"The Admiralty declares bitterly that the Royal Navy has suffered a resounding defeat in the Battle of the North Sea that broke out early this morning, with more than 40 warships of all types tragically sunk. However, the Germans also lost 16 warships, and a large number of ships suffered heavy losses; While the Home Fleet would soon be rejuvenated with a large number of ships in the shipyards, the Royal Navy was already working on a new battle plan ready to deal the Germans with the heaviest blow. ”

On the evening of 24 August, as the setting sun set below the horizon, the British nationals, who were sitting around the table for dinner, heard the stunned news on the radio. For more than 300 years, the invincible Royal Navy, which had been crisscrossing the seas for more than 300 years, was defeated by the toy fleet of the land beast people on the other side of the strait! Although this was not the first time that the British had received news of a naval defeat, the previous few were skirmishes between detachments without the participation of the capital ships. Under the guidance of public opinion in the government's statement, the British always believed that it was the Germans who used all kinds of tricks to get away with the Royal Navy; And once there is a large-scale fleet duel, the local fleet will definitely beat these vicious and perverse speculative traitors back to their original form in minutes. However, this time the defeat of the main force of the Royal Navy was tantamount to pouring a basin of ice water on their heads!

The next morning, details of the naval battle were revealed in the media, and when the British people learned what had happened the day before, the whole of England was plunged into an atmosphere of anger, panic, fear, and horror. The Spring and Autumn penmanship played by the British Admiralty in its statement could not hide the truth about the complete defeat of its own fleet: nothing else, but the death notices that were wildly printed like snowflakes. Countless wounded with missing limbs, broken legs, and blood stains in land hospitals transferred from battleships. and the main fleet in the Rosyth Naval Port, which was strictly absent and had a terrible appearance. It is enough for people to perceive at a glance behind the simple news that "40 warships have sunk". What a shocking loss it means. The anchorage of the Grand Fleet was originally in Scapaflo, which was well-guarded and well-equipped, but now the whole team has come to the Roseth base, which is a big difference in all indicators, combined with the current situation, this must be chased by the German fleet and there is no time to return to the home port at all, so they can only escape here first!

In cafes, hotels, racetracks and restaurants, countless British people were stunned after reading the newspaper in their hands; And in the houses, countless old people, women, and children received the death notice from the postman with trembling hands, and the world before them shattered as if the sky had fallen. In less than a day. More than 18,000 Royal Navy officers and sailors were killed, and nearly 10,000 others were traumatized by various processes, a loss rate far greater than that of the French land battlefield, known as the Devil's Meat Grinder. Among them, those capital warships that exploded like fireworks contributed the vast majority, and only a single-digit lucky one survived the thousands of warships, which made the British fleet's casualty rate terrifyingly high!

While the British had not yet recovered from this thunderbolt defeat, the Germans held a celebration on an unprecedented scale in Wilhelmshaven, on the other side of the Channel. After the propaganda machine spared no effort to build momentum, the news that the High Seas Fleet had completely defeated the British Navy in the decisive battle of the main force was rapidly spread to every corner of the empire; And with the gradual awakening of the maritime consciousness of this nation under the subtle influence of Tirpitz for decades. They can already understand what the meaning of this battle is.

People rushed to tell each other, and passers-by who had never known each other wept with joy because of the news. And hugging each other tightly in love for the Empire. In major cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and other major cities, tram rentals on the streets honked wildly to the sound of cheers, and tearful beer hall owners loudly announced that the alcohol was completely free today, and the mellow aroma of wine filled the air in the collision of enthusiasm. The portraits of Tirpitz and Qingying in the shop were sold out in a very short time, and the wooden models of various types of naval warships were even more expensive; Even the news of the surrender of France in 1871 and the coronation of William I in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles was nothing more than sensational. Before the early morning, Wilhelmshaven was crowded with more than 200,000 people from all walks of life; Countless red, white and black iron cross flags and black vulture cross naval flags hunt and fly in the wind, and from a distance, these fluttering flags are like the magnificent and magnificent clouds in the eastern sky.

When William took a group of high-ranking generals to the viewing platform, he saw this scene. Not long after, when the equally scarred high seas fleet of the main ships appeared under the seven 42-meter-high iron bridges of the Kiel Canal, a tsunami-like roar suddenly ruled the world! The German sailors lined up neatly on both sides of the battleship in the order of the usual parade; The scorched black holes in the hull and the stains of blood on the sailors' white uniforms not only did not become a stain on this picture, but on the contrary, they added a murderous aura to this navy that could not be possessed in peacetime under any circumstances, making this sword a real weapon after tempering. And when they saw the obvious vacancy in the neatly arranged ranks of the sailors, the crowd was at first stunned, and then their faces gradually turned solemn, and their ecstatic and excited eyes also revealed a look of awe. That is the position of the warriors who died in battle, and they sacrificed their fiery lives without regret for the eternal inheritance of this nation that can break the shackles and soar for nine days like a bird.

The salute roared, the cheers were deafening, and hundreds of officers and men from Ingnoll down to the deck awaited the personal award of the supreme ruler of the empire. The Red Eagle and the Iron Cross were pinned to their chests in William's hands, and reporters from all over the world kept pressing the shutter of their cameras, and the light from countless magnesium lamps was dazzling. William then delivered the speech he had carefully planned on the way here, and in the impassioned voice of the Emperor, hundreds of thousands of people present were all fascinated by the magnificent future he described.

Due to the time difference, when the Anglo-German naval battle in the North Sea came to an end in the afterglow of the setting sun, the United States, far away on the other side of the ocean, was at noon in the sun. Despite being thousands of kilometers away from the European center, the explosive news reached New York in a very short time. When U.S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus? After Daniels read the battle report carefully, a cold sweat of joy appeared on his forehead at some point.

Ever since Theodore Roosevelt entered the White House in 1901, the U.S. Navy has been moving forward at an impressive pace. By the time of the outbreak of World War II in 1913, the U.S. Navy had climbed to the third place in the world, surpassing the old naval power France and second only to Britain and Germany, the world's top powers. Looking at the long list of warships on the service list, the U.S. Navy, which cleanly cleaned up Spain in 1898, was already invincible in the Americas, and it felt like sitting in a well and watching the sky. However, this pinnacle decisive battle made Daniels deeply feel what is the essence of what is a European power.

At present, the U.S. Navy has a total of 10 active dreadnoughts of 5 classes, of which 4 are equipped with 10 356 mm L45 main guns, which are known as the world's strongest firepower. However, Britain participated in the battle with as many as 34 dreadnought-class battleships or battle cruisers, and Germany also dispatched a full 30 all-heavy artillery main battleships. This is like the disparity between heaven and earth, which shocked the cowboys who have achieved a little at the time, and for the first time realized that the watermelon knife in their hands, which is quite sharp, is so fragile in front of the dragon slaying knives of the British and German families!

And after seeing the losses of the British Navy, the Americans, who did not have much money, knelt down directly. The sinking of those 9 battleships alone was almost equivalent to knocking the U.S. Navy back to the pre-dreadnought era overnight; And if you count the 7 battle cruisers and 2 former dreadnoughts, the loss of the entire 350,000 tons of capital ships directly makes the US Navy go back to before 1900! And even if the sinking of the two capital ships of the German Navy is to be replaced by the current US Navy, it will be a heart-piercing pain. Now Daniels is very glad that the government has adopted an isolationist policy in response to the will of the people, and it is definitely the wisest thing for the United States not to get involved in the European war; If your own navy is thrown into the invincible hole of Europe, you don't know how to die at all!

As soon as he thought of this, Daniels went straight to President Wilson's White House office and comprehensively explained the strong danger that the United States would bring if it was too involved in the European war and disputes. At present, the American people are purchasing a large number of treasury bonds issued by the British and French Ententes, and Britain and France in turn are using this money to buy a large amount of American war materials, which is tantamount to the United States joining the side of the Entente in disguise and using its own production capacity to fight against the Central Powers.

If the Entente could win, the United States would have done so; However, the British Navy has suffered an unprecedented setback, and it is still unknown whether it will be able to recover the situation in the future. Coupled with the current Allied victory on land, the balance of war has begun to tilt sharply in favor of the Allied side. Under these circumstances, it was absolutely necessary for the United States to draw a line with the Anglo-French Entente, not only in order to gain more benefits in Europe after the war, but also to avoid provoking a powerful enemy that had already reached its peak. Even the British fleet, which had 34 dreadnoughts, was vulnerable in front of the German sword, and the 10 American dreadnoughts had no chance of victory! (To be continued......)

PS: For some reason, yesterday the author used a qiē method, including Fan Qiang, but he was never able to enter the starting point after the change of layout, so he couldn't update it yesterday, so I made everyone wait for a long time, I'm sorry

This is the chapter that was supposed to be released last night. Today's chapter will have that too.