Conquer Europe from the West

Chapter 178 Admiral Jellicoe

Ryan's guess was correct to some extent.

The United Kingdom has indeed been putting pressure on the Farland authorities over the past few months, but their pressure extends beyond intelligence.

And here lies the problem.

Not long after Raine had arranged the work of the airship fleet, on March 4th, at 10 Downing Street.

As the closest empire's non-domestic coastal military outpost to the United Kingdom, Ostend has always been a key target of the United Kingdom's surveillance.

However, Raine's control over the base's intelligence was perfect. Soldiers and officers were not allowed to leave the camp at all. Those who could leave had to undergo an intelligence quarantine for a week before going out, to ensure that the intelligence they possessed was outdated.

As this went on, the United Kingdom was not entirely certain about the situation in Ostend, but it was certainly completely baffled.

The only intelligence they knew was that the Empire had recently sent several airships to Ostend, but even these airships were hidden in a dense forest and could not be seen clearly without the aid of airplanes or hot air balloons.

At the same time, Raine's strict control over people entering and leaving Ostend prevented the United Kingdom from obtaining intelligence by sending spies or bribing locals to act as their own spies.

As a result, after two months of trying, the United Kingdom completely abandoned the idea of ​​obtaining Imperial intelligence through Ostend.

Of course, this doesn't mean they can't get intelligence. After all, there are only two Imperial Army bases with such tight management: Ostend and the Baltic Fleet base. Other bases can still leak information from time to time.

Now, Churchill is frowning over the navy.

He sat in his study at the Prime Minister’s residence, facing General Jellicoe, then Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy, and beside him was Sir George Callaghan, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy, who had just been relieved of his post not long ago.

The two naval fleet commanders looked extremely unwell; even under the incandescent light, they appeared almost bloodless.

Sir George Callaghan was pale because he disliked the Dardanelles war god in front of him, who had only been able to climb to the position of Prime Minister of the Kingdom through connections and luck. After all, Churchill had deprived him of the opportunity to command the Kingdom's fleet in a decisive battle against the Imperial Navy.

But Jericho is pretty much the same now...

Young Jellicoe was very resistant to Churchill's appointment of him as Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy. Firstly, he believed that Sir George Callaghan deserved the honor, and secondly, he was too young, and he felt that such an appointment, which was tantamount to coercion and conflicted with the opinions of most naval officers, was irregular.

He had repeatedly refused appointments from Churchill over a period of time, but was eventually forced to take office temporarily by Churchill's threat to "get out of the army if you don't accept your fate."

Then he stumbled upon the kingdom's request for the empire to provide reports on the modernization of its naval vessels.

Heaven has eyes. The United Kingdom is indeed the strongest country in the world, but as an island nation and as a naval force, Jellicoe knows very well that the Kingdom's demand of the Empire is nothing more than for the Empire to reveal its top-secret naval information. In fact, a minority of naval commanders share his view. Even though everyone knows that the Kingdom must maintain a high-pressure stance against the Empire and can even risk deploying its fleet along the Empire's coast, directly demanding records of modernization is still too shocking.

The saying goes, "Leave someone a way out so you can meet them again in the future." Even if the United Kingdom doesn't have this saying, everyone still understands this principle.

Especially when one's own country and the emperor of the empire are related.

But now, things have developed beyond the control of these naval commanders.

The Imperial Navy had recently begun live-fire exercises around the English Channel, with all supplies and equipment being prepared for actual combat. The high-intensity training and frequent rotations allowed them to complete live-fire training of the entire Baltic Fleet in just one month. If this continued, the Imperial Navy might even achieve the unprecedented feat of completing multiple rounds of live-fire training for its entire fleet in just two months…

Modern naval vessels are quite different from the sailing battleships that Jellicoe and Sir Callaghan used when they first entered service. The requirements for sailors on these massive, riveted, steam-gunned warships are far less stringent than in the age of sail, and modern equipment allows warships to maintain their combat capability in all kinds of weather and sea conditions.

Therefore, the high-intensity live-fire training will only quickly turn the Imperial Navy soldiers into experienced technical soldiers, enabling them to have a higher level of proficiency than the Kingdom Navy sailors in subsequent battles.

In other words, no one in the world has yet figured out the combat modes of large-scale fleets and modern warships, and all the theories have not yet been verified by a major war.

In this situation, the Imperial Navy has begun to use live-fire training to verify the reliability of its theories, while the Kingdom Navy is still leisurely on vacation, watching the Imperial Navy drop countless shells at sea.

Inside the study, Jellicoe glanced discreetly at Sir Callaghan sitting beside him. The two exchanged knowing glances and then turned to look at Churchill, who had already put down the documents in his hands.

The fat, big-eared prime minister first took off his glasses, carefully wiped the dust off them, then raised his eyebrows, his mouth drooping, and said in a gloomy voice, "So, you think we must use a provocative action to provoke the Imperial Navy into launching a full-scale attack?"

“This is no naval game, Admiral Jellicoe, Sir Callahan.”

Churchill's eyes reflected the dim light, but his face was completely shrouded in shadow: "Our Grand Fleet needs to ensure the Kingdom's current maritime dominance, and as you know, the blizzard in Farland will only last for another month at most. When that time comes, we will have the opportunity to launch an offensive against the Empire from both sea and land, without having to act in this highly tense situation."

His words immediately darkened the faces of the two admirals, but before Jellicoe could even compose himself, Churchill changed his mind.

"but."

Churchill said.

"If General Jericho can explain the reasons for this plan to me and convince me, then this feint attack plan is not entirely unnecessarily open to discussion."

(End of this chapter)