The Rise of the Empire

"Mr. Lord of the Admiralty, there's an urgent call from the Mediterranean Fleet!" Churchill, who was shaving, was dragged out of the bathroom. Churchill, now with a lathered face, was not to mention angry. However, as a competent Lord of the Admiralty, he immediately accepted the telegram.

"Today, the transport fleet transporting the Australian and New Zealand Dominion Army was attacked by the German fleet. Except for 2 of the thirty-eight transport ships, all the others were sunk or captured. The defense ship in charge of Rhyme The armored cruiser, the light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the light cruiser HMAS Melbourne were sunk. The personnel losses have not yet been calculated, but the number of Army survivors is currently about 6,000."

"I knew it! Despicable! Shameless! The Americans and the Argentines played tricks on us together. We were like monkeys! We were tricked around! Did Prince Louis and Sir Jericho know the news?" Churchill wiped a handful of asked the soapy face.

Soon, Churchill thought about where the German warships involved in the attack came from! No wonder the Germans delivered the Argentine warship, it turned out to be just to break out of the North Sea! A map of the world instantly appeared in Churchill's mind, starting from the North Sea, across the entire Atlantic Ocean, then around the Horn of Africa, and then across most of the Indian Ocean... If nothing else, aside from the hostile stance of both parties, the person who can formulate this plan is either a madman or a genius! Judging from the effect, the person who proposed this plan should obviously be considered the latter!

"Prince Louis already knows that General Jericho is rushing to London." The subordinate said.

"Attention, we must block the news, not only from the people, but also from the cabinet! Otherwise, the navy will not do anything! Those politicians whose brains are worse than monkeys will only do bad things!" Churchill immediately reminded.

"By the way, Japan's first fleet heading to Europe was also attacked. The battleships Satsuma and Aki were sunk, and the Japanese transport fleet was also attacked. According to the survivors' descriptions, they probably also suffered losses. Ten thousand officers and soldiers," said an officer.

"Never before has a battleship caused so much damage to the British Empire in a war. Look, let those politicians who only know how to point fingers look! These troubles are just the beginning. In the future, this fleet will become the main force on the Empire's Indian Ocean route. Cancer, they will keep us bleeding!”

Complaining and anger are useless now. After meeting with the Prime Minister, the latter expressed his willingness to suppress the matter temporarily in order to prevent political issues from affecting the navy's operations. But Prime Minister Herbert Henry asked Churchill to solve this problem as soon as possible and use two German battleships to pay tribute to the dead in this naval battle!

Politically, the British Prime Minister immediately protested to Argentina, but soon Argentina said that the warship was accidentally detained by the Germans, which also made Argentina very angry. The number of Argentine officers and soldiers to pick up the ship was insufficient, which resulted in the necessity of using Germans. Unexpectedly, at sea, The Germans took control of the warship, which made Argentina very indignant, and Argentina subsequently confiscated German assets in Afghanistan. And the diplomatic relations with Germany will be changed from the master level to the agent level. Well, whether the British believe it or not, Argentina has given an explanation anyway.

The British did not dare to make a big deal out of this matter. After all, the war had just begun and two divisions of troops were lost at sea. This kind of thing would cause a huge shock both militarily and politically if word of it spread. So how to treat it as cold as possible is the key. And at this time, the British naturally did not have the ability to sanction Argentina. So this matter can only be put on hold for now. Then slowly nothing happened.

That night, Churchill, Prince Louis and Sir Fisher welcomed Sir Jericho, the commander of the Grand Fleet who still knew little about the matter. Afterwards, a staff officer naturally introduced the whole process of the matter to Jericho. Of course, I will not talk about the political mistakes and previous events. The focus is on the situation of the opponent's fleet.

"The two warships built by Germany for Argentina were based on the country's Helgeland-class battleships. They had good defense and firepower. The destruction of the Defense was expected, but the destruction of the Satsuma-class battleship was beyond our expectations. Although the Satsuma-class battleship is outdated, its defensive strength is at the same level as the first-generation dreadnought. According to the information provided by the Japanese, the two battleships did not last too long. Therefore, I think our estimate of the performance of the German battleship is somewhat low. "After listening to the introduction, Jericho said from the perspective of naval technology.

"Then what?" Churchill frowned and asked.

"Judging from the speed, they seem to be much faster than the Satsuma class. Although the Satsuma class is a pre-dreadnought ship and the fastest speed currently does not exceed 18 knots, after sailing tens of thousands of kilometers, the two German warships can still exceed Samona illustrates a problem. The opponent's normal speed is much higher than that of ordinary battleships. If this is the case, it will be very difficult for our ordinary battleships to kill them." Jericho said carefully.

"Can General Betty's battlecruiser detachment be used? General Betty has 4 super-dreadnought battlecruisers, and the speed is fast enough." Prince Louis asked.

"The speed is very fast, but the defense of the Tigers and Lions may not be stronger than the Satsuma class. I'm worried that when the two sides fight, we will still pay a heavy price." Jericho said.

"Are we going to use the most powerful Queen Elizabeth-class battleship to go to the Indian Ocean to solve this problem?" Churchill said with some displeasure.

"Can we leave this matter to the Japanese fleet? In terms of time, we are now in a very unfavorable situation. It is impossible for us to deploy a main fleet in the Indian Ocean to block the entrance to the Persian Gulf. When will the German fleet come out? I don’t know at all. On the contrary, the one under the least pressure now is the Japanese Navy. They also suffered heavy losses in this battle. They have 4 Kongang-class battlecruisers. 4 versus 2 is always enough, right?" Fisher said .

"First, the Japanese may not agree. Second, we must show results now! General Betty's success in the German coastal waters is not enough to restore the Imperial Navy's lost prestige and dignity. We must kill them personally!" Churchill said.

To be honest, Churchill really wanted the Japanese to take on this task and was willing to do nothing else to reduce the pressure. The damage has been done. This is a sunk cost. There is nothing you can do about it no matter how unhappy you are. If the Japanese can solve the problem, the Royal Navy is naturally willing to bear the embarrassing name. After all, compared with several of the most elite battleships leaving the country for several months, the loss of face is actually nothing. But Churchill knew that the Japanese attached great importance to their battleships! Having just lost two ships, why would they immediately go head-to-head with a powerful enemy? After all, from the Japanese perspective, this is a European war.

"We have to find a way, don't we?" Churchill said.

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