I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 988 - 989: The Wooden Captain

On a clear day at Emden Port, sunlight filtered through sparse clouds, casting warm light on several rusted mine-laying ships at the harbor.

Major Bernhard, as usual, hurriedly finished his breakfast and took the mine-laying ship out to sea.

Emden Port used to be one of Germany’s busiest ports, with merchant ships trading with England, Holland, France, and other countries. They brought goods ashore, which were then transported across Germany by rail and road.

But after the war began, the port declined rapidly due to the British blockade, and merchant ships vanished without a trace. The merchants gathered around the port moved away, leaving only a desolate town, with few people on the streets and just a handful of fishing boats on a sea once crowded with ships.

Subordinate Herman shouted to Major Bernhard over the engine noise of another mine-laying ship: "Major, where do we ’lay eggs’ today?"

’Laying eggs’ was what the crew jokingly called it.

The 29th Mine-laying Squadron at Emden Port had only five aging ships, referred to by the crew as ’turtles’ due to their slow speed.

Thus, carrying out mine-laying tasks was likened to ’laying eggs.’

But the turtle doesn’t lay eggs in the sea, Bernhard thought; it crawls onto the sand to lay eggs, so the analogy was quite apt.

Of course, Bernhard wouldn’t argue with his subordinates about this. He pulled out the mine-laying map, looked at it, and shouted: "Go to area E, Herman, that might be the main direction of the British attack."

Herman laughed: "The enemy has already invaded Germany, Major!"

Bernhard understood what Herman meant.

The British had captured Frankfurt, and the French had even seized the Ruhr Industrial District. Just one more step forward, and they could reach Emden Port without attacking from the sea.

Thus, the mine-laying mission was meaningless.

But...

"It’s our mission," Major Bernhard replied. "As long as the orders don’t change, we must complete it."

"Alright, Major." Herman saluted him, speaking with a tone of resignation: "As you wish!" 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Major Bernhard was a stubborn person. In the eyes of his subordinates, he was an inflexible blockhead.

Suddenly, shadows appeared at the other end of the horizon.

"What is that?" Major Bernhard shouted, turning to look at the lookout on the ship’s top, but there was no one there.

They all believed the war would soon end, and that continuing work was pointless, so they waited for the moment of surrender.

The first officer heard the noise and ran out of the cabin, raised his binoculars, and said: "I’m not sure, Major, maybe it’s a few fishing boats. They probably don’t know they’ve entered our minefield!"

Such things happened occasionally, even incidents of detonating mines.

Major Bernhard raised his binoculars and dismissed the notion: "No, those aren’t fishing boats. Fishing boats aren’t that fast."

He looked carefully, then turned and shouted: "Combat preparation, those are British sweepers!"

The crew, who had been lounging below deck, were called to their posts by the order.

As they got closer, the first officer also saw more clearly and spoke with slight tension: "You’re right, Major, they are sweepers; the British intend to attack from this direction."

Then he added: "I think we should retreat immediately and report to command!"

Major Bernhard agreed only with the latter part of his suggestion: "Report to command!"

The first officer wasn’t surprised at all by the Major’s reaction; he was this kind of person, only following orders from above.

The first officer rushed to the communication room, believing that command would agree to retreat, rendering the Major silent.

But the result disappointed the first officer.

Command didn’t believe what they saw and issued orders: "Continue monitoring; we’ll send aircraft for reconnaissance."

The first officer was somewhat anxious and added after relaying the order: "Retreat, Major, there’s nothing we can do!"

"Don’t worry, Thomas." Major Bernhard remained unusually calm, observing the target from the swaying deck with his binoculars, and confidently responded: "Those are British Ascot-class sweepers, converted from civilian ships, with a single 12-pounder gun with a range of about 5 nautical miles."

(The above image is a model of a British Ascot-class sweeper during World War I, converted from civilian Ascot paddle steamers. Initially, the British used fishing boats for sweeping operations, but with their deep drafts and many having sharp bottoms prone to contact with mines. Then they found these flat-bottomed ferries, used for tourist transportation, had superior speed and draft compared to fishing boats, leading to their mass conscription.)

"But that’s still enough to blast us to pieces," the first officer replied. "What’s more, as sweepers, it means the British have other warships nearby, likely even battleships."

The first officer was almost pleading, knowing that encountering battleships meant they had no chance of survival.

"Moreover, what can we do?" The first officer continued to persuade: "Are we to lay more mines for them to sweep or engage in combat?"

The 29th Mine-laying Squadron’s small vessels were equipped with 20mm autocannons, with a range of only 1500 meters, inferior even to the enemy’s sweepers!

Major Bernhard didn’t answer and instead took off his binoculars, stared pensively in the direction of the sweepers, and muttered: "We can’t let them continue like this; otherwise, by tomorrow, they’ll clear a path through the minefield."

"But what can we do?" The first officer asked.

He glanced to both sides. The other vessels were furiously signaling to inquire about the situation.

In fact, they weren’t inquiring about the situation but were asking why they hadn’t retreated yet.

The first officer spread his hands towards them, and they all understood it was due to that inflexible Major!

Major Bernhard ignored them. Standing at the ship’s side, he looked at the ocean current’s direction, compared it to the target’s direction, and ordered coldly: "Approach them!"

"What?" The first officer’s eyes widened: "Are you insane, Major..."

"Execute the order!" Bernhard replied with an expressionless and firm tone: "Unless you want to face a court-martial."

The first officer was speechless. After a moment, he responded: "Yes, Major!"

Getting closer, they were now within 10 kilometers of the target. The enemy had even fired a few rounds as if issuing a warning.

At this time, Major Bernhard ordered: "Attach weight number 3 to the mines and toss them all into the sea."

Only then did the first officer understand what Major Bernhard intended to do.

Weight number 3 was a calculated weight by Major Bernhard, enough to leave only the mine’s top exposed, mostly in a semi-suspended state.

This way, the enemy ships couldn’t detect them, but it created many uncertain dangers in the water.