"If we can't get rid of the German fleet entrenched in the Sea of Marmara, then our plan to capture Constantinople will come to naught! From the side of the strait, our warships simply could not enter the strait. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info their naval guns can sink everything that floats on the water. And on land, even if we concentrate all the artillery we can muster, we will definitely not be able to defeat the German fleet! "William, who has been appointed commander of the expeditionary force. When Sir Robertson met with Churchill, he emphasized the key to the operation - to take out the German Mediterranean fleet!

But how easy is that? When Count Spee had only 4 fast battleships before, he almost collapsed the French Mediterranean fleet! If it weren't for the Japanese to save the field, I'm afraid the French would never have been able to return to the Eastern Mediterranean! As for the Russian fleet? Well, at the moment the Russian Navy, which has only 2 dreadnoughts and 4 former dreadnoughts, does not dare to face the Spee fleet even more! In fact, at the saddest time, the main Russian fleet did not leave the port for 3 months! The Spee fleet blocked the gates of the Sevastopol fortress! And then to go on the offensive with minelaying boats under the resentful gaze of the Russians! Then I can rest assured to go around with the French fleet!

And now, when the Austro-Hungarian fleet and the Spee fleet converged, even the admirals of the British Navy believed that it was almost impossible to break through the Dardanelles from the sea! "Even if God suddenly appears and pulls out all the artillery batteries on both sides of the Dardanelles by the Turks and clears all the mines, as long as there are 4 capital ships on the opposite side, then it will be useless how many battleships we go up!" Churchill still remembers that passage on the last page of the Admiralty's analysis.

And this time, Churchill decided to come up with naval aviation, which had not been in the army for a long time, in order to be able to solve this problem fundamentally! Completely cripple the German fleet with an air attack, so that they cannot appear on the battlefield, and at the same time march towards Constantinople from both land and sea directions! Of course, in order to achieve this goal, Britain and France had to cooperate with the Russians in good faith. The Russian fleet in the Black Sea direction must also act, and in parallel with the air strike, the Navy will also attack, launching an attack on the German fleet anchored at the northern mouth of the Bosphorus!

"Dear Vice Admiral Eberhard, I would like to know how many warships your Black Sea Fleet has at the moment. and their combat effectiveness. When the representative of the Russian Navy arrived at the British Admiralty, Churchill did not have any politeness, and directly asked the other party's hole cards!

"Two Queen Maria-class battleships armed with 12 12-inch guns are ready for action, along with two more 12-inch guns and four 8-inch guns each. Plus two Dreadnoughts equipped with 4 12-inch guns. There are also 2 large protective cruisers of 7000 tons and 9 new destroyers, and this is all we have in the Black Sea. Vice Admiral Eberhard, who once served as the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, said with a little embarrassment, such a lineup can really only be said to be shabby, not to mention compared with the British and French fleets, even compared with their Baltic colleagues, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is definitely a ...... raised by the mother.

"It's just ....... Awful! Although Churchill already knew this information, when the actual operation began, he was really powerless to complain when he saw the Russian Black Sea Fleet that could not support the wall!

"Listen, Vice Admiral Eberhard, although we already have the means to fly across the Channel and attack the German fleet, we can't do it all with them! We only have one chance, and now, the German fleet is scattered in Constantinople, the capital of Turkey, and the port of Varna in Romania, which gives us a chance to break through! We're going to organize a bomber force to bomb the German fleet in Constantinople, and we can hit them hard, but we can't sink them completely, so I'll need the Black Sea Fleet to attack and use your guns to beat these paralyzed guys to a scrap of metal!" Churchill said.

"Well, it's too risky! The average speed of our fleet did not exceed 18 knots, and the fast battleships of the German fleet could easily run at a high speed of more than 24 knots, well, although their situation was not very good, but they were lions, and even some weak lions were definitely not afraid of wild wolves, not to mention, a pack of wild wolves that could not run fast! If your air raid fails, and we happen to be in the sights of the German fleet, then it will be an absolute disaster for the entire Black Sea Fleet! Lieutenant General Eberhard flatly refused.

"In fact, if one bombing is not successful, we can bomb a second or third time! Until it succeeds! The Russians then gave a suggestion that almost made Churchill vomit blood!

"As long as the Germans were in their right heads, they knew that after the first air raid they would increase their air defense, or drive their battleships out of reach of our bombers! So we only have one chance! Either we join forces to take out the German fleet, or you continue to be blocked by the German fleet in the fortress of Sevastopol! Churchill said very bluntly. Let him now have a bad attitude towards the Russians, which can be regarded as unbearable!

At the beginning of the war, when the situation was still not so deteriorating, the British government proposed to launch an offensive in the Balkans and the Dardanelles to open up the Black Sea passage. At that time, the Russians had not yet been hit the Eastern Front, and had not yet realized that this was a war capable of destroying an empire, and their representatives were very strong in their remarks, refusing to allow all other armies to be present in Constantinople! At that time, Bulgaria had not yet joined the Central Powers, and at that time, the French fleet still had absolute superiority, and even the British Mediterranean Fleet still had dreadnoughts! With the help of Serbia as a springboard, the Anglo-French army could easily defeat the unprepared Turks! And at that time the Russians refused for their own selfish interests! They actually rejected a proposal that could save Russia!

And now, when Britain and France, in the spirit of their responsibilities as allies, suggested that they open this passage with the Russians, the Russians actually wanted not to exert any strength at all! It's unbearable! (In fact, Russia did reject the Anglo-French action in the Dardanelles at first, and only agreed to it after being beaten by Germany, and by that time the time had passed for the campaign!) ）

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