Chapter six hundred and fifty eight confrontation at sea
British Prime Minister Arthur Belfort only felt his brain hurt. He had hardly had a day of peace in the past two years since defeating the Marquis of Salisbury and becoming the Prime Minister of Britain. Now, South Africa has finally been
The Boer War is about to end, but the conflict with Germany is intensifying. Since the end of last year, the German Navy's new battleships have been cruising in the North Sea. After the British Navy entered service with the "Default-class" battleship, they have also launched a tit-for-tat encirclement and interception.
This caused an extremely serious confrontation between the British Navy and the German Navy. Prime Minister Arthur Belfort was often worried that it would cause accidents and lead to the outbreak of war.
Although the British Empire is still the world's number one power in name. But as Prime Minister Arthur Belfort knew that the British Empire has begun to decline. China in the East and Germany in Europe are all challenging the United Kingdom.
The United States, which belongs to its ally, will definitely do everything possible to replace Britain if it has the opportunity. In this case, Prime Minister Arthur Belfort believes that Britain must quickly restore its national strength, especially
Only economic and naval strength can be achieved. In terms of economy, Britain can exploit huge colonies and quickly restore the economy. But in terms of naval, it is more troublesome. After all, battleships cannot be completed in one day, and new battleships will take more than two years.
It can even be completed in three years.
"Okay, Mr. Navy Minister, the fleet can be dispatched. But you must give me a guarantee. We can use the fleet to touch the strength of the German navy. But the prerequisite is that we must not get fire. Now Britain cannot participate in it.
A large-scale war!” Prime Minister Arthur Balfour warned.
"Yes, Prime Minister, I will tell the young men to pay more attention!" British Navy Secretary Sir John Fisher laughed. Perhaps, after the four Nassau-class battleships built by the German Navy in China returned to China,
The British Navy will temporarily lose the advantage of new battleships. However, the British Navy's old battleships in its twenties, and at the same time, the quality of the British Navy is also a little higher than that of the German Navy. In the view of Sir John Fisher, it is with Germany.
There should be no problem with the navy maintaining a draw. And this time, the German Navy's warships returned to China, and it was time for them to give them a warning.
"By the way, please note that there is also a battle cruiser in the wedding fleet sent by the Chinese. We can have a head-on conflict with Germany, but we cannot have a conflict with China. After all, China is not a member of the ally. Now, now
Britain is unable to cope with the challenges of two powerful countries at the same time!” Prime Minister Arthur Belfort reminded.
"Yes, I know, Your Excellency Prime Minister. The Chinese have only sent one battlecruiser. Although this kind of battleship is far faster than our "Dreadnought" battleship, if there is a one-on-one duel, I want to
Our 'Dreadnought' battleship will definitely not be at a disadvantage!" said Sir John Fisher, the British Secretary of the Navy. However, he seemed to have forgotten that battlecruisers were never used to fight battleships.
The main function of battle cruisers is to break the diplomatic relations, especially for countries like Britain that rely on maritime transportation. Once the British maritime transportation line is paralyzed, the United Kingdom will be finished.
"Well! The British Empire is facing serious trouble now. However, I believe that the final winner must still belong to the British Empire!" Prime Minister Arthur Belford said firmly. Britain has been the hegemon of the world for two hundred years.
In this process, countless countries challenged Britain. However, Britain persisted and became the ultimate winner. Prime Minister Arthur Belfort had reason to believe that this time, Britain would not fail.
.
Under the order of British Navy Sir John Fisher, the British Navy took action soon. First, six "Defensible Class" battleships of the British Navy began to undergo maintenance, which was to prepare for the expedition. At the same time, the British were also in the process of maintaining the war.
The navy's old battleships also began to be frequently mobilized, especially the six latest "old man star" battleships that were in service, which frequently cruised in the North Sea.
This abnormal behavior of the British Navy aroused serious concerns from the German Navy. For a time, four Nassau-class battleships in the German Navy also began to prepare. At the same time, German Navy Minister Alfred Von
?Tirpitz sent a warning telegram to Lieutenant General Hippel, making him ready to face the British Navy. Once the British Navy provokes, he must fight back hard. Of course, he must also avoid it.
The gun goes fire and avoid the war breaking out now.
For a time, the atmosphere of the German Navy's return fleet became tense. The German Navy's officers and soldiers took advantage of the period of return to China to increase their training, as if they wanted to quickly complete the running-in. The tension of the German fleet also made China
The wedding fleet was infected. Brigadier General Li Deming, the battle cruiser of the "Bai Qi", sent a telegram to the Navy Department, asking how to deal with it.
After Navy Secretary Zhang Cheng reported to Wang Yuze and the General Staff, after research and discussion, he sent him a telegram. In the telegram, the Navy believed that conflicts might break out between the British Navy and the German Navy, but they would definitely not.
What causes war. The responsibility of the Chinese Navy is to stabilize the situation when things are uncontrollable and avoid the war breaking out early.
From China's standpoint, China also does not want the war to break out now, which is of no benefit to all countries. China is now in a stage of rapid development, and its previous layout has not yet played its due role. Once it is once again
When the war breaks out, all previous efforts will be wasted. At the same time, if China wants to win the final victory, it may have to pay several times more.
On March 19, the fleet arrived at the Suez Canal. The current Suez Canal is still under the control of Britain. The British company that controlled the Suez Canal refused to pass the German fleet. But after Germany made solemn representations to Britain, the German fleet
Only then was able to pass the Suez Canal. The German Navy was so angry that it was so angry.
At the same time, the six "Default-class" battleships of the British Navy sailed away from the Portsmouth military port and sailed south. After hearing the news, the four "Nassau-class" battleships of the German High Seas Fleet also quickly left the port.
, sailing south, preparing to pick up the return fleet. However, when they passed through the English Channel, they had a confrontation with the British Navy, led by six "old star" battleships of the British Navy and were blocked. This made Germany
The navy was very nervous, afraid that the British Navy would first concentrate its efforts to eliminate the German Navy's fleet and continue to lay the advantage of the British Navy. For this reason, the German Navy Minister Alfred von Tirpitz sent him one after another.
Three telegrams were sent, requiring Lieutenant General Hippel to bring the four battleships back to Germany as far as possible. Before the running-in was completed, the combat power of these four battleships could not be fully utilized.
On March 26, the fleet arrived at the Strait of Gibraltar. At this moment, the British Navy was already waiting for it.
Lieutenant General Howard, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet of the British Navy, led six "Default-class" battleships to block the Strait of Gibraltar. It was announced that the British Navy is conducting exercises here. During the exercises, it is strictly prohibited for any military ships to pass through the Strait.
"Damn it, what do these British guys want to do? Do they really want to go to war with us?" Franz von Hippel's face was very embarrassed.
"LeverGen. We have sent back the person we contacted. The British Navy Mediterranean Fleet said they will conduct a week-long exercise in the Strait of Gibraltar, in which the process is prohibited from passing through the Strait in order to protect the secrets of the British Navy!
"Major General Haild's face was also ashen.
"Bastard! This is a public waters, and they dare to stop us!" Lieutenant General Hippel said furiously.
"Lieutenant General, what should we do now?" Major General Helder asked.
"His Excellency the Minister of the Navy sent a telegram, and the fleet sent to the country to receive was also intercepted in the Johor Strait, for the same reason. These damn British guys, they did it on purpose!" Lieutenant General Hippel cursed
road.
"Then Lieutenant General, should we force ourselves to break through?" Major General Held suggested.
"No, if we forcefully break through, the British will fire at us with our military intelligence spying on them. We cannot fully utilize the combat power of these four battleships. If we really want to start a war, we have no chance of winning!
"Lt. General Hippel shook his head. In addition, he also knew that the British could not do this to give the German Navy a warning and disgusting the German Navy. If the British really wanted to destroy them, they would probably not be
Intercepted, but ambushed directly.
"Contact the Chinese and see how they negotiated with the British?" Lieutenant General Hippel ordered.
When the German fleet negotiated with the British Navy Mediterranean Fleet, the Chinese wedding fleet also sent people to negotiate with the UK. However, the final result was that the cruise ship "Oriental Emperor" could pass through the strait, and the other "Bai Qi"
The battlecruiser and two "Tianshui-class" light cruisers were unable to pass through the strait, which made China very angry and raised serious protests to the British side. However, the British side turned a deaf ear to it.
Because of the development of communication, in less than half a day, the whole world knew that the British Navy and the German Navy had a confrontation in the Strait of Gibraltar, and the world's eyes were gathered here. (To be continued. Please search for Astronomy, novels