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

Chapter 1034 The biggest beneficiary must be France

In the War House command in London, the person with the least military knowledge was Prime Minister George, a lawyer by training. Although he succeeded Kitchener as Secretary of War, he played more of a coordinating role between the various branches of the armed forces.

Upon discovering that the English Channel was blocked by French warplanes, his first thought was of the plan previously proposed by the Minister of Munitions.

“Then,” Prime Minister George looked at the Minister of Munitions, “should we recall the fleet to Brest and continue the offensive?”

If we cannot reinforce the North Sea, then we should capture Brest. We can find another way to deal with the North Sea.

The Minister of Munitions shook his head and reminded him, "Airport, Your Excellency, there is an airport in Brest Port."

Prime Minister George understood instantly.

The port of Brest in France has never worried about being besieged by the British Royal Fleet because it has an airport; what happened in the waters near Caen could happen in the port of Brest as well.

The French army made it appear as if the port was about to fall entirely in order to lure the British fleet from the North Sea and then trap them there, preventing them from returning.

Simply put, Brest Harbour was a decoy; the Royal Navy had no hope of capturing it from the very beginning.

“Those bastards!” Prime Minister George cursed. “They planned this all along. It was all a trap, including Gibraltar.”

“There seems to be a loophole,” Major General Trenchard said, unwilling to give up. “We all know that aircraft cannot operate at night, so perhaps we can choose to cross the strait at night.”

“No,” Navy First Lord Balfour denied, pointing to the map as he analyzed:

The English Channel is 520 kilometers long.

"Even if the fleet passes through at full speed of 20 knots, it will take 14 hours, and it is impossible to safely pass through the strait at night."

"Moreover, the French bombers have a combat radius of 150 kilometers and three airfields along the strait, so in principle they can blockade an area of ​​820 kilometers."

The Minister of Defence added, "If you include the Netherlands, the distance is more than this."

Major General Trenchard nodded; as the Chief of Staff of the Royal Flying Corps, he certainly understood this principle.

Balfour then pointed to the middle of the strait:

"More importantly, it's the Dover Strait."

"This is the bottleneck of the English Channel, which is only 34 kilometers wide at its narrowest point."

“The French could easily blockade the airport in Dunkirk, and their planes could even stay in the air for hours.”

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Trenchard.

“The time we can stay airborne isn’t a few hours,” Trenchard corrected, “but more than an hour is something we can’t afford.”

Prime Minister George didn't quite understand this statement, so Trenchard used data to explain:
"Because of the short distance, Your Excellency the Prime Minister."

"The Strait of Dover is only 34 kilometers long, which means that French aircraft only need to fly 30 to 40 kilometers to find our fleet."

"Thus, the same number of aircraft can make round trips in a short time, delivering bombs to our fleet in the fastest possible speed."

(The image above shows the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point of the English Channel, which is 34 kilometers wide. Dunkirk, where the French military airfield and port are located, is nearby.)
Prime Minister George still didn't understand: "But you said that as long as we pass through at night, there won't be any problems."

The Minister of Munitions shook his head helplessly:
“They won’t let us through at night, Your Excellency the Prime Minister.”

"If I were Charles, I would dedicate some fighter jets and bombers during the day to blockade and drive away warships in the Strait of Dover."

"Then, the French mine-laying ships that departed from Dunkirk could safely lay mines there."

Before he could finish speaking, a staff officer reported, "Dover Harbor has been attacked by enemy aircraft!" No one was surprised; what the Minister of Munitions could think of, Charles certainly could too.

This is another form of air-sea coordination: aircraft control the sea, and then mine-laying ships or even fishing boats are used to lay mines. Even if the Royal Navy had battleships that were much more advanced and expensive than fishing boats, they would not be able to pass through this area.

Both the plan to cross the Channel and the plan to attack Brest were rejected.

All that's left is...

Major General Trenchard said to the nautical chart, "We must stay away from enemy airfields. Only in this way can we increase the distance between ourselves and the enemy aircraft, making their bombing time and difficulty more difficult."

……

The British Second Fleet fled in disarray, with all ships, including Vice Admiral Forbes, changing course from passing through the English Channel to getting as far away from the French coastline as possible.

This approach is indeed effective. The English Channel is 240 kilometers wide at its widest point, exceeding the combat radius of fighter jets, which is around 150 kilometers. Therefore, as long as one moves towards Britain and escapes its combat radius, one is basically safe.

However, the British fleet was relentlessly pursued by French bombers and torpedo planes during its escape.

The dreadnought USS Collingwood was hit by a torpedo and lost power, and was subsequently sunk under concentrated fire.

The former dreadnought HMS Magnificent was hit by an aerial bomb that detonated its ammunition magazine, leaving a large hole on its port side that caused severe flooding. It sank to the bottom of the sea within two minutes.

Five more destroyers were sunk by aerial bombs, but this was hardly a significant achievement for the French.

Vice Admiral Forbes, the commander of the Second Fleet who narrowly escaped the bombing radius, immediately relayed a message to his men: "Gentlemen, if possible, replace all artillery with anti-aircraft weapons, including the main guns!"

He was standing beside the massive twin-mounted main guns of the HMS Queen Elizabeth when he gave the order, gazing with a sense of awe at the imposing gun barrels pointing towards the sky.

If they can't hit anything, what's the point of taking them to the battlefield?
The battlefield has changed, becoming unfamiliar, and I've become a complete novice who knows nothing and knows nothing!
……

Although the Second Fleet in the English Channel was out of danger, the War Office headquarters in London was not at ease.

A more serious problem lay before them.

"The North Sea," said Navy Secretary Balfour. "Their focus is the North Sea!"

Prime Minister George's face turned very ugly.

One of the reasons they decided to send reinforcements to the Atlantic was that the Second Fleet could provide reinforcements to the North Sea at any time.

But now that the English Channel is blocked, sending reinforcements to the North Sea is just wishful thinking.

“Charles has won.” Prime Minister George sighed. “Whether we win or lose this battle, the biggest beneficiary will definitely be France.”

This is a political consideration.

Germany's powerful navy was also a disadvantage for Charles, even though those warships were just targets for French bombers.

Therefore, for Charles, there was nothing better than using the German High Seas Fleet to wear down the Royal Navy.

Rear Admiral Trenchard asked the First Lord of the Admiralty, "How many days will it take for the Second Fleet to bypass Britain and reinforce the North Sea?"

The First Minister of the Navy replied with difficulty, "It will take at least three days."

The office fell silent.

The battle in Beihai has likely ended in three days!
(End of this chapter)