The night was deep, black clouds were rolling, and the humid and sultry evening breeze was blowing wildly over London, and thunder was rumbling. Despite the impending rainstorms, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Admiralty building. They burned photographs and portraits of the young Admiral in the streets, and threw stones and even Molotov cocktails at the building. Even the military and police who are on garrison duty have a lot of support for the behavior of the people, and they rarely stop them in earnest, and this has further fueled the arrogance of the citizens.

For the British public, there is no reason why they should not be angry.

Since defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588, the British Royal Navy has been the strongest force in the blue ocean. The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 established Britain's unshakable maritime supremacy, thus creating the absolute control of the Empire of the Sun on global sea power for a century. The most advanced equipment, the most sophisticated officers and men, the best design, the largest number; The treacherous Mediterranean, the turbulent Atlantic Ocean, the golden China Sea, and the Indian Ocean, which is the pearl of pearls...... Steel battleships flying the red and white St. George's naval flag cruising in such a vast sea. Every Briton, from the day he was born, was enveloped in this fantastic supreme glory, which had been integrated into his blood and marrow, and took it for granted that the Royal Navy should be a fearless and invincible god!

Now, however, the situation is in stark contrast to their imagination. From the Gulf of Helgoland to the South China Sea, the Royal Navy suffered a series of defeats in a head-to-head duel with the German fleet, and thousands of officers and men were killed in the ocean. And German submarines were even more aggressive. In a frenzy, he slaughtered the merchant ships flying the rice flag.

Throughout the month of July. The number of Allied merchant ships sunk by German submarines and raid ships reached 122. The total tonnage is more than 400,000 tons, of which more than 80% are British merchant ships. The sinking of a large number of cargo ships and the resulting chain panic effects had a direct impact on the supply of goods to the British Isles. The most obvious feeling of the citizens of London is that the food on the table has become strict and shrunk; The prices of various ingredients have skyrocketed, and there has been an unprecedented shortage of what can be bought in stores. In military factories, a large number of machine tool production capacity was also forced to stop work due to the lack of raw materials; The reduced production of weapons and ammunition not only made the soldiers of the expeditionary force who fought bloody battles on the French front line scold. It also directly affected the time for the formation of combat effectiveness of the local reserve forces. By any measure, this is a situation that must be changed!

If that were all there was to it, Chancellor Churchill would have found many reasons to be a fig leaf for himself. In both naval battles, there was no direct involvement of the core classes of the Royal Navy, and the Germans only took advantage of the weak with the strong; And the German submarines are out-and-out rogue pirates, stealing tactical petty profits with despicable sneak attacks. On more than one occasion, the British Admiralty declared with no shame that they had succeeded in blockading the German High Seas Fleet within the North Sea, achieving an absolute strategic victory: "Under the absolute suppression of the Royal Navy, William the Petty and his bathtub fleet had no courage to attack, and could only cower like rats in the sewers in their nests and in his Baltic backyards." That's all. What happened next, however, was a resounding slap in the face to this argument.

Early in the morning of July 4, 1913. The German battle cruiser flotilla, commanded by Hipper, suddenly appeared in Rosegray Harbor, less than 18 kilometers from the British coastline, and immediately launched a heavy artillery bombardment on it. All kinds of machinery, facilities, warehouses, and materials on the dock were turned into a sea of fire under the ravages of large-caliber shells, and more than 100 civilians were killed. Ten hours later, the German fleet shelled another coastal harbor, detonating 200,000 gallons of heavy oil stored there; Thousands of meters of flames and billowing smoke soared into the sky, making them visible even from tens of kilometers away. And when the British fast fleet heard the news and rushed to intercept it, the German fleet that had caused the accident had already fled without a trace.

The shelling of the mainland coast finally ignited the pent-up anger of the British people against the navy. Since the Duke of Normandy established his rule in London in the 11th century, Britain has never been ravaged by foreign powers. And now the Germans have burned the flames of war to the doorstep of Britain, and the naval fleet that the people have invested heavily in building seems to have evaporated from the world, and has not been able to take any effective countermeasures! The Admiralty's professed "superiority" and "sea supremacy" were completely burned out in the smoke and flames of the British coastal ports; The roars of the demonstrations in front of the Admiralty building grew louder and louder, and finally converged into a uniform shout demanding the immediate resignation of all the current top brass of the Navy.

"Winston, we have to act now. The Germans had already burned the flames of war to Britain proper, and the Great Fleet was imminent; If the situation continues to deteriorate like this, His Excellency Asquith, who cannot withstand the pressure of the people, can only choose to remove us from our military posts! In the richly displayed study, the chief of staff of the navy, Studi, heard the waves of protests coming from the window, and said to the fat man in front of him with a resolute face, "I mention that the anchorage of the Grand Fleet has been transferred from Scapavlo to the military port of Rosyth in the middle of England, ready to fight to the death with the Germans. With our superiority in the number of ships and the caliber of our main guns, the Royal Navy should have a victory rate of at least 60%. ”

A few steps away, a fair-skinned ball of flesh was sitting diagonally on the couch; The sheer mass and size of the body pressed the expensive leather sofa into a deep pit. Hearing Studdy's suggestion, Churchill only shook his head slowly; With a solemn expression, he finished the cigar in his mouth before he spoke, "Absolutely not." Our capital ships have no obvious advantage over the German Navy, and in the event of a decisive fleet battle, it is very likely that the entire war will be lost in one afternoon! Therefore, until the Queen Elizabeth-class and Revenge-class battleships are in combat strength, we must avoid direct confrontation with the Germans to the greatest extent. No matter how bad the domestic situation is, the Grand Fleet, the core pillar of Britain, will never tolerate any major losses. ”

"But we can't ignore the will of the people. Once their indignation reaches a critical point, not only will we not be able to keep our position, but even His Excellency Asquith will be forced to resign! Study glanced out the window at the crowd of demonstrators storming the Admiralty building, then turned to Churchill and said, "Now even the Italians dare to oppose us." Although the main French fleet had begun to cruise in the eastern Mediterranean, temporarily curbing the rampant momentum of the Allied navy; However, due to the geographical location of the Italians in the Mediterranean, our Suez shipping volume is still plummeting. The people of Britain, whose lives are directly affected by this, will not allow us to let the Grand Fleet continue to stay in Scapa Bay with such idleness! ”

Churchill struggled to sit up and lit himself a new cigar; Swallowing the clouds and spitting mist, staring at the huge map of Europe on the wall, he was silent. The narrow Apennine Peninsula was a sword that plunged deep into the middle of the Mediterranean, cutting Britain's Mediterranean route to a less than 70-nautical-mile stretch northeast of Tunisia. Since it was impossible for the French fleet to do everything, and because German submarines were also found in the Gulf of Aden; For the sake of insurance, it is completely reasonable for the captains to choose to detour to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.

"In fact, even with the cruising of the French fleet, the current situation in the Mediterranean is in danger of collapse at any moment. Once Italy, Austria-Hungary and Turkey formed a combined fleet, they could assemble a force of up to 10 battleships; Even if the Italians and Turks cut through the ships that had just been completed and had not yet fully formed their combat effectiveness, the Allied Navy had six first-class capital ships ready to go into battle at any time. Churchill recalled the news from the intelligence services and muttered, "And the French fleet also has only six Danton-class dreadnoughts in the best condition." Let? The Bal Dreadnought had just been completed less than two months ago, and she was in the trial period, and she was obviously not fit to go to the battlefield now; The second ship, the Corbe, still has three and a half months to build, and it would be a great achievement for the French to ensure that these behemoths are completed on time at a time when the land war is tight. ”

"The Italian Dante was armed with 12 12-inch guns, and the Austro-Hungarian Radetz-class and the Turkish Hayredin were also armed with 8 12-inch guns; The Austro-Hungarian Navy's flagship unit, the United Forces, is a dreadnought ship equipped with eight 13.8-inch guns, and it is said that it is a ship that follows the layout of the German Caesar-class in all structures except for the superstructure. The Danton-class of the French, on the other hand, could only use seven 12-inch guns on one side, and the speed of each of its ships was only 19.2 to 19.4 knots, which was ...... in terms of firepower and speed are at an all-round disadvantage. Although we have a relatively large number of former dreadnoughts, twice the fleet of the Central Powers at 26 to 12, this is completely unable to fundamentally neutralize the superiority of the Allied Dreadnoughts, neither in terms of damage nor resistance to strikes, it is not an order of magnitude. Study contrasted the strength of the two sides on paper, and fine beads of sweat crept up his forehead.

"Germany...... Britain...... Italy...... Churchill said slowly, ...... Mediterranean," Churchill said slowly, "it seems that this is the only way we can alleviate the current situation." (To be continued......)