Iron Cross

"The second issue..." Churchill seemed to be struggling in pain, but he still spoke, "Should we block the Suez Canal as recommended by General Alexander?"

This sentence was like a 500 kilogram aerial bomb being dropped directly into the venue. "Ah!" After hearing this, everyone first exclaimed, and then everyone became silent - this issue is too big, so big that no one dares to express their opinion easily. . This is completely different from the survival of Alexandria. If the port is lost, it is lost. You can find a way to regain it in the future. Blocking the canal is not a trivial matter. In order to dig the canal, Britain and France spent 10 years and killed and injured countless Egyptians to achieve their goal. Once the canal is blocked, it is not easy to repair it. At least during the war, there is no need to consider it - if If it can be easily repaired, it will not be difficult for Germany.

There is a reason to block the canal, and there is a reason not to block it. No one expected that Great Britain, the overlord of the world, would be reduced to the point where it would consider actively blocking the canal. During the Russo-Japanese War, they also blocked the canal to prevent Russia. The Second Pacific Fleet passed by, but the Russians who had taken a long way around were all dried up and sunk in the Tsushima Strait. How majestic it was at that time. After a long silence, Pound was the first to speak: "I don't think it should be blocked... First of all, it is technically difficult to do. To block the canal, one must either choose a large ship to sink the ship at a suitable location, or let the engineering troops dig holes on both sides of the canal. We laid a large amount of explosives to blow up the river embankment and blocked the river channel with a huge amount of earth and stone. After the failure of the Mediterranean fleet, all we have left are small boats. We can no longer find a suitable ship to take on this task. As for the latter, let alone whether we can make it in time. , engineers and explosives alone are not enough - estimated to be at least tens of thousands of tons. Secondly, blocking the canal is not strategically necessary. Assuming that Germany controls Egypt and the canal, what can they do? "

Someone chimed in: "They gain access to the Indian Ocean..."

"So what?" Pound sneered, "Although the Italian navy is still like that, and the Germans have also obtained a small fleet through plunder and robbery, they are still at a disadvantage in the face of the combined naval strength of the United Kingdom and the United States. We are worried that we will not be able to eliminate them. If they dare to come out and make trouble in the Indian Ocean, the allies will quickly eliminate them. This is more convenient than in the Mediterranean. In addition, even if Germany and Italy have access to and from the Indian Ocean, as long as South Africa and India are still in our hands, they will not. France obtains supplies through trade routes - any ship entering the Indian Ocean through these two directions will be under strict surveillance. They have just jumped from the small bathtub of the Mediterranean into the big bathtub of the Indian Ocean. If they dare to attack South Africa or India, that is even more desirable - it means that their front line has been stretched indefinitely, and their strength will inevitably shrink without any suspense. "

Churchill nodded calmly. After the destruction of the British Mediterranean Fleet and the merger of the German and Italian fleets, the Axis Navy could certainly go sideways in the Mediterranean direction, but their naval power was still not enough compared to the combined British and American navies. "A rat hiding in a rat hole is difficult to deal with, but a rat released is easy to eliminate." He interjected, "I admit that the German army is very powerful, perhaps more powerful than all the armies in Europe combined, but their navy It is far worse. We may be able to induce Hitler to invest more resources in the navy, especially surface ships. It is much easier to destroy a German at sea than to destroy a German on land. "

Everyone also expressed their opinions. Although many people did not completely agree with Pound and the Prime Minister, they did not dare to explicitly insist on blocking the canal - Egypt was not lost yet, and blocking the canal would be too bad a hint to the defenders! Even if it was lost, if there was a chance to retake Egypt in the future but the canal could not be reopened, the British Empire would be a lifelong sinner. In the end, Attlee's method was adopted and the blame was passed to the Prime Minister - let Churchill decide. However, this time Churchill was careful not to say anything directly. He only said: "Considering the current situation, I think it is more beneficial to us to retain the canal. If there is a new major situation, we can renegotiate the strategy for the canal."

"The third important issue is about the rearmament of armaments. The first is the construction of naval capital ships." As the former First Minister of the Navy, Churchill knew the naval situation well. "After the end of the French campaign and the Dunkirk evacuation, we faced The major threat posed by the German Air Force and the complete loss of the Army's heavy equipment were limited by various factors such as funding, resources, manpower, and the weak strength of the German Navy. We focused our efforts on the Air Force and Army, while the Navy only focused on escort ships, so that The construction of the first two Lion-class battleships, Lion and Reckless, was halted due to funding problems more than a year after it started. The original idea was to dismantle and allocate resources to other aspects. I also invested in it at the time. Yes, but now after reviewing this decision, I personally think that instead of canceling these two warships, they should be built as soon as possible.”

Pound stood up to explain Churchill's point of view: "The current situation is not good for us. First of all, the Royal Navy has lost too many battleships. Since the war began, we have successively lost the Royal Oak, Prince of Wales, and Burroughs in previous operations. The battleships HMS Nelson, HMS Nelson, HMS Rodney, and HMS Lorraine, as well as the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Warrior, are currently seriously injured (damaged by torpedoes operated by the Italian Navy and stranded) and will not be able to be put into operation within half a year. The battlecruisers During the war, the Hood, the Repulse, and the Renown were sunk successively. Not long ago, we lent four George V warships to the United States. The only available battleships now are the Malaya, Warspite, and four Sovereign class battleships. There is no longer a single cruiser available, and our strength has fallen into a dangerous zone. Secondly, our reserve strength is insufficient. In addition to the aircraft carrier, there is only one battleship under construction. Finally, our enemy's strength is too weak. But it is rising, especially when the German and Italian fleets join forces, and after Germany obtains the remaining French fleet, this threat becomes even more serious. "

Everyone knows that the third point Pound said is not an alarmist at all: regardless of the German Tirpitz hiding in Norway, Italy has three cutting-edge Veneto battleships in service in the Mediterranean direction alone, and the fourth Imperial battleship is in service. It is under rapid construction under the auspices of Germany and is expected to be put into service in another 3-4 months. Together with the two Dunkirk-class battlecruisers that Germany has acquired from France, after excluding the George V and Glorious class After the aircraft carrier, it has posed a serious challenge to the Royal Navy, and the combat effectiveness of Italy's four new battleships is significantly greater than the old ships of the Sovereign class.

"In addition, there is one more thing..." Pound continued to add, "Judging from the combat situation of the last time Japan suddenly put into use the super long gate-class battleship, under the premise of suitable air cover, the super battleship is not a ship with a capacity of less than 100 at all. The carrier aircraft can be chewed, and the three Glory-class aircraft carriers only have more than 100 aircraft in total, so it is of special significance to re-examine the construction of battleships, especially strong defense and fast super battleships.”

This sentence particularly touched everyone: I originally thought that Japan would never be able to turn around after losing four aircraft carriers in one breath at Midway. Unexpectedly, it killed three more American task forces so quickly, even though most of the results were achieved. It relies on the aircraft carrier, but without that super battleship to attract the attention and firepower of the Americans, the Japanese mobile fleet will never succeed easily. This super battleship makes people shudder, and even the US Navy is deeply troubled. Otherwise, why would the Americans readily agree to the request to land in Egypt as soon as they heard that they would support their four King George V and three aircraft carriers? Now it seems that it is fortunate that the Prime Minister made this decision promptly and decisively, otherwise Egypt and the Middle East would be lost now.

"Since the Navy is in urgent need of capital ships and the enemy is also working hard to strengthen their naval armaments, I think the two Lion-class ships should continue to be built and strive to be put into service together with the Warrior in mid-1944. At the same time, we must also prepare to design and start construction of a new generation of battleships. ——Of course, this can be left for discussion at the next meeting." Churchill couldn't wait to put forward his point of view before everyone could finish digesting the information.

Now everyone understands that Pound must have communicated with the Prime Minister before the meeting. He used the method of first expressing his support for the Prime Minister's opinion in exchange for Churchill agreeing to restart the construction of two battleships - this guy made a good deal!

Everyone was talking about it, but no one jumped out to object. This was tantamount to being at odds with the Prime Minister and the Navy at the same time. Attlee had no choice but to stand up and said: "It is difficult to pass an adjustable budget in the Parliament, right? Also, in addition to the funding and resource issues when the work was suspended, it seems that we also had certain technical bottlenecks? "

"I personally greeted the Parliament to convince them that Great Britain wants to save money, but saving money is not the purpose. If this is the purpose, we might as well surrender - war is expensive! As for the second point..." Churchill immediately changed Looking over at Pound.

The latter wisely took over the conversation: "The problem with the Lion class was the 16-inch naval gun. Our technology and manufacturing capabilities were not enough to support this new naval gun, but the situation is different now. The Americans have mature models, and we are completely Can be ordered from the United States."

Churchill immediately stated his position: "I will write to President Roosevelt and ask them to support the naval guns needed by the two warships..." He deliberately emphasized the word "support", and everyone immediately understood it - this meant asking the Americans to pay for it. , even if you really can't survive it in the end, you can wait until you win in the future.

Seeing that the Prime Minister and the First Lord of the Admiralty had finished this issue in unison, Chief of General Staff Brooke couldn't stand it anymore and decisively interjected: "I agree with the rearmament of the navy. Not to mention 2 battleships, there should be 1-2 more ships. , but what about the Army?"