Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 175 Desperate Measures
"In other words, our actions were at best a harassment, aimed at escalating the current situation?"

None of the people present were fools; how could someone who had become a general or colonel not guess what Ryan was thinking?

"exactly."

Nodding, Raine placed his hand on the map and looked directly at Lundern: "The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom has been on edge for the past few months. Even though each ship can get enough rest through rotation, it is impossible to really guarantee that the sailors and officers are in good spirits."

"And their parliament and cabinet were clearly prepared for war long ago, otherwise they would not have allowed Churchill to issue the order to recall all overseas warships."

"The United Kingdom today is a giant powder keg, filled with the explosives of the Cabinet and Parliament, and the fuse is the Royal Navy, which seems safe but could spontaneously combust at any moment..."

After speaking, Raine withdrew his hand, sat down, and looked at the captains around him.

They didn't speak, but simply stared quietly at the nautical chart in front of them, as if trying to keep all their thoughts to themselves.

But Ryan could still discern some of his thoughts.

As for Schmidt, as the commander of the Wave-class, he must have been worried about any resistance he might face while carrying out his mission.

Although Raine had tried to calm him and the other captains down in his own way, no one could guarantee the outcome of the battle, especially since this was a rare feint attack carried out entirely by airships.

Suddenly, just when everyone thought the conversation would end in silence, the captain of the third ship spoke up.

"What do we do if they don't retaliate?"

The middle-aged captain looked at Rein, his triangular gray eyes appearing cloudy yet gleaming with a sharp light.

His question was clearly meaningful, but Ryan had already come up with a solution.

He said, "Then we'll gather intelligence on them as much as possible, keep flying over the territory of the United Kingdom until they have no choice but to send troops to intercept us."

"We can fly as far as the land border of the United Kingdom, and as long as we don't cross their coastline, we won't be accused of violating their airspace."

"Airspace?" Schmidt asked, puzzled.

Ryan immediately realized that there was a problem with his statement.

As a pre-modern person, Renn was used to terms like airspace and territorial waters, but for this era, the concept of airspace was still vague, since no one could draw a border line in the sky.

"The point is to prevent the airships from entering their land area."

He immediately changed his tune and explained, "For ordinary people of the United Kingdom, all they care about is whether the Empire's warships and airships have violated the territory of the United Kingdom."

"As long as we don't fly over their heads, the average people of the United Kingdom won't feel that the Empire poses a threat to them. The bilateral exchanges over the past few months have been for this purpose."

"Oh?" The captains immediately realized.

Ryan continued.

"However, for their parliamentarians and cabinet members, the mere sight of imperial airships approaching their military bases is enough to make them nervous."

"The enemy has confirmed the defensive structure of the military base, and the troop deployment has been completely exposed. These two points alone are enough to put the Parliament of the United Kingdom in a state of panic."

"When people panic, they immediately lose the ability to make accurate judgments."

He casually knocked out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, his voice becoming somewhat muffled: "By then, even if the United Kingdom's navy doesn't want to fight, the old men of the council will lift it up and put it to the muzzle of a gun."

"But throughout this entire process, the Empire never pulled the trigger... huh..."

The captain of the Zeppelin I spoke calmly, but with a hint of a smile in his voice.

"If that's really the case, then no matter how this battle ends, the Empire won't have to worry about war breaking out on the Eastern Front."

Ryan glanced at him, intending to agree with what the other person said, but he didn't say it out loud.

Admittedly, he did consider the impact of restarting the war on the Empire when he devised this battle plan, but that was not the main point.

The Empire will sign the treaty regardless, based on the shared interests of the Mediterranean nations and the Empire itself, a country that has never truly had access to the sea. After all, as long as the Empire remains a nation, it will never relinquish an opportunity to gain a safe and readily available outlet to the sea.

It is precisely because of this that Ryan only regarded the aforementioned actions as an add-on rather than the main course.

The real main course, however, has to be the United Kingdom.

“That is certainly part of it.” He first agreed with the general’s view, then changed the subject, “but our real purpose is to ensure victory in the subsequent fleet battle.”

"victory?"

Everyone turned to look at Raine.

Victory, but this was not what they had expected.

Even a fool would know that the Imperial Navy could never defeat the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. Therefore, everyone present believed that the core of this operation should be to gather intelligence and disrupt the United Kingdom's deployment, thereby forcing the United Kingdom to waste a lot of fuel supplies to reorganize its fleet.

This would give the Imperial Navy a much-needed respite, which is the optimal solution for the current empire.

But Ryan said it was for victory?
"Excuse my bluntness... Colonel Frieger."

The captain of Zeppelin II frowned and asked, "You seem to think that the Imperial Navy can win against the Royal Navy in combat?"

"Yes."

Without hesitation, Renn nodded decisively.

"The Imperial Navy has a chance to win this naval battle, rather than having to rely on air force tricks to gain room for survival."

Our gaze returns to the map.

The vast map of the North Sea is surrounded by the territories of the Empire, Farland, the United Kingdom, and several smaller countries.

But that's about all we can see.

The Atlantic Ocean, the African continent, and the Suez Canal, which are further out, are not visible on this map.

These are precisely the most dangerous aspects.

Rein removed the cigarette from his lips, shook his head, and then said...

"The United Kingdom's fleet is powerful, that's for sure."

"But you forgot one thing."

"What is it?" the captain asked in return.

Raine replied directly, "The private fleet of the United Kingdom."

"They are the ones who sustain the hundreds of warships of the United Kingdom. Even if the warships of the United Kingdom are no longer in their own colonies, those merchant ships will still continue to sail on the routes between the homeland and the colonies."

"Unless we abandon the reputation we've worked so hard to build and send troops to indiscriminately attack those transport ships, we must crush the United Kingdom's navy in the North Sea before they can react."

"The reason is simple. The reason why the United Kingdom dares to challenge the Empire is not only because its homeland does not directly border the Empire and it does not need to worry about the Empire's land-based attacks, but also because of its fleet that can continuously transport supplies to its homeland."

"The United Kingdom currently possesses more than half of the world's land, and the supplies from all over the world are enough to ensure that they do not have to worry about logistics. Even if the troops on the front lines are short of resources, the rear can send supplies in the shortest possible time."

"This is an advantage that the Empire does not have, and it is also the reason why the United Kingdom dares to challenge the Empire at this critical juncture."

"Therefore, our operation must aim to completely crush the United Kingdom's main fleet."

"It's not that we want to do it, it's that we have no choice but to do it."

(End of this chapter)