Hof's order was actually completely redundant. The French's strategic mission this time was Hamburg. They wanted the navy and army to cooperate to attack Hamburg, and compete for negotiations for the French Emperor by attacking this famous European free city and commercial center. Initiative on the table.
The army's fight was really miserable. The empire was already in turmoil. If this damn war was not ended, the fire of revolution would burn the empire to ashes without the Prussians taking action.
Negotiation has become the only option for the French Emperor. He must first end this damn war, and then free up his hands to send troops to suppress those rebels who are ready to move.
But the Prussians were going smoothly, how could they accept negotiations so easily?
There must be a breakthrough on the battlefield, and a beautiful victory must be fought. Only in this way can the anger of the domestic people be temporarily calmed, and Bismarck can be forced to return to the negotiating table.
It seems that the Army can no longer complete this important task. The only breakthrough can only be made by the Navy!
For the future of the empire, the Queen deliberately expanded the size of the Marine Corps. The original harassment force of 8,000 people ended up being patched together to more than 28,000 people!
Each of the carefully selected armed merchant ships was packed with army soldiers, and the smallest one was packed with 800 people!
A total of thirty-five armed merchant ships sailed on the sea as far as the eye could see!
It is a very confusing and complicated matter for an army of this size to land on a ship and transfer to a ship. Basically, this kind of beach landing task will only have one chance in the enemy's territory.
The war will not give them that much time to reboard the ship, reorganize the escort, and fight to the destination again. Today, these marines landed on Spike Island, so there is only one option, to fight overland all the way to Hamburg!
Isn’t this enough to make you feel full? Obviously there is not a single Prussian naval warship on the sea, so the 28,000 soldiers can safely reach the mouth of the Elbe River, and then, with the cooperation of the warships, cover each other and attack Hamburg.
Such a safe and reliable tactic was actually abandoned. These armies actually had to take a long detour and fight three or four Prussian defense lines in a row before heading towards Hamburg!
Is there something wrong with Hough's IQ? What a funny brain show!
Just as the Duke of Newcastle was looking confused and guessing, the navy captain next to him said disdainfully, "These French idiots are afraid that we will take advantage of the chaos to make a sneak attack! To prevent us from getting to this point, we actually have to modify our strategy... idiot!"
The Duke turned his head and glanced at the captain. The young captain quickly smiled and said, "Tradition, this is all tradition! At the Battle of Trafalgar, the French dream of a great navy was completely shattered by us. These French guys have no respect for us in their hearts." The hatred of the Royal Navy is unspeakable!”
"Although they are extremely polite on the surface, in fact they never trust us... Take a closer look at Hof's formation!"
"From the beginning, he singled out more than 20 cruisers and became the escort team for merchant ships, while his main iron-clad battleship was at the forefront to clear the way!"
"Even the mission of bombarding the East Frisian Islands did not involve these cruisers. This shows that he has always been worried that someone would steal his retreat. He was afraid that someone would be detrimental to these thirty-five merchant ships!"
"Who is he guarding against? Prussia? Do you really think those shabby Prussian warships can fight against these thirty-five armed merchant ships?"
"Haha, the only one he is guarding against is us! The one he is guarding against is our British Royal Navy!"
"In the final analysis, he is just afraid that Britain and Prussia have some secret military agreement, and he is afraid that the Royal Navy will stab him in the back at the critical moment!"
"We showed interest in watching the battle today. He is overthinking. He would rather modify his strategy than avoid us!"
The Duke of Newcastle suddenly realized it, but looking back on the relationship between the Queen and the Prussian royal family, coupled with Bismarck's friendly diplomacy towards Britain, the French Emperor and others can understand their concerns.
The Duke shook his head, "I can understand the helplessness of these French people. In order to win back the situation politically, they can only attack Hamburg, because only by bringing the flames of war to Hamburg will the symbolic meaning be great enough!"
"The remaining Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven are not good enough. They are not enough to deter the morale of the Prussian soldiers and civilians!"
"This mission is of great importance and there is no room for error. Hof must have been under tremendous pressure. He has to be careful! The poor French have been bullied by Prussia into this..."
"This is nothing like the majesty of Napoleon the Great! I think people like Napoleon III only have this little ambition!"
"I think the French will also have problems in this naval battle!" The Duke of Newcastle suddenly said something like a prophecy. He actually predicted that the French would have problems.
Is there really God's will in the dark? Is everything in the world really connected by invisible clues?
Just when the French fleet was concentrating on being wary of the British, just when thirty-five merchant ships had begun to disembark soldiers, just when more than twenty cruisers were anchored on the west side of the merchant ships, trying their best to protect the beach landing...
At this moment, no one noticed that in the northwest direction of the battlefield, directly in front of the French fleet, a giant beast from the deep sea was rushing towards them in the dark night.
The Zhiyuan is here. This lone wolf in the North Sea is under complete light control. There is no light at all on the battleship!
The boiler has reached maximum pressure, and the coal shovel's shovel has turned red. The battleship is like an arrow leaving the string, heading towards the brightly lit battlefield at a maximum speed of 18 knots.
The eyes of Xiang Ying, Lin Zhen and others were already burning red. The remaining blood flags were buzzing in the dark night wind. The enemy's lights in the distance attracted this bloodthirsty moth. They were ready to burn the jade together. !
"Arrogant big noses, even if we die today, grandpa, we will drain your blood and take out all your internal organs to pay homage to the God of the Sea!"
"With you, there is no me! With me, I am invincible!"
"Strong wind and pressure! Full power!"
At that moment, the Zhiyuan really started to whimper like a beast. It was the sound of strong wind pouring in from the brass-made strong wind pressure port.
The air was sucked into the official passage, and the sound of friction was like a ghost's horn!
The cold, fresh oxygen was blown directly into the boiler by the powerful compressor, and the boiler flame that was just red suddenly turned blue!
"Fuck!" The coal shovelman couldn't dodge, and the flames licked him directly. His eyebrows were all lifted up at once, and the sweat on his face evaporated instantly!
Zhiyuan really worked hard, and he actually increased it to the designed theoretical horsepower, 7500 horsepower!
Seven thousand five hundred horses are exerting force at the same time, pulling the Zhiyuan and roaring towards the battlefield, one horse is worth a thousand!
Note: The second update will be relatively late, I have something to do during the day!
