With the whistling sound of the plane, the British offensive and defensive battle that shocked the world officially kicked off.
The fierce air battle was the first to start, and the respective naval fleets were below, and now there was no room for both sides to back down.
The planes in the sky are fighting fiercely, and the warships below are also fighting between life and death. The Continental Combined Fleet and the Royal Navy have been fighting together, and the battle to decide the fate of the two camps has begun.
Morquez, Chief of Staff of the Holy Roman Empire, has already been on the front line, commanding the multinational coalition forces to fight, and Crown Prince Frederick has personally served as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces.
Just by looking at the specifications, you can tell that this is a war that can only be won, not lost.
In fact, such personnel appointments are also forced to be helpless. Not everyone can serve as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces. Ability is second. The key is to have a high enough identity or prestige and be able to coordinate the relationship between allies.
It's natural that there are such people, Shinra, but after considering the "high power and shocking the master", there is not much room for choice.
In theory, Franz is naturally the best candidate. With the prestige accumulated over the years, as long as Franz stops there, everyone must be obedient, and no one dares to jump out and stab.
Unfortunately, reality does not allow it. During the war, there are more places in the country that need to be coordinated, and the emperor is inseparable.
In this context, the position of commander-in-chief of the coalition forces naturally fell to Frederick.
Anyway, the most important job of the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces is to coordinate the relationship between the coalition forces of various countries. Professionals are responsible for the specific military command.
If you carefully study the personnel appointments in the various battlefields of Shinra, you will find that in the main battlefields of Southeast Asia, Central America, and the Near East, the highest military commanders are royalty.
From this point of view, this war is also the Shinra royal family's strengthening of the control of the army.
There was no trouble, mainly because Franz was pressing on it. The deeper reason was that the emperor was generous enough to buy people's hearts and even the lower-level officers and soldiers took care of them.
Now everyone is thinking of winning the war as soon as possible, so that the spoils can be divided quickly, and there is no fief incense for those who have power but not power.
The general trend is like this, even if some people have other ideas, they can only hold back in their hearts.
The imperial object of allegiance is the emperor, a tradition that has lasted for thousands of years, and cannot be overwhelmed by new ideas in a short period of time. Especially in the Holy Roman Empire, where the nobility system was still at its peak, the impact was even smaller.
The military has no opinion, let alone the government. In the Holy Roman Empire, the separation of military and government is not a joke. Politicians who dare to reach out to the army have long been cold.
For the first time, commanding an army of millions in battle, although only responsible for coordinating relations between all parties, Frederick also felt the pressure.
Unlike the last gilding, now there is something to do. The armies of more than a dozen countries are gathered together, and it is difficult to smooth the relationship between them, let alone fight together.
If you simply calculate the combat power, 1+1 at this time is no longer equal to 2, and 1.6 can be considered a good cooperation.
And the more countries that participate in the coalition, the more the combat effectiveness of the coalition will be weakened. In essence, this attack on the British Isles is a war with a group of pig teammates.
Regardless of how many pits the pig teammates have, the coalition must still have them. Even Monaco, a small country with small bullets, sent a company to make up the numbers.
In addition to the need for cannon fodder on the battlefield, there are more political needs.
In the long run, the more countries that are bound now, the greater the power to suppress backlash in the future, the more stable the newly established international system after the war, and the more consolidated the Holy Roman Empire's hegemony will naturally be.
The Calais Allied Forces Headquarters, looking at the combat staff who shuttled back and forth, listened to the telegrams of ''dididi'', and Frederick, who was full of energy, felt agitated for no reason.
Anxious waiting is the most painful, it is better to watch the battle in person. It's just that the concept of ''the son of a daughter can't sit still'' has taken root in Frederick's mind, and he can't help but be willful.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the battle on the battlefield became more and more intense. The English Channel was shrouded in gunpowder smoke, and the sea water changed color.
The sound of artillery fire overwhelmed the sound of the tide and was deafening. From time to time there are planes crashing, slapping the sea, stirring up the waves.
The fighting on the sea is even more brutal. The roaring sound of the explosion tells the light of the cannon and the giant ship, and the rolling waves tell the afterglow of the setting sun.
This is the most glorious era of cannon ships, and it is also the beginning of cannon ships from prosperity to decline. The emergence of aircraft carriers has changed the mode of naval warfare.
The wind and waves of the Atlantic Ocean can only continue this last wave of life for the cannon ship. The Battle of the English Channel is destined to become the swan song of the cannon and giant ships.
There were more than 400 battleships on both sides, and the pilots were directly set up to bombard each other, as if they were two dueling knights.
No matter how tired you are or how many injuries you have on your body, both sides will fight to the death for the glory of the knight.
In the fierce melee, the fleets on both sides were out of formation. This is a pediatric department to be shot, and the battle has gone on so far, and it is almost impossible to find an unscathed warship.
Some hapless destroyers and cruisers accidentally got involved in the battle of battleships, and the scene was tragic. Even the warship possessed by the mold god was directly cut into two sections by the waist.
In the blood and fire, both sides were red-eyed. Everyone's thinking was stagnant, and there was only one goal in their minds - to kill the enemy.
Some violent people, after the hull was seriously damaged, even drove the warship directly into it, and the scene was extremely tragic.
With the passage of time, the number of sunk warships on both sides is increasing, and the true story of "one general succeeds in sinking a hundred ships".
It's a close fight. Although the Royal Navy has the highest literacy and more warships, it has fewer dreadnoughts than the coalition forces.
In the era of cannons and giant ships, whoever has bigger warships and sharper artillery will have an advantage.
In order to entangle the extra dreadnoughts in the Shinra Navy, the Royal Navy could only fight with three or five ordinary battleships at the risk of being sunk.
With skilled tactical cooperation, the two sides also played vigorously. The advantage of the number of dreadnoughts of the mainland coalition forces has not really been brought into play.
There is no way to pull the navies of various countries to the battlefield together, and the number of warships has increased, but the tactical cooperation is unsustainable.
It seems that they are uniting, but in fact everyone is fighting on their own. The national fleet cooperates well, but once it cooperates with its allies, it becomes very clumsy.
From the perspective of the confrontation on the sea, the overall situation is evenly matched, and no one can tell at a glance which side will become the final winner of this naval battle.
Compared with the anxiety on the sea, the air battle is much clearer. Judging from the number of fighters that fell in Shancong, everyone knows who has the upper hand.
The gap is always the gap, and it can't be made up by a few slogans and flickering words.
However, compared to the previous London air battle, the current British Air Force is obviously a lot more mature. As soon as the battle broke out, they swarmed up, almost pushing the Shinra Air Force against the Shinra Air Force by virtue of the sudden number of advantages.
It's a pity that it was still a little short of the last, and with the arrival of the follow-up fighters, this advantage was quickly reversed.
The initial opportunity gained was soon exhausted. At the end of the battle, he could only be held back by his blood.
There are dumplings in the sea, some stuffed with airplanes, some stuffed with warships, and there are a variety of subdivided flavors, which makes the appetite of the ocean wide open.
The weather gradually dimmed, and it was difficult to clearly lock the target on the battlefield, and both sides had to call out their troops.
At this moment, the sea is already in a mess, and the night has saved the warring parties. But what will happen tomorrow, no one can tell.
After the ceasefire, both sides dispatched search and rescue boats to rescue the drowning officers and soldiers with searchlights. Invincible against me, as long as they are alive, they will be caught.
At this moment, everyone has no intention of fighting. Even if they meet, they will pretend not to see it, and then walk away.
Of course, the most important thing is that the search and rescue ship is unarmed, so you can't go up and collide, right
At midnight, Crown Prince Frederick, who was still waiting at the headquarters, finally got the battle report for the day.
The naval battle was not lost, which is definitely exciting news for the Continental Alliance. Yes, everyone's requirements are so high.
For the Continental Alliance, it doesn't matter if the naval battle is won or not, as long as it can keep up without losing, or if it doesn't lose too badly, it is a strategic victory.
Only after reading the battle report, Frederick could not be happy.
Losing both sides is good news. The Continental Alliance has stronger industrial strength and faster replenishment of warships. There is absolutely no problem in fighting consumption.
However, some allies were destroyed by the group, and not only one.
In the daytime battle, the navies of Montenegro, Sardinia, the Two Sicilies, and Belgium were all annihilated; the Greek navy only had one destroyer left, and the Nordic federal navy also suffered more than half of the casualties.
The navies of the above-mentioned countries have few ships. Even if the group is destroyed together, it will have little impact on the military, but the political impact is much greater.
As the commander-in-chief of the coalition, Frederick now needs to give the sufferers a plausible explanation.
Greece and the Nordic Federation, which have suffered heavy losses, are nothing more than their own bad luck. When the big deal is to divide the spoils after the war, it is enough to compensate a few more warships.
But for the countries that have been destroyed by the group, you can't be so perfunctory. It's hard not to let allies think too much about annihilating the entire army without being defeated.
If you want everyone to accept the reality, you must at least prove that they were not used as cannon fodder in the daytime battle, and the annihilation of the entire army is also a normal battle loss.
It's a pity that this thing is not explained at all. Even if there are survivors and other navies to attest to, the sufferers will choose to ignore it.
Politics is often similar to that of children. Most of the time, children who can cry have milk to eat, and good children who do not cry and do not make trouble are often ignored.
Now such a good opportunity, if you don't sell it and have to make up for it, it will be a shame for the sacrifice made by the Navy.
If nothing else, this is just the beginning. In the ensuing battle, more and more similar troubles occurred.
For example, Monaco, which sent a company of troops, and Montenegro, who sent a battalion of troops, were the masters who could be destroyed in minutes when they arrived on the battlefield.
In fact, the land battle is not bad, the big deal is to put them behind to serve as logistics soldiers, or send them to maintain order in the occupied area.
In the past years, the Vienna government has also formed a group to brush the dungeon many times, and there has been no group destruction, and the experience in dealing with it is also rich.
This time the situation is different. The army can put it back, but the warship can't hide in the snow and go into battle.
The more ships in the naval battle, the more hope of victory. Even if it's just a thousand-ton destroyer, it may become the last straw that breaks the camel's back.
If the navy continues to be tied, the air force gradually gains the upper hand, and the landing operations are fully launched, the enemy will definitely attack the troop carrier.
Small countries can send a limited number of troops, and they can be packed in one ship. If you are unlucky and happen to catch up with the enemy's attack, it is very likely that you will go directly to the sea and feed the fish.
There is no way out. Maintaining an alliance requires at least a level of quality on the surface, and there is a limit to the care of small countries.
No matter how many troops are dispatched, in the end, they have to go to the battlefield for a walk. Otherwise, not only other allies will have opinions, but even their own officers and soldiers will have opinions.
The responsibility lies, no matter how troublesome it is, it must be done. In addition to these issues, the logistical supply of the troops of various countries, the cooperation in times of war, the fire support provided at critical moments, etc., all need to be coordinated.
The commander-in-chief of the coalition forces is actually a comprehensive post for politics, military affairs and diplomacy.
Because of the special reasons of the war, the commander-in-chief of the coalition was given the right to arbitrarily decide.
High-ranking positions are never easy to do. Now it can only be regarded as the beginning of trouble, far from reaching its peak.
After closing the battle report, Frederick's brows furrowed even tighter, and he asked a little hesitantly, "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, during the daytime battle, our army suffered such heavy losses. What was the result?"
The loss is really big. According to incomplete statistics, in the daytime battle, 37 warships were sunk, including three conventional battleships. Almost all warships were damaged to varying degrees.
Fortunately, the super battleship was thick-skinned, and the worst was only hemiplegia. It didn't sink directly, and it could be rescued.
318 fighter planes were shot down by the enemy, and thousands of fighter planes were damaged. Nearly all the participating planes needed major repairs. The loss of the Air Force was the highest since the war began.
As for the specific loss of personnel, there are too many countries involved, and it is impossible to summarize it for a while. Preliminary estimates put the death toll at no less than 10,000 and the wounded at no less than 15,000.
Morquez waved his hand and said: "It hasn't been counted yet, so it's definitely not small. From the analysis of the situation on the battlefield, it is certain that the enemy has fallen more fighter planes and sunk warships.
However, this cannot be generalized. We have an advantage in the Air Force, and we should have taken advantage of it.
The Navy can't say for sure. After all, we have more new-style battleships, the enemy is fighting with old-fashioned warships, and it is normal for the number of sunken warships to be more.
Comprehensively calculating the damaged and repaired warships, it is still unknown who has the upper hand in the current naval combat power in the short term. "