Chapter 1145: Heavy Losses

  Chapter 1123: Heavy Losses
There is a first time for everything, and as the first air battle in the true sense of human history, the British handed over an expensive tuition fee based on strength.

The tactic of adding oil is only applicable to specific occasions. Playing like this in an air battle is obviously giving away heads.

Unfortunately, Britannia never had any experience in air combat. After the attack, the first reaction of the British government was to send out the air force to intercept it, without even considering the issue of rallying.

Because of the different distances and different reaction speeds, the British warplanes that took off from various airports eventually arrived at the front line in batches.

The air battle continued, and after paying a terrible price, the British air force on the field finally gathered up three figures of fighters. Although still in a disadvantageous position, the battle was no longer one-sided.

The Shenluo Air Force had already replaced the previous batch of fighters, because of the limited flight time, after completing their mission, they had already returned to rest and recuperate.

Unlike the first wave, which was dominated by bombers, the Shen Luo fighters in the sky now were almost all fighters.

If they were in the future, everyone would understand that today’s bombardment was over, and this was now aimed at the main force of the British air force.

Anyway, now that a frontal duel could not be fought, the most important thing to do now was to save the living forces. Even if you really want to fight for your life, then you should change to a battlefield that is more favorable to you.

Below is London, and every airplane crash is a giant bomb, more lethal than any bomb in the world today.

It is no secret that the bombing has brought less than one-tenth of the damage to London than the harm done by a plane crash in an air war.

Obviously, the British government caught in the middle of it couldn’t think of that much, at the moment they only have one idea, that is to gather more fighter planes, to leave the enemy behind, to wash away today’s shame.

As for the resulting “losses”, the bigwigs, who are full of anger, can’t care so much.

The scorching battle was irritating. The air war does not stop for a moment, so everyone can only stay in the air raid shelter all the time.

Order in London was spiraling out of control, and despite repeated orders from the Cabinet Government to calm the people, it was too much of a hardship for bureaucrats to go to work under enemy fire.

When something of this magnitude goes wrong, someone always needs to be held accountable for it. The battle in the skies was not yet over, and the top echelons of the British government were already thinking about the aftermath.

“Mr. Prime Minister, something big has happened!”

The secretary’s voice interrupted everyone’s thoughts. Prime Minister Campbell, who had a frown on his face, hurriedly asked, “Our air force has been defeated?”

The war had reached London, so the big event had been bad for a long time. If there was worse news, it must be that the air force had been defeated in the air battle.

The enemy was the world’s number one air force power, and as a qualified politician, it was natural to plan for the worst in advance.

The defeat of the air force is the worst outcome that everyone expects right now, bar none.

“No!”

After the customary reply, the secretary hurriedly explained, “The battle in the sky is still continuing, although the losses are a bit high, but our fighters are coming in a steady stream, and it’s only a matter of time before we expel the enemy.

News just came in from Liverpool Harbor, that side has also suffered an enemy air attack, and the defenders are requesting to send fighter support.”

Hearing that “the air war is continuing”, Prime Minister Campbell’s nervousness was slightly relieved, and then tensed up again.

Against the backdrop of the Royal Navy’s dominance, Britain’s air force was only slightly better than the army. The British government, which had never experienced an air war, had never expected this scene to happen today.

If it is not to see the Holy Roman Empire on the air force to put blood money, “in the spirit of the enemy has, I also want to have the idea”, there is no air force anything.

Originally started late, but the domestic manufacturing industry fell behind in the second industrial revolution, and the air force that followed the trend naturally couldn’t compare to the Holy Roman Air Force.

If it wasn’t for the advantage of local combat, the air war would have been a failure. The current situation was not much better, the fighters that participated in the battle didn’t run away, that’s because they simply couldn’t run away.

The comprehensive performance of the aircraft can not keep up, in close contact, simply can not get rid of the enemy, can only be hard to die.

It so happens that the military department has issued a death order, and the people below don’t understand the situation in the sky at all, they just think that the air force is fighting valiantly.

Nor did these problems prevent Campbell from making a decision now. London and Liverpool were attacked at the same time, the British air force could not afford to take care of both battlefields at the same time, it is self-evident which head to take care of first.

After a little thought, Campbell Prime Minister said in an artful tone: “Tell the Liverpool defenders to organize their own air defense, and reinforcements will arrive in the shortest possible time.”

“The shortest time” is what time, this is human history is another unsolved mystery, ancient and modern, no one has ever figured out.

However, it was aptly applicable to the current situation in Britain. If we don’t give enough confidence to the people below us, it’s possible that those guys who are in a panic will forget to even organize resistance.

Even though it would be difficult to resist under the limited anti-aircraft firepower, it was better to do it than not to do it at all. Even if you only shot down one enemy plane, it was still a war achievement.

After sending his secretary away, Prime Minister Campbell looked back. The Prime Minister himself commanded the military battle, it seems to have gone astray.

Not every British Prime Minister was Mr. Churchill, keen to participate in military command, at least Campbell had no interest in commanding the army in battle.

Unlike any of the previous wars, the war at hand required a joint and coordinated effort between the land, sea and air forces.

When anything met for the first time, it was synonymous with trouble. This time was no exception, in addition to the need to consider military command, there was also a political balance to consider.

It could be said that apart from having Edward VII himself personally on board, anyone serving as the commander of the three armies of land, sea and air would attract criticism.

The problem was that Edward VII as king, even if he was the actual king, would at most have a name, and it was impossible for him to personally go and coordinate the three armies in a joint operation.

If it was a windy battle, it would be just to be able to fish for political achievements, and it was estimated that Edward VII had already jumped out and taken over the command of the three armies.

Unfortunately the war has only just begun, Britain ushered in the darkest day, deeply hit everyone’s confidence in winning the war.

In the absence of certainty, the shrewd Edward VII naturally would not venture out. Anyway, the day-to-day work is the cabinet in the presidency, and now the problem is also the cabinet pot, or can not be shaken off the kind of.

Realizing the seriousness of the problem, Prime Minister Campbell immediately decided to speed up the construction of the chain of command. After all, the war is still left to the professionals to play.

……

Liverpool Harbor, when the London government’s order arrived, the bombardment in the sky also ended.

Major General Winston, looking at the telegram, was broken inside. Perhaps because of a guilty conscience, or to shirk his responsibility, the news of the air defense warning finally came through.

It came a little later than the London government’s order to organize resistance on the spot. There was nothing Major General Winston could do now except to inwardly greet all the relatives of the bureaucrats involved.

People’s reaction speed has been very fast, according to the normal procedure, just to go through the process will need at least a week, slower drag half a year is possible.

Follow the procedure, this is the British civil servants have always been the code of conduct, not subject to any moral and legal accusations.

Although the bombardment was over, the bigwigs from the Port of Liverpool still didn’t show up. Perhaps because they were too busy working, or perhaps because they were too impartial, the military and political dignitaries signaled their men to report to Major General Winston.

Major General Winston, who had not yet reacted, in a daze, was moved to become the apparent supreme commander of Liverpool.

Not only to command the army, even restoring order in the city, organizing people to save themselves …… all the things that clean up the mess have become his work.

Don’t think it’s a good thing, if nothing else, the anger of the citizens, the first person responsible for this air attack on Liverpool, is likewise his unlucky duty major general.

By now, it was too late to refuse. Since the first self-help order was issued, Major General Winston has become the scapegoat for everyone.

There was no way around it, Liverpool was not only a commercial port, but also one of the most important military ports in Britain. As the duty officer, Major General Winston was responsible for the air raid.

The debt is not too much, anyway, the career is finished, for everyone to take the blame is nothing.

Essentially, everyone is unlucky. Britannia so many cities God Luo air force not go, in favor of selected Liverpool, let everyone on where to say reason to go?

Luckily, there is London with, many soldiers gathered in London have suffered heavy losses, the weak Liverpool suffered a heavy blow, in reason is also reasonable.

If the responsibility is really held, the first to bear the brunt is also the British government. In this context, the final result will most likely be “lifted high, gently fall”.

Maj. Gen. Winston dutifully asked, “Have the losses been tallied?”

The officer in charge of summarizing the losses replied: “At present, we have only made preliminary statistics on the losses of personnel, warships, shipyards, and harbor buildings, while the losses in other areas are still being counted.

If all goes well, the statistics will be completed in two days. The specific loss figures are as follows:
The number of deaths totaled 1,287, including army officers and soldiers I 49 officers and 757 soldiers; the number of injuries totaled 5,176, including 276 officers and 1,186 soldiers.

The loss of officers and men was mostly concentrated in the navy, mainly because warships were the center of gravity of the enemy’s attack. Although we had been out of harbor in time, the damage from the preliminary attack was still great.

The ships sunk included two cruisers, three destroyers, four torpedo boats, and seven auxiliaries; the damage was even greater, with more than half of the ships, including two dreadnoughts, suffering in varying degrees.

The shipyards suffered even more, with several shipyards hit hard, three dreadnoughts under construction in the shipyards destroyed, and countless infrastructure losses.

Civilian casualties, mostly in the shipyards. The shipyards were under construction when the bombing broke out, and many people were buried by the collapsed buildings before they could react.

……”

Forgiving the fact that he had prepared for this, but after hearing the exact loss figures, Rear Admiral Winston was still silent.

The Royal Navy’s losses had all caught up with a major battle. Don’t look at the fact that there weren’t a few sunken warships, but it couldn’t be helped that there were a lot of injured warships!

It takes time to repair warships, especially in the context of the shipyard’s severe damage, and if you want to repair them, you have to go to other areas.

With his own professionalism, Rear Admiral Winston made the judgment that the Royal Navy fleet staying in Liverpool, want to recover at least half a year.

Shipyards, not to mention, warships can still run away, but they are stuck in place at the mercy of the enemy, just clearing the debris are afraid to take a few months.

In contrast, the loss of other infrastructure is not big. I can see that the enemy has prepared for this, even the target of attack has been selected in advance.

After calming down, Major General Winston said indifferently, “As soon as possible, compile the damage and send it to the London government. By the way, ask if we have an air defense early warning system or not.”

Backstabbing was backstabbing, but things that could alleviate one’s responsibility still had to be done.

Encountering an enemy air attack without prior warning was the best excuse to shirk one’s responsibility.

Even if they had been warned, it wouldn’t have changed the final result. But this does not prevent Major General Winston to take out to say things.

……

Liverpool was despondent after the war, and the damage caused by the war was far more than a few cold sets of numbers on paper that could be simply summarized.

Moreover, bureaucrats have always had a tradition of artistic processing, the end of the bombing is only a few hours, and how can we accurately count the full damage?
In addition to the warships and shipyards that were the focus of attention, the station overpasses, platforms, and railroad tracks were blown to pieces, and the ground was covered with charred and mutilated bodies.

On the docks, Tom, who had managed to escape with his life, wiped the nervous sweat on his forehead with his sleeve and looked up at the red sun that shone on the red land, dazzling his eyes.

The war left behind blood, despair, destroyed homes, and never-ending wounds.

Workers who were just talking to each other are now left with broken walls and limbs all over the ground, and from time to time there are moans of pain coming from the ground.

Tom did not pay attention to, not no sympathy, is really limited ability can not help.

Have to admit, people really have three, six, nine class difference. The big shots are expensive, even if only a little skin, there are a large group of medical personnel to follow; and the bottom of the people’s lives like grass, even if seriously injured near death, no one asked.

Don’t ask why, just ask: we’ve done our best, medical resources are insufficient, the clever woman can’t cook without rice.

After making sure it was safe, Tom got up from the ground, said looking at the voice, yelling at the sound of pain was clearly John who had just been chatting and pulling things together.

At this moment, John has no longer the elegance before, by the collapsed cargo heavily smashed on the lower half of the body, the ground is already a bloody mess.

After hesitating for a while, Tom still retracted his steps and rushed towards home.

It’s not that Tom is cold and heartless, it’s really that he can’t take care of his own family, where is the capital to mind his own business.

Don’t look at John just lower limb injury, as long as timely rescue out, send medical treatment, save a life does not seem difficult.

But for the bottom of the dock workers, the usual cold and fever, are able to make life into a predicament, not to mention the body is seriously injured.

The cost of medical treatment is enough to crush an ordinary family. John couldn’t afford it, and neither could Tom.

If they really saved the person, it might not be a good thing for John’s family. Either the family will be broken, or they will witness the ugliness of human nature.

For the lower class, when it comes to this kind of thing, it’s really not as good as a pain in the ass.

(End of chapter)