The battle resumed. Compared with the evenly matched clash just now, the British forces fell into an absolute disadvantage the moment it began. Even with anti-aircraft guns supporting them, there was nothing they could do.
Watching the battle in the sky, Adrian Kardon de Viart knew it was over. In the first round, the British air force had still held the numerical advantage. Now, that had been completely reversed.
As fighter after fighter fell from the sky, Adrian's mood turned to despair. Every plane they lost now was one less they had.
No matter how mighty the British Empire was, it could not project that strength into the Mediterranean—unless the Royal Navy dared risk entering the Mediterranean and fighting a decisive battle with the Bulgarian Navy.
Even he, an army general, knew that fighting the combined Bulgarian-French forces in the Mediterranean would be a complete military disaster.
London
Upon receiving news that fighting had broken out in the Mediterranean, Churchill erupted. At the first opportunity, he delivered a speech in Parliament condemning Bulgaria for launching an undeclared war.
Fine, his political performance was flawless. But militarily, what General Adrian needed was absolutely not his moral support.
Unfortunately, what Sicily needed now were reinforcements. Egypt and South Africa were both in danger, while Persia was about to become a battlefield as well. Those were the matters that needed immediate handling!
There was no helping it. That was simply how the United Kingdom's system worked. Without Parliament's authorization, the cabinet could not decide on its own to mobilize the strength of the entire country for war.
They could have held a direct vote in Parliament, but unfortunately, politicians' first reaction whenever something happened was always to fish for political gain.
When the British Empire was at the height of its power,