Chapter 850

The small story that happened on the Persian front did not attract the attention of the Government of Vienna. People with different identities looked at the problem from different angles.

In Franz's view, whether it was borrowing the road or using the Russian Army to attack Persia, it was only a small problem.

It is not the first time that the Russians have been drooling over India. Regardless of what the top officials of the Tsarist government thought, the nobles and bureaucrats in the country could no longer hold back.

Even with the battlefield in the Far East restricting their hands and feet, it could not stop the ambitions of the Russians in India. Especially after the Shinra Navy achieved a great victory in the Battle of Malacca, the confidence of the Russians in the mainland alliance to win the war directly soared.

Within the Russian Empire, the voice of the pro-war faction had already reached the sky. What the nobles of Russia were most worried about now was: "If we go too late, the British will surrender."

This was not without reason. This was the case in the previous European war. Before they could do anything, the French surrendered.

The British Empire was much richer than France. Just India alone was enough to make the Russians unable to do anything. If they were too late and missed the opportunity to divide India, there would be no medicine for regret.

Under this background, not only would the Russian Army not obstruct, they might even take advantage of the situation and directly join in.

Anyway, it was not the first time that Russia and Austria had a joint war. According to previous cases, fighting with the Austrian army not only guaranteed logistics, but also the standard of food was several levels higher.

As for political issues, people with different stances had different views. Perhaps in the eyes of the pro-war faction, those who obstructed the start of the war were "national traitors."

Once the established facts were established, with Nicholas II's indecisive character, there was nothing he could do other than pinch his nose and accept it.

If the Russians were to participate in the war, did they still need to worry about cannon fodder? If worst comes to worst, they could just divide a piece of India and give it to the Russians after the war.

Right now, the only thing that could attract Franz's attention was the European battlefield. The military was no longer satisfied with the bombing of the British Isles. The land, sea, and air forces jointly came up with a grand strategy to land on the British Isles.

"Isn't it too hasty to land on the British Isles now?"

One had to admit that air supremacy was a good thing. The Holy Roman Empire with air supremacy stunned the British at the beginning of the war.

As a result, under the situation where they didn't have control over the sea, the Shenluo military was also prepared to forcefully disembark.

Once the landing was successful, the war would enter a countdown. Just by relying on a group of temporarily recruited militia, it was impossible to stop the attack of the Shenluo Army.

But it was not easy to land. The British might seem clumsy now, but that was only because they had not yet adapted to the war.

If he really reacted, John Bull wouldn't be so easy to deal with. Even if he couldn't turn the tables, he could at least struggle a little.

Chief of Staff Morkes: "Your Majesty, this is the best choice to end the war in a short period of time.

The British had yet to react. Their mindset was still stuck in the era of the European War. This was their best chance.

If we succeed in our landing, we can defeat the English and win the war in less than three months.

If we fight according to conventional methods, it will be very difficult for us to win this war without at least a year or two.

In order to win the war in the shortest time and minimize the losses, it is acceptable to take a little risk. "

'Finish a world war in three months'. Just thinking about it made people feel excited. This was clearly cheating.

If the war could end in such a short time, the British would be looking for an ally in vain.

Anyway, Franz didn't think the American countries could complete the mobilization and send troops to the European battlefield in just three months.

Of course, in this way, the strategy of breaking diplomatic relations would be wasted. No matter how the blockade was, the British Isles still had three months' worth of supplies.

In this regard, Franz didn't have any special requirements. As long as they could win the war, he could accept any strategy.

After hesitating for a while, Franz said slowly, "Let's try it first. But the plan has to be more thorough. We can't let the enemy take advantage of the loopholes and cause too many casualties to the attacking troops."

It turned out that every politician had a risk-taking gene. The only difference was whether the gene was dominant or recessive.

Forcefully landing on the British Isles didn't seem to have any problems, but there were many hidden dangers.

The Royal Navy's main force was still there, and the British Air Force also retained a certain amount of power. If they found an opportunity, the possibility of heavy losses was very high.

The failure of the original "Sea Lion Project" was also caused by many factors. The seeds had been planted in advance during the Dunkirk battle.

Of course, the most important thing was that someone suddenly had a brainwave. He changed the focus of the air raid to bombing London, which gave the British Air Force a chance to breathe and avoid danger.

Franz naturally wouldn't ignore the lessons of history. Although the Shinra Air Force was also bombing London, the strategic purpose was completely different.

The bombing of London was aimed at the command system. They wanted to use the bombing to make London fall into chaos, collapse the command system of the British Army, and force the British to surrender.

The bombing of the Shinra Air Force was much simpler. It was aimed at the British Air Force. The main purpose was to lure and kill the main force of the British Air Force.

In essence, the bombing of London was a cover. The actual bombing target was the British heavy industrial system.

In Franz's view, the significance of blowing up a large steel plant was no less than annihilating a division of the British army. Destroying a shipyard was far more meaningful than sinking a battleship.

In the case of a weak healer, once they lost their own hematopoietic mechanism, it was only a matter of time before the British were defeated.

With a more certain choice, Franz naturally wouldn't take the risk. But now it was different. The risk had been reduced to a controllable range.

The worst result was nothing more than losing a few ships and tens of thousands of troops. For the current Holy Roman Empire, it was completely bearable.

…

The launch of the Shinra version of "Sea Lion Project" didn't mean that the previous strategy was invalid. It wasn't contradictory in itself, and it was completely possible to carry it out at the same time.

Changing the strategic plan at will was definitely a big taboo in the military. For example, that so-and-so lost the country because of a hammer here and a stick there.

Learning from history, Franz had always held a cautious attitude when it came to strategic issues.

It seemed that the Holy Roman Empire had a lot of strategies. It seemed like there was a focus everywhere, but it also seemed like there was no focus. In fact, that was not the case.

In the choice of strategy, a big country and a small country were completely different. Small countries were limited by their national strength. They just had to choose a direction and fight to the death.

They didn't expect to turn around or change halfway because small countries often only had one chance. Failure meant the end.

In contrast, a big country was different. An abundant national strength could support multiple strategies at the same time. Even if one or two of them failed, it didn't matter.

Compared to Britannia, the Holy Roman Empire already had the advantage in national strength. It was not surprising that multiple strategies were launched at the same time.

A careful study would show that the previous series of strategic plans of the Shinra military had a common feature: to weaken the war potential of Britannia.

…

The sun was setting, and only the afterglow of the sunset was left. On the sea, two ships with the British flag were sailing toward Cam Ranh Bay one after the other.

From the ancient cannons, one could vaguely tell that the ship behind was a warship. The warship was so close to the merchant ship. It was strange no matter how one looked at it.

Closer and closer. The steel wire connecting the merchant ship and the warship was exposed. It turned out that the warship was being pulled forward by the merchant ship.

The warship finally entered the port. The surviving officers and soldiers on the warship collectively breathed a sigh of relief. As one of the lucky ships that managed to escape the Battle of Malacca, the Storm also paid a heavy price for it.

From the dense bullet marks on the surface, it could be seen that the Storm had suffered a lot. If one looked closely, they would find that the draft of the Storm was unusually deep, as if it was overloaded.

It was impossible to overload. In order to escape, the ship had abandoned everything that could be abandoned halfway.

Since it was not overloaded, the result was very obvious. Fortunately, the Storm was designed to be enclosed. Otherwise, the warship's water would have been fatal.

Perhaps it was because they ran too high during the escape. After getting rid of the enemy's pursuers, the power system of the Storm was directly paralyzed.

If it wasn't for the fact that they happened to encounter a British merchant ship on the way, the Gale would have become a ghost ship after escaping the disaster.

As soon as the warship stopped, the maintenance staff quickly boarded the ship for maintenance. From the speed of their reaction, it could be seen that the maintenance engineer was definitely experienced. It was obviously not the first time they encountered such a situation.

The result of the Battle of Malacca had long been spread. After the initial chaos, the Royal Navy that stayed behind quickly got into shape.

No matter what, life had to go on. The result of the naval battle could not be changed, but the aftermath still had to be done.

The main force of the Far East Fleet was lost. It was considered to be dead in name only. Naturally, reinforcements could not be sent out. The only thing that could be done was to repair the surviving warships in time.

There were no flowers, no applause, and no welcome banquet. From the tense atmosphere, it could be seen that the situation in Cam Ranh Bay was not optimistic.

However, this was a small problem for Colonel Nigel, who had just escaped from death. It was a blessing from God to be able to survive. Who would have the time to care about the situation?

Even if he wanted to think about the future, it would be after going back to have a good sleep and completely relax.

…

Colonel Nigel said with a blank expression, "Your Excellency, the above is the whole story of the Battle of Malacca.

This was not a war at all. From the beginning to the end, we were passively attacked. We did not even organize a decent counterattack.

After Admiral Michel ordered us to disperse and retreat, we separated. The telegram sent later was not returned at all.

When we retreated, most of the enemy's fighter planes attacked the main force ships. The Elizabeth was most likely destroyed. "

It could be seen that Colonel Nigel had suffered a heavy blow. He was not as high-spirited as he used to be. His whole body was filled with a decadent aura, and his tone was full of "despair."

It could not be helped. The Royal Navy had lost too badly in the Battle of Malacca. Not only did they lose their pride in the past, but they also lost confidence in the future.

Colonel Nigel was one of them. In his opinion, with the strong rise of the air force, the Navy would have less and less room to play in the future war.

Unfortunately, the Holy Roman Empire was the world's most powerful air force, leaving Britannia far behind in the field of aviation.

In the next battle, if there was no way to deal with the enemy's air force, no matter how strong the Royal Navy was, it would be difficult for them to exert their true strength.

Since he had lost confidence in the future, Colonel Nigel was naturally at ease about the possible accountability that might happen next.

He was not a deserter on the battlefield. Nigel only ran away with the "Gale" after receiving the order to retreat.

If he could bring the "Gale" back, he would be worthy of the British Empire. Asking for more would be making things difficult for him.

However, someone had to be the scapegoat. The best choice was naturally the fleet commander, Admiral Michel.

But this guy had most likely seen God. Everyone was tolerant of the dead. Since Michel had died on the battlefield, no matter how big the mistake was, it would be written off.

The responsibility could only be borne by the living, and it had to be an officer with a small background. The higher the rank and position, the more likely they were to be the scapegoat.

Unfortunately, Colonel Nigel was one of the candidates for the scapegoat. After all, most of the higher-ranked ships were on the main force ships, and the main force ships had sunk to the bottom of the sea.

"Colonel Nigel, that's all for today. What you need now is to go back and take a hot bath, then have a good sleep, or go out and relax."

Governor Evans did not want to make things difficult for Nigel even though he did not get the information he wanted. Accountability was a matter for the future. No one could care so much right now.

With the end of the Battle of Malacca, the international structure of the East Asia region was completely broken. Jinlan Bay was no longer safe.

The enemy could attack at any time. With the power of Britannia in Indo-China, there was almost no chance of winning.

Once the Indo-China Peninsula fell, Sir Evans, as the governor, would also be one of the unlucky ones.

Both of them were in the same predicament, so why rush to torture each other?

Looking at the circles under his eyes, it was obvious that Governor Evans had not slept well in the past few days. Perhaps the British Empire still had a chance to turn the tables, but the British Indo-China Peninsula colonies had no possibility of a counterattack.

…

The world would not change because of individual will. For the British, the situation in East Asia continued to deteriorate.

The once powerful British Far East Fleet was now a stray dog, chased all over the world by the Continental Alliance.

That's right, Spain and the Netherlands also joined the war. Victory was the easiest way to stimulate people's nerves. The originally reluctant Spain and the Netherlands also changed their original minds.

Since they were already on the ship, why not seek the greatest benefit for themselves? The opportunity to beat a dog while it was down was rare, so they naturally could not miss it.