"There are two islands at the entrance of the Bay of Riga, Dago and Usel. They are in a favorable defensive position. The Russians have rusted powerful coastal artillery fortresses here for many years. Cooperating with the mines laid in nearby waterways, they formed the first maritime defense line in the Bay of Riga. At dawn on July 19, Scher personally led the main fleet to approach the Bay of Riga. The six battleships, "King", "Caesar", "Frederick the Great", "Catherine", "Helgoland", and "Oldenburg", were lined up, and the sound of fire was comparable to the most violent storm. After more than two hours of shelling, the Russian fortresses on Dago and Usel were trapped in the sea of ​​fire. We were ordered to cover the minesweeping boat formations and open the waterway with "Brunswick", "Prussia", "Lone", and "Glaudens".

In the spacious and comfortable living room of the "Long Live Freedom", Colonel Muktal, the captain of the "York" armored cruiser, narrating the battle that took place a few days ago with a serious expression.

"Maybe the minesweeping boat troops were too eager to clear out a safe channel. When passing through the strait between Dago and Usel, we lost two excellent minesweeping boats one after another, one of which was killed and one third of the crew. I felt a vague feeling. When the sun rose, the 1st and 2nd landing craft teams had already sent our Marines to the beaches of the two islands. We originally thought that the defenders on the island had been almost wiped out, but the actual situation was completely opposite. At 7:20 am, we received new orders to provide support to the troops landing on Dago, and the "Lone" was sent to support Usel. Because we were worried about accidental injuries, we tried to approach the island and bombarded the Russian artillery basements and positions with ship guns.

, At the beginning, everything went smoothly, but not long after, the Russian cannons hidden in the ground block suddenly opened fire at us. Although those were relatively old cannons, they had a large caliber and the shells were very powerful. The warships were soon injured by the near-missile shells, and the hulls were leaking in many places. I had to order a maneuver to avoid it. The reconnaissance plane discovered and pointed out the location of the Russian artillery in time. However, our shooting failed to eliminate these Russian artillery deployed in the ground block and attacked our Russian artillery by high-angle shooting. At 8:11, we finally got a shot. The shells landed at the fourth deputy cannon position in the starboard side. 17 crew members were killed on the spot. It took us more than a moment to completely extinguish the fire caused by the explosion. You can still clearly see the trauma left by the large-caliber shell."

When I saw the "York", Xia Shu noticed its new injuries, which was indeed shocking. However, the high seas fleet had a difficult journey from attacking Jutland to conquering the Irish Sea. 97 ships sank, more than 20,000 naval officers and soldiers died. Almost every participating ship was traumatized. The main warship staggered back again and again with scars. After maintenance, it embarked on a journey again and again. As the former director of the German naval shipbuilding and chief of staff of the high seas fleet, Xia Shu had long been indifferent to life and death, and was as firm as iron.

After obtaining the consent of Xia Shu, the colonel took out a cigarette and lit it, and then slowly said: "After that, we received the order from General Scher, and unfortunately missed the fierce artillery battle of the day. As far as we know later, at around 11 a.m., our landing troops had basically occupied Dago Island and seized Russian artillery from the ground base. The battle on Ossel Island was still ongoing. At this time, two Russian battleships injured by plane the day before suddenly appeared on the north side of the Gulf of Riga and opened fire on our minesweeping boats and torpedo boats. "Brunswick" and "Prussia" immediately started fighting with them. "Hergolan" and "Oldenburg" also joined the artillery battle soon. Although these two Russian ships

The national battleship was built and put into service more than ten years ago, but the Russians were familiar with the geographical and hydrology of the Bay of Riga. They cleverly used the cover of the coastline and interfered with our reconnaissance aircraft communication with radio. In this artillery battle that lasted nearly an hour, we had a minesweeping boat and a torpedo boat that was sunk. The Prussian was slightly injured and the Helgolan was almost hit by a torpedo. We also taught two Russian battleships a lesson. It is said that the Prince had been shot and caught fire, and the Glory was also hit by several rounds. Our aviation troops also took the opportunity to launch a torpedo attack, but did not achieve any results. Fortunately, we did not lose any aircraft on our side."

"That's because Russian battleships are moving in shallow waters," Natsuki interrupted. "The draft of Borodino-class battleships is only 8 meters, and the situation of the "Prince" is the same. They can move freely in areas with a depth of less than ten meters in the seabed. After projection, aerial torpedoes have a process of diving first and then floating. The maximum depth depends on the flight altitude and speed of the aircraft when they drop the torpedo, and it also has a certain relationship with the torpedo's fixed depth."

Colonel Muktal and his officers both widened their eyes: "So, are the aviation torpedoes dropped by our planes stuck in the seabed?"

Natsu nodded and expressed his affirmation, and then said: "I have communicated with Colonel Luke on this issue, and later tried it with the carrier-based aircraft of the 'Bismark'."

Colonel Muktal remained silent. From his expression, Xia Shu saw a strange look.

"Colonel Lukele..."

"He had been transferred from the Navy's General Staff last month to serve as the military chief at Danze Fortress." Lütjens whispered. He had been by Xia Shu for nearly two years and was very clear about Xia Shu's relationship with Colonel Lukel.

"Why?" Natsuki was surprised.

Lütjens replied: "I heard that it was a personnel transfer order issued directly from the Navy General Office. As for the reasons, there are more than one rumor, and we don't know what the truth is. Lieutenant Colonel Lukell was responsible for the training and combat of the naval aviation force."

"Bol's confidant, hum!" Having left the German Navy, Natsuki didn't mind calling him the name of Chief of Staff. Judging from Luke's abnormal mobilization, his former close comrades would not have a good life even if they were not subjected to a counterattack.

Lütjens did not continue speaking because commenting on the superiors in the German team has always been considered indecent behavior.

Xia Shu knew that if he was still in the German Navy, with his highest status, Mueller and Boer, who had been competing for naval power with Tirpitz, would definitely restrain themselves. As for the naval generals who were of great meritorious service, they were all professional soldiers with upright style, and were neither willing to be involved in political struggles nor had the ability or skills in that aspect. Moreover, they were more awe of Tirpitz and were not very satisfied with his monopoly of power, so as long as they did not touch their own interests, they would always choose to stay out of the matter.

After a rather awkward silence, Lieutenant Colonel Neuhaus suggested: "Since our recent actions in the Bay of Riga are not going well, and you are going to pass by nearby, so why not adjust your itinerary and go to meet with the fleet. Admiral Schell will definitely be happy, and the soldiers will be very excited to learn about your arrival."

Natsuki denied the suggestion without hesitation: "I have worked with General Schell for many years and know that he is a capable and tough soldier. He is the most suitable person for the position of commander of the German High Seas Fleet. I do not want anyone to call him Joachim's 'puppet'. He will use a victory to prove that he is as excellent naval commander as Nelson, Tegerthof and Hirahachiro Togo."

Behind this reason is that Natsuki has no blunt political concerns. He does not want to deepen the opposition with Mueller and Bohr, so as not to secretly hinder the situation when Ireland needs the help of the German navy in the future, and does not want to arouse the disgust of Crown William.

"The use of aviation torpedoes has nothing to do with the overall situation. The key is to eliminate the threat of Russian mines and submarines. Even if I were asked to command this naval battle, there would be no shortcuts. I could only hold back the stimulation of tears and sneezing like peeling an onion, calmly and patiently peeling it off layer by layer, which would take longer, but there was nothing to do. Perhaps before the Battle of Riga Bay, the entire Russian army's front collapsed due to civil strife?"

"Your Highness is right." Colonel Muktal actively praised, "In comparison with the current situation and strength of the war, the German Navy will inevitably become the ultimate winner of the Battle of Riga. We should believe in the capabilities of General Schell and the Fleet Staff. Just like you two young and promising young men who can be appreciated by Your Highness, they are all outstanding officers who will become great talents."

Neuhaus and Lütjens looked at each other, but were relieved but a little confused.

"It is estimated that the 'York' will be repaired for one or two months this time." Xia Shu said with a break.

Not to mention the moderate trauma of "York", the King, who was beaten unrecognizable in the Battle of the Faroe Islands, was only docked for three weeks and returned to the battle sequence with vitality, which shows the work efficiency stimulated by major German shipyards in the war. So when he heard that Xia Shu said it would be repaired for one or two months, Colonel Muktal showed a surprised expression, but when he thought about it, he nodded helplessly: "It seems that we can only serve as spectators of this war for the rest of our time."

"That's not necessarily." Natsuki said quietly, "If a war breaks out between Ireland and Britain soon, the existing naval personnel in Ireland are far from enough. At that time, His Majesty the Emperor will definitely fulfill his promise to aid Ireland, but Germany is not convenient for public participation in the war, and reinforcements should be sent in the name of volunteers."

The colonel hesitated for a moment and gave a more official response: "It is our glorious obligation to aid allies, and as long as it is the order of His Majesty the Emperor, we are absolutely happy to carry out it."

Lieutenant Colonel Neuhaus asked curiously: "Didn't the 'Sharnhorst' and 'Gneisenau' basically retain their original crew? If a war broke out between Ireland and Britain, they could have remained in the Irish Navy in the name of volunteers!"

Regarding this question, Xia Shu smiled obscurely and did not answer. The German officials here were not in the high-level circles, and of course they would not know the various secrets that were happening on the international stage. According to the compensation clause of the London Armistice Treaty, the British Navy handed over 79 ships with a total tonnage of 320,000 tons to Germany, Austria-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Turkey, Italy and Bulgaria. On the list of handed over ships, the main ships such as the Tiger Battle Cruise and the Collingwood Dreadnought were listed, but how could the British be willing to turn the blades in their hands into the enemy's weapon? Before the armistice supervisors of the Allies arrived in the UK, all ships that were repaired in the dock were considered to be destroyed. Even if the Allies dragged them back for overhaul, it would be difficult to restore the original design performance. Since they were cast on these broken ships, they had to be cast on the body of the broken ships.
Chapter completed!