Chapter 622: French Navy Participation

At the Brest Shipyard, General Winter spread out the nautical chart and explained to Charles the difficulties now faced by the British Royal Navy.

"After the outbreak of the war, we made some adjustments to the blockade strategy against the German army." General Winter pointed to the German Heligoland Bay and said: "Before the war, we blockaded the near sea, but after the war, we switched to the far sea. Our main force withdrew to the north."

(The above picture shows the location of Heligoland Island. The sea area east of the island is the Heligoland Bay in Germany, which is Germany's most important seaport)

Charles nodded, this was a wise move.

Although the British Royal Navy was much stronger than the German Navy, it was still unable to impose a blockade on German waters, or it was extremely uneconomical.

The reason is that Germany can use a large number of torpedo boats to fight against the larger ones, slowly exhausting the destroyers and even battleships of the Royal Navy. After that, its large warships can break through the blockade and even defeat the Royal Navy.

But if Britain adopted a long-range blockade, Germany's torpedo boats, which were only suitable for near-shore operations, would be directly scrapped and would not pose a threat to the British Royal Navy.

General Winter pointed to the route map and continued:

"We divide the fleet into three parts."

"Battleships and other main battleships are mainly in the north, the narrow English Channel in the south is blocked by small ships and mines, and the middle section is patrolled by faster ships such as destroyers and battlecruisers."

"At the same time, they also escorted merchant ships and tried to strengthen the connection between the two blockade lines in the north and south."

(The above picture is a simplified diagram of the British blockade of the German Navy, which is mainly divided into three parts: upper, middle and lower)

"What's the problem?" Charles asked.

This layout and distribution is very reasonable, and Charles can't see any problems.

General Winter replied: "We have always believed that the German fleet will only break through from the north, because to the south is the narrow English Channel, and the German Navy will basically have no way out if it enters this sea area."

Charles looked up at General Winter with some surprise in his eyes: "You mean, the Germans chose to break through from the south?"

"Yes." General Winter nodded. "Recently, German destroyers have frequently harassed the southern blockade, clearing mines and destroying nets. They have also sunk several of our minelayers and torpedo boats."

Charles was stunned for a moment, then he laughed: "It's a very clever tactic. They know that your main force is in the north, and the south is your weak point."

"That's right, Lieutenant General." General Winter spread his hands helplessly. "The problem now is that the southern blockade is very passive. In this local area, our army not only has no advantage but is also at a disadvantage. However, we cannot transfer the northern fleet back because this will allow the Germans to break through the blockade."

This is a problem that is bound to arise with a lockdown.

Although the British Royal Navy is almost twice the size of the German Navy, it is divided into three parts, and only the main fleet in the north is stronger than the German army, while the other two parts are weaker than the German army.

It would be fine if the southern route was not important, but a comprehensive blockade with mines would prevent German warships from breaking through.

But the English Channel is the most important supply route on the Western Front. If the route is blocked by the German army, the consequences will be disastrous.

"That doesn't seem to have anything to do with your desire for an 'echo sounder,'" said Shire.

"We have a plan." General Winter explained: "If our warships are equipped with a large number of 'echo sounders', we can increase the advantage of our own submarines while attacking German submarines, which may be beneficial to the war in the south."

Charles understood.

The British plan was to "attack the enemy with his own tactics" in the south, using destroyers, submarines and small ships such as torpedo boats to consume the main force of the German Navy.

Therefore, it is particularly important to use destroyers and "echo sounders" to completely suppress German submarines.

Otherwise, the German submarines alone would be enough to keep the British fleet busy and unable to organize a fleet to fight.

"That might be a solution," Charles praised, but he still refused, his tone was firm: "But I can't agree to it, you know why."

Winter smiled helplessly to show his understanding.

The "echo sounder" is related to the control of materials. If Charles agrees to it, he will be sticking his neck out for Britain to block.

Charles smiled slightly, and said with a hint of pride: "We seem to have another solution. Let the French fleet assist Britain in blocking the English Channel. This will help make up for your army's deficiency in the south. What do you think?"

Without waiting for General Winter to reply, Charles added:

"As you said, we are allies, General."

"At the same time, we have the 'echo sounder', which will be mass-produced in the future."

"You can safely leave the anti-submarine and escort missions to the French fleet, so that your warships can be free to deal with the Germans."

General Winter did not answer, and drank coffee to hide his embarrassment.

As a vice admiral, he certainly thought about this.

This will indeed enhance the strength of the Allied Navy and will be of great benefit in blockading the German Navy.

However, doing so would undoubtedly free the French Navy, allowing them to participate more and more in naval battles and even rapidly develop into a powerful navy that could compete with the British Royal Navy.

This is something the Royal Navy does not want to see.

More importantly, the French Navy, equipped with "echo sounders", was better suited for escort because they could find submarines and sink them.

But "escorting" merchant ships is not as simple as it seems.

As time goes on, the British Navy will be unable to intervene and will be controlled by the French Navy, and strategic materials will be completely monopolized by France.

Why?

The British Royal Navy and the German Navy fought hard to protect the safety of the shipping routes, but the supplies were controlled by the French Navy?

It was the British Royal Navy that took the risk to beat the dog, but it was the French Navy that ate the dog meat?

Charles saw through General Winter's thoughts and said calmly, "You seem to have no other choice. Either let the French fleet participate, or risk failure or being broken through by the German fleet."

"Don't worry, General." General Winter replied coldly: "We can handle it ourselves. You seem to have forgotten that the British Royal Navy is the most powerful navy in the world. There is nothing we can't solve."

"Really?" Charles kept smiling, he was not in a hurry.

"Of course!" General Winter nodded affirmatively: "However, if your army can add a few destroyers to reduce our anti-submarine burden, we can still consider it."

A limited addition of a few ships is not the same thing as full participation, which is in the Royal Navy's favor.

"No problem." Charles agreed readily. "Then, do you have any objection to adding 12 more ships to form another anti-submarine squadron?"

General Winter hesitated for a moment and nodded with difficulty.

In fact, adding 12 ships is far from enough.

This is very contradictory!

On the one hand, there is a strong demand for anti-submarine operations, but on the other hand, they do not want the French Navy to be overly involved.

Damn it, how could this guy Charles develop an "echo detector"!

(End of this chapter)