Until today, Lelouch had not realized that many aerial reconnaissance spies in this era were in fact operating under the nationality of neutral countries.
Because the airplane had only been born ten years ago, every nation was still feeling its way through how to use aircraft militarily.
The World War had been underway for three months, and at most, both sides had only set up air-defense alerts along the front lines. The rear borders had no awareness of air defense whatsoever.
And so the Britannians had thought of screening citizens of neutral countries such as the Netherlands for those who both possessed flying skills and leaned politically toward Britannia.
Then they paid them handsomely to fly into Germanian airspace and take photographs.
A military stronghold like Wilhelmshaven was naturally one of the places they frequented. As long as they could photograph which warships were still in harbor and which were gone, the pictures would fetch a fine price.
Unfortunately for them, today they had run into Immelmann—and Immelmann, having just been enlightened by Lelouch, had thought to carry weapons. The two men opposite them clearly had no hope of making it back.
Immelmann slowly followed from behind and to the side, gradually closing the distance. In the end, the two planes were almost flying in the same direction at the same speed, less than thirty meters apart.
Only then did Immelmann pull out a Mauser C96. He first handed it to Lelouch, then drew another one himself, and the two opened fire together.
The faint, crisp cracks of “pa—pa—” echoed through the night sky. The enemy pilot and the photographer in the rear seat were instantly startled and frantically turned the aircraft, trying to break away.
“Captain! Aim at the pilot in the front seat! Once the pilot dies, the plane is bound to crash! What use is killing the man taking photographs?”
Seeing that Immelmann was actually prioritizing the rear seat, giving the enemy plane a chance to turn and escape, Lelouch could not help growing anxious.
Pilots in this era all saw themselves as “knights of the sky” and cared about chivalry. So when Immelmann fired for the first time today, his subconscious instinct was to shoot the spy taking photographs first.
Fortunately, Immelmann was also the sort who corrected his mistakes once he realized them. He immediately bit in more fiercely, as if he had mastered the technique without a teacher.
Lelouch stared fixedly at the enemy pilot slightly ahead and to the side, gripping the Mauser C96 in one hand. Imitating the posture later generations would use when fighting the devils, he turned the pistol sideways and fired shot after shot.
The Mauser C96’s enormous recoil made it difficult to hold steady with one hand, but once the gun was turned horizontally, the upward jump of the recoil turned into a sideways jump, naturally forming a small-area sweep.
After a crackling volley of more than a dozen shots, two bullets actually pierced through the skin and the seat, entering the enemy cockpit.
The enemy pilot let out a miserable howl. One bullet passed through the seat, entering from his back and exiting through his chest, sending a great spray of blood directly across the aircraft’s rudder controls.
The enemy spy in the rear seat immediately panicked, but there was no way to switch positions and take control of the aircraft in midair. He could only watch helplessly as the plane lost control, maintained its original course, and plunged toward the distant sea.
“Wonderful! So this is aerial combat! I shot down the first airplane in the history of human warfare! When we get back, I’m going to report my merit and give interviews!” Captain Immelmann was so excited he gesticulated wildly; if he had not been flying the plane, he would practically have jumped up.
Lelouch said, “Don’t be hasty! Are you that eager to immediately reveal the news that ‘our pilots have already figured out how to fight aerial battles’? Don’t you want to make full preparations, install machine guns on our first batch of aircraft, and only then announce the results? If you announce it too early, won’t you simply be giving the enemy time to react for nothing?”
Hearing this, Immelmann could not help feeling a little disappointed. He knew Lelouch was right, but he also did not want the credit right before his eyes to slip away.
The Empire’s interests were important, but personal interests and honor were important too.
Fortunately, Lelouch quickly found an angle to persuade him. “Besides, you weren’t the one who shot this plane down, were you? All you knew was to aim at the spy in the rear seat. I was the one who killed the pilot!
“I’m not in a hurry to claim credit, so what are you anxious about? But as long as you can endure for now, when the time comes, I’ll report your merit truthfully to the duke. Your achievements will be counted and rewarded accordingly, and I guarantee you’ll be promoted several ranks at once!”
Immelmann thought it over. This fellow was two years younger than him, but he was indeed highly regarded by the generals of the Bavarian royal house. His words should carry a certain degree of credibility…
So Immelmann muttered his agreement. “Fine, then remember to testify for me when the time comes—but what if the navy finds the wreckage or the bodies in a while? How do we explain it?”
Lelouch said, “That’s easy. Just have General Hipper say they recovered a neutral-country aircraft that crashed. As for whether the newspapers want to report it, let them do as they please. Besides, it’ll be difficult to recover anything anyway.”
Immelmann still had one concern. “But I was only temporarily seconded to the Sixth Army. I’m not Bavarian. Will the duke have the authority to promote me then?”
This question was like handing a pillow to someone who was sleepy. Lelouch was secretly delighted and hurriedly reassured him. “What’s so difficult about that? Just request to be transferred under the Sixth Army. I remember you said you were Saxon, right?”
Immelmann had been born in Dresden, a major city in Saxony. The state of Saxony lay between Bavaria and Prussia, and the faith and customs of its people were also in a transitional state between the two.
Among the main German air heroes of World War I, Immelmann’s background already counted as relatively more inclined toward the south German line. As for the others—Boelcke, Richthofen—they were typical Prussians.
Moreover, all these men were very young, all born in the 1890s. Immelmann was born in 1890, Boelcke in 1891, and Richthofen was the same age as Lelouch, born in 1892.
Taking this opportunity to draw another core air-force figure into his own small circle of interests—would that not be wonderful?
Immelmann said nothing more, merely nodding to indicate the deal was settled. The two thus reached a tacit understanding.
Immelmann knew very well that this Lelouch had ideas of his own. He was asking him to endure for now so they could prepare more thoroughly, and in the future, render a far greater service more suddenly.
Since that was the case, Immelmann naturally had to choose “delayed gratification.”
…
Half an hour later, after landing safely, Lelouch met Rear Admiral Hipper in the operations room of the raiding squadron at Wilhelmshaven.
He had Duke Rupprecht’s handwritten secret letter and other tokens, so naturally, he passed through without obstruction.
Rear Admiral Hipper had served as the duke’s adjutant when he was young, and he always gave immediate audience to anyone sent by the duke.
The rear admiral’s full name was Franz von Hipper. He was actually five years older than the duke, already fifty this year. But his birth was comparatively humble, and even though his name also carried a “von,” at fifty years old he was still only a rear admiral.
Lelouch had no time for needless chatter. After a brief self-introduction, he laid out in full the intelligence issues, operational plan, and conjectures about the enemy that he had repeatedly deduced beforehand.
Of course, he still had Rear Admiral Hipper dismiss everyone else, and the two spoke privately.
And Hipper was clearly far more able to empathize than the duke and Karl.
Several times, when Lelouch mentioned that “the Britannians have used the cover of the neutral Netherlands to infiltrate our communications departments; telegraph cables may be tapped at relay stations, or our wireless codes may have leaked and been deciphered,” Rear Admiral Hipper slapped his thigh hard and said bitterly:
“I knew it! I’d long felt something was wrong! The war has only been going for three months, yet several of the Empire’s sabotage raids against enemy coastal ports have ultimately had to slam on the brakes at the last moment! Because the enemy would always, for no apparent reason, strengthen their defenses! So this is where the problem lay!”
Lelouch had not expected the other man to be so easily convinced. For a moment, he was stunned. “You… believe my conjecture completely just like that?”
Hipper said, “Because I already had this suspicion to begin with. Your explanation just happens to confirm my doubts. Besides, you have His Highness the Duke’s secret letter.”
Lelouch was greatly pleasantly surprised. “Then you… also agree to the duke’s plan, and are willing to set a trap for the Britannians to verify these conjectures? If the verification goes well, we’ll also have a chance to gain some military merit. It’s just that you’ll have to temporarily bear the infamy of disobeying orders…”
Hipper waved a large hand with great forthrightness. “It doesn’t matter. I’m used to disobeying orders and acting on my own in the army. Every time the Admiralty has me choose a target and carry out coastal bombardment raids, I’ve never strictly followed their requirements—not changing the time, then changing the location.
“Thinking about it now, it’s fortunate I did so! Otherwise, my officers and men would long since have been killed by those fools leaking secrets!”
General Hipper was so straightforward that Lelouch, who had prepared a whole pile of persuasive arguments in advance, was instead left somewhat at a loss.
All those words had been prepared for nothing.
Lelouch froze for quite a while before sighing deeply. “You’re the one who should be commander-in-chief of the High Seas Fleet! A foolish old codger like Scheer isn’t worthy at all!”
Being flattered like this, Rear Admiral Hipper subconsciously felt a little nervous and instinctively rebuked him, “Don’t say such things! Vice Admiral Scheer is also a venerable and meticulous senior officer!”
Lelouch immediately knew when to stop. Putting on the air of “I’m young and ignorant, and spoke impulsively,” he offered a token apology.
But after apologizing, Lelouch still stiffened his neck and spoke bluntly. “I’ve always felt that temporary differences in military rank don’t prove anything. With years of war ahead, there will be plenty of chances to gain merit.
“Right now, he may be a vice admiral and you a rear admiral, but in the future, perhaps you’ll be the one to rise to admiral first!”
While Hipper laughingly scolded him not to talk nonsense, inwardly he could not help feeling secretly delighted: This kid understands me! He knows I have ability!
The two looked as if they had regretted not meeting sooner, and went on to discuss many deployment details.
Lelouch also told Hipper about how, before dawn, he had come here with Immelmann and shot down a reconnaissance aircraft the Britannians had sent under the guise of a neutral country.
Hipper immediately dispatched destroyers to search in the direction Lelouch mentioned for the fallen wooden enemy aircraft.
Aircraft in this era were still made of wooden structures, some even with canvas skin. Many had an overall density lower than water, so after falling into the sea, they might float for a long time.
While Hipper was sending men to recover the plane, Lelouch took the opportunity to analyze the possible symbolic significance of this matter once more. “The fact that the Britannians sent a plane to reconnoiter Wilhelmshaven at this time shows that they care a great deal about the situation inside the harbor. This can also indirectly confirm that the Britannians will likely take major action soon.
“I think there’s a seventy to eighty percent chance that they intend to use the Channel Fleet to bombard Nieuport and Ostend. If you dispatch a sufficiently strong force and make a long-distance raid, you may be able to render great service. Even if the enemy doesn’t come, you can in turn take the opportunity to bombard the French army currently attacking Nieuport, then use the high speed of the battlecruisers to withdraw immediately without becoming entangled. No matter how one looks at it, our forces won’t suffer a loss.”
Hipper nodded and smiled proudly. “No problem. I’ll immediately arrange for men to send out the two telegraph deception plans you mentioned. And I don’t mind telling you this: you truly came at exactly the right time.
“I had originally planned to carry out a bombardment of Yarmouth Harbor on the east coast of the Britannian mainland in early November, destroying the local piers and docks, as well as the ships moored there.
“So my battlecruiser fleet has already made full preparations for sortie and can set sail at any time. Moreover, I don’t even need to draft a separate deception plan. I can use a ready-made one entirely—I’ll take the original Yarmouth bombardment plan that was genuinely going to be carried out, polish it up, fabricate a few difficulties, and request instructions from my superiors by wireless.
“If the enemy really can intercept and decipher my telegrams, then even if their fast warships come south from Scotland to set an ambush, they won’t go as far as the Belgian coast. Perhaps they’ll linger near Yarmouth instead.”
After hearing General Hipper describe the situation, Lelouch became even more overjoyed.
So there was actually such a coincidence!
In truth, in the original history, on November 3, 1914, General Hipper should have taken his two battlecruisers and one armored cruiser to bombard Britannia’s Yarmouth Harbor. Since the beginning of the war, this sort of mission had already been his third time carrying out.
And now it was October 28, only five or six days away from that historical bombardment.
Considering that fleet sorties often required playing a bit of the trick of “making the feint seem real” beforehand, and would not head straight for the real target the moment they left port, a five- or six-day time difference was not actually long—because something like a fleet leaving port could not possibly be hidden from the enemy. The enemy’s spies would sooner or later see it.
For the first two or three days after discovering that an enemy fleet had left port, the other side’s vigilance was often at its highest. Only after the fleet disappeared for a while would they gradually relax.
It was like the story of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”; one had to hear it several times before becoming desensitized and thus slackening off.
In this way, Hipper could use an operational plan that had originally and genuinely existed to deceive the enemy.
The details of the deployments in every aspect would be extremely realistic, so the effect would naturally be outstanding.
Moreover, the fleet’s sortie preparations could be compressed to the utmost. Originally, for a battlecruiser fleet to sortie, supplies and maintenance would take several days, but now they could depart directly. Because everything had already been prepared in advance for the mission to bombard Yarmouth. Even the boilers had been preheated under light load ahead of time.
After urgently dealing with all the wireless deception, Rear Admiral Hipper finally boarded his flagship, the battlecruiser Derfflinger, preparing to set sail.
Before departure, he kindly invited Lelouch, “Well? Do you plan to take a plane back to the front, or return aboard my battlecruiser? If you trust my strength, then take the Derfflinger back to the front. This is the Empire’s newest and sharpest battlecruiser; its armor is absolutely formidable, and its speed is sufficient to break away from any enemy pursuit.”
Lelouch thought for only a few seconds before deciding he would take the battlecruiser after all. Even if this thing was going to the battlefield, it was still safer than those broken-down airplanes of this era.
The key was that the Britannians currently had no dreadnoughts and no battlecruisers in the Channel theater at all.
The Britannians’ Queen Elizabeth-class battleships had not yet entered service, so as long as they did not encounter the King George V class—the 1911 class, not the later class from the 1940s—or the Iron Duke class, everything else was nothing to worry about.
Even if they did encounter an Iron Duke, that thing could only make 21 knots. The Derfflinger could run at 27 knots; if it could not win, it could simply flee.
“Then it would be discourteous to refuse. Thank you for the invitation.”
Lieutenant Lelouch boarded the ship without hesitation and was invited by Hipper to the conning tower on the bridge. The enormous warship soon set sail, cleaving through the waves as it sped westward.