Starting with the smashing of Dunkirk

Chapter 21 A feint, and I'm caught in his trap.

A few hours later.

October 28, noon, Admiralty, London.

"Hasn't the latest news from Groningen come back yet? Are those Dutchmen you bribed even reliable?"

With lunchtime approaching, First Lord of the Navy Walton Spencer remembered that he hadn't received a response to an intelligence report he'd been waiting for that morning, so he called over the person in charge of the intelligence and confirmed it with him in person.

Faced with criticism, Lieutenant Colonel Murray Shutt cautiously responded: "Your Excellency, I apologize for keeping you waiting. The civilian aviation enthusiasts we previously developed in the Netherlands are all very reliable."

They are technically skilled and politically aligned with the world order led by Great Britain. This should just be an accident, perhaps due to bad weather or a plane malfunction... After discovering the plane hadn't returned, we immediately dispatched personnel to investigate and conduct further reconnaissance.

Lieutenant Commander Murray Shutter served under Rear Admiral Thomas Jackson, Director of Naval Intelligence (NID), and was in charge of the Aviation Reconnaissance Division within NID.

He was also the founder; the Aviation Reconnaissance Office was established by him in 1912, so no one in the field is more senior than him.

Since there was no air combat in this era, Lieutenant Colonel Xiut naturally wouldn't think of "the plane being shot down," and naturally explained it as a weather-related accident.

After hearing his authoritative explanation, Walton could only concede: "Tell them to hurry up and conduct further reconnaissance. Notify me as soon as there are any results! The Empire is about to launch a major operation. We need to confirm how many of the enemy's main warships are in port and how many are just loitering around outside to ensure that nothing goes wrong!"

“Yes, Minister!” Murray Shutt quickly replied.

Wharton was busy and didn't want to wait any longer, so I went to the cafeteria for lunch first.

……

After arriving at the canteen, Walton got his food and glanced around. He happened to see Rear Admiral Horace Hood, Chief of Staff of the Strait Fleet, eating as well, so he went straight over and sat down diagonally opposite him.

Wharton was a very large man, and he felt cramped sitting directly opposite or next to anyone, so he always sat diagonally opposite his subordinates when they ate together.

Major General Hu De came to London to report on the combat readiness of the Straits Fleet and to make a final request before the operation.

Upon seeing the minister approach, he quickly stood up and waited for Walton to sit down before sitting down again.

"How are Vice Admiral Hastings' preparations going? Are all of his battleships ready to go?" Walton asked, taking a big bite of fried fish and chewing as he asked.

"We are ready to launch an attack at any time, Your Excellency. However, the 'Revenge' of the Sovereign-class has been undergoing main gun refitting since the start of the war, and it has just been completed. But the corresponding fire control system has not yet been broken in, and some observation and aiming instruments are still compatible with the old cannons. If we are to launch an attack, we will have to rely on the experience of the artillery officers to make fine adjustments, which will be less efficient."

The HMS Hood, of the same class, had been decommissioned before the war began, but was temporarily reinstated after the war started. However, it did not undergo any modernization modifications and can be deployed immediately if needed. Emergency supplies and maintenance have been carried out.

The other two more advanced capital ships, including the Formidable-class HMS Majesty and HMS Queen, have remained in excellent condition. They were already prepared to set sail when you requested the Channel Fleet to prepare to receive the Billy Kings' evacuation; it's just that the Billy Kings didn't hold out until we arrived to meet them…”

The Billy King Army had been completely annihilated a day earlier, but Major General Hood still took every opportunity to explain: the demise of the Billy King Army was not due to the Straits Fleet's failure to provide timely assistance, but rather to their own weakness, which prevented them from holding out for even a short time.

Minister Walton notified the Channel Fleet to prepare for a rescue the day before yesterday, but the Billy Kings were wiped out just one day later. What kind of rescue is that?
Wharton was well aware that his subordinates were trying to shirk responsibility, but as the saying goes, "too much clarity leaves no room for fish," and he didn't bother to argue. He simply waved his hand dismissively.

"Alright, let's not dwell on the past! We need to look forward! Fortunately, the preparations General Hastings made for the attack weren't entirely wasted. Although the Billy King Army is destroyed, the Royal Navy's reputation cannot be tarnished! We must retaliate immediately!"

Yesterday, after learning of the annihilation of the Biligin army, I immediately contacted the Franks and General Joffre, ordering them to gather a large force from the Dunkirk and de Panne areas and advance eastward with all their might to capture Neoport and Ostend! The Biligin army was completely wiped out at Ostend, so we must take Ostend back to prove that the goddess of victory is still on the side of the Empire!
Joffre was initially slow to act, complaining that their heavy artillery hadn't been brought up in time. However, I assured him that we shouldn't count on their sluggish land guns; the Royal Navy would provide fire support throughout the battle! So Joffre finally agreed that as soon as we began the artillery barrage, they would immediately commit all their infantry to the attack!

As for the minor issue of the 'Revenge's' fire control system not being fully upgraded, it's irrelevant. This mission is to conduct shore bombardment, bombarding those stationary targets; what need is there for sophisticated fire control!

After hearing this, Major General Hu understood why His Excellency the Minister had kept the fleet on standby in port for a day after hearing of the annihilation of Billy King's army, instead of immediately retaliating.

It turns out he needed to coordinate with the French army and coordinate naval and land operations. The coordination involved must have been very complex, so it was perfectly normal for it to take an extra day or two.

Moreover, in Rear Admiral Hudson's view, a delay of a day or two would not matter, since the Royal Navy was invincible and could go whenever it wanted.

So he volunteered, "Then, should we attack immediately? Since General Joffre has already given his approval."

Minister Walton, however, was old and shrewd, and even at the last minute he was still waiting: "No rush! Yesterday I sent reconnaissance planes to William Harbor and other places to check the situation, and I also had the spies in Kiel Harbor send back messages to verify the positions of the Demacian main fleet."

"We've received a reply from Kiel; the battleships were still in port yesterday. However, the reconnaissance planes from Wilhelmshaven and Emden haven't returned yet. I've already dispatched another batch; we'll launch them as soon as we confirm the news. A little time won't make a difference."

Major General Hood: "Actually, as long as the ships in Kiel are still there, the remaining enemies don't pose much of a threat..."

Minister Wharton glared at him: "Better safe than sorry!"

Because he was waiting for intelligence, Walton ate his meal very slowly. After finishing, he ordered an extra glass of cognac and sipped it slowly, while lighting up one Havana cigar after another as he waited.

Major General Hu De could only endure the minister's secondhand smoke until it was past mealtime, and the canteen manager didn't dare to come and urge the minister.

After an unknown amount of time, Lieutenant Colonel Murray of the Aviation Reconnaissance Division and Colonel Oliver of the Telecommunications Reconnaissance Division suddenly arrived together, and ran quickly toward Minister Wharton as soon as they entered the dining hall.

"Your Excellency, the supplementary reconnaissance report just came back this morning, revealing that several of the Demacians' main high-speed battlecruisers are not in port!"

Minister Walton and Major General Hood felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this. They both simultaneously thought of the same question: The Demanian battlecruiser had been deployed? And where was their target? Could they have some kind of precognitive ability, knowing that the Royal Navy was about to bombard Neoport and Ostend, and thus come to intercept them?

But then I thought about it again and realized that this was really too absurd, since the Royal Navy hadn't even officially launched an attack yet.

Thanks to Minister Wharton's shrewdness, he immediately thought of two other potential key pieces of evidence, and swiftly confirmed them:

"Did you spot any enemy fleet breaking radio silence during the day today? Secondly, could you confirm the time when the enemy ships disappeared? Did they depart last night, or did they leave even earlier? Does your aviation reconnaissance unit conduct aerial photography close to enemy ports every day?"

The people present were all knowledgeable, so they immediately understood why Walton was worried about these points.

After setting sail, fleets typically maintain radio silence and switch their radios to "receive-only" mode to avoid revealing their location. This prevents them from responding to requests from their home port and forces them to passively receive orders.

If the rear needs to issue new missions or orders to the fleet at sea, it must use wireless coded telegraph; there is no other way of communication.

The Britannian Navy had already deciphered the enemy's naval codes on August 20th, exactly two months prior, by salvaging a sunken Demania submarine and seizing its codebook.

As long as the enemy's Admiralty notifies its fleet, which is already at sea, of new operational missions via radio, the Royal Navy will be able to intercept and decipher it!

Minister Wharton's question was quickly answered. Lieutenant Colonel Murray reported first: "We don't conduct aerial reconnaissance every day, because the opportunity isn't always available, and we also need to avoid exposing neutral pilots by conducting too many operations."

However, considering that enemy ships usually leave port secretly at night and rarely during the day, the enemy must have left at least in the first half of yesterday night, or possibly the first half of the day before yesterday or even earlier. If they left during the day, our land-based spies could easily spot their movements from a distance. Leaving at night is precisely to avoid close-range reconnaissance by ground spies; this is Hipper's consistent practice.

After Murray finished speaking, Walton simply nodded slightly, acknowledging his analysis, and then silently turned to Oliver.

Colonel Oliver quickly replied, "The radio monitoring department intercepted several telegrams from Port William last night and just finished deciphering them. They indicated that 'Hipper should choose his own target and carry out the original harassment plan. In addition, our spies in Yarmouth discovered that a large merchant fleet left the port today, but there are no valuable targets at the moment.'"

After listening to Colonel Oliver's telegram, the other three exchanged glances. Walton and Major General Hood both understood each other's attitudes from their eyes.

Major General Hudson tentatively spoke on behalf of his superior: "Your Excellency, in your opinion... even if Hipper has left port, it should have been there for quite some time. It's unlikely that he left in haste after learning about the recent situation on the coast of Bilikin."

As is well known, the preparation time for a fleet to set sail is quite long, at least one or two days. If the enemy only thought of leaving port after the outcome of the Battle of Billy King, it would certainly be too late. Moreover, the command telegrams sent from their home port after they set sail did not mention anything else, only instructing them to choose their own targets.

Analysis of the telegrams suggests that Hipper had long planned a surprise attack on one of the many ports along the Empire's eastern coast. However, enemy spies embedded in our territory infiltrated the port, observed the movements of the convoy, and advised them to abandon Yarmouth as the target, allowing Hipper to choose an alternative—unfortunately, we don't know where that alternative target is.

Walton nodded in satisfaction, also showing a hint of approval for Major General Hood's statement.

This subordinate thinks the same way I do.

In short, Hipper's disappearance must have been "premeditated," so it couldn't have been due to a sudden, unforeseen event.

Hipper had already set sail ahead of time. While at sea, even if he wanted to receive new missions, he would need to listen to the radio. And as long as Hipper could hear the radio, the Royal Navy could intercept and decipher it. The fact that no such order had been received indicated that the enemy's rear command had not issued such a mission.

There's actually a slight flaw in all of this—if Minister Wharton and the others had known that Hipper had unusually set sail just before dawn, then they might have had a slight chance of realizing:
"Hipper could have received the new orders in person on land before going to sea, without having to receive the mission instructions via wireless telegraph at all."

The problem is that Minister Walton and others couldn't possibly know that Hipper had just left before dawn this morning—because the reconnaissance plane that confirmed "the enemy ship was still in the harbor before dawn this morning" had already been shot down, and the pilot had been shot dead in mid-air by Lelouch.

Therefore, even that last tiny sliver of doubt was nipped in the bud.

After much deliberation, Minister Wharton finally issued two formal orders:

"Have Vice Admiral Hastings immediately lead the main force of the Channel Fleet to secretly depart port after dark today, heading to Neoport and Ostend to launch a full-scale bombardment of the German forces! Cooperate with the French to recapture those two towns in one fell swoop!"

In addition, Major General David Beatty was ordered to lead a rapid patrol unit south to patrol and ambush major ports on the east coast of our country, including Yarmouth and northwards, and to dispatch domestic reconnaissance aircraft to conduct a comprehensive search of the area within 200 kilometers of the east coast.

Once Hipper's battlecruiser fleet is spotted, have Beatty's main force rush towards it, aiming to severely damage or even annihilate the enemy!

Wharton's strategy was clear: facing an unknown threat, he would divide his forces into two groups, one to attack and the other to defend, with the slow-moving pre-dreadnoughts carrying out shore bombardment.

High-speed combat cruiser squadrons are deployed to defend against potential enemy surprise attacks on the homeland.

Historically, Hipper had bombarded Yarmouth this time, but he did it very secretly and was not caught by Beatty, who was in charge of the Britannian high-speed patrol unit.

But in this life, Hipper had no intention of going to Yarmouth. So he took out the discarded case of the Yarmouth bombardment, which was so realistic that it couldn't be more so, and deliberately left out a few clues. He used this feint to lure Betty to the battlefield in the north, away from the Billy King Coast.

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PS: Another 4,000-word chapter, I won't split it up today... I'm updating so fast during the new book period, yesterday I already had more than 7,000 words.

The main focus should be on the enemy's plans, intelligence analysis, and how they fall into the trap. These details also need to be included; otherwise, simply stating that a battle has begun would seem too unrealistic.

Please don't mind the blandness; I definitely want to emphasize intrigue and strategy in my book. Anyone could write a story where gaining an advantage simply involves technological advancement and weaponry.

During the new book release period, please leave comments, follow updates, add to your favorites, and vote.

(End of this chapter)