Black clouds rolled, torrential rain poured down, and the city of London was shrouded in a dense curtain of water at night, which seemed quiet and bleak. The long street is dimly lit and the shops are closed, presenting a depressed and cold scene that is completely different from the usual days; Only the Thames River, which runs through the city, remains unchanged for eternity, still flowing from west to east, flowing continuously to the North Sea.

"Phew!" Muddy water splashed and a black, high-end Rolls-Royce sedan pulled up in front of the Admiralty building in Downing Street. The rear doors suddenly opened, and an umbrella flower opened, blocking the dense silver filaments that fell from the sky out of the space below. Moments later, a fat man in a trench coat stepped out of the car, a lit Brazilian cigar in the corner of his mouth; Although he was already in his sixties and his body was as bloated as a bucket, his eyes were so radiant and imposing that he completely forgot his appearance and age.

"Salute to you, Your Excellency the Lord of the Admiralty!" Seeing the fat man appear, the two soldiers standing in front of the Navy Building looked awe-inspiring and gave him a standard military salute. Although the man in front of him was a new minister appointed after the outbreak of war today, his name and appearance have long been a household name throughout Britain. Nearly 30 years ago, Winston Churchill was already Lord of the Navy and held a number of key government positions; In the nearly 10 years since he was in the wilderness, this important Conservative Party member has also retired, and he has made speeches in the House of Commons, calling on people to be vigilant against the rise of world fascism represented by the National Socialist Party.

Although Churchill was denounced by the British mainstream throughout the 30s as a war madman and a butcher, when the news of the German attack on Poland came, the British people, who had woken up from the mists of peace paralysis, finally found that Churchill was right. He had already asserted that the expansion and indulgence of the fascists would only embolden the other side, and that Britain would have to pay a very heavy price in the future to fight a more powerful and deadly enemy. Now, Churchill's judgment has long been true: how much more powerful is the German military today than in November 1933, when Hitler announced his withdrawal from the Conference on Disarmament? If only Britain had realized his wisdom and foresight earlier. How can a new European war be ushered in today?

The night rain is pouring down, and the wind is blowing. Churchill nodded to the guards guarding the gate, and with mixed feelings he stepped into the once familiar building, but now it is somewhat unfamiliar. Climbing the stairs, passing through the hall and corridor, countless dusty pictures sealed in the depths of his memory came to him, making his heart turbulent and difficult to calm down for a long time. When Churchill walked into the grand and solemn office again, and saw the battle map on the wall that he had hung up 25 years ago, Churchill suddenly had a sense of time out of time: it seemed that it was 1914, and he was still the same high-spirited middle-aged man who was ready to make a big show as Lord of the Navy.

A flash of lightning suddenly lit up. The heavens and the earth are white. The old figure was reflected in the wide floor-to-ceiling windows, and Churchill, who had seen himself in the mirror, suddenly woke up from his distraction. It's not the same anymore.

Britain was in the midst of an unprecedented crisis, and its situation was undoubtedly far worse than that which Britain faced during the last war. Just this afternoon, German carrier-based aircraft launched a surprise attack on Scarpa Bay: all the large warships in the harbor were sunk, and the total tonnage of the warships sunk was so high that Churchill, who had heard the bad news for the first time, blackened his eyes and almost fainted immediately. Today, the lineup of the British Navy is no longer the same as it was 20 years ago, and only 15 capital ships remain in the St. George's fleet, which has experienced two large-scale self-defeats; And in just half an afternoon. A third of these ships were destroyed!

Although Churchill was not responsible for the tragedy when he was invited back to the Cabinet by Chamberlain at 2 p.m. this afternoon to serve as Secretary of the Admiralty, this sudden turn of events was undoubtedly a complete disaster for the next action he would take. Determination and the sinking of the Monarch are no more. The Navy had only intended to keep the old R-class alive until 1941, when they were replaced by the new George V class; But Nelson, war-weary, and counterattack 3 ships are all the elite of the current Royal Navy, and their loss will be a fatal blow to Britain's maritime situation! Plus the sinking of more than 20 auxiliary warships. If the home fleet wants to establish a long-range blockade in the North Sea as it did in the last war, it will become full of holes. Now, how easy is it to intercept, stay, and destroy the high-speed German fleet that has broken through into the Atlantic?

"The Germans turned out to use carrier-based aircraft. Sneak attack on our military port just after the outbreak of war......" Churchill gritted his teeth and spoke, his voice full of hatred and anger. This tactically oriented approach to winning is a far cry from his own strategy-based approach; It's like a game of chess, where the opponent's rook suddenly ignores the rules and steals his queen, who was in an absolutely safe zone. However, his own chess game has fallen into a clear disadvantage because of this. What measures should we take now to reverse this unfavorable situation?

In addition, how to deal with the negative public opinion generated by the Scarpa Bay fiasco is also a difficult problem for Churchill, the Admiral Secretary of the Admiralty, as a member of the government, and the current Conservative government. After all, this time it was Britain who took the initiative to declare war on Germany, only to be struck in the face two hours later; If it is not handled properly, it can easily detonate the anti-war sentiment that already occupies a large proportion of the people's hearts. At that time, not only will the Conservative government lose power because of the clamor of opposition to "misleading the country and harming the country", but the new government will also very likely ask Germany for peace. And the consequences of this will be ten times worse than the Munich Agreement signed last year!

Just as he was thinking about it, the sound of footsteps of leather boots on the floor suddenly sounded, and he was getting closer and closer to the main office. Churchill turned his head to look, only to see several active admirals led by Admiral Bond, the First Sea Lord, appear in front of the door. Churchill nodded slightly and asked the guests to take their seats at the long table. He had invited these generals to seek a solution to the precarious situation in which the British Navy found itself in a meeting.

"After the loss of Scapa Bay, how many warships do we have left now? In what way was the Navy prepared to respond to any further challenges that the Germans might possibly launch? ”

Churchill said straight to the point, his voice full of gloom and confusion. Under his influence, everyone else in the hall gradually recovered from their sad and depressed state of mind, and regained their faith in fighting. Admiral Bond met Churchill's eyes and said, "Your Excellency, at this time, the four battleships Rodney, Royal Oak, Revenge, and Ramiris, the two battle cruisers of Hood and Prestige, and the two fleet aircraft carriers of Ark Royal and Fury, are already on their way back to Port Rosyth. Two months later, the battleship Warrior, which has completed the second renovation, will also return to active service. Therefore, the situation is not so bad as to be hopeless. ”

At this, Bond's face couldn't help but reveal a deep bitterness again. Compared with the big fleet 20 years ago, the lineup of the British home fleet today can be described as miserable: there are only 8 large warships, and the number is not as good as the battle patrol detachments of the past! The devastating German assault on Scapa Bay has completely exposed the state of the Royal Navy's depletion and decay during the two decades of peace. And even the British Navy itself woke up from a dream under this stormy blow from the other side: it turned out that he had already lost his strong family foundation, and at this time he couldn't take out enough strength to put forward the disaster and challenges in front of him!

In order to save money, up to 15 super-dreadnoughts in good condition were abandoned and dismantled in peacetime; In order to cater to the legislators, the modernization process of 13 15-inch gun-carrying ships was unusually slow, and the navy's military spending was cut again and again. In order to balance the budget, the construction of the five George V-class battleships was delayed until 1937, a year and a half after the signing of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, which released the German Navy from the gall bottle, and the new capital ships of France and Italy were already cruising the seas. Now the money is saved, but the big stick in the hands of Britain has become more corrupt and fragile than ever; In the face of a vicious enemy, how should Britain deal with it?

"The only thing to be thankful for is that the German Bismarck has been damaged by Air Force bombers." Bond paused, his unhurried words fully showed that he was prepared for today, "At present, it is highly likely that the German Navy has no battleships available. If they dare to strike in the North Atlantic within this year, our troops will escort large convoys with battleships and capture German surface attack ships with battle cruisers. Although the German-class armored ship had far more firepower than the cruisers, it was impossible for her to defeat the battleship, and she could not escape the pursuit of our battle cruisers. And the system of the escort fleet is enough to make submarines useless. Therefore, the situation at sea will not collapse in the next three months. ”

"And what about 3 months from now?" Without hesitation, Churchill asked again.

With a solemn look on his face, Bond said slowly: "If Bismarck returns from injury, then we can only hope that she will be wounded with a bomb or torpedo before she can deal a devastating blow to our convoy." Otherwise, no one would be able to stop this ancient dragon of the sea. According to the photos and reports sent back by the pilots of the Air Force, the caliber of the main guns of this class of battleships will not be less than 17 inches, and her speed is comparable to that of the Hood! The Germans have built such powerful warships, which is far beyond what we can handle. (To be continued.) )

PS: Yesterday the hand slipped, and the number of sunken ships of the R-class was written as 3, which should be 2.