Chapter 1034 The biggest beneficiary must be France
In the London War Building, the person who lacked the most military knowledge in the command was Prime Minister George, a lawyer. Although he succeeded Kitchener as Secretary of War, he played more of a coordinating role among the various branches of the military.
When he discovered that the English Channel was blocked by French fighter planes, the first thing he thought of was the plan proposed by the Minister of Munitions.
"Then," Prime Minister George looked at the Minister of Munitions, "should we move the fleet back to Brest Harbor and continue the attack?"
If it is impossible to reinforce the North Sea, then we can capture the port of Brest and find another way to deal with the North Sea.
The Minister of Munitions shook his head and reminded: "Airport, Your Excellency, the Prime Minister, there is an airport in Brest Port."
Prime Minister George understood instantly.
The French port of Brest never worried about being besieged by the British Royal Fleet because it had an airport there, and what happened in the waters near Caen would also happen in the port of Brest.
The reason why the French army pretended that the port was about to be captured was to attract the British fleet from the North Sea and then trap it here so that it could not go back.
Simply put, the port of Brest was a decoy, and the Royal Navy had no hope of capturing it, and that was the case from the outset.
"These bastards!" Prime Minister George cursed. "They planned it all long ago. Everything is a trap, including Gibraltar."
"There seems to be a loophole." Major General Trenchard was unwilling to give in. "We all know that planes cannot fight at night. Perhaps we can choose to cross the strait at night."
"No." Navy Minister Balfour denied this statement. He pointed to the map and analyzed:
"The English Channel is 520 kilometers long."
"Even if the fleet were to pass through at full speed of 20 knots, it would take 14 hours. It is impossible to pass through the strait safely at night."
"Furthermore, the French bombers have a combat radius of 150 kilometers and have three airfields along the strait. In principle, they can blockade an 820-kilometer sea area."
The Minister of Munitions added: "If you include the Netherlands, the distance is more than this."
Major General Trenchard nodded. As the Chief of Staff of the Royal Flying Corps, he certainly understood this.
Balfour pointed to the middle of the strait again:
“What’s more important is the Strait of Dover.”
"This is the bottleneck of the English Channel, and its narrowest point is only 34 kilometers."
"The French airfield at Dunkirk could easily block this place, and their planes could even stay in the air for several hours."
As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Trenchard.
"It wasn't a few hours in the air," Trenchard corrected. "But it was more than an hour. That's more than we can bear."
Prime Minister George didn't quite understand this statement, so Trenchard explained it with data:
"Because the distance is short, Your Excellency the Prime Minister."
"The Strait of Dover is only 34 kilometers long, which means French aircraft only need to fly 30 to 40 kilometers to find our fleet."
"So the same number of planes can make a short round trip and deliver the bombs to our fleet at the fastest speed."
(The picture above shows the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel, with a minimum distance of 34 kilometers. Dunkirk, where the French military airport and port are located, is nearby.)
Prime Minister George still didn't understand: "But you said that as long as we pass through at night there will be no problem."
The Minister of Munitions shook his head helplessly:
"They won't let us pass at night, Your Excellency."
"If I were Charles, I would allocate some fighter planes and bombers to blockade and drive away the warships in the Strait of Dover during the day."
"Then the French minelayers coming out of Dunkirk could lay mines there with confidence."
Before he could finish his words, a staff officer reported: "Dover Port was attacked by enemy aircraft!"
No one was surprised. If the Minister of Munitions could think of it, Charles could certainly think of it.
This is another kind of sea-air coordination: aircraft control the sea, and minelayers or even fishing boats are used to lay mines. Even though the Royal Navy has battleships that are much more advanced and expensive than fishing boats, it cannot pass through this area.
Both the Channel crossing and the attack on Brest were rejected.
All that's left is...
Major General Trenchard said to the nautical chart, "Stay away from the enemy airfields. Only in this way can we increase the distance between us and the enemy aircraft and increase the time and difficulty of their bombing."
…
The British Second Fleet fled in a panic, and all ships, including Vice Admiral Forbes, changed their course from crossing the English Channel to staying as far away from the French coastline as possible.
This is indeed useful. The widest part of the English Channel is 240 kilometers, which exceeds the combat radius of fighter jets of about 150 kilometers. Therefore, as long as you move towards the UK to escape its combat radius, you will be basically safe.
However, the British fleet was chased by French bombers and torpedo planes during its escape.
The dreadnought HMS Collingwood was hit by a torpedo and lost power, and was then sunk by concentrated fire.
The ammunition compartment of the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Magnificent was detonated by an aerial bomb, a large hole was blown in the port side, causing severe water leakage, and it sank to the bottom of the sea within two minutes.
Five more destroyers were sunk by aerial bombs, but this was not considered a significant achievement for the French army.
Vice Admiral Forbes, commander of the Second Fleet, who had managed to escape the bombing radius, immediately sent a message to his subordinates: "Gentlemen, if possible, replace all artillery with anti-aircraft weapons, including the main guns!"
When he gave the order, he was standing next to the huge twin-mounted main gun of the "Queen Elizabeth", looking at the majestic-looking gun barrel pointing to the sky with emotion.
If they can't hit anything, what's the point of taking them to the battlefield?
The battlefield has changed, becoming unfamiliar, and I have become a rookie who knows nothing and can do nothing!
…
Although the Second Fleet in the English Channel escaped danger, the command headquarters in the London War Office Building did not feel relieved.
A more serious problem lies before them.
"The North Sea," said the Admiral Balfour. "Their focus is on the North Sea!"
Prime Minister George's face turned very ugly.
One of the reasons they decided to send reinforcements to the Atlantic was so that the Second Fleet could reinforce the North Sea at any time.
But now that the English Channel is blocked, reinforcing the North Sea has become a delusion.
"Charles won." Prime Minister George sighed. "Whether we win or lose this battle, the biggest beneficiary will definitely be France."
This is a political consideration.
Germany's powerful navy also worked against Charles, even though those ships were mere targets for French bombers.
Therefore, for Charles, nothing could be better than using the German High Seas Fleet to consume the British Royal Navy.
Rear Admiral Trenchard asked the First Lord of the Admiralty: "How many days will it take for the Second Fleet to sail around England to reinforce the North Sea?"
The Navy Minister replied with difficulty: "It will take at least three days."
The office fell silent.
In three days, the battle in the North Sea may be over!
(End of this chapter)
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