Chapter 302: Advance Base

The great victory of the naval battle on March 11 completely laid the foundation for the absolute right hand of the French Navy. After ambushing the British Atlantic Fleet, the French Atlantic Fleet did not return to the Tsera Naval Base in the Azores, but instead entered the Channel Islands with the Mediterranean Fleet, gathering the three major fleets to encircle and suppress the remaining British Navy fleet. At this moment, the total number of warships left by the British Navy was only about 150, less than one-third of the war had before the outbreak of the war. And what about the French side? The number of warships

The number is only about 140. Although the British Navy still has a slight advantage in terms of quantity, the performance of the warships is completely incomparable. The French Navy's current combat power is definitely much stronger than that of the British Navy. Therefore, after the victory of this ambush, the French Navy did not relax. On the one hand, the three major fleets stepped up the elimination of the British Navy's voice and power. On the other hand, the Marine Corps is also making active preparations because they will be the pioneers of landing in Britain.

The war in the English Channel became fierce again as the British Atlantic Fleet was severely damaged. The French Navy frequently dispatched, either attacking the British patrol fleet or attacking the British Port. The British Navy was always under suppression. In just a few days, the southern British military ports were repeatedly attacked, and the navy's strength became smaller and smaller. I believe that it won't be long before the French Navy eroded step by step, the British Navy would be destroyed.

"His Excellency Villendolf, why? Why is the Royal Navy completely suppressed by the French Navy? Is the Royal Navy, which consumes the great financial and material resources of the Kingdom, really vulnerable?" Liverpool roared. The British Atlantic Fleet was ambushed and severely damaged, which made him very angry. The reports of losses of warships and military ports in the following few days made his anger continue to rise, and today they finally broke out.

Villendorf stood timidly in front of Liverpool, unable to say a word. The navy's failure was so rapid that it completely exceeded his expectations. Now the royal family, government and people are strongly accusing the navy of being unfavorable in combat. He is under great pressure now. "Prime Minister, this is entirely caused by the French Navy's despicable sneak attack. If they were to go to war with the Atlantic Fleet openly, we might not have failed. Besides, the action plan of the Atlantic Fleet was decided before I took over. In a sense, the responsibility for the Atlantic Fleet's heavy blow was not on me." Villendorf argued. He knew that if he could not shift the responsibility for defeat, he would follow in Halbhul.

"His Excellency Villendolf, don't forget that you are the Minister of the Navy now, not Halbhul. Since Halbhul resigned as the Minister of the Navy, he has no relationship with the Navy." Liverpool looked at Villendolf and said, meaning that he must be responsible for this Navy matter.

Villendolf felt very wronged. It was not his responsibility, but he asked him to take it. Now, he really envied Halbhul. Although Halbhul was removed from his post, he did not have to bear any responsibility. Unlike him, he now, not only did he take over a mess, but he had to bear the responsibility for failure.

"Prime Minister, as for the responsibility, let's talk about it later. What we need to solve now is the problem of the continuous attacks launched by the French Navy. Since yesterday, the French Navy has targeted the main cities in the south of the Kingdom. If the team leader cannot lead the French Navy's attack, the big cities in the south will probably turn into ruins." The Interior Minister reminded.

Everyone looked at Villendolf, because resisting the French Navy was originally a matter of the Royal Navy. Seeing everyone staring at themselves, Villendolf's face suddenly turned red.

"His Excellency Villendolf, are you talking? Can the navy still protect southern cities from being attacked by the French navy?" the Foreign Minister also asked anxiously.

Gritting his teeth, Villendolf confessed: "Tell everyone the truth, the remaining warships of the Royal Navy are less than 70, which are far from the opponent of the French Navy."

"Then what happened to your Navy? The Ministry of Finance allocated so much money to you, but now it's like this?" Secretary of Finance Hawkins accused with a pale face. The navy's warships were all piled up with money, but now they were all washed away. How could he not feel sorry for lying down?

Villendolff did not refute Hawkins' accusations because he had no room for refutation.

Stopped everyone's accusations against the Navy. Liverpool asked: "Villendolff, I want to know what you plan to do next, or how do you arrange the remaining fleets?"

After thinking for a while, Villendolf replied: "Prime Minister, if possible, I ask that the remaining fleet of the Royal Navy be withdrawn from the strait. They are the last seeds of the Royal Navy, and they must be kept in order to make a comeback in the future."

"Cowards! It is because of the existence of you cowards that the Navy was defeated." Before Villendolf finished speaking, someone asked someone to blame him. The person who accused Villendolf was not someone else, but his old rival to the Navy, the Secretary of the Army, Hamurabee.

Villendolf was about to fight back, but was stopped by Liverpool. Liverpool frowned and asked: "His Excellency Villendolf, the navy has been withdrawn, so who will be responsible for the defense in the south of the Kingdom?"

"The navy continues to stay in the English Channel to increase casualties. According to information, the French Marines are already preparing for combat, and I believe they will be ready to land in our country soon. And the army is the only way to prevent the French Marines from landing." Villendolff said. Although it is not right to the army, at this time, he has to reject his prejudice.

Liverpool turned his head to Hamurabi and asked: "Can the army complete the task of guarding the kingdom?"

Hamurabi replied: "The French Army is the most powerful army in the world, but the Army will do its best to prevent the French team from landing in the UK. However, I need the cooperation of various departments, such as finance, logistics supplies, and military sources. Now the Kingdom's regular army has only 22 infantry divisions, with a total force of 330,000, distributed throughout the Kingdom. As far as England is concerned, there are only 12 infantry divisions. It is unrealistic to use this little force to fight against the powerful French Army, so we need to form a new army."

Liverpool nodded and said, "Don't worry, the government will fully support the Army."

Afterwards, the government issued a military conscription declaration. Under the call to defend the motherland, a large number of young British men responded to the call, and each conscription station was lined up in a long line. Originally, 10 infantry divisions were planned to recruit, but later it expanded to 15. However, these were ordinary people without any military literacy. It would take a lot of time to train them into qualified soldiers. But now what Britain lacks the most is time, and France's attack is imminent.

When Britain set off a craze to defend its motherland, the French side was also actively preparing. The powerful British navy had been trampled on their feet. They had to withdraw from the English Channel. The French navy also intercepted the British fleet's retreat. Only half of the British navy's nearly 70 warships finally rushed out and fled to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. In order to avoid the British navy's strength, the French navy also launched a devastating blow to the British shipyard. Seventy percent of the British shipyards were destroyed, so that the days of the British navy's recovery would be nowhere to be achieved.

"Gentlemen, Britain is a powerful country. Although we have eliminated the main force of the British Royal Navy, it will take even greater efforts to eliminate Britain. Similarly, landing in Britain is not something that can be completed overnight. Therefore, before officially landing in Britain, we must seize a base of advance to prepare for the official landing in Britain." Xiao Jie explained at the combat meeting against Britain attended by the navy generals and some army generals.

Everyone agreed with Xiao Jie's point of view. After all, as a veteran powerhouse, the UK is still very strong.

"After detailed argumentation, we set our goal of seizing the advance base on the Isle of Wight, the southern British island. For this reason, after full preparation, we will send the 3rd and 7th Marine Divisions of the Marine Corps to seize the Isle of Wight." Xiao Jie continued. After hearing Xiao Jie's order, some people were happy and some were worried. Of course, they were the generals of the 3rd and 7th Marine Divisions, who could land on the first batch of British people. The generals of other troops were full of envy and regret.

The Isle of Wight is only 22 kilometers wide and 40 kilometers long, and is only half of that of London. The Isle of Wight has 8 main towns: Ryder, Newport, Coase, Sandang, Ventero, Shanklin, Yarmouth and Benbridge. As the gateway to Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight has always been a very important island in southern England. The British Army has stationed heavily guards here for many years, especially after the British Navy was defeated by the French Navy, the island's defenders increased to 1 infantry division.
Chapter completed!