While the allied forces were grappling with their heavy losses, the atmosphere inside the British government was even darker. The Royal Navy, on which so much hope had been placed, not only failed to achieve a sweeping victory, it failed to secure victory at all. For Britain, a result where both sides were badly wounded was still a defeat. During the daytime battle, the air force had exhausted itself trying to create opportunities for the navy, yet the strategic objective was never achieved. After this, chances like that would only become harder to come by. Without control of the skies, and without the ability to suppress the enemy fleet, the defense of the British Isles was now unavoidable. Campbell stared at the battle report in his hands, silent for a long time. Line after line of cold numbers made one thing painfully clear. The Royal Navy had truly fought to its limits. The failure to win was not due to a lack of effort. The enemy was simply too strong. Looking at the figures on paper, even someone with no military knowledge could tell who held the advantage. Yes, the Royal Navy still held superiority in conventional warships, but when it came to dreadnoughts, the true backbone of naval power, they were short by a full seven ships. To fight from weakness and still achieve a mutual-destruction outcome was already proof that the Royal Navy lived up to its reputation as a maritime hegemon. Unfortunately, that was far from enough. What Britain needed was victory, a decisive and resounding victory. “The battle report has been reviewed by everyone,” Campbell said. “Both the air force and the navy suffered enormous losses in the daytime fighting. Casualties alone reached fourteen thousand, the highest since the war began. Our losses in equipment are just as severe. For a long time to come, it will be extremely difficult for us to organize a second battle of this scale. Despite the price we paid, we did achieve significant results and dealt a heavy blow to the enemy navy. But it is still not enough. The enemy is stronger than we anticipated. Whether we wish to admit it or not, the plan to block an enemy landing through naval interception has already failed. The defense of the British Isles will now become even more brutal and blood-soaked.” There was no blame shifting and no pursuit of responsibility. It was a straightforward assessment of reality. It was not that Campbell possessed exceptional integrity. It was simply that, at this point, arguing over responsibility had lost all meaning. Outside the government, criticism was already roaring like a storm. In the eyes of the public, the authority of the cabinet had long since fallen to rock bottom. Campbell’s personal reputation also plunged at alarming speed. If not for political correctness and the restraint shown by domestic media, he would already have been labeled the worst leader in the history of the British Empire. Even so, the title of worst prime minister had effectively been placed on his head. Lord North, Spencer Perceval, and the Duke of Wellington, all towering figures of the past, had failed to stop him from climbing to the top of that list. After all, Britain was a constitutional monarchy. The title of worst leader had to be reserved for a regicide. The media still had to respect political boundaries, so the widely acknowledged “incompetent” Campbell could only follow closely behind. Of course, this judgment rested on the assumption that the war was not yet over. If defeat truly arrived, public opinion would no longer be so restrained. What was interesting was that, despite its prestige sinking to rock bottom, the Campbell cabinet had not been dismissed by Parliament. In fact, during the recent period, even impeachment motions had quietly disappeared. It was as if overnight, all political opponents had vanished. Even ready-made scandals delivered to their doorstep were left unused. Ironically, it was the Campbell cabinet itself that repeatedly submitted resignation letters to the king, hoping that some extraordinary genius would step forward to turn the tide. Unfortunately, no such genius appeared. Even Edward VII, once eager to restore royal authority, became unusually low-profile after the outbreak of war. He pushed all state affairs onto the cabinet and effectively became a hands-off monarch. It was not that people were fickle. The mess left behind by previous governments was simply too disastrous, and the situation too difficult to salvage. Even if Britain somehow won this war, the losses would be staggering. As the head of government, one would gain no prestige from such a victory and would instead face endless criticism. The world war in the original timeline had proven exactly that. The government that led Britain to victory was swept from power almost immediately once the war ended. The era was different, but the political logic and underlying reality remained the same. Anyone truly clever would avoid stepping into this quagmire. That said, the Campbell cabinet had not performed poorly. This was also an important reason it had been allowed to remain in office. Ordinary people might not understand, but the elite clearly did. Facing the entire European continent with the strength of a single nation was an almost impossible task. “The army is prepared for a fight to the death,” Campbell said. “We will spare no cost to defend the British Isles and make the enemy understand that landing here would be their greatest mistake. But defense alone cannot win this war. Especially when our enemy is the whole of continental Europe, victory will require far more proactive strategies from both the navy and the air force.” With the loudest slogans on his lips and the responsibility neatly pushed onto his colleagues, Marcus showed not the slightest trace of shame. As Secretary War, Marcus understood the true condition of the “lobsterbacks” better than anyone. Once, they could be considered elite, their combat strength ranking among the top in the world. Unfortunately, after the massive expansion, the army’s fighting power had plummeted straight to the bottom. Whether one liked it or not, the current lobsterbacks were nothing more than a mob. Since the army was no longer capable of shouldering the task of defeating the Continental Alliance, the burden naturally had to be handed off to others. After all, the army had always been treated like a stepchild. You did as much work as the budget allowed, and when a real crisis arrived, those who received the most funding were expected to step forward first. The Secretary of Air was relatively untroubled. As a newly established branch, the air force usually received limited resources, so failing to defeat the enemy was at least understandable. The Navy Secretary, however, found himself in a truly awkward position. For years, the navy had enjoyed the largest slice of the budget. Every time military funding was debated, the safety of the British Isles was inevitably dragged out as the strongest argument. Yet now, when the moment had come to truly defend the British Isles, the navy had failed to deliver. Claiming that the enemy was too strong was no excuse. In the past, the Royal Navy had boasted endlessly, praising itself to the skies. Compared to that, its current performance was simply unacceptable. Overwhelmed by shame and anger, Swinton could only lower his head and pretend he had heard nothing. A counterattack was still possible, but only after the new warships entered service. As long as the gaps in the capital ships were filled, Swinton still had confidence in the Royal Navy. The problem was time. Even with the shipyards working day and night, time was something they could not compress. At present, only the northern shipyards had completed construction of the main hulls and were close to launching. The other shipyards, having suffered varying degrees of damage from enemy air raids, were all behind schedule. But the battlefield would not wait. Without complete control of the seas, the Royal Navy could not stop the enemy from escorting their ground forces to land on the British Isles. The army had reinforced its defenses, yet Britain’s coastline was far too long to be fully covered. They could only focus on areas of the highest strategic value. Once the enemy successfully landed, no matter where it happened, the political consequences would be devastating. The Oceanic Alliance was already on edge, spooked at the slightest hint of bad news. If news like this spread any further, it would be tantamount to forcing everyone to scatter for themselves. Silence fell over the room. The only sounds left were the steady thumping of their own heartbeats. The oppressive atmosphere made it hard to breathe. Seeing that there was no way to dodge the issue, Swinton finally spoke, his voice slow and measured: “The losses during the day were too severe. Most of our warships will require major repairs. In the short term, it is not suitable for us to engage the enemy in another decisive battle.” He paused briefly before continuing, “However, we will deploy high speed warships and submarines to strike at the enemy’s troop transports and logistics vessels. As for a full scale counteroffensive, we plan to launch it three months from now. By then, our new batch of warships will have officially entered service, allowing us to reverse the balance of power between the two sides.” At present, this was the weakest period for the Royal Navy. If they went out again to fight a decisive battle, they would still have to use conventional battleships to hold back the enemy’s dreadnoughts. That kind of “containment” demanded a price paid in blood. The daytime battle had already proven this point. Five battleships had sunk as a direct result. Such a terrible cost had achieved nothing more than damaging enemy vessels. By comparison, duels between dreadnoughts were far more restrained. After the massive engagement, both sides had many dreadnoughts that were heavily damaged, yet not a single one had been sunk outright. There was nothing surprising about this. Naval gunnery had always suffered from low hit rates, and dreadnoughts possessed thick armor and solid defenses. Unless their vital areas were struck multiple times by main guns, they would suffer at most localized damage, far from fatal. As long as luck was not especially poor, dreadnoughts still had strong survivability in naval warfare. In the original timeline, it was rare for dreadnoughts to be sunk directly by gunfire exchanges between warships. Ironically, once the carrier era arrived, they were far more often destroyed by aircraft. For now, there was no need to worry about aircraft carriers. The English Channel was not large, and the air force could reach it in less than an hour. Land itself was a natural aircraft carrier. “The air force will also seize suitable opportunities to launch surprise attacks on enemy troop transports,” Attilio added. “However, chance encounters like the one during the day must be avoided as much as possible. Once the Japanese suicide units arrive, we will choose the right moment to launch a surprise attack on the enemy’s main naval forces. In the short term, we still need time to accumulate strength. As for routine battlefield fire support, we can only provide it on a limited scale.” Strength was the foundation of everything. With the air force’s own capabilities insufficient, Attilio could not afford to sound tough. The most aggressive strategy available to them was limited to surprise attacks. A decisive showdown was not even worth considering. Even if the air force wanted to go all out, it simply did not have enough aircraft or trained pilots. A battle like the one fought during the day could not be organized a second time in the short term. … After listening to the military’s assessment, the expression between Campbell’s brows changed drastically, as if he were locked in a fierce internal struggle. In the end, reason prevailed. Whether he was willing to admit it or not, under the current circumstances Britain stood little chance of winning this war. Only a dramatic upheaval in the international situation could turn the tide. If the major members of the Continental Alliance were to collectively defect, or if the Holy Roman Empire were to collapse from within, Britain might still have a chance. But hoping for such a miracle was no better than praying to God for a meteor to fall from the sky and crush the enemy outright. If the situation was tragic on the military front, it was even worse politically. The probability of winning the war was close to zero, but ending it with dignity was still something they could strive for. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the British Empire truly was vast and wealthy. Even without Africa, it remained an enormous power. In the past, this had been a symbol of Britain’s glory. Now, it has become the very obstacle preventing them from withdrawing safely. Great wealth inevitably attracted covetous eyes. Interests moved men’s hearts, and if Britain wanted to end the war with dignity, it first had to dispel the hunger of the wolves circling around it. The Continental Alliance had so many member states that it was hard to believe any of them lacked ambition toward the British Empire’s riches. Perhaps only minor players like Monaco, there merely to make up the numbers, could be excluded. Anyone with even a bit of strength was already sharpening their knives, waiting for the grand feast of division to begin. To make them all stop was never going to be easy. After hesitating for a moment, Campbell spoke harshly, “There is no need to wait any longer. Send all the revolutionary factions we have sheltered back to their countries. Activate every sleeper agent buried across the European continent and provide them with as much support as possible.”
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