Chapter Fifty-Sixty-Nine: The End of the First World War III
But no matter how reluctant the German Rear Admiral Reuter was, he still had to serve his motherland. No matter how reluctant he was, he was still a soldier, and a soldier's bounden duty was to obey.
As he said in the report: "Personal feelings can only be put aside for a while."
However, deep in Reuter's mind, a bold plan was already brewing and taking shape, and the contact person on the other side of this plan was the intelligence personnel of the European Region of the Far East Corps, so Reuter wrote this in his report
In one sentence: "In any small violation of regulations, we can regain our true freedom. We can do whatever we want with our warships, and we can even sink them!".
On November 13, after the new German Admiral Ludwig took over the command of the German High Seas Fleet, which was his first day in office, the German High Seas Fleet began to weigh anchor and embarked directly on the difficult journey.
On the journey of no return, according to the plan, on the 11th, they would rendezvous with the escort fleet of the Allied Powers in the waters near the North Sea. German Rear Admiral Morul, who was responsible for negotiating with the Allied Powers, informed the Allied Powers that there would be a sizable force the next day.
The Allied fleet will "wait" for the arrival of the German High Seas Fleet. This so-called sizable Allied fleet is mainly composed of the British Royal Navy, a small French battle fleet, and other warships from the victorious countries.
A total of 370 ships of various types.
The reason why the Allied Powers assembled so many warships was simply to forcefully pass through the North Sea of Europe, which was blocked by the Far East Navy. At 8:30 a.m. on the 12th, in accordance with the order of Admiral Beatty, the British Royal Navy General, the defeated German Navy entered the high seas.
The fleet formed a single file in a straight line, led by small British light cruisers and destroyers with balloons and kites hanging, and began to sail into the predetermined sea area. However, this also made the escort fleet on standby feel like it was facing a formidable enemy.
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Although they all know that the German naval battleships have been disarmed, the Allied ships are still ready with guns and ammunition in case of emergencies, because the German High Seas Fleet is a seemingly powerful and formidable force in war.
Amazingly large naval fleet!
On this day, it seemed that God also understood what this action meant to the German nation, and for this reason he sprinkled a thick mist of mercy to cover up this tragic and humiliating scene. Li Ningyu's compassion was also moved, although in his heart
He showed a trace of pity, but he still carried out the plan resolutely.
Afterwards, even British Admiral Admiral Beatty wrote in his memoirs: "The scene at the time was sad. In fact, it should be said to be a sad scene, because one day, I may have to do the same thing.
"
But I didn't expect that these words of British Navy Betty would become a fact eleven years later during World War II.
Under the escort of the powerful escort fleet of the Allied Powers, the German High Seas Fleet, a naval fleet that had once made countless people proud, arrived at its first destination, the Firth of Forth. Although it was nominally handed over to the victorious powers for inspection,
In fact, everyone knows that the Allies and the Far East Army are still negotiating.
At sunset, the German Navy's flag began to be lowered, and the British Admiral Admiral Beatty issued a new order: "The German Navy's flag can never be raised again!".
But no one expected that a few days later, the German naval fleet did not enter its final destination, the British military port of Scapa Flow, but entered the military port of the Far Northeast Sea base. With Li Ningyu’s consent, the German naval fleet
The flagship of the High Seas Fleet can still fly a military flag.
The Gulf of Forth is very close to the North Sea, but they stayed here for six months. It can be said that the entire German High Seas Fleet and the escort fleet of the Allied Powers were detained in the Gulf of Forth by the Far East Army. This situation made everyone
No one expected it.
However, the victorious powers have begun to implement strict regulations on the German Navy's High Seas Fleet. First, they prohibit the possession of wireless radios on any ship. In this way, the German Rear Admiral Reuter and his comrade-in-arms officers lived almost in isolation from the outside world. They lived in isolation every day.
You can only understand the changes in the situation in the outside world by reading newspapers from a week ago, but the Bay of Forth is not a fortress. Even if it is a military fortress of the Allied Powers, the all-pervasive intelligence personnel of the Far East Army can still enter it in minutes.
At the same time, the victorious countries also began to quarrel internally over the fate of this fleet. As the world's leader, the British Empire naturally wanted to dominate this large naval fleet and was not willing to share it with its allies. However, facing the Far East Navy
The British side did not dare to break through the blockade.
As time went by, as the situation in Europe evolved, the attitude of the officers and soldiers of the German High Seas Fleet who had been detained in the Firth of Forth for a long time began to change from frustration to anger and contempt.
On May 31, 1909, they began to publicly celebrate the founding day of the German Navy, and blatantly violated the order of British Admiral Betty, raising the German Navy flag to the top of the mast. At the same time, all officers also learned about it through Reuter.
, after the armistice agreement was reached, the current German government still rejected the Treaty of Versailles, because even the current German authorities dare not sign a treaty that is humiliating and humiliating, because they do not want to be reviled after their death.
At the same time, news that the British authorities were preparing to seize other fleets of the German Navy also began to spread wildly. However, at that time, the British were indeed preparing to seize other fleets of the German Navy, because they had also received a little bit of news that the Germans were preparing to self-destruct the fleet.
So they prepared to take action to seize the German naval fleet.
Some British admirals even suggested that they should pre-emptively seize the entire German fleet in one fell swoop, mainly to avoid long nights and unnecessary complications. On June 16, 1909, British Admiral Raymond formally submitted a proposal to seize the German fleet.
The stipulated time for all actions and plans was set at midnight on the 21st. Later, due to internal problems on the Allied side, the ultimatum was extended to June 23rd.
On June 23, under various critical and chaotic situations, German Rear Admiral Reuter decided to scuttle all ships of the High Seas Fleet because this might be the last chance to make a good time difference. After all, Germany is now
The government has not signed the Treaty of Versailles, which means that the war has not really ended. Therefore, no one has the right to stop his action as a German general. The only way to overturn his decision is for the German government to accept peace.
conditions, namely the Treaty of Versailles.
(Today is January 17. On this day in 1933, the Chinese Communist Party issued a declaration: Stop the civil war and unite to resist Japan! In 1986, Xiaoping pointed out that we must carry out four modernizations! In addition: In 1994, a major earthquake occurred in Los Angeles, USA, and in 1995, a huge earthquake occurred in the Hanshin area of Japan.