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Text Chapter 1089: A strong man cuts off his wrist

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    After being ravaged by two wings of the Chinese naval aviation, the British and French navies suffered heavy losses.  So far, more than eight battleships have been sunk, including five battleships and three battlecruisers.  As for the remaining heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers, the losses were very small.  This is also because the Chinese naval aviation focuses its main targets on capital ships.  For naval aviation pilots, the huge, hill-like battleships are excellent attack targets. As for other battleships, they are too small and difficult to hit. Even if they are hit, the result will be small.  Much smaller than a battleship.

    After the Chinese naval aviation fighter jets flew away, the combined fleet sailed to the west again in an attempt to escape the strike range of the Chinese naval aviation.

    However, those battleships that were severely damaged were seriously out of speed of the fleet.  The speed of some battleships, such as the battleship Bold, has dropped to 5 knots.  If this continues, it will be impossible for the combined fleet to successfully escape before the next round of attacks by the Chinese naval aviation.

    "Your Excellency, Commander, what should we do now? The remaining eight battleships have all been severely damaged, their speed has dropped a lot, and they can no longer keep up with the speed of the fleet." Fleet Chief of Staff Roslin.  Lieutenant General Wells said with some worry.

    At this time, the United Nations was only about a hundred kilometers away from Sicily, and was still within the strike range of the Chinese Naval Aviation. The fighter planes of the Chinese Naval Aviation Wing, which had returned to Sicily to replenish ammunition, had already returned to the field airport, and the ground crew  The personnel are inspecting the fighter planes and adding fuel and ammunition to the fighters. The pilots are also taking a rest, using this time to go to the toilet or eat to replenish their strength.  Soon they will take off again and carry out a second round of strikes against the combined fleet.  In the plan of the commander of the Chinese Mediterranean Theater, the two wings of the naval aviation will launch two rounds of attacks on the combined fleet, and the remaining enemies will be handed over to the Indian Ocean Fleet and submarine forces of the Navy to ensure the maximum possible combination of the British and French navies.  The battleships of the fleet were destroyed.

    John.  Admiral Jellicoe also hesitated. He knew that the combined fleet had suffered a complete defeat in this battle. Half of the 13 battleships and 3 battlecruisers had been sunk, and most of the rest were injured.  It is almost impossible to successfully bring these capital ships back.  The first appearance of the Chinese naval aviation achieved such stunning results, which was beyond the imagination of the Chinese military. However, the consequences were borne by the combined fleets of the British and French navies.

    After the headquarters of the Combined Fleet was transferred from the battleship Warrior, it was placed on the heavy cruiser Edinburgh of the British Navy.  When the Chinese Navy was equipping heavy cruisers on a large scale, the British Navy also gave up its old-fashioned armored cruisers and chose to replace armored cruisers with heavy cruisers.  'Edinburgh,' the heavy cruiser is the first ship of the British Navy's second heavy cruiser.

    ¡®Edinburgh-class, heavy cruiser, 1284 meters long, 215 meters wide, with a draft of 798 meters and a displacement of 1 ton.  The top speed reached 28 knots.  The armament is three twin-mounted 240mm main guns, 6-155mm secondary guns, 12-37mm rapid-fire guns and four heavy-duty torpedo tubes.  The British Admiralty was very satisfied with the performance of this type of heavy cruiser and purchased 12 of them at one time.  This time, four ships were also assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet.

    "General Wells, what do you think we should do now?" John.  Admiral Jellicoe asked.  He knew that after the disastrous defeat of the British and French naval fleets this time, he wanted to be promoted to the British Admiral and succeed John.  It was no longer possible for Sir Fisher to become Lord of the Admiralty of the British Empire.  Although the main reason for this failure was that the Chinese navy was too cunning, they actually prepared a powerful naval aviation force to deal with the combined fleet.  But, John.  Admiral Jellicoe's greed for credit and his reckless command errors were also a big reason for the combined fleet's defeat.  If John.  If Admiral Jellicoe had been more cautious and not so hastily attacked Sicily, and if he had not been fooled by the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet, everything would not have been like this.  However, it is too late to say anything now. The disastrous defeat of the British and French naval fleets is inevitable. The loss of all the battleships is irreparable!

    This problem is actually easy to solve. All the capital ships of the British and French naval combined fleets are destined to be lost. Then, the combined fleet can completely abandon these capital ships and allow other heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers to escape.  However, the capital ship is the decisive force of the navy. If we give up here, I am afraid it will bear an extremely heavy responsibility.

    ¡°However, if we continue to be dragged down by these capital ships, then the fate of the entire combined fleet will be worrying. The Chinese Navy¡¯s Indian Ocean Fleet, which was previously used as a decoy, has restarted its accelerated navigation. Although it has not caught up yet, according to the supervisorThe light cruiser reported that the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet had accelerated to 20 knots, and the other five old battleships that had been staying in Sicily before the start of the naval battle also joined the formation.  Now, the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet has a total of battleships. Even though their performance cannot be compared with the advanced battleships of the Combined Fleet, this is when the battleships of the Combined Fleet are intact.  Now these battleships of the Combined Fleet have been severely damaged. With the strength of the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet, it can completely eat up the remaining battleships of the Combined Fleet.  In addition, the second round of attacks by the Chinese Navy's aviation force will soon begin.  The combined fleet has no chance of winning, so it is only right to escape quickly!

    "Your Excellency, Commander, why don't we abandon these capital ships and let the remaining warships evacuate quickly? Otherwise, when the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet arrives, or the Chinese planes arrive again, we won't be able to escape even if we want to!"  Roslin.  Lieutenant General Wells said.

    "Abandon these battleships? There are eight battleships! If we give up, how will we explain to the country? I'm afraid we both have to take off our military uniforms!" John.  Admiral Jellicoe said.  He was able to become an admiral and a count of the empire, but he had to work hard. If he gave up now, he would be very unwilling to do so.

    "Your Excellency, Commander, if the Chinese catch up, we won't even be able to save our lives. There will be no point in talking about anything else!" Roslin.  Lieutenant General Wells said.  In his opinion, since the defeat is certain, then it is better to be simple and save everyone's lives as much as possible first.  Although battleships are important, human lives are also more important.  The loss of so many battleships this time will certainly make the British Navy very uncomfortable.  However, the British Navy still has many battleships undergoing repairs.  After these capital ships are repaired, the British Navy can continue to maintain its superiority in the North Sea and the Atlantic.  However, if the British Navy wants to advance eastward, it is impossible.  With no way to deal with these ferocious Chinese fighter planes, advancing eastward is just looking for death.

    John.  Admiral Jellicoe nodded, he agreed very much with Roslin.  The words of Lieutenant General Wells.  However, giving up these capital ships did make him very difficult.  In addition, the morale of the fleet is now very low. If these battleships are abandoned, the officers and soldiers on these battleships will be very dissatisfied, and they may surrender directly to the Chinese.  This will be an even heavier blow to the UK.

    "Since these battleships are destined to be lost, let's just sink them all! So as not to leave them to the Chinese!" John.  Admiral Jellicoe said.  Although these battleships have been damaged, they are all advanced battleships!  If it is acquired and repaired by the Chinese, it will inevitably further strengthen the strength of the Chinese navy. This is not a good idea for the United Kingdom.

    "Your Excellency, Commander! We cannot sink them. On the one hand, we don't have so much time. On the other hand, if these capital ships are sunk, the Chinese Navy's Indian Ocean Fleet and those aircraft will come straight to us.  Leave these battleships behind and let them attract the attention of the Chinese while we take the opportunity to escape!" Roslin.  Lieutenant General Wells said quickly.

    "But what if these battleships surrender to the Chinese?" John.  Admiral Jellicoe said worriedly.

    "We don't need to notify them. Your Excellency, Commander, just needs to order the ships to speed up and escape to avoid being hit by Chinese aircraft again. These capital ships have been severely damaged, and their speed can no longer keep up with other warships.  They can only be left behind in the end. As for what they will choose in the end, it depends on them!" Roslin.  Lieutenant General Wells said.  Abandoning these eight battleships to give other warships a chance to escape would cost them a lot, but there was nothing they could do.

    John.  Admiral Jellicoe hesitated for a few seconds, and finally nodded.  Obviously, in this case, finding a way to save lives is the most important thing. If even they cannot be saved, the battleships that are the main targets of the Chinese cannot be saved.

    John.  Admiral Jellicoe then issued an order to speed up the evacuation of each ship with the order of the Combined Fleet Commander.  The uninjured heavy cruisers, armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers all sped up to evacuate, but those battleships whose speed was greatly affected gradually fell behind!
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