CHAPTER 292: CHAPTER 292 NAVY CODEBOOK

Shire’s fleet was greeted with heroic cheers as they returned to anchorage.

Whether French Soldiers or British Army soldiers, Australian Army, new recruits, or the African Legion, everyone crowded on one side of the passage, waving anything they could find towards the fleet - flags, handkerchiefs, and even rags, shouting in different languages:

"Welcome back in triumph!"

"Well done, Shire!"

"A beautiful battle, perfect command!"

...

Tijani watched the warships and the crowd retreat with some confusion, some excitement, and more of a sense of being overwhelmed.

All along, he pursued the Art of War, the moment when equipment played a vital role in achieving victory. Now he realized that being recognized by everyone immersed in cheers didn’t seem so bad either.

Shire was somewhat accustomed to it. He looked at the cheering crowds on both sides with a blank expression, calmly raising his hand to wave in response.

The crowd seemed to interact with Shire, and the cheers instantly surged to another climax.

Soon, Shire saw a small wooden boat waiting at the anchorage, with several British Army soldiers standing on it, ready to board the ship.

Tijani also noticed this, and excitedly said to Shire, "It’s the signalmen from the Queen Elizabeth. They must be here to bring us congratulations and commendations!"

"Really?" Shire smiled lightly.

If it were "congratulations and commendations," it shouldn’t be the signalmen coming, but at least a colonel-level officer or even Vice Admiral Robek himself.

...

The atmosphere in the conference room of the Queen Elizabeth was somewhat awkward.

Admiral Robek smiled, but everyone could see that his smile was very forced.

The officers were silent, occasionally glancing at Admiral Robek as if trying to discern his attitude.

General Gephardt walked in with his head held high, having arrived late because General Robek hadn’t informed him of the meeting.

He first found Shire’s transport ship and only learned that both had been called to this place by Admiral Robek.

As soon as General Gephardt saw Shire and Tijani, a proud smile appeared on his face, and he shouted from afar:

"Well done, Shire, and Tijani."

"I reported your victory to the Ministry of the Navy, and the Minister is very pleased with your performance."

"The Minister said, this is the French Navy’s style of combat. We never fear battle. If something stands in the way of victory, we deal with it first!"

...

The British officers’ faces instantly turned very ugly, especially Vice Admiral Robek, as he had ordered the battleships to provide "limited reinforcements," which was what General Gephardt called "cowardice."

When General Gephardt sat down, Vice Admiral Robek cleared his throat, forcing a smile as he looked at Shire: "Congratulations on your first victory, Colonel. But..."

Vice Admiral Robek’s voice turned solemn: "As a military man, you should understand that military orders are inviolable. Your actions today disrupted our overall battle plan."

O’Connell took over, his tone calm and with a slight smile on his face:

"Yes, Colonel."

"I’m not sure if you know, but the troops on Helles Point were waiting for you."

"The troops at W Beach and S Beach launched attacks on the enemy to support your landing, yet you did not land but chose to bomb submarines."

O’Connell was trying every means to find legitimacy for Robek’s anger, believing that only this way could they maintain relations with Shire and even with France.

"Is that so?" Shire calmly asked in return: "Then why hadn’t I heard of this so-called ’support’ before?"

Vice Admiral Robek answered without thinking: "That was our combat plan..."

Shire merely hummed, looking inscrutably at Robek with a mocking smile on his lips.

Vice Admiral Robek suddenly realized he had fallen into Shire’s trap: if the British Army’s battle plan could be kept from Shire, Shire’s battle plan certainly didn’t have to be shared with the British Army.

Therefore, Shire didn’t need to be responsible for the supposed "loss" at Helles Point.

This cunning bastard, he probably figured out this loophole long ago.

Robek regretted not putting on a show of handing this arrogant Frenchman a "battle plan" before the battle!

Now, the only thing left was to cling to "disobedience to orders."

However, just as Vice Admiral Robek was about to speak, General Gephardt preemptively spoke.

"My fault, Your Excellency Vice Admiral!" General Gephardt apologized to Vice Admiral Robek with a smirk: "I knew the whole plan. They originally wanted to discuss with you. But for confidentiality reasons, I decided not to disclose the plan. Facts have proven this to be correct!"

Vice Admiral Robek was stunned.

If General Gephardt knew the plan, then Shire couldn’t even be counted as "disobedient."

While Vice Admiral Robek was still thinking of a charge to suppress Shire’s arrogance, a staff officer came in with a panicked look and handed an urgent telegram to Vice Admiral Robek.

Vice Admiral Robek glanced at the telegram and suddenly looked at Shire in shock, then at the staff officer, seemingly to confirm the authenticity of the telegram.

The staff officer nodded slightly.

Vice Admiral Robek bit his lip, finally sighed heavily, and reluctantly softened his stance.

...

The telegram was from the Minister of the Navy, simply stating: "Cooperate with Shire, no interference allowed!"

This left Vice Admiral Robek very puzzled.

Originally, the one targeting Shire was precisely the Minister of the Navy.

Because if Shire won, the Minister of the Navy, who initiated the Dardanelles Strait campaign, would have his popularity affected. Everyone would think what he couldn’t achieve, Shire did.

Vice Admiral Robek couldn’t understand what made the Minister of the Navy suddenly change his mind to support Shire’s "self-assertion."

The answer was simple.

After winning at sea, Shire sent a telegram to General Winter: "Sank submarine, near the coast, the Germans might not have time to destroy the codebook!"

General Winter was in the command post at Ypres with his staff discussing the battle. He believed that more cooperation between the navy and the army should be invested in such terrain as Ypres, as only this way could unnecessary casualties be reduced and this muddy land defended.

Receiving the telegram, he instantly jumped up as if pricked by a pin: "God, the German Navy’s codebook!"

General Winter knew how important this was.

The German Fleet, which was currently blockaded, was itching for action: Britain had sent a large number of warships to the Dardanelles for battle, which was evidently the best time for the German Fleet to break out.

The Royal Navy was highly anxious about this, not knowing when the Germans might launch a sudden attack on the blockade fleet.

If at this moment, the Allies could obtain the German Navy’s codebook and thereby decrypt the German Navy’s communications, it would mean the Germans’ actions would fail before they even began!