Windmills turn, wheat waves surge, Victorian-style villas are hidden in a fiery maple leaf, which is even more gorgeous and pleasing to the eye. In the spacious room, Churchill was still smoking cigars one after another, his expression and movements unchanged, as if he had not heard what Belfour had just said. Balfour was not in a hurry, he breathed the air in the room, which had become a little choking, and waited for Churchill's words all the time.

"I was a politician who had stepped down in disgrace, a national sinner who was hated and cursed by all the British people, and I should not have and did not have the face to interfere in the current situation again." Churchill slowly pressed the cigar in his hand into the messy ashtray of the coffee table, and finally spoke again, "But since you are here, Your Excellency, Arthur, I can only do my best to make a small contribution to your cause, and it can be regarded as repaying your kindness for defending me." ”

Churchill pondered for a moment, and then said: "The current situation of our Entente is really extremely serious: almost all fronts are suffering, and the main battlefields such as France, Eastern Europe, the North Sea, and the Mediterranean are all in full erosion. Potential allies sympathetic to our just cause were hesitant by the might of the Prussian army, and the neutral speculators who sat on the sidelines threw themselves into the camp of the Central European Alliance. There are now ten times more caves to fill than the rat holes in the fields after the flood; However, these affairs are like the branches of a large tree, which are intertwined and complex, but they are all connected to a common main tree. ”

Balfour said slowly; "Is this the Royal Navy I'm in charge of?"

Churchill raised his head suddenly, and a sharp light suddenly bloomed in those originally calm and indifferent eyes; For a moment, all the loneliness and gloom disappeared from his fat body. It seems to have returned to the old days when he was a rising star and held a lot of power. He stared straight into Balfour's eyes. "Now that His Excellency Arthur has a complete insight into the current situation. Why do you want to come to me? ”

In the face of Churchill's aggressive eyes, Balfour sighed and said: "Although I am personally aware of this, the vast majority of the members of the government are as ignorant as the oyster drilled in the shell of Reed: their eyes are only fixed on the place where the Entente has been attacked, and they can never get out of the shell to see the whole world outside." Whenever I suggested that the Royal Navy was the most important factor in winning the war, they were always unimpressed, and many even thought that I was deliberately trying to take power for myself. Confidence in the Royal Navy, which had suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of the North Sea, had now plummeted among the British subjects, preventing the full concentration of funds and personnel on the naval domain. And I myself have limited knowledge of the specific technologies, and I don't know where to use them to get the most effect. If you want to come, you can only come to Winston to consult. ”

The sparkle in Churchill's eyes gradually faded, but it was no longer as tranquil as before. He slowly sat up straight, and said to Balfour in a bright and thick voice that really belonged to him: "In the Battle of the North Sea, the Germans exchanged the loss of less than 40,000 tons of capital ships for the sinking of more than 300,000 tons of capital ships of our home fleet. In addition to the pain, we must deeply reflect on why the Germans were able to achieve such a jaw-dropping victory over the Royal Navy. ”

"Judging by the testimony of General Jericho before the court-martial, as well as the supporting testimony of the subordinate officers. The central command of our fleet did not have any problems at all, and its commander, Cousin Xiàn, even received excellent reviews. In the case of a damaged ship and an old ship dragging down the constraints. We succeeded in unfolding an unparalleled battle line, and ushered in the most crucial decisive battle of the fleet with a completely undefeated attitude. Even Betty, who was widely reviled by the Chinese as a brave and resourceless person, made decisions in battle that were in full compliance with the regulations. Almost all of the main battleships we lost were sunk in an extremely abrupt explosion of the whole ship, which can only be due to the serious problems of our battleships themselves! Churchill said.

Hearing this, Belfour nodded slowly, and a trace of complexity flashed in his narrow eyes, like pain, remorse, and anger. From his first day in office, Balfour set up a special supervision team to thoroughly investigate the ills of the current British Navy's capital ships. Because the unprecedented defeat of the Home Fleet shook the whole of Great Britain, the Admiralty had not dared to set foot in the field of the chain of interests in the past, and at this time, under the help of Balfour, was penetrated to the deepest part of the dirtiest. And when all the qiē was exposed to the sun, the old politician Balfort was already a lot more experienced in talking and laughing, but he still couldn't help but grit his teeth, and then overturned the solid wood long table of more than 200 pounds in the office.

There are hidden dangers in the safety of ammunition depot operations, and the low effectiveness of large-caliber armor-piercing bullets are all problems that have been raised before naval battles or even the outbreak of war; However, due to the intertwined collusion of interests, the replacement of new ammunition depot blast doors, the strengthening of live-fire training to improve accuracy, and the loud clamor for the replacement of new artillery shells have all been quietly buried in the quagmire of collusion between bureaucrats and businessmen. And in the field of armor, where the main warships depend, the arms profiteers are even more desperate to grab profits: they not only unite to raise prices, but also do not even guarantee the weight! The actual thickness of the hardened armor now installed on British battleships was almost 2% less than the design thickness; The lax standards set by the Admiralty in order to reduce the number of defective products in factories have now become a loophole for profiteers to ignore the fortunes of the country and only care about profits!

"Although from a practical point of view, we still need to deal with all the previous works of Philip Philip, including the Queen Elizabeth class? The capital ship of which Woltz served as chief engineer repaired the armor protection to compensate for the danger caused by the low height of the main armor; But in terms of construction schedule, it is already difficult to allow us to make large-scale changes to these warships. Churchill paused, and then spoke again: "Therefore, the most important task of the navy now besides building ships is to develop a new type of armor-piercing projectile with considerable power, and strive to make these warships with congenital defects in defense have the ability to penetrate each other with the Germans." As long as the fire protection of the turret shaft is solved at the same time, our ships will have the same combat power as the German ships, and even better by virtue of the superiority of caliber. ”

Listening to Churchill's analysis, Balfour couldn't help but feel a little awe-inspiring in his heart. Although he had long known that the person in front of him was ambitious, and it would never be possible to live in seclusion in this manor without asking about the world and be a village man for the rest of his life, he did not expect that nearly two months after he left his post and left Beijing, he still maintained a clear and clear mind, and had a keen understanding of the current situation that was not inferior to that of a professional general, as if he was still the former admiral! In contrast, although he will be better than this young politician in handling things, but in terms of vision, energy and many other aspects, it is Churchill who is more qualified than him for this position!

"It is true that the British and Royal Navies are in the most perilous period in more than three hundred years. Even Emperor Napoleon, who swept across the continent, did not pose such an imminent threat to Anglo-Saxon civilization. However, God has always had mercy on the inhabitants of the British Isles. The unique geographical location of the main island of England made it impossible for the German navy, even after winning the naval battle, to show off its might in the pond of the North Sea...... threatens the safety of my Great Britain's shipping in the Atlantic. Speaking of this, Churchill suddenly felt a little bitter in his throat, isn't the current German submarine hunting British merchant ships in the Atlantic? These little things lurking under the water alone are already a formidable force that makes the whole of Britain anxious, and if it weren't for the British merchant ships and the two housekeeping skills of flying neutral flags and hiding cannons used to hunt submarines, the whole of Britain would probably be suffocated by them!

"The endurance of the main German battleships was generally not high, and the range of cruisers and destroyers was even more limited; If the High Seas Fleet wants to enter the Atlantic, it will inevitably choose to go south of the Faroe Islands. And we can rely on the advantage of fighting at home, or intercept, or ambush, or harass, and gradually weaken them. Mines and submarines are the best weapons to use to carry out these tasks. ”

Churchill paused, and then said: "And thanks to the decisive decision of General Jericho to withdraw from the battle in time, the home fleet still has 16 dreadnoughts and 2 fast battle patrols that are ready to use; The Tiger Ranger, armed with six 15-inch guns, is also nearing commission, and the Royal Navy is gradually recovering its strength. As long as our fleet is properly used and makes full use of the fact that the German fleet is alone in the depths of the army, it may not be without the opportunity to inflict heavy damage on the enemy and achieve a turnaround. After all, as long as we can control the seas, then all the colonies will be cannon fodder for us to consume the Germans' guns and ammunition, and all neutral countries will be Britain's source of raw materials and processing bases. Although the German warplanes are extremely powerful, they will also be consumed by us! ”

"Lord Arthur, I hope that you will once again come to your aid and save the two generals, Jericho and Betty, in a court-martial, and return them to their original positions. They were all innocent victims of inferior warships, and there was no more admiral in the Royal Navy who could match their level. Churchill looked at the current Admiralty Chancellor in front of him, and said with some pleading in his tone, "For the sake of Britain's tomorrow, please don't bury any good man in the bars of the prison!" ”

Balfour sighed softly, "How could I not know this?" It's just that the Battle of Beihai was lost too completely, and whether I can save them or not can only wait for God's verdict. (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the book friend Xiaoxiang Night Rain Stranger, and *Little Crab* for your monthly pass support~~~