Chapter 74: Seize the Opportunity

Two days later, Feng Chengqian received a message from Tirpitz.

The Kaiser had adopted Tirpitz’s recommendation and decided to gift the battlecruiser Goeben and the light cruiser Breslau to the Ottoman Empire. However, the Kaiser made it clear that the transfer of these two warships was contingent upon the Ottoman Empire joining as an ally. To this end, he had already dispatched diplomats and military representatives to the Ottomans to negotiate an alliance. Once the treaty was formally signed, the two ships would join the Ottoman Navy, and their Imperial Navy crews would remain in Ottoman service.

The Kaiser was generous, but his intentions were unmistakable.

If two warships could secure the allegiance of a vast empire, it would be the most profitable deal in the world.

Alongside this news came intelligence about the British Royal Navy.

Long before leaving the Imperial Admiralty, Feng Chengqian, under the banner of promoting military technological advancement, had established a well-developed intelligence organization. During his tenure as the Imperial Navy’s Minister of War, he placed great emphasis on intelligence work, achieving notable results. Influenced by Feng Chengqian, Tirpitz also prioritized intelligence, expanding and refining the Imperial Navy Intelligence Bureau founded by Feng Chengqian after succeeding him.

The latest intelligence came precisely from the Imperial Navy Intelligence Bureau.

The report stated clearly that, before the end of the year, the British Royal Navy’s Home Fleet would have at most six battlecruisers—three Invincible-class and three Indefatigable-class; Lion and Princess Royal were in the Mediterranean, and Queen Mary was undergoing maintenance. Though it later turned out this information was not entirely accurate—the ship under maintenance was Indomitable of the Invincible-class, not Queen Mary, which was actually the flagship of Britain’s First Battlecruiser Squadron—other details were essentially correct.

Of course, the real concern was the Royal Navy’s battleships.

At that time, the British fleet comprised four battleship squadrons: the First Squadron with three Bellerophon-class and one Hercules-class; the Second Squadron with three St. Vincent-class and one Neptune-class; the Third Squadron with four Orion-class; and the Fourth Squadron with four King George V-class battleships. Additionally, there were two Colossus-class and one Erin-class battleship not assigned to squadrons. The four completed Iron Duke-class ships, not yet fully trained, hadn’t been incorporated into the operational roster. As for the Queen Elizabeth-class, regarded by the Imperial Navy as its chief adversary, two had been launched, and three were still under construction, but none could possibly be finished this year; even commissioning one by the end of next year would be considered a success.

In other words, excluding Dreadnought, which had been converted to a training ship, the Royal Navy possessed twenty-three battleships.

In terms of numbers, the Royal Navy exceeded the German Second Empire Navy. However, discounting the four Iron Duke-class ships, which were not yet combat-ready, the Royal Navy could truly deploy only nineteen battleships, while the Imperial Navy had thirteen fully operational battleships.

Was this gap significant?

If the Royal Navy concentrated all its battleships in the North Sea, its advantage would be clear, but such a move was impossible.

At the outbreak of war, the Royal Navy simply could not deploy so many battleships to the North Sea.

The intelligence lacked specifics, but enough evidence indicated that the Royal Navy had dispatched at least one battleship squadron to the Mediterranean, likely the Fourth Squadron. This meant the Royal Navy had probably sent four relatively advanced King George V-class battleships to the Mediterranean.

Thus, the Home Fleet would be left with only three battleship squadrons.

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Even including the two Colossus-class and the requisitioned Erin, the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet would have only fifteen battleships. Considering the disparity in battlecruisers, the Imperial Navy not only was not at a disadvantage but actually enjoyed a slight edge.

This war could absolutely be fought—and must be fought soon.

The reason was simple: what Feng Chengqian could see, the Royal Navy’s admirals could see or deduce as well. As the Imperial Navy began mobilization, the Royal Navy would sense the threat and immediately strengthen its Home Fleet and its forces facing the Empire.

On August 13th, Tirpitz sent another message.

Britain was conducting urgent consultations with France, requesting the French Navy to shoulder more responsibility in the Mediterranean, so the British could redeploy their main fleet home.

Although Tirpitz noted that France was unwilling to see Britain weaken its Mediterranean fleet—primarily because Italy’s stance remained unclear, and Austria-Hungary had a navy of considerable size; the French Navy could not single-handedly oppose both Italy and Austria-Hungary and needed Britain’s contribution in the Mediterranean—there were increasing signs that Britain would certainly withdraw its modern capital ships.

Feng Chengqian’s time was running short.

So, how should the war be fought?

On August 14th, Feng Chengqian sent Tirpitz a telegram, requesting him to approach the Kaiser and postpone the transfer of warships to the Ottoman Empire. He also instructed Goeben and Breslau to prepare for entry into the Aegean, to tie down the British Mediterranean Fleet.

Feng Chengqian made it clear: even if they could not contain the Royal Navy’s battleships, those two battlecruisers must remain in the Mediterranean.

That day, Feng Chengqian also received news that Britain had formally declared war on Austria-Hungary on August 12th.

By August 15th, the fighting across continental Europe had erupted in full force.

Although the German army encountered difficulties upon entering Belgium, especially setbacks in the assault on the Liège fortress, failing to accomplish its objectives as planned, the right-wing’s grand flanking maneuver pressed on, five armies arrayed along the Franco-Belgian-Luxembourg border forming a massive iron gate descending upon France. The French, after harrying Alsace, had withdrawn to their border defenses, fully redeploying to fend off the German advance from Belgium.

At this stage, the Western Front’s situation was extremely favorable for the Germans.

On the Eastern Front, Russian forces were vigorously attacking Austria-Hungary, while Conrad, misjudging Russia’s resolve, had concentrated his main forces in the south to deal with Serbia, causing Austrian troops to retreat steadily on the northern front. Intriguingly, the Russians exposed many flaws during their offensive—for instance, they failed to annihilate Austrian troops en masse, instead pushing them back like a bulldozer into the heart of Austria. With the Western Front taking priority, Moltke the Younger had pulled out the Eighth Army, so the Germans had yet to act on the Eastern Front.

Although Feng Chengqian refrained from interfering in the Imperial Army’s operations, he still expressed concerns in his correspondence with Tirpitz, such as the thin German defenses on the Eastern Front, which might embolden Russia to turn against East Prussia after subduing Austria-Hungary.

In any case, the land war was not Feng Chengqian’s arena.

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On August 20th, Hipper returned to Wilhelmshaven with the news Feng Chengqian had long awaited.

The refitting of five pre-Nassau-class battleships had accelerated and would certainly be completed before September 15th. Crew training had already begun. Thanks to the retention of many veterans, training and refitting proceeded in tandem, ensuring all personnel would be ready when the ships recommissioned. The four Nassau-class ships were in a similar state—their refits had been sped up and would reach combat readiness before the end of September. Refitting of the Helgoland-class and Thüringen-class had been suspended; the four battleships would be relaunched at the end of August, and unfinished modifications would be completed after recommissioning as circumstances permitted. The biggest headache was Von der Tann; her refit was more than halfway done, and canceling now would waste all previous efforts. Hipper suggested continuing her refit, and if it could not be finished by September’s end, she would not be included in the operational roster.

After weighing everything, Feng Chengqian accepted Hipper’s advice.

Even without Von der Tann, the Imperial Navy still had three battlecruisers and five capital ships capable of matching battlecruisers.

On August 21st, Hipper and Feng Chengqian formally submitted to Scheer a proposal for the High Seas Fleet to take the initiative and challenge the Royal Navy at sea.

Unfortunately, Scheer rejected their proposal out of hand, claiming the High Seas Fleet had not completed preparations and was unfit for action.

Clearly, Feng Chengqian’s assessment of Scheer was spot-on.

This admiral, favored by the Kaiser and entrusted by Tirpitz, saw only the safety of the fleet and missed the opportunity of a lifetime. While it was true that sending the High Seas Fleet out now involved some risk, the potential gains far outweighed it.

Scheer’s main reason for opposing the sortie was that the Navy had not finished its preparations.

But had the Royal Navy completed its own preparations?

Although First Lord Churchill had shown great foresight, ordering early in the year to delay the transfer of two new battleships to the Ottoman Empire and adjusting the Royal Navy’s deployments, not even on the eve of war did anyone anticipate the conflict would erupt so suddenly.

If the Imperial Navy was not ready, the Royal Navy was even less prepared.

Otherwise, Goeben and Breslau would not have slipped so easily into the Sea of Marmara, nor would the Royal Navy have been stretched thin in the Mediterranean.

Clearly, Scheer’s logic was flawed.

If the Imperial Navy waited until it had finished preparations, the Royal Navy would be ready as well. By then, the High Seas Fleet would face the British Home Fleet of twenty-three battleships and nine battlecruisers. If matters dragged on to the end of 1915, the gap between the British and German navies would only widen.

Feng Chengqian did not let the matter rest; that very night, he set out for Berlin.