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

Chapter 1011 Capturing the Fleet
Captain Ethan forgot one thing: the faster and lonelier a warship is, the more conspicuous it becomes, and the more vulnerable it is to attack.

For an enemy aircraft carrier, high speed means the possibility of escape, evasion, or even posing a threat.

Being alone means that when bombers attack it, there will be no anti-aircraft fire from other ships to provide cover.

The battleship "Canada" was more than ten kilometers ahead of the formation. French bombers flying in the air spotted it immediately, and more than a dozen of them chased after it and launched an attack.

Captain Ethan attempted to evade the bombing by maneuvering in the manner of the HMS Renown.

However, the HMS Canada was a true battleship with a speed of only 22.75 knots, far slower than the HMS Renown's 31.5 knots, and even with all its might, it could not evade bombing.

(Note: This is another reason why battleships were phased out by aircraft carriers. The advantages of battleships would be completely ignored by bombers and attack aircraft: large-caliber guns were ineffective against aerial targets, thick side armor was meaningless, and the top deck and waterline armor were vulnerable to bomber and torpedo attacks. Their disadvantages, however, would be magnified: slow speed and large size made them excellent targets for bombers, while faster and smaller destroyers were more survivable.)
"Boom!"

……

Explosions echoed across the deck. Each time a bomb hit the ship, the hull shook violently, followed by raging flames and billowing smoke.

The crew members screamed and relayed the details of the damage to the command center:
"The starboard steam pipe has been ruptured, and bridge communications have been lost!"

"The aft deck was hit by a bullet, causing a fire!"

"Secondary gun No. 3 has been hit and is now inoperable!"

……

General Winter could only manage a wry smile; at this point, they still cared whether the secondary guns were useful.

Everything, including the main guns, was a burden; if he could, General Winter would not hesitate to order them all to be thrown into the sea.

This can also increase speed and improve the chances of survival.

Captain Ethan shouted in a panic to General Winter, "What do we do, General?"

General Winter was speechless.

This guy seems to have forgotten that he's the captain.

No wonder, few people can remain calm when facing death.

"General!" the communications soldier shouted, "The boiler's gas supply pipe has been blown up!"

General Winter's heart sank; it meant the battleships were about to lose speed.

At this moment, the surroundings seemed to quiet down, as if giving General Winter time to think.

All eyes were on General Winter, including Captain Ethan, their eyes filled with anticipation.

General Winter knew what this meant. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly: "Surrender. You have done your best."

A white flag was slowly raised on the mast of the HMS Canada. Two dive bombers noticed it and slowed down at the last moment to recover.

The strong winds from the wings swept past the white flag atop the pole, making it flutter loudly, as if it were pleading loudly for mercy from the French warplanes.

Soon after, the two London-class battleships and more than ten destroyers following behind the HMS Canada all raised white flags.

They were terrified by the battle before them.

This is not war; it is a one-sided attack.

The HMAS Canada is far more advanced than them. If it can't withstand this level of bombing, what can the other warships do?
Especially for destroyers: if battleships are bombed and forced to surrender with white flags, what options do destroyers have?

But they were wrong.

For bombers and torpedo bombers, the most difficult targets are precisely these small, fast destroyers.

If the destroyers were to scatter and flee in several groups at this point, the bombers would often concentrate their attacks on the battleships and ignore these smaller warships.

……

Carter, who was flying in the air directing the battle, looked down at the white flags fluttering below and didn't know what to do.

"Damn it!" he cursed. "Charles only taught us how to blow up enemy warships, but he didn't teach us how to surrender!"

Turning his head to look at both sides of the cabin, Carter cursed again, "Am I supposed to jump into the sea and accept their surrender?" After thinking for a moment, he ordered his wingman to return to the aircraft carrier immediately to report the situation.

The other bombers continued to circle in the air, threatening the ships below that had slowed down.

……

The flagship aircraft carrier "Normandie" was stunned when it heard the news: "The enemy fleet has surrendered?"

That's the British Royal Navy, the world's strongest navy, with three battleships and more than a dozen destroyers.

This force was powerful enough to destroy a country, and now it's surrendering under the bombing of an aircraft carrier?

"Could it be a trap?" Major General Pierre asked.

The contrast was too great; he couldn't believe it.

The pilot who reported the situation looked excited and answered with pride:

“I don’t think it was a trap, General. You weren’t there, so you don’t know the situation.”

"The enemy ships were powerless against our attack; they had only two choices: to be sunk or to surrender."

"The problem is that we, flying in the air, cannot receive these 'captives'."

Major General Pierre nodded slightly.

Judging from the battle situation, this seems to be the case. In just over half an hour, the aircraft carrier sank two advanced battlecruisers and now crippled its flagship.

This caused the other warships to lose their will to resist.

With that thought in mind, he no longer hesitated: "Send seaplanes to cooperate with the 5th Fleet to the battlefield to receive prisoners."

……

Liège Fortress, Pontisay Castle.

Charles was unable to return to Malta in time to command this naval battle, which could be described as a "turning point".

It wasn't that Charles didn't want to, but the British attack came too suddenly.

After a night of preparation, the British fleet declared war half an hour before the battle, catching the French army completely off guard.

This was the main reason why the fleet commanded by General Gayplatz of Malta suffered losses and even faced perilous situations.

At that time, there were only two battleships in Malta: the "France" and the "Jeanbars".

This is France's most advanced Courbet-class dreadnought.

(Note: France had only 4 dreadnoughts during World War I; the other 10 were relatively outdated pre-dreadnoughts.)
If the British fleet manages to breach the Greenwater Navy's defenses, they are likely to approach Malta and bomb the airport.

But this is not a big problem.

Airports may appear fragile, but they are actually very difficult to completely destroy.

Oil depots, ammunition, spare parts, etc., are buried deep underground and are difficult to destroy by bombs.

The French army could have avoided losses by taking off various types of aircraft to relocate before being bombed.

Even if the runway is blown up, we can just organize people to fill it in.

This happened during the German bombing of Malta's airport in World War II. Unless it's occupied on the ground, it's like "springing up again after a spring breeze," reviving within a day or two.

Just as Charles was looking through the telegrams from the front, his staff officer stepped forward and reported: "Lieutenant General, you may not believe it, but we have captured a squadron, including three battleships."

Charles grunted in agreement. There was nothing strange about it; battleships were no match for aircraft carriers.

However, the staff officer added, "We also captured General Winter!"

Charles looked up at the staff officer: "Did you capture Winter?"

(End of this chapter)