Chapter 20: Battlecruiser Fleet, Charge!
Until today, Lelouch had not realized: many aviation reconnaissance spies of this era were actually holding the nationality of neutral countries.
Because airplanes had only been born for ten years, all countries were still in the groping stage regarding how to use airplanes militarily.
Three months into World War, the warring parties at most conducted some front-line air defense alerts, while the rear border had absolutely no air defense awareness.
Thus, the Britannians thought of screening out those among the citizens of neutral countries like the Netherlands who had both piloting skills and political leanings toward Britannia.
Then, they paid them heavy sums of money to fly into Germania airspace and take some photos.
Military strongholds like Wilhelmshaven were naturally frequent prime targets for them. As long as they could photograph which warships were still in port and which were not, they could sell for a good price.
However, today they were unlucky and ran into Immelmann, and Immelmann had just received guidance from Lelouch and thought to carry weapons, so those two guys on the other side clearly could not be expected to return.
Immelmann slowly followed on the enemy’s side-rear, gradually closing the distance, until the two aircraft were almost flying parallel in the same direction at the same speed, only less than thirty meters apart.
Only then did Immelmann pull out a box cannon, hand it first to Lelouch, then pull out another for himself, and the two opened fire together.
The slight crisp sounds of “pa~ pa~” echoed in the night sky, startling the enemy pilot and the rear-seat photographer, who yanked the controls hard to try to shake them off.
“Captain! Aim at the front-seat pilot! If the pilot is dead, the airplane will inevitably crash! What’s the use of shooting the photographer!”
Seeing that Immelmann was actually prioritizing the rear seat, giving the enemy aircraft a chance to turn and escape, Lelouch could not help but grow anxious.
Pilots of this era all considered themselves “air knights” and emphasized chivalry. So Immelmann, firing his gun for the first time today, subconsciously wanted to shoot the spying photographer first.
Fortunately, Immelmann knew to correct his mistake, immediately biting on more fiercely, almost instinctively.
Lelouch stared fixedly at the enemy aircraft’s pilot off to the side ahead, gripping a Mauser 96 pistol single-handedly, mimicking the posture of later generations fighting the Japanese, tilting the gun sideways and firing repeatedly.
The enormous recoil of the Mauser 96 made it hard to hold steady with one hand, but tilting the gun sideways converted the upward jump of the recoil into a lateral jump, naturally forming a small-area sweep.
He fired off more than a dozen shots in rapid succession, two bullets actually penetrating the skin and seat to enter the enemy cockpit.
The enemy pilot let out a miserable scream as one bullet passed through the seat, entering from the back and exiting the chest, a large spray of blood directly splattering onto the airplane’s rudder.
The rear-seat enemy spy immediately panicked, but in the air there was no way to switch positions and take control of the airplane, so he could only watch helplessly as the aircraft lost control and continued on its original course toward the distant sea surface.
“Refreshing! So this is air combat! I shot down the first airplane in human war history! When I get back, I’m reporting merit and accepting interviews!” Captain Immelmann was so excited he was dancing with joy; if he weren’t flying, he could almost jump up.
Lelouch: “Don’t rush! Do you really want to immediately expose the news that ‘our pilots have figured out how to fight air combat’? Don’t you want to fully prepare, equip our first batch of airplanes with machine guns, and then announce the results? Announcing too early just gives the enemy reaction time for nothing.”
Hearing this, Immelmann felt somewhat disappointed; he knew Lelouch was right, but he did not want the merit right in front of him to slip away.
The Empire’s interests were important, but personal interests and honors were also important.
Fortunately, Lelouch quickly found the angle to persuade him: “You didn’t shoot down this airplane anyway. You only knew to aim at the rear-seat spy; it was I who killed the pilot!
I’m not rushing for merit, so why are you? But if you can hold back, when the time comes, I will truthfully report your merits to the Duke, with merits tallied and rewards given, guaranteeing you a leap in promotion!”
Immelmann thought it over: this guy was two years younger than him, but he was indeed valued by the Baria Royal Family’s generals, so his words should carry some credit…
Immelmann grumbled his agreement: “Fine, then remember to testify for me when the time comes—but what if the Navy people salvage the airplane wreckage or bodies later? How to explain?”
Lelouch: “Easy, just have General Hipper say they salvaged a crashed neutral country airplane. As for whether the newspapers report it, let them; besides, it’s hard to salvage anyway.”
Immelmann still had one worry: “But I’m only temporarily seconded to the 6th Army Group; I’m not a Barian. Will the Duke still have the authority to promote me then?”
This question was just like handing over a pillow when sleepy; Lelouch was secretly delighted and quickly reassured him: “What’s difficult about that? Just request transfer to the 6th Army Group. I remember you said you’re from Saxony, right?”
Immelmann was born in Dresden, a major Saxony city. The state of Saxony is located between Baria and Prussia, and the local people’s faith and customs are also in a transitional state between the two.
Among the main German Army air heroes in World War I, Immelmann’s origins were already relatively the most southern German-line. The others, Boelcke and Richthofen, were typical Prussians.
Moreover, all these men were very young, all post-90s: Immelmann born in 1890, Boelcke in 1891, Richthofen and Lelouch the same age, born in 1892.
Lelouch took this opportunity to pull another air force backbone into his little interest group—what could be better?
Immelmann said nothing more, just nodded to indicate the deal, and the two reached a tacit understanding.
Immelmann knew full well that this Lelouch had ideas; having him hold back temporarily was to prepare more fully and achieve a much greater merit more suddenly in the future.
Since that was the case, Immelmann would of course choose “delayed gratification.”
……
Half an hour later, the safely landed Lelouch met Major General Hipper in the operations room of the raiding detachment fleet at Wilhelmshaven.
He had Duke Rupprecht’s handwritten secret letter and other tokens, so he passed smoothly.
Major General Hipper had been the Duke’s adjutant in his youth and always gave the green light to people sent by the Duke.
The Major General’s full name was Franz von Hipper; he was actually five years older than the Duke, already fifty this year. But from relatively humble origins, even with a “von” in his name, at fifty he was only a Major General.
Lelouch had no time for chit-chat; after a brief self-introduction, he laid out the intelligence issues, operational plan, and speculations about the enemy that he had repeatedly rehearsed before.
Of course, he had Major General Hipper clear the room for a private talk.
And Hipper clearly empathized more than the Duke and Karl,
Several times when Lelouch mentioned “the Britannians infiltrated our communications department under the cover of neutral Netherlands, landline telegrams might be intercepted at signal relay stations, or our radio ciphers might have leaked and been deciphered,” Major General Hipper slapped his thigh hard and said bitterly:
“No wonder! I’ve long felt something was off! Just three months into the war, the Empire’s several sneak sabotage attacks on enemy coastal ports all had to suddenly brake! Because the enemy always mysteriously strengthened their defenses! So the problem was here!”
Lelouch had not expected him to be convinced so easily and was momentarily stunned: “You… completely believe my deductions just like that?”
Hipper: “Because I already had such suspicions; your account just confirms them, not to mention you have His Highness the Duke’s secret letter.”
Lelouch was greatly surprised: “Then you… also agree with the Duke’s plan, willing to set a trap for the Britannians to verify these guesses? If the verification goes well, we have a chance for some military merit; it just requires you to temporarily bear the blame for disobeying orders…”
Hipper waved his hand boldly: “No problem, I’m used to acting independently in the military. Every time the Naval Ministry lets me choose targets for coastal bombardment sneak attacks, I don’t strictly follow their requirements—either changing time or location.
Now I think, luckily I did! Otherwise my officers and soldiers would have long been done in by those leaking idiots!”
Hipper’s straightforwardness instead left Lelouch, who had prepared a ton of persuasive words in advance, somewhat at a loss.
All those words were prepared for nothing.
Lelouch was stunned for a good while before sighing deeply: “You should be the Commander-in-Chief of the High Seas Fleet! That foolish old fool Scheer doesn’t deserve it!”
Flattered like this, Major General Hipper subconsciously tensed and instinctively refuted: “Don’t say such things! Vice Admiral Scheer is also a respected and meticulous senior!”
Lelouch immediately backed off, adopting a posture of “I’m young and ignorant, speaking impulsively,” and symbolically apologized.
But after the apology, Lelouch still stubbornly stated: “I’ve always thought that momentary military rank differences don’t mean much. With years of continuous campaigning, there are plenty of chances for merit.
Now he is a Lieutenant General and you a Major General, but in the future, you might rise to General faster!”
Hipper laughed and cursed him not to talk nonsense, but inwardly he could not help feeling secretly pleased: This kid gets me! He knows I’ve got the talent!
The two acted like they hated not meeting sooner and discussed many deployment details.
Lelouch also told Hipper about following Immelmann before dawn, shooting down the reconnaissance aircraft the Britannians had sent under neutral cover.
Hipper immediately dispatched destroyers to search the direction Lelouch mentioned for the downed wooden enemy aircraft.
Airplanes of this era were still all wood structures or even canvas-skinned, many with overall density lighter than water, so after falling into the sea, they could float for a long time.
While Hipper went to salvage the airplane, Lelouch analyzed its possible symbolic meaning again: “The Britannians sending an airplane to reconnoiter Wilhelmshaven at this time shows they care very much about the port’s situation, which indirectly confirms that the Britannians will have a major action soon.
I think it’s eighty or ninety percent they will use the Channel Fleet to bombard Nieuwpoort and Ostend. If you dispatch sufficiently strong forces for a long-range raid, you could claim great merit. Even if the enemy doesn’t come, you can turn around and bombard the French Army attacking Nieuwpoort, then use the battlecruisers’ high speed to withdraw immediately without lingering. Either way, our forces don’t lose.”
Hipper nodded with a proud smile: “No problem, I’ll immediately arrange people to send the two telegram deception plans you mentioned. And I’m not afraid to tell you—you really came at the right time. I originally planned for early November to bombard Great Yarmouth on the east coast of Britannia Main Island, destroying the local docks and shipyards, and the fleets moored there.
So my battlecruiser fleet is fully prepared to sortie at any time. And I don’t even need a separate deception plan—I can just take the original Great Yarmouth bombardment plan I prepared to actually execute, tweak it a bit, fabricate some difficulties, and request approval from superiors via radio.
If the enemy really intercepts and deciphers my telegram message, even if their fast warships set an ambush coming south from northern Scotland, they won’t go as far as the Belgian coast; they might stay near Great Yarmouth.”
Hearing General Hipper’s introduction, Lelouch grew even more delighted.
What a coincidence!
In fact, in the original history, on November 3, 1914, General Hipper was supposed to take his two battlecruisers and one armored cruiser to bombard Britannia’s Great Yarmouth. This type of mission was his third since the war began.
And now it was October 28, only five or six days from that historical bombardment.
Considering that fleet sorties often required some “feint to strike real” tricks first and wouldn’t head straight for the real target upon leaving port, a time difference of five or six days was actually not long—because fleet departures couldn’t be hidden from the enemy; their spies would see eventually.
Because in the first two or three days after discovering the enemy fleet sortie, the opponent’s vigilance was often tightest. Only after the fleet disappeared for a while would they gradually relax.
Just like the “boy who cried wolf” story— it takes hearing it several times to become desensitized and lax.
This way, Hipper could use the originally real operational plan to deceive the enemy.
All aspects of the deployment details were extremely realistic, naturally with outstanding effects.
Moreover, the fleet’s sortie preparations could be compressed to the extreme; normally a battlecruiser fleet sortie required days for supplies and maintenance, but now they could depart directly. Because everything was already prepared in advance for the Great Yarmouth bombardment. Even the boilers had been lightly preheated ahead of time.
After urgently handling all the radio deception, Major General Hipper finally boarded his flagship, the Derfflinger battlecruiser, preparing to set sail.
Before departure, he kindly invited Lelouch: “How about it? Do you plan to fly back to the front line by airplane, or come back with my battlecruiser? If you trust my capabilities, ride the Derfflinger back to the front. It’s the Empire’s newest battlecruiser, with absolutely strong armor and speed sufficient to escape any enemy pursuit.”
Lelouch thought for only a few seconds before deciding to take the battlecruiser. This thing was safer than this era’s rickety airplanes even if it went into battle.
The key was that the Britannians currently had no battleships or battlecruisers in the Channel theater.
The Britannians’ Queen Elizabeth-class battleships weren’t in service yet, so as long as they didn’t encounter the George V class （ of 1911—not the later 1940s one ） or Iron Duke class—others were no concern.
Even if they ran into Iron Duke, that thing only did 21 knots; Derfflinger at 27 knots could simply run if it couldn’t win.
“Then I’ll gladly accept your invitation.”
Lieutenant Lelouch boarded briskly, invited by Hipper to the conning tower on the bridge; the massive warship soon set sail, charging westward through the waves.
