At about the same time, the Korean Army led by Kim Jong-yu was also massing at the port of Busan, and the top level of the North Korean government could think of the plan of Hua Guo to use the Foreign Army to fill the hole of Japan, but the huge cake of post-war distribution of benefits attracted the North Korean government to invest huge troops like moths to a fire.

In accordance with the principle that the more troops sent, the more they gain, Liu Zaishi and Kim Jong-yu decided to send a group army of 150,000 troops, with Kim Jong-yu as the commander-in-chief. The performance of North Korean soldiers will determine how much benefit the North Korean government can obtain after the war, so Kim Jong-woo formulated a strict code of conduct when mobilizing soldiers, and declared that soldiers can get spoils of war, and the upper echelons of the army will not interfere, which is equivalent to giving grassroots soldiers the legal right to plunder, which makes the North Korean soldiers demoralized, barely making up for the dilemma of insufficient combat effectiveness.

After all, the Far East is a remote corner, and the entire Pacific region is the equivalent of a suburb in the eyes of Europeans, and the struggle between China and the United States does not attract much attention. For here, countries are more concerned about whether the goods they buy can be transported to Europe in time, and the resources in the Americas, Southeast Asia, India and other places will not be threatened by war. For example, British Foreign Secretary Strong stated to the British king after the declaration of war between China and the United States: "The war between China and the United States is like a child fighting while the adults are not at home, thinking that they can compete for dominance in the Pacific." As everyone knows, when we finish cleaning up Germany, we will go back there and let the two naïve countries realize who is the master of the Pacific! ”

Only the British in this world have the confidence to say such a thing, the old capitalist empire has accumulated so much over the past hundred years that it is unimaginable, after the collapse of the anti-China alliance, Britain temporarily shrank in the Far East, and the British navy, which had lost a large number of warships, turned its fist at Germany and concentrated its efforts on dealing with the German challenge.

Even so, Britain had absolute superiority in the number and quality of warships in the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean. After entering the era of Wuyue ships, the British took advantage of their industrial advantages and the world's largest shipyard scale to build new battleships, if it were not for the four German-class battleships, all countries would have to be trampled under the feet of the British Navy.

In the cold wind of Scotland's northernmost point, in Port Flo of Scarpa Bay, a battle patrol squadron slowly sailed into the harbor under the guidance of barges, and the commander of the squadron, Rear Admiral David Betty, stood on the deck of the flagship, and the cold sea breeze and snowflakes could not extinguish the burning blood in Rear Admiral Betty's chest.

In 1909, at the age of 38, the energetic and aggressive young general became Britain's youngest officer (i.e. rear admiral) to attain the title of flagship in a hundred years, breaking the record held by Viscount Nelson for the fastest promotion to a general by a non-royal family. However, when he subsequently served as an adviser to Secretary of the Navy McKenna, his work did not go well because of his disagreement. He strongly advocated the cancellation of the construction of three former dreadnoughts and made every effort to build new battleships, agreeing with Fisher, Churchill and others, and was transferred to the home Grand Fleet as the commander of the first battle patrol detachment when the war broke out.

After the battleship docked, Rear Admiral Betty did not return to his residence to rest, but went straight to the fleet commander's office in a menacing manner, and the reckless Rear Admiral Betty directly pushed away the two guards at the door and rushed in regardless of it.

Sir Callaghan, the commander of the Home Fleet, and Vice Admiral Jericho, the deputy commander, diverted their attention from the charts in surprise, looking at the reckless rear admiral, Callahan patted his forehead helplessly, and Vice Admiral Jericho walked over to welcome this subordinate who did not understand etiquette.

"It seems that the bitter cold of the North Sea and the waves of the Atlantic Ocean have not made our Major General Betty any happier, welcome home!" Betty's anger seemed to dissipate a lot in front of Jericho, and after the two shook hands, Betty took the coffee from the orderly, sat down and thought for a few seconds before she began to complain to the two top bosses.

"General Callaghan, General Jericho, we can't go on in such idleness, my detachment can't even get close to the Dutch coast every day except patrolling and patrolling. It was impossible for the German fleet to remain in the harbor all the time, and I suggested that the home fleet raid the Helgoland Bay to induce the German high seas fleet to leave Wilhelmshaven. Oh, by the way, congratulations on your promotion, Lieutenant General Jericho! ”

"Thank you very much, Major General Betty!" Vice Admiral Jericho responded with a smile, who had been promoted to vice admiral before the outbreak of the war and transferred from commander of the Second Detachment of the Home Fleet to deputy commander of the Grand Fleet. However, Jericho could not give a good answer to Major General Betty's complaints and suggestions.

Glancing at Commander Callaghan, Jericho said: "Compared with the German High Seas Fleet, our home fleet does not have an absolute advantage, from the comparison of capital ships, the home fleet has 30 ships, including 6 dreadnoughts, including two from the Mediterranean Fleet and one from the Indian Ocean Fleet. The High Seas Fleet has 18 capital ships, of which 6 are new battleships, and four German-class battleships pose the greatest threat to us. In addition to this, we have colonies such as India in the Far East that need to be protected, and China has been deploying a large number of warships in the South China Sea, and our security cannot be counted on a tacit understanding between the two countries, and no one knows whether they will suddenly launch an attack on Southeast Asia and India. In the event of a major loss in the battle of the home fleet with the high seas fleet, it will cause a chain reaction that will eventually lead to the collapse of order. ”

The superiority in the number of warships did not make Callahan and Jericho determined to fight, so the two developed a strategy based on the actual situation, with Scarpa Bay as the center, and the German high seas fleet blockaded in the harbor. The Germans were unable to build new battleships after the war began, while the British were able to acquire more new ships within a year, and then the decisive moment was the best time.

Betty did not give up yet: "What if the German High Seas Fleet took the initiative?" Did we, in order to avoid huge losses, hide in Scapa Bay and allow the German fleet to control the North Sea? ”

Callahan laughed: "Rear Admiral Betty, it seems that you need to strengthen your understanding of politics and intelligence, Kaiser Wilhelm II regarded his high seas fleet as a treasure, and intelligence shows that the current commander of the high seas fleet, Holdendorff, immediately wrote to Wilhelm II after the outbreak of war, asking for the initiative to attack, but was stopped by Wilhelm II." The Germans had ships comparable to those of the British, but they were not equipped with the courage to do so, and Holdendorff and Scheer could only hide in the harbor under the might of the British Navy, and their cowardice gave us the best chance to delay. ”

"Is this possible? Will the Germans let go of this opportunity to minimize the gap and hide in Wilhelmshaven? Betty did not continue to stay in the offices of his two superiors, knowing that the current situation could not be changed, but he saw the Home Fleet as hiding from the High Seas Fleet, rather than the so-called "blockade of the North Sea".

"This is the best chance, the best chance for us to overthrow the British's century-old sea power, the best chance to break through the blockade of the home fleet in the North Sea and enter the Atlantic, and the best chance for the German Empire to compete for land under the sun!" Wilhelm II spoke impassionedly to several of the admirals in the palace, his tone full of confidence, and there was no sign of fear of the British home fleet.

How many years has he been waiting for this day, especially after participating in the British Navy parade, and has always dreamed of taking the place of the British. The strength of the British did not deter Wilhelm II, but instead invested huge resources in arming the German navy, and when the four German-class battleships entered service, he was eager to start a war and challenge the British home fleet at that time.

As for the information that the British received that Germany did not dare to challenge the British, and that the Kaiser refused to attack his subordinates, it was just a play played by the Germans to the British, and the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Holdendorff, in order to cooperate with the exercise, ordered the main force of the fleet to stay in the harbor and not to leave the port, and ordered the patrol fleet not to provoke the British detachment, and everything he did was to confuse the British.

"General Holdendorff, how are you going to use our high seas fleet?" Wilhelm II asked with interest, looking forward to the destruction of the British navy, but also knowing that it would not be done overnight.

"Your Majesty, the High Seas Fleet is numerically inferior to the British Home Fleet, and four German-class battleships are not enough to close this gap, and it is inferior in cruisers and destroyers. I believe that the admirals and soldiers of the Navy will bring victory to His Majesty in a decisive battle, but I do not want to see the High Seas Fleet lose the ability to continue its attack after victory. In the event of a defeat on both sides, the British could mobilize warships from other fleets to replenish the home fleet, but we did not strengthen the fleet, that is, even if we defeated the British home fleet, our situation in the North Sea would not be much improved. ”

Wilhelm II was not impatient, and looking at the expressions of generals such as Holdendorff and Scheer, he knew that they already had a solution to this problem.

"My dear generals, why don't you just say what you do?"

Vice Admiral Schell took over the topic: "Your Majesty, the hint given to us by the Chinese Navy during the Yokosuka incident is that airplanes have become another weapon that can threaten battleships, and bombs can also penetrate the heavy armor of battleships, causing them to cause great damage. ”

"As far as I know, our country did not have suitable aircraft for attacking battleships, the bombs they carried were too small, the range was too short, and the pilots did not have the experience of flying over the sea and attacking battleships. For us, this seems to be difficult to improve in a short period of time. An Air Force staff member spoke.

Wilhelm II nodded, and it was true, the change in the pattern of the war made him feel at a loss, but fortunately his opponents, the Entente, did not have a good solution. (To be continued.) )