Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Despite the Allied Powers' apparent impending victory and complete triumph in the European war, the United States of Colombia, as one of the key nominal members of the Allied Powers, is not actually in such a favorable position as it appears.

First, there's the European battlefield, where the dust has settled. After the collapse of the Kingdom of Letania, although the Treaty of Versailles hasn't yet been convened in another timeline and the United States of Colombia has fully realized that it's been taken advantage of, even the current United States of Colombia is already vaguely sensing that something is amiss.

What did the United States of Colombia gain from Europe after contributing manpower, money, and effort?

Although the two long-time enemies, Victoria and Gaul, disliked each other and sabotaged each other, their intention to keep the Federation out of the European continent was very clear. Neither of these rivals wanted a powerful dragon from the New World to stir up trouble in Europe.

As President of the United States of Colombia, Wilson's most direct feeling was that before joining this war, the United States of Colombia was able to play both sides among several major powers in Europe. Now, Letania's sudden "death" made the United States of Colombia feel isolated.

Although no country has yet come up with a solution for dealing with postwar Letania, it seems that the United States of Colombia has significant differences with old Europe. At least the United States of Colombia does not want Letania to be torn apart. This is the early 10th century, and the United States of Colombia is one of the countries in the world that supports "open doors! free trade!"

Old Europe clearly did not want a defeated Letania to become a market for the United States of Colombia. Of course, Victoria and Gaul also disagreed on this point. The Gauls wanted to completely crush the Letanians and bring them to an abyss, to avenge the national humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War. The Gauls were even somewhat obsessed with this.

The common stance of both Britain and the Federation was that Letania should not be completely destroyed, but Britain also did not want the Federation to take advantage of the situation.

Of course, what's even more infuriating is not just that these old Europeans are wary of the United States of Colombia's involvement in the European situation. Although the Allied Powers nominally have so many countries, on the Asian front, it's basically only the United States of Colombia that's fighting.

The British had previously cooperated with the United States of Colombia in the Battle of the Java Sea, but after the collapse of the Kingdom of Letania, the Victorian Empire immediately made a 180-degree turn in its attitude toward the East. Even though the British fleet was now completely freed, the Victorian Empire only sent a small, insignificant squadron due to repeated requests from the Commonwealth.

Countries like Gaul and Syracuse have a much clearer attitude in Asia. They're fine with cheering them on, but not with actually helping them fight. They'll immediately come up with a bunch of reasons why they've suffered too much damage in this war and simply don't have the energy to send troops to the East, even if the United States of Colombia is willing to offer them many benefits in the Indochina Peninsula in exchange.

Even last night, when President Wilson had dinner with the British ambassador, the British ambassador mocked the United States of Colombia's defeat on the Silla Peninsula: "We really admire the courage of the United States of Colombia. You actually dared to wage a ground war against such a large country on the continent. Your country's courage is probably only comparable to that of Napoleon the Great."

President Wilson could certainly hear the sarcasm in the British ambassador's words—wasn't this implying that the United States of Colombia had done something as foolish as Napoleon had? Napoleon stumbled with Russia, and now the United States of Colombia had stumbled with the Ming Dynasty.

The current war situation in the East has indeed left the United States of Colombia feeling somewhat caught in a dilemma. After the victory in the Battle of the Java Sea, the Kingdom of Japan quickly underwent a change of events. After the Emperor seized power with the support of a group of samurai, he soon announced his defection. Although Japan is not part of the World Island, it is undoubtedly a peripheral area closely related to the World Island.

This is something the United States of Colombia, a nation in the New World, has always dreamed of. Although the United States of Colombia is doing well in the New World, the relationship between the New World and the World Island is like that between a domestic league and the Champions League. No matter how well you do in your domestic league, it is not as valuable as proving yourself in the Champions League.

However, this windfall did indeed overwhelm many people in the United States of Columbia, including Wilson himself, and after that, the United States of Columbia began a period of disorderly and blind expansion.

In retrospect, it was utterly foolish to expand into the Silla Peninsula without capturing the two important islands to the south, not to mention the defeat on the battlefield. With 10 young men surrounded, Wilson hadn't had a good night's sleep in days.

Therefore, when the good news finally arrived, my mood and appetite improved significantly. If it weren't for the fact that I'm getting old and not as strong as I used to be, I would probably still want to explore the true meaning of life with my wife.

Wilson was jolted awake before he even reached midnight. He had never been woken up like this since he became president, not even when news of the defeat in the Sulu Sea or the victory in the Java Sea came back.

President Wilson, still in his pajamas, soothed his wife, who had also been startled awake, then slipped on his slippers and left the bedroom. With obvious displeasure, he said to the official who had woken him, "You'd better have something really urgent. You've disturbed what I've had the best sleep in a while."

“Your Excellency, I think you might need to take a look at this first.” The official said, handing him a telegram and casting an apologetic and sympathetic glance at him. President Wilson took the telegram with some doubt, put on his glasses, and glanced at it a few times. He quickly understood why the man’s eyes were full of apology and sympathy.

Because he knew he was going to have to suffer from insomnia again tonight!

The retreat operation, which was reported to be going smoothly at noon today, suffered a disastrous defeat tonight. If you adjust the time difference, it was attacked by a large number of Ming torpedo boats in the early hours of the morning.

According to the telegram, the Ming army deployed "one thousand" torpedo boats, launching the largest torpedo attack in the history of naval warfare. Thousands of torpedoes were launched in one night, causing heavy losses to the Seventh Fleet and the complete failure of the entire retreat.

President Wilson was completely stunned after reading the telegram.

1000 torpedo boats? President Wilson stated that although he was not a naval professional, as the president of the United States of Colombia, and especially as the wartime president of the United States of Colombia, he had a general impression of the size and scale of the forces that the United States of Colombia had expanded during this world war.

If someone were to ask President Wilson any technical questions related to the Navy, he certainly wouldn't be able to answer them. However, President Wilson knew that the number of 1000 torpedo boats was definitely problematic!

The United States of Colombia doesn't even have 1000 torpedo boats! Let alone the United States of Colombia, even if you combined the Victorian Empire and the Kingdom of Letania, the combined forces of the First and Second Navies in this world war couldn't muster that many torpedo boats!

Of course, this doesn't mean these countries can't build that many torpedo boats. It's simply because a normal country doesn't need that many torpedo boats. If you really have that much money, you should use it to build capital ships.

Moreover, even if the enemy really had that many torpedo boats, these torpedo boats must be scattered throughout the ports of the country. Who could gather all these torpedo boats together without anyone noticing? And how could they gather them in the Yingzhou Sea?

How did they manage to move those ships?

You can't possibly use the Four Heavenly Kings from the classic Chinese mythological novel "Journey to the West" to conjure up images of heaven and earth and then move these ships there, can you? Are you kidding me?!

Further down, the telegram contained preliminary statistics on losses and casualties. While the loss of several dreadnoughts was a blow to the Federation Navy, the most painful aspect was the heavy casualties.

Although the United States of Colombia has historically been a country with "low human rights" and has always been quite open-minded about death, this only applies to ordinary soldiers and civilians who do not require much skill. The navy is a class of people. You should know that even the most junior and ordinary sailors in the navy would be considered technical soldiers in the army. Their personnel quality and education are incomparable to those of ordinary soldiers in the army.

The heavy casualties in this battle further exacerbated the already low quality of the Federation's naval personnel.

President Wilson was reading the telegrams as he walked toward the Oval Office. By the time he entered, he had almost finished reading them. Inside the Oval Office, several people, including the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Navy, had already arrived and were apparently sitting there for quite some time, waiting for the president's arrival.

President Wilson sat down behind his desk, and when he took off his glasses, he realized that his hands were trembling.

"I have heard the news," President Wilson said solemnly. "Our navy has suffered another defeat, and now those damned Britons can mock us even more for only being able to win by following in their footsteps."

“That is indeed the case,” Federal Navy Minister Sims added quietly.

President Wilson heard what Secretary Sims was saying, but he pretended not to hear. Sometimes, being a leader means playing dumb.

"Ahem, the current situation is that the Navy's previous evacuation plan has failed, and we still have more than 10 young men trapped in the enemy's encirclement. What should we do now?!"

Clearly, at this point, President Wilson's first thought was not anything else, but to bring the troops out of the encirclement. When these troops were surrounded, he had reassured the public on national broadcasts, saying that the United States of Colombia would not abandon its soldiers and that the United States of Colombia would find a way to bring these besieged young men back.

In other words, a battle to withdraw was turned into a political issue. President Wilson needed these soldiers to be withdrawn safely, both to give the public a sense of security and as a key propaganda tool for whether the war could continue.

After all, the United States of Colombia has not yet captured Luzon and Yanping, which shows that after achieving a turning point at sea, the performance of the United States of Colombia's ground forces has not met expectations. Although it should be no problem to take the two islands completely if the fighting continues, who knows how long it will take, how many troops and resources will be needed?

President Wilson knew that this was essentially a matter of personal bias, and as the president of the United States of Colombia, he had already paid a heavy price for leading the country in this war. If things were to fall apart now, what would the soldiers of the United States of Colombia who had sacrificed their lives on these two islands over the past year amount to?

“Your Excellency the President,” the Secretary of State said bluntly, “I consulted with the troops on my way here, and based on the opinions of the officers I’ve spoken with, the troops inside the encirclement, after witnessing such a crushing defeat, will probably choose to surrender to the enemy directly.”

"Send a telegram to them telling them they must hold on! We will send a second fleet to evacuate them as soon as possible!"

“It’s too late, Your Excellency,” Secretary Sims said decisively. “The Seventh Fleet’s battleships have suffered heavy losses. Even if we start moving some battleships from the south to the north now to provide support and firepower, how much time will have passed by the time the battleships arrive? I think the quality and morale of the troops inside the encirclement are insufficient to support them in continuing to hold out.”

"Are we just going to watch over 10 of our best young men walk into enemy prisoner-of-war camps? How are we supposed to force the Ming Empire to surrender then?"

President Wilson blurted out, almost instinctively, the United States of Colombia’s greatest objective in this war—to force the surrender of the University of the East!

Chapter 82 The Inevitable Reactions from All Sides After the Great War (3)

Wars can be easily started, but they often cannot be ended voluntarily by either side.

As a seasoned politician, President Wilson was already thinking about how to end the war when he decided to lead the United States of Colombia into this world war. In fact, in the years before, President Wilson even visited several university professors to form a think tank to discuss how far the war should go and how to force the most important Allied powers, the Kingdom of Letania and the Ming Empire, to surrender.

It can only be said that the professional level of most experts and scholars in the world who study international politics is about the same as that of top financial experts in the financial industry—they are very knowledgeable, but basically they can never put their knowledge to practical use.

“Our initial plan to force Letania to surrender was based on the Allied forces entering the Ruhr region and then capturing Letania’s most important industrial town before forcing them to surrender. However, we did not expect that the Letanian army would collapse before we could drive them out of Gaul.”

President Wilson complained in a somewhat aggrieved tone, "The changes in Letania are too rapid. It's one thing that we didn't anticipate them, but in the East, everything was developing exactly as we expected. We successfully defeated the Ming Empire at sea..."

"They defeated the Ming Empire together with the British," Sims added at the opportune moment.

"Damn it, I know it's with the British! There are no outsiders here, and I'm not trying to glorify our country, I'm just stating the facts! Understand? Simplify!"

"Yes, Your Excellency, but as Secretary of the Navy, I feel it is necessary to remind Your Excellency to have a clear understanding of our navy's combat capabilities. You are the Commander-in-Chief of the United States of Colombia's Army and Navy. If you have unrealistic expectations of our military's combat effectiveness, it will be very dangerous for our military and our country, just like Napoleon III."

Sims' words made President Wilson's breathing become even heavier. The Secretary of State cast an admiring glance at the Secretary of the Navy, for only this true veteran of the Navy could speak to the President in such a manner.

“Alright, I admit you have a point. I just wanted to marvel at our progress in the East. Everything was going smoothly as we expected. After defeating the Ming Empire’s main naval force at sea, we methodically seized the edge of World Island, blockaded their sea lanes, disrupted their trade, and damaged their economy… The Ming Empire did indeed collapse as we had hoped. However, we suffered two defeats at the hands of that prince in the East!”

At this point, President Wilson couldn't help but raise his voice again, repeating, "Twice! Once on land, and now at sea. I really didn't expect that our navy would fall not to the enemy's main fleet, but to those insignificant little things!"

“Your Excellency, a single insect may seem insignificant, but a swarm of wasps can be deadly.”

"Whether it's insects or wasps, that's a technical issue." President Wilson stared at Sims. "What I want to know now is—why has the situation come to this?! Just two years ago, we turned the tide at sea, and when the news of our victory reached Washington, the people outside the White House welcomed us with open arms. That scene still flashes before my eyes from time to time. Are we going to let our opponents turn the tide again because of a defeat at sea?!"

Sims remained silent this time.

Seeing that the Secretary of the Navy wasn't taking the bait, President Wilson had no choice but to be direct: "Mr. Secretary, I know the Seventh Fleet suffered heavy losses this time, but does the Third Fleet really have no manpower to help us evacuate the lads from Wonsan?"

"Your Excellency, the Third Fleet is now undertaking the same mission as the Grand Fleet led by General Jericho in the North Sea. If you were to divert troops from the Third Fleet, who would deal with the trapped prisoners?"

President Wilson could understand this analogy. After the Battle of Skadrach, both the Victorian Empire and the Kingdom of Letania claimed victory in the great naval battle. The British claimed they had successfully driven the Letanians back to Williamport, while Letania boasted that they had achieved a better exchange ratio in their battle against a more powerful fleet—the battlecruiser HMS Doverlinger had destroyed two British battlecruisers and one armored cruiser in the battle, and finally, under the firepower of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships of the British Fifth Battle Squadron, led the fleet to successfully turn back to port. The name "Iron Dog of Jutland" resounded throughout the world.

The federal government's assessment of this unprecedented naval battle was that the prison guards were hit twice on the head by the prisoners, but the guards still managed to trap the prisoners inside the prison. The prisoners fought back against the guards but still did not leave their cells.

Sims's meaning was quite clear: if a portion of the main Colombian navy, which was carrying out blockade operations in the south, were to be withdrawn from Wonsan, he would have no way of ensuring that the enemy fleet, which was blockaded in Surabaya, would not take the opportunity to escape.

"Does the fact that the Third Fleet is diverting even a small portion of its forces would affect the blockade of Surabaya? Didn't our British allies send a squadron to Singapore already?"

"The British fleet isn't even willing to help us deal with the Ming navy's commerce raiders at sea, so how can we expect them to help us fight the Ming army?" Sims retorted. "During the Battle of the Java Sea, the Royal Victorian Navy was willing to provide us with such great assistance because at that time, the Royal Victorian Navy also hoped to help us defeat the Ming Empire's navy first, so that our navy could be freed up to come to the Atlantic Ocean to fight alongside them."

But as you know, Your Excellency, the outcome was dire. After Letania's defeat, the Britons no longer needed our assistance. They'd rather we were fighting across the Pacific for 100 years, so they wouldn't help us anymore. That's what those Anglo-Saxons were like.”

“We are all Anglo-Saxons,” the Secretary of State added calmly from the side.

“In Britain’s eyes, we are nothing more than nouveau riche from the New World.” Sims shook his head. “Your Excellency, if you are willing to bear the risk that the enemy fleet might break out of Surabaya harbor, then the navy can proceed from the Third Fleet…”

Before Sims could finish speaking, the door to the Oval Office was suddenly pushed open again, and everyone in the room turned their attention to the civil servant who had suddenly barged in, who was holding a newly printed telegram in his hand.

He must have rushed here, because he was clearly panting heavily. After pushing open the door, he realized that he was being watched by several important figures at the same time, and he belatedly realized whether his behavior was a bit rash and inappropriate.

But no one held his recklessness against him now. The first to speak was the Secretary of State: "What happened? Where did the telegram come from?"

His reply was met with the dejected look on the face of the official who entered: "Your Excellency, the Silla expeditionary force has just laid down its arms."

"Bang!" President Wilson slammed the pencil in his hand heavily on the table, while Sims secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Silla Expeditionary Force surrendered. Although this was a bad look for the United States of Colombia, it was a lifesaver for the Colombian Navy. Otherwise, under the pressure of public opinion, the United States of Colombia would have had to continue to rescue these besieged troops.

However, no sane naval decision-maker would want to deploy their precious capital ships to a relatively enclosed area with "1000" torpedo boats.

Although Sims knew very well that there could not possibly be 1000 torpedo boats, for the United States of Colombia, whether for the sake of saving face or for some other purpose, exaggerating the size of the enemy had become a necessity.

Especially after a defeat, it is even more important to highlight the heroic fighting of the surviving ships of the Seventh Fleet. It should be noted that the number of enemy torpedo boats destroyed by the surviving ships has now exceeded 200.

This number is obviously exaggerated. After all, General Sims had a good grasp of the quality of his men. Could they really achieve such a high hit rate at night? Then the Colombian Navy's gunnery wouldn't have ranked last in joint exercises with the Allied powers.

But no matter whether the enemy deploys 1000 or a few hundred torpedo boats, Sims certainly doesn't want to send his precious capital ships to this deadly sea.

Thankfully, they surrendered. Now everyone has someone to blame for everything, and everyone has a way to save face. It's a truly happy ending for everyone.

-------------------------------------

"They used 1000 torpedo boats to wipe out the main force of the United States of Colombia's Seventh Fleet?"

Shortly after the White House received the news, Downing Street also received the latest news from Asia, which was indeed quite explosive.

John Fisher, who was already retired and at home, looked at the telegram that Lloyd George handed him, took a deep drag on his cigarette, and then exhaled a long smoke ring: "Your Excellency, you should ask Leonard, that young man, about these international political matters. He is a rare talent who has helped us snatch a battleship back from the enemy."

Just as President Wilson encountered a rebuff with Sims, Lloyd George also encountered a rebuff with Sir Fisher.

The young man he mentioned, named Leonard, whose full name was Winston Churchill, was indeed a talented individual in some respects. Unfortunately, the result of such a talent's "performance" was only lamentable; he was better off not showing off.

When Sir Fisher said he had “reclaimed a battleship,” he was referring to the famous HMS Agincourt, the battleship with the most main gun barrels and the most turrets in the world. The Agincourt was equipped with a total of seven twin 12-inch turrets.

This battleship, which looks exceptionally imposing and majestic, has only eight inches of armor protection—while the armor thickness of British battlecruisers of the same period had already increased to nine inches.

In other words, as a battleship, and a slow one at that, its protection was even worse than that of a fast capital ship. This battleship, which could be considered a typical piece of junk, was still captured by Winston Churchill.

This battleship, which originated in South America and was eventually bought by the Ottomans after changing hands several times, was quickly requisitioned by Churchill after the outbreak of war.

Churchill, a fat man who knew nothing about the navy, had no idea about the specific performance of warships. He simply thought that the Ottomans were hedging their bets. As is well known, the Ottoman army was mainly trained by the Leitanian Empire, while the Ottoman navy was trained by the Victorian Empire.

In short, after Churchill's requisition, the Ottoman Empire, feeling looked down upon and despised by Britain, chose to join the Central Powers in the war. Churchill, because of a single battleship, pushed a nation into the camp of the enemy.

Therefore, when Lloyd George heard the name Leonard again from Sir Fisher, he clearly knew that the other man was mocking him.

"Sir Fisher, I have come with good intentions. We need your advice now. In the East, that ancient country has not lost its vitality because of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. Since that prince took over the power of the country, they have not only just won a great victory at sea, but according to the information brought back by our intelligence personnel, the construction of two capital ships that had been suspended at the Jiangnan Shipyard for almost a year has now resumed."

"Those two ships at the Jiangnan Shipyard that were halted for a year?" Upon hearing this technical question, Sir Fisher immediately showed obvious interest: "It seems the Ming Empire was planning to equip those two ships with 420mm cannons?"

"Yes, that's right. At the time, they claimed they were going to build the battleship with the largest caliber guns in the world."

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, I don't know what your views are on the current situation in the East..." After hearing that the two giant ships in the East had resumed construction, Fisher finally stopped being sarcastic and started to speak seriously: "If you want my opinion, what I mean is to abandon our old ideas about the balance of power on the continent and completely defeat the East first."

Chapter 83 Yanping (1)

"Sir, are you kidding me?" Prime Minister Lloyd George shook his head vigorously upon hearing Fisher's suggestion: "Completely crush East Asia? This country is clearly beginning to emerge from its previous internal strife. His Highness the Prince has just achieved a series of great military victories. Victory is the best antidote for a country. We have already suffered too much in this war and it is impossible for us to completely defeat this country."

Faced with Prime Minister Lloyd George's firm denial, Sir Fisher smiled instead: "So, Your Excellency, don't you know very well that since this option is not feasible, isn't it obvious what other options we have left?"

"Were you trying to provoke me?"

“It wasn’t exactly a provocation. What I offered was indeed an alternative—it’s just that the Victorian Empire is no longer the Victorian Empire of the 9th century, and we don’t have the capability to implement such a plan.” Fisher said, his tone tinged with resentment, “If our national strength relative to other countries were still at the level of the Victorian era, the original design of the truly perfect cat wouldn’t have been rejected, would it?”

Prime Minister Lloyd George knew the source of Fisher's resentment. This innovator of the Royal Victorian Navy, the founder of dreadnoughts and battlecruisers, was arguably the man who single-handedly created the British Grand Fleet as it is today. His greatest regret was probably that the perfect warship in his mind had never stepped off the blueprints.

As early as when the Dreadnought was first introduced, Fisher realized that the Dreadnought's speed of 21 knots had extremely high strategic and tactical value compared to the traditional battleships that maintained a speed of around 18 knots, and the new steam turbines were obviously sufficient to support battleships with higher speeds.

Therefore, at the very beginning of the Dreadnought's creation, John Fisher began to study the "fast battleship," and the direct product of this "fast battleship" was the Invincible-class. However, John Fisher specifically named it a battlecruiser and created this completely new ship type. In fact, during the feasibility study stage, the Invincible was called a "fast battleship," and there was no real difference between a fast battleship and a battlecruiser.

Although the Invincible's six-inch main armor was relatively reliable when it was first introduced, John Fisher had already realized that with the further enhancement of the firepower of the main warships of various navies and the further improvement of the level of armor-piercing shells, even fast battleships that pursue speed would need better protection.

Having experienced the speeds of battlecruisers exceeding 25 knots, John Fisher was even more eager to develop a more versatile battleship. Thus, following the Invincible and Dreadnought, a battleship equipped with eight 12-inch main guns, 12-inch side armor, and capable of reaching speeds of 25 knots appeared on the drawing board. This warship could simultaneously achieve the speed of the Invincible and possess the firepower and protection of the Dreadnought, making it a well-rounded pentagon with no weaknesses in all aspects.

However, this dream-like warship was never put into construction. The warships built by the Victorian Empire afterward were still the traditional 21-knot dreadnoughts and the slightly modified "Indulgence"-class battlecruisers.

The only factor that constrained John Fisher's design was cost. The earliest battleship, HMS Dreadnought, cost £1,783,900, while the later battlecruiser HMS Invincible cost £1,767,515, remaining at roughly the same level. The cost of the later Inexhaustible-class battlecruisers actually dropped to £1,520,591 due to the reduced unit price caused by the mass production of 12-inch guns and armor steel.

However, the estimated cost of such a "heavily armored, high-speed" ship is already a full £225 million.

What does £225 million mean?