Chapter 881

While the coalition forces were having a headache over the heavy losses, the Government of London was even more gloomy.

The Royal Navy, which had high hopes, not only failed to achieve a sweeping victory, they didn't even win.

For Britannia, the lose-lose outcome was failure. In the battle during the day, the Air Force had tried their best to create opportunities for the Navy and failed to achieve their strategic goals. It would be even more difficult to get such opportunities later.

Without air supremacy and unable to suppress the enemy's Navy, the next battle to defend the British Isles would be unavoidable.

Looking at the battle report in his hand, Campbell was speechless for a long time. From the group of cold numbers above, it could be seen that the Royal Navy had really gone all out.

The failure to win was not because the Royal Navy didn't work hard, but because the enemy was too strong.

Looking at the data on the paper, even a military novice would know who was strong and who was weak. Yes, the Royal Navy did have the advantage in conventional warships, but as a combat force, there were seven fewer dreadnoughts.

The Royal Navy was already worthy of the title of hegemon, being able to defeat the strong with the weak and inflict losses on both sides. But this was far from enough. What Britain needed was a victory, a hearty victory.

"Everyone has seen the battle report. Whether it was the Air Force or the Navy, they suffered heavy losses in the battle during the day. The number of deaths alone was as high as 14,000, a record since the start of the war.

The loss of weapons and equipment was also heavy. It will be difficult for us to organize a second battle like this for a long time to come.

At such a high price, we also achieved amazing results and hit the enemy's Navy. But this is far from enough. The enemy's strength is stronger than we expected.

Whether willing to admit it or not, the plan to rely on the Navy to intercept the enemy's landing has failed. The upcoming battle to defend the British Isles will become even more brutal and bloody. "

There was no blame, no accountability, and it was completely a matter of fact. It wasn't that Campbell had high moral integrity, but it was really meaningless to talk about it now.

The outside world's criticism of the government had reached the sky, and the status of the cabinet government in the eyes of the people had long fallen to the bottom.

Campbell's own reputation had also plummeted. If it weren't for political correctness and the domestic media being merciful, he would have been the worst leader in the history of the British Empire.

But the worst Prime Minister had already been crowned. Lord North, Spencer Percival, the Duke of Wellington, these predecessors could not stop him from reaching the top.

After all, it was a monarchy, and the worst leader had to be a "regicide." The media also had to be politically correct, and the "incompetent" Campbell could only follow.

Of course, this was based on the premise that the war was not over. If they were defeated, they would not be so easy to talk to.

Interestingly enough, the Campbell cabinet, whose reputation had fallen to rock bottom, was not dismissed by the parliament. Especially in the recent period, even the impeachment proposals had disappeared.

It was as if all his competitors had disappeared overnight. Even a ready-made handle that was delivered to his doorstep was useless.

On the other hand, the Campbell cabinet submitted their resignations to the king many times, hoping that a talented person would step forward to turn the tide.

Even Edward VII, who had rebuilt the authority of Britannia's monarchy, kept a low profile after the outbreak of the war. He pushed all the government affairs to the cabinet and became a hands-off shopkeeper. Even Edward VII, who had rebuilt the authority of the British monarchs, kept a low profile after the outbreak of the war. He pushed all the government affairs to the cabinet and became a hands-off boss.

You can't blame everyone for being snobbish. It's just that the mess left behind by the previous few presidents was too messy, and the mess was too difficult to clean up.

Even if they were lucky to win the war, Britannia would suffer heavy losses. As a government leader, not only would he not win reputation, but he would also be criticized.

This was the case in the World War of the original universe. The government that led Britannia to win the war was immediately ousted as soon as the war ended.

Although the era was different, the political logic and essence were still the same. Smart people would not wade in this muddy water at all.

Of course, Campbell's cabinet did not do badly, which was also an important factor in being able to stay in office.

Ordinary people might not understand, but the elites understood how difficult it was to fight against the entire European continent with the power of one country.

"The Army is ready to fight to the death. We will defend the British Isles at all costs and let the enemy understand that landing is the biggest mistake.

But defense alone cannot win the war. Besides, the enemy this time is the entire European continent. To win the war, the Navy and Air Force must have a more proactive strategic plan. "

Shouting the loudest slogans and pushing the matter to his colleagues, Marcus was not ashamed at all.

As the Minister of War, Marcus was well aware of the quality of lobster soldiers.

Originally, lobster soldiers could be regarded as elites, and their fighting strength was among the top in the world. Unfortunately, after the expansion of the army, the fighting strength of the army took a sharp turn for the worse.

Whether they were willing to admit it or not, the current lobster soldiers were just a mob.

Since the Army could not accomplish the important task of defeating the Continental Alliance, then it could only be handed over to his colleagues.

In any case, the Army had always been raised by a stepmother. In times of crisis, the more money one had, the more work one had to do.

The Minister of Air was fine. As a new military branch, the Air Force was usually not allocated much resources, so it was understandable that they could not beat the enemy.

The Minister of Navy was in an awkward situation. For a long time, the Navy had the largest budget, and every time they competed for the military budget, the British Isles' safety was inevitably involved.

Now that it was time to protect the British Isles, they had dropped the ball.

'The enemy is powerful', this was not the reason. In the past, the Royal Navy's bragging had reached the sky, and its current performance was simply unsatisfactory.

The ashamed and resentful Swindin could only hang his head and pretend that he had not heard anything.

Counterattack was not an issue, but it could wait until the new warships were commissioned. As long as the gap in the battleships was filled, Swindin was still very confident in the Royal Navy.

But this required time. Although the shipyards were working overtime, but this still required time.

So far, only the northern shipyards had completed the construction of the warships and were about to be launched. The other shipyards, affected by the enemy's air raids, had more or less been delayed.

But on the battlefield, time waited for no man. The Royal Navy could not completely control the sea, so the enemy could escort the Army to land in the British Isles.

Although the Army had strengthened its defenses, but Britannia's coastline was so long that it was impossible to take care of all of it. It could only give priority to areas of high strategic value.

Once the enemy successfully landed, no matter where they came from, the political impact would be fatal.

The Oceanic Alliance was already jittery, and if such bad news were to spread, it would be forcing everyone to go their separate ways.

The room fell silent, leaving only the throbbing of each person's pulse. The oppressive atmosphere made it difficult to breathe.

Seeing that he could not avoid it, Swindin slowly said, "The losses during the day were too great, and most of the warships have to undergo major repairs. It is not suitable for us to fight the enemy again in the short term.

However, we will dispatch high-speed warships and submarines to attack the enemy's transport ships and logistics ships.

As for the all-out counterattack, we plan to do it three months later. At that time, our new batch of warships will be commissioned, and it will be just the right time to reverse the balance of strength between the two sides. "

This was the weakest period of the Royal Navy. If they went out to fight the enemy again, they would have to use ordinary battleships to restrain the enemy's dreadnoughts.

This "restrain" would require them to pay a price in blood. The battle during the day was enough to prove this point, and a total of five battleships had sunk because of this.

The price was so heavy, and the result was only damage to the enemy ships.

In contrast, the confrontation between the dreadnoughts was much more harmonious. After the battle royale, many dreadnoughts on both sides were seriously injured, but not a single one was directly sunk.

There was nothing strange about it. The accuracy of cannons in naval battles was low to begin with, and the dreadnoughts had thick armor and a strong enough defense.

Unless they were hit multiple times by the main cannons, they would at most be partially damaged, and it would not be fatal.

As long as their luck was not too bad, the survival ability of the dreadnoughts in naval battles was still very strong.

In the original space-time, there were very few dreadnoughts that were directly sunk by warships. On the contrary, in the era of aircraft carriers, most of them were destroyed by planes.

There was no need to worry about aircraft carriers for the time being. The English Channel was only so big, and the air force could reach it in less than an hour. The land was a natural aircraft carrier.

"The air force will also sneak attack the enemy's transport ships at the right time. However, we still need to avoid such encounters during the day as much as possible.

When the Japanese death squads arrive, we will choose the right time to launch a sneak attack on the enemy's main naval force.

In the short term, we still need to accumulate strength. We can only provide limited firepower support in daily warfare. "

Strength was the foundation of everything, and the air force itself was not strong enough, so Attilio's words were naturally not firm.

The most proactive strategy was also limited to sneak attacks. There was no need to even think about a decisive battle.

Even if the air force wanted to erupt, they did not have enough planes and pilots. A battle like the one during the day could not be organized in a short period of time.

...

After listening to the military's opinion, Campbell's expression changed dramatically as if he was in a fierce struggle in his heart.

In the end, reason prevailed. Whether or not they were willing to admit it, with the current situation, it was difficult for Britannia to win this war.

Unless there was a drastic change in the international situation, and the major members of the Continental Alliance collectively changed sides, or the Holy Roman Empire collapsed from within, Britannia could not make a comeback.

It was better to pray to God for a meteorite to smash the enemy than to hope for such a drastic change.

It was a military tragedy, but it was even worse politically. The probability of winning the war was almost zero, but it was still possible to end the war with dignity.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the British Empire was truly a huge power. Even without Africa, it was still a behemoth.

In the past, it was a symbol of Britannia's glory, but now it was an obstacle for them to retreat.

A big power was bound to be coveted by others. If they wanted to end the war with dignity, they must first dispel the greed of the hungry wolves.

There were so many members of the Continental Alliance, and if there was one that had no ambition for the wealth of the British Empire, it would probably be Monaco.

Anyone with a bit of power was now rubbing their fists and waiting to share the feast. It was not an easy task to make everyone stop.

After hesitating for a moment, Campbell said fiercely, "Don't wait any longer. Send all the revolutionaries we took in back, activate all the spies buried in the European continent, and provide as much support as possible …"