Chapter 284: The Depth Charge
Only two days had passed, and another Allied battleship had been sunk. This time, it was the British warship Majesty.
Its defense had been even more rigorous: in addition to the anti-torpedo nets, a ring of merchant and transport ships surrounded it, while three destroyers and two trawlers patrolled nearby. Yet the German submarine had once again managed to sink it.
The Germans had chosen dawn for their attack, a time when the faint light of the sky paradoxically cast the water into pitch blackness. The sailors couldn't see the periscope, but the submarine crew could easily detect the large silhouette of the battleship in the water. From 500 meters away, the German submarine launched its torpedo. It slipped through the calm waves, miraculously passing between two merchant ships, piercing the anti-torpedo net and hitting Majesty dead center.
The blast struck the center of the vessel, and Majesty sank in just seven minutes. Fortunately, it had been close to shore, and its hull came to rest on a sandbank, saving many lives—only about 40 sailors were lost.
People seemed to have become accustomed to hearing about battleships being sunk. Although the newspapers continued to run these stories on the front page, public discussion had died down.
Gallieni shook his head. "It's difficult to imagine: a battleship worth millions of pounds, wiped out by a single small torpedo."
Just then, Capod came in with a telegram, which he handed to Gallieni. "General, there may be five to six German submarines in the Dardanelles."
"How do you know that?" Gallieni looked at Capod with surprise. This was information even the Second Bureau couldn't get hold of. Perhaps the British knew, but they certainly hadn't shared it with the French.
Capod explained, "A German submarine was seen resupplying in neutral Spain. At the time, no one thought much of it, but it's now clear it was likely headed for the Dardanelles. Additionally, a few smaller coastal submarines have been transported by rail, though these are mostly rumors."
Gallieni nodded. Capod's information was often based on indirect sources, yet in the absence of other intelligence, it could be valuable.
"There are only six enemy submarines?" Charles was skeptical. "And just one of them a large submarine? Yet they've managed to make such a mess of the Allies?"
Lieutenant Colonel Fernand gave a resigned sigh. "Even one would be enough to give us trouble, let alone five or six."
Charles looked at Fernand, puzzled. The Allied fleet had over thirty destroyers and a dozen cruisers—how could a single submarine be giving them such a headache?
Fernand explained, "Submarines are only vulnerable when they surface. Otherwise, no one can do anything about them!"
Charles suddenly realized that depth charges hadn't been invented yet.
As he asked a few more questions, it became clear that this was indeed the case. The navy's options for dealing with submarines were limited: either try to gun them down or ram them, but there was only a small window of time when they surfaced. Once submerged, the only option was to watch helplessly.
Charles nodded thoughtfully. It was time to pay a visit to the police training base.
Gallieni had selected the police training base for the 105th Regiment because its facilities were far better than most makeshift military installations. Additionally, the base had already been training soldiers for several months, so seeing troops coming and going wouldn't attract the attention of spies.
As Charles's car entered the training base, he heard the roar of engines and the shouts of soldiers.
Looking in the direction of the noise, he saw dozens of cars, though modified: each had a raised ramp at the rear, similar to the front ramps on landing craft.
Charles immediately realized these vehicles were being used to simulate landing craft. The back of each truck was packed with soldiers, who were riding back and forth around the field.
The trucks reversed up to an incline, the ramps dropped, and fully armed soldiers spilled out, rifles in hand.
Charles couldn't help but admire Tijani's resourcefulness in procuring so many vehicles for training.
Before long, Tijani, sweat-soaked from drills, rushed over. "Colonel!" He seemed almost apologetic as he looked at the training area. "We don't have enough landing craft, and this place isn't ideal for training, so we're making do as best we can."
Charles was speechless. "Making do" with over fifty vehicles? Was Tijani aware of how many front-line troops were desperate for transport to carry munitions and supplies?
Charles merely nodded, replying, "Not bad. But there's another issue to consider: these troops have fought only on land. If seasickness affects their combat readiness…"
"I've already made arrangements," Tijani replied confidently. "Starting tomorrow, they'll be training at the Toulon Naval Base. We'll have them spend a few days at sea."
Charles raised an eyebrow. The way Tijani said it, it was as if warships could be arranged at a moment's notice.
"Colonel," Tijani began hesitantly, "will you…?"
Charles chuckled. "Just a boat ride. I'll be fine."
In his own time, Charles had been on boats before, so he felt confident. What he forgot was that riding the waves in a warship under heavy fire was a far cry from the smooth, leisurely cruises he was used to.
"There's something I need to discuss with you." Charles led Tijani to a quieter spot. "I assume you heard about the sinking of Majesty?"
"Yes." Tijani nodded, seemingly reading Charles's mind. "If you're worried that we'll be short on ships for the landing, there's no need. I've already arranged with Rear Admiral Guépratte to assign the battleship Gaulois and five destroyers to provide cover, along with several minesweepers and transports."
Charles raised an eyebrow in approval. This was definitely the right choice of commander. Tijani's naval experience and connections had smoothed over a lot of logistics.
"That's not what I wanted to discuss," Charles said, his expression turning more serious. "I'm thinking—don't we need something to counter the submarines?"
"Counter submarines?" Tijani looked at him, bewildered. "But they're underwater. How would we even…?"
"Bombs," Charles replied bluntly. "Bombs that can explode underwater."
Tijani's eyes widened.
It was such a simple idea, yet one with immense potential. Why, he wondered, had no one thought of it before?
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