Chapter 957: A New Situation

Benson's strategy is definitely not the best, but it is definitely acceptable to the top of the Entente, whether it is Jericho or Magiffen, their overly aggressive strategy is a bit like a fierce medicine, which can solve the problem quickly, but at the same time, it will also lead to a sharp deterioration of the wound for a certain period of time. The top leaders of the Entente had to bear tremendous civil pressure. Magiffen's final warning did not touch President Wilson, so what about another two years of war? Anyway, the Germans have been fighting for three years, and since Germany is willing to continue, what if the Americans accompany you to fight for two years? The U.S. government is even willing to let Britain, France, Germany, Austria, and Italy bleed well, only in this way can the United States gain more benefits. President Wilson just smiled. Because in terms of national strength, the United States at this time is far superior to the Allies, who have been fighting a war for three years!

The Americans said that it didn't matter, and the British were not a big problem, after all, it was Britain that relied most on the North Atlantic transportation routes, and Britain would transfer supplies and troops from the colonies to the United States in the end, and then complete this last leg of the journey...... (The entire Indian Ocean was already under the control of the Allies, and with the exception of Chinese merchant ships transporting to the Allies, which could pass through the Indian Ocean unimpeded, any other merchant ships carrying Allied goods had to detour through the Pacific Ocean and then take the Atlantic.) The entire North Atlantic shipping line is almost a lifeline for Britain. In this case, the British seemed to be better off abandoning the relatively unimportant North Africa and concentrating their forces to hold the lines .........of communication, while at the same time the British and American fleets were close together and took care of each other.

The only country that cannot accept this result is France, unlike Britain and the United States, France has a large number of colonies in North Africa, and there are more than 100,000 troops fighting with the Allies, and the withdrawal of the British and French navies from the Mediterranean Sea is undoubtedly equivalent to giving away North Africa! There is a saying in China that the cub sells the field, and the heart does not hurt. North Africa has little to do with Britain and the United States, but too much to do with France! North Africa provided France with a large amount of manpower and at the same time to hold the place. France has also put a lot of effort into it. Britain and the United States said that they would withdraw. This was unacceptable to France, and its own interests were sold for no reason, which made the arrogant French government feel very angry.

But what if you don't accept it? The French Navy has already existed in name only, and Britain and France have to go. And what about the French? What's more, after fighting for a long time, the British and American homelands were not baptized by the baptism of war, and the capital of the French was still under the threat of the Germans, and people had to bow their heads under the roof. What's more, the French still need the American fleet to protect their west coast, and isn't it to find fault with Britain and the United States at this time? So even if the French 10,000 are unwilling, they can't change this fact.

But before leaving, the Entente decided to leave some souvenirs for the Spaniards! The American and French fleets led by Magifin carried out a rather thorough sweep of Spanish ports on the Mediterranean coast, although the Spanish had already moved important supplies and equipment before the start of the war. But the sweep still caused Spain to bleed profusely. And the Americans' goal is more than that. At the same time, after entering the Atlantic, a sweep was also carried out on the ports in the direction of the Spanish Atlantic to retaliate for the destruction of the transport lines by the Spanish fleet, and of course, the most important thing was to immediately use the remaining fleet of the mainland to launch an attack on the almost defenseless colonies of the Spanish West Indies. Eventually, the Americans occupied these places and accomplished ......... goals that had not been achieved in the Spanish-American War.

On September 17, the U.S. fleet entered the port of Brest, heralding the Allies' final recognition of Allied control of the Mediterranean, and making it possible for the Spanish fleet to make peace with the Allied Mediterranean Fleet. At this point, a new allied Mediterranean Fleet will be formed, and the size of this fleet will rise again to the size of 14 capital ships. As a result, there is a capital that is holding on to the US Navy. Even more rare. With the fall of the fortress of Gibraltar on 3 October, the gates of the Atlantic Ocean were finally opened to the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, and everything was moving in a better direction. The situation of the war as a whole has also undergone a fundamental change. …。

With the accession of Spain, the geopolitical situation of the Entente countries deteriorated further, especially France, which was in charge of the Western Front and the African theater of operations, while also needing to draw part of its forces to deal with the Spaniards. And with the Mediterranean being completely controlled by the Allies. The hundreds of thousands of troops and part of the American army that the French threw in North Africa were completely alone, although they could support it for a while by relying on the supplies and supplies delivered in the early stage. But the entire situation in North Africa has completely turned into a backwater.

"The fleet of the Allies in the Mediterranean is too hateful! We must destroy them! And the warships of the US Navy are not suitable for fighting in such a situation, and the current battlefield is in the Atlantic, and in the face of the vast battlefield and the fast battleships of the opposing side, it is difficult for the heavy cavalry of the US Navy to play a role. "The British and American navies are almost back-to-back. In this case, the two sides must further cooperate and communicate, and at a high-level meeting of the Navy, the chief of US naval operations Benson said to Jericho..........

"What do you mean...... The fleet of the British Empire was responsible for dealing with the opposing fast battleships of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, and your country was helping us against the German Navy? Jericho said thoughtfully, this method looks very good, although the British fast fleet has been repeatedly damaged, but there are at least 4 Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, if you count other fast battleships, the Entente side can still make up 8 fast battleships, and the Allied side can be called fast battleships There are 7, although the number difference is not large, but the other side only has one Julius Caesar is 15-inch guns, and the British fleet has 4 ships.

At the same time, if the American fleet was willing to join the battle in the North Sea, the heavy knights armed with 14-inch guns were definitely better suited than the British warships to deal with the German fleet, which also took the heavy armor and heavy artillery route. Unlike the Iron Duke-class battleships improved by the British. The American warships are good in both artillery battles and underwater protection, and the problem of being hit by a bullet in the water will still be very big, but at least it will not be fatal, after all, the New Mexico before the improvement was hit once, although it was heavily damaged, but it was not directly seconded like the British battleship.

First of all, it involves a question of command, and the fleets of the two sides will certainly not be fully exchanged, but only partially, for example, Thomas's fast fleet will enter the Atlantic, and Magiffen will also send some of his American battleships to the North Sea. Then the question arises, will Thomas do exactly what Magiffen commands? After all, unlike the situation where you can almost run into a situation when you pull out of the North Sea, the chase battle in the Atlantic can be described as a cumbersome one, and both sides will have their own opinions on the battle situation, if there is a disagreement, then who to listen to? What to do in addition to the problem? The situation at sea has re-entered the equilibrium phase with the addition of the Spanish Navy. Any mistake can lead to catastrophic consequences, and the other point is that Jericho doubts the level of training of the US Navy, after all, the performance of the Americans in actual combat is not excellent, and more importantly, they have not experienced a big battle, so don't make a fool of yourself if you really fight! …。

Therefore, in the face of Benson's request, Jericho agreed in principle, but at the same time suggested that the two sides should first exchange fleets on a small scale, first practice cooperation, increase the understanding between each other as follows, and then make arrangements for specific action plans, the time for the talks between the two sides has come to October 1917, and the cruel year will pass like this, so the two countries finally decided not to take the initiative to launch a major battle plan this year, and if everything goes well, the navies of the two countries will prepare for action at the beginning of next year, The first active offensive will be responsible for attacking and neutralizing the fast battleship threat of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, and if this plan succeeds, the next target for both sides will be the German fleet entrenched in the North Sea! …。

The Entente were actively calculating, the Allies were calculating something, and the German High Seas Fleet, squatting in Wilhelmshaven, had no idea this year, and even at the beginning of next year. In the last decisive battle, the two sides fought a draw, although the main battleships of the sinking were not as many as the other party, but each battleship was injured, and more importantly, the auxiliary warships consumed a lot, which was simply fatal for the Germans, who were relatively not thick, and although Huaxia resumed sea transportation to Germany...... However, the things that have been transported are still less than the demand, so the recovery of the combat strength of the high seas fleet is still relatively slow..........

As for the subjective point of view, the current Scheer does not want to fight with the other party. Now that the situation in the Mediterranean was clear, and with the entry of Spain, the Allies had a new asymmetric advantage, why not wait for the Atlantic war to change in favor of Germany? The Americans retreated to France. The Allied Mediterranean Fleet has more room to operate, and if it breaks up the ocean-going relations and can lead to the division of the British Grand Fleet, wouldn't it be better for the High Seas Fleet to attack again?

At this time, the internal consolidation of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet was also beginning, and with the departure of the American fleet, Count Spee could finally join the main fleet commanded by Tycho with three Spanish-class battleships. In this way, the members of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet became five, and the saddest of them was Germany, which had only one warship, but considering that there were many German officers and soldiers on the Spanish battleships, it also saved a lot of decline. The fleet is large and there are many sects, so now it is necessary to think about how to unify command and action, so the Allied Mediterranean Fleet will not be able to carry out any major operations in 1917!

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