Chapter 295 Operation Catapult (3)

Colonel Holland, who had just received a thorough dressing-down from Admiral Gensoul, had an unpleasant expression on his face. Silently, he took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Admiral Gensoul. "Admiral, this concerns the fate of the French Navy."

Admiral Gensoul, not in the best of moods, reluctantly accepted the document. The seal on the cover indicated that it was a letter issued by the Admiralty in London.

"A few days ago, Prime Minister Reynaud promised to mobilize all warships to British ports. Now, the Imperial Cabinet of Great Britain has made a decision: the French fleet must join the ranks of the British Navy to resist Germany, or else it will be scuttled on its own."

Upon reading this, Admiral Gensoul felt sparks of anger in his eyes. Why should the fate of the French Navy be decided by the British Cabinet? What did the British think of themselves? Did they see their allies as mere pawns?

Damn these British people!

With a fierce glare at Colonel Holland, Admiral Gensoul continued reading.

"While the current French government may believe that their ceasefire conditions and commitments are in harmony with Germany, based on our past experience, the British government, under His Majesty the King, believes that Germany will seize the French fleet when they deem it appropriate and use it against Britain and its allies."

"Up to now, we have been your comrades in arms and cannot allow your top-notch ships to fall into enemy hands. We are determined to fight to the end, and if we win — and we believe we can — we will not forget that France was once our ally. Our interests are France's interests, and our common enemy is Germany. If we win, we solemnly declare that we will restore the glory and territory of France."

Admiral Gensoul resisted the urge to tear up the letter and continued reading.

"To achieve this goal, we must ensure that the most elite ships of the French Navy are not used by the enemy against us. Therefore, the French fleet at Mers-el-Kébir must act according to one of the following methods:"

1. Sail with us and continue to fight for victory against Germany.

2. Reduce the crew and sail to British ports under our supervision. The reduced crew should be repatriated as soon as possible.

3. If not, reduce the crew and sail with us to a French port in the West Indies, such as the Martinique Islands, where the ships must be disarmed according to our requirements or handed over to the United States for safekeeping until the end of the war, and the crew can be repatriated in advance.

Each of these methods was dictated with an almost condescending attitude, and the French fleet had no choice but to comply!

Furthermore, as Admiral Gensoul read on, his anger intensified.

"If you reject these fair and reasonable proposals, then, with the deepest regret, I must ask you to scuttle your ships within six hours. Finally, if you fail to act in accordance with the above methods, I will have no choice but to, in accordance with the orders of His Majesty's government, use all necessary force to prevent your ships from falling into German hands."

"This is too much to bear!" Admiral Gensoul, who was about to erupt in anger, saw Hofmann, who was calm beside him. "Hofmann, did you, no, did your High Command already know about this?"

"Yes, Uncle," said Hofmann as he took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Admiral Gensoul. Upon seeing the contents, Admiral Gensoul was shocked; it was identical to the ultimatum brought by Colonel Holland. "Then why didn't you say so earlier? I could have made some preparations at least!"

Now, all the ship boilers were cold. If they wanted to engage in combat, they needed to fire up the boilers. However, for steam engines, the boilers had to be ignited first before the turbines could be driven. To get the warships moving, they would need time.

And during this time, the British were ready to bombard them dozens of times over.

"Uncle, don't be in a hurry. Since the High Command already knew about it, how could they not have a plan?" Hofmann said as he called in guards to control Colonel Holland.

"Now what do we do?" Admiral Gensoul, feeling somewhat at a loss, asked. Hofmann, very relaxed, responded, "Shall we fire up the boilers for the fleet?"

"..." As long as smoke emerged from their ship chimneys, the British would detect their intentions and likely open fire on their ships immediately. Admiral Gensoul looked again at the document in his hand and suddenly realized that if the Germans had already grasped the British plan so thoroughly, how could they not be prepared?

Having understood this, Admiral Gensoul no longer hesitated and gave the order, "Start the fleet's boilers."

"Yes!" The adjutant was about to leave when Hofmann added, "Use the shortwave radio to send a telegram to the British fleet. Order them to surrender immediately, or we'll sink them!"

Colonel Holland shouted, "Admiral, by doing this, you will doom the entire French Navy. Please think twice!"

Hofmann sneered, "Colonel Holland, you will soon see what 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind' means. Do you want me to guess what warships are in the fleet sent this time? Your fleet is codenamed 'H Fleet,' right? The flagship should be HMS Hood; Resolution and Queen Elizabeth, two battleships; HMS Furious, an aircraft carrier; and cruisers like HMS Arethusa and Enterprise; plus destroyers like Fauconneau, Foxhound, Farndale, Patrol, Keppel, Alert, and Wrestler, and so on. How about that? Did I get it right?"

"You, you..." Colonel Holland stared at Hofmann in horror, feeling a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

At this moment, the lookout on H Fleet noticed thick black smoke rising from the distant port, a clear indication that the enemy warships were getting ready!

After the First World War, almost all warships had phased out coal-fired boilers and adopted heavy oil boilers. However, heavy oil could not be ignited directly; diesel had to be sprayed into the boiler, ignited, and then heavy oil sprayed in. This process could result in significant incomplete combustion, producing black smoke. During normal navigation, warships emitted little black smoke.

Admiral Somerville, upon receiving the lookout's report, furrowed his brows. Had Colonel Holland convinced the French, or were the French determined to fight to the death against them? "Do we have any news from Colonel Holland?"

"Sir, a clear message from the French. They demand an immediate surrender, or they will sink us!"

Admiral Somerville was momentarily stunned. Where did the French get such confidence? However, he couldn't afford to think much. The French stance was clear, and if that was the case, he could only choose to execute an alternative plan!

Although Admiral Somerville deeply opposed this backup plan, he now knew he had no other choice.

As a military man, obeying orders was his duty.

"Attention, I am Admiral Somerville. Attack the French fleet, eliminate all French warships!" Holding the microphone, he finally gave the command.

"Boom!"

The first to open fire was the flagship HMS Hood, and the power of a full salvo from its main guns was awe-inspiring. The tremendous pressure from the gun muzzles pressed the sea surface alongside the ship, creating a wide shallow crater. The deafening sound echoed through the water, reaching the seabed.

"They're firing! They're firing!"

No need for the sonar operator to remind them; the thunderous sound reverberated inside the submarine beneath the sea.