Chapter 1369: European General Mobilization (Third update, please subscribe)

February 26th.

Three days after the "Battle of the Persian Gulf", Prime Minister Primrose delivered a speech in Congress, publicly stating that "peace is hopeless" and declaring that "the Russians are seeking war. If so, then as they wish, the British Empire will meet the challenge anywhere in the world, on land and at sea!"

At the same time, Britain issued an ultimatum to Russia.

The ultimatum demanded that Russia immediately withdraw all its troops from Persia, withdraw to the pre-war border, and stop invading Persia. At the same time, it also demanded that Russia hand over the "criminals who killed British Royal Navy officers and soldiers" in the Persian Gulf.

No one would think that Russia would accept such an ultimatum that would seriously hurt its national self-esteem. "Whether it is the British Empire or the Roman Empire, they all have the arrogance and pride of the empire."

48 hours later, the Roman Empire directly rejected the ultimatum.

On the 28th, the Roman Empire announced a general mobilization.

The next day, when the ultimatum demanding that the Roman Empire stop mobilization was not accepted, the British Empire announced a general mobilization.

At the beginning, the situation seemed to be just a conflict between Britain and Russia. Newspapers in various countries threatened that this would be another reappearance of the "Crimean War". Newspapers supporting Russia believed that this would be a great opportunity for the Russian army to avenge the shame of Crimea.

But on March 1st, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. On that day, the French Empire officially released an "Investigation Report on the Jerusalem Incident". According to the investigation report, British spies such as Rolls planned this incident with the support of the British officials!

For a time, the whole world was in an uproar.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately lodged a complaint with the UK and issued an ultimatum: demanding that the UK immediately arrest the British officials involved in the incident and that French police enter the UK to investigate. At the same time, it also demanded direct talks with the UK on its support for spies planning the "Jerusalem incident."

Faced with the sudden accusation, the top leaders in London were completely confused. They had no idea how this incident happened. But after investigation, everyone including Prime Minister Primrose realized that this was not a frame-up.

The British really did it!

Not only did he kill Napoleon IV, he also killed the Pope!

Faced with this fact, everyone, including Prime Minister Primrose, made a similar decision in unison - denial!

Strongly deny!

Two days later, the British government completely denied France's accusations, and even accused France of frame-up and saying that it was an excuse for France to support Russia. As for Lawrence... there was no such person in Britain at all.

The British answer angered France, and the French anger was ignited once again. The French Legislative Assembly immediately used this as an excuse to declare a general mobilization.

Although the "Imperial Alliance" members Austria-Hungary and the Ming Empire, as well as the Allied members Germany, Italy and the United States did not announce mobilization.

But one thing is certain: a war of unprecedented scale is about to break out.

"In five to eight weeks, at most three months, we will see the establishment of a new order in Europe and in the world..."

——The New York Times, March 4, 1995.

Of course, when the American public opinion circles made such claims, it did not prevent the American industrial and commercial circles from being happy, because they knew that the outbreak of war meant business opportunities, and they could make a lot of wealth by maintaining neutrality in this war in Europe.

Gold is a good thing!

…

In the South Atlantic, San Jorge Bay, the First Air Fleet is conducting training. Before the naval review, the navy originally intended to show their new gadgets to the world through the naval review, but their idea was rejected by Emperor Zhu.

However, the Navy still took the opportunity to transfer the First Air Fleet from the Pacific to the Atlantic. In fact, this was also to enable the fleet to conduct long-distance navigation training.

This day, the weather was fine as usual. Before my eyes was a vast expanse of azure sea, with a few small islands dotted on the sea surface like water droplets and rocks.

"As of yesterday, we have basically completed the basic training of sea combat. From today, we will start the application training of shallow water torpedo attack and learn how to attack anchored ships."

Lu Deren, the Air Wing Commander, said casually to the pilots standing in line in front of him. When Lu Deren taught the pilots the techniques of torpedo attack, his tone was as casual and careless as if he was announcing a general training subject. If it were an ordinary person, he would swallow his saliva when he said this, or secretly pay attention to the pilots' faces. Even if he pretended to be calm, it would be inevitable that some actions would make people aware of the seriousness of the problem. However, Lu Deren's attitude was no different from usual, and his tone would even make people not pay attention to what he was saying.

"You are truly worthy of being the founder of naval aviation!"

Qiu Zhenzhi, who was standing aside, praised secretly. At the same time, he felt that Lieutenant Colonel Lu was the perfect person to implement the plan. Not only was he a serious officer who was good at tactical research, but he was also tough, bold and careful, making him perfect for the implementation of this plan.

Since joining the 1st Air Fleet almost two months ago, Qiu Zhenzhi has been learning about the performance of aircraft carriers and aircraft, and studying tactics. Even now, he is studying in the operations room like ordinary pilots.

Glancing at Staff Officer Qiu who was taking notes seriously, Lu Deren continued his lecture calmly:

"Today, we will use training mines to simulate attacks, but not conduct actual firing. We must master the essentials. First, after takeoff and assembly, led by the squadron leader, we will ascend to two thousand meters. Fly to the east of the target and begin preparations for the attack."

He gestured with his hands:

"We will fly over the target mountainside and descend into the canyon. The distance between each plane is 500 meters. When we are zigzagging through the canyon, the flight altitude is 50 meters. When we reach the sky above the bay, the flight altitude is 40 meters."

The team members had been mentally prepared for all of this. In fact, over the past month, they had been training on how to raid the bay. They even trained in San Jorge Bay because there was a bay suitable for training attacks a few dozen kilometers away.

But flying at an ultra-low altitude of 40 meters is definitely a challenge to all pilots. But to carry out a torpedo attack, the altitude must be reduced as much as possible.

Lu Deren continued in a calm tone:

"Then the bay will appear before us, and the enemy fleet will be anchored in the berth. We will then lower our flight altitude to 20 meters and launch immediately."

The team members were getting a little nervous. If they fired a torpedo at an altitude of 20 meters, the plane would plunge into the sea if they were not careful.

"The target is the buoy on the sea 500 meters ahead. This is where the enemy ship is moored. When launching, keep the nose angle at zero degrees and the speed at 95 kilometers per hour. It is very important to remember this launching posture! After dropping the torpedo, immediately rise up, turn back from the right side, break away from the enemy ship, and then return. This is the end of one training session."

After deploying the attack tactics calmly, Lu Deren looked around at his players with a sharp gaze.

“How about it, can you do it?”

"able!"

The young pilots answered defiantly.

"You're very motivated!"

Lu Deren smiled.

"But it's difficult, especially, don't misjudge the altitude when launching. Once you reach the beach, you have to launch immediately, otherwise you will lose the chance to aim. Also, if you deviate from the course, you will hit an obstacle. So you have to be bold and careful. Now, Captain Li Tianle will demonstrate first. Okay, let's start the training!"

"yes!"

After answering in unison, the pilots rushed to their respective planes like a whirlwind, and the propellers quickly started to turn. When Li Tianle, the captain of the torpedo attack team, walked towards the plane he was driving, Lu Deren walked up to him and said:

"Have fun, but do it well!"

"No problem, just watch me, I guarantee it will be correct. But..."

Li Tianle lowered his voice and said:

"What you said just now was very good. You are better at summarizing than me. I may not be able to say it as well as myself!"

“We’re all just groping.”

Lu Deren smiled and said:

"Okay, keep working on it. It's not easy to keep the torpedo at a depth of ten meters. I'm watching you from above."

After saying that, Lu Deren walked up to Qiu Zhenzhi and said.

"How about it, Staff Officer Qiu, you sit in the machine gun seat and go with me?"

Qiu Zhenzhi would certainly not refuse such an invitation. After all, this was an opportunity to learn about flying, he said quickly.

"Thank you for your help!"

Li Tianle boarded the plane and slowly flew it to the take-off line against the sea breeze...

The old group is down, so I created a new book club group: 739209015. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.

(End of this chapter)