Chapter 698: Shark-class submarine
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"It's a bold and risky plan. However, the odds of success are also high. If it succeeds, then this war, the empire will win. I have decided that from now on, all departments will fully cooperate and ensure the smooth completion of this plan! Wang Yuze said. Compared with the risks of this plan, if it succeeds, the benefits obtained are too amazing, and Wang Yuze will certainly not refuse this plan.
Once successful, the hundreds of thousands of Anglo-French forces deployed in the Middle East will become turtles in an urn, and even if they do not attack, they will be able to starve them to death after cutting off the logistics supply line. When the time comes, China will be able to bring the entire Arabian Peninsula into its sphere of influence. If possible, the Suez Canal could also be taken away from the British. Of course, the importance of the Suez Canal is self-evident, and Britain will certainly not let it go, but there is such an opportunity. After the opening of the Suez Canal, the communication between the East and the West was greatly facilitated, and the British were able to earn a lot of money every year just for the canal tolls. At the same time, the strategic position of the Suez Canal is very important, and whichever country controls it will be able to control the communication between the East and the West. Such an opportunity is in front of him, and Wang Yuze says that he can't give up anything.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone replied. Everyone was a little excited, Wang Yuze agreed to this plan, then, they should work with all their strength to ensure the success of this plan.
"In view of Major General Wang Shizhen's outstanding performance, I announce that Wang Shizhen will be promoted to lieutenant general of the army, and he will be fully responsible for this plan!" Wang Yuze said. Since Wang Shizhen has the ability, then. Wang Yuze doesn't mind giving him a stage to display his talents. At the same time, we also hope to be able to buy money and attract more talents to work.
"Huh? The minister Wang Shizhen thanks the lord Longen! Wang Shizhen was stunned for a moment, and then reacted and thanked Wang Yuze for his grace.
Everyone looked at Wang Shizhen with envy, not only because he was promoted from major general to lieutenant general, but also because Wang Yuze valued him. Wang Yuze is now upright and prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and being valued by Wang Yuze doesn't mean that he is soaring?
After the review of the plan through guò Wang Yuze. It was immediately implemented. Under the auspices of Vice Admiral Wang Shizhen, with the General Staff as the leading force and the full cooperation of the army and navy, the empire's war planes immediately began to operate rapidly. The Army's Seventh Army, which has been dispatched to Singapore. Embark on the ship and depart for the Middle East. Naturally, this news was learned by the spies of Britain and France. It's just that they don't pay much attention to it. Britain and France have sent hundreds of thousands of troops to the Middle East, and it is only natural that China will increase its troops in the Middle East. However, they don't know. The destination of the Seventh Army was not the Persian Gulf, but the Gulf of Aden. After the Navy broke through the blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the British and French navies, they were to drive straight in. Landed in Egypt and captured the Suez Canal in one fell swoop.
In order to ensure the success of the landing, the Navy once again sent a Marine Division, the 2nd Marine Division, to participate in this operation. Egypt. It has become the rear of the Anglo-French coalition in the Middle East, where the British and French are located. More than 100,000 troops were deployed, and it was not easy to follow the landing and defeat them and capture the Suez Canal.
The most important force in this plan is the submarine force. Launching submarine forces from under the water and sinking or even damaging the new battleships deployed by the British and French navies in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is the most important thing in the success of this plan. The Navy sent the most elite submarine forces to this end.
During the naval battle in the South China Sea three years ago, China's submarine force was on its toll. In the past three years, Earl Wei Kun, the designer of the U-1 class submarine, has made improvements to the U-1 class submarine, and on this basis, a new submarine has been designed, this submarine is named the "U-2 class" submarine, codenamed "Shark", and foreign countries will also call this submarine the "Shark class" submarine. Of course, at least for now, the 'Shark-class' submarine is still completely secret, and there is no news of this class of submarines except for the top of the Admiralty and the officers and men of the submarine force.
The 'Shark-class' submarine, compared with the previous 'Squid-class' submarine, is not only much larger, but also has a lot of improved performance in all aspects. The submarine of the 'Shark class' has a displacement of 290 tons on the surface and 340 tons underwater, is 43 meters long, 4 meters wide, 8 meters high and has a draft of 4 meters. The maximum depth of the dive is 70 meters. Propelled by two 80-horsepower diesel engines and two electric motors, the maximum speed is 12 knots at the surface and 7 knots underwater. The surface range is 800 nautical miles and the underwater range is 50 nautical miles. It is armed with two 533 mm torpedo tubes, capable of carrying eight torpedoes
The attack power of the 'Shark-class' submarine is very strong. The power of the 533mm heavy torpedo is even more amazing. As long as one hits the target, even the British 'Dreadnought-class' battleships can't bear it. If you take two of them, you will surely die. One can imagine what kind of blow the navy would bring to the British and French navies after sending ten submarines from the water to the Guò el-Mandeb Strait and entering the Red Sea. Even if the British and French navies had two 'dreadnought-class' battleships and four 'lone-class' battleships, it would not be enough to see at all. At that time, after the submarine sneak attack was successful, the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet entered the Red Sea again and dealt a fatal blow to the British and French navies, and the blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the British and French navies was naturally broken. When the time came, the fleet went north with all its might, covering the landing of the Marines and the Seventh Army in Egypt and conquering the Suez Canal in one fell swoop. After the capture of the Suez Canal, the logistical supply lines of the Anglo-French forces were cut off. At that time, China is not far from winning the final victory!
While China was preparing for a counterattack, Britain and France were also grieving for the war. The war has been going on for more than two months, and the British and French forces have already paid more than 100,000 casualties. However, the front has been deadlocked in the central part of the kingdom, and Britain and France have been unable to achieve a final victory, which has greatly disappointed those in Britain and France who expect victory, and the accusations against the government have become more and more numerous, making the British and French governments a little exhausted.
On November 28, British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour was questioned by MPs in the British House of Commons. Parliamentarians are very concerned about when the Anglo-French coalition will be able to achieve victory, and they are also skeptical that Arthur Balfour's cabinet can lead LinkedIn to a final victory. To this end, Prime Minister Arthur Belfour assured parliamentarians that a decisive victory would be achieved before the end of the year. Even if the war does not end within the year, it must be completely victorious.
In order to win the support of the parliamentarians, Prime Minister Arthur Belfour assured everyone that if the desired results were not achieved by then, the parliamentarians were likely to initiate a motion of no confidence in him. At that time, he will most likely be ousted by everyone, like his predecessor, the Marquis of Salisbury. In order to prevent such a thing from happening and win the next term, Prime Minister Arthur Belfour had to put pressure on the British Army and Navy.
In the evening of the same day, Prime Minister Arthur Balfour convened a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's House in Downing Street to show everyone the current crisis faced by the cabinet and the British Empire, and to discuss countermeasures in the hope of getting through this difficulty.
"Gentlemen, in the face of questions from members of the House of Commons today, I have made a pledge that by the end of the year at the latest, there will be hope of victory. The war has been going on for more than two months, but what we have gotten is nothing more than news of the failure of the offensive. By now, the coalition forces had lost 120,000 men, and the British Empire had lost 60,000 young men's lives. But where is the victory? When will we be victorious? Prime Minister Arthur Belfour asked with a gloomy face.
Everyone's faces are a little unpleasant, and the difficulty of this war has exceeded everyone's previous expectations. I thought that Britain and France would join forces to win this war, and it should not be very difficult. However, I did not expect that the combat effectiveness of the Chinese Army was so strong that it could withstand the attack of the British and French forces with less than one-third of the strength of the British and French forces. This shocked the British government and the French government, but at the same time, they also knew that this time they were in trouble, and they were going to kick the iron plate again.
"Gentlemen, if we do not win before the end of the year, then I am afraid I will have to leave the Prime Minister's Office. I'm afraid this cabinet will have to resign. Therefore, I hope that you will have a heavy victory for the British Empire in the remaining month. Prime Minister Arthur Belfour said in a deep voice.
"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the soldiers on the front line have done their best. However, the war front is deadlocked in the central region of the Kingdom, and although the Anglo-French forces far outnumber the Chinese, our logistical pressure is very high. The soldiers on the front line often have a shortage of ammunition, which makes it impossible for us to give full play to our superiority in strength. Field Marshal Neville Powers Sir Chamberlain said.
"So, is there a solution to this problem?" Prime Minister Arthur Belfour asked.
"Yes, we need more logistics teams. We can recruit more people from Egypt to transport ammunition and other supplies for us. This requires the support of the Governor of Egypt. In addition, the losses of the front-line armies are significant, and we need further additions! At the very least, more than 100,000 troops need to be added to the Middle East! Field Marshal Neville Powers Sir Chamberlain said.
"I'll do my best to satisfy you. However, I hope to see victory as much as possible! Prime Minister Arthur Belfour said!