Chapter 336: Chapter 413 Setting a Trap
After leaving the paratrooper training base and returning to the palace, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ribbentrop, reported that the UK intended to send a special envoy to discuss peace talks.
"It seems that the mines are quite effective," he remarked. Nearly four thousand mines had been laid in the waters around the UK. Wilhelm received intelligence that last night, a British fleet was leaving port when the newly completed battleship Prince of Wales struck a mine and was severely damaged. As a result, the rest of the warships did not dare to continue and had to retreat back to the port. The British forces were vigorously sweeping for mines, but they apparently did not realize that Germany had laid a new type of mine and were still using old sweeping methods.
In fact, once the principle of these magnetic mines was discovered, they were quite easy to deal with. All that was needed was for two minesweeping ships to sail in parallel, dragging a long cable behind them. Passing an electric current through the cable would create a magnetic field between the two ships, which would detonate nearby magnetic mines.
This method was developed by Charles Goodeve, the deputy director of the British Naval Department's Weapons Development Division.
This man was a "disaster" for Germany, not only because he developed this minesweeping method but also because he came up with a method of "wiping" ships to make them immune to magnetic mines. After being "wiped," everything from small boats to large ships could pass through magnetic minefields unimpeded. However, he also found that the altered magnetic field would gradually be restored by the vibrations of the engine and the impact of the waves, meaning that the ships had to be "wiped" again every six months.
Goodfellow created a new term for this process, called "degaussing"; this word was a tribute to Carl Friedrich Gauss, the first person to chart a magnetic field, and it also rhymed with "delousing" in English. During the original Dunkirk evacuation, it was his "degaussing" method that allowed for the degaussing of over 400 ships of various sizes in just three days. In the days that followed, another 1,000 ships were "wiped." This operation, along with the aforementioned minesweeping method, ensured that British ships were surprisingly safe from magnetic mines throughout the entire evacuation. The miracle of Dunkirk was largely due to Charles Goodeve and his research.
Afterward, he did not stop there; he led his team to develop an anti-submarine weapon called the "Hedgehog."
At the time, the British Army had an emergency anti-tank mortar called the Black Thrower, which used a spigot design and was intended to counter German tanks landing on their shores.
A spigot mortar is one without a barrel; the base only has a launching rod, and the tailpipe of the mortar shell fits over the launching rod for direction, with the propellant charge at the head of the tailpipe. When ignited, it pushes the shell away from the launching rod. So, when the Hedgehog is not loaded, the launcher looks like many rods extending in different directions, resembling a hedgehog, which is how the weapon got its name.
Goodeve's team combined 24 launching rods, and by adjusting the angle of the rods and controlling the firing sequence of each rod with an ignition circuit, 24 Hedgehog shells would fly out over 200 yards and fall simultaneously, forming a circle with a diameter of 30 meters or an ellipse of 30x40 meters. If a submarine was encircled, it was destined to be hit by multiple Hedgehog shells and would find it difficult to escape.
The Hedgehog had a caliber of 178 millimeters, a range of 200-259 meters, and was loaded with 13 kilograms of TNT explosive, capable of blasting a hole half a meter to a meter wide in the pressure hull of a submarine. Later, it was modified to be filled with 16 kilograms of Torpex underwater explosive used in torpedoes, which was even more powerful. It used a dual fuze system, with the first fuze disarming upon impact with the sea surface and entering a standby state, and the second fuze detonating upon impact with a submarine. The shockwave from a close-range explosion could also trigger this fuze, often causing large-scale chain explosions, adding additional damage to the submarine. The Hedgehog's sinking speed was three times faster than that of a depth charge, reaching a depth of 61 meters in just 9 seconds, leaving very little time for the submarine to escape. The Hedgehog's explosive charge was much less than that of a depth charge, so the explosion was quieter, not affecting sonar operations. After firing, it could be reloaded in three minutes, allowing anti-submarine ships to launch continuous attacks.
Later, the Americans also installed the same weapon, which played an active role in the Atlantic anti-submarine warfare.
Of course, Wilhelm would not keep such a person around; he had sent someone to deal with him years ago. Now, Wilhelm did not know when the British would be able to research a method to counter magnetic mines.
"The British want peace talks, but to show sincerity, they must first pay a 'peace talk fee.' If they don't pay, they're just trying to fool us. I'm not asking for much, just 50 tons of gold, or they can hand over the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious to us, then we can talk. Reply to the British like this, there's no room for negotiation," Wilhelm muttered after Ribentrop left. "If they want to play me, then I'll play them."
That night, the Spanish Deputy Head of State, Salazar, secretly visited the British Ambassador to Madrid, Samuel Hoare.
"What brings you here so late, Your Excellency?" Hoare asked irritably.
He was now thoroughly fed up with this greedy man. Last time, the British Empire spent 270 tons of gold for nothing, and the Soviet forces still hadn't been able to break through the Finnish defense line.
Salazar said in a mysterious low voice, "I've come to tell your country a great secret, one that could determine the fate of Germany."
"What secret?!" Hoare blurted out.
But Salazar did not continue, leisurely lighting up a cigar instead.
Hoare clenched his teeth. "Name your price, Your Excellency."
Salazar silently held up two fingers, causing Hoare's heart to skip a beat, a sense of unease rising within him. "Two tons of gold?"
Salazar clicked his tongue twice. "Since when did you become so stingy, Mr. Hoare? It's two hundred tons, 200 tons of gold!"
"!!" Hoare was furious, wanting to slam the table and send the man away; but he heard Salazar continue, "Mr. Hoare should know 'the greater the risk, the higher the return'; I'm now risking the entire relationship between Spain and Germany as enemies. If Mr. Hoare is not interested, then pretend I was never here. However, I can tell you that this secret has the chance to turn the current situation around." With that, he stood up to leave.
Hoare quickly stopped him. "Please wait, Your Excellency, I will consult with London."
Churchill, already infuriated by Wilhelm's so-called "peace talk fee," nearly fainted when he heard the message from the Ambassador to Spain.
Had the British Empire become an ATM for everyone?!
However, he was indeed interested in the secret mentioned by the Spanish Deputy Head of State. "What do you think the secret could be?"
Eden could only smile bitterly; if he could guess, would it still be a secret? "Although Salazar is greedy, he does get things done for money, like last time, Spain did indeed withdraw its volunteer army." It's just that the price paid by the British Empire was a bit high, and the effect was not very good.
"A chance to turn the current situation around?" Churchill fell into deep thought. It wasn't until the cigar butt between his fingers nearly burned his hand that he came to his senses, gritting his teeth. "Agree to the deal, I hope what he says is true, otherwise, I will never let him off!"
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