There are still 2 old ships in the British main fleet that can fight in a battle, and the carrier-based air force is completely blank in the short term. Their only aircraft carrier, the "Brilliant," is a new ship that was just completed in May this year, and the progress of sea trials has been completed by less than one-fifth. Most critically, the aircraft carrier is ready to carry the latest Sea Hurricane fighter jets, which adds a lot of items and difficulties to the test work. Even according to the most optimistic estimates, the initial formation of the Radiance's combat effectiveness will not be until after the New Year, and if she is forcibly thrown into the battlefield in advance, it will be completely a meat delivery!

Across the Channel, however, the German fleet had a much stronger lineup than it had at the start of the war. According to information from British spies, all four large warships built by Germany in 1936 were already in service. Among them, the "Moltke" and the "Hindenburg" belong to the Bismarck class, and the Norwegian naval battle proved that this type of battleship not only has terrifying firepower and speed, but also its armor protection is not weak.

The other two aircraft carriers are sister ships of the Zeppelin-class, which are much higher than Britain's latest Tejas in terms of tonnage, aircraft capacity, and attack wave intensity. Even though these ships had just been completed and needed to be run in the same way as the British George V and the British, the 2-to-1 difference in numbers determined that the further the time dragged on, the more severe the situation would be for the British Navy!

Although Britain built nine battleships and four aircraft carriers between 1937 and 1939, only a handful were able to catch up with the current war. The completion date of the No. 2 ship of the George V class, the Prince of Wales, could never have been completed earlier than Christmas 1940, and the follow-up ship No. 345 had just been launched, and it was expected to be commissioned at least since 1942. The situation is similar for the last three ships of the Tejas class, with the Dreadnought, which is the fastest progressing project, not expected to be delivered until the end of this year. By the time they enter service and form combat effectiveness, the British corpses will have long been cold!

In addition to large warships, there is also a huge demand gap for small and medium-sized ships in the UK. Because not only the battle fleet needs them, but also the British shipping routes in the North Atlantic and even around the world depend on them to be supported.

At present, although Britain has made its own merchant ships fly the flags of neutral countries such as the United States, it also needs warships to guard and protect the nearby waters; Otherwise, German ships would be able to cruise the oceans at will, force any ship in sight, and execute all British merchant ships and ships loaded with contraband. Only if British warships were also active in the oceans would the German ship's break-up of diplomatic relations be contained, which would have required a large number of cruisers and destroyers.

"The most important thing we need to do now is to maintain the Atlantic shipping line and ensure that there are enough supplies to the British mainland every month. Only in this way can our army regain its strength and this war continues. At the Cabinet's military meeting held by the Prime Minister's Office, Churchill clearly pointed out the most crucial points, which drew nods of approval from everyone. Even so, however, the problem facing Britain remains daunting: even if the destroyer construction period will take at least a year, how can the immediate crisis be solved?

"I have sent a telegram to President Roosevelt requesting the U.S. government to provide us with 50 to 70 old destroyers for anti-submarine escort in the Atlantic. It is believed that in the near future, the White House will certainly respond positively. Because President Roosevelt was a true visionary, he knew all too well how much Britain meant and valued Britain in Europe. Churchill's tone was full of confidence, and his positive and optimistic attitude gave everyone in the room renewed hope for the future. He paused, then said again: "In addition to this, the French Navy will also be an important target for us to acquire ships in the next step. ”

Hearing Churchill's words, none of the congregations were overly surprised. Since the day of the collapse of the Western Front, the French fleet has been the prey of the British leadership: a vast maritime force with 10 battleships, 2 aircraft carriers, 20 cruisers, and more than 60 destroyers, most of which are no more than 10 years old, thanks to the long arms race with Italy. In Churchill's mind, he could even accept France's separate peace with Germany, and as long as the French fleet could be used by Britain, then even if he fought alone, he would have the confidence to continue.

However, it is clear that things will not go as smoothly as Churchill had hoped. In order to prevent the French fleet from falling into British hands, Germany made it clear during the armistice negotiations that France must disarm all warships and sail into ports under German and Italian supervision. And the French government, which was full of surrender, would not choose to hand over the fleet to the British. Now that France has decided to armistice and hand over the fleet to Britain to continue the war, what is it? You, the British, have happily sailed away the warship, and in the end it is not our Vichy government that bears the wrath of Germany!

The cowardice of the French authorities made Churchill extremely worried and angry. Because if France fulfilled the armistice and sailed its fleet into ports under the supervision of Germany and Italy to disarm, then Britain would not only not get these warships, but would face a great risk that they would be controlled by Germany and turned to fight themselves. Although Hitler promised in the armistice that Germany would never use the French fleet, who would believe this? You know, all the promises made by Hitler before have been proven to be farting today, and Churchill will never believe any more punctuation he says!

The only thing Churchill felt was that the agreement had not yet been implemented. On the eve of the armistice, in order to prevent the battleships from falling on the mainland and being controlled by the Germans, all the first-line ships of the French Navy went to the ports of the overseas colonies. In addition, due to the alliance between Britain and France, a considerable number of French warships were also anchored in British ports at the time of the German-French armistice. The British Navy had strictly forbidden the French warships from leaving the harbor and placed them under heavy guard by their own mines and shore guns.

At present, there are two French battleships "Colbe" and "Paris" parked in the British port of Portsmouth. They were originally drawn from the French Navy to help Britain maintain the Atlantic shipping line: the two sister ships, though old, were strong enough to push the German pocket war cruisers out of range with the firepower of 12 305mm guns. And in Alexandria, Egypt, the French Navy was moored with the battleship "Lorraine". The ship has 8 340-mm guns, and its comprehensive combat effectiveness is only stronger than that of the old Italian Cavour class.

In addition to these three capital ships, the French Navy has four heavy cruisers, 13 destroyers, and nine submarines in British ports. In any case, Britain would not allow these ships to escape from their own hands, and several plans for the capture of ships had been drawn up for more than a week. The trouble was, however, that the remaining ships of the French Navy were completely out of British control. These crews listened almost exclusively to the Vichy government, or Admiral Darlan, and to try to forcibly seize ships on someone else's territory was a dream!

Foreign Secretary Halifax pondered for a long time, and then said slowly: "Maybe we can give the French one more choice." If they are unwilling to join us, or surrender their fleet, then they are to be sent to the French West Indies and disarmed under American supervision. ”

Churchill's eyes lit up when he heard this, and his heart suddenly gave him a thumbs up. Although the United States is now neutral in this European war, its attitude is undoubtedly on the side of Britain. If the French fleet could be controlled by the United States, the ships would be able to be reborn as soon as the United States declared war and joined the British side in the fight against Germany.

Taking 10,000 steps back, even if the United States is really bound by isolationism, it will be a matter of time before these warships are used by Britain -- as long as the United States wants to help Britain, can't it find a way or opportunity to snatch the ships over? If these ships sail back to mainland France, Germany will find an opportunity to do the same!

"If the French reject this proposal as well, what should we do?" First Sea Lord Pound said in a worried tone with a sad face, "I beg your pardon for being direct, but we must think of a countermeasure for all that may happen. The West Indies are the backyard of the Americans, and it is hard to imagine that the Vichy side could not see the intentions of this, and handing over the warships to the Americans would be tantamount to choosing a slow death. ”

Churchill's eyes showed a cold and resolute look, and he said categorically: "Then we will help them send all the warships to the bottom of the sea!" The French want to rely on playing dead to protect themselves in this war, how can there be such a good thing in the world? They clearly had a large overseas colony to gain a foothold, and a strong fleet to fight, but they could not wait to shout for surrender, and completely forgot the alliance treaty that the Allies were not to make peace with Germany alone. Even so, the French still want to leave the fleet behind, isn't this pushing the allies into hell? In that case, Britain will do whatever it thinks is right! ”

Pound's heart was shocked, Churchill actually planned to destroy the French fleet by force! You must know that only one week ago, the navies of the two countries were comrades-in-arms hand in hand, and Britain's maritime shipping also benefited from a lot of support from the French fleet. However, when he calmed down, Pound found that this was the only option to solve the problem of the French fleet.

Although Darlan had assured that the French fleet would rather sink itself than fall into German hands, it was clear that British national security could not rest on the promise of an outsider. Once Darlan changed his mind in the future, or Germany snatched the warship by surprise, it would be absolutely unbearable for Britain!