Good spirits, bad spirits. Perhaps it was the opening of the mouth, and only a week later, the bad news followed.
Large groups of troops are massing towards the French coast. Needless to say, this is for the British Isles.
Hearing the bad news, Swinding couldn't help but hurriedly asked the Director of Military Intelligence, "Has the enemy's warship been in service?"
To land on the British Isles, naval battles are indispensable. Shinra has an air force to cover, and Britain has an air force as well.
Even if it is a little weaker, once it is desperate, it can still be contained in a short time.
In order to protect the troop carrier, the Shinra Navy had to fight. Based on the current strength of the two sides, the Royal Navy still has a bigger chance of winning.
The only thing that can change this situation is the commissioning of new warships. Although the construction time is a little tight, the enemy is the world's largest industrial power, and it makes sense to work overtime and finish ahead of schedule.
In fact, as early as more than a month ago, the Military Intelligence Service of the Navy had received information about the launch of the enemy's capital ship, but it had not been confirmed.
From launching to service, to forming combat effectiveness, it must not be completed in just over a month, but haven't the landing operations yet started
A war from preparation to launch also takes a long time. When the preparations are completed, the training may also be completed.
Chief of MI Lacerda nodded: "What is currently certain is that the enemy has at least two Dreadnought-class battleships in service.
The enemy's capital ships were almost all started at the same time, and even if the other battleships were not yet in service, I am afraid it would not be long. "
After getting the positive news, Swinding was not well.
One step at a time, one step at a time.
The British battleship started a step late, and the shipyard was attacked by the enemy in the middle, and the construction progress was even slower.
Once the enemy's warships are in service, the Royal Navy will be at an absolute disadvantage in numbers at the level of dreadnoughts.
Although the quality is not enough, it can be made up in quantity. But dreadnoughts have the ability to kill ordinary warships. Who knows how much it will cost to wipe out this advantage
If the Royal Navy is not sure of winning, then the "one person, one machine, one bomb for one ship" that he joked about will become a reality.
The dead man is easy to find, but the dead man pilot is not easy to deal with. Although they are both island countries, the British Empire is not Japan after all, and there are people rushing to recruit death squads.
If nothing else, just look at the London air battle. Once the fighter plane was damaged, it immediately turned around and ran away. When it was found that it could not run away, the pilot immediately parachuted.
While maximizing the preservation of living force, many planes were wasted, and many planes that could have been rescued were abandoned.
Don't accuse, those who dare to fight in the sky are heroes, and a group of pilots even refuse to fight.
The reason is very good: the aircraft performance gap is too large, and asymmetrical combat is death. Since it is to die, naturally can not go.
It is not popular in Britain to "look at death", and the high battle losses in the early stage made the British government have no confidence.
Except for active duty pilots who cannot escape and must go to the battlefield, amateurs and civil aviation pilots have the right to refuse.
The main reason is that the compulsory military service law has not yet been introduced, and the government has very limited penalties for those who refuse to recruit.
…
Just as the British were in a panic, the international situation was quietly changing. The ensuing bad news constantly eroded everyone's confidence in the British Empire.
The Indian defense war has started. Shinra is attacking from both sides of Persia and Indochina. Although there is still a long way to go, everyone does not think that the Persians and a group of colonial troops can stop the pace of the world's first army power.
In particular, the Russians have also sent troops from Afghanistan, and British India has essentially fallen into a situation of embattlement.
Against the world's largest and second largest army powers alone, distance and terrain alone are not enough. Unless the British can pull it off, there is no hope at all.
British Africa has almost fallen. If there is no more India, will Britain still be an "empire"
No matter how powerful the Royal Navy is, it cannot reverse the defeat on land. Besides, they also lost the battle of Malacca.
The battle to defend the Strait of Gibraltar has begun, and the Spaniards, stimulated by the victory, finally gathered up the courage to attack Gibraltar.
It is estimated that he is preparing to replicate the victory of the last anti-French war and return to the ranks of the great powers with the help of the prestige dividends brought by the victorious countries.
Great powers are not only just a name, but also contain a lot of interests behind them, which are especially important for major trading countries.
For example, the comprehensive national strength of the United States and the Confederate States is not weak, but because they do not have the names of major powers, they have no right of discovery in the world.
Although Spain's strength is not good, its reputation is still loud this year, and its voice in the world is second only to the three countries of Britain, Austria and Russia.
Of course, this was only the beginning of the victory of the anti-French alliance. Later, the reputation of the Philippine war was greatly damaged, and then the national strength was consumed in the suppression of colonial wars, and even the right to speak in the world also declined a lot.
Both Russia and the West joined in, and the scumbags in Europe naturally couldn’t sit still. It's always been everyone's favorite.
What's more, the Vienna government also promised to use "India" as bait with huge profits, so how can the governments of various countries hold back
With the active support of various countries, the continental coalition has already taken shape, and only the final integration is needed. When these tasks are completed, it is time for a decisive battle.
Compared with the concentration of the members of the Continental Alliance, the members of the Ocean Alliance are more scattered, and they are all located in the north and south, and if they want to gather together, they have to travel across the ocean.
The difficulty of power integration is more than one grade higher.
Although the British government has worked very hard, due to the distance, the integration of the Ocean Alliance is more than one step slower.
If the war lasts for two or three years, the power of the Ocean Alliance can naturally gather; but from the current situation, the enemy will definitely not give them enough time.
Seeing that the strength of the enemy continues to grow, the situation on the battlefield is becoming more and more unfavorable for the Ocean Alliance, and the governments of various countries are also watching and anxious.
The navies of various countries have participated in the escort movement, the air force has also dispatched elite pilots to reinforce Britain, and the army has also begun to assemble.
Just wanting to beat the Continental Alliance is still not enough. Gathering the strength of the entire European continent, it is invincible in this year.
More and more people of insight realize that getting involved in this war is a mistake.
It's a pity that there is everything in this world, that is, there is no regret medicine. It is easy to join the war, but it is difficult to quit.
On the surface, everyone is still a good ally of Britain and is working hard for this war, but in private, there are already undercurrents.
Everything depends on the final decisive battle. If Britain can keep India on the premise of smashing the "Sea Lion Project", then everyone is still a good ally.
But if one of them has an accident, there is no other way but to cut the flesh to stop the loss.
It can only be said that empiricism kills people. In every European war in the past two hundred years, the British have been the big winners in the end.
The long-term victory has brought confidence to everyone. In addition, the Royal Navy has the advantage of sea power, and the countries are isolated overseas. The worst outcome is expected to be invincible.
According to the promise of the British, even if they are undefeated, everyone can carve up the overseas colonies of Shinra, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and other countries.
Unfortunately, the reality is cruel. The British Empire, which has missed the second industrial revolution, is like an old man in the twilight, and no longer has the vitality of the past.
…
The international diplomatic situation is on the rise again, and the battlefield is also blooming in all directions. With the defeat of the Malacca naval battle, the British had to make a strategic contraction in the Far East.
Except for the Indo-China Peninsula that is still fighting, other regions have already reluctantly cut their flesh. But this is not enough, the Continental Alliance did not give them a chance to breathe.
The high-spirited Governor William is now miserable and happy. All men have a heroic dream of galloping on the battlefield. Now the opportunity to command the army has finally come, but William has a headache.
Not everyone has the ability to "Han Xin orders troops, the more the better", at least Governor William does not have the ability to command an army of millions.
If it weren't for the outbreak of war, no one would have believed that the Continental Alliance could mobilize millions of troops in the Southeast Asia region.
However, the reality actually happened. The Dutch sent 100,000 troops, the Spaniards sent 80,000 troops, the Portuguese sent 3,000 troops, and the Austrian Nanyang troops directly under the 130,000 troops, together with the aristocratic coalition forces and civilian armed forces that came one after another, the total force broke through the million mark. .
This is not all, there are new troops joining every day, as if there is an endless stream, making Governor William a big head.
Unlike the well-established organizational framework in Africa, it can be prepared directly according to the previous reserve structure. Most of them are in bulk in Nanyang.
European immigrants alone can't make up a million army, but with the addition of Lanfang Autonomous Province, it becomes more than enough.
To blame can only blame the military merit title system is attractive. After so many years of operation, Franz the Great's reputation has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In the past, everyone wanted to participate, mainly because they were too far away from the battlefield, and they couldn't join in without the summoning order.
Now that the opportunity has come to the door, Lanfang's Chinese family can't sit still. Driven by interests, everyone overcame their fear of the British and joined the war one after another.
In addition, in order to seek greater military merit, the nobles continued to recruit private armies, and the ranks of the coalition army expanded rapidly.
If you don't love war, that's just not enough interests. Everyone knows that the emperor is generous enough to use hectares as the unit of land allocation.
Even if you can't get a title, it is worthwhile to divide a piece of land. Wealth and wealth are in danger, but all aspiring young people who want to turn over have appeared in the army.
If you look closely, you can also find the presence of international students. Not only did he participate by himself, but he even returned to China to attract people.
The momentum of the army of one million has gone up, but the combat effectiveness has come down. In addition to the directly affiliated troops, only the aristocratic private armies of the troops have combat effectiveness, and the rest are rabble.
Including the troops sent by Spain and the Netherlands, in the eyes of Governor William, they all followed suit.
Knowing that it was a rabble, William couldn't refuse everyone's enthusiasm for participating in the war. On the one hand, it is a bundle of interests, and on the other hand, it is to exert enough pressure on the British.
Regardless of whether it is a rabble or not, the number is here, and the British have to send out heavy troops to intercept them.
Anyway, it was a relatively bad era. There were only 200,000 to 300,000 main battle troops on the Continental Alliance side, and the rest were rabble, and the British were not much better.
The reinforcements that came from the mainland were all newly formed troops, and the colonial troops that were temporarily pulled up were the best among the rabble.
If there is a fight, William feels that his side is still cheaper. There are also many rabble, at least the morale of the troops on their side is high.
The large number of civilian armed forces was not forced by William. He just issued a call, and everyone took the initiative to send them to the door.
Since he is fighting for himself, his morale is naturally not low. Especially when he took the oath before, William made a speech and directly promised the entire army that after winning the war, the death pension would be no less than 500 Aegis, or five hectares of land.
The local new civilians and the regular army do not feel anything. According to past practice, this is just a normal operation. The various subsidies added up one after another often end up being higher than the pension.
But other people can't do it. Five hundred Aegis is equivalent to thousands of taels of silver. Judging from the economic level of the Far East, it is an astronomical sum for 99% of the people.
The allure of five hectares of land is even greater because it is a military field. In the Holy Roman Empire, as long as the field of military merit is not sold, it is permanently tax-free.
This kind of life-buying money is already sky-high in the Far East. In a sense, the steady stream of people joining was also stimulated by William himself.
Now that the word has been spoken, it must be fulfilled. Under the influence of Franz for a long time, William knew the importance of credibility.
The reputation of the Habsburg dynasty cannot be bought by money, and there is no need to take advantage of its own reputation in order to save 80 million.
What's more, from his point of view, five hundred Aegis Aegis is really not a lot for one person to sacrifice his life. Not to mention the land, it was all seized from the enemy, so there is absolutely no need to feel distressed.
As the King's Reserve, William also needs to build his credibility.
There are many ethnic groups in the Nanyang region. If you can spend hundreds of millions and 80 million, you will establish your own reputation among the various ethnic groups. With William's understanding of his own father, he will definitely be willing to pay the bill.
What's more, there is no need to pay for it at home. The war funds have always been fully borne by the Vienna government, and the royal family can take the lead in donating at most critical moments.
Don't even need donations now, the war has only been going on for a few months, and the pockets of the Vienna government have not been exhausted so quickly.
Leading a mob to fight is impossible without mental pressure. Don't expect to kill all the way to occupy India, at least to lay down the Indo-China Peninsula.