Chapter 990 SE5a
War House Meeting Room, London, England.
The politicians sitting at the long table all frowned and talked in low voices.
Especially the Secretary of the Admiralty Balfour and Prime Minister George, who huddled together holding the map distributed by the Minister of Munitions with displeasure on their faces.
At this time, the Minister of Munitions pushed the door open and came in. He felt the atmosphere in the meeting room and was quite proud: "Are you waiting for me?"
After saying this, he sat down in his seat.
Prime Minister George raised the map in his hand, glared at him and said with dissatisfaction: "Aren't you going to explain it?"
The Quartermaster General pretended to be confused: "What do you want to explain?"
"This!" Prime Minister George threw the document in his hand towards the Minister of Munitions, as if to express his anger, but the document fell weakly on the table.
"You didn't tell us about this plan," said Prime Minister George. "You left us no choice!"
It turned out that the operational plan to attack the port of Emden was a solo initiative of the Minister of Munitions, and there was no consensus within the right-wing ruling party.
"Is there any difference?" The Minister of Munitions replied calmly:
"Mr. Prime Minister, if it weren't for this plan, how do you think we would deal with the questions from the left?"
"Lower the negotiating requirements to reach a settlement with Germany until the Germans agree, as they said?"
"God, we all know we won't get a dollar of compensation if we keep going like this!"
The politicians were silent.
They knew that they had fallen into the trap set by the Minister of Munitions: throwing out a battle plan to suppress the left wing, and then using the left wing's accusations to suppress the right wing, thus realizing his call for solving the problem by force.
But they could do nothing because no one could come up with a better solution.
Admiral Balfour was furious.
The Minister of Munitions had always held great power over British policy, and now even what the navy did was decided by him.
"That's easier said than done, Lord Quartermaster," Balfour said in a warning voice.
"But you seem to have forgotten your position. You are the Minister of Munitions, not the Minister of the Admiralty. You don't know the current situation of the Royal Navy."
"Please be aware of your duties. You should not interfere in the affairs of the Navy..."
The Minister of Munitions interrupted Balfour calmly. He only said two words: "Really?"
Belfort's face darkened, and he squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth: "Isn't it?"
The Minister of Munitions smiled and said sarcastically:
"You mean I'm wrong? Isn't the British Royal Navy the best in the world?"
“When did it become like this?”
"I remember when I resigned, she was still the most powerful navy in the world!"
The Minister of Munitions was playing a double game with Belfort, implying that the navy had lost its combat effectiveness under his leadership.
Balfour turned pale with anger: "Have you forgotten the Battle of the Dardanelles? Your Excellency, Minister of Munitions!"
"What's the problem with the Dardanelles?" The Minister of Munitions began his sophistry: "The navy has achieved a complete victory, and it even successfully covered the army's landing, but the army failed to seize the opportunity and failed to successfully break through!"
Balfour was speechless. Things seemed to be just as the Minister of Munitions said, but everyone knew that this was not true.
After being choked for a while, Balfour decided not to argue with the Minister of Munitions:
"Well, since you say so, we'll just pretend this is your victory."
"Now, do you think your plan is feasible?"
"This so-called plan to attack Emden Port completely ignores the fact that Charles has already deployed fighter planes and torpedo planes in the English Channel!"
"No, I didn't." The Quartermaster shook his head calmly, "But you seem to have forgotten that we didn't go to war with Charles."
Prime Minister George asked loudly:
"But there is a possibility of war, and it is very likely."
"It is common sense that we can only send warships to Emden Harbor to intimidate Charles if we are stronger than Charles."
"If they are just targets for Charles' torpedo planes, if they can be sunk by Charles at any time, what are our warships doing there? Are they trying to beg Charles for candy?"
The politicians nodded in agreement.
Strength is the backing of deterrence. Talking about deterrence without strength is a joke.
If Charles could destroy the British warships stationed in Emden at any time, how could Charles surrender? Of course, Emden could not become a forward base for Britain.
Therefore, only those left-wing MPs who are not aware of the situation would believe this and be fooled by the Minister of Munitions.
The Minister of Munitions waited for a while, waved to the back, and the secretary immediately distributed the prepared documents to the politicians.
The Minister of Munitions stood up and introduced:
"Gentlemen, this is a new fighter developed by our army, model 'SE5a'."
"We have produced 200 of them. Do you know what their top speed is?"
"222 kilometers, 222 kilometers per hour!"
The politicians in the conference room were all stunned when they heard the data.
The French "Camel" fighter has a speed of 190 kilometers per hour, and the "Snipe" has a speed of 195 kilometers per hour. The UK actually produced a fighter jet that can reach 222 kilometers per hour?
(The picture above shows the British "SE5a" fighter, with a speed of 222 kilometers per hour. It was put into service in April 1917. It has one synchronized machine gun and one top machine gun. Historically, this fighter complemented the "Camel". The "Camel" was more suitable for dogfighting, while the "SE5a" was more suitable for high-speed pursuit and dive attacks)
Belfort stared at the picture for a while, with a look of disdain on his face: "So, you plan to use this fighter to compete with Charles for air supremacy?"
The Minister of Munitions asked in return: "What else?"
Balfour shook his head. “You seem to have forgotten that Charles also has an all-metal fighter. It has been used on the battlefield to defeat the Germans’ new fighters.”
"No, I have not forgotten," replied the Secretary of the Admiralty.
"This fighter is called 'Jeanne A' in France. As far as I know, its maximum speed is 245 kilometers per hour."
"First of all, there is not much difference between 245 kilometers and 222 kilometers. Our fighter jets are still capable of fighting."
"Secondly, we have the advantage in numbers, and Charles's 'Jenny A' type is said to only have about 20 of them now."
When the politicians heard this, their thoughts changed.
More than 200 aircraft against Charles' 20, which is indeed a huge numerical advantage.
Then the Minister of Munitions added:
"But that's not the point. What's important is Ciel's bomber, gentlemen!"
"Charles' torpedo plane has a top speed of only about 150 kilometers per hour. It has to reduce speed and fly straight and at low altitude when attacking our warships."
"Do you think they can still pose a threat to our warships under these circumstances?"
The politicians nodded in agreement.
If the enemy's "torpedo planes" could not approach the warships, France's air superiority would be meaningless.
Because the machine gun bullets fired by fighter planes are just tickling the warships!
Only then did Balfour realize why he was outshined by the Minister of Munitions: the Minister of Munitions always maintained close ties with military industry and scientific research units.
(End of this chapter)
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