to make the navy of any country ecstatic. Because no country has ever been able to do it. Even Napoleon, who traveled across Europe and achieved absolute hegemony on the European continent, had no good way to face the British Royal Navy.

The Battle of Trafalgar between the two sides heralded the defeat of Napoleon's plan to conquer Britain. From then on, no country on the ocean dared to challenge the British maritime hegemony.

A century later, as a rising empire and a country unwilling to accept the status quo, Germany replaced France and once again challenged Britain's maritime hegemony. After William II came to the throne, he immediately began to prepare to expand the navy. By the time of World War I, Germany The Navy is already the second largest navy in the world, and the High Seas Fleet is also the second largest fleet in the world after the British Home Fleet.

At that time, the German Navy was able to move sideways in the world. It was a pity that the poor geographical location made the world's second-largest navy blocked at the door by the world's largest navy.

Of course, the German navy was not without its efforts. The Battle of Jutland is a clear example of Germany's efforts to break through the British blockade.

In the end, the German High Seas Fleet led by Admiral Scheer achieved a tactical victory by sinking more British ships with relatively small tonnage losses; the Royal Navy Home Fleet commanded by Admiral Jellicoe succeeded The German navy was blocked in German ports, rendering the latter almost useless in the later stages of the war, thus achieving a strategic victory.

Today, Germany finally avenged its humiliation and sank so many British main battleships in one fell swoop, which is really exciting.

On the street, in a coffee shop, in a shopping mall, no matter when and where, whether it is an acquaintance or a stranger, as long as this matter is mentioned, we can immediately start a conversation. People were laughing at the British for their recklessness. Just yesterday, the imperial diplomatic department gave them a final warning, but these ignorant British turned a blind eye. Unexpectedly, they would suffer retribution today. Everyone sighed. "It turns out that the invincible British Royal Navy is still here today!"

On the radio, the announcer broadcast the news generously, making people's blood boil.

In the Imperial Navy Department, Raeder had already come out of the initial shock and looked at Lütjens, Lindemann and others who also looked shocked. "What a great victory."

Lütjens said with a look of disbelief. "How is it possible that just one submarine can sink so many warships?" It's simply unbelievable.

"Maybe some secret weapon was used. This is not important. The fleet has to sail as soon as possible. If this continues, this war will have nothing to do without surface ships." Even he, the chief of naval staff, did not know about this sneak attack. He was really worried that if the submarine force had more such great victories, the position of chief of naval staff would be handed over to others.

Compared to the melancholy atmosphere in the Imperial Admiralty, the atmosphere in the British Prime Minister's Office across the strait was simply desperate.

Prime Minister Chamberlain's hand resting on the conference table could not help but tremble slightly. He looked at everyone in the conference room and spoke with some difficulty. "Let's talk about what to do next."

Everyone present looked gloomy, and no one took the initiative to speak.

When had the British Empire suffered such losses? It's simply the first time since the beginning of time.

After waiting for a long time, no one said anything. Chamberlain looked at Churchill aside. "Winston, how did the enemy attack?"

Churchill shook his head with a depressed face. "There is no definite news yet. According to Commander Hebrew's judgment before his death, it should be an enemy submarine." But the strange thing is that the battleships exploded one after another, and the searching destroyers did not find even a trace.

Just then the secretary ran in in a panic. "Your Excellency Prime Minister, Your Excellency Prime Minister, there is news!!"

Chamberlain reacted momentarily. "what news?"

The secretary walked directly to the radio placed in the corner, turned on the button, and adjusted the channel a few times. Accompanied by the buzzing noise of electricity, impassioned German came from the radio.

Although most people can't understand German, they can still tell that the announcer's tone is quite exciting, as if he is talking about something very important.

Fortunately, the secretary was on hand to translate. "They said that a U-boat secretly sneaked into Scapa Flow last night and sank it..." He paused and said sadly. "The Germans have learned the details of the sinking and damage of our warships."

The conference room exploded instantly.

"A submarine?"

"How can it be?!"

"How did the submarine slip into Scapa Flow?" No one believed that this could be done by a single submarine. In their opinion, even if it was a submarine, it would not be possible without a dozen of them operating together.

But now the Germans actually say there is only one submarine? !

Are they kidding me? !

"Did the Germans create some new submarine that can be absolutely silent and ignore sonar searches?" An army general couldn't help but mutter.

Hearing this, several generals in the navy department looked at each other and shook their heads in tacit understanding. This technology is simply a fantasy and it is impossible to appear.

Churchill spoke slowly. "The biggest problem now is how should we inform the public about this."

Everyone's face became gloomy again.

This matter cannot be concealed. After all, several battleships sank, and how could the casualties of thousands of officers and soldiers be concealed! If this is concealed, it may really cause trouble. But if it is not concealed, the trouble will definitely not be small.

Chamberlain asked. "Tell me your opinion."

Churchill sighed. "My opinion is that there is no need to cover up and the loss should be announced directly, the sooner the better. And we must implement the 'R4' and 'R5' plans as soon as possible. Only by ending this war as soon as possible can we regain the support of the people."

The so-called "R4" plan is the British invasion of neutral Norway. The purpose of the action is to prevent Germany from obtaining Swedish iron ore. British senior officials estimated that the Norwegian government would not object to the British landing, and Norway had previously made informal guarantees.

The "R5" plan is to bomb Romanian oil fields. At present, almost all of the German army's oil resources come from Romania. Once the Romanian oil fields are destroyed, it is only a matter of time before the German armored forces are paralyzed on a large scale. Moreover, Greece is an ally of Britain, and British bombers can take off from Greece to bomb Romanian oil fields.