What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 577 The storm rises again
Wilson did not actually believe that there was a real risk of Britain falling to the British Isles.

He wasn't the only one who thought so; many generals and members of parliament in the United Kingdom thought so, European allies thought so, the Empire thought so, and experts in other parts of the world thought so too.

Amphibious landing operations are always a type of operation that puts immense pressure on the attacking side. It's worth noting that Reki once poured almost all of the nation's resources into Operation Sea Lion, and its ultimate failure actually foreshadowed later failures.

The Allied Normandy landings relied entirely on the numerically superior Empire, a player of the same era. At that time, the Empire's industrial strength was far too great compared to other powers, making it a true chosen one.

The casualties and ammunition consumption suffered during the landing were unimaginable, and the Empire's incredible stats allowed them to survive.

Even if the entire British and European navies were to unite, they might still suffer heavy losses against the Third Fleet. But defending the island... that doesn't even require support from the Prism Building; the British themselves are confident they can hold out.

The reason they didn't want to fight was simply that the cost was too high, so high that Blair believed it was far less cost-effective to find a way to get rid of the Third Fleet.

The gentlemen of Downing Street maintained the correct judgment at this time:
The Third Fleet and the Lost Empire's objective is not to lead Britain, at least not now; their core objective is definitely to contain the Empire!

The fate of the Third Fleet was inevitable annihilation; even with the support of supply convoys, it could not last long.

Rational judgment alone cannot solve the current predicament. If the Third Fleet keeps focusing on Dai Ying and relentlessly pursuing him, even if Dai Ying wins in the end, it will be a complete mess. Not only will he gain nothing, but he will also suffer heavy losses.

According to the Chancellor of the Exchequer's estimates, postwar efforts will be required to significantly rebuild the navy and air force. The massive military expenditures, coupled with the economic recession caused by capital flight, will have a noticeable impact for at least five years, and in the long run, the damage to the United Kingdom's international prestige will be even more severe.

Since there was no risk of his downfall, but rather negotiations were conducted with the aim of mutual benefit, Blair's strategy was certainly not to immediately kneel down and beg for mercy.

Just like how strategists in the Three Kingdoms period would always say "Your Majesty's death is imminent" when they first met, Wilson had to first intimidate the Third Fleet, demonstrating the strength of the Allied forces, the cohesion of the alliance, and the imminent danger of the Third Fleet, before slowly starting to negotiate terms, saying things like, "How much compensation do you want? Go make trouble somewhere else."

This negotiation strategy is usually understood by both parties, but unfortunately, Tang Wen is currently very angry:
He had been working long hours for half a month straight, focusing on Christmas campaigns and stock trading. Was he meeting with Wilson late at night just to spout nonsense?

After a brief moment of thought, Tang Wen came to the following conclusion:
The blow was still too light.

He knew very well that Wilson was just an envoy and couldn't make many decisions, so he naturally had no intention of maneuvering.

"Your Excellency, you need not say any more."

Wilson, who had just begun, was interrupted before he could even get into the flow, and the bewilderment on his face hadn't faded even when he was restrained by several sailors:
"Hey, hey! What are you doing? We're negotiating!"

"You consider this negotiation? All I see is your arrogance. Do you really think the Third Fleet will scuttle itself like before? We do not accept such arrogance!"

The sailors practically dragged Wilson and shoved him into the torpedo tube. Wilson struggled and yelled as he tried to escape.

"Wait, this is a negotiation. You can state your conditions, and perhaps we can discuss it!"

Wilson was on the verge of a breakdown, and now he really wanted to say:
Why don't you try to bargain?
Don't you understand the principle of asking for an exorbitant price and then negotiating the final price?

Blair authorized the use of half a ton of gold to bribe the middleman, wasn't that an implication that Hans would receive some "compensation"?

As long as you bargain, no matter how unreasonable the price is, it's not impossible to negotiate!

However, Schmidt merely stared at him coldly, making no attempt to stop his men's actions.
"The Emperor no longer looks at you; his last command was:"

We'll have a proper talk in 24 hours; that will be our last chance... Show them out!

The U-boat gained a little altitude, but Wilson, who was being forcibly shoved into the torpedo tube, didn't notice. Instead, he watched in horror as the sailors put on the plug, and then a burst of compressed air violently launched him out, followed by the icy, bone-chilling seawater.

Fortunately, the U-boat was bow-up at the time, and the force of the compressed air propelled Wilson to the surface in one go. He immediately seized the opportunity and barely managed to float.

Meanwhile, Stasi's kayak was still nearby, preparing to leave, when it noticed the commotion and shone its flashlight on Wilson, who was struggling.

When the latter was finally pulled aboard, despite shivering from the cold, he cursed at the Stasi members around him:
"You bunch of rusty-headed Hans, can't you learn a little bit of tact?"

Several Stasi agents were stunned for a moment, then reacted quickly by grabbing the man's hair and shoving him into the seawater until he begged for mercy.

"Why did you come out so quickly?"

Stasi, having been scolded, immediately realized Wilson had been thrown out and began an on-the-spot interrogation on the ship. Wilson, who was already making little progress, could only remain stubborn:
"We achieved a meaningful and substantive exchange of views, which effectively promoted the consensus reached by both parties, and we agreed to conduct more in-depth negotiations at a more appropriate time."

The Stasi agent paused for a few seconds before translating it into plain language:

"You two had a conflict as soon as you met, the differences were too great to continue, and you were simply thrown out and refused to negotiate?"

Wilson suddenly became agitated and, disregarding his soaking wet clothes, retorted:

"This is negotiation... a matter of foreign affairs, can you call it 'throwing away'..."

Hans, who was around them, burst into laughter. In the cheerful atmosphere, he took control of Wilson and steered the boat toward the shore.

……

"How come they haven't grasped Darwin's dog-eat-dog mentality, even though it's Darwin's birthplace?"

Tang Wen threw off the blanket draped over himself, paced around a few times muttering to himself, then slammed his hand on the table and shouted at Lütjens and Jean Bart:

"We must make Blair face reality. I want to see rivers of blood, and find the Royal Navy to fight them to the death!"

"Well……"

The ship girl winked at Lütjens and silently retreated, to which he immediately replied:
"Commander, the Royal Navy has completely withdrawn. In fact, no warships in the North Sea dare to approach us."

Lütjens was telling the truth. Apart from the British and Germans, the rest of Europe was full of anti-submarine squadrons. Upon hearing the size of the Third Fleet, they all retreated without hesitation, either obediently staying in port or hiding in the southern waters, without even considering going out to sea for reconnaissance.

Are you kidding me? Those lightly armored frigates could be destroyed by a single Gnat attack aircraft. Only a madman would dare to engage in a naval battle with the Third Fleet.

After the strategic-level air raid that evening, not only these incompetents, but even the Empire dared not easily engage in battle. The USS Kennedy had already arrived in Gibraltar, but insisted on waiting for its escort ships to be fully assembled before it would move out. General Craig, the commander of the Sixth Fleet, bluntly stated that he would not launch an attack without a two-carrier strike group, which infuriated Johnson, who berated the coward at Prism Building and threatened to fire him. He then hurriedly sent a private message to Craig, urging him to remain calm and not act rashly.

After all, a simple calculation would show that the Third Fleet deployed 1000 fighter jets in just one afternoon!
Even if the gnat is simple, and even if the Super Swift is only at the level of a generation and a half of jet aircraft, this number is already the largest daily movement since the birth of the jet aircraft!
Although modern air superiority systems could easily eliminate these low-value targets with enough missiles, no one is willing to pay for it.

The key issue is that fighting the Third Fleet yields absolutely no benefits; sometimes, they can't even salvage scrap metal!

Conflicts with other places are for geopolitics, interests, and resources, but the Third Fleet instance doesn't drop any equipment at all, so using even a little bit of resources is a loss.

This is precisely why the joint fleet targeting Antarctica and the South Pacific has always encountered setbacks, mainly because it has not been able to recoup its investment!
This made the Third Fleet something that everyone avoided—albeit for unexpected reasons.

This fact gave Tang Wen quite a headache, so he closed his eyes and looked at the map again:

At this time, the slow fleet (most of it) had arrived in Iceland and joined up with the fast fleet, still 830 kilometers from the British mainland.

Some of the messy, dilapidated civilian ships were abandoned behind, and the actual fleet that arrived consisted of about 140 ships. The improved V1 had a range of 400 kilometers.

"Ignore the slower ships for now. Of these 140 warships, 106 wooden ironclads will follow the fast fleet and advance at full speed of 25 knots in an anti-aircraft formation. The fast fleet will provide cover. In 11 hours, at 13:00 on the afternoon of the 25th, launch V1 missiles toward the homeland!"

……

North Ireland, Oldgrove

雾蒙蒙的夜空中，连续5架C130和2架C17在附近直线70公里的民用机场完成了战术应急迫降。

It was truly an emergency landing, as the airport was completely deserted. This nighttime landing was entirely due to the pilot's skill and a gamble.

After landing, Huai En first saw the tarmac densely packed with grounded passenger planes, but upon entering the terminal, he found it completely empty.

As the armored vehicle carried him through the city, the streets, still lit by streetlights, were eerily silent.

It is 3 a.m., and a convoy of chemical protection vehicles, mainly led by British officers, is driving on the streets. Christmas decorations can be seen from time to time.

82 people, in 2 hours—that's the information he received.

Upon hearing the news of the Mushroom Egg and sensing the commotion of the attack on Aldgrove Air Base, the city's residents moved out of the city with unimaginable efficiency within two hours. The main road to the south was jammed for ten kilometers, and the dense traffic even emptied the gas stations along the way.

Officials attempted to dispel rumors and persuade the drivers to turn back, but the cars were nearly smashed to pieces by angry mobs throwing stones at them.

"There is almost no radiation in the city, so I don't think it's a big problem. The leaked ammunition depot at Aldgrov base can be temporarily sealed with cement, and it can still be put into operation after emergency runway repairs."

The accompanying Major Dai Ying held up a radiation meter, which showed everything was normal.

Wayne nodded. The attacked Aldgrove base and Lossiemouth base were important forward footholds, and even if they were damaged, they needed to be restored as soon as possible.

After the Empire mobilized 30 fighter jets from its homeland, it risked drawing another 24 F-16s from the Hans, leaving all the pressure of containment to the Germans.

The remaining 68 fighter jets of the coalition forces were also gradually brought to base. In addition, the British managed to squeeze out 12 Harriers, and finally put together another 228 fighter/attack aircraft.

其中幻影2000C、幻影F1、F18和鹞式共48架飞机组成综合反舰机群，除了挂2枚格斗弹外全部挂载反舰导弹，20架F15兼顾制空和对海，剩下160架飞机是全制空挂载，总反舰导弹数量约120枚。

But that wasn't enough; the biggest weapon was the 15 B1Bs and 8 B52Hs that were urgently transferred from the mainland.

The B1B can carry a maximum of 24 harpoons, while the B52H can carry a maximum of 12.

Generally speaking, extreme loadouts are rarely used, as they have a significant impact on range and speed. However, the B-1B's increase in drag due to the rotary pylons is not very significant, while the B-52H's is purely a matter of brute force.

The best part is that the Third Fleet is less than 1000 kilometers away, which is enough for strategic bombers to easily handle even when fully loaded. The air-launched Harpoon can be launched from 300 kilometers away, allowing them to roam outside the combat zone with peace of mind.

The 23 bombers carried a total of 456 Harpoons, plus 120 from the fighter group, for a total of 576 anti-ship missiles!
Not only did they deplete the Empire's domestic stockpile of so many Harpoons, but they also had to scour their allies to barely gather enough to create what is arguably the most powerful anti-ship aircraft fleet in history!
Although the Third Fleet has many ships, only about half of them are actually combat vessels, and satellites have revealed that the vast majority of them are slow-moving old ships. The nearly 600 anti-ship missiles are more than enough!
However, bombers are less survivable than fighters. The Wynne Plan was to first rely on its range advantage to circle around the coast and wait, and then launch a supersaturation anti-ship attack once air superiority was achieved.

Meanwhile, the addition of two Trafalgar-class nuclear submarines from the UK and one Los Angeles-class submarine patrolling nearby to the anti-fleet fleet also provided considerable assistance.

The Royal Army dispatched several engineer battalions and chemical defense equipment day and night, which landed near Oldgrove and quickly arrived at the base.

Upon arriving here, Wayne witnessed the horrific scene:
Six or seven hours had passed since the attack, and the fire had long been extinguished, but the scene was still filled with a strong smell of kerosene.

The first thing that catches the eye is the wreckage of 41 Harrier jets packed tightly together; at this moment, all that can be seen is grayish-white scrap metal scattered all over the ground.

Upon arrival, the chemical defense troops immediately located the base's fire trucks and prioritized reducing radiation by spraying foam. The runway cleanup work was also proceeding in an orderly manner.

In fact, the base personnel completed most of the work after the attack, and the take-off and landing capabilities were restored by 3:30 a.m. The first to arrive was an E-2D early warning aircraft, which took off immediately after a brief resupply to provide radar early warning.

A little later, an SR71 Blackbird arrived at the same time as a C17 transport plane, carrying specialized maintenance equipment and ground crew.

They will prepare the Blackbird here and launch it at sunrise to conduct reconnaissance operations against the Third Fleet.

At 5 a.m., the British search and rescue team successfully located Mark, who had been in the plane crash.

The E3B that made an emergency landing in the lake was fortunate to have its main structure preserved, and all the main personnel were evacuated. Mark himself only suffered a broken leg and ribs and will recover in six months.

He called Huai En immediately after being rescued, intending to apologize, but Huai En advised him to rest well and encouraged him to learn from his experience so that he could use it in the future.

Wayne had no intention of punishing Mark, after all, Mark was not only young, but had also become one of the few generals who had commanded large-scale battles involving hundreds of fighter jets!

Not to mention now, even decades ago there weren't many people who could do this kind of work.

Even though he made many mistakes and stumbled along the way, he will still become a rising star in the Air Force. He may even climb to my position in the future. How could I bear to blame him?

Besides, the planes of our allies suffered the most losses, so how can it be considered Mark's fault?
(End of this chapter)