"We had a very bad start, in less than 2 weeks after the start of the war, we suffered three blows, India, the most important source of cotton and grain in the British Empire, was attacked, our cargo and oil reserves in the port of Karachi were burned, and the port of Perth in the Australian Dominion was destroyed by the barbaric Germans! With the most powerful weapons, they opened fire on civilian ports! This is unforgivable! And the third thing is that our navy has lost its opponent, according to intelligence, the Spee fleet has entered the Arabian Sea, and is about to join the Turkish fleet in the near future, and our current fleet in India has no strength to organize the other side's actions, I don't know what you think of the situation at hand. Churchill put down his pipe and glanced around the room.

"Lieutenant General Thomas will go to the Far East to replace Major General Hood, who will command our forces in Asia. As long as the Germans dare to come out, we will definitely give them a good look, Persia has already allowed our spy ships and intelligence officers to enter, as soon as the German-Turkish fleet comes out, we will soon get information. Detachments of armored cruisers began to provide escort for large fleets, and the German-Turkish fleet could not pose a threat to these large fleets without the dispatch of capital ships. From the current point of view, the situation in the Indian Ocean will not change much in a short time, because the German-Turkish fleet needs to run in with each other, and the warships also need to be maintained and maintained. Jericho replied.

Although the attacks on the ports of Karachi and Perth were devastating, they were a drop in the bucket for the British Empire, which had a deep pocket. Coupled with the control of the press, ordinary British people knew that these two places had been attacked. But no one can say exactly how much was lost, and for the vast majority of the subjects of the British Empire, it was just one thing. It's humiliating. That's all.

And for the top brass of the British Royal Navy, this matter is even more commonplace, and they are all fighting, how can they not lose? The myth of the invincibility of the British Imperial fleet is more in the memory and yearning for a series of battles such as the Battle of Trafalgar. And for Jericho and others, behind these victories are all kinds of losses, blood, steel. The Germans took the lead, but at the same time they also trapped themselves in the narrow Persian Gulf. And Thomas's task is to be optimistic about the Persian Gulf and give the opponent a sharp blow when the opponent comes out! And Jericho is confident that Maas can do just that.

"What we need to think about now is the situation in the North Sea, and the victory of the German Far East Fleet in the battle is quite likely to stimulate Scher. He may choose to replicate the Perth Harbour victory at the right time. So it is necessary for us to make adjustments to the defense of the British offshore ports. The events in Karachi tell us. With a limited number of shore defense guns of limited effectiveness, our fast fleet had to move and take on the responsibility of protecting the British coast. Jericho continued.

"No, it's not enough. We need to get close to the German coast and put pressure on the Germans. It's like playing football, we have the safest goal if we keep the opponent in their half. Of course, to paraphrase the Royal Navy's tactical terminology, it is a nearshore blockade. Although they have a mine defense system called the West Wall, I think the Royal Navy's range will be close to the edge of the West Wall. At this moment, Betty, commander of the Royal Navy's Fast Fleet, interjected that Betty, who advocated attack, would never rest on the defensive. He prefers to gain security by destroying his opponents.

"I'm afraid it's a bit dangerous, the German High Seas Fleet is not the French fleet of Napoleon's time without the slightest fighting spirit. Nor are they Russians who are strong on the outside. They have advanced warships and highly qualified officers and men. And more importantly, they are very aggressive, and if you encounter the main force of the German High Seas Fleet near the western wall, I am afraid the result will be very bad. A lieutenant general said euphemistically. In his opinion, as long as the German navy can not be allowed out of the North Sea, it is fine, the value of the navy is reflected in the control and use of the sea area, as long as the German fleet can not pose a threat to British sea transport, no matter how strong it is, it is useless. Rather than this, it is better to stay at home safely, why risk going to the other party's half to hang around?

If it was World War 1 in history, Jericho would have preferred the suggestion made by the lieutenant general, and would not have encouraged Betty to attack too actively, because in other battlefields, the Entente side had a considerable advantage, the Mediterranean, the French were able to suppress Austria-Hungary, and when the Italians joined, they blocked the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the harbor, and later the Austro-Hungarian Navy was also sunk by the Italian torpedo boats. As for the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, with the exception of submarines, German surface warships quickly perished, and there were practically no decent threats on the surface.

But now it's different, in the Indian Ocean, the four most elite fast battleships of the British Royal Navy are facing off against their compatriots, and everyone pulls them out to fight and can say that no one can help anyone. If we want to completely solve the cancer of the Indian Ocean, we must draw some strength from the home fleet. If it is said that because the German-Turkish fleet is shrinking in the narrow Persian Gulf, and because the Turkish warships need to be repaired, the German fleet has just arrived and needs maintenance, etc., it will not cause too much trouble in a short time, then the situation in the Mediterranean is not a cancer, it is already developing in the direction of a malignant tumor!

The Italian fleet is stepping up its armament! And the relevant matters have already been coordinated with the German side. As soon as this news came out, almost the entire Royal Navy was shocked, and the last super dreadnought of the Italian Navy could be put into service this year, and the Italian Navy would have 4 super dreadnoughts, 3 dreadnoughts and 4 quasi-dreadnoughts! On its own, it is already not weaker than the French fleet, and with the Austro-Hungarian fleet, the consequences are simply unimaginable. Cutting off the Mediterranean shipping is small, and it is easy to inflict heavy damage on the French fleet in one face. Although the Italians give the impression that they don't know how to fight. But the British could not say how many pounds or taels the French Navy had. At least on paper, it's a big disadvantage!

If the British had waited for the situation in the Mediterranean to deteriorate before sending troops to support, it was feared that the superiority of the British Grand Fleet over the German navy in the North Sea would have fallen to a dangerous level. It didn't matter if the British Army lost twice, if the Navy made a big mistake, it would be one afternoon to decide the outcome of the war. So, on the one hand, Jericho and others temporarily blocked the information that the Italians might join the side of the Central Powers, while on the other hand, they tried to find a way to inflict heavy damage on the German navy before Italy entered the war, so that they could free up their hands to support the fighting in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean directions in the future.

Obviously, the main force of the Grand Fleet cannot be dispatched casually, the reason is very simple, more than 20 capital ships plus hundreds of followers of all sizes were discovered from afar, and the Germans must have pulled it directly. And the Grand Fleet moved relatively slowly, unable to bite the opponent. So the task of luring and maneuvering to destroy the enemy was entrusted to Betty's fast fleet. And the aggressive Betty also showed full trust in the fleet in her hands.

In his opinion, he has a good hand of cards, 4 super dreadnought battlecruisers: Tiger, Lion, Princess Celestia and Queen Mary. There were also 4 dreadnought type battlecruisers, the Invincible, the Indomitable, the Indomitable, and the Indomitable. There were 8 battlecruisers, while his opponent Hipper, who had only 4 fast ships, 2 Goeben and Moltke with 8 350mm guns, and 2 Von der Tann and Blucher with 9 12-inch guns. Of course, the British did not know that the Germans counted two "universal battleships" with a speed of 25 knots into the Helgland class, and if the Germans wanted to, they could actually save two fast battleships for Hipper.

"Is it necessary for us to ask the Dutch to transfer the fleet first?" Someone suggested. The Dutch Navy ordered 2 fast battleships from the United States before the war, and these two fast battleships were the only first-class fast capital ships built by the US Navy during this period. The others are all iron turtles, because of financial and design problems, these battleships are only equipped with 6 14-inch 45L main guns, named Constitution and Liberty respectively, although the firepower is not good, but the speed and protection are still quite good, the sidestring protection is slightly weaker than the super dreadnought used by the United States, and the speed has reached a maximum speed of 27 knots! Outfitting should have been completed at the Newport News shipyard and will soon be delivered to the Dutch Navy.

"It may be too late. It will take about three months for the Dutch Navy warships to return at the earliest. And we must start acting now. What's more, we promised the Dutch before the war to deploy their fleet in the Mediterranean, and it is obviously not good to be directly included in the Grand Fleet. Churchill on the side thought for a moment and said.

"In that case, if nothing else, let's prepare, Major General Thomas is ready to go to India to replace Major General Hood. And Lieutenant General Betty thinks about how to clean up the Germans? Churchill was ready to conclude the meeting, and at the end of the meeting he summed up. At this moment, a staff officer walked in and handed over a report, and Churchill immediately turned gloomy after receiving the report, and then handed the report to Jericho without saying a word.

"The Germans actually did it first?" Jericho said in surprise. He did not expect that the German High Seas Fleet would be so active, and what was even more terrifying was that the German Navy used their precious capital ships at the beginning, which made the British Navy suffer once again from the surprise. The Harwich fleet, which was responsible for cruising in the southern part of the North Sea, was bitten hard!

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