Long live Joachim

Chapter 44: Trial (First) On a chilly and rainy night, a thin mist permeates the sea surface. On a large warship like the Helgoland, which is over 150 meters long, people standing at the bow can only see the front main turret, bridge, and chimney, while the rear part seems to have been swallowed up by a terrifying monster and is completely nowhere to be seen. Above the huge second main turret is an open-air bridge observation deck, where Xia Shu stands with his naval colleagues in a winter ready outfit, wearing a scarf and woolen coat. In addition to the sound of waves crashing against the ship's hull, there is only the low sound of engines in the ears. It is impossible to determine how many ships are sailing in this area solely based on hearing. If someone were to interpret Xia Shu's brain activity at this time, they might be able to see a self created battlefield simulation: four German dreadnoughts, three light cruisers, nine large torpedo boats, ten landing craft, and four retired old ships sailing in the Belgian waters where Allied ships are frequently active, targeting two Belgian ports where British torpedo boats and submarines are anchored, Zeebrugge and Ostend. As a night raid, the harsh environment was able to conceal the German navy's attack intent to the fullest extent possible. Upon reaching the designated sea area between Zebruch and Ostend, the support fleet consisting of "Nassau", "Rhineland", "Helgoland", and "Thuringia" slowed down first. The light cruiser "Mainz" led a fleet towards Zebruch, while the "Munich" and "Danzig" led another fleet towards Ostend. The battle entered its countdown. On this day, October 27, 1914, exactly 44 years ago, the Prussian army forced a landing on the French Rhine Army in Metz, achieving a crucial victory (although the Prussian army had defeated the French main force in the Battle of Sedan and captured Napoleon III, France immediately underwent a political upheaval, and the newly established Third French Republic quickly recruited nearly a million soldiers, putting the Franco Prussian War into a stalemate). The rulers and military leaders of Germany hoped to see German soldiers marching on the Champs - É lys é es on such a memorable day. The troops of German Crown Prince William and Bavarian Crown Prince Rupprecht launched a very fierce attack, and several assault teams entered the city of Paris, only a few kilometers away from the charming Champs - É lys é es. However, the French military and civilians burst out with steel like willpower in the desperate situation. Now, every street or even house occupied by the German army needs to pay a heavy price. During the Franco Prussian War, the Prussian army besieged Paris for over five months until the French government surrendered and was able to occupy it. Nowadays, the heavy artillery firepower of the German army is even greater than before, but the vast and complex urban areas, as well as the sturdy and dense buildings, all provided support for the decisive resistance of French officers and soldiers. While continuing to launch a fierce attack on Paris, the German General Staff ordered General von B ü low's 2nd Army to advance towards the Belgian coast. Under the occupation of Abbeville by von Kluck's 1st Army, more than 200000 Allied forces, mainly composed of Belgian troops, were trapped in northern Belgium and northeastern France. Although the combat effectiveness of this coalition force was not enough to stir up a storm, in order to prevent the enemy from launching a desperate counterattack, the German army still deployed 16 infantry divisions, 4 cavalry brigades, and some artillery units. If this vital force could be deployed to the front line in Paris, even if it could not play a decisive role, it would be beneficial for the development of the war situation. Eliminating the Allied forces in northeastern France and northern Belgium would free up a large number of troops to rush to the front line, but in Natsuke's view, the Allied forces were trapped here and there was an extremely dangerous danger: the British could organize maritime transport forces at any time to withdraw these troops to Bulgaria, leading to the Dunkirk evacuation in advance. Such a large Allied army is not a big deal on the Western Front, but it is a considerable anti landing force in Britain. The British royal family and government will have greater confidence to continue fighting against William II's German Empire. However, Xia Shu never brought up this concern for discussion because he indirectly learned that German generals believed that the Belgians could not leave their homeland to continue fighting. As long as they defeated France, the Belgian king and his army would definitely give up resistance. In response to the attack of the Belo Legion, Xia Shu proposed to the Naval Staff to launch amphibious landing operations on the Belgian coast. However, the orthodox Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral von Pohl, did not fully understand the significance of amphibious operations. Fortunately, German Emperor Wilhelm II was very interested in this plan. After carefully listening to Xia Shu's report, his personal will easily overwhelmed the weighing considerations of the Navy General Staff. The 1st Naval Infantry Brigade, which had already returned to Germany, began to prepare for the actual landing operation. Before launching the landing attack, it was necessary for the German Navy to eliminate the threat of British torpedo boats and submarine units deployed on the Belgian coast, which led to this night's raid. Zebruch and Ostend are the second and third largest seaports in Belgium, respectively, second only to Antwerp in terms of throughput. The main reason for not choosing Antwerp for the raid is that traveling from the open sea to Antwerp requires crossing over 80 kilometers of fjords, most of which belong to the neutral Kingdom of the Netherlands. Just after nine o'clock, the assault fleet led by the light cruiser "Mainz" approached Zebuluch. This port directly facing the open sea is protected by an artificially constructed breakwater for the inner harbor. In addition to the coastal defense battery, the Belgian army's main defense in Zeebrugge is concentrated on the breakwater and its inner side. As long as the blocking ship bypasses the breakwater and sinks at the canal entering the port, it can imprison more than ten British torpedo boats, several submarines, and auxiliary ships stationed here. Under the direct cover of the "Mainz" and four large torpedo boats, six landing craft carrying over 200 naval infantry quietly sailed towards the breakwater. Their mission was to seize the Belgian army's defensive fortifications, blow up the railway bridge between the breakwater and the coast, and cover for their two retired old ships to bypass the breakwater and enter the waterway. After continuously defeating the British fleet, the German navy took the strategic initiative in the North Sea, but their main focus remained on the British. In addition, Belgium and northern France were still controlled by the Allied forces, and German surface ships rarely appeared in Belgian waters. What needed to be guarded against were only the elusive German submarines, so the Belgian military's coastal defense was not very strict. Under the cover of sea fog, six German landing craft produced by the Friedrich Royal Shipyard successfully approached the breakwater. The brave soldiers belonging to the 1st Naval Infantry Division are ready to go, their rifles are equipped with bayonets, and the safety covers of their grenades have been unscrewed. The ship was silent, with only the dull roar of motor-driven propellers in people's ears. Who is over there Suddenly, a shout came from the breakwater, speaking Flemish, which is Belgian Dutch, similar to German, and can be roughly understood by Germans. A faint beam of light from a flashlight appeared in the darkness. As time passed, the closest German landing craft to the breakwater heard the roar of machine guns. A series of 25mm machine shells with a dark red luster swept over, and the bright flashlight immediately fell to the ground, flashing and extinguishing. If it weren't for this clever and unlucky Belgian sentinel, the German naval infantry might have been able to climb onto the breakwater without the enemy noticing, infiltrate the Belgian army's artillery positions, seize the cannons, and turn them around to bombard Allied ships in the harbor. The sound of artillery immediately woke up the Belgians stationed in this port. There were noisy shouts coming from the breakwater, followed by dazzling searchlights and sudden gunshots. Before long, the British ships anchored in the port would also join the battle, leaving a very tight time for the German naval infantry. The six German landing craft involved in the raid on Zebuluch were all L-14 type with a displacement of 12 tons. These light landing craft had a draft of only 1 meter and were capable of transporting soldiers to shallow waters. Sergeant Hank Loveller was fortunate enough to become the first German naval infantry to land in Zeebrugge, unaware that his step marked the official start of German amphibious operations. From this day on, the German Marine Corps would truly become an elite force that would intimidate the enemy. After landing, Lovell agilely climbed to the top of the breakwater, half squatting on the ground, carefully observing the surroundings. A corpse lay not far away, and the rest of the Belgian soldiers had not yet arrived. The artillery position was on the north side of the breakwater, and a railway bridge connecting the breakwater and the coast was about 30-40 meters south from his location. The defenders could transport equipment and supplies through this single track railway line, and could also increase combat troops in emergency situations. Blasting team, come here! "Lorffler shouted while waving his left arm, guiding the engineers carrying high explosive charges to quickly head to the railway bridge. At this moment, someone fired two green signal flares into the sky, telling their support ships that naval infantry had landed. The signal flare had not disappeared yet when the searchlight of the Belgian garrison had already swept over. Rolfe quickly fell to the ground, his reflexes honed on the front lines of Amiens killing him - just as he lowered his head, a series of machine gun bullets whizzed past, and the sound immediately made his scalp tingle. The German soldiers who landed fired back one after another, and the pilots on several landing craft operated the switching gun to carry out cover shooting. However, the bullets fired from the north continued to increase, and Belgian soldiers obviously hid in the sturdy defense works and opened fire. The high-altitude reconnaissance of the Zeppelin airship captured the defense layout of the port, but the details need to be explored by the attackers themselves. In order to enable the naval infantry to successfully take over the defensive position on the breakwater, the light cruisers and large torpedo boats approaching the port opened fire on the searchlights, instantly extinguishing all two Belgian searchlights and dimming the light on the breakwater. The German infantry who landed quickly advanced northward along the slopes on both sides of the breakwater. When they approached the defensive position of the Belgian army, a deafening noise suddenly came from behind, and the ground trembled noticeably. Turning around, the flames disappeared instantly, and a thick smoke shot up into the sky. As planned, the blasting of the railway bridge will intercept the Belgian reinforcements and cut off their communication with the outside world. Under the cover of artillery fire, the Belgian artillery located at the northern end of the breakwater was unable to conduct effective defensive observation. Even if the landing troops could not timely capture this battery, the German blocking ships had a chance to bypass the breakwater and block the waterway before the ships in the harbor rushed out.