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British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour only felt a lot of pain in his brain. Since defeating the Marquess of Salisbury and becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he has hardly lived a single day in peace for more than two years. Now, the Boer War in South Africa is finally coming to an end, but the conflict with Germany is intensifying. Since the end of last year, the German Navy's new battleships have been cruising in the North Sea, and the British Navy has also launched a-for-tat encirclement and interception after the 'Dreadnought-class' battleships have been put into service, which has caused an extremely severe confrontation between the British Navy and the German Navy. Prime Minister Arthur Belfour often feared that it would cause a misfire, which could lead to the outbreak of war.

Although, the British Empire is still nominally the world's number one power. But Arthur Balfour, as Prime Minister, knew that the current British Empire had begun to decline. China in the East, Germany in Europe, are all challenging Britain's position. Even the United States, which is an ally, will definitely do everything possible to replace Britain if it has the opportunity. Under these circumstances, Prime Minister Arthur Balfour believed that Britain must quickly recover its national strength, especially its economic and naval strength. Economically, Britain could exploit its vast colonies and recover its economy quickly. But in the navy, it is more troublesome, after all, battleships cannot be completed in a day, and new battleships will take more than two or even three years to complete.

"Well, Your Excellency the Admiralty, the fleet can be dispatched. But you have to give me a guarantee. We can use the fleet and feel the strength of the German Navy. But the premise is that we must not misfire. Now Britain is not yet able to participate in a large-scale war! Prime Minister Arthur Belfour warned.

"Yes. Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I will tell the lads to pay more attention! Sir John Fisher, Lord of the Admiralty, laughed. Perhaps, when the four 'Nassau-class' battleships built by the German Navy in China return home, the British Navy will temporarily lose the advantage of the new battleships. However, the British Navy's twenties old battleships, and at the same time, the British Navy's suzhì was also a cut above the German Navy. In the opinion of Sir John Fisher, it was a tie with the German Navy. There shouldn't be any problems. And this time, the return of the warships of the German Navy was the right time to give them a dismount.

"By the way, pay attention to the fleet sent by the Chinese. There was also a battle cruiser in the store. We can have a head-on conflict with Germany, but we can't have a conflict with China. After all, China is not a member of the Allied Powers. The current Britain cannot afford to cope with the challenges of two powers at the same time! Prime Minister Arthur Belfour reminded.

"Yes, I see, Your Excellency Prime Minister. The Chinese sent only one battlecruiser. This kind of battleship, although the speed is much higher than that of our 'dreadnought-class' battleships. But if there is a one-on-one duel, I don't think our 'Dreadnought-class' battleships will definitely be at a disadvantage! Sir John Fisher, the British Admiralty, said confidently. However, he seems to have forgotten about it. Battlecruisers were never used for decisive battles with battleships. The main role of the battle cruiser was to break diplomatic relations, especially for countries like Great Britain that relied on sea transportation. Very effective. Once the British sea lines are paralyzed, Britain is finished.

"Hmmm! The British Empire is now in trouble. But. I believe that the final victor must still belong to the British Empire! Prime Minister Arthur Belfour said firmly. It has been two hundred years since Britain became the world hegemon, and in the process, countless countries have challenged Britain. However, Britain persevered and emerged victorious. Prime Minister Arthur Belfour has reason to believe that this time, Britain will not fail either.

Under the orders of Sir John Fisher, the British Admiralty, the British Navy was soon in action. First, six of the British Navy's 'Dreadnought-class' battleships began to be overhauled in preparation for the expedition. At the same time, the British Navy's old battleships have also begun to be frequently transferred, especially the six latest 'old man' battleships, which are frequently cruising in the North Sea.

This unusual behavior of the British Navy aroused serious concern in the German Navy. For a time, the four 'Nassau-class' battleships in the German Navy also began to prepare. At the same time, the German Admiralty Minister Alfred von Tirpitz sent a warning telegram to Vice Admiral Hipper, preparing him to face the British Navy. Once the British Navy takes the initiative to provoke, it must fight back fiercely. Of course, at the same time, it is also necessary to avoid misfire, so that war does not break out now.

For a time, the atmosphere in the German Navy's returning fleet became tense. The officers and men of the German Navy took advantage of the time they returned to China to increase their training, and it seemed that they wanted to complete the run-in quickly. The nervousness of the German fleet also infected the Chinese greeting fleet. Commodore Li Deming, the battlecruiser 'Baiqi', sent a telegram to the Admiralty asking how to deal with it.

After Zhang Cheng, Minister of the Navy, reported to Wang Yuze and the General Staff, after studying and discussing, sent him a telegram. In the telegram, the Admiralty believed that there might be a conflict between the British and German navies, but it would certainly not cause war. The responsibility of the Chinese Navy is to come forward to stabilize the situation and avoid the outbreak of war in advance if the situation arises that cannot be controlled.

From China's point of view, China also does not want war to break out now, which is not beneficial to all countries. Now China is in a stage of rapid development, and the previous layout has not yet played its due role. Once war breaks out, all the previous efforts will be in vain. At the same time, if China wants to win the final victory, I am afraid that it will have to pay several times the price.

On March 19, the fleet arrived at the Suez Canal. The current Suez Canal is still under British control. The British company that controlled the Suez Canal, Mr. refused to allow the German fleet to pass Guò. However, it was only after solemn representations from the German side to the British that the German fleet was able to pass through the Suez Canal. This made the German Navy angry enough.

At the same time, the six 'Dreadnought-class' battleships of the British Navy left the Portsmouth military port and headed south. When the four 'Nassau-class' battleships of the German High Seas Fleet heard the news, they also quickly left port and sailed south, preparing to meet the returning fleet. However, when they passed through the English Channel, they confronted the British Navy, led by six 'old man' battleships of the British Navy, and were blocked in their way. This made the German Navy very nervous, for fear that the British Navy wanted to concentrate all its efforts on destroying the German Navy's fleet and continue to lay the British Navy's superiority. To this end, the German Admiralty Alfred von Tirpitz sent three telegrams in succession, asking Vice Admiral Hipper to bring the four battleships back to Germany as intact as possible. Before the run-in is completed, the combat power of these four battleships will not be able to be fully exerted.

On March 26, the fleet arrived in the Strait of Gibraltar. And at this moment, the British Navy is already in full position here.

Vice Admiral Howard, commander of the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, led six 'Dreadnought-class' battleships to blockade the Strait of Gibraltar. It was announced that the British Navy was conducting exercises here, during which no military vessels were allowed to pass through the Guò Strait.

"Damn, what are these Brits trying to do, do they really want to go to war with us?" Franz von Hipper's face was very embarrassed.

"Your Excellency, the man we sent to contact has returned. The Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy said that they will conduct a week-long exercise in the Strait of Gibraltar, during which in order to protect the secrets of the British Navy, any military ships are forbidden to pass through the Guò Strait! Major General Helde was also pale.

"Bastard! This is the public waters, and they dare to stop us! Lieutenant General Hipperl said angrily.

"Your Excellency, what should we do now?" Major General Helde asked.

"His Excellency the Minister of the Navy sent a telegram that the fleet sent by the country to meet it had also been intercepted in the Straits of Johor on the same grounds as military exercises. These damn Brits, they did it on purpose! Lieutenant General Hipperl scolded.

"Your Excellency Lieutenant General, shall we force our way through?" Major General Halder said.

"No, if we force our way through, the British will open fire on us with our military intelligence on them. We can't fully exploit the combat power of these four battleships now, and if we really want to go to war, we have no chance of winning! Lieutenant General Hipper shook his head. In addition, he also knew that the British could not do this because they wanted to dismount the German Navy and disgust the German Navy. If the British really wanted to destroy them, I am afraid that it would not be an interception, but a direct ambush.

"Contact the Chinese and see how they negotiated with the British?" Lieutenant General Hipper ordered.

When the German fleet negotiated with the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, the Chinese greeting fleet also sent people to negotiate with the British side. However, the final result was that the cruise ship "Emperor of the East" could only pass through the Guò Strait, and the other "Baiqi" battlecruiser and two "Tianshui-class" light cruisers could not pass through the Guò Strait, which made the Chinese side very angry and lodged a stern protest to the British side. However, the British side turned a deaf ear.

Because of the development of communications, in less than half a day, the whole world knew about the confrontation between the British Navy and the German Navy in the Strait of Gibraltar, and the eyes of the whole world were gathered here.