The war was bloody. Since the Government of Vienna decided to start the landing plan ahead of schedule, the battle across the English Channel had become more and more bloody.
Overnight, the Continental Alliance seemed to have changed its fighting style. No longer concerned about the casualties of the troops, they played a cruel game of chess.
There was no technical content, it was a pure competition of strength. Fighting against the entire European world with one's own strength, such a game of chess was undoubtedly "stressful" for the British Empire.
"Since the end of July, the enemy seemed to have gone crazy. They kept attacking us, and this time the main direction of the attack was no longer London.
Coastal ports, big or small, were all subjected to tragic air raids, even the fishing village docks were no exception.
It was as if bombs were free. In the past month, the enemy dropped more than 50,000 tons of bombs on England.
Purely in terms of direct bombing results, I very much suspect that the enemy's achievements are not even enough to pay for the fuel of the fighter jets.
Affected by the enemy's bombing, our garrison deployed along the coast also suffered heavy losses. Especially the loss of shore artillery, there were as many as 300 artillery pieces. "
Minister of War Marcus said with a pale face.
No matter how high the cost of the enemy was, England was miserable. Because of geographical factors, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales all escaped the disaster.
More than 50,000 tons of bombs fell on England. Including the previous bombing, England had suffered a total of more than 100,000 tons of bombs.
From the English Channel to the ports along the Dover Strait, there was not a single intact one. They were either directly destroyed by artillery or suffered heavy losses.
With so many bombs aimed at ports, cities, factories, and densely populated areas, it was hard not to suffer heavy casualties.
Affected by this, the Royal Navy retreated to the rear. If the enemy launched another landing operation, it would take the Royal Navy a day to arrive.
Although it was not explicitly said, the criticism of the Air Force was overflowing.
Facing the gazes of the people, Minister of Air Force Attilio felt bitter in his heart!
The Air Force had really tried their best, but the enemy was also desperate. They could not win in a head-on confrontation, and finally set up a trap, but in the end, their planes could not catch up with the enemy.
Every aerial battle ended in failure. Even if the British Air Force wanted to be more courageous, they could not afford to be tossed around!
Britannia's aviation technology was lagging behind the times, let alone allies.
At most, they would purchase some spare parts and core components such as engines. Even if the British companies were willing to open up their technology, it would take three to five years for the allies to digest it.
Their technology could not keep up, their production capacity could not keep up, and their personnel reserves could not keep up. Under such circumstances, it was not surprising that they lost the war.
"Don't look at me. You all know how much the Air Force has lost. The war had only been going on for half a year, and the Air Force had already lost more than 4,000 fighter jets.
The pilots had been replaced three times, and more than half of the first batch of veteran pilots had died in battle.
In order to fight for air superiority, we had to compress our pilot training time. The shortest training time was less than half a month before we were forced to enter the battlefield.
Now that the Air Force has reached its peak, if we want to continue to increase the intensity of combat, the Air Force will have to withdraw from the military establishment. "
In order to preserve the vitality of the Air Force, Attilio didn't care about face anymore. If they didn't act pitiful, the air force would be wiped out.
Being able to barely defend London's airspace with the cooperation of the ground air defense forces was already the limit of the Air Force. He would be dreaming if he wanted to take care of the other regions as well.
Not to mention the Air Force, even the ground air defense forces couldn't take care of the whole country.
Unlike the accurate positioning of the later generations, where missiles could chase the enemy's aircraft, the accuracy of the anti-aircraft artillery and machine guns was very low.
To intercept the enemy's fighter jets, a few machine guns and a few anti-aircraft artillery could not play a role. It needed a large scale anti-air firepower group.
Take London as an example, the Government of the United Kingdom had gathered thousands of anti-aircraft machine guns and nearly a thousand anti-aircraft artillery to barely achieve air defense with the cooperation of the Air Force.
Britannia's resources were limited. It was difficult to defend London, and it was impossible to invest so many resources in other small rural areas.
Without enough ground air defense firepower, it was impossible to fight a pure one-on-one battle between the Air Force.
"The Air Force is indeed in trouble. The enemy's attacks have been very fierce recently. In the past month, we have shot down more than 800 enemy planes, and the enemy's offensive has not slowed down.
Combined with the enemy's continuous bombing of the port, forcing the Royal Navy to retreat, we can preliminarily determine that the enemy is preparing to land.
In order to prepare for the upcoming battle of Britain, it is indeed not suitable for the Air Force to expend too much strength. "
The Minister of Military Affairs said objectively.
This explanation was not satisfactory, but everyone had to accept it. If they couldn't win, then they couldn't win. If the Royal Navy couldn't win, how could they expect the Air Force to defeat the strong with the weak?
Foreign Minister Adam: "The chaos in Europe alone can't delay the time. As long as there is no internal chaos in the Holy Roman Empire, the enemy's offensive will not be affected much.
The Empire needs victory now. The Government of Vienna is launching a diplomatic offensive, and the position of many neutral countries has been shaken.
Even our allies were beginning to get restless. Some of them had even secretly contacted the government of Vienna and were just short of negotiating terms to defect to our side.
If the strategic situation can't improve for a long time, the next situation will be very bad for us. "
At this point, Adam was in despair. The title of the worst Foreign Minister could not be washed away in this life. Now there was a hint of a broken pot.
The Foreign Minister was not replaced. On one hand, no smart person was willing to jump into the pit. It was better to let Adam continue to be the one who was not smart.
Although the diplomatic results were not satisfactory, and the Foreign Minister's mentality was also problematic, everyone still recognized Adam's real ability.
Anyway, the Foreign Minister's main job was to coordinate diplomatic work. The specific work was done by the civil servants. As long as the plan was done, personal morale would not affect the overall situation.
Of course, there was also the thought of everyone dying together. After all, they had not been defeated yet. Even if they had to bear the infamy, it would not be more serious than after the defeat.
Before everyone could reach a consensus, the Secretary-General rushed in and said with a trembling voice, "There is an urgent message from the frontline. At around 10 o 'clock this morning, the enemy launched landing operations in thirteen areas, including Weymouth, Poole, Isle of Wight, Worthing, and Eastbourne.
According to the intelligence from the reconnaissance aircraft, the enemy's main naval force is sailing towards London, followed by troop ships. It is very likely that they will launch an attack on London. "
Campbell's face instantly turned pale as he snatched the battle report. A full-scale landing attack without distinguishing between primary and secondary was obviously not in line with military logic.
Once the British army seized the opportunity and attacked one or several of them, it was easy to suffer heavy losses.
Looking at the map on the wall, the military began to stare at each other. They had no idea what the enemy wanted to do.
Even if it was a feint, it would be enough to choose two or three places. It could not only achieve the effect of confusing the eyes and ears, but also ensure that the forces were relatively concentrated and would not be taken advantage of.
After calming down, everyone's unanimous reaction was that the enemy had lost their minds.
Lord of the Admiralty Swindin was the first to break the silence, "The fighter is here. Since the enemy dares to disperse their forces, let's not be polite. Let's attack one of them first!"
They had to be anxious. In the previous two major naval battles, the Royal Navy had lost face.
If they could not come up with a battle record to consolidate their position, it would be impossible for the Navy to be as dominant as it was now.
The target was easy to choose. It would certainly be the attack on London. As for the other areas, there was no need to be anxious for the time being.
…
The sea breeze blew, blowing away the scorching heat of the scorching sun. The small town of Gelal, located at the Strait of Dover, still maintained its former tranquility.
Due to the limitations of natural conditions, although it was near the sea, Gelal did not have a decent port.
Most of the coastal areas were steep cliffs, and there were a few flat areas. The continental shelf was too flat, and it was not suitable for a port at all.
Relying on the man-made temporary port to anchor a few hundred tons of fishing boats was passable, but even if a large warship entered, once the tide receded, it would immediately be stranded.
This kind of terrain was obviously not suitable for an army to land. Naturally, it would not be the focus of the British army's defense. A symbolic company was stationed, and together with the town's militia, that was all the armed forces.
The Government of the United Kingdom's attention was attracted by the large-scale landing operations, and simply had no time to care about a border town.
As the town's military officer, Major John was leisurely patrolling the defensive line at the moment. Although he did not think that there would be any danger, people had to find something to do, right?
After leaving the bright lights of the big city and coming to this remote town, John's daily life was broken.
Greer was a traditional agricultural town that lacked almost all forms of entertainment. Even if there were occasional banquets, it would not enter John's eyes.
It could be said that other than the good scenery, Gelal had nothing. However, John was still satisfied with being stationed in this small rural place.
Although there were all kinds of shortcomings, there was one thing that other areas could not compare to — safety.
Enemy planes often flew overhead, but the enemy did not drop a single bomb, which was enough to prove Gelal's strategic and economic status.
As a top student of the Imperial Military Academy and a noble, Major John originally had many more choices, but he rejected all of them, resolutely choosing the position of the town's military officer.
Even when people said that he did not strive for progress, and was afraid of death, John would only laugh it off.
It sounded nice to make contributions on the battlefield, but war killed people.
If he could win, John naturally did not mind fighting. Unfortunately, the difference in strength between the two sides in this war was too great, especially the land forces, there was no hope at all.
Although the glory of nobility was important, the prerequisite was to survive. As a rising noble, John did not have the chivalry of the old nobles.
Being on the battlefield was already giving face to the queen. After all, many rising nobles simply refused to serve in the military.
Don't ask why, just ask: there was too much money at home, and they could not bear to die.
Capitalists were not willing to serve in the military, and the capitalists who became nobles were no exception. There was no spirit of bravery in their bones, so naturally they were not willing to go on the battlefield.
This was completely different for Ying Ao. In Britannia, as long as you had enough money, you could become a noble through internal activities, but in Shinra, without military merits, no matter how much money you had, you could not cross the threshold of nobility.
The core was different, and the final result was naturally different.
In the original world, Britannia was the same. In World War I and World War II, almost all those who risked their lives on the battlefield were old military nobles, and the rising nobles were far less interested in protecting the empire than making money.
The ending was very ironic, the people who went to the battlefield to protect the country were destroyed, and not a hair was left, while the people who hid in the back and made a fortune from the war took the fruits of victory.
A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.
After learning from the experience, the British Empire, which no longer had anyone willing to bleed and sacrifice for the country, naturally reached the time of decline.
It was still early, and a "smart person" like Major John was still the target of contempt.
The roar of the plane sounded, and the guard shouted in panic, "Major, the enemy planes are coming, so many …"
Major John glared at the guard who ran over, and sternly reprimanded, "I am not deaf, I can hear, I don't need you to remind me.
Isn't it just the enemy's planes, what's there to fuss about … "
Before he could finish his words, small black dots fell from the sky, followed by a violent explosion, sweeping up dust and debris of buildings. The scene was a mess.
Hundreds of bombers were targeting an inconspicuous town. Major John felt that his brain wasn't enough to process the situation.
There was no need to use his brain, because in the air raid just now, Major John had already been knocked out by the explosion.
After the bombardment was over, it was followed by falling umbrellas. If one looked closely, they could see a person hanging under the umbrella flowers.
Sporadic resistance continued, but the garrison troops who had lost their commander could not exert the combat power they should have, even though they had no combat power to begin with.
In the face of an invincible enemy, the temporary militia was the first to open the prelude to surrender.
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