Soon after the end of the Battle of Malta, the news of the heavy damage to the French fleet by the Italian-Austrian fleet spread to the whole world at a very high speed under the propaganda of all parties with ulterior motives, not only in Europe, but now even in the United States on the other side of the Atlantic and thousands of miles away in China, the little-known Italian Navy fought the largest naval annihilation battle in the world! Its scale and results are even greater than the decisive battle fought by the Chinese Navy against the Russian Navy in the Java Sea! For a time, Italy also changed from 1.58 meters to 1.85 meters in the eyes of people! The Italian navy's reputation for being strong has made a name for itself among the top echelons of the navies of various countries.

Although the French navy is not as good as the British have the power to win a hundred battles, but the ancestors are also generous, even in the Napoleonic period in Trafalgar was beaten by the British, but the French navy is still deservedly the second in the world, although the situation has moved to the current French navy declined, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse. Who is Italy? How can a new country, a country that has just been unified for half a century, actually collapse the entire French fleet in a war, and such a thing is not shocking? Well, the Austro-Hungarian Navy, once again carrying on their glorious traditions, was ignored! Moreover, in the eyes of outsiders, it was an absolutely intolerable mistake for the Austro-Hungarian fleet to lose 2 capital ships when it had an advantage on its own, and the loss of the last battleship was even more inexplicable.

In this naval battle, the Italian navy was almost strategically perfect, and even the British Royal Navy considered that the person who developed the battle plan was already quite high, and he was very good at timing. And once you decide to do it, time is the victory, at such a critical moment. The other side successfully seized the window period of the Entente, and if it started early, the French fleet might be gone. The Anglo-French fleet could beat the Itological-Austrian fleet and couldn't find the north. Moreover, the people who formulated this plan were very meticulous, and they even used a new set of passwords, so that the British miscalculated the timetable of the Italian navy, and this was the root cause of the defeat of the French navy!

The end of the campaign, in addition to forcing people to re-evaluate the strength of the Italian navy, as well as the situation at sea of the Central and Entente powers. It also fills the world with speculation about the future of the war. One of the parties believed that the Entente, despite the heavy losses suffered in the Mediterranean, still had an overall naval advantage, and that the Russians had completed three Gangut super-dreadnoughts. In addition to the three dreadnoughts returned to the Russians by the Huaxia Republic after the end of the Second Sino-Russian War, there are already 6 dreadnoughts or more in the Baltic Sea, and in the Russian shipyards on the Baltic coast, another 3 battleships equipped with 12 14-inch guns are under construction, and the fastest of them may be put into service in 1915!

Although the Entente lost one game in the Mediterranean, it was soon accompanied by an intensification of Russian naval attacks on the coast of East Prussia and a rise in power. The German Navy was bound to divide its forces on two fronts. The Royal Navy, which was under much less pressure, could spare a certain amount of strength to support France. Some of the optimists even believed that it would not matter if the Russian Navy could not effectively contain the German High Seas Fleet. Because the most powerful battleships of the British, the Queen Elizabeth class, will be commissioned in 1915! These steel Ares, armed with 15-inch guns, would form a huge advantage over the Germans. And this is only in terms of battleships, the other 2 battlecruisers of the British with 15-inch guns also had a chance to be commissioned in 1915, and the Revenge-class battleships equipped with 15-inch guns will also be launched at the end of 15 and put into service in 16, the British can replenish the battleships in a steady stream, and what about the Germans?

The Germans, on the other hand, seem to be a little powerless, although the navies of various countries have known that the Germans are building 4 King-class battleships, but no one knows when they will be completed. According to the estimates of the intelligence section of various countries, the service of these 4 ships will not be earlier than that of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships. In other words, when the new warships of both sides were commissioned, the gap between Britain and Germany was not narrowed but widened. Western strategic thinking has always been the supremacy of national strength, and under this kind of competition, the Germans are obviously not optimistic.

And the situation in the Mediterranean direction is not as bad as everyone thinks. It is true that the French fleet was severely damaged, and the wealth accumulated over the decades was shattered, but at the same time the Italo-Austrian navy also suffered some losses, although such losses were recoverable, but at least until 1915, the Italian navy was not capable of launching a large-scale offensive. So the situation is still that Italy and Austria-Hungary control the eastern Mediterranean, and France controls the western Mediterranean. And when the Italian navy is restored, the strength of the British has increased greatly, and I am afraid that reinforcements will also arrive in the Mediterranean, and the outcome of the new round of competition between the two sides is unknown!

There are also some people who believe that the Axis will have the initiative in future naval warfare, and they admit that the Allies will not be able to compare with the Allies in the speed of future naval armament renewal. But the Allies had the advantage in strategic matters, and the Russians were indeed ready to attack, but the Baltic Sea was too small to protect the coastal waters with submarines and torpedoes, and the Russians' attacks would not have much effect. If the Russians could not hurt Germany, then the so-called diversion would not exist.

There is nothing to say about the situation in the North Sea, the side that supports the Allies, after all, the North Sea is a big tonnage, and it is a decisive battle when it comes out, and there are no tricks to speak of, and Scandinavia is neutral, and the Germans have very little access to the sea. But in the Mediterranean, some naval experts believe that the situation has reached a critical moment, that is, whether Italy, Austria and Turkey can take Egypt and the crucial Suez Canal before the British enter the Mediterranean!

From the sea route, the entire eastern Mediterranean has become the internal lake of Italy and Austria, Italy and Austria can launch a large-scale landing operation with the support of the navy, and transport a large amount of supplies to the Italian North African colonies, while the British army in Egypt has to face three sides of the attack is almost cut off from all foreign aid, it is difficult to imagine how much supplies the British crossed the Atlantic and Indian Oceans into the Red Sea to replenish the Egyptian garrison. At least the Italian, Austrian, and Turkish armies are a little stronger, and the fall of Egypt is only a matter of time.

After the Suez Canal is in hand, it will be the end of the British Indian Ocean fleet, Thomas's fleet is simply not enough to resist the Italian-German fleet, the entire Indian Ocean route will be completely cut off, and the coast of India and the Southeast Asian colonies of Britain and France may be attacked by the Allied navy. The Entente side that relied on the blood of the colonies to support the war was bound to be greatly weakened. Even though the overall naval superiority was numerous, it was divided into three theaters, and communication between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean would cause the Allied fleets to switch to interior operations. This is a more effective strategic advantage than the superiority in the strength of the fleet. Because this fundamentally affected the vascular and hematopoietic functions of the Entente.

And in addition to the fact that the maritime allies gained a certain advantage in a short period of time, the war on land can be described as a stalemate, not only on the Western Front, but also on the Eastern Front! Under the cover of armored forces and heavy artillery, the British and French forces once penetrated the opponent's defensive line, but were forced to retreat under the consumption of mines and anti-aircraft guns and reinforced concrete bunkers. On the Eastern Front, the Russians entered the territory of Austria-Hungary as they had historically been, and the German Army's plan to lure the enemy deeper did not materialize. This puzzled the Germans.

In the nearly 8 years after the end of the Second Sino-Russian War, the Russian War Department carefully studied the equipment and tactics of both sides, and compared the combat power of Britain, France, and Germany, which are the great land powers, and the Russians found that if the German Army can be regarded as first-class, and the British and French Army can be regarded as first-class and half, the Russians are also second-rate. Especially after the start of the war, the progress made by the British and French armies in the face of the German defense line with the superiority of troops and equipment can only be measured in meters! Since the British and French can't get cheap, then in the face of the German army in a defensive state, the Russians are even worse, if they can take advantage of it, it will be abnormal!

The attack on East Prussia was only point-and-point, and after discovering that the Germans were retreating to the rear, the Russians did not continue the offensive but reduced their forces. Moltke Jr. waited left and left for the other side to not act, and waited right or did not act, and finally couldn't hold back and launched a counterattack, and the situation was as both sides thought, the Russians were beaten and retreated, unexpectedly, although defeated, but the retreat was in order, and the Germans did not find a chance to encircle. And soon pushed into the mainland into the fortified area.

The Russians, who had been deflated on the side of the Germans, quickly found self-confidence on the Austro-Hungarian side. The Russians quickly broke the Austro-Hungarian defensive line on the border, and then easily entered the Silesian region, and then, due to supply problems, had to pause and wait for reinforcements! This gave the Germans and Austria-Hungary a respite, and the Emperor had exchanged his fleet for the support of the three German armies, which had now entered the territory of Austria-Hungary, and their target was the Russian Third Army, which was besieging the fortress of Pumiger.

What caught the Germans a little off guard was that when Hindenburg went to the fortress of Pumiger with three corps of the Eighth Army, Denikin also came to the front with the strength of another division of his First Army, which was originally intended to suppress the 240mm heavy mortars and 150mm heavy cannons on the fortress of Pumiger. DURING THIS OPERATION, DENIKIN BROUGHT ALMOST ALL OF HIS FIRST ARMY'S BELONGINGS, INCLUDING LARGE-CALIBER 122MM CANNONS AND SPECIALLY MADE SIEGE MORTARS.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the reward, as well as the book friend jhonnyridden and fast wind for the monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued......)