If the Romans were laughing and laughing, then the British, who were the main participants on the other side of the naval battle, were a day of mourning.

At this time in the Prime Minister's Office, a meeting was being held on the defeat.

The weary Asquith had to convene this meeting at this time, because it was the first defeat of the British Royal Navy in more than a century.

"Mr. Churchill, can you tell me about this battle?"

In front of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers, the young Churchill stood up. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is how this naval battle went...... After my research and that of my colleagues in the Admiralty, we can conclude that the lads of the Royal Navy who lost this defeat have actually done their best. The main thing is that the Italians used airships to control our whereabouts throughout the whole process, which led to the fact that our every move was under the surveillance of the enemy, and in this case, there was no way to win at all. ”

Well, Churchill said this very level, and directly said that no one is wrong, and if you want to blame the weather, blame the use of the Italian airship is a bit unexpected, which makes a cabinet minister look a little speechless, stump the young admiralty secretary still wants to exonerate himself of his responsibility?

As for the thoughts of other ministers, Asquith, as the prime minister, didn't care, only to see him speak. "Your Excellency Churchill, I wonder if your Admiralty has any way to deal with the current imbalance of power in the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean?"

That's right, the lawyer prime minister, who has left a great reputation in history, is now the first concern is remedial measures, the damage has been done, and how to remedy it is the most important priority.

In the face of Asquith's inquiry, Churchill had been prepared. Before he came, he had consulted with Marshal Fischer, the First Sea Minister, and finally came up with a good remedy.

As a side note, Churchill and Fisher don't get along well at the moment. Both of them are strong personalities who want to work together, who listens to whom?

But fortunately, the current contradiction between the two is not deep enough, and the current situation of the British Navy is not optimistic, so both of them temporarily suppressed their inner resentment, otherwise the Admiralty of the British Empire would be lively.

"Prime Minister, our Admiralty has worked out remedial measures, although it cannot restore the strength of the original Mediterranean Fleet, but at least in terms of containing the Italians, it is enough."

Churchill's words surprised everyone else in the room, and what the hell was the way to do this man who was so confident. They didn't wait any longer, but the young admiral said.

"First of all, we talked with the commander of the home fleet, Jericho, who was willing to leave the Agincourt to the Mediterranean fleet. In addition to this, our Admiralty hopes to keep the three French battleships of the Lone class, so that the number of battleships in the Mediterranean Fleet can be restored to the previous level. As for the battle cruise, there are also the Brave that will be commissioned in four months and the Glory that will be commissioned in six months, and they can be given priority to replenish the Mediterranean Fleet. ”

From Churchill's remarks, it can be seen that the British Navy has a good background, and after losing six capital warships, it will find a way to make it up again in six months. Although it is not the same in terms of quality, it is equal in quantity.

The two ships Brave and Glorious are the first class battle cruisers newly built by the United Kingdom after the Lion class, and unlike in history, the data of the Brave class at this time is similar to that of the Lion class, which is an improved version of the Lion class. It's all because of the changes brought about by the Italian butterfly.

Of course, it is not the role of the Admiralty to replenish the fleet with warships, I saw this man continue. "In addition, we have also found many problems that need to be solved urgently in this naval battle......

Churchill then poured out all the problems found by the navy in this naval battle, such as the problem of insufficient penetration of artillery shells into heavily armored battleships, as well as the lack of enough airships in the navy, insufficient underwater protection of battleships, and insufficient firepower of small and medium-sized warships.

The Churchill spoke for more than an hour, but not a single one in the audience seemed impatient and listened attentively.

“…… Well, that's it for us at the Admiralty to summarize the problems that need to be improved. ”

When Churchill finished speaking, Lloyd George, the Quartermaster of Arms, spoke. "Your Excellency Churchill, can you explain how you plan to get the French to leave behind three Lone Class battleships?"

At this time, he did a good job in munitions work, and he ensured a substantial increase in the production of munitions in the war.

Faced with the question of the Quartermaster's Minister, Churchill immediately spoke. "Quite simply, aren't the French always asking us to send more troops to retake the capital, Paris? In fact, we can completely use this as a condition to ask three French battleships to remain in the Mediterranean Fleet. ”

Churchill's words didn't sound right at first glance, as if he wanted the French to keep the three battleships at the expense of the army. In fact, the Cabinet has already passed the decision to increase the number of troops in France. Now it is just a condition, and the French are unlikely to refuse.

As for why those present were so sure, it was because France was currently in the worst position among the participating countries.

The northeastern industrial region was occupied by the Germans, and the richest of the Paris basins became battlefields. French suffered great losses in manpower and industry. Of course, the French would have been able to hold out if this had been the case, but the Italians were also attacking them in the east. Although this was a diversion offensive, it still captured the Savoy region and held back 300,000 French troops.

And it's not just a matter of pinning down troops, because Italy's entry into the war has made the French Mediterranean less secure. This led to the threat to the use of French ports in the Mediterranean, and also held back the deployment of more than 100,000 French troops there.

In addition, this also affected the import of goods from France, which was affected by the Atlantic, and the ports available to France were concentrated in the Mediterranean or the English Channel.

Now one of the ports on this side is occupied by Germany, and the other is directly threatened by the Italian navy. As a result, the throughput of French ports dropped sharply, reaching only half of the pre-war level. The war led to a large increase in French imports, and this plus and minus led to the inability of a large number of French supplies to go ashore, and there was a shortage of various materials in France.

In terms of agricultural output, due to the effects of conscription and occupation, France's current agricultural output is only 37% of the pre-war level, and it is the most severely reduced among the countries. Industry is also not optimistic, with the exception of the military industry, which is only 43% of the pre-war level, which is not much better than agriculture.

Therefore, the French people have long been surging, and all kinds of extremist ideas are in vogue.

Of course, for France, Paris, occupied by the Germans, was in urgent need of relief. At the very least, the recapture of the richest part of the Paris basin is the first priority, otherwise the angry French people will sooner or later oust them from power.

So for France at the moment, the help of Britain is indispensable, so there will be no obstacles at all on the issue of warships.

"No problem, I'll send a telegram to Bordeaux (the temporary capital of France)." Prime Minister Asquith agreed to Churchill's request in one fell swoop.

"In addition, our Navy hopes to receive more funds for the procurement of airships, the development of new artillery shells, and the improvement of irrational warships."

"No problem, your Admiralty will come up with a list as soon as possible."

At this time, Prime Minister Asquith was surprisingly easy to speak.

Then the cabinet meeting talked about other issues, mainly how to guide the defeat in the naval battle and convince the public that it was not the responsibility of the navy.

After two or three hours of talks, the cabinet came up with a concrete plan.

When everyone was finished talking and was about to leave, Churchill was stopped. "Your Excellency Churchill, you stay for a moment."

Churchill, who was not fat now, was stopped and could only wait for the others to leave.

"Someone has to be responsible for the loss of this naval battle."

As soon as Prime Minister Asquith opened his mouth, he expressed his attitude clearly.

"Prime Minister, please listen to me......"

"No, you don't need an explanation," Prime Minister Asquith said solemnly, waving his hand to interrupt Churchill's explanation. "Although we will package this defeat as a victory, a defeat is a defeat and someone has to be responsible."

Faced with a serious prime minister, the young Churchill was quickly defeated. "General Carden sent me his resignation, but I refused."

Asquith then continued. "Very well, I think Cardon is a good general, and he can be transferred back to London in a month to be able to do more responsible work, what do you think?"

"I'm sure Cardon will be very pleased."

"It seems that the Mediterranean Fleet needs a new commander."

"Yes, Prime Minister."

Early the next morning, news of the battle at Sirte appeared in the major London newspapers. While rescuing the island of Malta, the Mediterranean Fleet was ambushed by the Italian and Austrian navies off Sirte.

The enemy sent all its warships to besiege it, and the Mediterranean Fleet fought desperately, sinking the enemy's Taghof and severely damaging six of its battleships, including the István, the Dreadnought, and the Dante. But there were too many enemy ships, the Mediterranean Fleet was outnumbered, and the four battleships Montagu, Collingwood, and Captain Centurion were heroically sunk, and the Invincible and Indomitable battle cruisers were also sunk.

At this critical moment when the Italians were about to complete the total annihilation of the Mediterranean fleet, Vice Admiral Sterdi arrived with reinforcements, and the Italian-Austrian navy fled in panic. The heroic Royal Navy broke the sinister intention of the other side to attack and annihilate the Mediterranean fleet and dominate the Mediterranean. The British Navy retained the strength to continue to confront it in the Mediterranean.

In addition to this report, there were also comments from many military commentators in the newspapers, which were all about the analysis of the naval battle. There are many kinds of analyses, but the general meaning is that the British navy, although tactically backward, has won a strategic victory, preventing the opponent's attempt to dominate the Mediterranean.

Okay, I went to bed after writing. The chapter title should be written, Strategic Victory. Mistake!