Emden and Markomannia detached as per Plan X. Proceed. Good luck!
Von Mueller glanced at his executive officer. "Give us a signalman at the foremast searchlight for blinker reply, Herr von Muecke, and stand by the chartroom for the reply."
He turned to the chartroom to make his response as quickly as possible. As he passed he spoke to the wheelhouse watch. "South by west a half south," he commanded. "One ninety-six degrees."
"Jawohl, Herr Kapitan!" the wheelman replied. "One ninety-six!" Von Mueller passed on. Von Muecke was standing by.
"Signalman ready, Herr Kapitan," the exec said.
"Good! Let him send the following: 'Orders received and understood. Emden and Markomannia complying. God be with you and us! Hoch der Kaiser!' "
Markomannia and Emden swung away to the southward at almost the same instant, and in little more than an hour's time the smoke of the fleet slid over the edge of the sea's horizon and the two ships lay alone.
When the last tips of the fleet's masts had disappeared, Karl von Mueller first signaled Kapitan Fahss, of the Markomannia, to come on board the Emden. When he arrived, von Mueller struck the alarm button, sending all hands tumbling to action stations.
Fahss was startled, half believing that some hostile force had suddenly appeared from under the islands, for there was rumor of British operations in the area. But Captain von Mueller smiled.
"At ease, Fahss!" he said. "This is the best way to secure full attention. It puts every man at his post and on the alert, so that what we must tell him will reach his attention. There are changes to be made in the regular routine—yes. But more important is the fact that everyone here—and I include your crew in the Mark—must understand exactly what we are about. War, and I mean actual war, has not been in the experience of any of us. You and your men have worked and trained toward the merchant service. We in the Emden have trained toward the possibility of war. Now where you leave off we just take over, and you must accept reality—not as I offer it, but as it happens to be."
"I understand, Herr Kapitan." Fahss nodded.
"Good!" the commander of the Emden replied. "Then I will be able to hold explanation to the minimum. Kapitanleutnant von Muecke, is the speaker system turned on throughout the ship? Will my voice reach everyone on board?"
"All ready, Herr Kapitan," von Muecke reported.
"Very well," said von Mueller approvingly. "To all hands: Attention. It must be understood that we operate now under full wartime conditions. It must also be understood that few, if any of us, will ever live to see Germany again. This is not news to you, I know. But to hear me say it in words may come as a shock. I say it only because it is something that everyone of us must face. Each one of us, in accepting service with the Fatherland, has sworn his readiness to die in case of need. That need is now at hand for all of us. Some may survive, but for most of us this will be the last cruise. We must go into it with our eyes open, our heads up, our backs stiff—not only, gentlemen, for what the Fatherland expects of us, but for the respect we owe ourselves! I know that I could not face my Alaker if here I let myself be ruled by fear. I am sure that you—all of you—must feel the same. Let us, then, lift up our faces to our God and meet what comes with all the courage and determination at our command!"
He paused. Fahss looked startled, as if he had never thought to analyze things to any such extent. Von Mueller smiled.
"Nonetheless, men," he went on, "I do not suggest that we give up without a fight. We must render as good an account of ourselves as we can. We must be doubly alert. We must be ready at all times for any action we may be called upon to perform. In view of such a situation, there must be changes made in station and battle bills. In the interests of all, both officers and men will be quartered as near as possible to their action stations. Specific orders to this effect will be sent out today. At the same time, watches will be redistributed to meet full wartime needs. Each one of you will be given explicit orders. Until these are sent down, stand by your current duties. That is all. Secure!"
He switched off the communications system and turned to Fahss. "You heard, Captain," he said. "This is truly a serious matter—for all of us. For some it must be harder than for others. To consider death is never easy for any man. But all of us must face it sometime. The question now is what can we do to justify our existence—and I suggest that with proper organization we can do a good deal."
"I am at your command!" said Fahss.
Von Mueller nodded. "I was sure you would say that. I only wanted it understood that we must work together. Since we understand each other, then, perhaps I'd best give you a quick summary of our plan."
"Please do, Herr Kapitan," replied Fahss soberly.
"Our primary objective," von Mueller went on, "is the Indian Ocean. Our orders are broad—generally much the same as those given to privateers in days gone by. We are to do as much as we can to disrupt and demoralize enemy shipping. We must try to panic him in his usual sea lanes. We must make him boost his insurance rates in accordance with the risks he runs. We must force him, whenever possible, to keep his timid merchants in port. We must inflict such losses upon his commercial fleet that he will be forced to reduce his fighting force, divide his squadrons, in order to protect his lines of supply. Divide and conquer is the theory. Do you understand?"
"Understand, Herr Kapitan," replied Fahss. "I am ready for your orders."
"Good. Then for the moment, at least, out first objective will be Angaur, in the Palau group, where we should make contact with the collier Tannenberg. If we can refuel from her, your own cargo in the Mark can be made to last that much longer. Meantime, we will try to maintain sight contact. Necessarily, at night, we will both have to sail under conditions of total darkness, and under no circumstances short of dire emergency must either of us attempt to use our wireless except to receive. In the event that we should be separated, we will each make our own way to Angaur and rendezvous there on the nineteenth. I believe that covers everything."
"Zum Befehl, Herr Kapitan!"
"Very good," von Mueller replied. "Only remember all communications must be flag signal, and if we should be separated we'll look for you at Angaur."
In the few days that followed, as they slipped south and slightly westward, along the Marianas Trench and through the Caroline Islands, they were too busy breaking in their new reserve hands, fitting them into the sharp, split-second routine of wartime life, to take time out to search for possible enemies. The day after turning southward for their lonely duty they picked up a wireless flash from Tsingtao, giving them news of the Japanese ultimatum, and no one had any illusions as to the outcome. Officially Japan was not yet in the war against them, but there was little question that she soon would be—and that her first, if not her only, target would be their home base, Tsingtao. Karl von Mueller announced the news, for he felt that especially those on board with families in the East had full right to know exactly what the situation was. Yet he tried to soften the blow as much as possible.
"The most recent bulletins," he announced in a special notice to all hands, "indicate that Tsingtao will soon be under siege. Japan, in an ultimatum, has demanded full military and naval evacuation of the city, and there is no doubt in my mind, as I am sure there is none in yours, that the order will be ignored both by the Imperial Government and by our own people there. This means, of course, that we will have no home base to which we may return. In the days to come, we will have to depend entirely upon what we can capture for both fuel and supplies. Probably more important to us all aboard here is the fact that it also means that those we have left behind will be subjected to the rigors of a siege. For your peace of mind may I remind you that international law requires our enemies, as it also requires us, to respect the rights and safety of non-belligerents. What may happen to us, on this ship, is only to be expected. We can, however, set our minds at rest for those we have left behind. I will keep you all informed of developments."