The Rise Of Australasia
Chapter 558: Chapter 437: Mutual Bait and Encounter

The two options caused General Rheinhardt much unease. After a prolonged period of thinking, he finally chose the first approach, striving to annihilate the Royal Navy Home Fleet's main forces as much as possible.

If it were a head-on confrontation, the High Sea Fleet had little chance of winning. Therefore, Rheinhardt devised a strategy by using a minor part of the High Seaf Fleet to lure out part of the Royal Navy. Much like a matryoshka doll, he planned to take down the Royal Navy's Home Fleet one by one.

Once the timing was right, the entire High Seas Fleet could sortie and engage the Royal Navy in a do-or-die battle. By then, a significant portion of the Royal Navy's key forces would have been sunk, thus enhancing the chances of victory for the High Seas Fleet.

It is undeniable that the wheels of history were gradually turning, impacting everyone in this era.

Despite World War I unfolding differently compared to history, with most Allied nations having already withdrawn from the war, only Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire remained firm in their efforts.

Still, General Rheinhardt chose the same strategy as in history, utilizing tactics to wipe out the Royal Navy whenever possible.

The bait was a squadron of battlecruisers led by General Helhau, consisting of four battlecruisers, eight cruisers, and four submarines.

However, ostensibly, this fleet consisted only of four battlecruisers and eight cruisers, with the four submarines hidden beneath the sea, ready to provide support to the fleet or inflict fatal blows on the enemy's warships at any time.

The composition of this battlecruiser squadron was a product of careful deliberation– too many forces might attract the enemy's main strength, too few wouldn't achieve the desired effect.

On the afternoon of May 17, 1916, this battlecruiser squadron departed from the harbor in pomp and circumstance, completely unlike the traditionally low-profile German Navy.

In stark contrast to this high-profile fleet, the main forces of the High Seas Fleet began their voyage three hours later while maintaining strict wireless silence. Communication between warships was carried out solely through flag signals.

Inside Williamsport, soldiers at the harbor continued using the call sign of the High Seas Fleet's flagship, the Friedrich der Große, to create the illusion that the main fleet, including the flagship, was still stationed within the harbor.

Despite the favorable weather, General Rheinhardt appeared worried, the concern etched on his face.

"Your Excellency, would those cunning Britons really fall for this?" Rheinhardt's key assistant, the High Seas Fleet Chief of Staff, asked with a worried expression.

"Perhaps only heaven knows. As you know, if we come across a British reconnaissance aircraft, we may end up being the Britons' prey." Rheinhardt sighed, somewhat helplessly addressing his Chief of Staff.

Currently, German aircraft can't achieve the same flight distance as British aircraft. Furthermore, German aircraft lag far behind in terms of performance, leading to the Germans lacking initiative in the skies.

Once British reconnaissance aircraft spotted the High Seas Fleet's main force, Rheinhardt would replace himself facing a pincer attack from the Royal Fleet's main forces.

If it did come down to that, Rheinhardt would have no choice but to resign himself to probable death, striving to exchange blows with as many Royal Fleet battleships as possible.

Upon hearing Rheinhardt's reply, the High Seas Fleet Chief of Staff felt his anxiety intensifying.

"Alright, we might have to leave our fate to the heavens. Let's hope God blesses us and blesses Germania." The Chief of Staff sighed, uttering a prayer towards the sky.

Despite advancements in science and technology, many people have turned to atheism or have less fervent faith in God.

However, centuries of worshiping God have imbued Europeans with a habit. When all else fails, they pray for God's blessings, despite his prayers never being answered.

At least through prayer, they could replace a sliver of solace, at least it could help them deceive themselves.

Rheinhardt's strategy was a gamble, betting the entire High Seas Fleet. If they won, Germany would have a chance. If they failed, Germany would sink deeper into dire straits, making it even less likely to turn the tide of the war.

During Rheinhardt and his Chief of Staff's prayers, British reconnaissance aircraft, as expected, spotted the German battlecruiser fleet in the lead.

Encountering a German fleet in the Atlantic was a rare occurrence because the German fleet typically did not venture from their harbors.

The sighting of a German fleet placed an emphasis on the British reconnaissance personnel. After counting the number of German ships, they decided to return immediately and report their replaceings to headquarters.

Hidden numerous miles away, the main force of the German fleet was not detected by British aircraft, which was good news for the Germans.

The bad news was that General Jericho, the commander of the British Atlantic Fleet, treated this intelligence seriously. He decided to set a trap to lure in the German battlecruiser fleet and thoroughly annihilate them.

At half past eight in the evening, General Jericho personally led a massive main fleet of 24 battleships, two super dreadnoughts, three battlecruisers, 17 cruisers, 44 destroyers, and numerous small warships out of Scapa Bay.

Elsewhere, a decoy fleet of two battleships, two battlecruisers, and seven cruisers also departed from another harbor, heading towards the location reported by the Air Force where enemy forces were sighted.

A German submarine located outside a British harbor reported the departure of the British fleet to headquarters, while the British Air Force was monitoring the movements of the German battlecruiser squad.

This resulted in a peculiar situation. Both parties believed that their own baiting tactics had been successful, unaware that the other's entire fleet had also mobilized.

This wasn't the anticipated minor engagement drawn from baiting that both commanders had expected; rather, it was a major naval battle involving nearly all of the main forces of both navies.

The first encounter was with the bait from both sides, two small-scale fleets.

In order to bait the German fleet, the British specially deployed only two battleships and two battlecruisers as their main warships.

Meanwhile, the German fleet had four battlecruisers as their main warships, with an additional cruiser as well.

A British officer boldly concluded that the Germans would not miss such an evenly matched opportunity.

After the fleets serving as both sides' bait had met, a most ridiculous scene in this naval battle unfolded.

Upon their respective commanders' orders, the two fleets hastily engaged in a small-scale naval battle and pretended to retreat due to being overwhelmed.

Upon witnessing this, both commanders were taken aback. To prevent their prey from escaping, they had no choice but to pursue and provoke again.

The two decoy fleets maintained a stalemate for nearly half an hour without inflicting significant damage to each other.

After all, both were decoy fleets. Their main purpose was to lure the enemy to pursue them in order to carry out a plan to encircle the enemy.

If too much firepower was used, causing significant damage to the enemy, the baiting plan would naturally fail.

This stalemate between the decoy fleets lasted a very long time, to the point where they eventually began to expose each other's weaknesses.

However, the enemy stubbornly refused to take the bait. Although they showed no intention of withdrawing, they stubbornly refused to move forward.

At first, the commanding officers of both sides didn't mind, assuming the other side was merely exercising caution. However, when their own forces began to show more and more weaknesses, to the point of being on the verge of allowing themselves to be destroyed, the enemy made no move to pursue, which was somewhat surprising.

The commanders of both sides couldn't help but have a horrifying thought: could the other side also be a decoy?

With this thought in mind, the commanders of the two fleets became more and more irritated with the enemy, and even the enemy's strange actions had very plausible explanations.

Of course, having such a thought, the first reaction of the commanders on both sides was to report immediately to the main force of the navy.

If the enemy was indeed a decoy, it would also mean that the enemy's main force must be nearby.

In the face of a potential large-scale naval battle that could break out at any moment, even the British Empire, which held a substantial advantage, had to exercise caution.

Although both commanders reported their suspicions to their main fleets immediately, the bad news was that the stand-off between the two baiting fleets had lasted too long - long enough for the main fleets to move into a position to flank the enemy. Read new chapters at M V L

By the time the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy's main force received this news, they were almost face-to-face.

If these were cars on land, turning around might have been quick. Unfortunately, these were warships on the sea, and what's more, they were a fleet composed of many enormous ships.

Turning such a large fleet in its entirety would simply be impossible without sufficient time.

About twenty minutes later, the Royal Fleet and the High Seas Fleet could see each other's ship outlines. This made the Royal Fleet's Commander Jericho and the High Seas Fleet's Commander Reinhardt feel a shudder.

The very outcome General Reinhardt least wished to see was happening: the main forces of the High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy were confronting each other, and a direct confrontation that General Reinhardt did not wish to witness was about to take place.

"Deploy the formation, immediately attack!"

This was the command given by the commanders of both sides without hesitation.

In just a few minutes, the enemy would be within the range of our fleet. But this also means, we would be within the range of the enemy.

In naval combat, whoever can react the fastest, whoever can seize the initiative, might gain a certain advantage in the naval battle.

General Reinhardt also understood that he now had no room for retreat. However, there was a piece of good news: the High Seas Fleet Had deployed over ten submarines this time, and these submarines seemed to have gone unnoticed by the British fleet.

If these submarines could launch a surprise attack during the most ferocious part of the naval battle, they might play a crucial role.

Thus, General Rheinhardt did not order the submarines to take action. Instead, he allowed them to lurk underwater, waiting for the best chance to attack.