On March 15, 1909, outside the port of Herakrion on the Greek island of Crete, a dense crowd of warships and transport ships had covered the entire sea area outside the port, and there was no place to put down in the port of Heraklyon, and all the berths were parked with a warship with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons. The naval fleets belonging to the Entente countries Britain, France, and Russia, as well as the naval fleets of the Allied powers Germany, Italy, Austria, and Turkey, as well as the Atlantic Fleet of the United States, and the naval fleets of eight countries, all arrived on time at the assembly point of the port of Herakrion.

At the wharf of the port of Heraklyon, at this time, many Greeks gathered in the city of Heraklyon, as well as people from other countries in the world, everyone came to see the excitement, and even some officers and soldiers of the Greek Navy were also on the wharf at this time, looking at the dense warships inside and outside the port with envy.

A young man wearing the uniform of a second lieutenant of the Greek Navy sighed and exclaimed to a person wearing the uniform of a rear admiral of the Greek Navy next to him: "Uncle, look! How many warships are there! And there are so many powerful dreadnought battleships and super dreadnought battleships, but unfortunately our Greek Navy does not even have a dreadnought battleship, if only our Greek Navy could also have 1 dreadnought battleship, I will definitely apply to be transferred to the dreadnought battleship, even if it is to be a sailor. ”

The rear admiral of the Greek Navy said helplessly: "Karagunis, such a dreadnought battleship is enough to buy our entire Greek Navy, with our current Greek finances, our Greek Navy does not need to have a warship like a dreadnought battleship in a short period of time." ”

Today's Greece is not the cradle of Western civilization in ancient times, but in the Greek War of Independence in 1830. The Kingdom of Greece was established after the Greeks defeated the Ottoman Empire.

The current King of Greece, George I, has been on the throne since 1862 and has been in power for more than 40 years, although under the rule of George I, Greece is also considered a great power in the Balkans, but in the whole of Europe. For the rest of the world, Greece is not enough.

Second Lieutenant Karagunis of the Greek Navy asked: "Uncle, didn't the king allocate a sum of money to our Greek Navy to prepare for the purchase of new warships?" Can't we buy 1 dreadnought? ”

The rear admiral of the Greek Navy said with a wry smile: "The allocated funds can't even buy a quarter of the dreadnought battleships, my nephew, you don't have to worry about the dreadnought battleships, our Greek Navy's funds this time will build 2 fast protection cruisers and 2 destroyers in domestic shipyards, although the technology of our Greek shipyards is average." But now that the European naval powers are participating in this war, we are just coming to the door with orders, and the shipyards of those European naval powers do not have spare docks to build warships for our Greek Navy. ”

Second Lieutenant Karagunis of the Greek Navy then sighed secretly, his country can't even afford 1 dreadnought battleship, but there are dozens of dreadnought battleships here, Greece is really not a little worse than those world powers, Karagunis had to continue to look at the rows of warships of various types inside and outside the port of Herakrion with envy and drool. After looking at it for a while, he asked his uncle: "The Entente countries are Britain, France, Russia, the allies Germany, Italy, Austria, and Turkey, and the United States." This time there should be no less than the last one of the assembled warships! Is the navy of the Chinese Empire really that powerful? The last time I saw more than 50 dreadnought battleships, I couldn't believe that such a powerful fleet could be defeated! ”

The rear admiral of the Greek Navy sighed: "The last time the combined expeditionary fleet of the Entente and the Central Powers had thousands of warships, including 72 dreadnought battleships and 72 all-steel battleships, according to the information obtained by our Greek Navy, the number of warships in the second joint expeditionary fleet was even more than the last time. And with 10 super dreadnought battleships, 58 dreadnought battleships and 76 all-steel battleships, the combat effectiveness may even exceed the last time! However, the navy of the Chinese Empire is indeed very strong, and it can also be supported by aerial bombers, otherwise the combined expeditionary fleet of the Entente and the Central Powers would not have lost so badly last time! ”

Second Lieutenant Karagunis of the Greek Navy asked curiously: "Uncle, you said that this time the navy of the Chinese Empire." Will it be possible to defeat the second Combined Expeditionary Fleet? ”

The rear admiral of the Greek Navy shook his head and said: "This time the Entente, the Allies and the United States are prepared, they have replaced almost all warships with new anti-aircraft weapons, so that when the decisive battle at sea is carried out again, the bombers of the Chinese Empire can still fly over the naval battle, and the role they can play will be reduced a lot. ”

Not only did the rear admiral of the Greek Navy think that the second joint expeditionary fleet could defeat the navy of the Chinese Empire this time, but the commanders of the second joint expeditionary fleet also swept away the decadence of the previous defeat and confidently gathered in the bridge of the Orion, the flagship of the British Navy, the Orion-class super-class dreadnought battleship, and they also believed that this expedition to Asia again would definitely wash away the shame of the last defeat and defeat the main force of the Chinese Imperial Navy.

This time, the second joint expeditionary fleet was formed, and on the side of the Entente and the Central Powers, the commanders of the naval fleets of the first countries were continued, and the commander-in-chief was still the commander of the British naval fleet, Bridget, and the commander of the French naval fleet, François, the commander of the German naval fleet, the commander of the German naval fleet, the commander of the Italian naval fleet, Erebet, the commander of the Russian naval fleet, Vladlianovich, the commander of the Austro-Hungarian naval fleet, Rusdit, and the commander of the Ottoman Turkish Imperial naval fleet, Ismail, Nothing has changed, and the only extra thing here is the commander of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet, Admiral Sampson.

In the Battle of San Diego in the war between the United States and Spain, Sampson commanded the main force of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet that year, defeated the Spanish fleet in South America, and obtained the most important bargaining chip for the United States to win the Spanish-American War.

Bridget looked out from the observation window of the bridge at the dense crowd of 8-nation warships outside, and after the defeat of the last joint expeditionary fleet, Bridget fell ill. It wasn't until he returned to England that Bridget's condition improved.

Bridget's illness was entirely due to the rush of fire, and a large combined Entente and Allied expeditionary fleet suffered a crushing defeat under his command, with as many as 53 dreadnought battleships sunk alone. Among them were 15 ships of the British Navy, and the losses of other types of warships of the Combined Expeditionary Fleet of the Allies and the Central Powers were also very bad, more than half of the warships were sunk, and how could Bridget not be on fire.

Bridget originally thought that his military career would definitely end this time, after all, counting the Eight-Nation Alliance Navy Joint Expeditionary Fleet a few years ago, he had already led two unusually large fleets to defeat at the hands of the Chinese Imperial Navy. But I didn't expect that the opportunity for another time really came.

The entry of the United States and Japan made the Entente and the Allies, who had suffered great losses in the last decisive naval battle, see the hope of seizing sea supremacy in Asian waters, and the second joint expeditionary fleet was immediately formed, and because of Bridget's familiarity with the Imperial Chinese Navy, he, a defeated general, once again led a large joint expeditionary fleet to Asia.

Bridget's agitation can be imagined, and he understands that it may be his last chance to wash away his shame. If his second Combined Expeditionary Fleet were to be defeated, his own military career would come to an end. The war that was prepared to carve up the Chinese Empire could be buried.

However, this time, the warships of the Allied countries, the Central Powers and the United States have all been replaced with new air defense weapons, and if the warships of the Allied countries and the Central Powers were installed with these new air defense weapons during the last decisive battle at sea, the final result would never have been like that, and perhaps Bridget had become a hero in the whole of Europe.

Bridget said to the commanders of the naval fleets of other countries: "The navies of all countries have already agreed in accordance with the agreement of the Nine-Nation Conference. The fleet was sent to the Greek island of Crete in the port of Herakrion, so that our new Combined Expeditionary Fleet already had 10 super dreadnought battleships, 58 dreadnought battleships, 76 all-steel battleships, 20 ironclad battleships, 76 large fast armored cruisers, 182 fast protection cruisers, 253 destroyers, 334 torpedo boats and 82 submarines, with a total displacement of more than 5.8 million tons, which was somewhat larger than the size of the last joint expeditionary fleet, In addition, we have more than 900 transport ships that will accompany our new Combined Expeditionary Fleet on expeditions to Asia. In addition to carrying 300,000 British Army, 100,000 French Army and 100,000 German Army, these transport ships also have the supply of our entire Combined Expeditionary Fleet. ”

The commander of the German naval fleet, Tessim, sighed and said: "I thought that after the naval battle a while ago, I would leave my beloved naval fleet, and even be sent to a military court after returning home, after all, the German naval fleet I led suffered too great losses, but I didn't expect that I would have the opportunity to go to Asia again, and this time the joint expeditionary fleet we led was not inferior to the last time, it really felt like a dream." ”

Tessim's words resonated with several fleet commanders, who were in the same situation as Tessim, who led their country's powerful fleet to join the first joint expeditionary fleet, but was beaten by the navy of the Chinese Empire, and the loss was called an ecstasy, if it weren't for the fact that in such a short period of time, the second joint expeditionary fleet was formed again, and their defeated commanders were likely to bear the responsibility for the defeat, and it was not uncommon for them to go to military court.

François, the commander of the French naval fleet, then gritted his teeth and said: "The navy of the Chinese Empire is as shameless as their emperor, and it has used so many bombers in a dignified naval battle, otherwise we will definitely not lose the last decisive battle at sea, this time almost all the warships of our countries have been replaced with new air defense weapons, I think what else can the navy of the Chinese Empire do this time?" This time, we want to return all the humiliation given to us by the Imperial Chinese Navy! ”

Several commanders nodded along with it, with the anti-aircraft weapons to suppress the bombers of the Chinese Empire, in the naval artillery bombardment, the second joint expeditionary fleet with such strength, the main force of the Chinese Imperial Navy should be a sure victory.

Bridget said at this time: "According to our British intelligence, the Chinese Empire has just launched 12 super dreadnought battleships, plus nearly 30 dreadnought battleships remaining after their last decisive battle at sea, although the number is not as good as the dreadnought battleships of our new joint expeditionary fleet, but the strength is still not to be underestimated, we must be careful in everything, we must not be careless, especially the bomber group that appeared in the last naval battle of the Chinese Empire, it is very likely that the navy of the Chinese Empire has a kind of warship that can carry aircraft, This time, we will have a decisive battle with the main force of the Chinese Imperial Navy, and we will still encounter attacks by the Chinese Imperial fighters. ”

Admiral Sampson, commander of the Atlantic Fleet of the US Navy, followed and said: "We in the United States also believe that the Chinese Imperial bomber group that appeared in that naval battle is likely to take off from the kind of warship that can carry fighters, but now that we have new air defense weapons, we should be able to block the bombing of our joint expeditionary fleet by Chinese Imperial fighters to a certain extent, after all, there are not many warships in the Chinese Empire that can carry aircraft, as can be seen from the last naval battle, At most, about 200 bombers can be dispatched to bomb our fleet, and under the blows of thousands of new anti-aircraft guns and thousands of new anti-aircraft machine guns of our entire joint expeditionary fleet, it is believed that the losses that can be inflicted on us are very limited. ”

Bridget actually wanted to tell Sampson that the 200 or so bombers of the Chinese Empire were already a very large force, and when 200 bombers flew to the top of the fleet in the sky, the scene of bombs falling from the sky was really unbearable without a certain mental quality.

However, Bridget did not refute Sampson's words, after all, the warships of the second joint expeditionary fleet were prepared this time, and basically installed new anti-aircraft weapons, and Bridget also believed that this joint expeditionary fleet would definitely be able to withstand the bombing of the Chinese Imperial fighters. (To be continued.) )