I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 1009 The fate of the British fleet, whether it lives or dies, is entirely up to Charles's whim.
Captain Ethan looked bewildered: "But why can't we catch up?"

It's understandable that battleship squadrons couldn't catch up, as the fastest battleships only reached 22.75 knots and the slowest only 18 knots, making it indeed difficult to keep up with an enemy aircraft carrier that was traveling at 20 knots.

But the mobile fleet has a speed of 31.5 knots. Those battlecruisers were designed to increase speed by sacrificing armor thickness. Why can't they catch up with an enemy aircraft carrier that has a speed of 20 knots?
General Winter looked dejected:
"Because we don't know the location of the enemy's aircraft carrier, Ethan."

“Our seaplanes have all been shot down by them, and I believe their fighter jets will still be patrolling around the aircraft carrier.”

“Any seaplane that gets close to it will be shot down, and we will have a hard time even getting within 50 nautical miles.”

(Note: Even if a seaplane spotted the aircraft carrier, it was useless, because aircraft did not have radios at this time, and they could only report the carrier's coordinates after returning safely.)

Captain Ethan was stunned.

He understood what General Winter meant.

The French gained air superiority and then used it to block the British air force, thus achieving "stealth".

Due to the curvature of the Earth, British warships could not observe targets more than 40 kilometers away. As a result, neither battleship squadrons nor mobile fleets knew where the enemy aircraft carriers were.

However, the enemy, with its fighter jets, could clearly observe the location and distance of the enemy fleet.

Thus, the enemy fleet could play hide-and-seek with the British fleet.

The British fleet flanked to the left, while the French fleet dodged to the right.

The British fleet flanked to the right, while the French fleet dodged to the left.

Unable to pinpoint the target's location, the British fleet darted about at sea like blind men, relying on guesswork.

The enemy, however, had comprehensive intelligence and made adjustments based on the British fleet's course and position.

Therefore, the British fleet could never catch up with the French aircraft carriers.

Even if the British mobile fleet was faster, and even if the distance was not very far, only about 80 nautical miles!
(Note: This is the main reason why battleships were phased out in subsequent wars; they were almost powerless against aircraft carriers and could only passively take hits. Also: "nautical miles" will no longer be used as the unit below; "kilometers" will be used uniformly.)
“No.” Ethan shook his head slightly; he refused to believe it.

If General Winter's conjecture is correct, it would mean the collapse of the entire naval warfare paradigm, and battleships would become scrap metal.

More importantly, the British Royal Navy...

Britain possesses the largest number of battleships in the world and has consistently built its maritime dominance on this foundation.

Now you're telling me battleships are useless?
Are all battleships outdated?

Will this type of ship even be unnecessary in the future?

“We have the speed advantage,” Captain Ethan said.

"We, our mobile fleet, may have spotted the target."

"As you know, our lookouts, standing at the top of the mast, can spot targets 50 kilometers away."

"Once they are discovered, they will have nowhere to escape!"

That makes some sense.

If a battlecruiser happens to lock onto the aircraft carrier's position on the sea, it can approach at a speed of 11.5 knots per hour and enter firing range in about two hours.

Then, the French aircraft carrier would be relentlessly pursued by battlecruisers until it was sunk.

But General Winter shook his head:

"You're oversimplifying things, Ethan."

"Have you forgotten that their aircraft carriers can launch bombers?"

"If I'm not mistaken, fast battlecruisers will be their primary targets."

Captain Ethan's mouth dropped open, speechless. Yes, an aircraft carrier has an attack radius of 150 kilometers. Even if a battlecruiser spots a target by chance, it will be relentlessly bombarded by bombers for the next two hours.

If the battlecruisers can survive the two-hour bombing raid while maintaining their speed and course, they will have a chance to catch up with the French aircraft carriers afterward.

And this is only "possible".

Next, the battlecruisers would face a combined attack from enemy destroyers and bombers.

"Then..." Ethan's face was pale, his eyes were vacant, and his lips trembled like a patient's. After a long while, he finally asked, "What... what should we do, General?"

General Winter shook his head with a wry smile.

At this point, the fleet should perhaps be ordered to return to port to escape the range of the French aircraft carriers, but General Winter showed no interest whatsoever.

It's too late.

Charles is right; he does indeed have the capability to sink British warships, all of them, the entire Royal Navy.

He wasn't exaggerating; the French Navy would only have to pay a negligible price.

What is the British Royal Navy compared to that?

Number one in the world?

Do they control the seas?
Could this be used to coerce Charles into agreeing to Britain's negotiating terms?
What a joke, what a huge joke!

General Winter felt like a clown. Charles could have wiped them all out with a flick of his finger, while he and the Quartermaster General had overestimated themselves and tried to coerce him!
As if confirming General Winter's suspicions, the communications officer on the lookout tower suddenly shouted, "General, the Renown reports enemy activity! A group of aircraft is approaching them!"

General Winter and Captain Ethan exchanged a glance, then walked to the porthole with mixed feelings, raised their binoculars, and looked toward the mobile fleet.

At this point, the mobile fleet was more than 30 kilometers away from the flagship. Part of the hull of the "Renown" was no longer visible, with only a small half of the ship, turrets, and superstructure showing.

But the small black dots in the sky were clearly visible, each with an inverted gull-shaped wing, swooping down from high altitude at an extremely fast speed, like seagulls skimming the sea surface to catch their prey.

then……

"Boom boom"

"Boom boom boom!"

……

Amidst a series of explosions, both the HMS Renown and HMS Repulse emitted black smoke.

The communications officer shouted, "They are being bombed by enemy aircraft. The Renown requests reinforcements."

Soon after, the communications officer added, "'Repulse' requests reinforcements; they are unable to stop the enemy bombing."

General Winter didn't give any orders; he simply grunted, "Our warships have almost no anti-aircraft weapons, especially against these vertical dive bombers."

Captain Ethan glanced down at the anti-aircraft guns and machine guns on the deck and reluctantly admitted, "Yes, their maximum tilt angle is only about 70 degrees, so they can't aim at targets diving overhead."

“So, we’re the targets.” General Winter smiled bitterly. “We’re just targets in their eyes, we don’t even have the ability to fight back.”

He then turned to Captain Ethan and asked, "Now, do you still think we can find and sink the French aircraft carrier?"

Captain Ethan was pale.

Faced with the facts, he had no choice but to admit it.

Whether the British fleet survives or dies is entirely up to Charles's whim!

(End of this chapter)