"Now is the time." Churchill waved the emergency message from India in his hand and cut it down.

Asquith narrowed his eyes and propped his hands on his chin, "Is Jericho really sure?" Is it true that the tragedy of Lingayen Bay will not be repeated? On the surface, we also had an advantage......"

"We've given Jericho enough support, the latest and greatest battleships, aircraft carriers, and planes, and we've given him plenty of time to adapt to the battlefield and train his troops. We should not ask him if he is sure, no serious and responsible commander can give us a ticket that he will win. War is not a numbers game, and we have to believe that the Royal Navy is still the best maritime force on the planet, and it will prove its worth through live combat! Churchill's fiery speeches are usually infectious, but at this moment, it is clear that he has not been able to move the worried Prime Minister Asquith.

"I know that we can't afford to lose India, and this is not only a serious military problem, but also a fatal political problem, and no one can afford to lose India politically – but I am more worried that if Jericho's fleet is destroyed, not only India, we will lose everything."

Frustrated, Churchill turned to the opposite Field Secretary Kitchener for support: "Marshal, what do you think? ”

Kitchener, who looked a little tired with thick sideburns, folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, and said slowly: "There is no doubt that the enemy has made up his mind to fight a decisive battle with us at sea. In any case, we must fight, and if we run away at the sight of the enemy, we will first fail mentally. Today we can give up India, tomorrow, what will the other colonies think? And what will the allies think? Even from a purely military strategic point of view, once India falls. The enemy would be able to easily advance into the Persian Gulf, thus completing the Eurasian division between the Allies and at the same time completing the general land encirclement of Russia, and our current strategic advantage would no longer exist. ”

"As long as the fleet is intact, we can launch a counterattack at any time...... When the U.S. Navy recovers to a certain extent, it will unite to counterattack. Isn't it more advantageous? Asquith rubbed his fingers hard.

Churchill clenched his fists: "By that time, the German Navy should also recover to a certain extent, and we cannot always expect the Americans to put their main fleet in the Atlantic to help us guard our home." Relying on others will not last long, the Americans have something they have to do in the Pacific, and sooner or later they will leave. And our Grand Fleet, sooner or later, will have to return to the North Sea to deal with the most important enemy on our side. ”

"Take a step back. Even if Jericho's fleet suffers losses in battle, I don't think that the enemy will be able to come out unscathed, no, the enemy will definitely pay the price. Please remember that the overall ship-building capacity of our Entente side is several times that of the enemy, after a battle of equal strength. Even if our losses are slightly greater, we will definitely recover faster than the enemy. Finally, we should believe that Jericho will be able to determine the situation in a timely manner, and that he will have the right to choose to withdraw from the battle in the event of a clearly unfavorable situation. But now, he has no right to refuse any of our orders. ”

Sweat dripped down his forehead, and he glanced at George Lloyd, the most trusted minister of finance and quartermaster in the cabinet—there was nothing in his eyes in favor of him.

After holding back a fart, Asquith finally reluctantly spoke, "Okay." Let Jericho strike, but ...... Be sure to put your penultimate sentence into the command. "Ship, Commander's Business Class.

Jericho put down the telegram in his hand and stood with his hands behind his back for a long time, until Adjutant Captain Anson came in and reported: "Dinner is ready." ”

"Captain Anson, what is the first motto of the Royal Navy."

The young captain froze. Suddenly, he straightened up and blurted out: "Attack when you see the enemy!" ”

Jericho nodded faintly at him, "Very well - let's go to dinner first." ”

"Commander......" Captain Anson, who was confused, was dumbfounded.

Jericho still had a blank face behind his back. Leisurely passed by him.

"Captain, I promise. You'll soon be able to get involved in a ...... The most representative and scientific aspect of this era is the massacre. "On the afternoon of September 3, 1915, about 30 nautical miles southwest of the port of Mumbai, the submarine Whale 22 of the 4th Diving Squadron of the Chinese Navy was quietly suspended in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean at 18 degrees north latitude.

A five- or six-meter-long periscope stands on the protruding command platform in the middle of the spindle-shaped hull, and the part that protrudes from the sea surface is only one or two meters, but it is the only connection between this whale-3 ocean-going submarine with a displacement of more than 1,000 tons and the sea surface.

Under the command platform, Major Mo Ming, the captain of the ship, who was holding the periscope handle and turning around the observation site, suddenly called out to the first mate next to Captain Liu De'an in surprise: "It's amazing...... Come and see! ”

Liu De'an approached the eyepiece to take a look, sighed a few times in admiration, and nodded vigorously to Mo Ming: "There are no less than ten big guys, the surroundings are densely packed, this is a momentum, hurry to the military parade——"

Mo Mingen sighed, turned the short-brimmed work hat that was in the way to the right, narrowed half of his eyes, and looked closely at the eyepiece for a minute or two, and said in his mouth: "This...... That one...... It seems to be a lion-shaped battle patrol, and this one in the back ...... Not much like a war patrol...... Good guys, there are aircraft carriers, one, two, three - oops, there are planes! ”

With a bang, he put away the periscope to the submarine, and the captain of the first ace submarine of the empire waved his fist and shouted: "Urgently dive!" ”

The orange-red warning lights flashed and flashed, and a series of passwords danced and echoed around Mo Ming in a nervous and orderly manner—

"The first and second main water tanks are filled with water!"

"Full speed on both sides!"

"The main horizontal rudder is minus five degrees - the depth of the dive is seventy meters!"

"There is no duty in the aft compartment, and the crew immediately moves to the forward compartment!"

"Twenty meters, twenty-five meters, thirty meters deep......"

"Azimuth 250, the sound of high-speed propellers is approaching!"

"Dive to a depth of 70 meters!"

"The main tank stops filling! The main horizontal rudder was leveled, two-thirds of the two sides, and the left rudder was five! ”

"Azimuth 280, deep into the water! One, two, three, four......"

Dark, shaky, crowded with pipes, valves, and the narrow hull of the aisle that could only accommodate one person, more than 50 crew members, including Mo Ming, held their breath and waited for that terrible moment to come—for the vast majority of the officers and men on board, the last time they experienced this deadly game of hide and hide was outside Pearl Harbor on December 26, 1914.

"Bang-bang-bang-"

There was a muffled sound in the direction of the stern of the ship that made most people's hearts tremble, but Mo Ming breathed a sigh of relief—it was still far away, and it couldn't hurt his whale.22

Raising his hand to hold the military hat, Mo Ming turned around and patted Liu De'an: "I'm watching here, you go and draw up the message first, ***, I don't believe that these guys can chase me until the sun sets." ”

…… Climb ^ book ^ net, this chapter is first published by "".