THE LANDING IN SCOTLAND
The ninth and tenth army corps had collected at the inlet of Kid harbour.The town of Kiel and its environs resounded with the clattering of arms, the stamping of horses and the joyful songs of the soldiers, who, full of hope, were expecting great and decisive events.But no one knew anything for certain about the object of the impending expedition.
From the early hours of the morning of the 13th of July an almost endless stream of men, horses, and guns poured over the landing-bridges, which connected the giant steamers of the shipping companies with the harbour quays.Other divisions of troops were taken on board in boats, and on the evening of the 14th the whole field army, consisting of 60,000 men, was embarked.
Last of all, the general commanding, accompanied by the Imperial Chancellor, proceeded in a launch on board the large cruiser Konig Wilhelm, which lay at anchor in the Bay of Holtenall.Immediately afterwards, three rockets, mounting brightly against the dark sky, went up from the flagship.At this signal, the whole squadron started slowly in the direction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal.
The transport fleet consisted of about sixty large steamers, belonging to the North-German Lloyd, the Hamburg-America, and the Stettin companies.They were protected by the battleships Baden, Wurttemberg, Bayern, and Sachsen, the large cruisers Kaiser and Deutschland, the small cruisers Gazelle, Prinzess Wilhelm, Irene, Komet, and Meteor, and the torpedo divisions D 5 and D 6, accompanied by their torpedo-boat divisions.
The last torpedo-boat had long left the harbour, when, about eleven o'clock in the forenoon of the 15th of July, the dull thunder of the English ironclads resounded before the fortifications of the inlet of Kiel, answered by the guns of the German fortress.
Bright sunshine was breaking through the light clouds when the Konig Wilhelm entered the Elbe at Brunsbuttel.The boats of the torpedo division, hastening forward, reported the mouth of the river free from English warships, and a wireless message was received from Heligoland in confirmation of this.
The squadron proceeded at full speed to the north-west.The torpedo division D 5 reconnoitred in advance, the small, swift boats being followed by the cruisers Prinzess Wilhelm and Irene, which from their high rigging were especially adapted for scouting operations and carried the necessary apparatus for wireless telegraphy.The rest of the fleet, whose speed had to be regulated by that of the Konig Wilhelm, followed at the prescribed intervals.
When the sharp outlines of the red cliffs of Heligoland appeared, the German cruiser Seeadler came from the island to meet the squadron and reported that the coast ironclads Aegir and Odin, the cruisers Hansa, Vineta, Freya, and Hertha, together with the torpedo-boats, had set out from Wilhelmshaven during the night and had seen nothing of the enemy.The sea appeared free.All the available English warships of the North Sea squadron had advanced to attack Antwerp.
Since the transport fleet did not appear to need reinforcements, it proceeded on its way west-north-west with its attendant warships, the Wilhelmshaven fleet remaining at Heligoland.
What was its destination?
Only a few among the many thousands could have given an answer, and they remained silent.The red cliffs of Heligoland had long since disappeared in the distance.Hours passed, but nothing met the eyes of the eagerly gazing warriors, save the boundless, gently rippling sea and the crystal-clear blue vault of heaven, stretched above it like a huge bell.
"What is our destination?"
It could not be the coast of England, which would have been reached long ago.But where was the landing to take place, if not there?
To what distant shore was the German army being taken, the largest whose destinies had ever been entrusted to the treacherous waves of the sea?
When daylight again brought a report from the scouts that the enemy's ships were nowhere to be seen, the Commander-in-Chief of the army could not help expressing his surprise to the Admiral that the English had apparently entirely neglected scouting in the North Sea, and further, that they did not even see any merchant vessels.
"The explanation of this apparently surprising fact is not very remote, Your Excellency," replied the Admiral."We should hardly sight any merchantmen, since maritime trade is now almost entirely at a standstill, owing to the insecurity of the seas.We have not met a flotilla of fishing-boats, since in this part of the North Sea there are no fishing-grounds.We see none of the enemy's ships, since the English have most likely calculated every other possibility except our attempting to land in Scotland.""Your explanation is obvious, Herr Admiral; nevertheless, it seems to me that our enemy must have neglected to take the necessary precautions in keeping a look-out.""Your Excellency must not draw an offhand comparison between operations on land and on sea.The conditions in the latter are essentially different.I do not doubt for a moment that there is a sufficient number of English scouts in the North Sea; if we have really escaped their notice, the fortune of war has been favourable to us.I may tell Your Excellency that, even during our manoeuvres in the Baltic, where we know the course as well as the speed and strength of the marked enemy, he has sometimes succeeded in making his way through, unseen by our scouts.Perhaps this will mitigate your judgment of this apparent want of foresight on the part of the English."At last, on the evening of the 16th of July, land was reported by the Konig Wilhelm.The end of the journey was in sight, and the news spread rapidly that it was the coast of Scotland rising from the waves.
