On August 18, 1912, a naval battle broke out in the waters 100 kilometers west of Sicily in the Mediterranean, and although the scale was not comparable to the naval battle that broke out in the North Sea between the German High Seas Fleet and the British Navy's Home Fleet at the end of May, the impact was unrivaled. In just four hours from the beginning to the end of the battle, the combined fleet of the British and French navies lost 13 battleships and battlecruisers, of which 8 battleships were captured, as well as 1 armored cruiser, 6 light cruisers and 11 destroyers. The total casualties were about 10,000, and more than 7,000 British and French naval officers and men were captured.

At the same time, this naval battle is also the first time that aircraft has been applied to naval warfare, and it shows extremely strong combat effectiveness. In the past, battleships were the most powerful weapons in naval warfare around the world, and they were desperately building battleships with larger tonnage, thicker armor, and larger guns. However, the performance of the Chinese naval aviation in this naval battle undoubtedly gave all countries a head start, showing them that the huge battleship is no longer the decisive weapon in naval warfare, and the aircraft is the decisive weapon that determines the victory of naval warfare.

It was precisely because of the excellent performance of the two naval aviation wings that the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy was able to smoothly capture eight advanced battleships. Although these battleships were badly damaged, they could only be repaired in the shipyard for a few months before they could once again gallop on the sea. These battleships are all the same level of battleships as the Chinese Navy's 'Han-class, battleships, although they may not be as good as the Chinese Navy's 'Han-class, battleships, but they can be used to replace the Chinese Navy's old 'Zhonghua-class, battleships. Moreover, in this battle, the losses of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy were very small, except for the losses that occurred in the early days when the light cruisers and destroyers of the two sides were reconnoitring intelligence, no other losses were paid. The losses of naval aviation were not large, and in this naval battle, only a dozen aircraft were lost. Several of the planes were improperly guided during the attack and crashed into the sea, eventually causing the plane to be destroyed and people killed. Others are due to failures. On the whole, the Chinese Navy won the battle at a very small cost and achieved very rich results. It also determines the ownership of the Mediterranean Sea. At least until there are no weapons to deal with the Chinese naval aviation, the British and French navies will never dare to approach the waters near Sicily, and the waters east of Sicily have become the areas under the absolute control of the Chinese navy.

After losing all the capital ships, the combined fleet of the British and French navies, although there were still many heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers, no longer had the strength to challenge the Chinese navy in the Mediterranean. Even if the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet were to return to the Indian Ocean for its mission, the two wings deployed by the Chinese Naval Air Force in Sicily would be enough to block the British and French navies' access to the eastern Mediterranean.

And the resulting cascade of reactions has almost always been in favor of China and the Allies. At least after the combined fleet of the British and French navies suffered a big loss, the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Greece in Southern Europe no longer dared to move, and they were much more honest, and the crisis of Austria-Hungary was relieved a lot. And Italy was in an even more dangerous situation, and the coastal areas would be the object of retaliation by the Austro-Hungarian navy. China has also acquired Sicily, a base for important strategic goods, and has strengthened its control over the Mediterranean. Whether it was during the war or after the war, this was very beneficial for China to intervene in the Mediterranean coast and even in Europe.

On the British Navy's heavy cruiser Edinburgh, until all the Chinese Navy's air force had returned, John Edinburgh. Admiral Jericho breathed a sigh of relief. After the loss of the capital ships of the combined fleet of the British and French navies, these heavy cruisers and armored cruisers, which were relatively large in tonnage, also became the targets of the Chinese navy. Thankfully, they had abandoned the capital ships and fled west at full speed. Otherwise, their fate will be very tragic. However, the problem is still in John's mind. Admiral Jericho in front of him. The Combined Fleet lost all its capital ships, how can this be explained to the British government? If it is not good, he will be sent to a court-martial. From the previous hero to the prisoner.

"Your Excellency, Commander, now the crisis has finally been resolved!" After giving the order to return to Gibraltar, the Chief of Staff of the Fleet, Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells finally relented. After the fighters of the Chinese naval aviation returned home, he determined that they should be safe now, and they should be out of the range of the Chinese naval aviation.

"General Wells, although the crisis of the fleet has passed, our crisis has not been resolved! Having lost 13 flying and 3 battle cruisers, how can we now hand over to the Admiralty and the government? "John. Admiral Jericho said with a bitter face, you must know that at the time of the Portsmouth military port, he had asked the Admiralty Lord John. Sir Fisher promised that he would defeat the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy and win the naval battle, opening the way for the British Empire to advance eastward. But now, the fleet suffered heavy losses, and even the road to the east was completely blocked. At the very least, Britain would not have thought of marching eastward to support India and Australia, as well as recovering colonies in the Middle East, in the face of the Chinese navy's aircraft deployed in Sicily. As for the detour to the Cape of Good Hope, not to mention the distance, the Chinese navy has greatly increased its strength after obtaining the eight battleships captured, and the British navy will mobilize the last main force to the Indian Ocean, otherwise it will not be able to compete with the Chinese navy for sea supremacy in the Indian Ocean. At the thought of this, John. Admiral Jericho felt that the future was dark.

"General, I think that although we have to pay some responsibility for this failure, the main reason is not because of us, but because the Chinese are too cunning. No one thought that the Chinese would be able to apply aircraft to naval warfare, and even less could imagine that a small aircraft could carry heavy bombs and torpedoes to attack the capital ship and cause fatal damage to the capital ship. In other words, other generals are bound to defeat in the face of such despicable and shameless tactics of the Chinese. "Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said. Of course, their main responsibility is probably to underestimate the enemy, and as a result, they fell into the trap laid by the Chinese. But, in his opinion, this is also completely excusable.

John. Admiral Jericho nodded, and he couldn't agree more than Roslyn. Vice Admiral Wells's view is nothing more than that of Lord of the Admiralty, John Wills. It is difficult to say whether Sir Fisher and the ministers in the Cabinet will take his word for it. If he wants to be held responsible, then he will not be able to eat and walk away, and if he does not do well, he will be sent to a military court. After all, the losses this time were too great for the British Navy to withstand such losses even if it had deep pockets. The 10 battleships lost were all the latest battleships of the British Navy, and the loss of three battlecruisers would also leave only one British battlecruiser.

"General, I propose that we and Admiral Palmiro finally unify their voices, and if he says anything wrong in his report to the French government, it will be a disaster for him and for us." Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells whispered.

"Hmmm! Invite General Palmiro to come to Edinburgh, No., we have something important to discuss! "John. Admiral Jericho said. If the two sides had been able to unify their voices and attribute the main cause of their defeat to the fact that the Chinese navy's planes were too powerful, they might have been punished much less.

The French Admiral Palmiro was also suffering from the loss of three Brittany-class battleships, which were the last three battleships of the French Navy, and now all of them were lost. Admiral Palmiro had even imagined that he would be court-martialed as soon as he returned to France.

John. Admiral Jericho's plan was exactly what Admiral Palmiro meant, and the two hit it off. Later, in the war reports sent back to the respective governments, they blamed the Chinese Navy's aviation for the failure of the naval battle, and also pointed out that the Combined Fleet would lose the ability to attack Sicily until it had the weapons to deal with the Chinese Navy's aviation.

When John. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon when Admiral Jericho sent the report back to the British Admiralty. Sir Fisher was getting ready to leave work. The reason why the battle report was sent back at this time was entirely because of John. Admiral Jericho wasted a lot of time trying to get the job done. So, John. Sir Fisher was not recounted until three hours after the end of the naval battle. Of course, this battle report appeared much longer than John's. Sir Fisher's expectations. Because, a naval battle takes a very long time, especially with a powerful country like China, even if the combined fleet has an absolute advantage, but without half a day or even a day, it is impossible to distinguish the winner at all.

When John. When Sir Fisher was about to go home from work, the head of the Admiralty's telegraph office walked into John with a pale face. Sir Fisher's office.

"Sir Sir, this is John. A battle report from the Jellico Navy! The head of the telegraph room said with a pale face, he had already read the battle report, and he also knew about the crushing defeat of the Combined Fleet.