Chapter 21: A Feint—Straight into My Trap

Several hours later.

October 28th, noon, London Admiralty.

“Still no news from Groningen? Are those Dutch contacts we bought really reliable or not?”

With lunch time approaching, First Lord of the Admiralty Walton Spencer recalled that a piece of intelligence they had been waiting for since morning had yet to arrive. He called over the officer responsible for the intelligence and reaffirmed the matter in person.

Facing the reprimand, Lieutenant Commander Murray Schutt cautiously replied, “Your Lordship, apologies for the delay. The civilian aviation enthusiasts we cultivated in the Netherlands have proven trustworthy. Their skills are solid, and politically they support the world order dominated by Great Britannia. This incident is likely an accident—perhaps due to bad weather or a mechanical failure. Upon realizing the aircraft did not return, we immediately dispatched personnel to investigate and supplemented our reconnaissance.”

Lieutenant Commander Schutt served under Rear Admiral Thomas Jackson, head of Naval Intelligence Division (NID), and was in charge of the aerial reconnaissance section. He was also its founder, having established it in 1912, making him the most senior figure in that field. Since aerial combat was unprecedented at the time, Schutt naturally did not consider the possibility that the plane had been shot down, instead attributing the loss to meteorological mishap.

Walton, accepting the authoritative explanation, could only respond, “Have them expedite further reconnaissance and inform me immediately once results come in! The Empire is about to launch a major operation. We must ascertain how many of the enemy’s main battleships are in port and how many are aimlessly roaming outside to ensure no risks.”

“Yes, Your Lordship!” Schutt promptly agreed.

Walton, busy with many affairs and unwilling to wait longer, proceeded to the mess hall for lunch.

…

Upon arriving at the mess hall, Walton picked up his meal and casually glanced around, spotting Rear Admiral Horace Hood, Chief of Staff of the Channel Fleet, also dining there. He walked straight over and sat diagonally opposite him.

Walton was a large man and found sitting directly opposite or beside others too cramped, so he always chose to sit diagonally when dining with subordinates.

Rear Admiral Hood was in London to report on the Channel Fleet’s readiness and to seek final instructions before battle.

Seeing the First Lord approach, Hood immediately stood up and only sat back down after Walton had taken his seat.

“How is General Hastings’ preparation? Are all his battleships ready to sortie?” Walton asked, chewing on a large bite of fried fish.

“Ready to strike at any time, Your Lordship, rest assured. However, the Revenge, a King Edward-class battleship, has been refitting its main guns since the war began and only just completed it. The fire control system is not fully calibrated yet; some sighting instruments still correspond to the old guns. If forced to sortie, the gunnery officers would need to manually adjust settings based on experience, resulting in lower efficiency.

“The Hood, of the same class, was retired prior to the war and temporarily recommissioned without modernization. It can also sortie immediately after emergency resupply and maintenance.

“The other two more advanced capital ships, the Dreadnought-class Majestic and Queen, have been maintained in excellent condition. When you ordered the Channel Fleet to prepare to support the Belgian Army’s retreat, they were already ready to sail, but the Belgians collapsed before we could assist…”

The Belgian Army had been annihilated a day earlier, but Hood still felt compelled to clarify whenever possible that the fleet was not to blame for the failure to rescue—they simply were too weak to hold out.

Walton was well aware his subordinates were trying to shirk responsibility, but seeing no point in arguing, waved it off.

“Enough, that’s past! We must look forward! At least the preparations General Hastings made weren’t wasted. Though the Belgian Army has been destroyed, the Royal Navy’s reputation must remain untarnished! We must retaliate immediately!

“Upon learning of the Belgian defeat yesterday, I urgently contacted the French and General Charpy. Their army is concentrating forces around Dunkirk and De Panne, advancing eastward to seize Nieuwpoort and Ostend! The Belgians were wiped out at Ostend, so we must retake it to prove the Goddess of Victory still favors the Empire!

“Charpy was initially slow to act and complained his heavy artillery hadn’t arrived in time. I assured him not to rely on their sluggish land artillery; the Royal Navy would provide full fire support throughout this campaign. Charpy agreed that once we commence bombardment, his infantry would launch full attacks.”

“As for the Revenge’s incomplete fire control refit, that’s trivial. This mission involves shore bombardment against fixed targets—no need for precision fire control.” Hood understood now why the First Lord had kept the fleet on standby for a day after hearing of the Belgian defeat and not immediately retaliated. Coordinating with the French for joint land-sea operations was complex and justified the delay.

Hood then asked, “Should we strike immediately then? Since General Charpy has agreed.”

Walton, cunning and experienced, still hesitated. “Not yet! Yesterday, I dispatched reconnaissance aircraft to Wilhelmshaven and other locations and tasked spies in Kiel to verify the positions of the Demanian main fleet.

“Kiel has responded—battleships were still in port during the day. But reconnaissance from Wilhelmshaven and Emden hasn’t returned yet; I’ve sent another batch. We’ll strike once we confirm, a little delay won’t hurt.”

Hood replied, “If the ships at Kiel remain, the rest of the enemy pose little threat…”

Walton shot him a sharp glance. “Better safe than sorry!”

Because of waiting for intelligence, Walton ate slowly, finished his meal, ordered a glass of cognac, and lit cigar after cigar, patiently waiting. Hood endured the secondhand smoke, and even the mess hall staff dared not disturb the First Lord after meal time.

After an uncertain length of time, Lieutenant Commander Schutt from aerial reconnaissance and Colonel Oliver from signals intelligence arrived together, briskly approaching Walton.

“Your Lordship, the supplemental reconnaissance sent this morning just returned. Several of the Demanian fast battlecruisers are not in port!”

Walton and Hood exchanged tense looks, both pondering the same question: the Demanian battlecruisers have sortied? Where are they headed? Could they have foreseen the Royal Navy’s planned bombardment of Nieuwpoort and Ostend and sailed out to intercept?

But upon reflection, that seemed too far-fetched—after all, the Royal Navy had not yet officially struck.

Thanks to Walton’s cunning, he immediately thought of two other crucial points and decisively asked:

“During the day, did the enemy fleet break radio silence? Also, can we confirm the time their ships disappeared—did they sail last night or earlier? Lieutenant Commander Schutt, does your aerial reconnaissance approach the enemy ports daily?”

All present understood the concerns.

When a fleet sorties, it maintains radio silence to conceal its movements, switching radios to ‘receive only’ mode, unable to send replies and passively accepting commands. New orders must be sent by coded wireless telegrams. Since Britannia captured and deciphered a Demanian naval codebook from a sunken enemy submarine on August 20th, they can intercept and decode these transmissions.

Schutt reported first: “We don’t conduct daily aerial reconnaissance, as opportunities are not always available, and we try to avoid arousing suspicion among neutral pilots through frequent flights. Considering enemy ships usually depart under cover of darkness, they must have sailed last night or earlier, as daytime departures risk observation by our spies. Night sorties are typical Hipper tactics.”

Walton nodded slightly, acknowledging the analysis, then turned to Oliver.

Oliver quickly added, “Signals monitoring picked up several telegrams from Wilhelmshaven last night, just decoded. They instruct ‘Hipper to choose targets independently and execute original harassment plan. Additionally, our spy in Portsmouth reports a large convoy left port today, no valuable targets detected.’”

Upon hearing Oliver’s report, the three exchanged glances. Walton and Hood read each other’s expressions.

Hood ventured, “Your Lordship, it seems Hipper’s sortie was premeditated well before the Belgian coastal situation deteriorated. Fleet preparations take at least one to two days, so if the enemy only decided after the Belgian battle, they would be too late. The orders from their home port only direct Hipper to choose targets freely, with no mention of other matters.

“Spy reports from our homeland suggest abandoning Portsmouth as a target and letting Hipper choose a backup target—though we don’t know where.”

Walton nodded approvingly at Hood’s insight, which mirrored his own thoughts.

In short, Hipper’s disappearance indicates prior planning, not a reaction to recent events. Having left port early, Hipper’s fleet listens for radio orders at sea. Since the Royal Navy has intercepted no new orders, the enemy command has given none.

There remains a slim possibility—if Walton and company knew Hipper actually sailed at dawn today, he might have received orders on land before departure, avoiding radio transmissions. But that possibility is ruled out because the reconnaissance plane confirming the ships’ presence at dawn was shot down by Lelouch.

Thus, that last sliver of doubt is closed.

After long contemplation, Walton issued two orders:

“Lieutenant General Hastings is to lead the Channel Fleet’s main force to secretly sail after dark today toward Nieuwpoort and Ostend for full bombardment, coordinating with the French to retake those towns.

“Meanwhile, Rear Admiral David Beatty will lead the fast battlecruiser squadron south to patrol and ambush near Portsmouth and other key eastern ports. Deploy homeland reconnaissance aircraft to conduct a wide search within 200 kilometers of the east coast.

“If Hipper’s battlecruisers are detected, Beatty’s force must engage fully to inflict heavy damage or annihilate the enemy.”

Walton’s strategy was clear: facing unknown threats, divide forces—slow dreadnoughts to perform shore bombardment, and fast battlecruisers to defend against potential homeland raids.

Historically, Hipper bombarded Portsmouth stealthily and Beatty’s high-speed battlecruisers failed to intercept. This time, Hipper abandoned the ruse of shelling Portsmouth, leaving subtle clues to mislead Beatty northward, away from the Belgian coast.

—

P.S.: Another 4,000-word chapter, so no splitting today… The new book period is intense, with over 7,000 words yesterday.

The enemy’s plans, intelligence analysis, and how we fall into their trap must be written—otherwise jumping straight to battle would feel contrived.

Please leave comments, follow, bookmark, and vote during this new release period.