Borkum Island belongs to the territory of Prussia. It is the dividing point between the territorial waters of the Netherlands and Prussia. Arriving here also indicates that the war is about to break out.
"Have you found any Prussian battleships?"
"Reporting to the captain, there is no trace of any ship... The wind and waves on the sea are gradually increasing, and the weatherman has judged that there may be storms tonight and tomorrow morning..."
"Continue to observe!"
Captain Hoff combed his gray hair with his hands and put on his general's hat. "The show is about to begin, isn't it... The idiot Army has turned the war into shit. Now it's our Navy's turn to solve the problem..."
The captain opened the cabin door and the sailors standing guard outside immediately stood at attention and saluted!
"Boys, don't waste your energy standing guard, get ready to fight! From now on, the navy will pull out all the nails along the Prussian coast!"
The nail that Hof is talking about is the East Frisian Islands, which is a long island chain parallel to the Prussian coastline, directly covering the gate of Wilhelmshaven. Through this island chain, you can enter Heligoland. Bay, here is the lifeline of Prussia's maritime interests.
Hamburg is the most important commercial city in Prussia. The limited maritime trade of this poor continental country is all concentrated in Hamburg.
Occupying this place is equivalent to holding the Prussian money bag. As long as a victory is achieved, the almost collapsed morale in France can be restored.
Captain Hoff's eyes shone with excitement. He rubbed his hands and whispered, "The French navy has been suppressed for too long. The world says that only the army is the most powerful in this country, and the navy is always a foil!"
"Today all this will change. History will be made by our navy. I believe that after this battle, the navy will be revived!"
"Prussia... Hahaha, with their broken wooden ships, they still want to compete with us? Give the fleet an order to start a war as soon as they enter the range!"
The arrogant French navy did not pay attention to the Prussian warships at all. They only regarded the Zhiyuan as a small threat.
But Hoff was not afraid, because before the war, the Navy conducted several war games, and the final result was that the Zhiyuan hid in the Hamburg naval port and passively avoided the war.
No one believed that an armored battleship dared to fight the main force of the French fleet on the ocean!
It can be said that there is not even 1% chance that the Zhiyuan will take the initiative to attack. Even if the Chinese take the wrong medicine and dare to go to war, Hoff does not believe that they can win.
Glorious, Vauban, Cecil, which one is not twice the tonnage of the Reach? Moreover, these ironclad ships are not the kind of pseudo-ironclad ships that cover the army behind them. These are giant beasts made of steel from the inside out.
It's not the kind of junk with a wooden hull and a layer of iron armor!
"With such a powerful fleet, would I be afraid of a warship of less than 3,000 tons? No matter how powerful your artillery is, as long as I can endure the initial casualties, I will be able to sink you in the end!"
It was this strong self-confidence that allowed Hof to completely ignore the threat in the northern seas and fire directly at Prussian territory!
There is only one company of Prussians on Borkum Island, and their only task is to guard the lighthouse. There are also more than two thousand fishermen living on this island. Everything here is very primitive and strictly follows the medieval life traditions.
The people in the fishing village were awakened by the sound of cannons on the sea. It was already half past nine in the evening, and the fishing village with no nightlife had already fallen asleep.
But at this moment, a series of muffled thunder suddenly sounded on the sea, and countless fishermen were awakened from their sleep!
"Where's the thunder? Is it going to be a storm?"
But at this moment, the shells had already hit the fishing village, and the dilapidated wooden houses were blown down one after another amidst the roaring explosions.
"Artillery! God, the French must be coming!"
The panicked people rushed out of their homes and fled with their families. At this time, the only way to survive was to escape to the wilderness!
The Prussian military camp was also stunned by this round of shelling. At this time, French warships were generally equipped with 140- and 150-caliber main guns. The power of this kind of cannon was far greater than that of the army's field artillery. The power of each shell It is enough to collapse a solid brick building, not to mention the dilapidated military camp on the island.
With just one salvo, half of a company's defenders, including the company commander, were buried under the rubble.
The sharp wooden board pierced the company commander's right lung, and he kept coughing up blood. "Telegram...send the telegraph quickly..." The only task of this company stationed here is to protect the lighthouse and telegraph machine.
The news had to be sent out as soon as the French appeared. Unfortunately, God did not bless these people today. The bombing was too intensive. Hof did not give Prussia any time to react. He fired three consecutive volleys and completely destroyed the barracks. and blew up the telegraph wires.
Looking at the rising smoke clouds from the island, Hof said expressionlessly, "Leave the rest of the matter to the Marine Corps. We will go directly to the next island and try to shorten the reaction speed of the Prussian army. The soldiers will rush to Heligoland quickly." Go to the bay and block those Prussian broken ships in the military port, this is our mission!"
The Glory left Borkum Island with its five warships in a mighty manner and galloped towards the island of Ust. Less than a quarter of an hour later, the French army's follow-up transport ship dispatched two ships to the island. The company's troops completely occupied the island after a brief conflict.
Hof's operation was very smooth. The East Frisian Islands are composed of a series of six large islands. This late-night surprise attack allowed the Prussian army to lose three important barriers without any reaction.
Borkum Island was lost, and Norderney and Lange Islands did not escape the fate of falling. It was not until the war burned to Speke Island that the military port of Wilhelm in the south received a battle report.
At this time, the Wilhelm Military Port did not have the majesty of World War I and World War II. This primitive military port currently only had five sail frigates stationed, only two of which were covered with iron armor.
When the commander obtained the specific number and details of the enemy warships, the bells in Wilhelmshaven rang loudly and all the forts entered combat readiness. However, the five warships did not dare to go to sea to fight.
"Send a message to Hamburg! We need reinforcements. The enemy has begun shelling the East Frisian Islands. We need support!"
The frightened Port Wilhelm seemed to have seen the scene of its fall, and the entire city's soldiers and civilians were in a state of panic. But at this moment, a blurry image of a fleet suddenly appeared to the southwest of the French fleet.
At this time, Hof was bombarding Spike Island. When the lookout reported to him something strange in the southwest, he immediately ordered the bombardment to stop. The entire main fleet changed its formation and outflanked it to the west in a long snake formation.
"No matter what the identity of the incoming ship is, we must seize the best shooting position! The entire ship is ready for battle!"
