1890 King of Southeast Asia

As the supreme commander of the Grand Fleet, Jellicoe commanded the most important military force of the British Empire, and all his actions should be stable.

Because Britain does not need any risks, as long as it plays steadily, it can defeat the German Navy.

But again, the reason why the ideal situation is called "ideal" is because it is difficult for them to exist in reality.

The war lasted for two years, and the Allies were always on the defensive in the battles in six places. Not only was it not good in reputation, but the two years of large-scale battles consumed the wealth of the British Empire crazily.

Now Britain has been seriously injured, and Britain has also discovered that the Chinese Empire and the United States are taking this opportunity to develop rapidly - using the blood sucked from the British to develop.

The only thing that makes the British happy is that France is worse than them.

Britain is in low morale, war-weariness is high, many people are in poverty, and the whole people are in a shortage of materials. This situation must be changed.

Therefore, Jellicoe had to make the Royal Navy fleet, which the British were proud of, take action, as long as the result was not a one-sided defeat.

As long as some results could be achieved, it was worth paying some price, otherwise the Royal Navy would become a vent for the anger of the people, and he, the direct person in charge, would become the number one scapegoat.

Therefore, Jellicoe finally adopted Xu Sunming's suggestion and divided the fleet into two parts, one high-profile and the other low-profile, to fight.

If the Germans did not come, it would be equivalent to practicing tactics and testing the sailors.

If the Germans came, they would make a lot of money.

With the retreat cut off, Jellicoe was confident that he could take down 3 to 4 ships and seriously injure twice the number.

…………

In the North Sea, the weather is always cloudy and sunny. Although it is not as good as the violent storms in the westerly belt, it is never gentle.

At this time, in the turbulent North Sea, five battleships of the 3rd Battle Squadron of the British Royal Navy Grand Fleet were dispersing to form a circle with a diameter of nearly 80 nautical miles, and auxiliary warships of all sizes were moving with these battleships.

Inside this circle, five huge ships with a length of nearly 200 meters and a width of 27 meters were sailing in formation.

They were five Royal Navy Revenge-class battleships undergoing running-in training, an improved model of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, and one of the most powerful warships in the world at this time.

"Captain, the message from the Dreadnought."

The captain of the Revenge battleship took the telegram handed over by the first mate and read it, which reported Jellicoe's plan.

"Damn it, we have only taken over this ship for half a month, and the sailors on the Ramillies could only start the ship with difficulty last week. Now we are going to fight the Germans head-on?!" Captain Old Tom yelled angrily.

As he said, although a small part of the sailors on the ship came from other warships, and most of them came from naval schools or fishing boats and merchant ships, and they all had experience, they were still not so quick to get started on a new ship.

Warships are not combat-ready just because they can start and fire cannons, especially battleships, which are huge and complex war machines, and their combat effectiveness is calculated on a yearly basis.

Even if skilled sailors are used, it will take three or two months to run in with each other before the combat effectiveness of the warship can be brought into play.

Old Tom knew that the war was urgent, so he started the formation running-in training directly. In this way, with only one month of training, even if they need to face the battle directly, the warships in the formation can play a certain role.

However, on Old Tom's timeline, this is not a good time to start a war.

"Order the fleet to form a battle formation and surround the Revenge."

"Issue a battle order, the entire fleet is ready for battle, and pack up their ships. This is the only thing they can rely on."

Although Old Tom resisted, he still issued a combat order.

The traditional Nelson spirit of the British Royal Navy, that is, the spirit of fighting when encountering an enemy, unless strategically required, the Royal Navy rarely retreats without fighting - in this era.

This spirit made the Royal Navy a force that traverses the oceans, but it also sent the Royal Navy into the abyss later.

"Captain, are the Germans coming?" The first mate asked curiously after taking back the telegram.

"I think that among our current enemies, only the Germans will cause us so much trouble. The 3rd Battle Squadron can easily deal with the other countries." Old Tom walked to the edge of the nautical chart and began to mark the position of his own warships.

"Great! Are they finally willing to come out of that shell?" The first mate was a little excited.

Since the war began, the Germans have been avoiding direct battles with the British Navy. The only contact between the two sides that can be called a battle was the Dogger Shoal naval battle.

The rest of the time was mainly a battle between small and medium-sized warships on both sides.

The middle and high-level commanders on the battleships, such as the first mate, are mainly busy doing nothing. After working for a long time, they have not gained any credit and have to face the pressure from the public directly.

The first mate's youngest son asked him more than once, "Dad, don't we have the most powerful battleships in the world? Why hasn't the war ended yet?"

"Dad, did you win?"

The first mate didn't know how to answer. There are some things that you can't explain to a child.

"Yes, a submarine reported that the Germans are coming out, at least ten battleships, and they are heading in our direction."

"General Jellicoe's telegram was sent to the Dreadnought. The general suspected that the Germans knew the news of revenge and hoped that we and the 3rd Battle Squadron would form a decoy fleet to attract the Germans' attention. They were outflanking the Germans."

Old Tom's face was filled with unrelieved melancholy.

"Intelligence leaked? Then wouldn't we be in danger?" The first mate looked at Old Tom in surprise.

"Yes, but the cruiser squadron is coming. Although the battlecruiser has certain defects in survivability, the cannons on it cannot be faked."

"Don't worry, such a big guy, it is unexpected news that it can be kept completely secret, not to mention that we are out at sea for training today."

Old Tom looked at the first mate who also showed a worried expression, and smiled and patted his shoulder.

The first mate smiled reluctantly. He knew that if the intelligence was leaked, things would be far from as easy as it sounded.

…………

March 1st was very peaceful. Under the order of Jellicoe, the Royal Navy's reconnaissance fleet conducted intensive reconnaissance to the possible location of the Germans, but no trace of the Germans was seen.

1Until the sunset and the dark night came, Jellico and Xu Sunming stood in front of the sea chart, and Jellico vented his worries.

"Xu, I suspect that we made a mistake in judgment, or the submarine made a mistake and we got the wrong information." Jellico stood in front of the sea chart with a pipe in his mouth.

"General Jellicoe, you have also been a sailor. You should know that there is a complete process for determining the reconnaissance target. Unless all the personnel on your submarine have rebelled, the intelligence should not be wrong."

"As for the misjudgment, I have also had such an idea, but apart from this, what other strategic goals does the Royal Navy have that are worth the Germans to dispatch more than ten battleships to attack?"

"The Germans use coal as the main power of their ships. Although they have coal resources, the blocked Germans do not have abundant energy. Even for coal, there are a large number of factories waiting to replenish it."

"There is no reason for the Germans to throw out hundreds of thousands of tons of coal in vain. They can't afford it."

Xu Sunming is half an outsider, so he is not as nervous as Jellicoe. Even if the Germans win the naval battle, it may be more beneficial than harmful to the Huaxia Empire.

First of all, it is impossible for the Germans to have enough energy to sweep across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic after defeating the Royal Navy, let alone advance to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

These places are the core interests of the Huaxia Empire.

Secondly, the Huaxia Empire has a large population and has not really exerted its strength at this time. Even if Britain and France are defeated, Germany should not have the spare energy to continue the attack. The Allies and the Central Powers can only negotiate.

In this way, it is more beneficial for the Huaxia Empire to preserve its combat effectiveness, because the Huaxia Empire will be the main support of the Allies at that time.

After thinking this through, Xu Sunming didn't know whether he should pray for the victory of the Germans, but from a deeper perspective, the Germans could not win, so he gave up this thought.

As for why? As he just said, Germany now has insufficient resources to maintain war and development at the same time, and even supplying all materials to the war is not enough.

In 1917, on the Western Front, the food of British and French soldiers still maintained a combination of meat and vegetables, and there were a large number of other supplies such as cigarettes, beer, chocolate, etc., while potatoes had already occupied a major position in the daily supply of German soldiers.

Yes, Germany still has industry and wealth to maintain the needs of war, but Germany's land cannot provide enough food to satisfy industry and fill everyone's stomach.

"So, what if the Germans' goal is to break through the blockade?" Jellicoe smoked anxiously, looking at the British Navy's deployment.

In order to detect this German fleet, Jellicoe mobilized a large number of British warships to search, and the ocean blockade established by Britain in the North Sea has been broken by itself.

"What's the point? Britain can re-establish the blockade at any time, and if they take huge risks just to do such a boring thing, then this is a good thing, proving that the Germans have lost their minds." Xu Sunming shrugged.

"General Jellicoe, it's late now. Whether it is or not will be known tomorrow. What you and your sailors need now is enough sleep."

"If the Royal Navy will have the most ambitious strategic decisive battle in history with the German Navy tomorrow, then I believe that the Royal Navy needs an energetic commander. This will be a big project."

Xu Sunming said the word engineering and made a famous drawing gesture with his hands, which made Jellicoe laugh.

"You're right. I roughly understand why you have been able to rise so quickly in more than 20 years. Just follow the plan and do what you should do now." Jellico thought about it. Command operations and engineering are indeed somewhat similar.

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