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------north of Kragujevac Arsenal (Serbia) 0915 hrs

Gen. Alexander Godley, the commander of the New Zealand and Australian Division, summoned his senior officers to a meeting. The general had a reputation for being cold and aloof, but today sadness, disappointment and anxiety was clearly visible on his face. Most but not all of his apprehension stemmed from the recent turn of events here in Serbia. His division had been the spear point of the Serbian counterattack into the gap between the Germans and Austrians which for a while looked like it might be the turning point in the entire campaign. They had captured over 2,500 German prisoners incl. the famous Gen. Ludendorff plus 10 guns. But now it was clear that despite their losses and humiliation the enemy remained too strong for the Serbs to handle even with their assistance. The Austrians and Germans had closed their gap and were again advancing south. There were also some other very disturbing developments he had only learned about today which were the reason for this meeting.

However another component of Godley's uneasiness was his concern for what was going on in Ireland. While he had been raised in Kent and educated in England, his father was Irish and he thought of himself as being Irish. He had been commissioned into the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and later fought in the Boer Wars after which he was allowed to join the elite Irish Guards. The news of the German invasion of Ireland had been a big shock for Godley. He had hoped that it would be quickly smashed and might prove to be an opportunity for the Irish people, both Protestant and Catholic, to come together. That was not the way things were working out. He had only yesterday learned that the Dublin Rising had finally been crushed, leaving broad portions of the city in ruins. That the rebels had lasted as long as they had was a clear sign that a Catholic rebellion was growing to serious levels which boded ill for Ireland once the war was over. The general also learned that the Germans had reinforced their invasion force meaning the campaign would not end quickly. The sole silver lining in all this was that the Royal Navy claimed to have finally won a victory over the Germans.

The general now addressed his assembled officers, "The reason I have called you here is that I have in communication with our Serbian ally this morning and there have been some very ominous developments in this campaign esp. in the south where a weak Serbian army has been very hard pressed by the Bulgarian Second Army, which includes an Ottoman corps that has taken most of the city of Pristina, a key communication center. As most of you are already well aware we have received less than a quarter of the supplies earmarked for us in the latest convoy that arrived in Albania. What the Serbs made abundantly clear to me this morning is that with the Turks at Pristina that is all we are going to get at least in terms of ammunition. They will provide us with food and fodder as best they can, however they have warned me that they are already experiencing their own shortages."

The general paused to examine the faces of his officers. They appeared concerned but none showed signs of panic. The general continued, "We have been ordered to proceed south as rapidly as possible to participate in a counterattack against the Turks at Pristina. I said previously that the Turks now control most of Pristina. There is a Serbian force bravely holding out in a corner of Pristina. It is our hope that they can continue to hold out until our arrival. The Turks are marginal soldiers at best and compounding their problems the Serbs believe they have outrun their supply line. I have every confidence that we shall defeat them easily. Once we have retaken Pristina restoring the line of communication, we are then to proceed to rejoin the rest of CANZAC back in Herzegovina.

Needless to say our redeployment is going to prove difficult to implement as we are currently engaged with the enemy. What I am going to do is leave the infantry in line until dark. Our cavalry will disengage and begin moving south in the next hour along with the artillery and support units. Serbian units will be arriving late this afternoon to take over our line. The 4^th Australian Brigade will start pulling out of line at last light, the New Zealand Brigade at midnight."

Godley paused again. This time one of his officers asked, "General, will we be taking our prisoners along with us? They may slow us down a little."

"We shall only take the officer prisoners along with us. The rest we will turn over to the Serbs."

------10 Downing St. 0935 hrs

The War Committee was again in session. "Lord Kitchener, what is the latest word from General Hamilton," asked the prime minister, "Has he penetrated into Limerick yet?"

"He reports some progress being made at Ennis, prime minister."

"Ennis? I did not ask about Ennis but Limerick, Lord Kitchener."

"Ennis anchors the left end of the German defensive line, prime minister. If it falls Gen. Wilson believes the West Riding Division can then roll up the enemy line and infiltrate the city itself."

"Which makes it sound that at best we shall be inside the city itself later today but then there is the specter of the same type of prolonged house to house fighting, which cost us dearly in Dublin."

"Limerick is much smaller than Dublin, prime minister. Once our men have penetrated inside the city proper, the end should come quickly."

"Not if the German and Austrian forces coming up from the south are able to link up with the Naval Division, field marshal."

"Gen. Wilson is well aware of that, prime minister, and will therefore do what is necessary to prevent that from occurring."

Bonar Law shook his head then said, "Lord Kitchener, the entire Irish campaign is not going well. Not at all. We believed Gen. Wilson's new strategy would work and while he has taken much of County Clare, he has failed to take his primary objective, the city of Limerick. Meanwhile the forces that were supposed to pen the Germans and Austrians inside Cork have been driven back all the way to Limerick, losing more than half of the 10^th Division in the process. Still more German reinforcements are heading back to Ireland with the Grand Fleet too weak to risk intercepting them. And then there is the rebellion which is not falling apart as quickly as we had hoped after the Battle of Dublin. Lord Kitchener we must turn things around in Ireland and quickly."

The prime minister was obviously angry. Kitchener took his time before replying, "Prime Minister, I have discussed this matter at length with the Imperial Staff and we have concluded that we must send another division to Ireland starting this afternoon even though this would weaken our ability to counter a possible German invasion of England. We have even gone so far as to select the 13^th Infantry Division and have ordered it to prepare itself for transport."

"Hmm that at least shows some foresight," replied the prime minister huffily, who then turned to Carson, "What do you have to share with us, First Lord?"

"For one thing, prime minister, the Admiralty believes that at most the latest wave of German reinforcements is likely a single infantry division plus a few additional support units. This is because the large ocean liners would not be able to dock at Boulogne and Calais. Interestingly there is some interesting intelligence that Imperator and Vaterland did not even leave Cork. With yesterday's heavy weather we therefore concluded the Germans could not possibly have loaded two or more divisions even if they were triangular divisions."

"Triangular divisions?" asked Grey.

"Back in March the German Army began increasing the number of divisions they have by creating new divisions with only three regiments of infantry. Most of them also have a reduced artillery strength as well. We are in complete agreement with Gen. Joffre that this is yet another indication of how badly overstretched the Germans are right now," replied Kitchener.

"I see. Thank you for the explanation, Lord Kitchener," remarked Grey, "So it would seem that countering the latest round of German reinforcements with one more of our own divisions should be sufficient"

"Yes and no," commented Bonar Law.

"Uh, would you kindly care to elaborate on that, prime minister?" asked Grey.

Bonar Law nodded, "I have been giving this matter very grave thought over the last two days. We have told ourselves repeatedly that the Irish rebellion would wither away and die once the Dublin Rising was crushed. Here it is Saturday and please correct me if I am wrong but there is no sign as yet of the rebellion evaporating. If anything it has grown worse with a force of some size daring to invade Donegal just yesterday. The continuing rebellion is clearly having a negative impact on the ability of Gen. Hamilton to deal with the Germans."

"What you say is unfortunately true, prime minister," said Kitchener.

I have a good guess where this is leading thought Lloyd-George, who then asked aloud, "Are you going to suggest using the U.V.F. against the rebels, prime minister?"

Bonar Law nodded, "I believe we are left with no satisfactory alternative, chancellor, even though I am well aware of the political consequences and have postponed taking this drastic step. However I want to start by assembling only a portion of the U.V.F., say only 20,000 men. Sir Edward, I am instructing you to present this committee Monday morning with a plan for a mobilization of the U.V.F. limited to that size but with a contingency provision to increase its size later if required." He was looking straight at Carson making it clear which Sir Edward he was addressing.

However it was the other Sir Edward who replied, "Prime Minister, I am well aware of the gravitas of the military situation in Ireland. Nevertheless I feel compelled to warn you that using the U.V.F. against the rebels will provide the enemy propaganda network in the United States with additional ammunition, esp. coming on the heels of the ill conceived executions of de Valera and Markievicz---"

"---not to mention the shelling of Sligo," Lloyd-George interrupted.

"Sligo was shelled?" asked Grey, "Why was that done and more importantly why was I not informed?"

"It has become a rebel stronghold and is therefore a perfectly legitimate military target," answered Carson defensively.

"I heartily concur with that assessment of the situation, First Lord," added Kitchener.

"From a purely military perspective, that may well make sense, Lord Kitchener, but not from a diplomatic one. An already deteriorating relationship with the United States is going to become still worse. Ironically the same can be said about their former enemy, Spain."

"President Wilson will not under any circumstances join the Central Powers, even as a cobelligerent," said Bonar Law, "And it has been clear for some time now that Congress will not allow him to become our ally even if he wanted to do so, which is itself dubious. So I see no reason to fret over how the petulant Yanks will react."

"Prime minister, I feel that I must remind you about just how dependent we are on American imports," said Lloyd-George.

Bonar Law shook his head and pointed his forefinger at Lloyd-George, "I had a hunch you were going to say that, chancellor. Well right now that is not terribly relevant seeing that the Huns have reduced our trade with the Yanks to a mere trickle."

"Only temporarily, prime minister," protested Carson, "we expect to resume full trade---or at least something close to it---over the course of the next few days. We have already resumed departures from the northeast American ports and Canada."

"And that means we can ill afford to ignore American opinion," Lloyd-George commented.

"Well said, chancellor," added Grey, "which is precisely why we must not execute that American poet, Mr. Pound."

"Pound deserves to die as much as the countess!" protested Kitchener.

"I heartily agree with that, Field Marshal, but I think it would best if we waited. Give the Yanks some time to cool their heels," said Carson.

"I am willing to hold off on Pound's execution for a while but I do not believe we can afford to wait much longer when it comes to using the U.V.F. Leaving aside the possible American reaction and the inevitable eruption of the most vile calumny by Redmond, is there any problem to this partial mobilization I am suggesting? I assume you have enough rifles," asked Bonar Law.

That question was addressed at Carson, who replied, "Hmm we received nearly 25,000 military grade rifles with sufficient ammunition last year. We also have about 2,000 early model Lee-Enfield rifles and if I recall correctly, a few hundred early model French Lebel rifles somewhere. Other than that our arms consist of single shot rifles, mostly Martini-Henry, and shotguns. Unfortunately the rebels had raided our arsenals at Monaghan, Cavan and most recently at Donegal, seizing our weapons and ammunition though admittedly these were all relatively small. Later today I will initiate steps to consolidate our stockpile of first rate rifles. The figure of 20,000 seems feasible, but anything much over that could mean sending many men into battle armed with inferior weapons." He did not mention that the rifles mentioned were overwhelmingly Mauser and Mannlicher weapons sent by the German government hoping to catalyze a Protestant rebellion in Ulster if and when Home Rule was implemented.

"I remain deeply opposed to this idea, Sir Edward," said Grey.

Bonar Law sighed. When Parliament had approved the formation of the War Committee soon after Bonar Law replaced Asquith, the principle had been that the committee was supposed to reach a complete consensus before taking action. When it had been only a triumvirate that had proven relatively easy to accomplish, but now that it had been expanded to five members it was already obvious that it would prove more difficult. Theoretically if the War Committee could not reach a consensus on a war related issue the matter was to be brought before the entire Cabinet. This was something the prime minister very much wanted to avoid.

"We can discuss the U.V.F. later, Sir Edward. Right now I'd like to know if anyone is opposed to sending one more infantry division to Ireland as Lord Kitchener is proposing."

There was silence for a few seconds then Lloyd-George spoke up, "I believe all of us here are in full agreement, prime minister. What I am worried about is how the king is going to react when he learns of this."

Bonar Law shook his head slightly, "I am worried about that as well, chancellor, but at the risk of sounding disrespectful royal disapproval is not my greatest worry right now. Seeing that we are all in agreement with Lord Kitchener, let us move on, shall we? I am becoming deeply concerned about the consequences of continuing to hold all our merchant vessels in port."

"Prime minister, I must point out that the B.E.F. is in desperate need of supplies, esp. ammunition," commented Kitchener, "The Germans have been methodically advancing towards Abbeville because of these shortages. There is a serious risk that the Germans will be able to take that important communication center if we do not get supplies to Second Army soon. "

"And the French claim that unless our exports of coal resume in the next day or two there will be a severe degradation of their war economy," stated Carson, "It is for these reasons that the Admiralty had decided to conduct a convoy from Newhaven to the mouth of the Seine tonight. Most of the merchantmen will be carrying supplies plus some replacement troops for the B.E.F. which they will unload at Le Havre but there will also be 7 colliers which will continue up the Seine to Rouen. The Germans did lay a few mines off the mouth of the Seine yesterday but minesweeping is currently underway and we hope to have a safe channel ready before midnight. As we have good intelligence that the German battle fleet is on its way to Cork they pose no threat whatsoever to this convoy. However some German light forces remain at the Pas de Calais and they do unfortunately do pose a threat. To counter this threat we are moving Harwich Force through the Straits of Dover at dusk to reinforce Dover Patrol. This should prove to be more than adequate protection."

"It would seem so at least for the very near term," said Lloyd-George, "but going forward it seems likely that we will be facing the problem that the German fleet can return to the Channel any time they want sending us into another panic. The ports in and around Wales, which is where most of our colliers are currently located, will remain too dangerous to use for some time."

Carson sighed, "You have as usual cut to the heart of the problem, chancellor. There are those in the Admiralty who continue to believe that the High Seas Fleet cannot remain very long in Cork. They believe that once they rendezvous with von Spee's squadron, the High Seas Fleet will return to Germany bringing with them the liners which have a substantial amount of copper and other contraband in their cargo holds. For that reason the Sea Lords want to hold off a little longer on doing anything more than tonight's run."

------ENE of Shavli (Lithuania) 1005 hrs

The German 1^st Infantry Division had finally arrived at the outskirts of Shavli after a hard march from the Eighth Army. General von Marwitz immediately ordered it into action on the right where the attacks of the heavily experienced Russian XIX Army Corps against the 11^th Landwehr Division were proving troublesome. The addition of 1^st Infantry Division plus the fact that the Russian batteries were now almost out of ammunition soon put a halt to the progress of XIX Army Corps.

------Cratloe (Clare) 1030 hrs

The West Riding Division tried one more time to break through the entrenchments of the Naval Division this time much closer to the Shannon. This attack was soon broken up by the 15cm secondary guns of Kaiser Wilhelm II as well as the German 10.5 howitzers positioned behind Woodoeck Hill, which were now well supplied with ammunition,

.------Patrickswell (Limerick) 1045 hrs

Gen. Egerton, the commander of the Lowland Division, had decided that he now wanted to halt his withdrawal and anchor his right flank at Patrickswell. He therefore sent two battalions supported by a battery of 15 pounders to secure that important communication center. These easily chased away the squadron of German dragoons that had occupied the town since just after dawn. The German 76^th Infantry Regiment, part of the 111^th Infantry Division now attacked without any artillery support. This attack was easily repelled by the Scots.

------SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm Western Approaches 1055 hrs

The AMC Kronprinz Wilhelm now took her only prize of the day, a 4,100 ton freighter out of Buenos Aires bound for Liverpool hauling wheat. The Germans decided to send her to Cork.

------HQ Belgian 5^th Division Agenvillers (Picardy) 1155 hrs

King Albert had followed this morning's German attack with growing alarm. He now assembled all the Belgian generals at the City of Brass. "It appears that the British IV Army Corps to the west is crumbling," he told them, "We have tried to help them as best we could, esp. at Millencourt-en-Ponthieu but all we have accomplished is to delay the inevitable as we know very well that the entire B.E.F. is desperately short on munitions. We already find ourselves occupying a small isolated salient which leaves us cruelly exposed to enfilading fire. This will only grow worse as the Germans continue their inexorable march towards Abbeville. Sooner or later the Boche will pluck us from this exposed position like a grape on the vine. I therefore order a withdrawal to St. Riquier to commence no later than two hours from now. Is our telegraph and telephone links with IV Army Corps and Second Army HQ still down?"

"That is correct, Your Majesty."

"But we can still communicate with II Army Corps by telegraph, but yes?"

"That is also correct, Your Majesty."

"In that case we shall notify II Army Corps of our plans and request that they pass on the information to General Plumer at Second Army. We shall make it as clear as possible that this withdrawal is in no way contingent on their approval."

------Admiralstab (Berlin) 1235 hrs

Admiral Gustav Bachmann, head of the Admiralstab, had just finished having lunch with his deputy, Kontreadmiral Paul Behncke. "I talked with Schichau-Werke this morning, admiral," Behncke related, "And they confirm that Lützow is still on schedule to be commissioned Friday."

"That is all and well but with the need for a proper shakedown means she will not be joining 1^st Scouting Group before early September," replied Admiral Bachmann.

"The way it now looks the war will still be going on then, admiral."

"Yes, it certainly does look that way now doesn't it? Just don't tell that to the Grossadmiral! And if that turns out to be true we can use every warship."

"And June looks to be a very good month for cruisers, admiral, what with Wiesbaden, Frankfurt and Elbing being completed and Roon, Nurnberg, Leipzig and Rostock returning from the---."

Behncke was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door. From the other side came the familiar voice of Korvettekapitän Ernst Vanselow, the head of the Admiralstab's Abteilung N, the Nachrictenstab, "Admiral Bachmann! I have some extremely important news! May I come in, admiral?"

"Yes, enter," commanded Bachmann.

Vanselow entered the room and saluted. After Bachmann returned his salute, Vanselow said, "I am sorry to interrupt but I received this information inside a special parcel brought by motorcycle all the way from Rotterdam station." He then handed Admiral Bachmann a manila folder.

Bachmann took the folder and quickly read its contents. Within seconds his jaw dropped. He was glad that he had finished eating.

"Admiral, what is it?" asked Benhcke with some concern.

"Here, read it for yourself," replied Bachmann looking a little pale. As his deputy was reading, Bachmann asked Vanselow, "Have you confirmed these two wireless messages, yet?"

"Mein Gott! Could this be true?" croaked an ashen Behncke.

"I was going to do that next, admiral. I thought it best to notify you first," replied Vanselow.

"One of them does sound disturbingly familiar to me, but go ahead and get confirmation as soon as possible from the records of the long range wireless station. Make this your highest priority."

"Jawohl, admiral."

"What has Abteilung K got to say about this?" asked Behncke.

"I have not yet shown it to them, admiral."

"They will almost certainly maintain as they always do, that their ciphers are completely secure," ruefully commented Bachmann shaking his head.

"Admiral, it is obvious that they are not yet aware that the Russians captured Magdeburg's code books intact," Vanselow commented.

"If this indeed turns out to be true, it will finally explain why the Royal Navy was waiting for us at both Dogger Bank and Utsire," said Bachmann.

------Vardar valley near Greek border (Serbia) 1255 hrs

After leaving Veles the Bulgarian Cavalry Division had encountered only very weak Serbian opposition which slowed its advance only slightly. Now as the lead squadron of the division approached the Greek border, it finally encountered a sizable force of infantry. These were not Serbs though but Greeks and they were at least 5 miles north of the border. The squadron was halted by its commander who promptly dispatched a messenger back to his regimental HQ. He then slowly approached the Greek soldiers with half a troop remaining on horseback. He was not sure what the Greeks were up to but if there was to be an incident here he was not going to be the one who started it.

The Greek soldiers eyed the approaching Bulgarians warily. One of their officers approached the Bulgarian squadron commander, who then halted his horse. The Greek officer spoke Bulgarian with a heavy accent "We have been waiting for you," he said. His tone of voice was guardedly friendly.

"Oh, how so?" replied his Bulgarian counterpart in a similar tone.

"We have some intelligence as to how your battle with the Serbs has been going. We congratulate you on your success. We realize that it is to the benefit of both our nations that this key railroad line resume operations as quickly as possible. We are here therefore to assure you that to accomplish that objective will not require a large Bulgarian force to be stationed here. You should not waste your strength by posting anything more than a token force here."

The Bulgarian officer eyed his counterpart warily. While superficially amicable there was some obvious uneasiness in the Greek officer's attitude. "I will notify my superiors of your presence and your intentions," he spoke slowly.

"Good. It is best if we can quickly reach a mutual understanding. We have been told that there are Turkish units involved in the invasion of Serbia. Are any of them heading this way?"

"Uh, I am not permitted to give out that information," said the Bulgarian officer who in fact simply did not know.

"Why not tell us? It is not as if we are your enemies."

"No, but you are not our allies either."

------Glanmire Road Train Station (Cork) 1305 hrs

The second wave of Operation Unicorn had included some Festung detachments. The largest of these was eventually assigned to Ft. Carlisle to relieve the 1^st Tipperary Battalion which had remained there since it had assisted Rommel in taking that key fort. The 1^st Tipperary Battalion spent a full day showing their replacements what they had learned about both the fort and the surrounding area. At first Commandant O'Duibhir had refused to permit an Irish Brigade commander for his battalion but was eventually persuaded to accept Major Weise to lead the battalion and Captain Augberger to command its largest company. In exchange O'Duibhir was able to gain three concessions. First he was made an I.R.A. captain and assigned command of a company. Secondly the battalion was provided with a pair of Maxim machineguns. Lastly the Germans promised to deliver them back into the heart of County Tipperary using the new armored train being built at Cork.

The 1^st Tipperary Battalion had arrived at Cork late last night. Weise then removed the 50 members of the battalion he deemed least fit for combat along with the 21 women and relegated them to the support company for Cork city. He had already set up the promised machinegun section. This morning he was told that completion of the armored train was running a little behind schedule but now it was ready for his battalion to board.

------Cappamore (Limerick) 1320 hrs

General von François had placed Brigade Frauenau under the temporary command of Feldmarschalleutnant Krauss who decided to use them in a broad envelopment of the British 11^th (Northern) Infantry Division. Unfortunately for the German cavalry what was left of the Welsh Division had regrouped in the foothills of the Slievefeliem Mountains. There they had received an RGA battery equipped with 60 pounders, the first heavy artillery the Imperial Staff had committed to Ireland. As the German cavalry trotted through the town of Cappamore they came within the range of the 60 pounders which had been sited only an hour earlier. These guns now opened fire with shrapnel shells and quickly turned most of the lead squadron of the 2^nd Chevauleger Regiment into casualties and dispersed the rest of the regiment. Oberst von Frauenau was lightly wounded in the shelling. His beloved mount was more gravely injured and had to be put down. The regiment of Czech infantry following close behind his brigade were promptly warned and Krauss notified.

------Dessie (Abyssinia) 1345 hrs

General Lee had been very discouraged by the results of the morning attack. He decided to change his strategy. He now chose to mount his next attack with the best of Zauditu's soldiers in the vanguard believing that Iyasu's men would not fire on their own countrymen. This cheery hypothesis was quickly disproven. As the bodies of the attacking Abyssinians piled up the rain resumed. For a few minutes it was relatively light but before long it turned into a downpour accompanied by loud thunder and lightning. This effectively halted the fighting.

------south of Ballyneety (Limerick) 1400 hrs

The British 11^th (Northern) Infantry Division was being hard pressed. While the Erzherzog Karl Division tried to envelop its left flank at Kilmurry, Brigade Hell and the 6^th Bavarian Infantry Division continued to press the front of the division. The division commander, General Hammersley concentrated on dealing with the threat to his flank and treated the attack on his front as little more than a feint. This perception was reinforced when Hell demonstrated with his two Kerry battalions in sight of the British outposts while trying to keep the German units of his brigade hidden behind the hills further south.

The German attack began with an artillery bombardment which included not only all of the 6^th Bavarian Artillery Brigade but also all three 15cm howitzer batteries of the foot artillery battalion. Hammersley had positioned 8 of his 12 field artillery batteries and 3 of his 4 howitzer batteries to counter the Austrian envelopment threat. His remaining batteries were quickly overpowered and thoroughly suppressed by the German bombardment. The British had not had time to entrench and suffered horribly from the German shrapnel shells. They were forced back into the village itself where they had a strongpoint. They were pursued by all of Brigade Hell and 3 battalions of the 6^th Bavarian Division. Heavy fighting ensued in the village itself.

------4^th Scouting Group off Cork 1410 hrs

About 25nm ahead of 1^st Scouting Group the small cruisers of the 4^th Scouting Group now arrived at a position 15nm south the mouth of Cork harbor. There were again 3 IRN trawlers out sweeping mines; the one that was sunk during the Battle of Celtic Sea having been replaced. Until the cruisers arrived the minesweepers had kept within a few miles of the protective guns at Ft. Templebreedy. They now began to work their way further out. So far they were not finding any mines. Once again the Germans hoped this was good news and not a sign of incompetence.

------Arklow (Wicklow) 1415 hrs

Count Tisza summoned Hauptmann Schumacher to meet with him. "I have received word that Wexford Battalion was attacked and defeated at Enniscorthy this morning," said the count, "What is left of that battalion is fleeing our way with the British in hot pursuit. I am taking most of my regiment to try to help them. I will leave one squadron here. You are in charge in my absence. I do not know of any immediate threat from the north, but see what Rommel is up to with Dublin Brigade. He should have taken Wicklow by now."

"Jawohl, Euer Exzellenz," replied Schumacher.

"As I said there is no sign of any immediate threat by the British but in case I am mistaken you know the standing order of General von François---the British must not be allowed to regain the munitions factory. You are to destroy it if necessary. Understood"

"I understand Your Excellency."

"Good, now other than completing the capture of Wicklow, I do not want Rommel launching any attacks in my absence. Keep a tight rein on him. And keep an eye on Pearse as well."

------Élysée Palais Paris 1430 hrs

Premier Clemenceau reluctantly decided to meet with President Poincaré to discuss recent developments. "What is the latest news about the coal shortage?" asked Poincaré, "have the British resumed their vital trade with us?"

"No, M. President, they still hold their great merchant fleet in port. Complicating matters the German battle fleet is not returning to Germany as we had been expecting. Instead the Germans picked up additional supplies and reinforcements at Calais and Boulogne and are now steaming back to Ireland."

"Back to Ireland? And where might I ask is the British battle fleet? Why is it not swooping down to finish off the Boche, whom they had already defeated a week earlier? This is all very confusing."

"I must confess to being confused as well, M. President. Our so called ally is clearly holding back important information. They call Celtic Sea a victory because they sank a German dreadnought while losing none of their own. However they did admit to losing a damaged predreadnought the next day to a submarine attack. The dreadnought that the Germans lost was their oldest and weakest so the net shift in the naval balance is really quite small. There is also the question of how badly damaged the respective fleets are. We are beginning to suspect that some of the most powerful British dreadnoughts were very badly damaged and this is what is making the British hesitant to fight again right away."

"That is very disturbing speculation, premier. Let us pray that it is not true. And what in heaven do they intend to do with their own army? Field Marshal French must be desperate for supplies by now."

Clemenceau nodded, "He certainly is. We have learned within the last hour that the Royal Navy is planning to send one convoy with supplies for the B.E.F. to Le Havre tonight. This time they will also send a few colliers along as well."

"Excellent! It looks like the problem is being solved."

"No it has not! This is merely a stopgap measure not a long term solution. While they have not told us what they plan to ship tonight I am sure it will be only a fraction of what we need. While a great deal of attention is being paid to the importance of coal there are other imports such as steel and pig iron which are also vital for our war industry. While the British rerouted colliers originally bound for Italy to our southern ports they have done nothing to provide us with pig iron and steel which our war industry needs as well."

"In that case you should pause your grand offensive for a few days until this situation is resolved."

"The Boche are rapidly running out of reserves, M President. My offensive is only days away from breaking the Western Front wide open again. To give the Boche a respite at this time would be a huge mistake."

"Hmm. There seems to be a great deal of supposition in your argument. Has there been any concrete progress lately? Since the impressive early success at Compiègne the inescapable impression has been that we are advancing at a crawl."

Clemenceau glared at the president for several seconds then retorted, "It is necessary to exhaust the enemy's reserves before real progress can be made. It is very fortunate for us that the Boche have very foolishly stretched themselves thin at this time. They are extremely vulnerable right now."

Part of Poincaré wanted very much to believe this and it did sound logical, but another part of him had grown to feel that from the very beginning of the war there had been too much optimism in the French Army and he worried that this was another manifestation of that phenomenon. "Does General Joffre agree with you on this?" he asked.

Clemenceau's expression hardened still more. He answered, "We are in agreement on the overall weakness of the Germans at this time. We disagree on some of the details about how best to exploit that weakness?"

"And are you imposing your will when Joffre disagrees with you?"

"I let him present his arguments. In the end the responsibility of making the final decision falls on the shoulders of the War Minister."

"Which means that you feel that you know more about war than he does!"

Clemenceau shrugged, "Sometimes I do. I will not deny it. I never do it lightly but only after I have sought out counsel from other generals such as Gallieni. There are too many deputies who treat Joffre like he was a god."

"And you do not believe in gods."

"I believe in France, M. President."

"Yes, and you say that as if no else does."

"There are too many Frenchmen who do not believe in France. That is one of the causes of our present predicament."

Poincaré rolled his eyes and decided to move on to another topic, "Yesterday I received a plea from King Alphonso to spare the life of M. de Valera. I very seriously considered granting his request."

"I am very glad you did not make that mistake. It is time that we and our allies come down hard on traitors. One of the few things M. Law has done right is his harsh policy towards the Irish traitors. Executing de Valera demonstrated our support for his firmness, but it is not going to end there."

The president did not like the sound of that and asked, "What do you have in mind, premier?"

"Tomorrow I am going to arrest M. Malvy on charges of treason. Other arrests will follow."

"Louis Malvy? Treason? What has he done to warrant such a charge?"

"He is engaged in secret negotiations with the Germans!"

"Oh, in that case I am all in favor of prosecution, but wonder if a charge of treason is excessive."

"It is treason! And it is the worst sort of treason! We should be like the Romans who prohibited any utterance of the word, 'peace' during their life and death struggle with Carthage. Cursed are the peacemakers!"

"I would not use that last line in the Chamber of Deputies. Action Francaise still supports you but they have not completely forgotten your quarrel with Pope Benedict."

"Action Francaise believes in victory, M. President. I can handle them. I will avoid provoking them with refutations of their favorite superstitions. If there is any trouble it will come from the Socialists who only pretend to be patriots."

------west of Vilna (Lithuania) 1435 hrs

Both VIII Army Corps and II Bavarian Corp were now converging on Vilna from the northwest and WSW respectively while 2 cavalry divisions guarded their flanks. What was left of the Russian forces at Meiszagola were now in headlong retreat towards Vilna. Russian armored cars though had begun to appear in numbers in the last few hours and these were causing the Germans some problems though some of the armored cars were already breaking down.

One of the batteries 15cm ex-naval guns of the 2^nd Motorized Heavy Artillery Regiment had been sited within range of Vilna and it now commenced firing. The other 3 batteries would join in the bombardment in the next 2 hours.

-----SMS Blücher Western Approaches 1450 hrs

Even though the visibility had been fairly good during the day 2^nd Scouting Group had been frustrated in its commerce raiding. It had stopped an American freighter hauling mostly canned condensed milk to Liverpool. After the boarding crew confirmed her identity she was allowed to proceed.

Ironically now when some mist was starting to build up did they take a prize. This was merely a 1,100 ton schooner with mixed propulsion. She was out of Trinidad hauling molasses to Bristol. This vessel was not deemed worth keeping as a prize and soon sunk with explosive charges.

------Royal Palace Madrid 1505 hrs

When news of de Valera's beheading reached Spain there were widespread protests and in both Madrid and Barcelona these degenerated into rioting. Meanwhile King Alphonso summoned Prime Minister Eduardo Dato, War Minister General Ramón Eachagüe and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Salavador Bermúdez de Castro y O'Lawlor, the Duke of Ripalda, to meet with him in private.

"Your Majesty, have you decided to sign the secret treaty of alliance with the Central Powers?" asked Dato.

"We have decided that it would be premature for us to sign it at this time," answered the monarch, "but before you start in again with your arguments, we will admit that we are leaning towards doing that eventually. However before we make that auspicious and dangerous leap, certain preliminary steps must be accomplished."

The ministers had come here hoping that the king had finally been persuaded to enter the war and were now somewhat disappointed. Dato forced a smile and asked, "Uh, but of course, Your Majesty. What are these preliminary steps that you require?"

Alphonso nodded and briefly smiled. He was glad that Dato did not launch headlong into another heated argument. He turned to the War Minister, "General Eachagüe, I want us mobilizing before we enter into any alliance. We are already partially mobilized to conduct our current Moroccan campaign. Monday morning will we will begin mobilizing still more. Initially we proclaim that this is also due to Morocco. Meanwhile we will express our dissatisfaction with the British handling of the rebel revolt in Ireland. Senor Dato, I want the Cortes to pass a resolution implementing a complete trade embargo against the British. How quickly can you expedite passage of that motion?"

Dato took a half minute before he answered, "Maybe Tuesday, Your Majesty, but Wednesday is more likely."

"Wednesday will do, prime minister. In the meantime I will reassure President Poincaré that even though he foolishly ignored my plea and executed senor de Valera, our complaints and even our embargo is directed only against the British. I want to make it clear to you that no arms not so much as a single bullet is to be delivered to that rascal Al-Raisuni in the near term. The army will only draw up contingency plans for doing that should it become necessary later, which I fervently hope and pray it does not."

------OKW 1510 hrs

"What is so important that you needed to see me so suddenly?" a concerned Tirpitz asked Admiral Bachmann, who had just arrived at OKW.

"Admiral, there has been an alarming development. We have received some intelligence today that most if not all of our ciphers have been broken."

Tirpitz was nonplussed for a few seconds. Finally he responded, "How reliable is this intelligence? I have been told repeatedly that our ciphers were unbreakable."

"It comes from a Mr. Michael Collins, admiral, a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood currently residing in London. Capt. Plunkett had recommended that we contact him. This Mr. Collins has agreed to spy for us since the invasion. He has provided us with some other intelligence that appears to be of good quality though not anywhere as important as this. We believe he has recently developed some new source of information within the British Admiralty."

Tirpitz shook his bald head, "Have you considered the possibility that either Collins is a double agent or his new source is? In either case the British could be using this as a ploy to throw us off the scent of the real problem."

"It has occurred to us as well, admiral, but quite frankly we were not on the scent of any promising alternative. We had not even produced a satisfactory explanation for the mysterious 'Blinker Hall' Admiral Beatty mentioned before he died. According to Collins it is the nickname for the officer who runs British naval intelligence. As for our codes being unbreakable Mr. Collins says that the key breakthrough for the British was the salvage of the code books aboard the Magdeburg by the Russians---"

"Magdeburg! She was lost way back in August! Do you mean to tell me that the British have been reading our encrypted wireless transmissions for nearly the entire war?"

"Uh, admiral, according to Mr. Collins there was a modest delay before the code books reached the British. I would point out that reading our encrypted messages would explain why the British fleet was on the scene at both Dogger Bank and Utsire. Furthermore Collins has provided us with the exact text of two of our wireless messages that had been intercepted and decrypted by the British. We were able to confirm their accuracy less than an hour ago. That leads us to believe that the chance of this revelation being true is too high for us to ignore. As we speak Abteilung K is working feverishly to create replacement ciphers."

"I am not fully convinced by this intelligence, but its implications are too terrible for us to ignore. Does this mean all our codes have been compromised?"

"Admiral, Mr. Collins says there are still some wireless transmissions that the British cannot read which strongly implies that some of our ciphers remain secure, however we do not know which ones they are. In order to be safe we are working towards replacing all of our current ciphers."

"Hmm it is hard to argue with that logic. The next obvious question is how do we get copies to the High Seas Fleet? The L.11 is not yet complete. Is the L.9 available? Back when we thought the second wave could be sent before the end of April, we considered sending her. I was told that she could make Ireland provided the head winds are not too bad."

"The L.9 is having problems with her engines, admiral. The only suitable base for Zeppelins in Ireland right now is Killarney which means there would be additional delays getting the codebooks to Admiral von Ingenohl in Cork. Admiral Behncke and I believe that sending a U-Boat is the better option. We were preparing the U.40 to go to Ireland anyway. She can leave tonight with several copies of the codebooks."

"Which means she will arrive at Cork Tuesday. Meanwhile Admiral von Ingenohl plans to rendezvous with the Atlantic Squadron Monday."

"That is definitely a potential problem but even if we could get the code books to Admiral von Ingenohl---or delay the rendezvous---the inescapable fact is that he must communicate with Atlantic Squadron using ciphers that Admiral von Spee also possesses which makes the problem insolvable."

-----Drucat (Picardy) 1530 hrs

After German artillery had pounded Drucat Castle into rubble the III Bavarian Corps tried to resume its advance towards Abbeville in a cold light rain. The Bavarians soon discovered that their left flank was no longer being pressured by the Belgians. In fact patrols soon reported back that the enemy positions to the east appeared to be abandoned. After 15 minutes of heavy shelling the Bavarian infantry advanced south and southeast. The initial resistance was fairly moderate making their losses acceptable but they came under very heavy rifle and machinegun fire as they approached the Scardon River. Normally this tributary of the Somme would be a weak water obstacle but it was now swollen from the recent heavy rains. Furthermore there was another well sited strongpoint on the Rue du Levant just outside Caours. The British artillery which had been held back fueling German speculation that their enemy was completely out of shells, now suddenly opened up. German casualties rapidly mounted and their advance was halted. Meanwhile the rain intensified.

------Dromore (Tyrone) 1540 hrs

Within a half hour of its arrival at Dromore 33 men had joined the North Ireland Brigade. These were assigned to the 2^nd North Ireland Battalion which hunkered down inside the town itself. To the west the 1^st North Ireland Battalion, which Heinrici regarded as his best unit had fighting a series of skirmishes with the 1/7^th Battalion Highland Light Infantry which had trailed them as Heinrici had expected. The rebels had gotten the worse of these skirmishes but had inflicted enough casualties on their pursuers to make them cautious.

Heinrici had posted the 3^rd North Ireland Battalion north of Dromore to guard against a possible attack issuing out of Omagh, the county seat. This attack now materialized in the form of the 3^rd Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. This was a regimental reserve battalion whose primary function was to provide replacement troops for the other battalions in the regiment. As such it had a current strength of roughly 400 men. It had no machinegun section and was short on supply wagons. The unit had been at Omagh when the war started. It had been reassigned to guard the entranceway to the naval anchorage at Lough Swilly but General Maurice had hurriedly moved it back to Omagh.

The Ulstermen as usual were more than eager to smite the Papist traitors. They easily chased off the rebel cavalry troop and overwhelmed an outpost which bolstered their confidence. They attempted to storm the 3^rd North Ireland Battalion which Heinrici had carefully positioned in the hills north of the village. The attackers quickly took more than 100 casualties in a hail of gunfire, which included 3 machineguns. When the survivors retreated Heinrici felt better about the north and turned his attention to the southwest where the Highland Light Infantry were increasing their pressure. He committed half of the 2^nd North Ireland Battalion plus their entire machinegun section to reinforcing the 1^st North Ireland Battalion. The other half remained in Dromore to absorb the stream of new recruits, many of them disenchanted National Volunteers, which continued to pour in.

------SMS Kronprinzessin Cecilie Celtic Sea 1605 hrs

The ocean liner Kronprinzessin Cecilie had been converted into a lightly armed troopship for Operation Unicorn. She was now carrying roughly half of the 7^th Cavalry Division. Along with Kaiser Wilhelm II and Hohenzollern she travelled a few miles behind 1^st Scouting Group. A British submarine had spotted the German battlecruisers but was unable to get into a good firing position on them. The submarine did get into position for a shot at the troopships and fired one torpedo at Kronprinzessin Cecilie then another at Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Wumpf!

The first torpedo struck Kronprinzessin Cecilie on the starboard side near the bow and exploded. This torpedo had run shallow. This reduced the destructiveness of its blast somewhat but it still managed to kill 5 of the cavalrymen plus 2 sailors and injured 8 more. The liner's watertight compartments contained the flooding so while she was down by the bow she was in no immediate danger of foundering. She was forced to slow from 18 to 15 knots. The concussion of the torpedo had started a nasty fire in one of her galleys. Her crew worked feverishly to at first contain and then extinguish this stubborn blaze. They did not want it reaching the ammunition in her cargo hold.

Alerted by the torpedo hit on the Kronprinzessin Cecilie the captain of the Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered helm to turn hard to port. The lookouts observed this torpedo missing the bow by only a few meters. This torpedo was also running shallow and porpoised soon after it passed the liner.

------Loughrea (Galway) 1620 hrs

The Roscommon Battalion had marched out of Athlone and proceeded at a not very demanding pace to first Ballinasloe and now Loughrea. After leaving Ballinasloe they were joined first by the Athlone cyclist company and then later by the Marine Cavalry Squadron which had been most of the German presence at Athlone. This contributed to a sense that they were on an important mission.

The Roscommon Battalion had already acquired 86 new members since departing Athlone. Loughrea was guarded by 22 constables and a roughly equal number of a lightly armed militia. These fought on the edge of town but when the constables realized how badly outnumbered they were the survivors tried to flee in motor vehicles. Unfortunately they discovered that the German cavalry and Irish cyclists had blocked the roads as well as cutting the telegraph and telephone lines. The constables soon surrendered as had the militiamen they had abandoned.

Loughrea was another town where the weapons confiscated from the Irish Volunteers and Rdmond's National Volunteers were kept in the local R.I.C. station. The Roscommon Battalion was still seriously short on firearms and ammunition, so these were distributed along with the weapons and ammo taken from the constables and the militia. Roscommon Battalion was told that it would spend the night in Loughrea. Some of its soldiers were assigned to prepare defenses while the rest, esp. its newest members, received some hurried training.

------Military Road north of Laragh 1635 hrs

A dozen Irish Volunteers belonging to the 1^st Dublin Battalion occupied a partially concealed outpost overlooking the Military Road about 2 miles north of Laragh. They could now see a lone constable strolling down the road with his rifle on his shoulder apparently unaware of their presence. When he came within reasonably close range he suddenly became aware of them and waved at them. Three of the Irish Volunteers started firing their bolt action rifles. The sergeant who was in charge of them suspected that the constable was trying to surrender. "Cease fire! Cease fire!" he yelled frantically. However as he spoke the constable was hit in the right calf. He stooped over and screamed in pain clutching hiscalf.

The sergeant pointed, "You and you go down there and take that constable prisoner."

As the two Irish Volunteers approached the wounded constable he yelled at them, "You shot me! I cannot believe that you fuckin' idiots shot me!"

The Irish Volunteers looked at each other and shook their heads in unison at the strange arrogance of this constable. They pointed their rifles at him threateningly. "Get your hands up, sir," one of them ordered.

The wounded constable glared at them at them for 3 seconds then raised his hands saying, "Oh, Hell. Do you know who I am? I happen to be Tom Barry. Surely you have heard of me. I am a sealgair! Maybe the last real one left as that bunch back in Cork no longer deserve that name."

Both of the Irish Volunteers shook their heads. "I have not heard of you, Mr. Barry," said one of them, "And what in bloody blazes is a sealgair?."

"I think that's the Irish word for hunter," replied his partner as he carefully disarmed Barry to whom he said, "Your wound does not look to be all that bad, Mr. Barry."

"That's easy for you to say," replied Barry while grimacing, "It hurts like fuckin' Hell! I find it hard to believe that neither of you have heard of me nor the Sealgairs, but the fact is I am a friend and I have some very important information to pass on to your superiors, preferably Pearse or Rommel."

"Come this way Mr. Barry. I think our battalion commandant will want to talk you sooner or later. If what you have to say is as important as you claim he will pass it on."

------Crossroads (Tipperary) 1645 hrs

The new armored train arrived at the town of Crossroads, whose name was due to it being an important road and railroad juncture. Most of the 1st Tipperary Battalion remained aboard the train, but as 200 Moisin-Nagant rifles and 30,000 rounds of ammunition were unloaded, Major Weise, the commander of the 1^st Tipperary Battalion, had a quick meeting with Captain Vopel the commander of the 2^nd Tipperary Battalion which controlled the town incl. the very important rail switching station.

"There is an enemy force, mostly soldiers with some constables, that attacked us at Caher, major," reported Vopel, "With some help from 3^rd Tipperary Battalion, we were able to were able to repel their attack. Our latest intelligence has them digging in at Cashel, which provides them an excellent defensive position. The only other enemy forces we have encountered are the usual small to medium sized packets of R.I.C."

"Is there anything in particular you can tell us about Thurles? That is where we are headed."

"We received 2 members from there this morning, major. They both claim it guarded by a R.I.C. detachment which one estimates at less than 30 but the other believes to be about 50."

"Even if the larger number is correct, with the support of our armored train they should not present us with too much difficulty. Changing topics, how is Commandant McElroy behaving? Captain O'Duibhir worries that he may do some foolish things maybe even commit atrocities."

"That is possible, major. He is certainly one of those Irishmen who does not like to take orders from Germans."

"Hmm I believe you may have heard about a certain Herr Flynn who made a name for himself in Cork."

Vopel nodded, "Oh, I certainly have, major, though I am not sure that I completely believe all of them. As for whether or another Commandant McElroy is another Flynn, I cannot say for sure. We shall see, yes?"

"Indeed. It looks like the next few days are going to be very interesting for the Tipperary battalions."

Lützow will be the last German capital ship completed during the war (I have already admitted that the war ends in 1915). Elbing will be commissioned 30 June and Frankfurt and Wiesbaden only a few days before that. Repairs on Schleswig-Holstein will be completed in late June.