"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, and Excellencies, I now feel more and more that it was right or wrong that we did everything possible to win over those small countries to join the North Atlantic Military Alliance. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Portugal and the Kingdom of Greece, these three countries are too weak to help us very much. In war, it is impossible to resist the attacks of other countries. And in order to rescue these countries, we will have to invest a lot of troops. Said the Marquis of Anglesey.

Suddenly, the face of the Earl of Granville, the Foreign Secretary, became very ugly. At the beginning, it was he who advocated for more countries to join the North Atlantic Military Alliance. To a certain extent, this has indeed strengthened the strength of the North Atlantic military alliance. However, the question raised by the Marquis of Anglesey is indeed real.

"Well, Your Excellency Marquis, it is useless to talk about it now. We had a hard time fighting on the Belgian border. And the fall of the Kingdom of Holland and the imminent fall of the Kingdom of Greece dealt a heavy blow to the confidence of the people in the country. Therefore, we urgently need to change the current situation. In any case, the Kingdom of Portugal cannot be destroyed! Prime Minister Earl Stanley said.

"All right, Your Excellency Prime Minister!" The Marquis of Anglesey had no choice but to keep silent.

"Ladies and gentlemen, how can we rescue the Kingdom of Portugal, do you have a plan?" Earl Stanley asked.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, if we want to rescue the Kingdom of Portugal, we can only send reinforcements to the Kingdom of Portugal. The Portuguese Army blew up the bridge over the Tagus River, which could have bought a week or so. If this moves quickly. It was probably possible to reach Portugal before it was destroyed and save them from the iron hooves of the Spaniards. Said the Earl of Granville.

Count Stanley nodded. looked at the Marquis of Anglesey, Minister of War.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, send reinforcements to Portugal. I'm not against that. It's just that the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese army is too rubbish, they have 300,000 troops, and the army invested by the Spaniards to attack Portugal is only 350,000. However, the Portuguese were no match for the Spanish Army at all. In this case, we will have to commit a large number of troops. According to the War Department's estimates, we will need to invest at least 200,000 men to stabilize the situation in Portugal. If you want to launch a counterattack, you need to invest another 100,000 to 200,000 people. Said the Marquis of Anglesey. After all, in the Spanish-Portuguese War, the combat effectiveness of the Spanish Army also impressed the British side.

"So many troops?" Earl Stanley couldn't help but frown. The French side has just put forward a request to expand the size of the Anglo-French coalition. The French side hoped that Britain would once again send 200,000 troops to join the Anglo-French coalition army, and France would also invest 300,000 troops to further expand the size of the Anglo-French coalition army, so that it could rely on the huge superiority of troops. Tear through the defense line on the border of the Kingdom of Belgium in one fell swoop and change the current situation of the war. After discussion, the British cabinet had agreed to send another 200,000 troops to France. Together with the troops sent before, the British put in the army of the Anglo-French alliance. That's 400,000 people. The French Army, on the other hand, committed 700,000 men. In this case, the Belgian Army may not be able to withstand their attack at all.

But. Now another 200,000 to 400,000 men will be sent to the Kingdom of Portugal, which is for Britain. It has to be said that it is a huge burden.

"Your Excellency, where is your Jianyì?" Earl Stanley asked.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister. I first sent 200,000 men to stabilize the war situation in the Kingdom of Portugal. Then look for opportunities and send more troops. After all, it will take a lot of time to train recruits in China! Said the Marquis of Anglesey.

Earl Stanley nodded: "Okay, then let's do it!" ”

"Gentlemen, we need to keep the Kingdom of Portugal, and this is also to give the people of the member countries of the North Atlantic Military Alliance hope of victory!" Count Stanley continued.

"However, Your Excellency Prime Minister, if we want to send reinforcements to Portugal, we have to face a problem. That is the sea supremacy of the seas around the Kingdom of Portugal. After the collapse of the Mediterranean Fleet, the entire Strait of Gibraltar has fallen under the control of the Chinese Navy. And the warships of the Chinese Navy have already gone out to the waters of the Portuguese side. Once the Chinese know that we will send reinforcements to Portugal, will they take the opportunity to send a fleet out of Portuguese waters to fight a decisive battle with the Royal Navy? In the event of a decisive battle, will the Royal Navy be able to defeat the Chinese Navy and protect the Army? The Marquis of Anglesey asked.

Suddenly, everyone's faces changed drastically. They didn't seem to have thought of this aspect of the problem before, but now that the Marquis of Anglesey brought it up, everyone suddenly felt a little tricky. If sea supremacy cannot be ensured, then what if the Chinese Navy attacks the convoy transporting the land forces? When the army reaches the sea, it is only at the mercy of others. In that case, the British Army would probably have paid a heavy price before landing in the Kingdom of Portugal. When the time comes, Britain will suffer heavy losses, not only will it not be able to save the Kingdom of Portugal, but it will even lose the war.

The Earl of Stanley looked at the Admiralty Chancellor, Charles. Sir Adam: "Sir, will the Royal Navy be able to secure the sea route from mainland to Portugal?" ”

Secretary of the Navy Charles. Sir Adam's face was not very good-looking, and he was eager to give an affirmative answer. However, he had to take responsibility for what he said. Now the home fleet was left with only eight battleships, and it was only possible to maintain the security of the English Channel in front of it. If the 1st Fleet of the Chinese Navy were to engage in a decisive battle with the Home Fleet, the Home Fleet would most likely be defeated.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I have to tell you that if the Chinese Navy intends to intercept us, the Royal Navy may not be able to safely send the army to Portugal!" Charles. Sir Adam said with a gloomy face.

All the cabinet ministers are a little overwhelmed. They had previously agreed to send reinforcements to the Kingdom of Portugal to rescue Portugal. However, if the Navy cannot guarantee the safety of the shipping routes, then isn't this sending the Army to death?

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Navy needs to wait until the new class of 'Admiral-class' battleships and 'Nile-class' battleships enter service before it can have the capability to fight a decisive battle with the Chinese Navy. Until then, we can only find a way to protect the British mainland. Of course, the Chinese Navy, constrained by logistical supply reasons, is also unable to carry out long-term activities in the Atlantic. So we still have a chance. All we need now is time! "Charles. Sir Adam said. If the war had broken out two years later, the British Navy might have been well prepared. It's a pity that the Chinese Empire doesn't give them time at all.

"Sir, get the shipyards up as fast as you can! We need to have as many ships as we can! Earl Stanley said. The current situation is also not good for the British Empire, and if the army is unable to open up the situation for a long time, it will have to rely on the navy.

Charles. Sir Adam nodded.

"Your Excellency Marquis, do you have any other way?" Earl Stanley asked.

"Your Excellency, perhaps we can take an alternative approach, and if we succeed, we may be able to relieve the siege of the Kingdom of Portugal!" Marquis Anglesey said.

"What's the solution?" Marquis Stanley asked.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we give up landing directly in the Kingdom of Portugal and land directly here!" The Marquis of Anglesey walked over to the map hanging on the wall and pointed to a point on the map.

"A Coruña?" The Marquis of Anglesey was pointing to A Coruña, a city in the northwestern part of the Kingdom of Spain.

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, Ministers, recently I have been studying the art of war of the Chinese. What makes people feel incredible is that it was the art of war written by the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago. It's really hard to believe that more than 2,000 years ago, the Chinese had so much research on war command. The Marquis of Anglesey sighed. You know, in Europe, more than 2,000 years ago, their ancestors may still be living a life of wool and blood.

"More than 2,000 years ago, a country called Wei attacked a country called Zhao. The state of Zhao was defeated, so he asked for help from another country called the state of Qi. The method chosen by Qi was not to directly send troops to Zhao to resist Wei's attack, but to attack Wei directly, forcing Wei to withdraw its troops from Zhao. It is hard to imagine that more than 2,000 years ago, the Chinese already had such tactics.

The same can be done on the battlefield in the Iberian Peninsula today. The main force of the Spaniards' army was used to defend France and attack the Kingdom of Portugal, and the rest of the country was empty, and if we landed in the northwest of the Kingdom of Spain, the Spaniards had no choice but to withdraw their troops from the Kingdom of Portugal. At that time, the crisis in the Kingdom of Portugal will be lifted! Said the Marquis of Anglesey.

"Smack!" The Earl of Stanley was the first to applaud, followed by the other ministers, and the whole room was thunderous in applause.

"Your Excellency, this is indeed a very clever strategy. The navy now still has sea control over the English Channel and escorts the land of the army to land in the Kingdom of Portugal, which should be no problem! Earl Stanley said.

"Perhaps, we can also bring the French in!" The Earl of Granville added. (To be continued......)

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