Chapter 2008 After the Meeting
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"That's the end of our peace talks with the British?" Prince Albert asked.
"Of course, at least for now," replied the prince. "I was not prepared to make a deal. The conditions I put forward at the end of the meeting were not even all of my conditions. The British are not prepared to bleed at all. If we want to get enough benefits, then we have to be very serious. Beat the British a few times!"
"So how do you think the British will react?" Prince Albert asked.
"After going back, they will first analyze every word we said in the meeting word by word. Then wait and see the situation." The prince said with a smile.
"If you regard the British as your greatest enemy, why are you mobilizing a considerable part of your elite troops to the center line to target the French?" Prince Albert changed the subject. "Many generals on the front line, including General Crook and others, have expressed that the number of armored units used for assault is already a little tight. You once said that a campaign should not have two irrelevant goals."
"I don't like to play tricks in war. Because this kind of victory is not reproducible, it has limited value in battle and tactics. But sometimes, at critical moments, I will choose to use methods other than military means to solve problems. For example, this time. Remember one sentence, the key to whether we can successfully encircle the British is not only the combat effectiveness of our army, but whether the French cooperate! If the French do not cooperate, then the offensive against the British will be the next The stage is unfolding. And the main task of this stage becomes to blow up the French!" When Ruprecht said this, there was a killing intent in his tone.
"Is this your last chance for the French?" Prince Albert asked.
"That's right, it's the last chance. The French have never been so passive! If they don't choose to compromise with the empire at this time, it means that the soft policy is not suitable for the French! At that time, we can only use the best It is time to deal with the French with a firm attitude!" The prince nodded and said.
"And what about the deadline?" Prince Albert asked.
"Considering that it is difficult for the French to make a decision, they can make a choice before completely killing the French, because as long as the French give up the line of defense, we have solved the most difficult and most important breakthrough stage of the campaign. The reason why I arranged for a considerable part of the elite troops to be deployed in front of the French is to remind the French to recognize the situation," Ruprecht said.
"Is it intimidation?" Prince Albert asked.
"It's not intimidation, but a real action! As I said, it is difficult for the French to make a decision. Simple intimidation is not enough. I want to really hit the French hard!" Ruprecht Said. And just when the Crown Prince and Prince Albert finally coordinated their positions, British Foreign Secretary Balfour and former Navy Secretary Prince Mountbatten also returned to London, and immediately after returning to London, British Prime Minister Asqui Si met the two of them!
"The results of the negotiations were very bad. The Germans asked for more than we thought. They wanted the whole of southern Africa. And the crown prince was very clear about what we were most worried about. He claimed that when necessary, he would send the High Seas Fleet and The Grand Fleet is engaged in a great battle! This idea is too crazy." After meeting Prime Minister Asquith, Belfort said with lingering fear.
"Wait a minute, let me read the minutes of the meeting." Prime Minister Asquith said calmly, and then he began to study the minutes of the meeting, not missing a single word or punctuation.
"The most common situations encountered during negotiations are scaremongering and blackmail, and the first thing we need to do is to see whether what the other party said is a lie or what is the truth! Sometimes, the other party realizes certain key points, But it’s not necessarily going to be done. General Jericho will come to our meeting later and he will give a professional opinion.”
After half an hour. "General Jericho, you have read the documents I sent you before, and now I have two questions that I need you to answer professionally. Your answers are related to the survival of the British Empire. I hope you will be cautious." Prime Minister Asquith paused and said.
"First, with the current strength of the Royal Navy, if a large-scale fleet decisive battle breaks out with the High Seas Fleet, what will be the result of the battle between the two sides under almost equal conditions?"
"Secondly, based on what you know about Crown Prince Ruprecht, will he engage in a deadly battle between the huge High Seas Fleet and the Grand Fleet," Prime Minister Asquith said.
"About the first question? I can only say that the Grand Fleet has a certain advantage on paper, but in actual combat, our advantage is definitely not as great as it is on paper." Jericho's haggard face is deeply rooted. concerns. "Did you know? In the current situation that the large fleet has terminated all ocean training, our fuel inventory can only be kept at about 10 days! Our destroyers are not even allowed to run at a speed of more than 18 knots, and our Capital ships can only sail at an economical speed of 12 knots, and warships that use kerosene as a fuel mixture can only use coal now, because we have to supply fuel to aircraft carriers and Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, pure oil warships."
"I don't know what kind of state you are talking about in a fair situation, but judging from the current situation, the opponent has a very large advantage in mobility. If uncontrollable factors such as weather are excluded, after the two sides meet, the opponent is in There will be a big advantage in formation," Jericho said.
"There are also slow warships in the German fleet. And even if there is a disadvantage, we can still temporarily evade the opponent's attack by releasing smoke and other means. As long as we can switch to the battle line to fight, the number of our capital ships and the amount of projection It has a clear advantage, and Mr. Churchill once said that a capital ship battle is actually two eggs smashing each other with a hammer, so we should have an advantage." Belfort thought for a while and said.
"This issue is very complicated. Smoke can indeed provide shelter for the fleet, but do you know how long the entire battle line is when the large fleet is deployed? If the fleet is deployed, we can pull out a battle line that is more than 10 kilometers long , you can’t expect the fume cans on the battleship to cover such a long battle line, can you? And if a large amount of smoke is released in such a long battle line, it will directly affect the command of the fleet. Although we have radios, But the fleets still need to coordinate through semaphore."
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