"When will our Queen Elizabeth-class battleships be ready to strike?" Churchill asked eagerly. "In just a few days, three Spanish warships have thrown the entire transport line into a miasma, and we have lost tens of millions of pounds worth of supplies. And they are still acting recklessly, and the government and the people need the navy to come up with a solution. ”

"Against three Moltke-class battleships, we need at least two Queen-class battleships, and that's if we can bite each other. But at the moment, the Malaya and Baliem are being repaired and improved in the dockyard. We only have 2 of them at our disposal, and in addition to our fast battleships, the New Zealand and the Tiger, but the formation of these two ships cannot compete against 3 Spanish class fast battleships. And to make matters worse, the escort system we had built up in the North Atlantic was so devastating that we could not even keep track of enemy ships. Going out now is undoubtedly a needle in the bottom of the sea. Jericho said with a frown.

"And more importantly, I cannot guarantee that the Germans will not come looking for trouble during the sorties of the fast fleet. Judging by the results of the last naval battle, in the face of a well-defended fleet with aircraft cover, purely land-based aviation is not very efficient. And if we were to mobilize a large number of fleets to encircle the Spaniards, it would be possible for the German High Seas Fleet to rush directly out of the North Sea, while our fleet was scattered. Jericho's words revealed his hesitation to mobilize the main warships to encircle and suppress the opponent, which made Churchill very dissatisfied. In his opinion, this is a cowardly expression.

"Our ancestors once crushed the Armada of the Spaniards. And today, it has made the Spanish fleet, which is far inferior to the Grand Fleet, arrogant, don't you think that this is a sign of dereliction of duty and cowardice? It's not just what I meant. At the same time, it also means the Admiralty and even the Cabinet! We have to solve this crisis with clean means, the Spanish warship has been at sea for more than ten days, they are so tired that we can even block him in a certain port! Churchill exclaimed.

"Sir, what you and I said will be used as evidence in court! I refuse to act to weaken the main fleet when the strength of the Grand Fleet is equal to that of the German High Seas Fleet! I will not allow any capital ship to go to the Atlantic for an aimless search! Unless I'm not in this position! Jericho's response to Churchill's insulting questioning was quite violent. In history, unrestricted submarine warfare in the face of the Germans. Jericho was opposed to strengthening the escort at the expense of weakening the Grand Fleet. And it is precisely because of this that on Christmas Eve in 1917, Jericho was dismissed by Prime Minister Lloyd George. And this time, Jericho, too, rejected the British government's request to strengthen the escort force under the same pretext. And threatened to resign.

To be sure, the decision made by Jericho in history was indeed biased, after all, at the end of 1917, the United States had entered the war, and the mighty Grand Fleet and the American fleet had enough strength to blockade the high seas fleet in that plane in the North Sea. Even without the American fleet, the British Grand Fleet, which already had 5 Revenge-class battleships and 5 Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, was enough to defeat the German High Seas Fleet, which could be called ultra-dreadnought. In other words, there was a surplus of forces to defend the German High Seas Fleet. In this case. It was the right choice to mobilize some troops to escort the lines of communication, and Jericho's dismissal cannot be called unjust, after all, the pressure on British sea transportation at that time was very great.

But in this plane, Jericho is understandable for making the same decision. After all, the German High Seas Fleet was too strong in this plane, and the British Grand Fleet was too weak after repeated bloodletting, although Jericho did not know when the German fleet would regain the ability to fight a decisive battle, but Jericho did not dare to bet. In the current situation. Even one less of the most ordinary Super Dreadnoughts would have an impact on naval warfare, and if the Fast Fleet went out to capture the Spaniards. In Jericho's view, now the British fleet can at least guarantee that the Germans will not be able to come out of the North Sea, but if the fleet is dispersed, why should the weak British fleet block the high seas fleet?

"There is only one way, to return Magifin's American fleet to the Atlantic and abandon the encirclement and suppression of the Allied fleets in the Mediterranean. Pick up the Spaniards first, and then go back to the Mediterranean, even if the fortress of Gibraltar is lost, the powerful American fleet still has the ability to freely pass guò, this qiē must be fast, as long as the Americans can quickly take out the Spanish fleet, then a qiē will not be a problem! Looking at Churchill, whose face was pale, Jericho proposed his own solution.

"Geographically, there are only a few ports facing the Atlantic Ocean, and as long as the American fleet can lock up the western Mediterranean on the one hand and make it impossible for the Spanish fleet and the Italian fleet to converge, and at the same time as long as the Spanish fleet knows where the Spanish fleet is located, then the American fleet can wait for the Spanish fleet to return to port before acting. While the Spanish fleet was replenished, he went to the port at full speed and sank them in the military port. What was really terrible was not the destruction of the sea transport lines by the Spanish fleet, but the convergence of the Spanish fleet with the Italian fleet. Our V1500 can even take off from France to monitor most of the ports in northern Spain. As long as they come back, they will never escape our grasp. Jericho continued.

Objectively speaking, the scheming Jericho did put forward a more realistic and quite feasible plan, and he saw the crux of the problem at a glance, that is, the Allied Mediterranean Fleet must not merge with the Spanish fleet, otherwise the new Allied Combined Fleet will have the strength to fight with the American fleet with one place and control the entire Mediterranean, and at the same time, the American fleet must not leave the Mediterranean Sea lightly, only when it is determined that the Spanish fleet enters the port for repairs and cannot move for a short time. in order to rush to the port as quickly as possible to deal with this fleet.

If the Western Mediterranean is abandoned, then the other side will have the ability to enter and exit the Atlantic Ocean at will, which will undoubtedly release the demons for the Entente. Now the Entente only needs to deal with three capital ships scurrying around, and if the other side converges, then the Entente will have to deal with a group of capital ships scurrying around! And it is tantamount to selling the entire Entente army in North Africa, and the entire strategic situation will deteriorate to the extreme!

Jericho's idea is great, but the only problem is that he can't influence the British government, and at the same time the American government! At the same time, Magifin, who was fighting in the Mediterranean, was also considering the next direction of action of the American fleet. Looking at the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, which had been gradually forced back to its homeland and could only survive under the cover of mine arrays and batteries, Majifen was also very worried that his government's order would make him lose his efforts! Now Jericho has the courage to fight against the government, but Majifen doesn't have the confidence!

Majifen is now also in a dilemma, although the Italians are retreating step by step, but their main force is still there, and once they go, then the control of the Mediterranean Sea will definitely change hands. And if the opponent continues to fight to the death, then the transportation route of the North Atlantic can be described as a never-ending day. The Allied governments will never allow the other side to use a sharp blade to stir up its own veins. As for the British fleet, Majifen was well aware of the opponent's difficulties, and the slightest mistake could put the British into a situation from which they could never recover. So the possibility of the Grand Fleet directly dispatching the capital ships is extremely small! Because he knew that Jericho was very stable, and he would never do such a near-death move.

At this time, Majifen and Jericho had a very similar idea, that is, to first make some changes to the sea transportation line, for example, to move the entire transportation line north, as far away from the range of the Spanish fleet as possible. Or a large number of Chinese merchant ships were chartered for transportation, and the Entente did not dare to fight the ships of China, and similarly, the Allies did not dare to fight. At the same time, the navy used a large number of destroyers to begin to clear the sea of Spanish raiders and camouflaged supply ships, and the destroyers were caught and considered the Allies unlucky, using this almost bloody method to weaken the other side's ability to break diplomatic relations. At the same time, the U.S. fleet could also choose to retaliate by attacking Spanish ports. Of course, the most important thing is to concentrate forces to deal with Italy first, and at least control a few key passages with mines.

But unfortunately, neither Magiffin's nor Jericho's ideas represent the opinions of the Allied high-level leaders, who think about how to be more secure than Majifen's extremely aggressive strategy. Chief of Naval Operations Benson eventually formulated another plan with the second as the guiding ideology, the core of which was that the US fleet should withdraw from the Mediterranean, give up control of the Mediterranean, first consolidate the North Atlantic, and then dismantle it according to the actions of the Allies. This plan was undoubtedly appreciated by President Wilson, after all, it allowed the precious American fleet to get out of the Mediterranean unscathed. When this plan was sent to Ma Jifen, the head of the American fleet did not say much, because he knew that he was powerless to change this qiē! Just as he had warned the U.S. government that the German High Seas Fleet was capable of challenging the British fleet head-on, although he was right, he was powerless to change anything this time.

"Doing so allows us to temporarily solve the problem of the North Atlantic shipping line, but remember, this will prolong the war for at least two more years, and even in the end we will only get a winless ending! It is quite possible that we have spent billions of dollars in wealth and the blood of millions of young Americans without any real benefit. Magifen said after signing the order.

Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976 and hukaikaka for their tips~~~, as well as the book friends bold 100, orphein, f663026 monthly pass support ~~~~. (To be continued......)