Chapter 677: Defense of the Gibraltar Strait

Chapter 675 - Defense of the Gibraltar Strait

In the days following Hasan's death, the Sultan of Morocco sultan had moved his forces to the coastline of his territory. He had done this before Berengar and his forces discovered the truth about Hasan's demise. Because of Al-Andlus' defeat in Morocco, the Iberian peninsula was now defended by a paltry sum of German forces. Most of these men were spread across the entire region and needed time to regroup. Said planned to take advantage of this lackluster defense by mounting an invasion of Granada.

Said's plan was simple, land his forces into Granada before the German reinforcements could arrive, and seize the southernmost portion of Iberia, connecting it to his sultanate. As for the Catholics in the North, he figured they would be happy to be free from the control of their current Muslim masters, and he had no desire to rule over them.

Naturally Said stayed behind in Morocco as he had an entire Kingdom's affairs to manage. Because of this, he trusted his eldest son Baariq with leading the invasion. Of course, neither of the two men were aware of the near instant communication between the German outposts in Iberia and the fatherland. Because of this, they were quite shocked to see a small fleet of three Armored Frigates lined up in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Until now, the Armored Frigates of the Imperial German Navy had not seen naval combat. Their responsibilities since their development had been to act as support to infantry by engaging in coastal bombardments. As well as ferrying troops between the fatherland and the colonies.

However, Morocco was unknowingly about to demonstrate the full combat capabilities of the Armored Frigates. The Sultan had gathered a hundred and fifty Moroccan ships for the purpose of invading Granada. the Moroccan Armada was a mixture of old galleys, carracks, caravels, and a new class of warship they had developed to house cannons on their broadsides, much like the Catholic Kingdoms were in the process of developing.

To Baariq, who stood at the helm of the largest vessel, this was supposed to be an easy victory. After all, he had a total of one hundred and fifty vessels at his command. While the enemy only had three. It was his belief that no matter how advanced the German fleet was, they simply could not contend with his numerical advantage.

Unfortunately, reality was different from what Baariq had expected. These German Armored Frigates had steel plated hulls that were immune to the weapons of the Moroccan navy and boasted a grand total of forty 21cm rifled breechloading cannons on each vessel. The high explosive shells that these guns fired were twice the size of what Berengar had recently developed for use in his army.

An echo of gunfire resounded in the air, and the Sultan's son gazed in horror as sixty shells barreled through the sky and towards his fleet. Roughly one third of the 21cm high explosive shells hit their targets, reducing them to nothing but smouldering driftwood.

With such a mighty piece of artillery, the German sailors need only a single shell to sink a vessel. When the shells collided with their targets, the wooden ships of the Morrocan navy were blasted into smithereens. What remained was quickly engulfed in flames, as the wood was treated with flammable substances. There were no survivors.

In a single volley, Baariq had lost twenty ships, and all the men on them. However, in the next few seconds, another volley was fired from the three Ironclad Frigates, and with it another twenty vessels exploded upon impact, leaving nothing behind, especially not the lives of the crews, or the soldiers being ferried across.

The massive losses he had suffered in the beginning stages of the battle astonished Baariq. However, he was adaptable and quickly shifted to a tactic filled with desperation. He ordered his vessels to sail to the coast as quickly as possible, so that they could land their forces on the beach, no longer daring to contend with the overwhelming firepower of the German Navy.

With no other options available to them, the Moroccan armada sailed as fast as possible towards the beach, desperate to land their troops on the shore. The German frigates did not cease their firing, and obliterated over half of the enemy vessels before they could get past their line of defense. Baariq felt his heart bleed as he realized how many men were on board those ships which had been now reduced to burning rubble.

The first ship to sail past the Armored Frigates immediately opened fire with its broadside cannons, hoping to avenge the monumental losses that Morocco had already suffered. However, the eyes of the Moroccan sailors nearly jumped out of their sockets as they witnessed the height of their folly.

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The sailors onboard the Moroccan ships gazed in astonishment as their cannonballs bounced off the hulls of the German Vessels. Just what were these ships made of? Steel? When the Moroccan sailors came to the realization that Germany had made a fleet of steel-clad vessels, they immediately fell into despair. If this were true, then there was nobody in this world who could contend with the Reich on the seas. Absolute Naval Dominance was a frightening prospect, and yet their own eyes acted as witness to it.

These men counted their lucky stars that there were only three german ships, or else they all would have been obliterated before reaching the shore. Still, they were happy to see when the German fleet did not pursue them. For the briefest of moments, the Moroccan sailors sighed in relief, foolishly believing that the most difficult moment of the battle had passed. That is, until they gazed upon the coastline of Gibraltar.

Berengar was a man of refined culture. As a result, there were two specific battles from his past life that came to mind when considering how to protect the coasts of German territory. The Normandy Beach landings, and the Battle of Okinawa, which occurred in two different theaters of the Second World War of his past life. Naturally, as a fan of the German and Japanese defenses in these battles, Berengar had established a large coastal defense filled with steel reinforced concrete bunkers, tunnels, trenches, and lots of barbed wire.

The relief the Moroccan sailors had when they sailed past the German frigates was immediately replaced with dread, as the men realized that the Concrete Bunkers held the same terrifying 21cm Naval Guns that had shredded their ships on the sea. Once the Moroccan ships were in sight, the coastal defenses bombarded them with powerful barrages. Unwilling to die with his ship, Baariq immediately gave the order to all of his men onboard his vessel when faced with such a terrifying barrage.

"Abandon ship!"

With these orders, thousands of men jumped off of their vessels and into the coastal waters, desperately trying not to drown as they swam ashore. Baariq in particular, was in a foul mood, as all the black powder weapons they had prepared for their invasion were useless now that the bores of their weapons were filled with seawater.

However, he did not have time to lament this loss, as the moment the Moroccan appeared on the shore, a mixture of 40mm revolving cannons and mk2 Schmidt guns opened fire on them, their operators hidden behind the safety of reinforced concrete bunkers.

Aside from the machine-gun nests fortified in the bunkers, there was a trench line on the hills above, where hundreds of german soldiers fired their G22 bolt action rifles towards the enemy. Baariq gazed in horror as the German defenders ruthlessly gunned down his men. A combination of bullets, 40mm shells, and mortar fire instantly shredded apart the bodies of those who were fortunate enough to make it to the beaches alive.

Within minutes, his army had been reduced to a fraction of its size, and as a result, Baariq realized the hopelessness of the situation. His response was to pull out a large wooden plank that lie on the beach. Most likely the remains of one of his sailing vessel. He quickly tied a torn white sail to it and lifted this piece of driftwood into the air, using it as a makeshift white flag while ordering his men to drop their weapons.

"Drop your weapons and surrender! The invasion has failed!"

Upon seeing the enemy surrender, the German soldiers ceased their fire, and dispatched their forces to take the survivors as prisoner. Of the tens of thousands of men who had sailed across the Strait of Gibraltar, less than three thousand remained alive. As for the Moroccan navy, it was completely obliterated in the battle.

The performance of the German Fleet, and the Coastal defenses that the Germans had erected in Gibraltar would act as a deterrence for any hostile power for years to come. It became immediately clear to the Western World that the Imperial German Navy was on another level, and could not be challenged on the seas.

When Said learned of how swiftly his fleet was defeated, he would realize his folly, and he would be incredibly thankful to the German soldiers that they showed mercy to his son. This lesson in humility would cause the Moroccan sovereign to never again step on the tail feathers of the eagle. As a result, Said had surrendered any and all claims to Iberia.

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