I Became a Tycoon During World War I - Chapter 292

Chapter 292: The Mobile Defense Circle

At 3:30 AM the next day, Colonel Höxch appeared with U-21 in the western waters of the Dardanelles Strait.

In principle, he didn’t need to arrive this early. Colonel Höxch had already checked the time and pattern of dawn: it would break around six o'clock, and the time would advance by about ten minutes each day. This meant the attack would likely take place around 5:50 AM.

However, Colonel Höxch believed that arriving a little earlier at the attack site would benefit the mission.

In his office, holding a pencil, Colonel Höxch drew circles on the map in front of V Beach while analyzing with the first officer: “The French battleships are usually equipped with 305mm main guns, with a range of over ten kilometers, and secondary guns of 138mm, with a range of eight kilometers.”

“I believe, to provide adequate fire support for the landing forces, the battleships will likely enter the eight-kilometer range to utilize their secondary guns.”

“Therefore, their area of activity should be around here.”

The first officer nodded in agreement: “French warships always seem to be at the forefront. It seems the French ‘Gaul’ ship was the one that destroyed the Ottoman munitions depot earlier!”

“Yes.” Colonel Höxch smiled slightly, a hint of derision at the corner of his mouth. “They seem eager to show off, willing to risk getting close to the fire for a chance to strike.”

“It’s understandable.” The first officer replied, “Their warships have been outclassed by the British, so they’re eager to prove themselves on the battlefield. I suppose that’s why Charles came here?”

Colonel Höxch looked at the first officer with a knowing smile. “Charles isn’t that simple, Otto. He was forced by Parliament to come.”

Then Colonel Höxch steered the conversation back to the main topic:

“If we know the enemy will appear here, there’s no need to wait for them to arrive before closing in.”

“We can get there first, then dive and sit on the bottom, waiting for them to come. It will be much safer!”

The first officer had no objections, though he teased, “Aren’t you afraid they’ll hit us when we surface?”

This was indeed quite possible. Submarines of this period didn’t even have sonar devices. While submerged, they often didn’t know whether enemy warships were right above them.

(Note: The sonar device was invented by French physicist Paul Langevin and Russian electrical engineer Constantin Chilowski at the end of 1915.) If a battleship or destroyer passed directly overhead or nearby, the submarine would be struck and torn apart before it could surface to periscope depth.

Either scenario would be fatal for the submarine.

Colonel Höxch replied calmly, “No risk, no reward. After all, it’s Charles!”

...

After the submarine arrived at the designated location, Colonel Höxch climbed to the conning tower, poking his upper body out and using binoculars to scan the sea surface.

The sea was calm, shrouded in a misty gray under the moonlight. Only the sea breeze stirred the waves, constantly slapping the submarine and causing it to sway back and forth.

In the distance, the promontory of Helles Point, jutting out from the mainland like a sea serpent, appeared to be watching something, while V Beach seemed like its flickering tongue.

After observing for a while, Colonel Höxch pulled back into the conning tower, carefully turned on his flashlight to check the map, then ordered the submarine to reposition and observe again. He finally confirmed that the submarine’s location was about ten kilometers west of V Beach.

Satisfied, Colonel Höxch retracted into the conning tower and closed the hatch. The submarine slowly descended, vanishing into the water like a ghost, as though it had never appeared.

...

After the submarine submerged, Colonel Höxch rested on his desk for a short nap.

If there was any place in the world that was truly safe, it was when the submarine was deep underwater. Aside from rocks, Höxch could think of nothing that could pose a threat to it.

At 5:20 AM, the first officer woke Colonel Höxch up as scheduled.

Colonel Höxch rubbed his tired eyes, took the coffee the first officer handed him, and after sipping a few mouthfuls, gave a series of commands:

“Start the engines!”

“Maintain course, full speed ahead!”

“Surface to periscope depth!”

...

If Colonel Höxch’s calculations were correct, the submarine would surface exactly in front of the enemy fleet, neither more nor less.

However, when the submarine extended its periscope, Colonel Höxch was shocked by what he saw.

The enemy fleet had closed in to within five kilometers, launching close-range bombardments on V Beach. The position of the battleship was clear, firing directly at V Beach from the center of the fleet. The flash and smoke from the guns acted like a beacon, marking the battleship’s position.

At the same time, Ottoman soldiers on V Beach were returning fire, shells creating towering columns of water, and the sea was filled with a white mist, indistinguishable from smoke, steam, or exhaust from the warships.

Colonel Höxch sensed something was wrong.

If anyone else had acted this recklessly, he wouldn’t have thought much of it, but this was Charles!

How could he allow his fleet to be in a vulnerable position on two fronts right from the start? Didn’t he fear the submarine’s surprise attack?

Upon closer inspection, Colonel Höxch understood.

Against the backdrop of the gray-white sky, Colonel Höxch saw that there were nine destroyers circling the battleships, keeping a constant distance around the central warship.

“A brilliant move,” Colonel Höxch remarked. “No wonder it’s Charles!”

This mobile defense was far more effective than a mine net.

The circling destroyers created an invisible defense ring. Once the submarine approached and extended its periscope, it would be easy for these destroyers to crash into it.

At this point, Colonel Höxch realized he had two options:

Either retreat before being discovered, or fire torpedoes from outside this “mobile defense circle.”

However, the defense circle extended at least two kilometers. Firing torpedoes from that range would almost certainly miss.

After some thought, Colonel Höxch gave a quiet command: “Maintain course, speed, dive!”

“Maintain course, speed, dive!”

At the same time, Colonel Höxch pulled out his pocket watch and noted the time as the submarine descended.

Colonel Höxch was willing to take a risk. He had calculated the time and speed carefully.

If his calculations were correct, when the submarine surfaced again, it would break through the enemy's “mobile defense circle” and appear about 500 meters from the target.

The inner ring had only two destroyers, and at that point, there would be more time and space to operate.

What Colonel Höxch didn’t anticipate was that it was precisely the three destroyers in the inner ring that posed the greatest danger.

This was the trap that Charles had carefully laid for him:

While the battleships were engaged in intense combat with the enemy on V Beach, the enemy submarines would think there was an opportunity to strike.

The destroyers’ “mobile defense circle” was designed to force the submarine into close proximity to launch a surprise attack on the battleship.

And the three destroyers in the inner ring, modified French destroyers Charles had brought over, were already prepared with depth charges, waiting for the submarine to appear.

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