The offices of Downing Street, Prime Minister's residence, Prime Minister Asquith.
The secretary left after delivering the coffee, leaving only Prime Minister Asquith, First Sea Lord Churchill, the big Fleet Commander John? Admiral Jellicoe and the chief of staff David? Vice Admiral Beatty.
"What happened last night?" Prime Minister Asquith asked. Although, his voice remained calm. However, anyone who knows him well can feel that this is the reason why he strives to suppress his anger. Originally, Prime Minister Asquith was very pessimistic about the future war situation, but at this juncture, Royal Navy actually suffered heavy losses, and this was naturally unacceptable to him.
"General, this is caused by our negligence. We never expected that the Germany people would actually send submarines to sneak into Scapa Flow for a sneak attack. We have begun to install anti-submarine nets in the important waterways of Scapa Flow. It is absolutely impossible for German submarines to enter Scapa Flow again." John? Admiral Jellicoe said.
However, this answer obviously cannot satisfy Prime Minister Asquith. After all, they had already paid an extremely heavy price under the sneak attack by the Germany submarine.
"Can the five damaged Battleships be able to catch up with the decisive battle between us and the Germany people?" Prime Minister Asquith asked.
"Your Excellency, if the decisive battle takes place in three months, all five Battleship can catch up. If it takes place in one month, the 'Warspite' and 'Valiant' ' can't participate. If the decisive battle takes place in the near future, I'm afraid not even the five Battleship can catch up." John? Admiral Jellicoe replied bravely.
Suddenly, Prime Minister Asquith's face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. Originally, Royal Navy's chances of winning were very small. This time, five more Battleships were lost, which will undoubtedly make Royal Navy's chances of winning even smaller. It can even be said that there is no chance of winning. Such a result is naturally unacceptable to Prime Minister Asquith. Although, when the Germany people put forward harsh conditions and refused to have peace talks with Britain, Prime Minister Asquith already guessed that this would be the result. However, he still had a trace of luck in his heart. That is, Royal Navy can perform exceptionally well in a naval battle and help British Empire win a brilliant victory, just like Battle of Trafalgar commanded by Marshal Nelson.
But now, German Navy used practical actions to shatter all his hopes. Such a contrast was naturally unacceptable to Prime Minister Asquith.
"If we have a decisive battle with the Germany people in the near future, what are the chances of Royal Navy winning?" Prime Minister Asquith asked.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, the chance of winning is very, very small. Now, the advantage held by the Germans is too great. If there is a decisive battle in the near future, even if we add the 'Agincourt', 'Canada' and 'Ireland', we will only have 24 battleships. In terms of number, it is not as strong as the Germans. The number of battleships is the same. However, the performance of the German battleships is much better than ours through previous battles. Therefore, our chances of winning are very small.
"Mr. Churchill, what do you think?" Prime Minister Asquith looked at Churchill.
"Prime Minister, judging from the current situation, the possibility of Germany people fighting us decisively in the near future is very high. They will not let go of such a good opportunity." Churchill said.
"That means we are destined to lose this time?" Prime Minister Asquith couldn't help but closed his eyes in pain.
Everyone was silent. Obviously, they all believed that there was no chance of winning this time.
"Your Excellency, I have a way that may enable us to turn defeat into victory." Churchill suddenly said.
"Oh? What can I do?" Prime Minister Asquith asked quickly, his expression was as if he had seen the last straw.
"Since our decisive battle with the Germany people is inevitable. Then, I ask Grand Fleet to destroy the Germany people's Battleship as much as possible during the decisive battle with the Germany people. The more we sink, the better. Even if we sink all the battleships of the Grand Fleet people, we must sink more than 80% of the Germany people's Capital Ships." Churchill said.
John? Admiral Jellicoe and David? Vice Admiral Beatty suddenly shuddered. From Churchill's words, they could tell how cruel the future naval battle would be. If the combat mission assigned by Churchill is to be completed, then in future naval battles, Grand Fleet will most likely be wiped out in the decisive battle with Germany. Of course, there is no guarantee whether Germany people will also suffer greater losses. John? Admiral Jellicoe and David? Vice Admiral Beatty.
"Churchill, why is this?" Prime Minister Asquith asked. He couldn't understand why Churchill said that.
"Your Excellency, if Grand Fleet can sink Germany's Capital Ships as much as possible, then our Pre-dreadnought will be able to come in handy in the next battle. That's it. Even if all our Capital Shipss are lost, we still have dozens of Pre-dreadnoughts, and we still have enough strength to fight another decisive battle with the Germanys, and we will still have the advantage.
No matter what happens, German Navy, which has suffered heavy losses, will not be able to continue to block us. We can obtain our urgently needed resources from North America and India, so that our follow-up Capital Ships construction plan can be carried out smoothly. If we persist for another two years, we will have enough Capital Ships to compete with the Germany people for sea rights. I believe that sea power in the future will still belong to us. "Churchill said.
Prime Minister Asquith couldn't help but nodded after hearing this plan. Although, this plan is very cruel and requires all the battleships of Grand Fleet to fight against the Germany people. However, listening to Churchill's introduction, it seems that there is also a good chance of winning! If you can win, that would be the best. Even if you have to pay a lot of losses, in Prime Minister Asquith's opinion, it is completely worth it.
John? Admiral Jellicoe and David? Vice Admiral Beatty had pale faces. Obviously, they were all shocked by Churchill's crazy battle plan. This is obviously to ask them to sacrifice themselves to gain favorable conditions for subsequent battles! However, at this time, can they still refuse?
John? Admiral Jellicoe took a deep breath, and then said, "Prime Minister, Naval Minister, Grand Fleet will do their best to achieve this strategic goal!"