"Bless my soul!" ejaculated the rear-admiral. "Those infernal Zepps. No, don't draw the curtains, Garboard. If you want to see the fun, go outside."
Then with a "Drake touch" he poised his glass.
"Gentlemen!" he exclaimed. "There is yet time to duly drink His Majesty's health," and the toast was drunk with enthusiasm.
The officers hurriedly prepared to dash off to their various stations, when the door was thrown open and a messenger unceremoniously approached the senior officer.
"Signal just through, sir," he reported. "German cruisers off Auldhaig."
Such indeed was the case. With a recklessness that outrivalled their previous attempts upon the east coast of England, seven large armoured cruisers, taking advantage of hazy weather conditions and being efficiently guarded against surprise by half a dozen Zeppelins, had ventured to the east coast of Scotland. Three small British patrol boats had been sunk before they could give warning, while by that element of luck that had been responsible for many almost incredible happenings of the Great War, the raiders were able to get within effective range of the naval base of Auldhaig without being detected.
On the face of it the attack seemed nothing short of suicidal; yet when the true facts became known it was evident that the Germans were acting upon the principle in which a draught-player deliberately sacrifices one of his pieces to gain two of his opponent's.
The Huns knew that Auldhaig was practically devoid of warships. The nearest British base where any considerable section of the Grand Fleet lay was at Rosyth, and naturally they expected that the giant battle-cruisers under Jellicoe's orders would issue forth to cut off the raiders' retreat.
In that case the German cruisers were to do as much damage as they possibly could to the Scottish north-east coast and turn tail. Although not of the most modern type, they were of a fair turn of speed, and with luck might draw the pursuers within range of a number of submarines, while at the same time Zeppelins would attempt to distract the British by dropping heavy explosives upon the battle-cruisers.
So much for that phase of the operations. The part played by the German warships bombarding Auldhaig was quite subordinate to the main strategy and tactics of the hostile fleet. While the British battle-cruisers were in chase of the raiders, a far more modern and powerful German squadron was to make a dash for the Humber and Tyne ports.