By evening, the results of the daytime bombing had been compiled into a report and delivered to the Vienna Palace. Of course, limited by battlefield conditions, it was impossible to accurately assess the enemy’s losses, so this report was certain to differ from reality to some extent. Minor discrepancies were not the issue. What mattered was that the air raid had succeeded. Reading the battle report in his hands, Franz could not help but suspect that the upper echelons of the British military were riddled with Holy Roman spies. British air defense was nothing short of a farce. This was no longer a matter of having loopholes. It looked more like the doors had been deliberately thrown wide open to let the Holy Roman Air Force march straight in. London fared somewhat better. Although the air raid had not been detected in advance, air defense firepower was at least present. If not for the heavy fog, they might even have achieved respectable results. Other areas were far more embarrassing. When the Holy Roman Air Force attacked Liverpool, it passed over numerous towns along the way, yet not a single air defense gun was seen in operation. Of course, it was also possible that the local garrisons were simply timid, afraid of provoking the enemy and inviting retaliation, and therefore pretended to see nothing. Failing to open fire was one thing, but they could at least have sent an emergency telegram to warn their colleagues and give them time to prepare. Nothing else could be guaranteed, but at the very least the Royal Navy could have put to sea in advance. As long as they did not concentrate a large fleet, there would have been no need to fear the threat overhead. There was no problem with drawing aircraft from across the country to participate in the battle. Britain was small, after all, and this was a homeland operation, so return range was not a concern. But even so, one should still wait until the main force had completed its assembly before committing to battle. Rushing for time and sending in aircraft as soon as they arrived was not a tactic an ordinary mind would come up with. Since it amounted to little more than feeding planes into the grinder, the results were naturally disastrous. Had the British Air Force not managed to complete its assembly during the interval when the Holy Roman Air Force rotated its formations, it might have been completely wiped out. Even now, although it had not been annihilated, heavy losses were unavoidable. The number of confirmed enemy aircraft shot down alone reached 376, with damaged aircraft too numerous to count. The air battle ended in a brilliant victory, and the bombing achieved equally impressive results. Britain’s key military hub, the port of Liverpool, was dealt a devastating blow. Setting aside the ships that were sunk, the real significance lay in the destruction of the shipyards. Dry docks could be rebuilt, and equipment could be repurchased, but the loss of engineers and skilled technical workers was permanent. In this era, average life expectancy was under fifty. There was no concept of retirement, let alone rehiring retired specialists. That said, Britain was a vast empire with deep reserves of talent. At worst, workers could be poached from smaller shipyards elsewhere. However, building warships was fundamentally different from building merchant vessels, and an adjustment period was unavoidable. Repairing the shipyards would take time, and training skilled workers would take time. Taken together, anything less than one to two years was simply unrealistic. It was not that the process could not be accelerated. If competitors were willing to help, progress could certainly be faster. Unfortunately, the likelihood of that happening was about the same as humanity entering an age of universal harmony. Even so, today’s bombing was still not entirely sufficient. Ideally, the air force should return for several consecutive days to consolidate these hard won gains. By comparison, the bombing of London was almost casual in nature. There were no specific strategic targets, and everything depended on the instincts of the bomb crews. Thick fog blanketed the city, making it impossible to see the ground clearly. Assessing the results could only be left to the efforts of the British government. Compared to the spectacular results, what pleased Franz even more were the losses. During the daytime operation, the Holy Roman Air Force lost a total of twenty seven aircraft destroyed and seventy nine aircraft damaged to varying degrees. Among the destroyed aircraft, aside from three bombers, the rest were fighters, including five that were shot down while returning to base. This exchange ratio could be described as a miracle in military history. The only regret was that miracles were rare. After suffering such heavy losses, the British would certainly learn their lesson, and it was unrealistic to expect the enemy to keep making foolish mistakes. “The air force has performed well, and it must continue to build on this momentum. From now on, the scope of bombing operations must be expanded. Any city within air force coverage is to be considered a bombing target. The bombing of London will be downgraded to a feint. Before the British fully regain their composure, we must lure and destroy as much of the British Air Force’s remaining strength as possible, while providing cover for bombing operations elsewhere.” It had to be said that London was an excellent target. Although the fog made it impossible to lock onto ground targets, the enemy’s ground based air defenses were equally crippled by the same conditions. This meant that the Holy Roman Air Force, despite operating far from home, was able to fight the British Air Force on roughly equal terms, even though the latter was conducting operations over its own territory. If this opportunity were not exploited to the fullest, to eliminate as much of the British Air Force’s effective strength as possible, then once winter ended, these favorable conditions would disappear as well. At its core, this strategy was still about exploiting British pride. The public could not tolerate Holy Roman aircraft rampaging overhead while the government appeared to do nothing. Once the British Air Force was crippled, subsequent operations would become much easier. If the Third Reich had dared to attempt “Operation Sea Lion,” then the Holy Roman Empire, with even greater advantages, could certainly emulate it. The fact that the British Air Force had once defeated a stronger opponent in another timeline did not mean the same outcome would occur now. After all, in this era, the American housewives were still playing in the mud and were in no position to provide any meaningful support. At present, the main strength of the British Air Force had been drawn to London, making it far easier to bomb other regions. Although London was the true core of the British Isles and the rest were merely peripheral areas, Franz had no objections whatsoever. If not for the limited operational range of the air force, Franz would have issued orders to drop bombs on every single city across the British Isles. The objective was not necessarily to kill, but to terrorize. Once public confidence in Britain collapsed, the rest of the war would become far easier. Even if air power could not cover the entirety of the British Isles, covering half of its cities posed no real difficulty. With a bit of discreet guidance, if citizens across so many cities began protesting simultaneously and demanded that the British government organize air defenses, the situation would quickly become entertaining to watch. Air Minister Conrad spoke with some difficulty. “Your Majesty, continuing the bombing of the British Isles is not a problem. However, attempting to lure out and annihilate the main force of the British Air Force may prove difficult. In today’s battles, we have already inflicted severe damage on the British Air Force. Based on information collected from the front lines and comparisons with prior intelligence, the British Air Force has already lost a quarter of its aircraft. By tomorrow, fewer than half of their aircraft may be capable of returning to combat. After suffering such heavy losses today, the British will certainly draw lessons from the experience. They will not repeat the same mistakes a second time. If the British conduct a careful analysis, they will realize that our bombing has had limited impact on London itself, whereas the damage caused by air combat has been far more severe. Once they calm down, the British Air Force may simply concede for the time being. Even if the public applies pressure, they will likely offer only symbolic resistance. After that, they will fall silent, slowly rebuilding their strength while waiting for the right opportunity.” Even the best plan requires the enemy’s cooperation. The fighting during the day had been far too brutal, directly dealing a heavy blow to the British Air Force. If the British Air Force failed to learn its lesson and continued to confront the Holy Roman Air Force head on, it would not take long before its organizational structure was completely shattered. After a brief moment of thought, Franz said coldly, “Then find ways to keep provoking them. British pride cannot be exhausted by a single defeat. If that still does not work, scatter leaflets over the British Isles and let the British public make the decision for them. I do not care how you fight. Within the next month, at least twenty thousand tons of bombs must be dropped on the British.” There was no choice but to press harder. Bombs also had a shelf life. The Holy Roman government had been preparing for this war for far too long, and its stockpiles of ammunition were excessive. If not for the Russians acting as a “buyer of last resort” and the existence of the international arms market to absorb surplus stock, the mere expiration of weapons and ammunition would already have become a serious problem. Plans could never keep up with changing realities. The Holy Roman government’s original preparations had been based on the worst possible scenario, namely that Britain would succeed in rallying France, Russia, and other powers to jointly encircle the Holy Roman Empire. Britain’s troublemaking diplomacy was indeed formidable, but they were human, not gods, and ultimately incapable of reversing the overall trend. Through the efforts of the Holy Roman government, not only did the worst case fail to materialize, but the situation instead swung to the opposite extreme. Enemies that had once been guarded against had now become allies. As a result, the munitions originally reserved for the French and Russians could now only be borne by Britain alone. As for the so-called Oceanic Alliance that the British had cobbled together, Emperor Franz declared that he simply did not see it. It was beyond reach for now anyway, and settling scores with those people could wait until after the war. … London, once again, endured a sleepless night. The daytime bombing shattered many long held assumptions and struck directly at everyone’s nerves. “So it turns out the Royal Navy is not omnipotent after all. London is not safe either!” What followed was boundless anger. The enemy had already dropped bombs on their heads, yet the government showed no visible response. To many, this was nothing short of dereliction of duty and sheer incompetence. Fortunately, the fog was thick enough that ordinary civilians did not witness the air battles during the day. Otherwise, the fury boiling through the city at this moment would have risen to an even higher level. Once bitten by a snake, one fears the rope for ten years. The shock of the daytime events was so severe that the British government was still operating inside air-raid shelters. If space had allowed them, they would probably have brought their families in with them as well. Since that was not possible, the only option was to send them away. London was lively at this hour, and even the darkness of night could not dampen people’s enthusiasm for moving out. From princes and nobles down to ordinary citizens, anyone with the means was now fleeing to the countryside. There was no alternative. London was no longer suitable for living. The smog had already been unbearable, and now bombs were falling from the sky as well. Not to mention air defense, the destructive force of crashing aircraft was even greater than that of enemy bombs. Iron lumps were raining down from the sky, and no one could withstand that. They had never experienced bombing before, and air defense facilities were effectively nonexistent. Even the shelters used by the cabinet government were little more than makeshift basements. For the sake of survival, everyone reached the same conclusion: run. No matter how rampant the enemy aircraft might be, they would never bother bombing rural areas. That would not even be worth the fuel. Those forced to remain behind were gripped by panic. They could only curse their lack of means, which compelled them to stay and scrape out a living. Others could flee, but government officials could not. If they left as well, order in London would collapse almost immediately. As he looked over the compiled battle reports, Campbell nearly fainted. This was no longer merely a matter of heavy losses, it now touched directly on the outcome of the war itself. Having personally witnessed the power of air warfare, Campbell’s confidence in the Royal Navy also began to waver. The English Channel was only so wide. Once air superiority was lost, no one could guarantee that the enemy would not attempt a forced landing. The Holy Roman Navy was no weak force, and it also had the support of the navies of various European countries. If air power were added to that equation, could the Royal Navy truly hold out? At the very least, the Royal Navy units stationed at Liverpool had already demonstrated through their actions that they were utterly powerless against enemies in the sky. After forcing himself to calm down, Campbell asked cautiously, “If we had been prepared in advance, would the air force have been capable of defending the safety of the British Isles?” As if subjected to a question that probed the soul, Attilio, the Secretary of Air, hesitated and found himself unable to answer immediately. If this question had been asked before today, he would have given an unequivocal yes. But with the facts laid bare, to still say yes at this point would have been meaningless. After a moment of hesitation, Attilio spoke slowly. “It would be difficult. Today’s fighting has already demonstrated the disparity in strength between the two sides. Our lads fought very bravely, but the gap in aircraft performance is simply too great. Everyone has seen the reports. In just a single day of engagement, more than a quarter of our aircraft were shot down, and nearly half required major repairs. At this stage, the air force has effectively suffered damage to its very foundations. It needs to rest and reorganize, and in the short term it is not suitable for further engagements with the enemy. If preparations had been made in advance, I can only say that the battle would not have been so one sided. To defeat the enemy, we need more aircraft, and more advanced ones.” This answer did not surprise anyone, yet it was still deeply disheartening. The facts were plain. This had been an unequal battle. The air force’s defeat was not only due to inferior aircraft performance. Tactical employment and battlefield responsiveness were also lacking across the board. The only merit, if it could be called that, was courage. No one ran. Of course, that could hardly be considered bravery, because those who tried to flee met their demise. When aircraft performance lags behind, tragedy follows inevitably. Even if one wanted to escape, it was impossible to outrun the enemy. Continuing to fight still offered a slim chance of survival, but turning away meant exposing one’s back to the enemy and being shot down at will. Even in the later stages, when British aircraft held a numerical advantage, the situation of being passively battered did not change. The primary reason was poor coordination between aircraft. Despite having greater numbers, they appeared completely at a loss on the battlefield. Unless these problems were resolved, any hope of turning the tide was nothing more than a dream. Yet reality was harsh. Identifying problems was easy; solving them was not. Whether in terms of aircraft performance or tactical experience, both required time to accumulate and could not be made up overnight. Prime Minister Campbell said, “As for the aircraft issue, the government will do its utmost. Domestic factories are already working overtime to produce them. The other problems must be addressed by the military itself. As for reorganization…” His words suddenly trailed off. There was no helping it. Campbell himself lacked confidence and dared not make promises lightly. The atmosphere in the room grew oppressive once more. No one could find any grounds for optimism about the situation. No one had expected that a single air battle would plunge Britain into such an awkward and precarious position.
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