Chapter 844

In the wee hours of the morning, the temporary base of the Government of the United Kingdom in the air-raid shelter was still brightly lit.

It was another sleepless night. The smoke from the bombing during the day had just dissipated when another piece of bad news came.

The Anglo-Japanese coalition had suffered a crushing defeat in the naval battle. Even their flagship had sunk. The fate of the fleet commander, Admiral Michel, was unknown.

Upon receiving the news, everyone's first reaction was, "What a joke." Just the Far East Fleet alone could suppress the Nanyang Fleet. How could the Anglo-Japanese coalition lose?

Unfortunately, after repeated verification, it proved that this was the reality and not some prank.

Forced to accept this reality, Prime Minister Campbell's worldview was subverted. It turned out that the Royal Navy was no longer invincible.

With this knowledge, Campbell didn't feel good. If the Royal Navy couldn't control the situation, what would happen to this war?

The most confused person was Lord of the Admiralty Swindin. Although the frontline battle report was very clear, attributing the loss of the war to the enemy's air force.

As for the aircraft carriers, they had been hiding in the back and had never shown themselves. Anyway, it was all planes bombing, so the British warships participating in the war naturally couldn't tell the difference.

War was cruel. A loss was a loss. No matter how many reasons there were, it couldn't change the fact that the war was lost.

How powerful the enemy's air force was could be seen just by looking at the current office of the cabinet government. As long as there was a way, they wouldn't have fallen to this point.

After a brief exchange of glances, the room quickly fell silent. Everyone fell into a state of confusion.

It felt like "the fruit on the tree is the fruit, and you and I under the tree are the two of us".

After a cup of coffee, Foreign Minister Adam was the first to break the silence. "The defeat of the Malacca Battle has had a very bad impact on the overall strategy of the Empire.

I'm not very clear about the military problems, but the diplomatic troubles are absolutely devastating.

The enemy won't let this go. Perhaps tonight, or perhaps tomorrow, this news will spread all over the world.

Our allies, who weren't firm in their stance to begin with, are probably going to cause trouble again. To appease them, the Empire will have to pay a greater price.

The best way to solve the problem is to prove that we have the strength to win the war. Otherwise, it will be difficult to make them go all out. "

Adam was used to playing the trick of getting something for nothing. Now that he had to take out tangible benefits, Adam was clearly not used to it.

But the cruel reality was in front of them. The era of pure deception was over. Now everyone had learned their lesson. No matter how big the pie was, it couldn't satisfy their hunger.

Even if they couldn't eat the flatbread for the time being, they should at least let everyone smell the fragrance. Otherwise, they wouldn't be willing to help!

First Lord of the Admiralty Swindin: "According to the intelligence from the frontline, this defeat was mainly due to the enemy's ambush. Air forces and submarines, which we had neglected in the past, have now become the enemy's magic weapons.

The same trick only worked the first time. As long as we are on guard, the situation will be very different.

However, we have to face the role of the air force in naval battles. I propose to form a marine aviation to deal with the threat of the enemy's air force.

The content at the beginning was fine, but when he heard the proposal to "form Hainan Airlines", Air Force Minister Attilio immediately couldn't sit still.

If the Navy has the Marine Air Force, then shouldn't the Army also have the Marine Air Force? If the Army and Navy have their own aviation, then what's the use of the Air Force?

When it came to the living space of the air force, Attilio had to fight for it.

"No, the Navy and the Air Force are both very specialized military branches. Focusing on one is the best choice. Focusing on both will only result in a mess."

Swindin shook his head. "But your air force can't take on such a heavy responsibility. If you can't even guarantee the safety of London, how can you guarantee to defeat the enemy's air force?"

It wasn't that he wanted to seize power, but the performance of the Britannia air force was too weak. Since he couldn't count on them, he could only do it himself.

Although the Royal Navy didn't have a complete air force, they still had a lot of reconnaissance planes and even a small number of fighter jets and bombers.

With a little expansion, they would have an air force. They didn't need to be powerful, as long as they could delay the enemy's air force in a naval battle.

After all, the English Channel was only a short distance away. If the enemy forced a landing, the Royal Navy could only fight within the range of the enemy's air force.

Attilio rolled his eyes in disdain. "Our air force can't do it. Do you think we can just form an air force?

The Holy Roman Empire is the world's most powerful air force. The size of their air force is at least twice that of ours. How can we compete with them without thousands of fighter jets?

Do you have enough pilots or enough crew members? Do you think you can just find a few people to do the job? "

Personnel was a problem. It wasn't something that could be easily found. Although Britannia had a lot of aviation clubs, they were very small.

Even in the 21st century, planes were toys for a few people. Not to mention now, except for a few local tycoons, who could afford to play with them?

But these second generations who could afford to play with them were all rich and noble. It was rare for them to be willing to risk their lives on the battlefield.

These rare people had long been taken in by the air force. Even the crew members were requisitioned, including the pilots and crew members of civil airlines. They were now forcibly annexed by the air force.

Even so, the British air force still felt strained when defending London.

Seeing that the quarrel was about to escalate, Campbell interrupted. "Stop arguing. At this point, what we need to do is to work together.

If the navy wants to form a marine airline, then the problem of personnel will have to be solved by themselves.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will try to communicate with our allies to see if we can support a group of pilots first. We can also entrust some of the aircraft production. "

It could be seen that Campbell was really tired. He didn't even want to say another word.

Since the bombing of London, he hadn't had a good night's sleep. He wanted to have a good night's rest, but he was caught up in this.

…

It wasn't just the Government of the United Kingdom that had a sleepless night. The European politicians who received the news from the Government of Vienna also had a sleepless night.

Only the neighboring European countries could truly understand the strength of the Holy Roman Empire.

From the beginning of the bombing of the British Isles, everyone was confident that the Holy Roman Empire would win the war. But the turning point of the war came too quickly.

It had to be known that the war broke out less than a week ago and the powerful British Empire was in trouble. It was beyond everyone's expectations.

The biggest hit was the Russian Empire. Unlike the small European countries, Russia was also one of the hegemonic competitors.

It was just that they were at a disadvantage and couldn't compete with Britannia and Shinra. But as the world's third largest country, the Russian Empire had never given up its ambition.

The Tsarist government, who originally hoped to benefit from the battle between the first and second largest countries, suddenly found that their ally was cheating.

The Nanyang fleet defeated the British and Japanese joint fleet. This obviously unscientific thing happened, and it was achieved at a small price.

Now whether or not to go south became a difficult problem that the Tsarist government had to make. This worried Nicholas II.

Minister of the Navy Leonid: "The situation is changing too quickly. It turns out that the British are strong on the outside but weak on the inside. They have the title of world hegemon, but they don't have the strength to match it.

The Royal Navy may not be as strong as we think. For the interests of the Empire, the strategy of going south must be launched as soon as possible.

If necessary, we can give up the Far East first. Time doesn't wait for us. If we don't enter India as soon as possible, it will become an established fact. When the war is decided, I'm afraid we won't be able to do anything. "

It wasn't surprising that the Navy wanted to go south. Russia lacked quality sea ports. Although the Constantinople were good, they were under the nose of the Holy Roman Empire.

What's more, the Mediterranean Sea had become Shinra's inland sea. There was obviously no chance for the Russian Navy to show off. Even if they managed to get in, there were no benefits for them.

The same was true for the Baltic Sea. Not only was there a strong Nordic Federation at the door, but they also had to face the two major countries, Shinra and Britannia.

Getting a piece of the pie was already the limit. It was impossible for them to obtain regional hegemony.

The choices were the subcontinent and the Far East. However, the terrain and climate in the Far East were severely limited. It was difficult to communicate with the mainland, even with the Siberian Railway.

In contrast, the subcontinent was much better. Not only was it rich, but it was also easy to rule. It was the best colony in the world.

Minister of the Interior Vyacheslav: "The eastward strategy has been carried out to this point. Victory is about to be won. We can't give up easily.

The strategy of going south now seems good, but in fact, it is also difficult. Not to mention that the British are not weak in India. They can't even get past their allies.

There are so many members of the Continental Alliance. Who doesn't want a share? How can we monopolize it?

Even if we really take it, I'm afraid we will have to spit out most of it after the war. The benefits that really belong to us may not be as rich as defeating the Japanese.

There is another important factor that we have to consider. With the importance of India to Britannia, I'm afraid the Government of the United Kingdom will surrender as soon as we enter India.

Without the British to contain us, how can we seize control of India before the Holy Roman Empire? "

The deer in India was too fat, and everyone wanted a piece of it. The people of Russia were drooling. The other members of the Continental Alliance were no exception.

If the Russian Empire really wanted to monopolize India, they would immediately become the target of public criticism. If they didn't want to be beaten by society, they would have to spit it out sooner or later.

Foreign Minister Mikhailovich: "The Marquis is right. We must be careful on the issue of going south.

Even if we really decide to go south, it is best to communicate with the Government of Vienna first and divide our respective interests in advance.

We don't have the strength to swallow the Indian subcontinent by ourselves. If we blindly put it in our mouth, it is very likely that we will choke. "

…