After being ravaged by two wings of the Chinese naval aviation, the combined Anglo-French navy suffered heavy losses. So far, there have been more than eight capital ships sunk, including five battleships and three battlecruisers. As for the rest of the heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers, the losses were very small. This is also because the main targets of the Chinese naval aviation are on the capital ships. For the pilots of the naval aviation, the capital ships that are huge and like small mountains are the best targets for attack, and as for the other warships, they are too small to be easily hit, not to mention, even if they are hit, the results are much smaller than those of the capital ships.

After the fighters of the Chinese naval aviation flew away, the combined fleet again sailed to the west in an attempt to get out of the strike range of the Chinese naval aviation.

However, those capital ships, which had been heavily damaged, were sternly out of the fleet's speed. Some capital ships, such as the battleship 'Daring, have dropped to 5 knots. If this continues, it will be impossible for the Combined Fleet to successfully escape before the next strike of the Chinese naval aviation.

"Your Excellency, what shall we do now? The remaining eight battleships, all of which were badly damaged, had dropped a lot in speed, and could no longer keep up with the speed of the fleet. "Fleet Chief of Staff Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said with some concern.

At this time, the United is only about 100 kilometers away from Sicily, which is still within the strike range of the Chinese naval aviation, and the fighters of the 1st Wing of the Chinese Naval Aviation, which have returned to Sicily to replenish ammunition one step ahead, have already returned to the field airfield, and the ground crew is overhauling the fighters, adding fuel and ammunition to the fighters, and the pilots are also resting, using this time to go to the toilet or eat, and replenish their bodies. Soon they will take off again to deliver a second strike on the Combined Fleet. In the plan of the commander of the Chinese Mediterranean Theater, two wings of naval aviation would launch two rounds of strikes against the combined fleet, and the remaining enemy would be handed over to the naval Indian Ocean Fleet and submarine forces to complete and ensure the maximum possible destruction of the ships of the combined British and French naval fleets.

John. Admiral Jericho was also a little hesitant, he knew that the combined fleet had lost this battle, half of the 13 battleships and 3 battlecruisers had been sunk, and most of the rest were wounded. It would be almost impossible to successfully bring these capital ships back. The first appearance of the Chinese naval aviation achieved such amazing results, which was beyond the imagination of the Chinese side, but the consequences were borne by the combined fleet of the British and French navies.

After the headquarters of the Combined Fleet was transferred from the battleship Warrior, it was placed on the heavy cruiser Edinburgh, a heavy cruiser of the British Navy. While the Chinese Navy was massively equipped with heavy cruisers, the British Navy also abandoned the old armored cruisers and chose to replace them with heavy cruisers. 'The heavy cruiser Edinburgh was the lead ship of the second heavy cruiser of the British Navy.

'Edinburgh-class, heavy cruiser, 1284 meters long, 215 meters wide, draft 798 meters, displacement 1 ton. The top speed reached 28 knots. It was armed with three twin 240 mm guns, six 155 mm secondary guns, 12 37 mm rapid-fire guns, and four heavy torpedo tubes. The British Admiralty was very satisfied with the performance of this type of heavy cruiser, and purchased 12 ships at once. This time, the Mediterranean fleet was also divided into 4 ships.

"General Wells, what do you think we should do now?" John. Admiral Jericho asked. He knew that after the crushing defeat of the combined fleet of the British and French navies, he wanted to be promoted to the rank of British Field Marshal, and to succeed John. Sir Fisher became Lord of the Admiralty of the British Empire, which was already impossible. Although the main reason for this failure was that the Chinese Navy was too cunning, they actually prepared a powerful naval aviation to deal with the combined fleet. However, John. Admiral Jericho's command mistakes were also a major contributor to the combined fleet's fiasco> If John. Admiral Jericho should be cautious, do not attack Sicily so impatiently, if he did not join the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, he would not have done this. However, it is too late to say anything, and the crushing defeat of the combined fleet of the British and French navies is inevitable, and the loss of all capital ships is irreparable!

This problem is actually very easy to solve, and all the capital ships of the British and French Combined Fleet are already doomed to loss, so the Combined Fleet can completely abandon these capital ships and let the other heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers escape. However, capital ships are the decisive force of the navy, and if we give them up, I am afraid that we will bear a very heavy responsibility

However, if it continues to be dragged down by these capital ships, then the fate of the entire combined fleet is in jeopardy, and the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, which was used as a decoy, has begun to accelerate again, although it has not yet caught up, but according to the report of the light cruiser in charge of surveillance, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy has accelerated to 20 knots, and the other 5 old battleships that had been in Sicily before the start of the naval battle have also joined the formation. At present, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy has a total of battleships, even if they cannot be compared with the advanced battleships of the Combined Fleet in terms of performance, but this is when the battleships of the Combined Fleet are intact. Now these battleships of the United Fleet have been severely damaged, and with the strength of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy, it is completely possible to eat the remaining capital ships of the United Fleet. Plus the second round of attacks by the aviation of the Chinese Navy will soon begin. The Combined Fleet has no chance of winning, so it's only right to run for your life!

"Your Excellency, Commander, why don't we abandon these capital ships and let the rest of the warships expedite their withdrawal. Otherwise, when the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy arrives, or the Chinese planes arrive again, we will not be able to escape if we want to! "Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said.

"Abandon these capital ships? That's eight battleships! If we give up, how can we account for it at home? I'm afraid both of us will have to take off this uniform! "John. Admiral Jericho said. He was able to become an admiral, an imperial earl, but he had worked hard, and if he gave up now, he was very unwilling.

"Your Excellency, Commander, if the Chinese catch up, then we won't even be able to save our lives. There's no point in talking about anything else! "Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said. In his opinion, since he has already lost, then it is better to save everyone's lives as much as possible. Battleships are important, but human lives are also even more important. The loss of so many capital ships this time will certainly make the British Navy very uncomfortable. However, the British Navy still has a number of capital ships under repair. After these capital ships are repaired, the British Navy's superiority in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean can also be maintained. It's just that if the British Navy wants to move eastward, it will be impossible. With no way to deal with these ferocious fighters of the Chinese, the eastward advance is just looking for death.

John. Admiral Jericho nodded, he very much agreed with Rosslyn. The words of Lieutenant General Wells. It's just that giving up these capital ships does make it very difficult for him. In addition, the morale of the fleet is now very low, and if these capital ships are abandoned, I am afraid that the officers and men on these battleships will be very dissatisfied, and I am afraid that they will surrender directly to the Chinese at that time. This will be an even heavier blow to the UK.

"Since these battleships are already doomed, let's just sink them all! Lest it be left to the Chinese! "John. Admiral Jericho said. Although these battleships were damaged, they were all advanced capital ships! If it is acquired by the Chinese and repaired, it will inevitably further strengthen the strength of the Chinese navy, which is not a good idea for Britain.

"Your Excellency, Commander! Can't sink them. On the one hand, we don't have that much time, and on the other hand, if these capital ships are sunk, then the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy and those planes will come straight to us. Leave these capital ships and let them attract the attention of the Chinese, and we will take the opportunity to escape! "Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells hurriedly said.

"But what if these capital ships surrender to the Chinese?" John. Admiral Jericho said with some concern.

"We can do it without notifying them. His Excellency the Commander only needs to order the ships to speed up their flight to avoid being hit by Chinese aircraft again. These capital ships were all badly damaged, and the speed could no longer keep up with the other warships, and they could only be left down in the end. As for what they will choose in the end, it's up to them! "Roslyn. Lieutenant General Wells said. Abandoning these eight capital ships and winning a chance for the other warships to escape will cost huge losses, but there is no way to do it.

John. Admiral Jericho hesitated for a few seconds, but finally nodded. Obviously, in this case, finding a way to save their lives is the most important thing, and if even they can't save it, the capital ships that are the main targets of the Chinese will not be able to save them.

John. Admiral Jericho then gave the order to speed up the evacuation of the ships by order of the commander of the Combined Fleet. The heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers that were not injured all accelerated their evacuation, but the capital ships, whose speed was greatly affected, gradually fell behind!