Chapter 167: The Man Who Negotiated The Surrender Of Two Fleet Commanders-in-chief
Not long after the “Poltava” defected on the battlefield and switched sides.
The dispute on the “Sevastopol” over whether to surrender had also reached a boiling point.
The battle situation on the sea surface had turned into a three-against-one scenario. All 30 black muzzles of the 305 mm main guns were aimed at the “Sevastopol”, and the enemy’s speed was several knots faster than hers; there was no way to escape no matter what.
Moreover, the enemy had several destroyers and light cruisers closing in, though they always stayed 7~8 kilometers away, not daring to get too close before the situation clarified.
But anyone with eyes could see that the bizarre surrender of the “Poltava” had whetted the Germanians’ appetites more and more, and made the Lusha sailors increasingly wavering; the atmosphere was tense to the extreme.
Both sides seemed to think surrender was very promising and feasible, since colleagues had already tested the waters.
In the command tower of the “Sevastopol”, a brigadier general of the Tsar’s Guard, Anton Ochumelov, had his hands in his pockets, unlatched the safety on his pistol, and was secretly aiming the muzzle at Admiral Ottovich von Essen through his trouser fabric.
Admiral von Essen naturally knew what the other was thinking, but he was helpless. Worst of all, the telegram receiver was still continuously broadcasting Colonel Lelouch’s open-code surrender telegrams.
Admiral von Essen swallowed and hurriedly reassured Brigadier General Ochumelov:
“Calm down, gentlemen. The ‘Poltava’ mutinied and surrendered because their three midships and aft main turrets were all destroyed, leaving only the forward main turret intact. They couldn’t fire back while retreating, despaired due to lack of combat effectiveness, and surrendered.
The ‘Sevastopol’ still has all her fire control systems intact. We’re still fighting hard. Now we must unite against the enemy…”
Brigadier General Ochumelov was somewhat paranoid and gnashed his teeth: “Then why, after getting so close and firing for so long, haven’t you hit the enemy!”
Von Essen: “Our superstructure was also heavily damaged in the previous battle. The fire control system’s aiming and rangefinding equipment all have issues; this is normal…”
Brigadier General Ochumelov: “Then why haven’t the enemy’s shells hit us?!”
Von Essen was stunned: “Do you actually hope the enemy’s shells hit us?”
Ochumelov was speechless for a moment; his intent was to say both sides were already firing high in tacit understanding.
After a daze, he brusquely issued the final order: “Those shells earlier all overshot! I want you to lower the muzzles! Level all main guns and fire! There must be some gun captain or someone below colluding with the enemy in tacit understanding!”
With tensions this high, many adjutants and sailors in the command tower knew things could not end well. If the Tsar’s Guard’s orders were carried out, the enemy would immediately return fire, and this ship would surely sink.
Several naval officers suddenly turned on them, rushing forward to disarm Brigadier General Ochumelov of his pistol. Other sailors clashed with the Tsar’s Guard at close range. For a moment, Mosin-Nagants rang out in the command tower, and bayonets stabbed wildly.
Admiral von Essen was pushed aside by subordinates to lie down, but still took a pistol bullet to the arm, with blood gushing out.
Fortunately, after he fell, no one targeted him anymore. Soon, blood splattered the windows everywhere in the command tower, with at least twenty-something dead on both sides. The surviving sailors quickly locked the armored door to keep outsiders out.
At this point, Admiral von Essen could only go to the ship’s intercom and, in his capacity as fleet commander-in-chief, order a mutiny on the battlefield.
……
“Hurry! Close in fast! The Lushans have defected!”
On Destroyer V191, Captain Klose, Lelouch’s company commander of guards, was beside himself with excitement, gripping his MP15 submachine gun tightly. He watched the destroyer accelerate to full speed, even overloading, charging fiercely toward the “Sevastopol”.
The subsequent perilous boarding against waves and pitching needs no elaboration.
During the process, some soldiers did fall into the sea while climbing rope ladders, and two particularly unlucky ones were crushed into meat pies by the rolling motions of the battleship and destroyer.
But these risks were unavoidable; history will remember these unfortunates who sacrificed on the eve of victory.
When Captain Klose boarded the “Sevastopol” deck with his submachine gun, the fighting on board was far fiercer than on the “Poltava” earlier.
Because large numbers of Tsar’s Guard soldiers had been pressed into service as loaders, and the “Sevastopol”‘s fire control systems were the best preserved among the four Gangut-class, with all four main turrets still operational.
So naturally, more loaders and Tsar’s Guard soldiers survived, and a higher proportion among them were die-hard loyalists to the Tsar.
This was also a major reason why Admiral von Essen had hesitated to surrender earlier; he feared his unarmed sailors couldn’t beat those 200 elite Tsar’s Guard.
However, dozens of sailors who seized rifles eventually held a section of the boarding-side deck. They fought bloody battles with constant sacrifices, holding out until Klose arrived with his submachine gun team.
Three platoons of elite Germanian Army troops, all equipped with submachine guns. Facing four platoons of Tsar’s Guard armed with Mosin-Nagants, the Lushans were no match.
The battleship was just under 200 meters long, with plenty of deck obstructions. At such engagement ranges, the Mosin-Nagant absolutely couldn’t match the water-like spray of the MP15.
“Da-da-da~ da-da-da~”
Submachine gun bullets whistled across the deck, mowing down platoons of Tsar’s Guard who tried to counterattack into pools of blood.
“Brothers, charge! Control the main turrets, control the casemate deck! I hear that’s where most of the Tsar’s Guards are!”
“After clearing those enemies, assault the bridge, take the steering room and command tower!”
Captain Klose shouted commands loudly, and submachine gun squads immediately dispersed methodically to clear the enemy.
A group of Lusha sailors volunteered to point out enemy positions: “Sir, this way! I’ll lead you to kill those Tsar’s Guard!”
……
After a dozen minutes of fierce fighting, the gunfire on the “Sevastopol” finally died down.
Captain Klose finally brought a platoon of submachine gunners and, after pre-arranging via the ship’s intercom, had the command tower door opened.
Admiral Ottovich von Essen, whose wound had been roughly bandaged by subordinates, sat gray-faced at the nautical chart table, eyes lifeless.
Klose didn’t make things hard for him; he safetied his submachine gun, slung it behind his back, walked up, and extended a hand: “On behalf of Colonel Lelouch and Vice Admiral Hipper, I accept your surrender.”
Hearing Hipper’s name, Admiral von Essen felt somewhat better about saving face and extended his hand: “Baltic Fleet Commander-in-Chief, Nicholas Ottovich von Essen, Admiral of the Navy, surrenders to your forces.”
After shaking hands, Admiral von Essen seemed still unwilling and offered a few words to justify his actions:
“We didn’t surrender out of cowardice! We upheld a soldier’s sense of honor from beginning to end!
But Tsar Nicholas II is not worth the loyalty of any upright man! He cannot distinguish loyal from traitorous, listens to sycophants’ slander, and harms the loyal.
The Lusha Army didn’t lose on the battlefield; it lost to the tyrant Tsar and his ministers ruining the country, scattering hearts and minds!”
Klose didn’t understand these grand principles, so he just said he would note it down and report to his superiors.
He now only demanded they immediately turn the ship toward Königsberg Port, with all main guns pointed in safe directions throughout, under constant supervision by the boarding guard team.
Admiral von Essen raised no objections and fully accepted the orders.
A great battle that nearly annihilated the Lusha Baltic Fleet thus came to a close.
Additionally, with von Essen’s main force annihilated, Vice Admiral Barylev’s cruiser squadron—those last six ships trapped like a mouse in a bellows in the Hiiumaa Strait—basically didn’t escape either.
Only two destroyers escaped due to their small size. But the “strongest armored cruiser Rurik” was too large a target, failed to slip through, and was intercepted and sunk at the strait’s north entrance.
Thus, the entire Lusha Fleet, excluding a very few light cruisers and no more than ten destroyers, had only two pre-dreadnoughts, the “St. Andrew” and “Twelve Apostles”, that escaped back.
But they clearly could no longer be used as warships, as they could no longer form combat effectiveness and weren’t worth the resources for full repairs.
They would likely be scuttled as fixed forts at the narrowest point of the Gulf of Finland between southwest Helsinki and northwest Tallinn. That spot is only 40 km wide total, with the deep-draft main channel just 20 km.
Scuttling two pre-dreadnoughts as fixed forts one north and one south of the main channel could cover the entire waterway, preventing other ships from passing unscathed. This was already the most combat-effective form for the surviving Baltic Fleet.
……
Two days later, the fleet limped back to Königsberg Port.
The garrison at Königsberg Port had received advance notice via radio of the great naval victory annihilating the Lusha Baltic Fleet. Now the entire naval base was lit up in celebration, a sea of joy.
It was only after arriving at Königsberg Port that Admiral von Essen was able to leave the “Sevastopol”, go ashore, and meet the man who accepted his surrender: Vice Admiral Hipper, and Colonel Lelouch.
Seeing Hipper came as no surprise to Admiral Essen; Hipper was also a fifty-something veteran, and reaching vice admiral was normal.
But meeting Lelouch clearly startled Admiral Essen; he hadn’t expected the one sending those surrender telegrams to be so young.
“Are you really 25? Too young. No wonder I heard you’d earned many brilliant achievements but were only a colonel.” Von Essen, with one arm in a sling, shook hands with Lelouch using his good arm, deeply moved inside.
Before Lelouch could explain, several generals from General Staff Headquarters and the Naval Ministry suddenly arrived at the dock, coming over to congratulate Vice Admiral Hipper, Vice Admiral Scheer, and other meritorious officers, bringing good news:
“Vice Admiral Hipper, get ready! His Majesty, Marshal Tirpitz, and Admiral Pohl will inspect this morning. His Majesty said he’ll promote you to admiral on the spot!”
Hipper couldn’t help but be swayed, taking a deep breath: “Admiral of the Navy?!”
“Yes! You and Vice Admiral Scheer together annihilated the Lusha Baltic Fleet; doesn’t that merit promotion to admiral? Of course, Vice Admiral Scheer’s merits also warrant promotion to admiral.” All the colleagues delivering the news spoke as if it were a matter of course.
Hipper quickly composed himself, recalling the storms of the past two years.
Indeed, he had been promoted to vice admiral after the Ostend naval battle. The subsequent Dunkirk naval battle had solidified his record post-promotion.
Now, he had achieved the supreme merit of annihilating the Baltic Fleet, unprecedentedly capturing two enemy battleships that mutinied on the battlefield. How could such unheard-of military merit not merit direct promotion to admiral!
Since ancient times, had anyone in a fair, square gunnery naval battle captured enemy battleships!
Of course, the High Seas Fleet had also lost two battleships.
The “Rheinland” was directly crippled and settled on the rocky shallows of Hiiumaa’s north coast;
The “Posen” barely made it back herself, but for an old ship that damaged, repair costs would exceed half of a new build’s; she’d likely be towed somewhere as a fixed fort to serve out her days.
Mainly, the Nassau-class hull was too poor, with a triple-expansion steam engine propulsion system—the deadliest flaw. Her engine room structure couldn’t be converted to steam turbines either.
（Note: Steam engines can’t be converted to steam turbines, but low-end steam turbines could later be upgraded to high-end ones, as turbine sections are narrow and long, while steam and diesel engines are squat and short. The hull design locks it in; short squat sections can’t fit turbines.）
This ship could only make 19 knots for life, worthless in future naval battles.
Other issues like weak armor and firepower could still be upgraded during repairs or later modernizations.
Including the Lushans’ Gangut-class defense problems, which could be patched up.
Only propulsion upgrades are impossible, so repairing heavily damaged Nassau-class ships is pointless; better to save the budget for new builds.
All in all, this battle lost two Nassau-class but captured two Gangut-class—absolutely “no loss, actually a profit.”
Ships that can make 24 knots: swap boilers for high-pressure ones later, use extra power to reinforce armor, replace blown turrets with improved ones—they’d still fight in a decade.
For now, though, Germanian Navy’s on-paper combat strength had declined, so for the rest of this year and early next, the Navy couldn’t rashly provoke Britannia.
After all, of the captured ships, only the “Sevastopol” could be repaired by year-end. The “Poltava”, with three of four turrets destroyed, would take at least half a year.
Two Nassau-class permanently out of the battle line—real losses—plus one lightly damaged “Nassau” needing three to five months’ repair.
Plus Vice Admiral Scheer’s “Helgoland” took a few cruiser shells in the Riga Bay battle; all superficial flesh wounds that couldn’t penetrate, but still needed superstructure patches and replacement of shaken instruments—about one or two months of minor repairs.
So, in Q4 this year, High Seas Fleet operational battleships would temporarily drop to 12, rise back to 15 by year-end, and reach 17 again by Q2 next year.
Additionally, per the shipbuilding plan, the “Baria” and “Baden” battleships would enter service early and mid-Q1 next year.
Then, the High Seas Fleet would have new sharp 380 mm main gun battleships, totaling 19 battleships.
Per the timeline Marshal Tirpitz promised Emperor Wilhelm, by end-Q2 next year, the Empire would seek a decisive naval battle with the Britannians!
For now, endure half a year, intensify repairs and shipbuilding.
……
Hipper and others were excited for a while, quickly tidied their uniforms, then hurried to Königsberg Train Station for the audience.
They had just arrived when Emperor Wilhelm’s special train pulled in from Berlin.
The Emperor alighted first, hiding his withered left arm behind him, waving his right hand to accept the cheers of his subjects.
Then Naval Minister Marshal Tirpitz and High Seas Fleet Commander Admiral Hugo von Pohl followed one after another.
Marshal Mackensen, Vice Admiral Hipper, Vice Admiral Scheer, and others stood in formation awaiting the Emperor’s review.
Lelouch did not appear publicly; he was 6th Army Group staff officer, here in the Baltic Sea War Zone to advise, acting as “Imperial Ministry of War Propaganda Bureau Deputy Director” providing assistance.
After all, counter-espionage and deceptive psychological warfare against the enemy was a form of external propaganda work—quite reasonable.
He just wasn’t suited to claim merits as an officer in such a setting. If the Emperor later learned of his feats and wanted details, he’d summon him privately.
Emperor Wilhelm first went to Marshal Mackensen, who saluted and solemnly reported good news: “Your Majesty, Riga City was completely captured by our army yesterday! And we routed two corps of the enemy’s 2nd Army Group.
With the Riga Bay sea supply route severed, the garrison’s morale in Riga City was extremely low; our advance was several times faster than before! Additionally, we’ve completely encircled the remnants of the enemy’s 12th Army Group on the Courland Peninsula and will annihilate them within a week.”
“Excellent! As expected of the Empire’s most reliable old marshal, not disappointing my hopes.” Emperor Wilhelm excitedly expressed approval, gripping Marshal Mackensen’s hand firmly.
Mackensen then added that if His Majesty wished, the annihilation of the enemy’s 12th Army Group could be accelerated.
But currently, to minimize troop casualties, Mackensen had opted for siege followed by slow assault, hoping the enemy would gradually run out of ammo and supplies, with morale dropping further.
Emperor Wilhelm immediately replied: “No rush, old marshal! Take it slow; the enemy has lost sea control and can’t evacuate the peninsula garrison by sea. We must cherish our soldiers’ lives.
Speaking of which, the Riga sector’s smooth progress owes much to the Army, but the Navy cutting enemy reinforcements and creating total panic also contributed greatly.”
Emperor Wilhelm turned and shook hands with Hipper, queued second, then announced excitedly:
“I now promote Franz von Ritter Hipper to Admiral of the Navy! And appoint him Deputy Commander of the High Seas Fleet, still commanding the battlecruiser force!
Simultaneously, promote Reinhard Scheer to Admiral of the Navy, appointing him High Seas Fleet Battleship Force Commander.
Promote Friedrich Burdick to Vice Admiral of the Navy, appointing him High Seas Fleet Reconnaissance Group Commander.
Promote Hermann Nodeman to Vice Admiral of the Navy, appointing him High Seas Fleet 3rd Battleship Division Commander.
Your joint efforts annihilated the Lushans’ Baltic Fleet! Depriving the enemy of sea control south of the Gulf of Finland and cutting their shipping in these waters! Glory to the Imperial Navy!”
Emperor Wilhelm in one go promoted all merits from the Riga Bay and Gulf of Finland battles, advancing nearly every participating general with significant sinkings by one rank.
From his wording, Hipper was clearly the greatest contributor.
Hipper had directly sunk three enemy Gangut-class and a pile of junk pre-dreadnoughts, capturing three ships among them.
Any listener could tell Hipper’s military merits and seniority had surpassed Reinhard Scheer; he’d successfully positioned himself as the top man under current High Seas Fleet Commander Hugo von Pohl.
Finally at this moment, Admiral Hipper was thrilled inside: from now on, he must keep learning Colonel Lelouch’s brilliant strategies! It was his guidance that created so many opportunities for merit.
His rise to this point: one-third his own efforts and the officers and soldiers’ brave fighting.
Seven parts from Lelouch’s intelligence deception and psychological warfare deceptions. Forcing the enemy to fight the Imperial Navy at disadvantageous times, places, and conditions—giving the Navy chances to shine.
To save the Imperial Navy, must follow Lelouch’s stratagems! Following Lelouch’s stratagems is choosing to stand with God!
……
Hipper was so excited he missed what the Emperor said next.
Meanwhile, Emperor Wilhelm, while the generals were elated, continued methodically announcing follow-up disposition details.
Nearby, Admiral Scheer took the chance to report some heroic deeds from the battle to the Emperor.
The Emperor, upon hearing, expressed respect for the officers and soldiers who died heroically, promising proper pensions and highest honors.
Among them, upon Vice Admiral Burdick of the cruiser reconnaissance group reporting: “In Riga Bay, we broke through the Lusha cruiser squadron’s pursuit and lured Vice Admiral Barylev into General Scheer’s battleship ambush circle.
It was all thanks to the cruiser ‘Bremen’ leading the breakout, tragically torpedoed by the enemy, yet choosing to swing broadside to block all enemy torpedoes in the wakes for the following five cruisers, sacrificing heroically to cover the rest.”
Emperor Wilhelm was deeply moved and immediately decreed for the “Bremen”‘s 32 surviving crew: officers promoted one grade, NCOs two grades, soldiers three grades!
For the 208 fallen: officers and NCOs promoted three grades for pensions, soldiers all to second lieutenant level for pensions.
“Bremen” Captain Johannes Valentin, Lieutenant Colonel, finally accorded rear admiral treatment for pensions to his wife and children.
With all this settled, the train station welcome ceremony ended. The Emperor boarded a custom royal Benz, then drove to Königsberg Palace.
Königsberg was once the “cradle of East Prussia”, so the suburbs still had the Hohenzollern family’s old palace; the Emperor always stayed there on visits.
To show favor, the Emperor invited this battle’s greatest hero, Admiral Hipper, to ride with him.
In the Emperor’s car, Hipper chatted cautiously, inevitably mentioning the merit of capturing enemy ships.
Hipper thus said: “Your Majesty, this time two Gangut-class battleships surrendered—such a spectacle is unprecedented in modern naval history. Since ironclad battleships existed, nothing like this has happened.
Moreover, the ‘Sevastopol’ surrender was personally decided by Lusha Baltic Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral Ottovich von Essen. To have an enemy admiral and fleet commander surrender—such a spectacle, does Your Majesty not plan to meet the surrendered minister?”
Emperor Wilhelm was immediately interested; he truly hadn’t known this detail, as Hipper’s radio victory report hadn’t mentioned it.
“Oh? A fleet commander-in-chief surrendered personally? Such an important matter, why didn’t you say so earlier to let everyone rejoice. How did you negotiate the surrender?” Emperor Wilhelm was so excited he was nearly undignified.
Admiral Hipper thus truthfully boasted: “Actually, forcing the enemy fleet to sortie and causing their internal chaos hinged on our effective psychological warfare and counter-espionage.
We used new mine-sweeping technology to break the mine blockade line in the Irbe Strait of Riga Bay. The same trick was just used days ago by our Navy’s Black Sea detachment.
But since this new weapon was still secret, the enemy didn’t know. We turned it around, inducing them to think there was a traitor admiral in their Navy who defected to us and sold the precise mine deployment map.
Later, we used propaganda and psychological strikes to demoralize and panic the Riga garrison, then released captured prisoners from outer Riga towns after spreading rumors to them.
Ultimately provoking Lusha sea-land discord, mutual blame for defeat. Triggering Tsar Nicholas II’s paranoia, forcing their Navy out to die proving loyalty… finally, many in the Baltic Fleet, indignant at Nicholas II’s failure to distinguish loyal from traitor, surrendered to us in desperate must-die straits.”
Emperor Wilhelm listened in a fog, unable to grasp these insidious conspiracies, let alone the details.
“Hiss… what a mess—inducing enemy thoughts of traitors, stirring mutual blame, exploiting the Tsar’s suspicions… just say straight who came up with this? You couldn’t have, right.”
Hipper: “Of course not me; it was all done by War Ministry Propaganda Bureau colleagues handling external propaganda.”
Emperor Wilhelm stroked his mustache, recalling: “War Ministry Propaganda Bureau, deputy director for external propaganda… that’s Lelouch Hunt! That kid made such a stir?!
Last I saw him was… April or May, before the Hungarian Campaign. Wasn’t he with Marshal Rupprecht on the Southern Front?”
Hipper: “This time he came specially to Königsberg to direct Northern Front propaganda and subversion work…”
Emperor Wilhelm: “Summon him at once! Before seeing von Essen, hear what this kid has to say first.”
