Chapter 906: Far-reaching implications

"Cheers to victory!" When Thomas withdrew from the battlefield with his fleet, the officers of the Allied Navy were already a little eager to celebrate this hard-won victory! It was too difficult to win, and in the face of the overall weakness, the officers of the Central Powers racked their brains to gain a little advantage and finally turned it into victory. Although the Allied fleet suffered heavy losses, they lost 2 Super Dreadnoughts and 2 Dreadnoughts forever, but in the end, they proved to the world who is the master of the Mediterranean!

Because of the victory of the Central Powers, the Allies' attempts to regain control of the Suez Canal through a counteroffensive in Africa came to naught. Chinese supplies can still reach Italy and Austria and Asia Minor through the world's most important canal, and even enter the Black Sea through the Dardanelles! The Allies kept the life-and-death shipping lane. But it's not that simple. After this brutal attrition. The naval superiority of the Entente Navy was further shaken! If there is no external help...... I'm afraid the Entente will never be able to organize such a large-scale battle in the Mediterranean again!

The news of the defeat of the Entente fleet soon reached the British Admiralty, and the top brass of the Royal Navy, who had just been filled with optimism because of the victory, fell into pessimism again, this time the losses of the Royal Navy were too great! 5 Super Dreadnoughts sink to the bottom of the sea! The losses were even greater than the original Battle of Jutland! If it weren't for the fact that the other party also lost 4 capital ships, I'm afraid Thomas would be much worse than Betty now, and it is even possible to go to court-martial!. …。

To be honest, Thomas didn't make many mistakes in this engagement, Betty was in charge of the operations of the avant-garde fleet, and he couldn't recognize the lion hiding in the wolf pack in the first place and caused the loss, and Thomas couldn't be blamed for this kind of thing. But because of this one mistake, it led to a series of subsequent losses. Like a domino effect, the fall of a piece often heralds the collapse of the whole picture. The story of the Western proverb that lost a battlefield because of a horseshoe was fully verified at this moment!

The battleship Longxiang successfully killed the South Africa in the avant-garde station, causing the already weak Allied fast fleet to be even weaker! And in order to make up for the gap in combat power, the two strongest revenge-class battleships must be handed over to Betty. The combat power is there, but the speed is also down. It makes it possible for the next move of the Allied Fast Fleet! And the fatal turn of the Allied fast fleet fundamentally turned the tide of the war, taking out two British super dreadnoughts with poor defense in a very short time! So that the entire British fleet was completely deprived of superiority!

For the rest of the battle, Betty did fight as hard as she could. And for a time prevailed. But alas, Tycho, who was free, did not give the British a chance to turn the tables. In the end, it resisted the sharp attack of the British fleet. Thus the victory of the British was completely in vain, and only a theoretical opportunity existed. Thomas had a pretty good counterattack the rest of the day, sinking two Cavour-class dreadnoughts, but the fleet was no longer able to recover. The Caracionot-class battleships, which were relatively intact in combat, finally took the initiative on the battlefield and led to the loss of two more battleships ......... the Entente fleet.

"Damn Julius Caesar!" The officers and men of the Allied navy who participated in this battle are constantly cursing this battleship, and some even say that it is precisely because of the existence of this battleship that the Allied navy has formed a certain asymmetric advantage, without this battleship. The combat effectiveness of both sides of the fast fleet is equal, and the Entente has an overall advantage! The two Vengeance-class battleships will take advantage of their long-range advantage instead of leaning in close combat! In terms of results, the battleship sank the South Africa and Canada, and seriously damaged the Emperor of India. This result is the highest among all the participating ships! It's horrible! …。

"Damn the government, they were the ones who angered Huaxia and let Italy get this battleship! They must take some responsibility for the losses of the Royal Navy! Soon, the complaints against the Julius Caesar caused the navy to turn its guns on certain people in the government, some of whom were militant in their view that it was the arrogance of some in the government and the actions of the directors that ended up with the victory that should have been in place! As a result, there was a war of words between the two sides in the government and in the newspapers. But for Jericho and Thomas, it's all about what to do next!

To outsiders, the Royal Navy at this time can be said to be quite weak. If the German Navy had concentrated its forces on re-exiting the North Sea at this time, it would have put the Royal Navy in a very dangerous position. But in fact, Jericho and Thomas were not very worried, first of all, the main forces of the German Navy are still fighting on the Baltic coast, and it is still a long battle, although the Russian Navy is unable to inflict fatal losses on the German high seas fleet, which has an absolute advantage, but after a long battle. The German Navy had to be trimmed! Other words...... Even if the Germans had this idea, they simply could not afford to launch a new offensive ......... in the short term.

Secondly, what if the Germans launched an offensive? Even after some preparations, the German High Seas Fleet had completed all the preparations before the attack. It has also entered the end of the year, and by this time, the repair work of the British fleet has also been carried out. The losses of 3 gun-carrying ships were not particularly large and could be repaired in a month. Then there are the two fast battleships, the Australia and New Zealand, and then the Vengeance-class battleships! And the German High Seas Fleet has a total of 20 capital ships! There are also 6 Dreadnoughts among them! Plus 2 Moltke and Goeben, which are no longer suitable for the battle line!

Although the British Royal Navy is weak now, Jericho thinks that he is definitely not afraid of the opponent coming out to fight hard simply by relying on the 10 15-inch gun-carrying ships in his hands! Own fast fleet occupies an overwhelming advantage. Stabilize your opponent in terms of reconnaissance and mobility. And if the time comes to 1917, the Royal Navy will have new warships in service, although the Allies are fighting well, but as long as the Allied Mediterranean Fleet cannot kill the Mediterranean, then Jericho believes that as long as the Royal Navy copes properly, it can still control the North Sea. Of course, judging from the current situation, if there is no external intervention, the British Navy will control the North Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea will not need to think about it, and even in order to defend against the possible actions of the Allies to break out of the Strait of Gibraltar, the British also need to strengthen their coastal defense forces and mine arrays. At the same time, a group of submarines was sent over to interfere with the ......... of operations of the Allied fleet.

At this time, the Germans on the other side of the North Sea were also not interested in re-entering the North Sea, and the two men Scheer and Hipperle were happily bullying the Russian fleet in the Baltic. Under the strong onlookers of the capital ships and auxiliary warships with absolute superiority. Essen's fleet struggled and had to rely on submarines and auxiliary ships to launch counterattacks at night, but in the face of an impregnable defense of auxiliary ships, they often failed to return, and were lucky enough to sink a transport. The core of the German High Seas Fleet was not hit, and even with the constant minelaying of offensive mines and the constant sweep of destroyers, the range of activities of the Russian submarine forces became smaller and smaller.

After a period of fighting, the German Navy and Army had established themselves in the vicinity of the Gotland Islands and the Gulf of Riga, and had established military stations and supply bases. One of the German Army units is marching in the direction of Tallinn, and the main forces of the High Seas Fleet have finally appeared at the exit from the Gulf of Finland! The situation has taken shape for the joint siege of Tallinn by the German Navy and Army. And the Russian Navy and Army are also in a situation where there is no way to retreat! One step back and St. Petersburg! In desperation, the main Russian fleet under the command of General Essen was also forced to embark on the road of a decisive battle that he did not want to see, and the two powerful fleets would finally fight a decisive battle near Tallinn. But anyway, although the battle has not yet begun, even Essen does not think that he can win. …………。

Little by little, the minefields were cleared, and the defenses that the Russians had painstakingly put together were failing day by day. In the end, Essen's 4 capital ships could barely resist the attack with the help of the Tallinn shore fire artillery. The four Bismarck-class battleships played a mainstay role in this battle, using their own huge 15-inch 45L guns to destroy one battery after another, and at the same time resisting the Russians with heavy armor, none of the 12-inch 45L guns, the most powerful in the Russian Navy, could not cause fatal damage to them. Perhaps the new 12-inch 52L gun could penetrate the opponent's main armament at a distance...... Unfortunately, these guns were intended for the Izmail-class battleships, and although it seems impossible to complete them now, it is obviously impossible to transport them because of the large size of the guns.

The 14-inch 52L main gun, a super gun specially designed and produced by the British for Russia! The gun weighs 82 tons, which is even heavier than the German 15-inch 45L! The bullet weighs 747.8 kg, which is more than 100 kg higher than the bullet weight of the Americans' 14-inch 45L gun! And under the action of 203 kg of propellant. This gun can hit the shell with a muzzle velocity of more than 730 meters! Of course, such power is not without a price, that is, the life of the body tube is a little smaller, about 150 rounds! It is not clear who is stronger than the British 15-inch 42L, but at least it is much better than the American 14-inch 45L main gun used by Essen now. But alas, these guns may have to be left in the factory forever, and Essen can no longer count on these terrible fellows to play any important role. Even. If Tallinn is unable to hold on, Essen will also have to consider destroying these cannons to prevent them from falling into the hands of their opponents! …。

"In another five months, the two Izmail-class Dreadnoughts will be ready for battle, and although the outcome may not be changed, it will not be as embarrassing as it is now. In the face of 4 Bismarck-class battleships, the Russians had neither the courage to come out in a battle, nor the ability to destroy them! Essen lamented as he looked at the German fleet that appeared from time to time at sea level in the distance.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 and the book friend hukaikakak for the tip ~~~~~