"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the French have agreed to cooperate with our operation. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Churchill excitedly shouted: "The French are equally eager to crush the Germans to death in the Mediterranean!" 8 battleships, including two dreadnoughts! 6 cruisers! 12 destroyers! Add to this our fleet, and there is no suspense at all about the result! ”

Asquith had expected that the French would actively cooperate, and if the German-Croatian combined fleet had been weaker, the French would have chosen to go it alone. Now that the Royal Navy is ready to move together, the French are expected to be more active than the British.

Asquith guessed correctly, in the middle of August 1914, the French broke into the Strait of Otranto with the main force of the much larger Mediterranean Fleet to take out the Austro-Hungarian Navy in one fell swoop, but the French took an hour to deal with a protective cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, and after fighting the most disparity in the number of troops in history, they could only return to Malta without waiting for the main force of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Asquith didn't know this, of course, but the Frenchman's willingness to cooperate so actively increased the chances of winning the operation, which gave him a lot more confidence in the Royal Navy's gamble.

"Who was the commander of the French fleet? What is the status of the establishment? How many ships can the Royal Navy mobilize? By whom? The Minister of Finance, Lloyd George, apparently also had a great interest in the Mediterranean operation, immediately asked.

"Commander-in-Chief of the French Mediterranean Fleet, Bouvet? Morality? Under the personal command of Vice Admiral La Perel, the battleship detachment under the direct command of the Battleship Detachment has 2 Kolbe-class dreadnoughts, 1 battleship detachment, 6 Danton-class pre-dreadnoughts, 2 cruiser squadrons under the jurisdiction of a total of 6 armored cruisers, in addition to 12 destroyers in 2 squadrons. ”

The French mobilized a fleet of no small size, but the Royal Navy was no slouch: "We plan to dispatch the Lord Nelson and three King Edward VII ships of the Channel Fleet. In addition, the Agamemnon was drawn from the 5th Battleship Squadron, the New Zealand from the 6th Battleship Squadron and the Commonwealth at Cape Verde.

There are also 4 Essex-class armored cruisers and 8 destroyers on patrol duty in the western Mediterranean. There are also 4 light cruisers stationed in Malta from the light cruiser detachment of the Mediterranean Fleet, which can also join the combined fleet. Berkeley? Admiral Milne was the previous commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, and he was well versed in the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, so we propose that he be appointed Fleet Commander. ”

"Why don't you let the entire Strait Fleet go out?" Field Marshal Kitchener, Secretary of War, asked puzzled.

"Because we can't let the Germans know our purpose." Fisher replied: "It would be difficult for the entire Strait Fleet to completely conceal the Germans, which would cause them to retract and break into the Strait of Otranto at too great risk." Once we penetrate deep into the Adriatic, it will be difficult for us to safely withdraw after the victory over the Germans.

The absence of 2 capital ships in the Grand Fleet would not have been noticed, the Germans could not have known about the situation of the Cape Verdean fleet, and the dispatch of only 4 capital ships in the Strait Fleet would not have alarmed the Germans. And the armored cruiser fleet is already on patrol duty, and their whereabouts will not reveal our purpose.

We would have acted separately from the French, who would enter the Tyrrhenian Sea from the Bonifacio Strait, and the French fleet might have caused the Italians to be nervous, but that would have made the Germans let their guard down. Because now everyone knows the tacit understanding between the Italians and the French. Therefore, the Germans would have thought that France, after being exposed to the Italians, would not sail further eastward to challenge the Italians' bottom line. This was more reassuring to them than for the Germans to know that the whereabouts of the French were unknown after they left the port. I have to say that Italians are really good friends sometimes," Fisher teased.

"And the ships we have drawn will not dock at Gibraltar, so as not to arouse the alarm of the German spies who are watching the port of Gibraltar, and then our ships will move along the coastline of North Africa, and finally cross the Channel of Tunis to join the French in Malta, so as to avoid the Germans discovering our intentions to the greatest extent. Then our combined fleet entered the Ionian Sea to search for and annihilate the German fleet. ”

"So is the Royal Navy sure of defeating the Germans with such forces?" Kitchener continued.

"No problem!" Fisher said categorically: "According to the information we have, the quasi-dreadnought fleet of the Germans is ready to sail for at least two weeks, although we do not know where they will go, maybe Alexander, maybe Port Said, but wherever they go, they will be separated from the dreadnought!" This is our chance! As long as we find them heading to the Eastern Mediterranean, then Sackville? Vice Admiral Carden will command the remaining 4 Dreadnought-class and 2 destroyer squadrons of the Mediterranean Fleet to draw the Germans to annihilate his fleet.

When the Germans' quasi-dreadnoughts take the bait, we will destroy those 3 dreadnoughts first, we have 16 battleships on our hands, and the result will be one-sided! By the time the Germans find out that their dreadnoughts have been annihilated, they will find that our fleet is stuck on their way home from their would-be dreadnoughts! When the time comes, with Vice Admiral Carden's fleet, we will completely destroy them with a double superiority in strength! Once these 13 capital ships of the Germans were wiped out, the remaining old battleships of the second class armed with 260 mm naval guns were not worth mentioning at all!

This is one of the reasons why we and the French only dispatched 16 capital ships, except for the 2 dreadnoughts of the French, the remaining 14 former dreadnoughts are also the latest and most cutting-edge, quasi-dreadnoughts on a par with the Germans. Their ships are in good condition and have a high speed, so they don't have to worry about other old ships holding back, and this force is enough to completely wipe out the Germans. Even if it costs something, it's worth it. The surface forces of the Germans in the Mediterranean will be swept away, and we and the French still have a large number of dreadnoughts, so we will lose! ”

"This plan is likely to wipe out Carden's Mediterranean Fleet!" Field Marshal Kitchener objected: "If the Germans were not fools, they would have chosen to destroy Carden's fleet first, and then look for an opportunity to break through the blockade and return to the Adriatic!" You can't stay stuck in the Strait of Otranto all the time! ”

Although he did not know much about the navy, as the War Secretary of the British Empire, Kitchener also knew how dangerous the situation would be for Carden's Mediterranean Fleet. In order to get rid of the tail that follows behind the butt, the Germans will also rely on the 5:2 numerical advantage to attack Carden first.

And not only in terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality, the Germans have an overwhelming advantage. Although they are the same old battleships as the Dreadnought class, these 10 German battleships assessed to have 70% of the combat strength of the German class are called quasi-dreadnoughts, and the outcome of the battle will be equally one-sided.

As long as the Germans annihilated Carden's fleet and shook off their tails, they had a chance to evade the Royal Navy's search and re-escape into the Adriatic Sea, and the Royal Navy could not set up a blockade near the Strait of Otranto, because the German light surface ships in the Adriatic Sea would definitely attack the Combined Fleet like crazy in that narrow water area to meet their own warships and break through the blockade.

The battle took place right on the doorstep of the Italians, and the reaction of the Italians was really unpredictable. The Italians did not have the courage to bare their teeth against the Royal Navy, and there was a tacit understanding with the French, but they finally declared war on the French. It's okay to pretend in the Western Mediterranean, the Germans can't reach for it, but the French fleet has hit the doorstep, and it's impossible to pretend that there's no reaction.

If the Germans had asked the Italian fleet to join forces with the German fleet to flank the blockade fleet, and the Italians had found an opportunity to encircle the combined Anglo-French fleet in the Strait of Otranto, it would have been difficult to say what choice those guys who had spaghetti in their heads would have made.

"If you want to win, you must know how to sacrifice!" Fisher retorted loudly: "The speed of the Dreadnought class is not high, but the Germans' quasi-dreadnoughts have no speed advantage, so the Germans don't want to annihilate the Mediterranean Fleet so easily!" Even if the Germans could really destroy the battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet, the remaining destroyers would have firmly bitten them! As long as there is one ship left behind the Germans, they will not try to run away from our eyes! Then they will have to wait for our main forces to arrive and then destroy their end!

The Royal Navy never flinched! That's what Carden wants, too! ”

Alexandria was attacked and 4 capital ships were lost, although the Royal Navy still did not understand how the Germans did it, and therefore did not punish Carden, who was the commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, but Carden himself regarded it as a great stain and disgrace.

Fisher believed that the disgraced Carden would hold on to the Germans until Germany was bitten to death by his approaching companions, or he himself was bitten to death by the Germans.

As for the losses of the Mediterranean Fleet, as long as the main forces of the Allied Combined Fleet in the Mediterranean can be completely annihilated, then what if the Mediterranean Fleet is exhausted? You can always draw in South Africa, India, and even China to replenish the old man's star dreadnoughts, which are worse than the Dreadnought, but in the face of only a group of German second-class battleships armed with 260 mm toothpick guns, the old man's star is enough to deal with.

"As long as we can win, then any loss is worth it! Your Excellency should know what the elimination of the Allied Combined Fleet in the Mediterranean and the regaining control of the Eastern Mediterranean will bring! We don't have much time! It must be now! Immediately! Right away! Let's go! ”

"I agree with the Royal Navy's plan." Churchill couldn't wait to shout.

"I agree with the plan." Lloyd George said excitedly.

"I agree." Gray chimed in.

"I agree." Kitchener nodded slowly.

"I agree." The cabinet members in the conference room expressed their opinions.

"Alright, John." Asquith looked at Fisher: "The Royal Navy can start the operation. ”

"Yes! Your Excellency the Prime Minister! ”