The other day I was watching T.V. and it had some little blurb about English and American relations during World War I. It reminded me that hey! Wait a tick! I totally had an amazing fanfic I wrote when I was watching some other documentary about the English during WWI! So I dug through my files and finally found it! I hope you enjoy.
Meanwhile, as the naval battles continued in the Atlantic and English channels, the German U-boats were set upon devastating the Allied merchant fleet. British intelligence made it a point to study the behavioral patterns of attack and discovered the Germans refused to surface for ships that could fire back.
Now it was time for some British ingenuity.
They're blowing our ships out of the water, General! The minute an actual warship comes into their sights, they go under and leave. He paced furiously in front of his desk, hands clenched behind his back.
Well, what do you want us to do about it? What can we do about it, prithee! The general stood straight at attention under his superior office, but he was not going to have his timed wasted by complaints of things he already knew and could do nothing about. Hopefully this man could think of something, because if he couldn't then no one could.
I... I don't know yet. Let me have a few nights to think about it. The shorter man paused and tapped his chin thoughtfully with a gloved finger.
We don't have the time, sir. The general sighed, he was tired of all the hurry up and wait and he wanted something done.
Look, I have a meeting with the Americans to try and convince them to join the war tomorrow at sea. Hopefully by then I would have thought of something. Let me sleep on it. He plopped elegantly into his desk chair and picked up the cup of tea that was sitting there, waiting.
Just remember sir, the sand is running.
I know, you're dismissed General... The embodiment of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland sighed and stared out of his window. People were bustling about in the wartime activities. Men were getting ready to ship off and women were industriously filing papers or doing whatever. England rubbed his temples. If women could fight, they'd probably win the war within days... Hell, women couldn't even be in a war zone, they had to be stashed away behind the lines, far away. Men had to cross-dress to get any sort of entertainment to relieve that particular itch, entirely improper, but sadly necessary... Wait, I'm a bloody genius. General! General! General, come back!
Sir, what's wrong! The general ran back in, a little wild in the eye as he glanced around the room for some sort of threat or danger. The urgency of the tone had worried him.
Drag, general. Great Britain replied calmly and took a sip.
I beg your pardon? The poor general straightened out and frowned.
The men could dress in drag.
... Why, sir? He gave his nation a dubious look, one that bespoke of worry. Perhaps he'd finally cracked and gone mad?
Hear me out, general. England held up a hand. Women cannot be on the front line, correct?
Correct. He gave a petite smirk.
We could disguise our war ships as civilian. The men could dress in drag so when the Germans spot them, they'll surface to take an easy kill and then we could blow them out of the water. No one would expect a ship with "women" and "children" on board to actually be a disguised warship. The general could tell that England was warming up to the idea as he thought it out in his head.
It could work, sir. It was best to just keep an optimistic mind set about this. To lure the German U-boats out, they'd have to disguise their warships as merchant ships. Not an entirely insane idea, although why drag was the first thing that came out of his mouth made him wonder about what he was thinking of.
We'll have to try it.
I'll set about to outfitting a crew.
Make it so, General. The general saluted smartly and left. Now he had to go put in an odd order that was sure to make a few brows rise...