Rise of Australia

Chapter 185 Results of Naval Battles and British Expansion

When Arthur, who was far away in Australia, got the results of the final report of the naval battle between the Tsarist Russian Empire and the island nation, it was already noon the next day.

Not only Arthur and the two protagonists of the Tsarist Russian Empire and the island countries, but also the British Empire, the German Empire, the United States, and France, an ally of the Tsarist Russian Empire, are all very concerned about this naval battle that is enough to determine the situation in the Far East.

The Tsarist Russian Empire currently has one thing in common with the island countries. Their logistics relies heavily on maritime transportation.

Although the currently extremely disputed region of the Far East is adjacent to the Tsarist Empire, the Far East and the European region of the Tsarist Empire are adjacent to the distant Siberia, which is a cold and barren land.

Coupled with the fact that the Trans-Siberian Railway has not yet been completed, it is impossible to count on road transportation.

This also led to a huge flaw in the Tsarist Russian Empire, that is, the logistics cost in the Far East was several times that of the island countries.

Neither the island nation nor the Tsarist Russian Empire can afford the cost of losing a naval battle.If the advantage on the sea is lost, then the logistics of fighting in the Far East will be enough to drag down the entire country.

The detailed results of the battle in Arthur's hands still came from Germany.As a country that is also very interested in this war, Germany and many European countries sent a joint observation team. The results of this battle were also estimated by the participating teams based on the traces on the sea after the naval battle at that time and the number of fleets of the two countries that returned to the station. , even if it is not so accurate, it is at least half consistent.

Judging from the results of this battle, the losses of the Pacific Fleet and the United Fleet in this naval battle were very heavy.

The island squadron responsible for intercepting the main force of the Pacific Fleet directly lost a battleship and four cruisers, the remaining battleship was also injured, and the six cruisers were more or less injured.

The main force of the Pacific Fleet is also not having a good time. A Petropavlovsk-class battleship was directly and seriously injured, and it has no combat effectiveness in a short period of time.

In addition, two cruisers were sunk and buried in the ocean outside Lushun Port.

But generally speaking, the main force of the Pacific Fleet took advantage of its numbers to sink one battleship and four cruisers of the island country with only one relatively weak Petropavlovsk-class battleship seriously injured and the loss of two cruisers. The battleships and cruisers of the battleships were also more or less injured, which was considered a good victory.

Of course, the reason for such good results is Lieutenant General Makarov's excellent command.

In addition to these, the island nation's fleet was successfully driven to the minefield set up in advance, which is why the island nation's squadron suffered so much damage.

The battle situation on General Wittheft's side was much more serious. Although General Makarov's assistance was supported in time, a Petropavlovsk-class battleship was sunk. The next battleship is not easy, and it cannot be restored to its former glory without a period of maintenance.

The result of the six cruisers was even more tragic. Originally, the two cruisers were chased by the second fleet of the island country and suffered minor injuries.

In this sea battle, these two cruisers also took on a considerable part of the firepower. One search was directly sunk, and one was also directly seriously injured and scrapped.

Of the remaining four cruisers, one was seriously injured and three were slightly injured. Among them, simple repairs with minor injuries could continue to fight, and those with serious injuries also needed major repairs.

On the main side of the combined fleet of the island nation, two battleships and three cruisers were seriously injured, and the loss of two cruisers was even more tragic than that of the Tsarist Russian Empire.

In this battle, the Tsarist Russian Empire lost one battleship and three cruisers, seriously injured two battleships and two cruisers, and almost lost one-third of the main warships of the Pacific Fleet.

As for the island country, one battleship and six cruisers were lost, three battleships and three cruisers were seriously injured, and the loss was even close to half of the United Fleet.

As far as the goals of both parties are concerned, the goal of the main force of the island nation's fleet has been achieved.

They successfully lured the vanguard of the Pacific Fleet out of the hole and let it enter the encirclement of the United Fleet of the island countries.

The vanguard consisted of two battleships and six cruisers. In this naval battle, one battleship sank and one battleship was seriously injured. Of the six cruisers, only four remained, and only three were capable of combat.

But what the island country did not expect was that General Makarov, the commander of the Pacific Fleet, was not in the vanguard, but led the main force one step behind.

This also made the island country's plan come to nothing. They originally thought that General Makarov would be dispatched directly. Combined with General Makarov's irritable and bold character, they believed that General Makarov would smoothly enter the center of their encirclement .

But what they didn't expect was that it was General Wittheft who led the leading troops.This is a soldier who is relatively cautious by nature. After he succeeded Makarov as the new commander of the Pacific Fleet in history, he did not even take any active risky actions, which is enough to show General Wittheft's caution.

It is also because General Wittheft had to be cautious that the vanguard did not completely enter the encirclement of the island nation's combined fleet, and also allowed the vanguard to successfully persist until the arrival of the main force of the Pacific Fleet.

But in any case, compared to the loss of one battleship and six cruisers in the island country, as well as the serious injuries of three battleships and three cruisers, the Tsarist Empire only lost one battleship and three cruisers, and only two battleships And two cruisers were seriously injured, obviously the loss of the Tsarist Empire was a little smaller.

After this war, there are not too many warships that can be used by both sides at present. The warships sunk in this naval battle have even been ranked among the top [-] in the world.

At present, the Pacific Fleet only has four battleships that can perform their missions normally. As the secondary main warship cruisers of the auxiliary warships, the Pacific Fleet currently only has nine ships left.

As for the island country, it originally had eight battleships and nearly twenty cruisers.After this naval battle, there were only four battleships and only ten cruisers that could continue to have combat effectiveness.

Before the war has begun, the navy has the advantage of the Pacific Fleet.

But after the island country successfully attacked, the Pacific Fleet, which seriously injured a battleship and a battlecruiser, fell into a disadvantage.

Originally, the people of the island nation were still happy, thinking that after this sneak attack, the island nation would have an advantage in terms of army and navy, and it was only a matter of time before defeating the huge Tsarist Russian Empire.

But after this naval battle, the Pacific Fleet and the United Fleet currently have only four battleships, and the number of cruisers is not much different, basically at the same level.

More importantly, two of the four remaining battleships in the Pacific Fleet are relatively powerful new warships, and the battleship Crown Prince, which was seriously injured in the previous sneak attack, has basically been repaired and can be put into battle immediately.

As for the United Fleet, the battleships lost in naval battles were basically new types of battleships, and the remaining battleships can only maintain the same level as the battleships of the Pacific Fleet.

In fact, this is also inevitable. Although the British Empire supported the island countries and the Tsarist Russian Empire in their struggle for hegemony, it was impossible to cultivate a naval enemy for themselves.

The warships sold by the British Empire to the island countries are basically second-class warships in the British Empire, and there are only a handful of the most advanced warships.

The outcome of the naval battle was unacceptable to both warring parties.If you want to accept it, then it may be the Tsarist Russian Empire.

General Makarov is quite satisfied with the results of the naval battle. At least after being attacked, the Pacific Fleet finally took the initiative on the sea again. As long as the maintenance of the battleship Crown Prince is completed, the Pacific Fleet will once again have an advantage in battleships.

In fact, this is not far away. The injuries suffered by the Crown Prince would require maintenance for up to two months in normal times.

However, due to the current war and the lack of certain resources, the maintenance time will be delayed until three months later.

But it has been two months now, and it is expected that the crown prince will be able to perform missions again in late next month at most, becoming the lead ship of the Pacific Fleet to control the situation in the Far East.

As for the island countries, international morality is not respected, and the slight advantage gained by attacking the Pacific Fleet without declaring war now no longer exists.

The United Fleet and the Pacific Fleet can still maintain certain advantages in a short period of time, but the battleship Crown Prince of the Pacific Fleet has shorter maintenance time than several seriously injured battleships of the United Fleet. It is bad news for the island nation.

If the sea is blocked by the Pacific Fleet, the island countries will also face heavier logistical pressure.

Although the island country is located in the Far East, the distance and difficulty of logistics are greatly reduced compared to the Russian Empire.

But this is also in the case of mastering the superiority of the sea.As an island country, if the sea transportation and communication lines are cut off, it will be a heavy blow to the war on the island country.

Judging from the current results, the British Empire and the United States should be the happiest.

In terms of naval strength, the current Pacific Fleet and the United Fleet maintain a delicate balance, which also means that wars on land will become more anxious and intense.

When both sides lack naval superiority, if they want to win the victory, they can only rely on the consumption of the army.

The consumption of these two countries is something that the British Empire and the United States are happy to see.

There is nothing better than the current Far Eastern hegemony, the Tsarist Russian Empire, and the island countries that may become the Far Eastern hegemony consume each other, at least for the British Empire and the United States.

The overlord of the Far East, Tsarist Russia Empire, and its competitors, the island nations, were busy with wars and had no time to care about others. The British Empire also launched its own plan and began to seek expansion in northern India.

Have to say, this is a good time period.The only ones that can pose a threat to the British Empire in this area are the Tsarist Russian Empire, the island countries and France.

The first two countries were busy with the war, and they had already fought fiercely. Naturally, it was impossible to escape to seek trouble from the British Empire.

On the French side, suffering from the threat of the Triple Alliance, France has been trying to win over the British Empire.

Coupled with the fact that its ally, the Tsarist Russian Empire, is facing a war, France is a bit too busy to care about others, and it is even less likely to protest against Britain's actions alone.

This also led to the extremely smooth expansion of Britain in India, and there were not many voices of opposition internationally.

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(End of this chapter)