As for the second reason, it has to do with the overall strategy. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoBetween the fact that the Russians have been bled twice on the Eastern Front, and countless small bloodlettings, especially in this campaign that has just ended, the Russian front has almost all its reserves. This not only made the Russians jump, but also made Britain and France pinch a cold sweat, without reserves, and the front is not consolidated, maybe the next attack of the Bavarian Army can beat the entire Russian front into a thousand holes. Fortunately, winter came, which put an end to the German offensive. And Romania, the newly brought in cannon fodder, attracted another wave of hatred and gave the Russians a breather.

But Britain and France know very well that this so-called breath is only a temporary ...... that cannot die. The miserable transportation situation and industrial capacity of the Russians doomed them to be unable to replenish the lost equipment, and the number of troops could be increased, but the number of heavy weapons would be good enough to ensure the current level. However, the significance of this expansion was really limited, so in order to keep the most important ally of the Entente in the east, and in order to make better use of the surplus value of the Russians, Britain and France decided to launch an amphibious operation aimed at opening the Dardanelles in April of the following year!

Britain and France believe that in the land war, the coalition forces can no longer help the German Army, but it is nine out of ten to fight Turkey, in the perception of the Allied high-level, under the same strength, Germany is higher than Britain and France, higher than Russia, higher than Austria-Hungary and higher than Turkey! In addition, now that the French Navy is nearing to complete the repair work, the second Japanese fleet will also come to Europe. I have a great advantage in strength!

And in addition to the military superiority, Greece, after hesitation, finally agreed to join the Entente, of course, this is not to say that the conditions given by the Entente are ....... Rather, it is because Greece and Turkey are old enemies themselves, and if the Allies win the war, a strong Turkey will certainly find trouble with Greece again. Who will be able to help Greece then?

The attitude of Britain and France is also quite tough, and the British ambassador to Greece once threatened that if they cannot become friends, they are enemies! Coupled with the fact that Serbia to the north now had the upper hand against Austria-Hungary, Greece agreed to join the Entente after much deliberation. At the same time, he expressed his readiness to launch an offensive on land to assist the Entente's strategy in the Dardanelles!

Opening up the Dardanelles and transporting supplies to Russia is one aspect, and at the same time, taking Istanbul to force Turkey to launch a war and easily boiling the Mediterranean Fleet of the Central Powers is also of great strategic value! If this goal can be achieved, it will not only rescue Russia, but also take out Turkey and cut off the link between Germany mainland and the two river valleys. It can also completely solve the largest overseas fleet of the Central Powers except for the North Sea, which is simply killing three birds with one stone!

By that time, even the French and Japanese fleets would come to the North Sea to suppress the Germans, and the united Entente fleet would regain overwhelming superiority in the North Sea! By that time, the fleets of Britain, France and Japan had gathered in the Shetland Islands, and they would not have subdued the large German fleet? At that point, Jerry Sci-Fi imagined that he would be able to preside over the largest surrender ceremony ever at sea!

Well, let's not talk about anything else, anyway, let's find a way to win first! The French have already said they will send at least 70,000 troops into the war, and the French navy will fully cooperate. The Japanese said they could provide 30,000 cannon fodder for less food and low prices. The Japanese Navy will also increase its strength. Even the Australian Legion and the Canadian Legion in the Commonwealth expressed their willingness to fight. Well, the Royal Navy should also say it! And it is precisely because of this representation ....... Gives Jericho a lot of headaches!

At first, with a stroke of his pen, Jericho directly suggested that the Strait Fleet should send two former dreadnought battle groups over. But how can the French be so easy to fool?! They said that these old warships had no value other than providing fire support on the ground, and even the representative of the French Navy said very bluntly: "Rather than let the Grand Fleet sit in the Shetland Islands and blow the northwest wind, it is better to go around the warm Mediterranean ......." At least the weather is fine, isn't it? ”

At that time, Jericho wanted to jump up and pick up the ashtray next to him to duel with the opponent on behalf of the Royal Navy, and Churchill thought that it was a bit "unusual" if not a single capital ship of the Grand Fleet was lined up in this big battle, and he originally planned to draw a complete battleship detachment, but after Thomas's case, Churchill thought that it would be "enough" to send two super-dreadnought battleships to the Dardanelles. 、

However, it was not only the two super dreadnoughts and two detachments of former dreadnoughts that were sent over, but also a large number of auxiliary warships. In this way, the auxiliary forces of the Grand Fleet were also temporarily weakened by one layer. In this case, the Grand Fleet was weakened in almost every way, and in this case, it was inevitable that Jericho and the British Admiralty would eventually choose to shrink!

This contraction was different from the defensive actions taken by the Royal Navy after Operation Thunder-Sebruss before. That time was just a temporary choice for the Royal Navy to avoid it, reduce the risk, and wait for the opportunity. The Royal Navy still had a strong chance of re-completing the blockade of Germany. Just like Thomas's siege of the German battlecruisers a few months ago!

But this time it's different. After losing 5 capital ships in a row in the recent battle, the situation on the entire battlefield changed dramatically. It has been difficult for the Royal Navy to recover again in a short period of time, not only because the rate of loss is greater than the rate of replenishment, but more importantly, the threat from other strategic directions has forced the Royal Navy to allocate part of its forces to fight fires. The fists that were originally clenched were forced to disperse, and that's good, you still have one hand, but the strike force is no longer the same as before!

Perhaps, after the Entente solved the Mediterranean problem, the Entente fleet could still gather in the North Sea, but that was at least almost a year later, not because of how high the British saw Turkey, but because in the Dardanelles, the Allies deployed 6 powerful battleships after all! Even if the Entente could take them out, it would be quite a heavy price! Look at the most powerful Fuso-class battleship in the Entente, which was beaten back for 3 months to repair when it had an advantage. Therefore, after the war, even if it wins, the Entente fleet needs to slowly recover .......

And what will happen in 1 year? Jericho didn't know, but Jericho knew that if the two sides couldn't end this war that amounted to chronic suicide in one year's time, then even if the British Empire won, it would probably fall from the pinnacle of power. The weakening of Britain is a long-term process, and if it were not for the First World War, Jericho may not have seen it in his lifetime, but now, it can only be said that the future is uncertain.

"The navy's today may be the empire's tomorrow!" Jericho wrote this in his diary when he learned of the Admiralty's decision to shrink the fleet.

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