Chapter 640 Charles Helped Us

Admiral Scheer, who had done his homework, seemed very confident. He took out a nautical chart from his jacket pocket and spread it on the coffee table, analyzing:

"Fighters are different from bombers. The combat radius of a fighter is usually one-third of its total range."

"One-third of the fuel is used to reach the target battlefield, one-third of the fuel is used to chase the target and shoot it down, and the remaining one-third of the fuel is used to return."

"Therefore, although the Camel fighter is invincible, its combat radius is only more than 100 kilometers, which is its biggest weakness."

As he spoke, Admiral Scheer looked up at Falkenhayn, with a questioning look in his eyes and a hint of provocation.

Falkenhayn could only nod and answer in a muffled voice: "Yes, you are right."

General Scheer had a smug smile on his face and continued to analyze:

"Not to mention that the British'Camel' fighters have not yet been mass-produced, they only have a few dozen and most of them are deployed on the Western Front."

"Even if they are mass-produced, they can only control the sea area about 100 kilometers along the coast when they take off from the British coastline."

"But our bombers can use telescopes to scout along this line, which can almost cover the entire North Sea."

William II exclaimed: "The entire North Sea?"

"Yes." Admiral Scheer nodded: "This is very beneficial to us. Sometimes I think that Charles seems to be helping the British on the surface, but in fact he is helping us."

"What?" William II and Falkenhayn cast puzzled glances at Admiral Scheer at the same time.

How could Charles help the German Navy?

Admiral Scheer explained to the map:

"The British blockade of us stretches from the north of the North Sea to the south, with many escort fleets and merchant ships in between."

"The total length of this line is nearly 1,000 kilometers. If they are all under the reconnaissance of our bombers..."

Hearing this, William II and Falkenhayn understood, and they nodded thoughtfully.

"That's right." William II said: "The longer the defense line, the more weaknesses there are, and the more offensive opportunities we can find."

Falkenhayn added: "And our army was originally trapped in the Heligoland Bight by the British fleet. The weaknesses and loopholes of our defense line are very small, and it can even be said that there are no loopholes."

"No loopholes?" William II looked at Falkenhayn in astonishment. He didn't understand why there were no loopholes.

But Admiral Scheer nodded in agreement: "The British Royal Navy cannot change its long-range blockade strategy, so we have no loopholes and no weaknesses."

William II was stunned, and then he figured it out.

Even if the British found loopholes in the German defense line, what could they do?

Send a fleet to attack?

Impossible!

Because that means that the British Royal Fleet will abandon the strategy of long-range blockade and actively attack the Heligoland Bight.

At that time, they will have to face a large number of German torpedo boats and even coastal defense guns near the coast, which is obviously not cost-effective and is also what the German fleet hopes for.

Therefore, the German fleet's defense line has no loopholes.

However, soon, William II frowned again:

"But even if our fleet finds loopholes and weaknesses of the British, it cannot attack."

"I mean, if the British use enough "Caproni" bombers for reconnaissance, they can accurately grasp the movements of my fleet."

"Once our warships leave the Heligoland Bight, they will be tracked by their bombers."

Admiral Scheer replied calmly: "Your Majesty, the weakness of aerial reconnaissance is that it is difficult and even dangerous to perform missions at night."

"Very dangerous?" William II was confused.

He could understand the difficulty, it was hard to find the target at night, but it was dangerous...

Falkenhayn agreed again:

"Yes, especially when flying over the sea."

"If there are no stars or moonlight in the sky, it is pitch black all around, and the pilot can't even tell which direction is the sky and which direction is the sea."

"He may dive into the sea and think he is climbing."

William II seemed to understand.

He had never been on a plane and didn't know the feeling of weightlessness on a plane, so he couldn't understand why the pilot mistook the sea for the sky.

But he didn't ask much.

Falkenhayn and Admiral Scheer both said so, so it must be right.

William II knew the result: "In other words, our warships can be deployed at night?"

"Yes." Admiral Scheer answered with certainty: "Once we find the British's loophole, we can send a fast fleet to attack at night. As long as we rush to the target position before dawn to launch an attack and then retreat immediately, the British will have no way to deal with us."

No mistakes in one song, one post, one content, one content, one book, one forum, one 6, one 9!

The light cruisers of the German fleet have a speed of 27 knots, and the destroyers have a speed of 29 knots.

Based on the speed of the light cruisers, they can travel 48 kilometers per hour. It is not impossible to reach the target location from Heligoland Island overnight.

"We can have many offensive targets." Admiral Scheer's eyes flashed with excitement unconsciously: "Not only the British Third Fleet, but also the British fleet. As long as we use submarines to cooperate with air reconnaissance to obtain accurate intelligence, the fast fleet can avoid their patrol fleet and directly attack their merchant ships."

William II listened to this and couldn't help but be happy: "You mean, we don't even need to use submarines?"

"Yes." Admiral Scheer nodded affirmatively: "We may achieve greater results at a lower cost, and may even seize some supplies, if time permits."

"Great." William II rubbed his hands excitedly.

Only Falkenhayn frowned and said nothing. After a while, he hesitated and said: "But why did Charles do this? I mean, didn't he think of this?"

Falkenhayn had been fooled several times, and he believed that Charles would not be as simple as Admiral Scheer thought.

But Admiral Scheer did not hesitate at all: "I think this is because Charles did not consider that we have bombers, or he did not know that we have bombers at all."

When speaking, Admiral Scheer stared at Falkenhayn, waiting for his answer.

Falkenhayn nodded slightly:

"Yes, this is the bomber we developed last year, which is comparable to Charles's 'Caproni'."

"Except for our military leaders, no one else knows."

(The picture above is the German Gotha G.1 bomber. The first one was produced in July 1915, and only 20 were produced.)

"That's right." William II said excitedly: "Charles didn't know that we had bombers, so he was not prepared. He didn't even realize that he had made an irreparable mistake."

At this time, William II didn't know that Charles actually wanted them to know.

From the perspective of the French Navy, Charles didn't want to see the German Navy trapped in the Heligoland Bight and unable to move.

So, his goal was to help the German Navy and let them fight a good battle with the British Royal Navy.

It would be best if the battle was dark, miserable, and unbearable...