Chapter 912 No Choice 1
"Now the public and members of parliament have an illusion about the navy, believing that battleships have both powerful offensive and defensive capabilities. In fact, the battle between naval battleships is more like two eggs smashing each other with hammers. In terms of luck, A little worse, or some accidents occur, a capital ship worth millions of pounds will be lost, and the battle will be very dangerous for both sides." That night, at the British Prime Minister's official residence, Churchill spoke eloquently to the opposite party. Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith explained his views.
"This argument is very unconvincing." Prime Minister Asquith said in a measured tone: "Then can you answer my question? Why are the broken eggs all warships of our British Empire, while the Germans went back Like new! Do we really think we don’t know anything? Look at the German newspapers! Look at the dates on them, and look at these battleships that are like new! This is an insult to the Royal Navy!"
"I am not targeting you, Churchill, but everyone here, including myself. We are all sinners of the British Empire! Hundreds of years of glory and splendor of the British Empire and the Royal Navy have been lost in our hands! The empire's The national destiny is in crisis! I asked you to come here this time not to listen to your sophistry, but to know two questions. First, why the Royal Navy lost. Second, what should we do in the future." As There was anger in Quess's words.
"First, I admit that General Betty did make mistakes during the battle. Due to intelligence problems, we misjudged the size and configuration of the German fleet. The number and combat effectiveness of the opponent's fleet far exceeded our previous estimates. And this responsibility , the Navy should not be responsible for it alone. As for General Moore, General Jeram and General Hood, their actions were very correct and there was nothing worthy of responsibility."
"Second, this is a battle planned by the Germans for a long time. Our four Queen Elizabeth-class battleships were transferred to the Indian Ocean to deal with the Su Xiong fleet, resulting in a double shortage of the number and combat effectiveness of our fast battleships. This is It is inevitable that the large fleet does not have a great advantage over its opponents, but it has a disadvantage on fast battleships. There is no way to deal with the situation of being stretched," Jericho said.
"Finally, I want to say that in this case, even if it were someone else, they would not have done better in this situation." Jericho's meaning is very clear. If there is a problem with the intelligence, the Navy cannot be entirely blamed. , after all, the British intelligence personnel in Germany are not under the control of the navy, and reporting Bavaria as a battlecruiser is already a losing battle. Secondly, strategically, the Queen's departure has indeed greatly reduced the strength of the British fast fleet. This is an objective fact and cannot be helped. As for the last point, no matter whether you are happy or not, the Grand Fleet is like this now, and it may not be any better if you change it to someone else. Prime Minister, you have to figure it out yourself... Polite and polite, and rogue enough!
"This defeat is not just a defeat on the battlefield, it is a failure of the system. We need time to find out the mistakes step by step and then change. As the First Lord of the Navy, I agree with Admiral Jericho's opinion "Except for Lieutenant General Betty's fault of improper command, there were no obvious subjective mistakes by anyone else," Churchill said seriously.
"Okay, let's talk to the members of Parliament about your words to see if they agree with you. As for this battle loss, is it true? The British Empire Navy lost 6 battleships in the First World War? And the general Auxiliary battleships with a tonnage of tens of thousands of tons." Asquith still had a hard time believing this data.
"That's right, we suffered heavy losses in this battle. And it seems that there are also some problems with the North Sea blockade. It is said that German warships have appeared. Some of our warships have lost contact, and some may have suffered misfortunes." Churchill said. Auxiliary battleships such as light cruisers are not as dazzling as the main battleships, and as auxiliary cruisers, the naval battleships after the nth class are even more unnoticed. Now that the Hipper fleet has returned, one of them was killed on the North Sea blockade. The various warships hit above just sank into the rolling waves of the North Sea. Even the United Kingdom has not yet determined the specific losses.
This cannot be entirely blamed on the lackluster style of the Royal Navy. In fact, most of the auxiliary cruisers work at sea for a long time. It is normal for them to be unable to find or contact them for a while. Of course, another problem is that everyone is at sea. When we are worried about the loss of the Grand Fleet, and when we are thinking about how to face the German High Seas Fleet that is attacking again, who will care about the loss of these leftover consumables? Usually, the North Sea blockade is often hit by submarines, sinking a ship or something. Jericho may not notice this. Now it is normal for Churchill to be confused about the specific situation...
"After you came up with a plan for these things, you told me, okay, you are definitely not here tonight simply for this matter. Tell me, what do you want? Budget? Resources? Or manpower? To be honest, right now The British Empire is in embarrassment." Asquith waved his hand and gave them a beating. There is no need to say more. If other high-level personnel think that the Navy has too big a problem this time, they can just remove Churchill and Fisher from their posts. , by the way, and that Betty, that’s all for later, there’s no need for me to be a villain now.
"We must now rely on the strength of our allies. I now really want to know how the negotiations between the Empire and the Japanese are going? If the Japanese Navy can provide capital ships, our situation in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean will be much better." Churchill said .
"Well, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean," Asquith muttered. "Wait! The Su Xiong fleet in the Indian Ocean has not been dealt with yet?" The Prime Minister suddenly realized that he had overlooked a very important issue! "The shipping situation in the Indian Ocean has improved a lot recently, but those two battleships haven't been destroyed yet?!" Asquith had an expression of disbelief on his face.
If a naval battle is a boxing match where points are calculated, Su Xiong's fleet naturally won the Indian Ocean Cup boxing championship. Judging from the damage effects and hits, Thomas obviously paid a heavier price, but This is war, not competitive sports! After Thomas's two queens were damaged, they could return to India for repairs and maintenance.
The author has something to do today, so I will update twice for the time being~~~! Subscription is sad--! Lack of motivation--!