In the early morning of 13 August, two hours after House and his remnants fled back to the port of Taranto, big news about the Mediterranean naval battle spread across Europe in a very short time. The people were amazed, stunned, and full of disbelief; After pinching themselves hard to make sure that they were not dreaming, they instantly divided the few special bulletins in the newsboy's hands with the speed of a vicious dog.

In Bordeaux, Marseille and Toulon, the French people were heavy and lost. After the glory of the Napoleonic era, it seems that God has ceased to favor this proud people of the Gallic wilderness. The French navy, which was supposed to be a skinny camel larger than a horse, was beaten to the ground by a gang of rabble barbarians in a battle with a slight advantage in the lineup. The three dreadnoughts of Danton, Voltaire, and Mirabeau were sunk one after another, and the Diderot was so badly damaged that it almost never returned to its home port. In addition to this, the French fleet lost 4 ex-dreadnoughts, 5 armored cruisers and 18 torpedo boats, totaling more than 150,000 tons; Nearly 4,000 officers and soldiers remained in that sea forever, and piles and stacks of death notices were produced from the assembly line of the printing press, and the world of countless French wives, parents and children collapsed with tears in their eyes.

Admiral de la Perel resigned. This decorated admiral, who worked diligently and single-handedly pulled the French Navy from the abyss of the calamity of the Green Water School back on the right track for the decisive battle of the fleet, is now taking the blame for the unforgivable sins of the idiot designers of his country. The French Minister of the Navy, De Carce, also relinquished his position as a member of the cabinet under the boiling public opinion, and once again returned to his estate in disgrace. Seven years ago, he was extremely agitated for revenge against Germany. It was in the first Moroccan crisis that he lost the position of foreign minister. dismal resignation; And after returning to the mountains to take charge of the navy. De Carse, who was brave and brave, was even more committed to creating a "glittering armor" for the French Navy, so that the red, white and blue tricolor flag returned to the glorious peak of 1792. However, the incompetence of the French ship's designers has once again nullified most of the fighter's efforts. The Danton-class battleships, which cost a huge amount of 2.1 million pounds to build, were surpassed by the Allied battleships in terms of firepower, protection, and speed!

Nor did the citizens of Austria-Hungary and Italy have any joy in their hearts. The arrival of the British fleet left them with the most brilliant victory. and paid a much heavier price than the previous battles; Both fleets suffered heavy casualties, no less in men and tonnage than the French, who had been beaten before.

The Italians fared better, not choking on this defeat and speeding up the development of their navy: two Count Cavour-class battleships intensified their training, and three Leonardo da Vinci-class battleships were built around the clock. However, the situation in the Austro-Hungarian Navy was not so rosy. The Hungarian parliament in this dualistic monarchy with land power as the cornerstone of the foundation was originally quite obstructive to the development of the navy; The experience of the fledgling fleet being almost plucked by the British as soon as it was attacked, gave the Hungarian parliamentarians another reason to attack the navy and oppose the development of the fleet. After the arguments of Crown Prince Ferdinand, in 1912 the keel of the two Saints? The Istvan-class battleships were spared the fate of being dismantled and were able to continue construction. However, in the new year's naval shipbuilding budget, the Austro-Hungarian Admiralty proposed a large-scale shipbuilding plan that was directly rejected by the Hungarian parliament; Even in times of war when the tide is absolutely against the current. The attitude of these parliamentarians remains extremely resolute.

And the most excited were undoubtedly the subjects of the British Empire. On the morning of August 13. In front of the Admiralty building, as usual, a large crowd of demonstrators gathered in black; And when the news of the victory in the decisive battle in the Mediterranean reached London, the demonstrators, who were still shouting in crude slang to greet the admiral's wife and grandfather, turned into shock, excitement and ecstasy in an instant.

The British people held banners full of slogans and held aloft the stone bottles they had originally prepared to throw to celebrate the victory, and the huge sound like a tsunami swept away the depression and grievance that had been lost to the Allies for more than three months. The Royal Navy sank 3 Allied dreadnoughts, 4 ex-dreadnoughts and 2 armored cruisers at a small cost of 3 battleships and 6 destroyers, and such magnificent battle damage was almost comparable to the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805!

Under the deliberate propaganda of the British press, the huge losses of the French fleet and the fact that the Allied warships had already suffered considerable damage in the battle with the French were directly ignored by the British people. In their eyes, the Royal Navy's dreadnought glory has been restored, and the next moment is to clear the universe and regain the hands of Britain! For a time, every café in London was hotly discussing how they should use to torture the disabled William's barbarian fleet; There is a general tendency to say that the "new Nelson" who made history in this naval battle - Davy? Betty became commander of the Grand Fleet, and then went straight to the Germans' hometown, sweeping the German navy in one fell swoop, just like the Battle of Copenhagen did.

――――――――――――――――

Berlin, Germany.

In the gorgeous and quaint Charlottenburg Palace, Emperor Wilhelm stood in front of the huge portrait of Wilhelm I and muttered silently; Next to him, Tirpitz, with two steel fork-like beards, was constantly stating his assertion strategy to him. As Tirpitz's words continued, William's face changed, expectant, apprehensive, evasive, hesitant...... In the end, it converges into a complex and unique face.

"Your Majesty, now is the perfect time for the High Seas Fleet to dispatch its entire force. The British went so far as to secretly transfer 8 super-dreadnoughts to the Mediterranean and caught our allies by surprise; This certainly eased their collapse in the Mediterranean for a long time, but it also weakened the British Home Fleet to an unprecedented extent. Even though several of Britain's newest Queen Elizabeth class ships have been completed, they lack run-in training and are not at all to worry about in large-scale fleet battles! ”

Tirpitz's face was radiant, and he was not in the slightest worried about the losses suffered by Austria-Hungary and Italy: "From the Mediterranean to the North Sea, the British would have to walk for a week at the earliest, and Britain, having maintained global maritime supremacy for more than three centuries, is at this moment in the weakest moment it has ever seen. As long as our fleet dares to attack, I am more than eighty percent sure that victory will belong to glorious Germany! Your Majesty, the original intention of building our fleet was to gain friendship with Britain and to break the encirclement of Britain, France, and Russia against our Germany, but the British had already shown their hostility to our Germany with practical actions, and we no longer had any hands left on this empty-sighted country. Wouldn't you like to see the Black Vulture replace St. George as the new sea lord on this planet? Germany's immortal legacy begins today! ”

William turned slowly, staring at the man beside him who had worked closely with him for 16 years; It was the first person since Bismarck and Moltke to hold power in the heart of the German Empire for such a long time. Decades have passed like a flash, and the talented officer in the prime of life has now entered the twilight of his life; Not only is the face wrinkled and sinulated, but the signature beard under the chin has also turned gray. However, his spirit is still abundant, and the fighting spirit and desire for victory in his heart are still as blazing as they were at the beginning. After so many years of hard work and countless hardships and sweats, it is finally time to blossom and bear fruit. This is the ultimate long-cherished wish of an old sailor who has devoted his life to the fleet and navy, and has gone through countless ups and downs!

"Blindly giving in and compromising will only allow oneself to be swallowed up in this thorny jungle of social Darwinism; The rise of a new world empire is only to step on the corpse and stubborn the enemy. William spoke slowly, the look in his eyes gradually becoming clearer," Etel was right. I always thought that I would rely on victory on land to settle Russia and France, and then save a complete high seas fleet as an important bargaining chip in negotiations with the British. But now, I've figured it out. How can a mere full-fledged high seas fleet be used as a negotiating factor with sufficient weight? Only by inflicting the heaviest blow on them is the ideal bargaining chip! Now we are fully equipped with such strength. ”

The breeze blew and blew the marshal's beard and robe, and a trace of heartfelt joy flowed from the corners of his mouth on his already aged face.

"Alfred, tell me about your battle plan. In what way will we fight the British Grand Fleet before the British fleet, which had penetrated into the Mediterranean, returned home? William asked.

Tirpitz calmed down his excitement slightly, and said: "Your Majesty, the High Seas Fleet will adopt the simplest and most effective way, that is, with a large number of minesweepers as the lead, the whole army will go to the Thames River to block the door of the British's house, and force the Grand Fleet to fight a decisive battle with us. For more than 300 years, no navy of that country has achieved such a feat. And the disgusting arrogance that flowed in the blood of the British could never tolerate such a thing, and a decisive battle of the super-large fleet was imperative! (To be continued......)

PS:Recently, the author seems to have encountered a word count wall.,The writing status is nothing.,The update time may be a little later.,But the basic code word size will be guaranteed.,Hmm.。