On the night when the port of Pula was plunged into a carnival because of the return of the navy from victory, the German Navy General Staff delivered a triumphant victory to the sound of the majestic music of "Our Navy". Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 The combined fleet of the Imperial German Navy and the Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom Navy sank 2 dreadnoughts, 7 former dreadnoughts, 10 armored cruisers, and 12 destroyers of the combined Anglo-French fleet at the cost of sinking only 1 light cruiser and 5 destroyers.

Such an astonishing exchange ratio caused an uproar throughout Germany, and the cost of the victory was so light and so rich that the Germans themselves wondered if the Reichsian navy was bragging.

In fact, the General Staff of the Navy was not convinced at first, and the results of the submarine forces, especially the report that the Ub-112 had sent the Kolbe to the bottom of the sea in front of the eyes of the Maltese defenders, were doubtful. Senior officers in the Navy's General Staff even considered whether to wait for the submarines to return for investigation before issuing a detailed battle report.

At this time, I would also like to thank the British, if it had not been for the fact that the British had already published their own war reports admitting the defeats and losses suffered in the Ionian Sea, it would have taken some more time for the General Staff of the Navy to determine the results of the battle, and it would have been questioned and troubled for a while.

With the spread of the radio waves, the whole of Europe and the whole world were shocked, and the outcome of the naval battle of the Ionian Sea was even more incredible than the battle of the Gulf of Helgoland more than a month ago, and the Allies lost nearly half of the Allied combat forces in the Mediterranean with the loss of only six light ships.

Even the British people, who had learned of the defeat of the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean and had been vaccinated, were stunned by the German war report. Since the British Admiralty hastily issued a war report without confirmation of the losses of the French Navy, fewer losses were announced than those announced by the Germans, and the British definitely did not expect the losses of the Germans to be so low!

While admitting that they had fallen into the trap that the German Navy had been planning for a long time, the British also generously attributed the responsibility for the fiasco to the French Navy's Mediterranean Fleet's escape, and the French Navy, which had suffered heavy losses, would not easily take over the pot, and the trust between the two navies would probably be difficult to bridge for a long time.

After this battle, if the British did not increase their troops in the Mediterranean, then the Entente would not be able to continue to control the eastern Mediterranean, protect the route from the Suez Canal to the island of Malta, Egypt and the Suez Canal would be of great strategic value, and the Allied ships would have to make a detour through the roaring westerly wind belt and the Cape of Good Hope, and even then, the long detour of the Entente would not be so easy. And as control of the Eastern Mediterranean changes hands, there will be unpredictable chain reactions in the countries bordering the Eastern Mediterranean and even on the entire Eastern Front.

The London stock market will inevitably be hit harder again, and the confidence of the British people to continue the war will inevitably be hit.

Although it seems that the form of the Allies is very good, in fact, it may be difficult for the Dirk Combined Fleet to regain its combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

Jochen, who proclaimed in front of the Tyrolean admirals during the day that it was an unprecedented victory, was now frowning at the victory.

"Your Majesty, the technicians of the Navy Shipyard have carried out a preliminary survey of the damaged ship, and the situation is ...... There is no room for optimism. Diedrichs frowned and reported that he had not at all had the joy of leading the Imperial Navy to a brilliant victory, destined to be remembered by history as a famous admiral.

"Either way, the absence of losses is already unexpectedly good news." Jochen said a little tiredly, "Let's talk about the situation first. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Diedrichs nodded: "The Bohemia was the most seriously damaged, the damage to the hull had to be docked for repair, and its superstructure was seriously damaged due to the fire of the three Dandong-class battleships, and it may be difficult to return to the battle sequence in less than half a year."

Ljubljana and Styria also need to be docked for repair, the damage to the bow of the Ljubljana takes about 1 month to repair, and the situation of the Styria is more troublesome, not only the steering gear is damaged, but also the position where the shell hit also caused some damage to the stern bottom part, which requires further inspection of the propeller shaft and propeller, and the repair time depends on the damage, which is expected to take 2-3 months.

The hulls of the Hesse, Braunschweig, and Alsace were not damaged, but the superstructure was badly damaged, and it may take 2-3 months to fully recover. The combat effectiveness of the Tyrol and the Combined Forces is basically intact, and there is no problem in combat, but the damage left by the shells of the French dreadnoughts is estimated to require the shipyard workers to work in three shifts to repair it within one month. The damage of the rest of the battleships was basically repaired within 1-2 weeks. ”

"It's still ideal." Jochen couldn't help but rub his brow: "The naval shipyard does not have the ability to repair so many ships at the same time. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Diedrichs agreed: "And the location here is not very suitable, like the Bohemia, the turret has to be replaced, the new barrel has to be installed, and such large parts are very inconvenient to transport to Pra, and it is better to have the Bohemia go to Trieste for repairs." Moreover, the damage of the Linz and Innsbruck was not suitable for repairs at other shipyards, and the dockyard had to be given to them.

My idea was to send the Styria, which had suffered more serious damage to navigation, to the nearby Danube-Ganz shipyard, and to hand over the rest of the ships to the STT shipyard and the Trieste shipyard respectively, leaving only the least damaged Mecklenburg and Vidin at the naval shipyard.

This is a recommendation made taking into account the damage of each ship and the capabilities of each shipyard. However, even so, the equipment and materials needed for maintenance may not be as smooth as we expected. ”

"You are the commander of the fleet, you don't have to worry about this kind of thing, I will let the Minister of Defense and the General Staff of the Navy coordinate." Yochen raised his hand, "Go on." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. The problem of light ships was primarily that the loss of light cruisers was not optimistic. The Graz sank when it was towed to the vicinity of the island of Lisa due to excessive flooding. The damage of the Linz takes about 3 months to fully recover, while the Innsbruck takes longer. ”

"It's already good, the Linz came in a state that makes it even more troublesome to worry that she'll be at the bottom at any moment. The Innsbruck had its stern torn off by 305mm shells, and if we were unlucky, we would have lost her. Now it takes half a year to grow a new butt, which is already a very good result. Jochen made an unsightly joke, but it didn't seem to have put Didrichs at ease.

If Tirpitz is an old rascal, I'm afraid he will have to say something unsightly at this time to echo his lively atmosphere.

"According to your arrangement, you want the Danube-Ganz shipyard and the naval shipyard to be mainly responsible for the repair of light ships?" Seeing that Didrichs did not answer, Jochen had no choice but to continue asking.

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Danube-Ganz shipyard and naval shipbuilding, which were originally mainly responsible for the construction of light ships, had more skilled workers and stored materials that could be used immediately for the repair of light ships. And due to the application of electric welding technology promoted by your shipyard, as long as there is no major damage to the hull, the repair of the destroyer will not take too long, and the repair work can basically be completed within 1 week.

Only the Zenta was the most severely damaged in Pachna's fleet, and the other light cruisers were able to regain their combat effectiveness within a month. However, most of the light cruisers in Su Shun's fleet had to stay in the shipyard for 1-2 months. ”

"In the case that the repair work of the battleship takes up a lot of manpower and material resources, what you said is also ideal." Jochen sighed and said helplessly: "That is to say, in the next two months, plus the 4th and 5th battleship squadrons that have returned, we can only use 5 quasi-dreadnoughts, 9 former dreadnoughts, a few light cruisers and some destroyers." Such a force is also a nearshore defense fleet, not to mention controlling the Eastern Mediterranean, and even holding the Adriatic Sea is barely enough. ”

“…… Yes, Your Majesty. Didrichs also replied with some difficulty, and after a pause, Didrichs said: "So I want the Tyrol and the combined forces not to carry out repairs first, the combat effectiveness of the two ships is basically intact, some obvious external damage is not easy to see after a little treatment, and the existence of the two dreadnoughts can also maintain a certain deterrent." ”

"Good idea, just do what you say." Jochen applauded: "As long as we can survive this time, we can see the effect of the victory we have. The Navy must keep the news tightly sealed, and it can be delayed for as long as it wants. ”

It is precisely because the British have always refused to admit it, even when the Americans on the Olympic cruise ship passing through the sea area of the incident took a lot of photos, the Germans still believed the news after five weeks of doubt.

Now, not a single battleship of the Dirk Combined Fleet was lost, but it was much easier to conceal the damage than it was for the British to conceal the sinking of the Daring.

"Your Majesty, that Italian Monsieur Sannino ......" Didrichs hesitated. According to the plan, the foreign minister of the Kingdom of Italy was scheduled to visit the ship.

"He? Do not worry. Jochen waved his hand absently: "Just let him go around your flagship, he doesn't understand the navy, he can't see anything." Even if he could see it, as long as he still had his own political ambitions, he would only trumpet what a brilliant victory we had won. ”

"But just trying to stall for time by blocking the news won't solve the problem entirely, and it would be great if that Mr. Sannino could convince the Italian Navy to join us." Didrichs sighed.

"If the victory of a naval battle is not convincing enough." Jochen laughed, "Then we'll give him a little more weight." ”