A few days later, in a room in the Admiralty building in London. A secret hearing is being held, and all the people sitting here are high-ranking members of the Navy, in addition to the government.

However, there are not many people in the whole room, and they don't add up to more than the number of hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, based on our calculations and research over the past few days, we have finally come up with a plan with the most feasible secret reinforcement of the Mediterranean Fleet."

A staff officer began to tell those present about the plan they had painstakingly developed over several days.

"First of all, we set the time for the Italian attack on the island of Malta, and only after the time is set, we can begin the implementation of the plan."

At the outset, the staff officer stated the preconditions of the plan. That's right, it's about timing Italy's attack first.

Because the purpose of the secret reinforcement of the Mediterranean Fleet was to strike at the Italian fleet by surprise. If the timing of the attack on Malta cannot be determined, then this will lead to the inaccurate arrival of reinforcements.

Because according to the calculations of the Admiralty officers, if they want to conceal the movements of the four battleships of the home fleet, even if the British departments cooperate, it will be concealed for ten days at most, and if they do not appear after ten days, then it will definitely be known by Germany, Italy and Austria. Then the unexpected fighter will be lost, and it will also put the two major fleets on the mainland and in the Mediterranean in an embarrassing situation.

Therefore, the plan must be just right in terms of time, and it needs to be quite precise, which is also the special emphasis of the plan.

After deliberately emphasizing this premise, the staff officer continued. "After the timing of the Italian attack on the island of Malta is determined, the home fleet led by Jellico will lead the home fleet out of port under the pretext of conducting military exercises in the North Sea. Subsequently, four battleships, the Monarch, the Thor, the Agincourt, and the Irish, formed a secret formation and bypassed the British Isles......"

In the officer's account, the secret reinforcement formation would bypass the British Isles and the busy shipping routes, and then, under the cover of night, enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar. Then, under the cover of the French, it crossed the Tunis Channel and then came to the most dangerous Central Mediterranean. Here, the formations needed to evade various reconnaissance means of the Italians. The solution given by the British Admiralty was very simple, that is, the formation was at maximum speed, taking advantage of the cover of night, to rush all the way through the Central Mediterranean before being discovered by Italy.

Of course, the British Admiralty did not put hope in it, and the formation passed safely through the sea area. Because it also has a backhand, that is, the Mediterranean Fleet led by Admiral Carden, which will also attack at that time. Regardless of whether the Italians find out or not, both sides will rush to Malta after the round.

True, at this time the preconditions for the British Admiralty to formulate the plan were revealed, if the Italian fleet did not come out, then its forces already on the island of Malta would be in a desperate situation, and the purpose of the campaign it launched would also be defeated.

If the fleet of the Italians came out, then the British Empire could take advantage of this excellent opportunity to inflict heavy damage on the opponent.

Of course, this is ideal, and if the outcome of the naval battle is not ideal, then the Mediterranean fleet will return to Alexandria, preparing for the defense of Egypt.

Regardless of the outcome, the reinforcements will return to their homeland as quickly as possible after the battle is over. If the reinforcements are damaged, then the intact warships will be drawn from the Mediterranean Fleet to replenish the home fleet.

It can be seen how high the requirements of the plan are for the British Navy, and of course this is also the confidence of the British Admiralty in its own officers and men, believing that it can do it.

After the staff officer finished speaking, Admiral Jericho, who was the commander of the home fleet, spoke with some concern. "Did the plan take into account the threat of the German fleet, according to the intelligence we have received, the German High Seas Fleet has been restless lately, and its fleet has bypassed Jutland in Kiel and is currently anchored in Wilhelmshaven."

For Admiral Jericho, his character is very cautious, and it is precisely because of his character that he was recognized by the navy under the push of Fisher and became the commander of the home fleet.

It is clear that this personality also made him pay attention to the main target, the High Seas Fleet, so he put a lot of effort into the transfer of the High Seas Fleet from the Baltic port of Kiel to Wilhelmshaven in the North Sea.

If you don't pay attention, you can't do it, because under the influence of someone from Italy, the German battleships were much stronger than in history. In terms of the caliber of artillery alone, Germany is much better than before, just in the choice of main guns, there are 305 mm 45 times the caliber guns, 305 mm 50 times the caliber guns, 350 mm 45 times the caliber guns, 380 mm 45 times the caliber guns, so many types of naval guns to choose from, so that the German battleships in firepower is even better than the British.

In addition to naval guns, in terms of battleship structure, power, gun control and many other technologies, with the advantages of the alliance of the three countries for many years, Germany is not inferior to Britain in battleship technology.

And the influence of these technologies also led to the fact that German warships were more powerful than in history, so the high seas fleet was also more deterrent.

Of course, it is even more important that the German navy is more aggressive than it has historically been, because of Italy's share. Since the beginning of the war, German warships have been unusually active, and small warships have been in confrontation with the warships of the British Navy in the North Sea.

In addition to small and medium-sized warships, the German battle patrol formation led by Vice Admiral Hipperer also came to join in the fun. Its hit-and-run tactics put a lot of pressure on the home fleet.

And now that the High Seas Fleet has slipped en masse from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven, where it is more convenient to attack (the Kiel Canal is still being expanded), who would believe that this is not a move against the High Seas Fleet.

It was clear that the German Navy was cooperating with its Italian counterparts.

It was precisely because of the actions of the High Seas Fleet that Admiral Jericho had some concerns. If the German Navy took advantage of this opportunity to fight the home fleet, it was not guaranteed victory. To be more precise, his estimate of the winning rate is only 60% at most. In fact, this is still the result of his inner favoritism, and his true thoughts are only fifty percent at most.

Some people may say that since the victory rate is only 50% is not enough insurance, then the home fleet can avoid war during this time. In theory, this is possible, but in practice it is absolutely not.

Admiral Jericho is leading whom, the absolute main home fleet of the British Empire, if he retreats when the German High Seas Fleet seeks war, then what do the people think of them, and what do the countries think of this navy that has dominated the world for hundreds of years. This would lead to the shaking of the British Navy's long-standing belief in seeing the enemy and attacking the enemy.

Even if Admiral Jericho did not care about it, in order to avoid the war in order to win the most, then what should the German Navy do with its swaggering shelling of the homeland and what should be done to block the transportation of the English Channel, if it really happens, the face of the British Empire as the world hegemon will be disgraced.

It was precisely this mentality that made the British Admiralty know that this reinforcement was risky, but still chose to formulate a secret rescue plan.

Of course, Admiral Jericho's concerns, the Admiralty also took them into account, and saw the staff officer reply. "We at the Admiralty have taken your concerns into account, but any plan is risky, and we must take this risk in order to avoid the Mediterranean being occupied by the Italians."

In the face of the staff officer's words, Jericho originally wanted to refute, but when the words came to his mouth, he suddenly swallowed back, because someone behind him patted him on the shoulder, which was Marshal Fisher's hand.

As the one who suffered the most, Jericho did not speak, and it was even less likely that others would raise objections. So this is the end of this meeting, which is called a hearing, but in fact a combat mission.

When Jericho packed up his things and wanted to leave, he saw Marshal Filscher walking up to him behind him.

"Let's go for a walk."

"Yes, Marshal."

Faced with a respected marshal, and at the same time a benefactor who pushed him to the big stage of the home fleet, Jericho could not refuse.

The two then walked slowly through the Admiralty building.

"Do you know why I stopped you from speaking?"

"Know."

Looking at some unwilling, Jericho, Fisher looked out the window at the busy streets. "Because we need to protect this peaceful life, and you know that we are at a disadvantage in the Mediterranean. If Malta is lost, then the Mediterranean will be cut off by Italy, which will allow us to get human supplies from Asia in half. In addition, if we want to reinforce the Mediterranean fleet, we will have to go to the Cape of Good Hope, and we cannot afford this price. ”

Speaking of this, Marshal Filscher glanced around and continued. "In fact, in my heart, I think Italy is the biggest threat to our navy, and if I make a decision, I would rather fight to be attacked on the mainland, and I should concentrate warships to defeat the Italian fleet first."

Marshal Fisher's words made Jericho's eyes widen, because they were too shocking.

Fisher was not surprised by Jericho's surprised expression, considering that he himself was startled by the thought that popped into his head at first.

"Because I think the Italians are the weakest link in the alliance, we just need to concentrate the ships to destroy the Italian navy, then they are like tigers without claws, and there is no threat. And when they lack a navy, we can rely on the superiority of the navy to shell and blockade any point on their long and narrow coastline. ”

Speaking of which, Marshal Fisher continued.

"Actually, if you look at it, Italy is a bit like us, it has a long coastline, and we have the English Channel to block the peep of mainland countries, and the Italians have the Alps. As a result, it does not need a strong army to ensure its security, and the rest of its energy is spent on the navy. This is their advantage and their disadvantage, as long as their navy is defeated, Italy is no threat. ”

When Fisher said the word, he swung his fist hard, as if to increase the persuasiveness.

Jericho listened carefully to the marshal's words, and when he thought that it really made a lot of sense, he asked. "Marshal, why haven't I heard you bring it up?"

Hearing Jericho's words, Fisher looked at the other party and said. "Do you think it will work?"

As soon as I remembered the scene when the gang of opponents of the marshal had forced him to step down, this time I really proposed that it should not be exploded. The navy gave up defending the homeland, concentrated warships to fight the Italians, and the marshal would be said to be a spy for the Germans.

"Well, don't think about it. You go and prepare for the reinforcement formation. If you want to complete this secret reinforcement, your home fleet will not be easy. ”

After sending Jericho away, Fisher felt much better when he spoke his heart. He went out of the mountain again, don't look at the scenery on the face, but he is not as good as before in terms of real power.

He actually has a lot of ideas, but because the resistance is too great, there is no possibility of implementing them at all. Over time, Fisher could only hold these thoughts in his heart.

Now he is just an old man who checks and fills in the gaps, uses it when he needs it, and provides it when he doesn't need it. (It's true.) While he was engaged in submarine warfare in Germany, he also wrote a letter to Tirpitz. "I won't blame you for submarine warfare, I've wanted to do this for a long time, but our admiralty idiots don't believe it." ）