From the day the Hood was sunk, the British Empire's Home Fleet Command circulated the phrase "Dark-Days", which vividly showed the mood of the British people today.

All of the Royal Navy's high-speed capital ships ceased to exist, and the battleship HMS George V would not be completed until next spring, even if it worked overtime.

What a dark, difficult, embarrassing time, and what to do with the next few months?

On the other hand, the German Society's strategic objectives have already been partially achieved.

As a battleship carrying out high-risk diplomatic breaks, the fate of the battlecruiser Theodore was sealed since she was rammed by the Firefly and damaged by a swordfish torpedo machine, and now it is only a delay in its destruction.

Fortunately, none of the 1,193 naval officers and sailors belonging to the Teodor were killed, and only about 20 were wounded to varying degrees, which can be said to be a miracle within a miracle.

The Workers' Navy seemed to be deflated, but the Franz Cruiser, the Bruno Cruiser, and the Picke Heavy Cruiser were still cruising the Atlantic.

Any one of them has the ability to single-handedly take on an entire convoy, and no one knows when the next convoy will suffer.

The United States, for its part, has done everything it can to help without going to war – destroyers changing bases, Atlantic Fleet ocean-going patrols, seaplanes carrying out anti-submarine patrols, and so on.

The Royal Navy's Home Fleet Command estimates that if the United States does not enter the war directly, it is likely to lose 1.5 million tons of merchant ships over the next three months.

There are even those who are more pessimistic, believing that more than 2 million tons of merchant ships may sink into the Atlantic.

In addition, the Ming Navy also carried out shipping suppression operations in the Induyang Ocean, although it was not as extensive and vigorous as the German army, but it also averaged tens of thousands of tons of results every month.

In total, the Ming army only deployed more than two dozen submarines in Xingzhou, and considering that only one-third of the rotation was actually on combat patrol, the efficiency was not bad.

In view of the bleak situation, the will of the old men of Zhengmi Ziqi has wavered, and they have proposed that peace with the Germans can be made.

They feel that with a huge naval fleet as a hole card, there is still plenty of confidence at the negotiating table; Even if the talks between the two sides finally collapse, they will be able to buy some time.

As Prime Minister, Winston was adamantly opposed to such an idea, and he openly criticized it as an act of cowardice.

The signs of failure and pessimism were already on the horizon and growing rapidly, and Winston knew that it would not be long before he would be questioned and forced into the wilderness.

In view of this, the cunning politicians will not miss any opportunity to win over their allies, and the British Empire's centuries-long diplomatic strategy was quickly manifested.

After matchmaking at the embassy, the British envoy came to Rome and had several negotiations with Benito's bald head.

The British side hoped to conclude a mutual defense agreement with Italy, the core of which was that the Italian Navy sent high-speed capital ships to the Atlantic to intercept the German sabotage fleet.

In exchange, Britain was willing to cede the Sultan's jurisdiction to Italy – so that the Sultan and Ethiopia would become one, as the Italians expected.

In fact, as early as two years ago, Britain and France had manipulated the League of Nations to lift sanctions against Italy as a gesture of goodwill.

Benito was honest and did what he said, and soon after he took the initiative to launch a military provocation against the Austrian border area, but was unsurprisingly beaten up.

The scale of that conflict was at the division level, and it was not small. The Italians themselves low-key announced more than 400 casualties, but the actual losses were thousands, and the Austrians captured many tanks, trucks, and artillery.

Since then, realizing the gap in the combat effectiveness of the two sides, the Italians no longer dare to take the initiative to stir up trouble.

They began to honestly build strong permanent fortifications along the Apennines, which they named the "Florentine Line", hoping to protect against future surprises.

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Therefore, the British knew very well that the Italian army must not be able to count on it, and it would be good for them to rely on the Apennine to defend themselves.

The British's quid pro quo was quite sincere, but Benito still had a difficult problem to solve.

First of all, the two Veneto-class battleships are still unfinished, and there are about four months to put the finishing touches on.

Secondly, the Veneto-class battleships were designed to operate in the Mediterranean Sea from the beginning, with a cruising range of only about four thousand nautical miles.

In addition, if the German army moved south, it would be difficult for the Italian army alone to resist, so it was necessary to receive "effective help".

No, I paid you to help, and you still want me to help you?

The British had no choice but to defend the Atlantic route at the moment, so they could only promise one by one.

The two Veneto-class battleships were practically finished and are now being decorated and laid with internal cables, but they are being dragged out due to financial problems.

The British will then send a technical team to guide and provide a sum of money to help the two complete the service as soon as possible.

There is no need to worry about short voyages, as the Royal Navy's many supply ships and tankers are ready to provide support.

Defence issues are complex and numerous, including, but not limited to, interest-free loans of £20 million and low-interest loans of £70 million; Provide 1,200 machine tools of various types, 2.6 million ball bearings, 4,500 tons of aluminum and other important equipment and resources in several batches.

In addition, the British are also very kind to try to help solve the problem of domestic affairs, the Italians are now facing the difficulty of food shortage, and the British said that they can cheaply direct some of the grain from Indo.

In addition to this, the British persuaded the government of Renault, who was in exile in the colonies, to agree to send some colonial troops to Italy to assist in the defense of the Florentine Line.

Because of the urgency of the situation, the British, who were burning their eyebrows, really did not have the leisure to bargain, and the Italians did not continue to sit on the ground too much.

Under Winston's personal supervision and follow-up, the "Anglo-French-Italian Mediterranean Agreement" was signed and entered into force on September 22, and the actual negotiation time was only a little more than a week.

In addition to the above-mentioned provisions, the agreement also stipulates that the two sides have the obligation to exchange information and the right to exchange military scientific and technological achievements.

Winston now inevitably complains a little about Washington, if the United States enters the war in time, how can there be so many things?

But Franklin is also helpless now, and members of Congress are still arguing – and while the trend is good, it will take time.

The destroyers of the Atlantic Fleet were already tracking the German warships in close quarters, but the latter was still able to calm down.

So Franklin thought that the pressure should be further exerted, and the persecution should continue to see how much the German Society could tolerate.

At the president's behest, the federal government led the formation of the Federal Atlantic Shipping Company, which was operated by a joint venture of several major shipping companies on the East Coast of the United States.

From now on, the U.S. will offer door-to-door delivery – goods ordered by the U.K. from U.S. businesses will be shipped by the Federal Atlantic Line.

Essentially, this is a company whose core goal is to touch porcelain, because merchant ships fly different sizes and specifications of the national flag according to different tonnage, and according to secret regulations, the company's merchant ships, regardless of size, fly the smallest size of the Stars and Stripes of the IV.

In addition to not being hung according to regulations, these custom-made Star-Spangled Banners also deliberately eliminated the anti-fade process.

Moreover, the merchant ships of the Federal Atlantic Shipping Company were required to follow but not join the convoy, that is, to follow the convoy in twos and threes.

With regard to the series of practices of Britain, Italy, and the United States, the German newspaper is extremely vigilant.

Just broke the blockade, and now trying to create a new encirclement?

There is unconfirmed information that the British cabinet is even considering negotiations with Portugal and Spain to establish a complete encirclement to counter the threat of the German Society.

In this regard, the upper echelons of the German Society also reacted quickly -

The liberation of Spain must be on the agenda, and the Francisco regime should be dismantled with swift and decisive large-scale military action.

The defeat of the Spanish Republican Army proved that they could not support Adou, who did not have a unified program and were always caught in infighting because of the struggle for power, so they could not win on their own.

It was necessary to further guard against the military threat from Italy, perhaps one should consider taking the initiative, but first of all to deploy a full-fledged army group in the Austrian region.

On September 27, the 39th year of Zhichang, this is this year's Mid-Autumn Festival.

However, hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Ming army could not spend the festival in peace like ordinary people, and a huge fleet of hundreds of large and small ships was sailing at the end of the South China Sea.

The sun was setting in the west, and the bright red sun made the whole western sky seem to be submerged in red ink, and the sea surface was sparkling.

"This is the last place in Changsha."

"How long will it take to get to Surabaya, it's really the road."

At the railing on the top floor of the Suzaku Super Cruise Ship, Zhao Hanfeng, Yao Liangchuan, and Xie Wancheng were looking at the sea and chatting.

As a castle on the sea with a displacement of about 69,000 tons, the renovated Suzaku now serves as a high-speed troop carrier and can accommodate up to 12,000 people.

As the sun sank into the sea, the sky darkened suddenly, and there was only a little dark red left in the western sky.

Looking around, you can only see countless points of light flickering in the night, which are the navigation lights of the ships and the lights inside the bridge.

From family affairs to state affairs, and then from state affairs to family affairs, after smoking two cigarettes, several people found that it was not too early.

"Let's go, let's eat." Xie Wancheng patted Zhao Hanfeng on the shoulder, "There are many kinds of moon cakes today, and you have to try each one." ”

Even at sea, the Suzaku is the foundation of a luxury cruise ship, and the level of food supply is not much worse.

You can't enjoy osmanthus wine and the like, but moon cakes can still be managed.

The idle, Circumference Wind, wandered through the cabin, stunned from top to bottom of the huge cruise ship.

In addition to the 9,000 officers and men of the 1st Marine Brigade, the Suzaku also carried personnel from the 2nd Air Service Brigade and some tank units.

The so-called aviation service unit is an aviation unit under the army, which is mainly equipped with liaison planes, service planes, and artillery school shooting planes, and is responsible for doing all kinds of scattered miscellaneous work -- reconnoitering the forward front, providing travel for officers, transporting the seriously wounded, and so on.

The morale of the troops was quite high and their spirits were very good.

Everyone originally thought that it was a crowded and stuffy, smelly troop carrier or freighter, but they didn't expect to take such a huge sea castle this time, even if the luxurious decoration inside has been removed, but the spaciousness and comfort are still far ahead.

"Junzuo, I have something important to tell you."

"Say it."

"The U.S. side protested against our army's air raids on Moresby and Darwin, demanding compensation, but the imperial court refused."

Although there were no ground battles and large-scale naval battles, the battles in the skies never stopped.

About a month and a half earlier, the Ming army stationed on the island of Timor had carried out a small landing operation, capturing the island of Yandena and annihilating the only remaining 400 defenders there.

They completed the construction of most of the field airfield on Yandena Island, which the Australian army had already built, and the Ming Air Force then used this airfield to organize a number of reconnaissance and air raids on Moresby.

This inevitably resulted in collateral injuries, resulting in more than a dozen American casualties, nine of whom were military personnel.

In response to the protest of the United States, the Ming court in turn said that this was unreasonable - China and Australia are in a state of war, air strikes are part of conventional military operations, and the casualties of American citizens are full civil capacity, and they should be aware of the potential risks of being in a war zone, so they bear all the consequences, and the act of stationing soldiers to belligerents is itself inappropriate.

Zhou Changfeng smiled dumbly, stretched his waist, and looked at the deep and boundless sea.

"The days of such a mouthful are coming to an end."

And just like that, time passed day by day......

When the fleet arrived at the Surabaya Naval Base, the Australian Corps Inspectorate received an encrypted telegram from the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

At 16:30 p.m. on September 30, the Ming Legation in Manila delivered a unique ultimatum to the government of the Autonomous State of the Philippines.

demanded that the Autonomous State of the Philippines declare its independence from U.S. control and become a vassal of China; If it is vetoed, then the two countries will be in a state of war from 0:00 the next day.

The oddity of this ultimatum is that the Philippines, although now nominally a self-governing state rather than a colony, is in fact well understood to be nothing more than a pacification ploy by the United States in response to the ongoing resistance in the Philippines.

If you don't declare war on me (the United States), why do you declare war on my dog?

In fact, until this point, the Ming monarch and ministers deliberately reserved some leeway, wanting to see what the attitude of the US Congress was, how much it agreed, how much it opposed, and how many abstained.

Now the pressure is on Franklin's side, and because of the jet lag, it's only noon in Washington, D.C., so the president and dignitaries have plenty of time to react.

As soon as 0:00 a.m. passed on the same day, the declaration of war document officially took effect.

The next morning, countless reporters gathered outside the white, democratic Capitol.

Cars drove from all over the SAR, and legislators in suits and leather shoes got out of their cars one after another, and walked towards the heart of the United States to the clattering sound of cameras.

At 8:15 a.m. Washington time, nearly all members of the Senate and House of Representatives were united to cast their crucial votes on an important upcoming mission.

(End of chapter)