On the day of the heavy damage of the Bristani, the Italian Navy did send 4 capital ships to cruise near the waters of Gibraltar, but this had nothing to do with the submarine's operations, and it can be said that it was a complete coincidence. But it was precisely because of this coincidence that the top of the Entente made astonishing inferences about the next strategy of the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean!

"At present, there is no fleet in the Mediterranean that can contain the actions of the Central Powers, in this case, the fortress they hope to take the most and the last step to take is the fortress of Gibraltar, and once the opponent succeeds, the Entente fleet will be locked out of the Mediterranean forever, even the powerful American and French fleets will not be able to contribute here, after all, the other side still has 12 capital ships! This is fatal for us, North African supplies and manpower cannot reach Europe, and our army cannot support our comrades who are fighting the enemy in the deserts of North Africa. Even if the Italian fleet will appear in the Atlantic, this will be a fatal blow to the safety of the Atlantic route, maybe we are not afraid of a decisive battle with the opponent, but if we want to catch those fast battleships flowing over the sea, it is almost impossible, because the American and French fleets do not have a single fast battleship! This was stated by the representative of the French Navy at a conference of the Allies in London.

The words of the French made the American representative very embarrassed, what a fool! Almost all the first-rate naval powers in the world have fast battleships, not to mention Britain and Germany, the fast fleets of both sides have already fought N rounds in the North Sea. The Huaxia Navy's new Longwu-class battleships were not as fast as the battle cruisers, but they were still faster than the fundamentalist battleships. Among the 4 most powerful naval powers in the world. The Americans made an iron turtle with a vote, which has a relatively strong ability to smash, but lacks speed and maneuverability. If it were as the representative of France had said. The Italian Navy really fought out of the Mediterranean, then the Allied Mediterranean Fleet with 4 fast battleships would definitely keep the Entente side busy!

"The subtext of the French is that they want reinforcements! It is a tragedy that a once maritime power has now been reduced to such an extent. "Betty, who was present at the meeting, had a complete contempt for the French in her heart. He even doubted that today's meeting would create unexpected problems for the Grand Fleet. Because the British were also very concerned about the gains and losses in the Strait of Gibraltar, and in order to truly stabilize the situation, it was inevitable that the Americans would retreat when the French fleet could not fully assist the American Navy. Or will the Americans and the French work together to force Britain to send another fleet to the Mediterranean?

"The American fleet, under the command of General Magifin, is confident of destroying the Allied Mediterranean Fleet, but we lack fast warships. Even with the addition of the French fleet, our advantage is relatively limited, so I hope that Britain will be able to draw a few warships from your precious fast fleet to the south. In this way, our Mediterranean fleet can achieve overwhelming superiority. And as long as the Allied Mediterranean Fleet is destroyed, then we can concentrate our forces with the North Sea. Locked up the German High Seas Fleet to the death. Let them become a waste that can only stay in the port. As Betty expected, the Americans demanded that the British fleet draw fast warships to support the Mediterranean.

"The Grand Fleet has 5 Queen-class fast battleships, 2 overseas consular class fast battleships, 1 Tiger battlecruiser and 2 Amsterdam-class fast battleships, while the German High Seas Fleet now has only 2 Moltke-class fast battleships left, and in terms of strength, the British Empire has at least 5 times the advantage, in this case. Isn't it too much to mobilize some warships to the Mediterranean? The representative of France continued.

"The German High Seas Fleet, the toughest we need to deal with, has not brought this behemoth down after the past year's fighting. And now, with the addition of fresh blood, they will be even stronger, and in just one year, the Germans have acquired six battleships that are even more formidable than the Vengeance class, two of which, of course, come from the heritage of our allies. Although the Grand Fleet had inflicted heavy losses on its opponents last year, the losses they had inflicted were far less than the replenishments they received. We are under more pressure, and how can we now deploy troops? "The representative of Britain took a holistic view and tried to persuade the other side to abandon his proposal.

"Sir, I need to remind you that the Grand Fleet has 20 super dreadnoughts, while your enemy has only 16, you have up to 10 15-inch gunboats, and the other side has only 4, I do not deny the strength of the Izmail-class battleships, but they have just been taken over by the Germans, and the combat power formed is very limited, they will not act immediately in the North Sea, and the Italians are already planning to knock on the door of the Atlantic! We are fighting for Gibraltar in the British Empire, and your country is so stingy! The representative of France said righteously.

"It seems that I can't be good today. If it does not make some gestures, Britain will be in a very passive position in future negotiations. The British delegates soon realised that they were going to take advantage of this opportunity to attack the British. And the reasons they found were good, making it difficult for the British to refute. However, as a representative who has no decision-making power, he cannot guarantee anything, except that the Royal Admiralty will seriously consider the matter and give a proper answer.

At the end of this meeting, there were two opinions within the British top brass on the current situation, one of which was naturally to refuse to divide forces and wholeheartedly squat in the pit to block the German high seas fleet. In the opinion of this faction, as long as the Americans and the French take it seriously, then the Allied fleet after the combined forces still has 13 super dreadnoughts, and this force is enough to fight against the Allied Mediterranean Fleet that has just gone through a major war, after all, the Allied fleet that appeared near the Strait of Gibraltar this time is just a detachment, and according to their speculation, the current Italy does not have the ability to fight a decisive battle again. So don't be in a hurry.

On the other hand, the other faction believes that if the United States and France agree to take the initiative to attack in the shortest possible time, it is still possible to consider appropriately allocating a few warships to the other side, which is to make a time difference, and before the German fleet can react, quickly strengthen the American and French fleets and inflict heavy damage on the opponent, and then transfer them back to Britain. And after several naval battles. The British Royal Navy had certain concerns about its own combat effectiveness, not only because of the partial disadvantage in the performance of the battleships, but also because of the decline in combat effectiveness caused by the loss of a large number of experienced officers and men. Historically, Britain had a serious shortage of experienced officers and men after the start of the war, and many of the officers and men on the armored cruisers were novices or reservists, and in this plane, the losses of the British Royal Navy were super large, and tens of thousands of Royal Navy officers and men were killed in previous naval battles. This faction believed that relying solely on the British Grand Fleet was no longer enough to guarantee superiority in the North Sea, so their suggestion was that in that case, the naval battle on the southern front should be resolved first and then turn to the northern front, and only then would this be the case. Only by concentrating the naval forces of Britain and the United States can the Germans be locked to death!

The two factions had their own reasons for a while, and just when the British themselves were making trouble, Jack, who had been silenced by the commander of the Dutch fleet that had been destroyed, suddenly proposed to lead the fleet to the Mediterranean. Two Amsterdam-class fast battleships will participate in the Mediterranean war as the main force of the avant-garde reconnaissance fleet of the American and French fleets. And this hand is a bit of a drain for the British. But in the face of the Dutch's demands, the British could not refuse!

Although the Dutch fleet was included in the battle sequence of the British Grand Fleet, they still obeyed the orders of the Dutch government-in-exile. People want to leave, can the British say no? Still, the British found some very bad signs in it. If only the Dutch government. The British government believed that the provisional government in London could be easily pacified by various means. And the British thought that the Dutch would not be so uninteresting. And now that the Dutch have done this, there can only be one reason, someone is behind his back, and whoever thinks about this person can think of it with his knees, it must be the United States and France who made a wish to the Dutch behind their backs, so that the Netherlands feels that it is better to hand over the fleet to Britain and France than to Britain, which is undoubtedly a blow to the British who have always dominated the distribution of maritime power in the Entente countries!

"Damn the Dutch, damn the French. The Grand Fleet had just fought to the death with the Italians for the sake of France, and it turned out now. That's how they came to repay us! In the just-concluded World War I, we lost several super dreadnoughts in exchange for the betrayal of our allies! It is absolutely unacceptable that the good sons and daughters of Britain shed their blood on French soil and provided the French with a lot of supplies and help, while the French were plotting behind their backs for the sake of 2 fast battleships! When Churchill heard the news, he roared angrily! However, there was no way to accept it, and after receiving orders from the Dutch Provisional Government, the two Dutch fast battleships quickly left England for the western ports of France, preparing to join the American and French fleets.

"The scales are tilted, the last equilibrium is broken, order the fleet to assemble immediately, as soon as the Dutch arrive, we will immediately go to the Mediterranean, and, tell Myers, let his former dreadnought fleet come with him, and we will force the Entente Mediterranean Fleet to fight a decisive battle with our army!" When he got that the Dutch fleet was about to fight side by side with him, the commander of the combined U.S.-French fleet, Magiffen, was not as ecstatic as people imagined, but had a serious face, and his iron-blue face made his deputy Sims a little frightened.

"Is it really that serious?" After retiring the others, Sims asked tentatively.

"After the loss of two Superdreadnoughts, the Royal Navy would have only 24 warships, of which only 18 were Superdreadnoughts, and if the Germans had really completed the improvements, they would have 22 Dreadnoughts! In this case, purely from the capital ships, the Germans had an even greater advantage. And once the Grand Fleet makes a mistake, I can only say that everything will go in an uncontrollable direction. Magifen replied.

"But the British still have a large number of armored cruisers and destroyers, and the British have an absolute advantage in auxiliary warships!" Sims realized that Magiffen was definitely not alarmist this time, and that Magiffin was indeed unpopular in the US Navy, and that there would indeed be some amazing moves, but his judgment of the battle situation was very accurate, and there were few major deviations.

"It's useless, the British don't have enough manpower to run these battleships, and now the only way is to see who moves faster, whether we defeat the Italians first, or the Germans who attack the British first!" After Majifen finished speaking, he looked at the fleet outside, this is the fleet that the United States has spent 20 years building, and now this sword is finally about to be unsheathed!

Thanks to the book friends zhouyu1976 and hukaikaka for their tips, as well as the book friends athlon9527 for their monthly pass and reward support~~. Something happened this morning.,It's late for the update.,Sorry——! (To be continued......)