"I have long said that Greece is not trustworthy. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Churchill, as if I had foreseen everything, said: "They have long been at odds with the Germans, and that King Constantine is the brother-in-law of the German Emperor. ”

"Where did the news come from?" Asquith frowned and asked if Greece did join the Alliance, it would be an absolute disaster.

"Italians leaked out there. You know, the Italians have no secrets for us. Churchill said smugly: "Italy's Foreign Secretary Sidney? Sannino wanted to push Italy to cooperate with the League's actions in the Mediterranean. In order to convince the country, the foreign minister worked very hard, so naturally he said something more.

Sannino served as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Italy twice, in 1906 and 1909, but both times because of his Liberal leader, Giovanni? Jolitti stepped down under pressure and did not last more than four months in office each time. And as a leftist, although Giolitti stepped down at the beginning of this year, Antonio? Sarandra is also on the right, but instead of returning to the position of prime minister, Sannino is in Antonio? Salandra was not taken seriously in the government. This is unacceptable to him.

Although Giolitti has stepped down, he is still criticizing the right for bringing Italy to war, this left leader still has extraordinary influence on Roman politics, if he can hit his prestige, then it will be an opportunity for Sonino to return to the center of power, and of course he will jump up and down to promote the war, and the news will naturally leak to us from the mouths of those Italians. ”

"Then they need to be able to beat the Royal Navy!" Fisher said angrily. Since the outbreak of the war, Fisher, who has returned to the post of First Sea Lord, has devoted himself to his work with 12 points of enthusiasm, and with his own efforts, the entire shipbuilding industry of the British Empire has contributed to the Royal Navy like clockwork. However, the good mood brought by the results of his work was ruined by the bad news one by one on the battlefield.

What's worse is that the Royal Navy fleet in Alexandria was indeed heavily damaged, 4 former dreadnoughts were sunk, 2 of which were broken into two knots, 2 sat on the bottom, and even if the two ships at the bottom were salvaged and floated, it would be difficult to repair them with the maintenance capabilities in Alexandria, and if the keel was damaged, it could only be scrapped and dismantled, and the Royal Navy lost most of its combat power in the Eastern Mediterranean at one time, and the remaining ships were simply unable to confront the German Mediterranean Fleet head-on. If Greece had joined the Alliance, the entire fleet would have been completely blocked in the harbor, and the Royal Navy had never suffered such a disgrace. Now even the Italians dare to challenge the authority of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean.

"The words of the Italians alone do not mean that Greece will choose to join the League, right?" Asquith asked worriedly: "It would be counterproductive to persecute Greece with this level of intelligence alone." ”

"King Konstantin has received the full support of the Army, Chief of the General Staff Ioannis? Metaxas's attitude is very clear, we should not expect anything from the Greeks at all. Churchill said angrily, looking indignant at the Greeks' "ignorance."

"Didn't the Greek Navy originally support us?" Asquith is just thinking about this sentence, and if he really wants to say it, it will not give face to the admiralty minister who made the decision to seize the warship of the Greek Navy.

"So, can we make some concessions now to win the support of the Greek Navy first, to oppose the attitude of the Greek Army, and prevent Greece from joining the alliance?" Gray on the side asked thoughtfully.

Although Gray did not say it explicitly, Churchill received his meaning very clearly, and immediately caused a fierce backlash from him: "Impossible! The Royal Navy has never budged! It is impossible for a battleship to change the policy of a country! The Greeks decided not to join the League because of the Agincourt! They weren't reliable from the start, I just made the right judgment! Now the attitude of the Greeks also proves my judgment right! Giving them the Agincourt won't change their decision, it will make our situation in the Mediterranean even worse! ”

"But the information we have now does not serve as a basis for our actions." Gray worriedly said, "This may just be the Italian side of the story." ”

"But we could not afford the consequences of the Greeks joining the League, and Crete must not fall into the hands of the Germans." Fisher began: "The fact that our fleet in Alexandria was badly damaged did not mean that the Germans had gained control of the Eastern Mediterranean, because the location of the German Mediterranean Fleet's port doomed them to be unable to maintain a long-term presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. If their main force wants to make any moves, we have it in time to get out of Gibraltar.

Although German submarines pose a great threat to the Mediterranean route, they are also unable to cruise in the eastern Mediterranean for a long time because of the location of the port, and although our capital ships in Alexandria have been heavily damaged, light ships are still able to patrol the eastern Mediterranean to protect our routes. But as soon as the Germans took control of Crete, the situation changed immediately.

With Crete as its base, the German fleet could spread its forces throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, our light ships would be devastated, the Mediterranean route that had been swept away by the last of the escorts would be slaughtered, the German surface ships guarding the shipping lanes near Crete would intercept every one of our merchant ships, and the German submarines with Crete as their forward base could even extend their range of activity to the vicinity of the Suez Canal! It's going to be a disaster! A catastrophe we can't afford to bear! ”

"But we can't be sure what Greece really thinks right now, maybe it's just fake news. We need to communicate with the Greeks first......"

"Edward, this is a time of war, and the idea of diplomacy in peacetime is not suitable for the current situation!" Churchill interrupted the Foreign Secretary's argument with some irrationality: "The Greeks will not be honest with you, and we will always be in communication until they openly tell us that they are ready to join the League!" And we also don't have time to wait for a clear answer from the Greeks, we're going to strike first! ”

"What is the Royal Navy going to do?" Asquith asked.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, we need to send a fleet to the Eastern Mediterranean." Churchill exclaimed, somewhat excitedly: "The strength of the Germans cannot reach the Western Mediterranean, and our Channel Fleet and the French fleet should not stay in the Western Mediterranean as decorations!" We should go into the Eastern Mediterranean with the French! The Italians did not have the guts to stop us, the Germans who would only play small tricks, if they dared to come out of the Adriatic, we would destroy them completely, and then the Greeks would have only two choices, either join us or be destroyed by us! ”

Faced with Churchill, who was excitedly pitching his war plan to him, Asquith did not answer directly, but turned his gaze to Fisher, who wanted to hear the advice of the down-to-earth First Sea Lord.

"I support His Excellency Churchill's opinion." Fisher nodded to Asquith: "The damage to the fleet in Alexandria has indeed weakened the Royal Navy's deterrence in the Eastern Mediterranean. We cannot afford to lose Crete. After sending a fleet to crush the main forces of the Germans in the Mediterranean, the situation will be in our hands. If Greece joins the Alliance, we will destroy their navy and bring Crete under our control, and if Greece does not join the Alliance, then he will have to join us!

And after we defeat the Germans, the Italians, who are still betting on both sides, will recognize the reality, once Italy and Greece join the Entente, then we can completely block the Otto Langte Strait, so that even the threat posed by German submarines to the Eastern Mediterranean route can be greatly reduced. ”

"Do you have a specific plan?" Asquith asked, and he decided to trust the navy fighter's judgment.

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Straits Fleet has 8 former dreadnoughts, these old warships cannot do much to engage us with the dreadnoughts of the Germans in the North Sea, but there is no problem at all against those dreadnoughts of the German Mediterranean Fleet. There are also the remaining 4 dreadnoughts of the Mediterranean Fleet, and we have 12 capital ships at our disposal, plus the ex-dreadnoughts and at least 2 dreadnoughts that the French Navy should be able to mobilize, only those 3 dreadnoughts and 10 quasi-dreadnoughts equipped with 283 mm guns are in the hands of the Germans have combat effectiveness, and 9 front dreadnoughts equipped with 260 mm guns are just old goods from 20 years ago, and they are not vulnerable at all. So the forces in our hands were enough to completely defeat the Germans! ”

"It's also tantamount to throwing all our power into the Mediterranean, and if such a desperate operation fails, the Mediterranean will completely change hands." Gray was worried.

"If we win, the Mediterranean will be completely safe." Churchill retorted: "If we do nothing, the Greeks join the League, and the Germans get Crete, then the result is no different from our defeat!" ”

"Well, the Admiralty needs to come up with a detailed plan of action as soon as possible, and then we will discuss it at the cabinet meeting." Asquith nodded: "And you also have to coordinate with the French, and we need clear troops that can participate in the operation." ”

"The French will cooperate, there is already a stalemate on the battlefield on land, several counteroffensives launched by the French have not driven the Germans out of their land, and now they need a victory to boost their morale." Churchill said disapprovingly.

"We need this win too." Asquith rubbed his brow a little tiredly and said.

"We will win, there is no reason why we should lose!" Churchill excitedly shouted: "In 5 days, you will see the whole plan, we will open the situation in the Mediterranean!" ”