Chapter 1467: Great Britain Must Rise Up (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

In a telegraph office in London, a telegram was received by a clicking key. When a female receiver was about to treat it as a normal telegram, another supervisor next to her noticed the address of the recipient.

"Wait a moment."

The supervisor said, and then he quickly looked up a form in the folder.

A moment later, a motorcyclist drove quickly through the streets of London that had been hit by air raids. Since May last year, the French Empire airship force has carried out hundreds of air raids on British cities including London, causing thousands of casualties.

Even now, after the British were equipped with hundreds of American-made JN-1 aircraft and shot down many French airships, there were still many traces of bombing in the city. The motorcyclist quickly delivered the telegram to the British Admiralty. The telegram was sent up the chain of command and finally handed over to a rear admiral.

At this moment, the clock pointed to 9:12 in the morning, and the date on the calendar was January 23, 1996. The content of the telegram seemed simple, just an ordinary commercial telegram. After the rear admiral verified the content of the telegram, he took out the code book from the safe. After translating the telegram, he looked at the navy's loss records written on the wall and said to his colleagues:

"Okay, it's confirmed, it was a submarine! It was a Ming Dynasty submarine that attacked the cruiser fleet we sent to Belgium!"

The sinking of three armored cruisers may seem insignificant to the Royal Navy, but it once again clearly tells the Royal Navy a fact - the threat of submarines cannot be ignored.

Soon, the loss was reported up the chain of command until it reached Downing Street. For Downing Street, what they saw was not just the loss of three armored cruisers, but a more far-reaching future.

"Gentlemen, submarine!"

In the Prime Minister's office, Robert Gascoigne Cecil, the Conservative leader who was appointed wartime Prime Minister after the outbreak of the war, said to the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Colonial Secretary and several other staff officials sitting in front of him.

"Just as General Fisher speculated, the Ming Empire did not, and did not even support, the French fleet in a decisive battle with the Royal Navy in the Atlantic. They adopted a completely new tactic - submarine warfare!"

Submarine warfare is really fatal to Britain!

After all, more than 60% of Britain's industrial raw materials and food come from overseas. In the past, the Royal Navy only considered intercepting surface ships at sea. When did they think that submarines could be used to attack merchant ships and their overseas transportation lines?

"Instead, they used submarines to attack our merchant fleets in order to strangle the British Empire's overseas shipping lines. What about our merchant fleets? In the vast Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the British Empire's merchant fleets traveled back and forth between North America, Africa, and the Indian colonies. Our escort system was not yet sound and complete, and because the routes were scattered and long, the limited escort forces were ruthlessly dispersed and diluted. Under the circumstances of scattered defenses, weaknesses everywhere, and difficulty in taking care of both ends, the Ming submarines were given an opportunity to take advantage. They were almost vulnerable to submarines. Now, just submarines not only tied up a lot of our forces, but also led to another situation."

Prime Minister Cecil said, turning his eyes to the Secretary of the Navy, George Goschen.

"We have to maintain a strong fleet at home to deal with threats from the sea, while at the same time our strength in other areas is extremely limited."

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister,"

George Goshen said.

"After the outbreak of the war, France's power in the Mediterranean region has an overwhelming advantage over us. France can transport African colonies to Tunisia and Libya through the Sahara Railway. Their merchant fleets can freely transport supplies through the ports of Tunisia and Libya. But what about us? The huge Royal Navy has become a fleet of existence, entrenched in the ports. We can neither leave the empire and go to the Mediterranean nor to the South Atlantic, because no matter which direction we go, we need to consider the threat posed to the mainland by either France or Ming."

George Goshen didn't even mention airplanes, the new weapons used in the surprise attack on Hampton last year, nor did he mention aircraft carriers. However, all this is not a problem now. Soon, the British aircraft carrier will be launched and put into service. Although it is a converted coal ship, at least Britain has an aircraft carrier and no longer has to worry about being passively attacked.

The only problem is the strategic dilemma of the Royal Navy. It is afraid of both wolves in front and tigers behind. If it strengthens its power in the Mediterranean, it is worried that it will be attacked by the Ming fleet. If it takes the initiative to challenge the Ming, it is also worried that France will attack it from behind.

In short, it’s difficult!

"Yes, this is the stalemate we are facing. While we are stuck in this stalemate, our enemies - Ming, France, and Russia - are constantly strengthening their power at sea. In the Mediterranean, their power has gained the upper hand, and soon they will seize the advantage in the Indian Ocean. In the Atlantic, the severely damaged US Navy is no longer able to stop the Imperial Fleet. And what about the Royal Navy? A large number of its forces are trapped by their small submarines. Gentlemen, this is the situation we are facing."

Taking a deep breath, Cecil looked at everyone and said.

"What have we been worried about since the outbreak of the war? The Ming Empire fleet will suddenly appear in the South Pacific and occupy Australia and New Zealand. According to the intelligence we have so far, a large number of landing ships are being built in the Ming Empire's shipyards. It can be expected that in the near future, they will definitely attack Australia and New Zealand. The question before us now is whether to sit and wait for death or break the deadlock!"

As the Prime Minister finished his words, Chief Secretary James Bond gave a direct suggestion.

"Mr. Prime Minister, we must break the deadlock! Take back the initiative!"

As the chief secretary, James Bond will not lose his job because of the change of prime ministers, as prime ministers come and go. However, as a senior civil servant of the empire, he is a local resident of 10 Downing Street.

"Yes, James, we must break the deadlock, but how can we break the current deadlock and predicament!"

Turning his gaze to Admiral George Goshen, Prime Minister Cecil asked,

"General, what is the Admiralty's plan?"

"Mr. Prime Minister, power. Only with strong enough power can we break the current deadlock!"

Admiral George Goschen answered directly that perhaps the pride of the Royal Navy made it unwilling to accept the current situation, but in naval battles, strength is strength, and it is impossible for the Royal Navy to fight in a dispersed manner now.

The answer from the navy was obviously not what Cecil needed. He turned his eyes to his nephew Arthur Balfour, who served as his political adviser. After receiving the gaze from his uncle, Balfour said.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I think that compared to the slow process of improving strength through shipbuilding, the most important thing at the moment is diplomacy! We are not alone, we should unite the strength of our allies. Isn't this the purpose of signing the treaty?"

Then he looked at everyone present and spoke directly.

"That is, through diplomatic alliance with Germany, we will jointly send some warships to the United States and join forces with the American fleet to fight a decisive battle overseas and severely damage the Imperial Navy!"

When Balfour made this suggestion, James Bond, the chief secretary, just nodded slightly. He could sense that there seemed to be some secret between this guy and the Prime Minister, but what was it?

Form a joint fleet with Germany and the United States?

This is no secret at all. In fact, the Royal Navy has also made such calls in the past few months, but it is a challenge to the Imperial Navy!

This is a bit new...

(End of this chapter)