In the bright morning light, Churchill, who was wide and fat, looked back and forth in front of the map with some irritation; The precious cigar in his mouth had already half spontaneously combusted, but he had no intention of paying attention.

The fact that the Germans launched a landing campaign on the British mainland islands under the cover of the navy was in any case a matter of great seriousness: since the conquest of England by the Duke of Normandy in the 11th century, Britain itself had not been invaded by foreign invaders. However, to Churchill's embarrassment, he searched back and forth on the map for a long time, but did not find out where Fair Island was. Somewhat self-defeatingly, he pulled out his magnifying glass from the drawer and began to examine it inch by inch. When Churchill swept the map for the fourth time with his aching eyeball, out of the corner of his eye he seemed to see a line of letters that he had never noticed before; When the image in his eyes became clear, the magnifying glass in Churchill's hand suddenly fell to the ground, and a round face was no longer the slightest human color.

Fifteen minutes later, a large number of senior Royal Navy officers who had remained in London gathered in the Admiralty chamber; Churchill, who sat at the top, covered his forehead with his hand, and his face was full of pain and anger. On a huge map of Europe hanging in the midfield, a site in the north-east of Scotland has been outlined in thick red lines; And when the participating officers who kept entering saw this map, their originally somewhat relaxed faces instantly seemed to be enchanted, first froze on the spot, and then entered a state of nightmare like falling into a nightmare.

"Everybody has seen it. The Germans had landed on Fair Island, and it was the main force of the High Seas Fleet that had been showing off at the mouth of the Thames two days earlier! These Prussians were all demons crawling out of hell, except for the ferocious and cunning devils. No other creature has such insight into the wickedness of the human heart! ”

Churchill spoke slowly. The unwillingness and hatred in the words are fully revealed. Fair Island is located halfway between the Shetland and Orkney Islands in northeastern Scotland. Covering an area of 7.6 square kilometers, the island is a deserted place due to its location in the depths of the North Sea, and the only place where you can still see a few people throughout the year is that it is an important transit point for migratory birds, and will attract some bird lovers to observe from afar, nothing more. However, this barbarian island, which had been inhabited by less than 20 people for many years, was now given a strategic position under the eyes of the Germans: it was less than 80 nautical miles from Scapaflo Bay, the anchorage of the British Grand Fleet!

"Once the Germans gained a foothold on Fair Island. Then the Royal Navy will be greeted with catastrophic consequences. At that time, the entire Scapa Bay will be completely under the air surveillance of the Germans, and the range of activities of the Grand Fleet will be strictly restricted, and the Germans may even use this as a springboard to land in Scotland! Churchill's voice echoed through the chamber, hammering down the hearts of the already shocked senior officers, "I would have preferred the Germans to land on the two much larger islands of Maynland, which are close at hand, or farther away, than on Fair Island." Because the former allows us to launch a surprise attack before the other side can react, and the latter is not too much of a problem for us due to its remote distance. And 80 nautical miles from Fair Island. But it was in the safe zone of a deadly threat to my native fleet. ”

"Your Excellency Winston, perhaps the situation is not as severe as we thought. Fair Island was originally a wasteland. It is simply impossible to militarize its fortress in a short period of time. Now that the Germans have retreated from the mouth of the Thames, the desire for war is no longer as strong as it was the previous days; I think we can completely ignore the landing of the Germans there for the time being, and just concentrate on waiting for the return of General Betty. After we have repaired all the meritorious battleships that have returned from the Mediterranean, we will wait for the opportunity to fight the Germans. A gray-haired officer spoke.

"It is true that it is impossible to fortify Fair Island in a short period of time, but it is not a necessary prerequisite for the threat to the Grand Fleet. If nothing else, even if the Germans carved out a few temporary berths for submarines to replenish, it would be a great test for the safety of the Grand Fleet. After all, the distance from Fair Island to Scapa Bay is so close! ”

Churchill slowly glanced at the venue, and a determined look gradually bloomed in his eyes, and said: "In any case, the German attempt on Fair Island must be contained and eliminated. This is not only for the honor of the Royal Navy, but also for the sake of cutting off their criminal hands reaching into the depths of the ocean, and to win victory for Great Britain in this war that is at stake. At present, it is worth our vigilance that due to the lack of strength of the Royal Navy in the North Sea, a number of American merchant ships that pursued huge profits have opened a trade route south along the Norwegian waterway to Wilhelmshaven, transporting valuable supplies to Germany. If Fair Island is taken again, the waves of the North Sea will no longer be under the control of the Royal Navy, and these merchant ships carrying supplies will be able to travel freely! At present, the war power that has erupted in this country has become too much for us to resist, so we must not allow them to make full use of the sea for supplies. ”

The Chief of Staff of the Navy, Study, looked at him and said with some surprise: "Winston, didn't you advocate a decisive battle at sea with the Germans before?" ”

Churchill exhaled slowly and said, "Yes, I was against a large-scale confrontation with the German navy, because it would put the fleet on which Britain depended in extremely dangerous situations. Now, however, the Germans have their long knives to the neck of Britain, and we have no choice but to strike hard while they have not yet fully established themselves on Fair Isle. ”

"However, now is far from the ideal time for a decisive battle with the German Navy. If the Royal Navy had been assured of a complete victory, it would have already attacked by the time the Germans appeared beyond the Thames! Fischer, who was sitting in the front row, spoke in a deep voice, but he directly pointed out the most acute point of the current contradiction, "Admiral Jericho has sent back a clear statement that the Grand Fleet will never be able to fight the German Navy in the near future, even if it is to abandon Scapavolo. Having lost the port land, we can still gather a fleet and retake it; And in the event of a large loss of the main forces of the fleet, the whole of Britain will be at risk of losing the war! ”

Looking at the resolute First Sea Lord, Churchill's face was complicated, and he wanted to say something, but his lips moved and then froze. From a military point of view, Fisher's choice was certainly irrefutable, and Churchill himself fully understood the vital importance of the fleet for Britain. However, the Royal Navy's cautious retreat to the port from the day of the war has brought him, the Minister of the Navy, to the forefront of the storm by the angry people, and has been condemned and questioned by all walks of life.

There is a limit to the patience of British subjects. They could not tolerate the naval fleet, which they had spent so much money building, to become a pile of scrap metal that could only be trapped in the harbor waiting to rust; Churchill, a former member of the opposition, knew this all too well. The appearance of the German fleet on the outskirts of the Thames had put him under tremendous pressure from all sides, and it was only thanks to Betty's victory in the Mediterranean that he was able to hold out; If the Grand Fleet now abandons the Scapaflo base without a fight, the British people will no longer tolerate him stealing even the post of Admiralty for even one day!

"The Grand Fleet can no longer blindly avoid war. This is not only the desire of 44 million British subjects, but also the prestige of our British Empire in the world. If we compromise and retreat only from a tactical point of view, the Empire's federations will lose faith in the war, and the neutrals will irretrievably deviate from the Entente. Foreign Secretary Gray, who was present at the meeting, spoke out of his political perspective and sided with General Fisher's favorite, "After the German fleet appeared off the Thames, the bonds issued by the Reich in New York were sold at an unprecedented freezing point; And our potential allies, so far, have completely lacked interest in participating in the war. Without the support of these neutrals and the Federations, we would not have been able to fight this war. ”

Fisher did not speak, but the determination and determination on his face had fully revealed his will. As a soldier, he didn't want to pay attention to any political considerations at all, and he had only one goal, that is, to win victory and glory for Britain on the battlefield of real swords and guns!

Seeing that the meeting had reached an impasse, the chief of staff of the Navy, Studi, could only bite the bullet and make peace with the mud: "Then, we will wait for General Betty to return, and then devote all our strength to a decisive battle with the Germans." By this time Admiral Betty should have arrived in Gibraltar, and would have joined the Grand Fleet in four days if he sailed quickly; By August 22, we will regain our numerical superiority over the German Navy, and our chances of victory in the decisive battle will be much higher than it is today. ”

"A decisive battle in four days? Absolutely not! Fisher almost snapped up and roared at Studdy, "Frederick, you've also served in the Royal Navy for thirty years, how come you don't have any common sense at all?" Betty's 8 battleships have been sailing at high speed for more than 4,000 nautical miles, during which there has been a fierce battle, and all kinds of equipment and machinery have long reached the critical point where they urgently need maintenance and replacement! It can take at least two months to maintain the boiler turbines, replace the water pipes of the equipment, and scrape the bottom of the ship! ”

Study smiled bitterly and said, "Marshal, can we wait another two months?" The Germans have arrived at the gates of the Grand Fleet, and we have no choice at the moment! (To be continued......)

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