At this moment, at the age of 41, Viscount Lyle, the illustrious Admiral John Dudley, was standing in the lobby of the Winchester residence, gazing at Lady Ripley with his courageous, confident and penetrating eyes. Gently brushed off his unusually beautifully trimmed O-shaped beard, waiting for the other party's answer.

Isabel Walton, who was given a special title of female nobility, found in Viscount Lyle a kind of naval officer temperament that she was once familiar with, as if recalling George Dewey (1837-1917), a graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, a special admiral of the United States Navy and a star of naval warfare in the Spanish-American War.

Although George Dewey was a cautious, serious, fierce and aggressive admiral, his victory was largely due to the weakness of the Spanish fleet. If he were to attack a powerful fleet, would he still be able to win? This is unknown. Although General Dewey fought only this battle in his life, the scale was not large, and the opponent was not strong, but in this short naval battle of a few hours, it changed the history of the world!

While recalling the celebrity who was also a cadet of the Naval Academy, Isabel's mind jumped to the image of David Glasgow Farragut (July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870). He was a naval admiral in the American Civil War and the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the history of the United States Navy.

As a veteran of the United States Navy of the United States of America, Admiral Farragut's wisdom, bravery, calmness and loyalty have inspired generations of U.S. Navy officers and men, who have held Farragut as a role model. His spirit influenced the U.S. Navy until Isabel graduated.

The last and most difficult battle General Farragut commanded in the Civil War was the march into Mobile Bay, Alabama, in August 1864. Sitting on the flagship "Hartford" with high morale, the general led 4 shallow-water gunboats and 14 wooden boats fearlessly rushed into the mine-infested Mobile Bay of the Southern Army. Knowing that the sea area ahead was full of mines of the Southern Army, the general still ordered the fleet to rush to the Southern Army's ironclad ships desperately, what a great courage and extraordinary composure it required!

Isabel's mood became extremely excited, and she was eager to emulate General Farragut's last battle to win one of the most glorious naval battles for herself. However, she was only a female nobleman, neither a naval minister, nor a vice admiral or admiral in her hands. As a result, it was almost impossible for her to get authorization from Henry VIII to lead the royal fleet to defeat the French fleet.

Who could she prompt to become a famous admiral in World War I? Obviously, it will not be the illustrious English admiral Viscount Lyle, who stands in front of him. After all, she couldn't remember what happened to Viscount Lyle in the end. In any case, the admiral probably did not survive to the time when Mary Tudor (Queen Mary I of England) died.

On the question of how to resist the French invasion of England, she had already thought of several counter-invasion options. However, she would not let Viscount Lyle take away the victory in this naval battle, and she hoped that the Duke of Richmond would become the central figure in the court of Henry VIII through this naval battle.

Isabel calmly looked at Viscount Lyle, who had once been an outstanding admiral, and gently spat out a sentence, "Your Excellency, you want to defeat Francis I's French fleet in a naval battle, do you?" ”

Viscount Lyle had been waiting for her words for a long time, and quickly blurted out, "There is no doubt about it, Your Excellency. Without victory in this naval battle, His Majesty would not be able to bring Francis I back to the negotiating table. ”

Isabel stood up, put her hands on the lower abdomen of the skirt and slowly walked to the Earl of Essex's main seat in the hall, turned to look at the admiral, and said, "Very well." Your Excellency, now I need to know the truth about how many troops and how many warships France will attack the kingdom. Then, I'll tell you my advice. ”

Next, Viscount Lyle told the other party where King Francis I had gathered an army of how many men, how many ships he had prepared in which bay, and who the commander of the fleet was. After listening without saying a word, Isabel tilted her head and suddenly said, "Your Excellency, then, how many warships are still available in His Majesty's royal fleet?" ”

Viscount Lyle frowned and shook his head, "There are probably no more than 57 warships that can be used. ”

With a fleet of no more than 57 ships against the French fleet of about 400 ships, it would be an extremely difficult naval battle. Of course, the French would have used at least half of their warships to transport ground troops to land on one of England's coasts. Even so, the French would still have 100 to 150 ships with great firepower to attack the English fleet.

In the tactical scheme that Isabel pondered, the first was an anti-landing war. The tactical thinking of anti-landing warfare that she learned was that defensive operations should be carried out jointly by various services, arms, and other armed forces in the coastal areas, at sea, and in the air under unified intent and command. Generally, it includes maritime operations, air operations, coastal and island defense operations; Areas with straits also include operations to blockade straits.

At present, although all European countries have used sail warships equipped with artillery to carry out landings and anti-landings, and the naval theater of anti-landing operations has gradually expanded, the armed forces of various countries are still limited by such factors as weaponry, simple means, and operations limited to the close quarters of the troops of both sides on the shore. Moreover, Henry VIII had become so poor that he could not afford to hire European mercenaries or his own farmers and poor men to fight this war against the invasion.

The second option is that when there is no air force to seize air supremacy, the struggle for sea supremacy becomes extremely important. In striking at the enemy who has assembled on a ship, it is common to use long-range strike weapons to concentrate and surprise the enemy's forces and ships in the assembly area, greatly weaken the enemy's landing force, and delay the time for his departure.

The third option is that all available means can be used to identify the routes through which the enemy's landing fleet must pass. Then use the naval fleet to carry out a surprise attack to disrupt its formation and delay its navigation. Therefore, the enemy who assaulted the crossing was also the best opportunity to thwart the enemy's landing.

It's becoming clearer and clearer that she believes that in the current situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak, only the second or third tactical scheme can be implemented, or both at the same time. In short, it was necessary to prevent as many as possible 30,000 French soldiers from landing on the shores of England.