"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the fighter jointly developed by our country, France and the United States has been finalized and mass production has begun. It is expected that by next month, it will be able to be sent to the front to fight the Germans for air supremacy. It's just that it will take some time for the bomber to be mass-produced! "John. Sir Fisher said. Originally, the Navy's need for aircraft was not very urgent, but after the Combined Fleet was completely destroyed by the Chinese Navy's air force, John Brown. Sir Fisher had understood that it was not only the Army that needed aircraft, but the Navy needed aircraft as well, and more urgently than the Army.

"This is good, can our planes be comparable to the Chinese's?" Prime Minister Asquith came to the spirit. Although the defeat of the Combined Fleet made him very distressed, Britain had suffered several defeats in the past two decades, and in terms of British background, such losses were not unacceptable. As long as you can come up with a way to counter your opponent, it's not too late.

"Your Excellency, we are much later than the Chinese in the development of aircraft. The first fighter was named 'Hurricane,' and was slightly inferior in performance to the Chinese' FB 'Hai Dongqing. But it's not defenseless. The new 'Hurricane', Pipa fighter is also in full swing of development, and when the development is successful, it will certainly not be worse than the Chinese' FB 'Hai Dongqing, fighter in terms of performance! "John. Sir Fisher said.

"Very good, then let the major factories produce fighters at full capacity! The sky cannot belong only to the Chinese, it should also belong to us British! Prime Minister Asquith said.

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister.

In addition, on the issue of the battleships of the Navy, although the combined fleet lost all the capital ships under the attack of Chinese aircraft, this does not prove that the battleships were useless. First of all, the reason why the capital ships of the Combined Fleet will fail miserably is that all the ships of the Combined Fleet do not have anti-aircraft weapons on them. The Admiralty has planned to equip all warships, whether destroyers, cruisers, or capital ships, with anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns. When the time comes, if the Chinese use aircraft to attack our capital ships, they will not be so easy to succeed. Second, the combat radius of the aircraft is limited, and it must be supported by an airfield. The remaining warships of the Combined Fleet, after fleeing Sicily for about two hundred kilometers, were no longer attacked by Chinese aircraft. Therefore, we speculate that the combat radius of the Chinese aircraft is about two hundred kilometers. As long as this distance is maintained, battleships are still the main force in naval warfare. Thus, the Admiralty planned to develop both battleships and aircraft at the same time. Five 'revenge-class, battleships will continue to be built as planned, while all ships of the Navy will be retrofitted with anti-aircraft weapons on a rotational basis. In addition, we will increase investment in research and development of new aircraft and new aircraft, including bombers, and strive to come up with weapons to deal with them as soon as possible! "John. Sir Fisher said. These were all ways he came up with on the way to the Prime Minister's Office.

Prime Minister Asquith nodded, and said to John. Sir Fisher's reply was generally satisfactory. Although this fiasco of the Combined Fleet made him angry, after learning the truth about the defeat, he was also able to understand. After all, it's not that the combined fleet is too far apart, it's that the Chinese are too cunning! This is not the first time that the Chinese have used intrigue to defeat the powerful navy of the British Empire. From the first naval battle in the South China Sea, to the later naval battle in the Red Sea, and now to the naval battle in the Mediterranean, the Chinese have won victory again and again with despicable and shameless tactics, causing heavy losses to the British navy.

"Come, go and invite all the cabinet ministers!" Prime Minister Asquith said to his secretary. The capital ships of the Combined Fleet have all been lost, how can such a big incident be dealt with? There has to be a solution. It also has to be known to other cabinet ministers.

Half an hour later, the British cabinet ministers arrived at the Prime Minister's Office, most of them were having dinner or something, but the Prime Minister summoned them, and they had to hurry up. However, because the Admiralty had issued a gag order not to reveal the disastrous defeat of the Combined Fleet without receiving an order, the cabinet ministers were still wondering what had happened.

"Everyone, I'm here to announce bad news to everyone! Two hours ago we received a battle report from the Combine. In the Battle of the Mediterranean, which began this morning, the Combined Fleet suffered a crushing defeat and lost all of its capital ships. At the moment the rest of the ships of the combined fleet are returning to Gibraltar! Prime Minister Asquith said.

"What? How could it be like this? The mighty combined fleet was actually defeated, and all the capital ships were lost? How is this possible? "War Secretary Winston. Churchill jumped first.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, is this true? How could the combined fleet fail? Is this a mistake? "Foreign Secretary Edward. Sir Grey was also followed by the Colonial Chancellor, George Murphy. Nathaniel. The Marquis Curzon also looked nervously at Prime Minister Amuques.

"I'm not kidding, it's true. In this naval battle, the Combined Fleet has been defeated! Prime Minister Asquith said with a dark face. He didn't want to believe it was true, but it was just the way it was!

"Oh God! How the hell is this, the combined fleet has 16 capital ships, and the Chinese have only 8 battleships in the Mediterranean. Could it be that John. Jericho, that guy was carried away by the last victory, can't he? "War Secretary Winston. Churchill said.

"No, Your Excellency Churchill, this defeat has nothing to do with General Jericha. This qiē is all a conspiracy of the Chinese. The Chinese set up a whole set in this naval battle, and the combined fleet fell into the trap, so it suffered a crushing defeat! "Lord of the Admiralty, John. Sir Fisher said.

"What do you mean?" Winston. Churchill asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The Chinese used aircraft to attack the warships in this naval battle, and all the capital ships of the combined fleet were their targets. The Chinese deployed hundreds of aircraft in Sicily. As a result, of all the capital ships of the combined fleet, five battleships were sunk, three battlecruisers were sunk, the rest of the battleships were damaged, and finally these damaged battleships surrendered to the Chinese! "John. Sir Fisher said with a somewhat ugly face. After all, the Navy lost so many capital ships, and so many battleships surrendered to the Chinese, which was a complete shame for the British Royal Navy.

"Aircraft attacking battleships? And also sank the capital ship? How is this possible? The British cabinet ministers who attended the meeting exclaimed, how could they believe that the capital ship, the most powerful warship in the navy, had now been sunk by a small plane.

"This is exactly what happened. These Chinese planes were very advanced and carried heavy bombs and heavy torpedoes. Although the capital ships of the navy are powerful, they cannot withstand the attacks of heavy bombs and heavy torpedoes! "John. Sir Fisher said.

At this moment, the other cabinet members also understood, and it seemed that the navy was not unjustly losing. It's just that this result is still very uncomfortable for everyone.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, what should I do? The combined fleet suffered a crushing defeat, and then we lost control of the Mediterranean. Now the Italian navy has also been wiped out by the Chinese navy, and the Austro-Hungarian navy is attacking the coastal areas of Italy, which poses a great threat to Italy, and they have to reduce the number of troops sent to the north to attack the Austro-Hungarian Empire and deploy them to the coastal areas. In addition, the attitude of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Greece may also be greatly affected by the strength of this naval battle. Originally, they were inclined to join the Entente and launch an attack on Austria-Hungary. But for now, I'm afraid they will continue to remain neutral! "Foreign Secretary Edward. Sir Grey said with some disappointment. In order to draw the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Greece into the Entente, the British Foreign Office made great efforts. But because of the defeat of the Combined Fleet, this qiē was all in vain.

"Sir Edward, there is no way to do this, after all, no one expected that this naval battle would be like this. As for the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Greece, try your best to win them into the Entente! If they don't want to, there's no way around it. However, try to keep them as long as possible, lest they join the side of the Allies! Prime Minister Asquith said.

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I see!" Edward. Sir Grey said. Although he was very dissatisfied, now that it was like this, he had no other way.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, what about India and Australia? The signs of the Chinese moving against India and Australia are already very obvious. It is expected that they will soon move to India and Australia. At the moment we are only able to connect with India and Australia via the Guò detour route to the Cape of Good Hope. However, if the Chinese really start attacking, I am afraid it will be difficult for us to resist! "Colonial Chancellor George. Nathaniel. Marquis Curzon said.

Prime Minister Asquith also knew that India and Australia were very important colonies for Britain, and the loss of these two colonies would greatly affect Britain's war potential. However, Britain could not stop the Chinese at all now, and the two colonies were already like ripe peaches, which could be lightly picked by the Chinese if they wished. And Britain, it seems, has no other way than to abandon these colonies in the East!