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Piaotian Literature of the Fourth Empire of China www.piaotia.com Chapter 658: Confrontation at Sea

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    British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour only felt that his brain hurt very much.  In the more than two years since he defeated the Marquess of Salisbury and became the British Prime Minister, he has hardly had a peaceful day.  Now, the Boer War in South Africa is finally coming to an end, but the conflict with Germany is getting more intense.  Since the end of last year, the German Navy's new battleships have been cruising in the North Sea. After the 'Dreadnought-class' battleships were put into service, the British Navy also launched a tit-for-tat pursuit and interception. This caused an extremely serious confrontation between the British Navy and the German Navy.  Prime Minister Arthur Balfour was often worried about misfires, which would lead to the outbreak of war.

    Although, the British Empire is still the world's largest power in name only.  But as Prime Minister Arthur Balfour knew that the current British Empire had begun to decline.  China in the East and Germany in Europe are all challenging Britain's position.  Even the United States, which is an ally, will definitely try its best to replace Britain if given the opportunity.  Under this circumstance, Prime Minister Arthur Balfour believed that Britain must quickly restore its national strength, especially its economic and naval strength.  Economically, Britain can exploit its huge colonies and quickly restore its economy.  But the navy is more troublesome. After all, a battleship cannot be completed in one day, and new battleships will take more than two or even three years to complete.

    "Okay, Your Excellency, Lord Admiralty, the fleet can be dispatched. But you must give me a guarantee. We can use the fleet to feel the strength of the German Navy. But the prerequisite is that there must be no misfire. The UK is not yet able to participate in a war.  A massive war!" Prime Minister Arthur Balfour warned.

    "Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I will tell the boys to pay more attention!" Sir John Fisher, the British Lord of the Admiralty, laughed.  Perhaps, after the four Nassau-class battleships built by the German Navy in China return home, the British Navy will temporarily lose the advantage of new battleships.  However, the British Navy has more than 20 years old battleships. At the same time, the quality of the British Navy is much higher than that of the German Navy.  In Sir John Fisher's opinion, there should be no problem in maintaining a tie with the German Navy.  But this time, the German Navy's warships returned home, which was the time to give them a show of strength.

    "By the way, please note that there is also a battlecruiser among the fleet sent by the Chinese to welcome the bride. We can have a head-on conflict with Germany, but we cannot conflict with China. After all, China is not a member of the Allies. Now  The UK is unable to cope with the challenges of two powerful countries at the same time!" Prime Minister Arthur Balfour reminded.

    "Yes, I understand, Your Excellency Prime Minister. The Chinese have only dispatched one battlecruiser. Although this kind of battleship is far faster than our 'Dreadnought' class battleship, in a one-on-one duel, I think  Our 'Dreadnought-class' battleships will definitely not be at a disadvantage!" Sir John Fisher, the British Lord of the Admiralty, said confidently.  However, he seemed to have forgotten that battlecruisers were never used for decisive battles with battleships.  The main function of the battlecruiser is to break diplomatic relations, which is especially effective for countries like the United Kingdom that rely on maritime transportation.  Once Britain's sea transportation lines are paralyzed, Britain will be finished.

    "Well! The British Empire is facing serious trouble now. However, I believe that the final winner must belong to the British Empire!" Prime Minister Arthur Balfour said firmly.  It has been two hundred years since Britain became the world's hegemon. In the process, countless countries have challenged Britain.  However, Britain persisted and became the ultimate winner.  Prime Minister Arthur Balfour has reason to believe that Britain will not fail this time.

    Under the orders of the British Lord of the Admiralty, Sir John Fisher, the British Navy quickly took action.  First, the six ¡®Dreadnought-class¡¯ battleships of the British Navy began to undergo maintenance in preparation for the expedition.  At the same time, the British Navy's old battleships also began to be mobilized frequently, especially the six newly commissioned "Old Man Star" battleships, which frequently cruised in the North Sea.

    This abnormal behavior of the British Navy caused serious concern for the German Navy.  For a time, the 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 Hipper to prepare him to face the British Navy.  Once the British navy takes the initiative to provoke, it must fight back fiercely.  Of course, at the same time, we must also avoid misfires and prevent war from breaking out now.

    For a time, the atmosphere in the German Navy's returning fleet became tense.  The officers and soldiers of the German Navy used the time during their return home to increase their training, seeming to want to quickly complete their training.  The tension of the German fleet also infected the Chinese wedding fleet.  Commodore Li Deming of the battlecruiser "Baiqi" ??specially sent a telegram to the Navy Ministry asking how to respond.

    ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?After Minister Zhang Cheng reported it to Wang Yuze and the General Staff, after study and discussion, he sent him a telegram.  In the telegram, the Admiralty believed that a conflict might break out between the British Navy and the German Navy, but it would definitely not lead to a war.  The responsibility of the Chinese Navy is to stabilize the situation and avoid an early outbreak of war when the situation becomes uncontrollable.

    From China¡¯s position, China also does not want a war to break out now. This will not be beneficial to all countries.  China is now in a stage of rapid development, and the previous layout has not yet played its due role.  Once the war breaks out, all previous efforts will be in vain.  At the same time, if China wants to win the final victory, I am afraid it will have to pay several times the price.

    On March 19, the fleet arrived at the Suez Canal.  The Suez Canal is still under British control.  The British company that controlled the Suez Canal, Sir, refused passage to the German fleet.  However, after Germany made serious representations to Britain, the German fleet was able to pass through the Suez Canal.  This made the German navy very angry.

    At the same time, the six ¡®Dreadnought-class¡¯ battleships of the British Navy all left Portsmouth Naval Port and sailed south.  After hearing the news, the four 'Nassau-class' battleships of the German High Seas Fleet also quickly left the port and sailed south, preparing to receive the returning fleet.  However, when they were passing through the English Channel, they had a confrontation with the British Navy, led by six "Old Man Star" battleships, and were blocked.  This made the German Navy very nervous, fearing that the British Navy wanted to concentrate all its efforts on destroying the German Navy's fleet and continue to establish the British Navy's advantage.  For this reason, German Navy Minister Alfred von Tirpitz sent three telegrams in succession, asking Lieutenant General Hipper to bring the four battleships back to Germany intact as much as possible.  Before the running-in is completed, the combat power of these four battleships cannot be fully exerted.

    On March 26, the fleet arrived in the Strait of Gibraltar.  At this moment, the British Navy is already here and ready.

    Lieutenant-Admiral Howard, commander of the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, led six "Dreadnought-class" battleships to block the Strait of Gibraltar.  It was announced that the British Navy is conducting exercises here. During the exercises, any military ships are strictly prohibited from passing through the strait.

    "Damn, what do these British guys want to do? Do they really want to go to war with us?" Franz von Hipper looked very embarrassed.

    "Your Majesty, Lieutenant General, the person we sent to contact you is back. The British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet stated that they will conduct a week-long exercise in the Strait of Gibraltar. During this process, in order to protect the confidentiality of the British Navy, any military ships are prohibited from passing through the strait!  "Major General Helder's face was also livid.

    "Assholes! This is public waters, and they dare to stop us!" Lieutenant General Hipper said angrily.

    "Your Majesty, Lieutenant General, what should we do now?" Major General Held asked.

    "His Excellency the Minister of the Navy sent a telegram that the fleet sent by the country to respond was also intercepted in the Johor Strait. The reason was also a military exercise. These damn British guys, they did it on purpose!" Lieutenant General Hipper cursed.  road.

    "Then Lieutenant General, should we force our way through?" Major General Held suggested.

    "No, if we force our way through, the British will open fire on us because we are spying on their military intelligence. We cannot fully utilize the combat power of these four battleships now. If we really want to go to war, we have no chance of winning!  "Lieutenant General Hipper shook his head.  In addition, he also knew that the British could not do this just to give the German Navy a show of strength and disgust the German Navy.  If the British really wanted to eliminate them, I'm afraid they would not intercept them, but directly ambush them.

    "Contact the Chinese and see what the outcome of their negotiations with the British is like?" Lieutenant General Hipper ordered.

    While the German fleet was negotiating with the British Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, the Chinese Wedding Fleet also sent people to negotiate with the British side.  However, the final result was that the cruise ship "Oriental Great" could pass through the strait, and the battle cruiser "Baiqi" ??and the two "Tianshui-class" light cruisers could not pass through the strait, which greatly shocked the Chinese side.  Furious, he lodged a serious protest with the British side.  However, the British turned a deaf ear.

    Because of the development of communications, in less than half a day, the whole world knew about the confrontation between the British Navy and the German Navy in the Strait of Gibraltar, and the eyes of the world were focused here.  (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!)
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