World War: Battleship Arms Dealers

"Of course," Chen Feng said. "The British will give us that excuse."

Everyone was taken aback.

Chen Feng stood up and walked to the huge nautical chart on the wall. He pointed to the center of the Arabian Sea, where a string of red ship symbols were marked.

"How many capital ships have the British assembled here?" he asked.

Zhang Zhen walked over and looked at the red symbols: "Latest intelligence, twelve ships. HMS King George V, HMS Centurion, HMS Ajax, HMS Revenge, HMS Ramirez, HMS Royal Oak, HMS Monarch, HMS Conqueror... plus the battlecruisers HMS Renown and HMS Repulse. A total of twelve ships."

"What is their purpose?" Chen Feng asked.

Zhang Zhen paused for a moment, then his gaze fell on the lower right corner of the nautical chart—Dubai Port.

"They're going to..." His pupils contracted slightly, "They're going to gang up on the Bismarck and the Tirpitz!"

Chen Feng nodded.

Scheer frowned – twelve ships against two, the British were determined to keep him in the Arabian Sea.

"That's right." Chen Feng walked back to the table, but didn't sit down. Instead, he looked at Scheer and Tirpitz. "The British have amassed twelve capital ships in the Arabian Sea, waiting for the Bismarck and Tirpitz to set sail. They want to use their overwhelming numerical superiority to encircle and annihilate you on the high seas."

Tirpitz's voice was hoarse: "Commander Chen, if that's the case, we can only... break out to the east and enter the depths of the Indian Ocean. The British won't be able to catch up."

"We can't catch up, but they can blockade us," Chen Feng said. "Twelve ships in three squadrons, blocking all exits to the Arabian Sea. How long will your fuel last? A month? Two months? And then what if it runs out?"

Tirpitz fell silent.

Chen Feng continued, "Moreover, even if you leave, the British fleet will remain here. Their goal is not only to encircle and annihilate you, but also to control the Arabian Sea and protect their supply lines. If you leave, they will have won."

Scher couldn't help but ask, "Commander-in-Chief, what do you mean?"

Chen Feng looked at him and said something that shocked everyone:

"The Bismarck and Tirpitz were built by our Lanfang."

The meeting room fell silent for a second.

Scheer's mind raced—he knew, of course, that the two ships had been built by Lanfang; Lanfang's engineers had accompanied them when they took over in Kiel. But Chen Feng bringing this up now…

"The original names," Chen Feng said, emphasizing each word, "were the Yangtze River and the Yellow River."

Li Te's eyes widened suddenly—as the naval commander, he knew exactly what this meant. The two Bismarck-class ships sold to Germany were indeed transferred from the Lanfang Navy's active service order.

"The Huaihe and Zhujiang," Chen Feng continued, "as well as the Dingyuan and Zhiyuan, were all Bismarck-class ships. From the outside, they were almost indistinguishable—the same ship type, the same turret layout, and the same bridge structure."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "The only difference is the flags being displayed."

Wang Wenwu was the first to react.

He stood up abruptly, his voice trembling: "Commander-in-Chief, you mean... to let the Huaihe and Zhujiang ships..."

Chen Feng nodded.

Zhang Zhen understood. He rushed to the nautical chart and drew a circle with his finger at the location in the Arabian Sea: "Have the Huaihe and Zhujiang ships leave port without their national flags, so the British will think that the Bismarck and Tirpitz are coming out. As soon as the British make a move..."

"As long as the British make a move," Chen Feng continued, "Lanfang will have the perfect pretext for declaring war—the British will launch a surprise attack on a neutral country's warship without warning. The whole world will see that it was the British Empire that started the war."

Lee Te gasped.

He thought for three seconds, then said, "Commander-in-Chief, this plan... is too risky. The Huaihe and Zhujiang only have two ships, while the British have twelve. What if they can't hold out..."

"We can hold out," Chen Feng said. "You know the Bismarck-class armor and firepower better than I do. The Huaihe and Zhujiang also have fire control radar, which renders the British optical rangefinding useless at this distance. Without radar, they can't win against twelve ships, but they can hold out for a few hours."

He looked at Zhang Zhen: "Just hold on until the Bismarck and Tirpitz appear."

Scher's heart skipped a beat.

Should we let him play?

Chen Feng turned to him: "General Scheer, I need your fleet to set sail from the Huaihe six hours later, hoisting the German flag. Six hours is enough time for the British to enter combat readiness and for them to focus all their attention on those two Bismarck-class ships. Once they start fighting, you'll rush over at full speed—"

"The British will discover," Tirpitz continued, his voice softening slightly, "that the two ships they attacked weren't flying German flags. And the real German flag is being raised behind them."

Chen Feng nodded.

Scheer stood up and walked to the nautical chart. He looked at the location marked with the British fleet, then at Dubai Harbour, silently calculating the distance and time in his mind.

"Six hours," he said. "If the British fleet pursues at full speed, it should move southeast. The Bismarck and Tirpitz, departing from Dubai at thirty knots, could enter the battlefield in about four and a half hours."

He turned to Chen Feng: "Commander-in-Chief, if the British act too soon, the Huaihe and Zhujiang ships will need to hold out for four and a half hours. This time..."

"The Huaihe and Zhujiang can last for four and a half hours," Zhang Zhen's voice came from the side.

Scher looked at him.

Zhang Zhen's face showed no hesitation: "My ship, my men, can hold out for four and a half hours, no problem."

The meeting room fell silent for a few seconds.

Li Te broke the silence: "President, the Huaihe and Zhujiang ships set sail without flying their national flags... What's the reason for that? The Lanfang fleet is setting sail for training, why aren't they flying their national flags?"

"That's the key point," Chen Feng said. "Not flying the national flag was to mislead the British. The British would fill in the blanks themselves with the logic that the German ships had just been repaired and were trying to sneak away without their flags. Someone like Jellicoe, seeing two Bismarck-class ships without their flags coming out of Dubai, would immediately think, 'The Germans are trying to get away with this.'"

He paused for a moment, then added, "In addition, our press conference will be held on the Huaihe River."

"A reporter?" Wang Wenwu was taken aback.

Chen Feng nodded: "Reporters from several major newspapers in Lanfang will be there with their best cameras. They will capture the first moment the British opened fire, the images of shells landing on the Huaihe, and the horrific damage to the Lanfang warship."

His voice turned cold: "Then, these photos will appear in all the newspapers in London, Paris, Berlin, and New York. I've already thought of the headlines for them—'The British Empire launches an undeclared war, brazenly attacking the neutral country of Lanfang.'"