"The French have put their energies on land, and on the oceans we have to fight against the navies of Germany, Austria, Italy and Turkey, and we need to fight our opponents in the North Sea, in the Mediterranean, and in the Indian Ocean. Even if the Grand Fleet has an advantage over the High Seas Fleet, and even if we occupy a geographical advantage, the destabilizing factors in the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean will still lead to the uncontrollable development of the war situation. We must prepare early. In the captain's room of the St. Vincent, the flagship of Jericho's fleet, Thomas said this to his old superior.

"The defeat of these two battlefields will lead to the weakening of our superiority, and even lead to the erosion of the whole situation. The superiority of the Ito-Austrian fleet in the Mediterranean will make it impossible for us to use the Red Sea-Mediterranean route, and the Suez Canal will become a chicken rib. And even so, our ties with the Far East and Oceania are seriously threatened by Turkish naval bases in the Persian Gulf. We must balance the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean battlefields with security in the North Sea. Judging from the current situation, it is obviously very wasteful and even dangerous to send a large fleet to stay in these two separate battlefields for a long time. Looking at the silent Jericho, Thomas said with some concern.

"You're right, the British Empire's treasury is not inexhaustible, the size of the Grand Fleet is also limited, and we have a large number of old warships. But now these ships will be less effective in dealing with broken engagements in the Indian Ocean. The age and performance of the ships will seriously limit their combat power. The end result was that the British Empire's fleet seemed to have a huge tonnage advantage, but its actual combat power was not as high as it appeared on paper. And....... Originally, Jericho also wanted to say that Sir Fisher's idea was wrong, and that the design concept of focusing on speed and firepower over protection would lead to the fragility of the battleship. But after thinking about it for a while, I decided not to say such things that could easily exacerbate the conflict.

"So we have to change, we have to fight for every opportunity that can be changed from now on, from the design and construction of warships. From the grouping of the fleet, from training and exercises, from everything that can be fought for! Thomas said with some excitement, he already knew that Jericho would be the future commander of the Grand Fleet, so he thought it was necessary for him to convince the old boss to make a decision as soon as possible in order to save the possible future crisis!

"In the future naval battle, we will not only face the battle between the main fleet, but also the pressure to protect the shipping routes. Among them, submarines and camouflaged assault ships must be given great attention. According to the intelligence provided by General Felimante. None of the submarine units of the Chinese Navy were sunk by the Russian Navy, and only 16 submarines that were put into battle sank 57 Russian and Dutch transport ships. The total tonnage is more than 300,000 tons! One of them, a military transport ship carrying a large amount of supplies was also sunk, and the damage caused was equivalent to more than 20 million pounds! And the cost of 16 submarines is just under 2 million pounds! Thomas said.

"And those camouflaged assault ships. These things were in some ways more difficult to deal with than light cruisers, they flew the flag of neutral countries, they could dock in neutral countries, and some neutrals might even choose to acquiesce even if they knew that this was a German camouflaged attack ship. We all know who Lu Dao is in this country. Thomaston paused. They've changed too much. And the requirements for logistics and supplies are very small. So we don't know if they're going to come out of that corner. It could be a river port in German Africa, a small fishing port in the Persian Gulf or the Arabian Peninsula, or an unknown island. ”

"There are also the ex-dreadnoughts of Germany, Italy and Austria, and they may also be lined up in the Indian Ocean to carry out the task of breaking diplomatic relations, so we need to deploy a large number of ex-dreadnoughts in the Indian Ocean. The French built a large number of 10,000-ton cruisers to deal with us, and I think that this speed is okay, and the firepower is enough to suppress the light cruiser guys to deal with all kinds of attack ships. As for submarines, there are still some technical difficulties. But we can cope by stepping up the development of underwater hydrophones and sending additional destroyers. If we can force them directly into the water, even if it is impossible to sink them. Our merchant ships will also be much safer. Jericho thought for a moment and replied, Jericho can be described as an all-rounder, in that historical plane, Jericho not only commanded the Grand Fleet, but also participated in the development of the maritime escort system at the end of World War I. It helps a lot to reduce losses.

"We should now develop a wartime escort system, we have a large number of former dreadnoughts, which are no longer suitable for the main decisive battle, but which are enough to suppress the vast majority of the German attack ships. Or it can also be used as an anti-submarine ship. If we can, I think we can do some cooperation with the Huaxia Navy in the field of anti-submarine operations. Jericho smiled mysteriously,

"But now Huaxia is a potential ally of the Germans. It's unlikely, right? Thomas said with some surprise.

"It's all up to our government to come up with what kind of price we can offer. China was only inclined to Germany, and the British Empire and China were inextricably linked in trade and technology. No one will have trouble with money, and at this stage, Premier Xu should be very clear that the British Empire will not fight in the Far East, and at the same time, China does not have the strength to continue to expand its own sphere of power, in this case, peaceful coexistence between the two sides is the best choice, and do not forget, the current China Republic can almost the entire Western Pacific into its own pocket, they also need to protect their own transportation lines, we have common interests. Jericho said.

Jericho saw it very accurately, he realized that after the appearance of the submarine weapon, it can definitely be used as a killer weapon for the weak sea power against the sea power, and the sea power power will not only have to win the opponent in the decisive battle of the fleet in the future, but also work hard for these elusive little things. Now in the western Pacific, the Huaxia Republic is the maritime hegemon, but again, he needs to watch out for attacks by certain countries on his sea transportation lines.

After all, although the Dutch East Indies were rich, they had to be able to be transported back. For this kind of exchange of techniques and tactics, the Huaxia Navy has no reason to refuse. What's more, Jericho vaguely felt that Xu Jie was not very at ease with the Germans. Or Jericho thinks that winning both sides is Xu Jie's ultimate goal. Thinking of this, Jericho had to give Xu Jie a thumbs up and calculate the two super powers, and even if these two countries know the truth, they must go on according to the ideas he designed, this kind of vision and wrist and strategic awareness are really terrible!

The matter of anti-submarine cooperation is not something that Jericho and Thomas can make decisions now, so Jericho is just talking. Then the two began to discuss whether they could take a more proactive approach to deter each other's attacks. From the geographical point of view, both the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf are relatively narrow waters, especially the exit of the Persian Gulf, which is quite narrow, and it may be very difficult to attack it. But if you want to block it, it is easier, the Turks can lay mines at the entrance to the Persian Gulf to block the British fleet, and the British fleet can also mine here every now and then to organize the maneuver of the German-Turkish fleet!

Although it is unlikely that it will be completely blocked by mines, Jericho still agrees to implement any tactics that can cause trouble and damage to the other side. As for the situation in the Mediterranean, the situation is more complicated, the Mediterranean is not large, but there are fleets of three countries in this sea, and it will certainly be difficult for the French to independently fight against the Italian and Austro-Hungarian fleets, and the British fleet must ensure superiority over Germany. Therefore, Jericho wondered if it was possible to sneak attack and limit the movement of the Italian and Austrian fleets by placing a certain number of submarines in the Mediterranean. In fact, the Mediterranean Sea is very suitable for submarine operations, the area is relatively small and there are many routes that must be passed, and submarines can carry out blockade and active ambush. With just one chance, you might be able to destroy a dreadnought worth more than £2 million! And your price is less than a submarine of less than 200,000 pounds.

Jericho and Thomas said a lot of things that night, and in the face of the impending crisis of the British Empire, the two of them also came up with some countermeasures and plans. But both know that these are palliatives rather than cures. What really determines the final outcome of the naval battle between the two blocs is not these sneak attacks and broken relations, but the great naval battles launched by the main fleet. The commander of the Grand Fleet of the British Empire is almost equal to the burden of life and death for an empire. Don't say what it will be like to be wiped out in a war, even if it is hit hard, then it will be directly related to the outcome of this earth-shattering war that is about to break out.

"The British Empire has always had the advantage of fighting on the inside lines of war, that is, our fleets can be sent by sea to all parts of the world, while the opposing fleets may be locked in closed waters or unable to communicate freely. For example, during the Napoleonic Wars, in addition to the quality of the French navy, the fleet was divided into two isolated seas, the west coast of France and the Mediterranean, coupled with the strong coastal blockade of the British Imperial fleet, so the French fleet was never able to grasp the initiative. ”

"But now, the situation seems to have changed, the enemy fleet is still blocked in isolated battlefields, but the British Imperial fleet has also lost its fast maneuverable routes, and the loss of the Mediterranean-Red Sea route has greatly increased the cost of the British Imperial fleet and its fleet to reach the Indian Ocean. We've lost not only efficiency and time, but also control of the game! In the event of a major setback in our pre-arranged fleets in South and Southeast Asia, there is a high probability that the shipping routes in the Indian Ocean will be completely paralyzed for a considerable period of time. The Grand Fleet must be reorganized, and only then will we be able to cope with the situation in the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans. Jericho's diary sharply analyzes the most urgent task of the British Empire at present, and the main fleet must be prepared to fight in three different battlefields at the same time. Otherwise, the erosion of any battlefield will lead to a global defeat!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward, and the book friend died is a civil ghost monthly ticket support ~~~. I woke up in the side position this morning, and suddenly found that the subscription had dropped wildly, not even half of the usual one, and the author was depressed in his heart——! Recommended period: Subscribe for support~~~. (To be continued......)