"Your Excellency, I am personally in favour of a general battle with the Germans at Canterbury. In a battle with the Germans here, we do have a considerable advantage. At least, we can assemble 5 army groups against two corps plus two marine divisions against the Germans. The 3rd Army and the 8th Army, on the other hand, could retreat further to Maidstone and deal with a regiment plus a marine division against the Germans. No matter what the battlefield we are on, we have a great advantage in terms of troops. If we play well, we can still defeat the Germans, we are still very sure! Admiral Haig said.

"Even if we amassed five armies at Canterbury, it would be less than a million men. But the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the Germans, plus two Marine Divisions, totaled almost seven hundred thousand men. Our superiority in strength is also very limited. The 3rd Army and the 8th Army, now with less than 400,000 troops, and the 3rd Army Corps of the Germans plus a marine division also have more than 200,000 men. With 1.4 million men against more than 900,000 German troops, will our chances really be very good? Admiral Benson was skeptical.

Admiral Hamilton nodded: "Indeed, our advantage does not seem to be very large. However, we are fighting on our own soil and can receive reinforcements at any time. And the Germans, on the other hand, were going to cross the strait. In the battle with the Germans at Canterbury, we can also get reinforcements from London at any time. If necessary, I will reinforce ours with troops from London. When the time comes, the Germans will definitely be defeated! ”

"Your Excellency, if this is the case, then I would suggest that two elite armies be secretly transferred from London to cooperate with the 3rd Army and the 8th Army, and to deal with the 3rd Army and the 3rd Marine Division of the Germans. Then the main forces were gathered and moved against the 1st and 2nd Army Corps of the Germans and the 1st and 2nd Marine Divisions. In that case, our odds are much better. Admiral Goff suggested.

Admiral Hamilton shook his head: "There are only two elite armies in London, and in order to stabilize the situation there, we can't easily transfer those two armies." Your Excellency the Prime Minister and the Minister of War will not easily agree. If we move all our troops to the southeastern theater of operations, in case the Germans send troops directly across the North Sea to attack London, then what will we do to resist? When the time comes, I am afraid that it will cause a rout on all fronts. ”

A hint of reluctance flashed in Admiral Gough's eyes, but he knew that Admiral Hamilton's consideration was also reasonable. As the capital of the British Empire, London's security is also very important. Once London is attacked, the consequences will be very serious. It can even lead to problems with the troops at the front.

"For the time being, we have only three corps and three marine divisions against the Germans with 7 army groups in our hands. The strength advantage of nearly 500,000 people is already good. Although, I have to admit that the Germans were quite combative. However, I believe that the soldiers of the British Empire, inspired by the spirit of defending their homeland and defending the country, will not be inferior in combat effectiveness to the Germans. In addition, I have ordered the tank units stationed in London to come and reinforce us. In this battle, our chances of winning are still very good! Admiral Hamilton said.

Although Admiral Hamilton seemed to be very confident, Admiral Haig and others were unimpressed. The gap between several elite armies of the British Army is still a bit bigger than that of the German Army, let alone other troops. Defending the country can indeed boost the morale of the soldiers, but it is very difficult to say whether it will work on the battlefield, or whether it will have a satisfactory effect.

However, they were not good at damaging Admiral Hamilton's confidence. Otherwise, the next battle will be even more difficult to fight.

After confirming the battle with the Germans at Canterbury, Admiral Hamilton rushed back to London and personally sent Prime Minister Churchill and War Secretary Richard Brown? Haldan states his battle plan.

Churchill and Richard? Haldan was more sympathetic to Admiral Hamilton's battle plan. They also very much wanted to be able to defeat the Germans in one fell swoop in the Southeastern Theater. It would be best if the fighting didn't spread to London. Churchill said he would order troops in London to reinforce the south-eastern theater if the war was tense. In addition, he will also order the Air Force to fully cooperate with the Southeast Theater to ensure that it can gain air supremacy on the battlefield and further reduce the pressure on the ground forces.

Churchill's assurances made Hamilton full of fighting spirit. After returning to Canterbury without stopping, he ordered the armies to begin to shrink their lines and prepare for battle.

Under the orders of Admiral Hamilton, the 1st and 6th armies of the British Home Army were withdrawn from Margate to Canterbury. The Home Army's 2nd and 7th Armies were also withdrawn from Dover to Canterbury. The 3rd and 8th armies of the Home Army were withdrawn from Folkestone to Maidstone. The 9th Army of the Home Army was originally stationed in Canterbury.

At this point, the British Home Army had assembled five army groups in Canterbury and two army groups in Maidstone, with a total strength of nearly 1.4 million men in seven army groups.

This is already the entire force of the British home forces in the southeastern theater of operations. Hamilton ordered the troops to assemble at Canterbury and Maidstone, in a desperate attempt to fight the Germans.

While the British were withdrawing from the coastal areas, the German 1st, 2nd and 3rd armies were withdrawing in an orderly manner. For the movements of the British army, the reconnaissance aircraft of the German Army Air Corps, were completely mastered. However, the Germans did nothing but send planes to bomb the retreating British troops.

The retreat of the British army was a great thing for the German army. Their main forces were taking enough time to land in Britain. If the British continued to attack and harass their landing, it would have cost them a little more. However, now that the British retreated on their own initiative, the problem was much smaller.

German sappers built improvised docks at sea for soldiers and equipment to disembark. In order to help the heavy equipment disembark, the sappers specially reinforced the dock with steel plates, so that the tanks, armored vehicles and heavy artillery could be loaded and unloaded smoothly. All these greatly accelerated the landing of the main German army in Britain.

On August 27, the main forces of the German 1st, 2nd and 3rd armies all landed on the British mainland.