Gibraltar

The French Navy was on standby, waiting for the Mediterranean Fleet to come to the door.

The Royal Navy still took the risk of sending a fleet to receive them, and they did not dare to go deep into the Mediterranean, but it was still possible to meet them in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Even the British were ready to flank the French navy in front and rear, of course, the French were not unprepared, they had the support of the Spaniards, and the Bulgarian navy was already ready to go.

The Holy Alliance set up a pocket formation, just waiting for the British to take the bait, anyway, the air force took off from Spain or Morocco, and it would only take ten minutes to arrive at the Strait of Gibraltar.

If it had been just to deal with the Mediterranean fleet, the Bulgarian Navy would have rushed up long ago, and the Mediterranean Sea was not very large, and the British fleet would have long been a thing of the past with absolute superiority.

In order to lure more Royal Navy capital ships in, he deliberately left a flaw by using the geographical advantage to use the power of the Air Force to inflict heavy damage on the Royal Navy.

"Your Excellency, a hundred nautical miles further on, we will enter the Strait of Gibraltar, and it seems that your plan has deceived the French!" Major General Juster said in surprise

Hearing this, Admiral Thomas did not have any expression of surprise, the plan went too smoothly, how could it be possible for such a large scale of the Mediterranean Fleet to pass under the nose of the enemy and not be discovered?

Even for the sake of secrecy, Admiral Thomas has broken his wrist and split the Mediterranean Fleet in two, using most of the old warships as bait, only to break through with some of the capital ships.

Thomas looked at the calm sea, and an ominous premonition came over him.

Thomas's hunch was very accurate, it was time to close the net, whether the main force of the Royal Navy took the bait or not, it was impossible for the Holy Alliance to leave when the Mediterranean Fleet left.

On the lookout, the face of the soldier in charge of observation changed greatly, and he hurriedly shouted: "The enemy fleet has been found ahead!" ”

Without hesitation, Thomas ordered: "Order the fleet to be ready for battle and rush over at full speed!"

Rear Admiral Winster sent a telegram to the country, explained the situation, and asked them to send a fleet to meet us! ”

By this time, Thomas had no choice and was not far from the Strait of Gibraltar, an important military base of the Royal Navy.

After the defeat in the Battle of Sicily, the Royal Navy sent a fleet on standby in the Strait of Gibraltar to meet the Mediterranean Fleet, which is now cruising the waters around it.

Thomas was confident that he would delay until reinforcements arrived, and with the strength of the Mediterranean Fleet, it was impossible for the French Navy to annihilate them in just two or three hours.

As long as the reinforcements arrived, even if they couldn't destroy the French fleet, they wanted to retreat calmly, which was not a problem, right?

This cannot be blamed for Thomas's misjudgment, in this day and age, it is still unknown how harmful aircraft are to the naval fleet in the industry.

Now the British Empire's naval thinking is still the doctrine of big ships and big guns, which is not to say that the British are completely on the wrong path.

There are many reasons for this, including the problem of wind and waves in the Atlantic, and this era is limited by technical problems, this area is more suitable for battleships, and secondarily for the traditional forces in the navy.

The ending is naturally self-evident, hesitation underestimates the threat from the air, the Mediterranean fleet is naturally a tragedy, and even the receiving fleet that arrived has suffered heavy losses.

The battle began on the morning of April 12, 1940, and three hours later a rescue fleet from the Royal Navy arrived, followed by the Bulgarian, French, and Spanish air forces.

The sudden air strike made the British understand that their so-called anti-aircraft fire could not guarantee the safety of the battleship.

Naturally, it is difficult to sink a battleship with simple bombing, but it is not the same with naval cooperation. After the air attack, the British naval fleet was wounded, and then parts of the French and Bulgarian navies pounced on it and beat the water dogs.

The battle continued into the evening, and the Royal Navy was able to break away from the battlefield under cover of night, but by this time they had already suffered heavy losses.

Losses on the part of the Holy Alliance: two battleships, four cruisers, six destroyers, twelve torpedo boats sunk; Five battleships, two cruisers, three destroyers were wounded.

A total of 138,000 tons of warships were lost, 128 warplanes of various types were lost, and 1,258 people were killed, including 86 officers.

Royal Navy losses: three aircraft carriers, seven battleships, eight cruisers, twelve destroyers, fifteen submarines, a total of eighty-nine warships, including auxiliary warships; Almost all the warships were damaged.

The total tonnage of the lost battleships was 486,000 tons, and the total number of officers and men killed was 7,358, including 386 officers and 6,618 captured soldiers.

Judging from the losses on both sides, it is obvious that the Royal Navy has lost so many warships and soldiers at once, that they will not be able to replenish it for at least a year.

More importantly, the change in strategy, after the battle, the naval superiority of the British was almost equaled by the Bulgarian navy.

The pressure on the London government suddenly increased, and the naval strength of the two sides was equal, and if the main battle were to be held, it would probably be a defeat for both sides.

Such an outcome was not a big deal for Bulgaria, but for the British it was absolutely unacceptable.

The vitality of the Navy was greatly damaged, and the Bulgarian Empire remained the Bulgarian Empire and would not shake their position in the world.

The British will not be able to do it, the Royal Navy is all they have, and once it dies with the Bulgarian Navy, then the British Empire will be finished.

Of course, the Royal Navy still has a clear advantage in total tonnage, but this advantage is immediately untenable, and no one thinks that the other Mediterranean fleet, which exists as a decoy, will be able to break through smoothly.

After deducting this doomed fleet, Britain and Bulgaria are on the same starting line, and this is the time to test the strength of their allies.

There is no doubt that the Mediterranean Sea is already the inland sea of the Holy Alliance, but in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans are still dominated by the Royal Navy, and the Bulgarian Navy can compete with the Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean at best.

"Your Majesty, the General Staff proposes to unite France, Austria-Hungary and the Spaniards to form an alliance to directly attack the British mainland and force the Royal Navy to fight a decisive battle with us!" Christophe spoke

"What about the Admiralty?" Little Ferdinand asked with concern

In the face of such a grand strategy, the Admiralty, as the actual executor, naturally has a very high right to speak, and if the Admiralty and the General Staff cannot agree on the opinions, then it will be up to the emperor to decide.

"Your Majesty, the Admiralty is against a decisive battle with the British in the English Channel, and we propose to strike from the Indian Ocean against the British Royal Navy!" Admiral Raymond Gaton replied

"Tell me why you each have it!" Little Ferdinand asked calmly

Everyone's opinions are not unanimous, so naturally whoever says the reason is more reliable, he will support whom, and this kind of thing has not happened once or twice.

If the opinions of his subordinates are completely consistent every time, then the emperor will lose the meaning of existence.

The Chief of the General Staff, Christophe, opened his mouth and said: "Your Majesty, if you want to defeat the Pan-International Front, the most rapid way is to attack the British Isles, as long as we conquer London, the British Empire will inevitably be in turmoil.

At that time, the British were too busy to take care of themselves, so naturally they had no spare strength to support the Germans, and after leaving the Germans supported by the British, under the attack of France, Austria-Hungary, and Western Russia, the Germans would support them for a year and a half at most.

The Germans were finished, and the British lost their only ally on the European continent and their only reliable ally in the pan-international front.

With the loss of the European continent, there is a high probability that the British will support surrender, and even if they continue to insist, we can still use political means to disintegrate the British Commonwealth! ”

Admiral Raymond Gatton, Lord of the Admiralty, retorted: "Your Majesty, the risk of a decisive battle with the British in the English Channel is too great, even if we have two allies, France and Spain, we are not sure of victory.

If our navy and the British lose both, then we will only be able to cheapen the Japanese in the Far East, and many of the benefits that should belong to us will not be able to get our hands on them!

The current situation is very favorable for us, and there is no need for strategic adventures. We just need to play steady and get the final victory.

The most important thing for us at the moment is to take Egypt and South Africa first, and at the same time we can send troops to India, attract the attention of the British, and force them to divide their forces to rescue. ”

One plan is a radical, the other is a conservative, the ass decides the head, and little Ferdinand is not stupid, in the case of the overall situation has been decided, it is naturally as safe as possible.

Prime Minister Tolsky said: "Ferdinand the Great once said that before a country rises, it can gamble on its national fortune, and it is barefoot and not afraid to wear shoes.

But when the country becomes stronger, it can't continue to play like this, otherwise it will be backlashed sooner or later.

The current Bulgarian Empire no longer needs to continue to take risks, and the strategy of steady and steady progress is the strategy that is most in line with the current situation of the Bulgarian Empire! ”

Little Ferdinand smiled slightly, obviously he was still satisfied with the Prime Minister's explanation, and it was better not to take risks if he could.

Moreover, as soon as the news of the Battle of Gibraltar spread, the situation in the world would immediately change, and the Japanese in the Far East would be able to endure it?

The Bulgarian Navy and the British Royal Navy are holding each other down, and if they don't attack the South Seas at this time, is it still Japan?

As for whether the Japanese will fight India, or Australia and New Zealand, this is not his concern.

Anyway, as long as Bulgaria acquiesced in the military actions of the Japanese, it was not afraid that they would not do anything.

At this time, could Bulgaria join forces with the British?

Obviously impossible!

At this time, how could the Japanese government give up the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that the European powers had no time to look eastward to acquire a rich colony and solve the problem of resources?

……