Chapter 193: shocked british
"General, the British have escaped, are we going to chase them?" A staff officer asked on the battlecruiser 'Moltke'.
Lieutenant General Spee shook his head: "Forget it, let them go! If you chase them, you may fall into the trap of the British. We have already won the battle and sank a British capital ship. This is already Great victory!"
Now we are fighting in British waters, so we have to be extremely cautious. They finally won the victory. If they put themselves in crisis because of taking risks, it would not be worthwhile.
"Report to the general, the 'Goeben' called, and the battlecruiser of the British Navy that they were entangled with also withdrew. They asked if they wanted to pursue it."
"Give power to the 'Goben' so that they can't pursue it and continue to perform the mission of breaking diplomatic relations."
"Yes, General!"
For the German Navy's break-off fleet, the most important task at this stage is still break-off operations. As for sinking the capital ship of the British Navy, that was just incidental. If you have the opportunity and the conditions are ripe, you can fight that kind of battle, but if you want to shift the focus to this aspect, the loss outweighs the gain. After all, if there is a decisive battle with the British Navy, now is not the time, and it is not the turn of these battlecruisers. Those rough-skinned and thick-skinned battleships left in the country are the main force in the decisive battle with the British Navy.
The battlecruiser "Moltke", which sank the battlecruiser "Lion", did not stay in this sea area too much, but left this sea area and continued to search for British merchant ships.
But the sinking of the battlecruiser "Lion" caused an uproar in the British Navy. In particular, the battlecruiser "Lion" was sunk in a two-on-one situation. Doesn't that mean that even two battlecruisers of the British Navy are not as good as one of the German Navy? If this is the case even for battleships, even if the British navy has an advantage in the number of capital ships, it may not be able to take advantage of future naval battles. If it is not done well, it will be ugly to lose.
After learning that the battlecruiser "Lion" was sunk, Churchill, the Minister of the Navy, was furious and smashed all the antique vases in the office to pieces.
"Order the battlecruisers and battleships sent out to encircle and suppress the Germans, all withdraw!" Churchill immediately issued an order.
Although, this will force their encirclement and suppression plan to stop, and it will also make the German Navy's breaking fleet attack the British sea transportation line more recklessly, causing further losses to the United Kingdom. However, Churchill did not dare to take any more risks until he learned the real situation of the naval battle and made a judgment. If any more warships are sunk, it will further weaken the strength of the Royal Navy. This will be very detrimental to the British Navy in the following battles.
"Also, let Generals Jellicoe and Betty come to see me immediately!" Churchill said.
That night, Admiral Jellicoe and Lieutenant General Betty arrived in London, and they all arrived directly by seaplane. Although, aircraft such as aircraft are not yet mature at this stage, and the risk factor is very high. But in order to hurry, the two had no choice. Fortunately, their luck was relatively good, and they all arrived in London safely.
After entering Churchill's office, both Admiral Jellicoe and Lieutenant General Betty said nothing, especially Lieutenant General Betty, who was even more ashamed. Obviously, he personally commanded the battlecruiser 'Lion', but was still defeated in the end, which made him not know how to face Churchill.
You know, the battlecruiser 'Lion' is definitely the most powerful battlecruiser in the British Navy. Although the "Queen Mary" battleship can be regarded as an improved version of the "Lion-class" battleship, the changes are not major, and the increase in combat power is not too much, so it is still counted as a "Lion-class" battlecruiser. The "Tiger" battlecruiser is a major modification of the "Lion-class" battlecruiser, and its combat effectiveness has also been greatly improved. However, the battlecruiser "Tiger" was not able to serve.
Lieutenant General Betty believes that even if the battleship "Tiger" is in service, and it faces the battlecruisers of the German Navy, I am afraid that it will still only be defeated.
"Sit down, generals!" Churchill said, suppressing the anger in his heart.
The secretary left immediately after serving the coffee. He also knew that Churchill had a bad temper now. If you stay here, I'm afraid it will bring disaster to the fish in the pond.
"Generals? Why was the battlecruiser 'Lion' sunk? That is our most powerful battlecruiser! Especially since we sent almost twice as many battleships as the Germans to pursue it. If the outside world If you know, this is a great blow to the morale of the Royal Navy and the British Empire. The Germans are launching an offensive in Western Europe, and the Belgians are struggling to support them. The French are also doing their best to prepare for battle. Our army is planning to send The expeditionary force went to fight on the European continent. The Royal Navy has always been regarded as the pride of the British Empire, the most powerful navy in the world, and a major guarantee for us to defeat the Germans. But now, the Royal Navy encountered in the first battle A disastrous defeat, a powerful battlecruiser was sunk directly, how can I explain to the Prime Minister, how to explain to the king, how to explain to all the people?" Churchill was furious, and the expression on his face even changed. It's getting a little hideous.
Although, the Royal Navy has a large number of battlecruisers, and there are more battleships, the loss of a battlecruiser is not a big deal, far from being seriously injured or injured.
It's just that the British Navy and even the British cabinet never thought that the powerful Royal Navy would fail when it first fought against the German Navy, or it would fail directly by being sunk. This will undoubtedly make the Royal Navy and even the British cabinet have a little doubt about future victories. That's why Churchill's reaction was so big.historical
"Your Excellency, I am sorry for the sinking of the battleship 'Lion'. I did not expect this to happen. However, I have to say that during the battle, those boys did their best. They They are all good." Lieutenant General David Betty distinguished.
"General Betty, what do you mean, the sinking of the battlecruiser 'Lion' was not due to man-made reasons, but because the enemy was too powerful?" Churchill frowned. Some are not satisfied with Lieutenant General David Beatty's explanation.