My Italian Chapter 642

If Rome is full of laughter and laughter, then today is a day of mourning for the British, who are the main participants on the other side of this naval battle.

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

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

"Mr. Churchill, can you tell us about the battle?"

In front of the prime minister and the cabinet ministers, the young Churchill stood up. "Everyone, the history of this naval battle is like this... After research by me and my colleagues in the Admiralty, we can believe that the boys of the Royal Navy who lost this battle have actually done their best. The main reason is that the Italians used the airship to control our whereabouts throughout the entire process. , which causes our every move to be under the surveillance of the enemy, and under such circumstances, there is no way to win."

Well, what Churchill said was very level, and he directly stated that no one is right. If you want to blame the weather, blame the Italians. The use of the airship was a bit unexpected, which made the cabinet ministers look a little speechless and stumped the young navy. Does the minister want to get rid of his due responsibilities?

As the prime minister, Asquith didn't care about the thoughts of other cabinet ministers, so he spoke. "Your Excellency Churchill, regarding the current power imbalance in the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea, is there anything your Admiralty can do?"

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

Facing Asquith's inquiry, Churchill was well prepared. Before he came, he had discussed with the First Sea Lord, Marshal Fisher, and finally came up with a good remedial plan.

Let me say one more thing here. At present, Churchill and Fisher are not getting along well. Both are strong characters who want to work together, who will listen to whom?

Fortunately, the conflict between the two is not deep enough, and the current situation of the British Navy is not optimistic, so both of them have temporarily suppressed their inner resentment, otherwise the Admiralty of the British Empire will be lively.

"Prime Minister, our Admiralty has formulated remedial measures. Although it cannot restore the original strength of the Mediterranean Fleet, at least it is enough to contain the Italians."

Churchill's words surprised everyone else present, what is the way this man is so confident. Without making them wait any longer, the young Navy Minister said.

"First of all, we talked with the Commander of the Home Fleet Jellicoe, he is willing to leave the Agincourt to the Mediterranean Fleet. In addition, our Admiralty hopes to keep the three French battleships of the Guba class, so that the Mediterranean Fleet The number of battleships can be restored to the previous level. As for the battlecruiser, the Bravery, which has been in service for four months, and the Glory, which has been in service for six months, can give priority to supplementing the Mediterranean Fleet."

From Churchill's remarks, it can be seen that the British Navy has a good family. After losing six main warships, it will be able to make up for it six months later. Although it is not the same in quality, it is equal in quantity.

The two ships Bravery and Glory are new first-class battle cruisers built by the United Kingdom after the Lion class. Different from history, the data of the Bravery class at this time is similar to that of the Lion class, and it can be regarded as an improved version of the Lion class. This is all because of the changes brought about by the Italian butterfly.

Of course, it is not the role of the Admiralty just to replenish the fleet with warships, this man continued. "In addition, we also found many problems that need to be urgently resolved during this naval battle..."

Then Churchill poured out all the problems found by the navy in this naval battle, such as the problem of insufficient penetration of shells on heavily armored battleships, the lack of enough airships in the navy, insufficient underwater protection of battleships, and insufficient firepower of small and medium-sized battleships, etc. Many issues have been addressed.

This Churchill spoke for more than an hour at a stretch, but none of the people present seemed impatient, and they all listened carefully to his narration.

"...Okay, the above are the problems that our Admiralty has summarized and needs to improve."

After Churchill finished speaking, Lloyd George, the Minister of Munitions at this time, spoke. "Your Excellency Churchill, can you explain how you plan to let the French keep three Gubclass battleships?"

At this time, this guy was doing a good job in munitions work, which ensured a substantial increase in the production of munitions in the war.

Facing the inquiry from the Minister of Military Supplies, Churchill immediately spoke. "It's actually very simple. Didn't the French always ask us to send more troops to take back the capital Paris? In fact, we can use this as a condition and ask the three French battleships to stay in the Mediterranean Fleet."

Churchill's words didn't sound right at first glance, as if the French were going to keep these three battleships at the expense of the army. In fact, the cabinet has already passed the decision to increase troops against France. Now it is just adding a condition, and it is impossible for the French to refuse.

As for why those present are so sure, it is because France is in the worst situation among the participating countries.

The northeast industrial area was occupied by the German army, and the most fertile Paris Basin has also become a battlefield. French manpower and industrial losses were enormous. Of course, if this is the case, the French can still hold on, but Italy is also attacking it from the east. Although this was a diversionary offensive, it still captured the Savoy region and at the same time restrained the 300,000 French troops.

And it's not just a matter of troops being held back, because Italy's participation in the war has made the French Mediterranean less safe. This caused France to be threatened in the use of Mediterranean ports, and it also restrained the deployment of more than 100,000 French troops here.

In addition, this also affects the import of French materials. Due to the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, the available ports in France are concentrated in the Mediterranean Sea or the English Channel.

Now one of the ports on both sides is occupied by Germany, and the other is directly threatened by the Italian navy. As a result, the throughput of French ports dropped sharply, only half of what it was before the war. The war led to a large increase in France's imports. This addition and subtraction caused a large amount of French materials to fail to land, and there was a shortage of various materials in France.

In terms of agricultural output, affected by conscription and occupation, France's current agricultural output is only 37% of that before the war, which is the country with the most severe production reduction among countries. The industry is also not optimistic. Except for the military industry, the French industry has only reached 43% of the pre-war level, not much better than agriculture.

Therefore, the French people have long been undercurrents, and various extreme ideas are popular.

Of course, for France, Paris occupied by the Germans urgently needs to be rescued. At least to recapture the most fertile Paris Basin is the key, otherwise the angry French people will drive them out sooner or later.

Therefore, for the current France, the help of the United Kingdom is indispensable, so there will be no obstacles at all on the issue of warships.

"No problem, I will send a telegram to Bordeaux (the temporary capital of France)." Prime Minister Asquith immediately agreed to Churchill's request.

"In addition, our navy hopes to obtain more funds for the procurement of airships, the development of new artillery shells, and the improvement of unreasonable parts of 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 talk to.

Then the cabinet meeting discussed other issues, mainly how to guide the failure of the naval battle, so that the public believed that this was not the responsibility of the navy.

After talking for two or three hours, the cabinet came up with a specific plan.

When everyone finished talking and was about to leave the meeting, Churchill was stopped. "Your Excellency Churchill, please stay here."

Churchill, who was not fat yet, could only wait for the others to leave first.

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

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

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

"No, you don't need an explanation," Prime Minister Asquith interrupted Churchill's explanation with a wave and said solemnly. "Although we will package this defeat as a victory, a defeat is a defeat, and someone must be responsible."

Facing the serious prime minister, the young Churchill was quickly defeated. "Admiral Cardon offered me his resignation, but I rejected it."

Then Asquith continued. "Very well. I think Admiral Cardon is quite capable. He can be transferred back to London in a month to take on a more responsible job. What do you think?"

"I believe Carden will be very pleased."

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

"Yes Prime Minister."

Early the next morning, news about the naval battle at Sirte appeared in major London newspapers~www.mtlnovel.com~ When the Mediterranean Fleet was rescuing the island of Malta, it was insidiously attacked by the navies of Italy and Austria in the sea area of ​​Sirte. ambush.

The enemy dispatched all warships to besiege it. The Mediterranean Fleet fought desperately, sank the enemy Teghoff, and severely damaged its six battleships including Istvan, Intrepid, and Dante. However, there are too many enemy ships, and the Mediterranean Fleet is outnumbered. Four battleships including the Montagu, Collingwood, and Centurion were heroically sunk, and the battlecruiser Invincible and Indomitable was also sunk.

At this time, the Italians were about to complete the crisis of annihilating the Mediterranean fleet. Lieutenant Admiral Studi arrived with reinforcements, and the Italian and Austrian navy fled in panic. The heroic Royal Navy broke the opponent's sinister intention of attacking and annihilating the Mediterranean fleet and dominating the Mediterranean. The British navy retained the capability to continue its confrontation in the Mediterranean.

In addition to this report, there are also many comments by military critics in the newspaper, all of which are analyzes of this naval battle. There are many kinds of analysis content, but the general meaning is that although the British navy is behind in tactics, it has won strategically and prevented the opponent's attempt to dominate the Mediterranean.

Well, I finished writing and went to bed. The title of the chapter should be written, Strategic Victory. Mistake!

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :

Chapter end