Chapter 645 Worried about the German Navy

In the end, the German First Fast Fleet was defeated by the sinking of a battlecruiser, two cruisers, and four destroyers.

The battleship "Lützow" was able to return safely.

It was spared because a cruiser met it at high speed at the last moment and blocked the torpedo for it.

After that, Rear Admiral Caves had to order the fleet to retreat. He knew that it was meaningless to continue like this.

There were only 20 ships when they came, and they wanted to give the French Navy a blow. As a result, there were only 13 ships left when they returned, and the damage to the enemy was only two destroyers and one cruiser.

This made Rear Admiral Caves indignant.

The most serious thing was that the German army lost a valuable battlecruiser.

The Moltke-class "Sedlife", a fairly advanced battlecruiser, was only commissioned in May 1913, and it has been less than three years since then.

…

Antwerp, Charles's headquarters.

When the news of victory came, cheers instantly broke out in the headquarters. The staff excitedly ran to Charles and surrounded him, vying to hug and shake hands with Charles:

"Great, General, we defeated the German Navy."

"It's hard to imagine that we had almost no losses, but sank a battlecruiser, the most advanced battlecruiser of the Germans."

"The German fleet is the second in the world. If we defeat them, does it mean that our navy is the second in the world?"

The speaker was Weygand, who was always with Charles as a combat staff.

The staff turned their eyes to Weygand at the same time, with some teasing in their eyes.

The second in the world?

Does this guy think that the French Navy will be satisfied with the second in the world at this level?

But everyone tacitly didn't say it out loud, just smiled with deep meaning.

At this time, Lieutenant General Geprat walked into Charles' office.

His headquarters was downstairs from Charles, so that the Air Force and the Navy could coordinate more easily, otherwise this battle would not have been so beautiful.

Lieutenant General Geplatt's cheeks flushed with excitement. He stepped forward and grasped Charles' hand, saying tremblingly: "We won, we really won, Lieutenant General. You are right, these torpedo attack planes are really useful!"

"Of course, General." Charles replied calmly: "In fact, without torpedo attack planes, the Germans will not be able to get any good results in this battle."

Lieutenant General Geplatt nodded heavily.

Although the escort fleet was inferior to the German fleet in terms of tonnage and firepower, the French fleet used merchant ships as bait to occupy a favorable "T"-shaped position, and all members could fire at the German fleet from the beginning.

More importantly, the French fleet approached the German fleet with the help of fog and entered the 3-kilometer range of torpedoes when the battle began.

At this distance, the French fleet, equipped with new wire-guided torpedoes, can fight even against powerful battlecruisers.

"I have some questions to discuss with you." Lieutenant General Geplatt glanced at the conference room.

Charle understood, stood up and walked into the conference room with Lieutenant General Geplatt and closed the door.

The cheers of officers and soldiers came from outside the door again. Some people even threw documents and papers into the air crazily. They fluttered in the air, like petals falling to welcome heroes.

Lieutenant General Geprat sat on the chair and nodded with satisfaction, his eyes full of emotion, and soon some tears appeared in his eyes.

He recalled the struggle of the French Navy for hundreds of years. They have been working hard, but they have been suppressed by the British Royal Navy from beginning to end. Now they have not even fallen to the point of withdrawing from the Atlantic and defending the Mediterranean alone.

Now, everything seems different...

"General?" Charles called.

Lieutenant General Geprat suddenly woke up. He smiled with a little embarrassment, sniffed and wiped the corners of his eyes secretly: "Sorry, Lieutenant General, I just... you know, this is a special victory, very special."

"Yes, I understand." Charles nodded to show his understanding.

This is of great significance to the navy, especially for veterans like Gaiprat, who can hope to see the French navy return to its peak in their lifetime, and there is no regret for this alone, not to mention that it can bring huge benefits to France in the future.

After taking some time to calm down, Vice Admiral Gaiprat said slowly: "Although we have achieved a remarkable victory this time, it seems to be disadvantageous to the strategy, am I right?"

Charles nodded, he knew what Vice Admiral Gaiprat meant.

The ultimate goal of France is to surpass the British Royal Navy. Even if there is no direct battle, the British and the world must know that the world's number one navy is France, not Britain.

From this strategic perspective, France should join forces with the German Navy to clamp down on the British Royal Navy.

No mistake, one post, one content, one book, one bar, one 6, one 9!

Therefore, it is not in the interests of the French Navy to inflict a heavy blow on the German Navy.

"I know." Charles said, "That's why we didn't go all out to chase them."

At this time, the French Navy was equipped with 1,000-ton Adventurer-class destroyers, which could reach a maximum speed of 31 knots, so it was not difficult to catch up with the German fleet.

Only one squadron of bombers was dispatched, and the other squadron circled nearby without engaging in combat.

"But we still sank seven German warships, including a battlecruiser." Lieutenant General Geprat said with worry in his tone: "I'm worried that the German fleet will never dare to leave the Heligoland Bight again."

Charles shook his head and replied, his eyes full of confidence:

"No, General, they will come out."

"They will soon know that the British do not have our new type of torpedo nor a torpedo attack aircraft, even if the British have‘ Caprini ’.”

"The purpose of our battle is to tell the Germans a message.

Gaprat nodded slightly.

There are bombers with torpedoes in France, new lines of torpedo in the sea, and "echo detectors" that can find submarines. The Germans know how to choose.

Then Charles made up another sentence: "If the Germans are smart enough, they should think of the key to breaking the British Royal Navy's blockade, which is not a blessing for them."

"What?" Lieutenant General Gaplat stunned: "You mean, can the Germans break the blockade of the British fleet?"

"Of course." Shire reminded: "The Germans have more advanced aviation engines, but they use the most advanced engine on the aerial boat."

Lieutenant General Gaplat was unknown, so after a while, he "oh": "Can they improve the performance of the bombers and let them bring torpedo?"

"Yes, General." Sher replied: "The Germans could not surpass the British on the battleship. I could only help them raise the war to another level."

Lieutenant General Gaplat looked at Charles for a long time and couldn't speak.

It turns out that this is the real purpose of Charles. He can say that he broke his heart for the German Navy!