Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 1137: Chapter 151, Battle of the English Channel

Accompanied by the roaring of airplanes, the world-shocking offensive and defensive battle of The British Isles officially commenced.

The fierce air combat naturally unfolded first, with naval fleets below now in a situation where neither side could retreat.

As planes clashed violently in the sky, the ships below engaged in a life-and-death struggle. The Continental Allied Fleet had already mingled with the Royal Navy, marking the beginning of a great battle that would decide the fate of both factions.

The Chief of Staff of the Holy Roman Empire, Mörck, had personally arrived at the frontline to command the multinational coalition, with Crown Prince Frederick even taking on the role of commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces himself.

Clearly, this was a war where only victory was permitted and failure was not an option.

In fact, such personnel appointments were made out of necessity. Not just anyone could serve as the supreme commander of the Allied Forces. Capability was secondary; what was crucial was that their status or prestige had to be high enough to effectively coordinate the relationship between the allies.

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Certainly, there were such individuals in Shinra, but given the concerns of “prestigious achievements overshadowing the leader,” the choices were limited.

Theoretically, Franz would be the best candidate. With the prestige accumulated over many years, as long as Franz took his place, everyone would obediently follow; no one dared to cause trouble.

Unfortunately, reality wouldn’t allow it, as the Emperor was needed back home during the war to coordinate domestic affairs.

Against this backdrop, the position of Allied Commander naturally fell on Crown Prince Frederick.

After all, the most important job of the Allied Commander was to coordinate the relationships between the allied nations’ forces, with professional military commanders responsible for the specific command.

A close examination of Shinra’s personnel appointments in every battlefield would reveal that the highest military commanders in main theatres such as Southeast Asia, Central America, and the Near East, were all members of the royal family.

From this perspective, this war was also an attempt by the Roman Empire to strengthen its control over the military.

There had been no troublemaking primarily because Franz was overseeing things, and more deeply because the Emperor had been generous enough to win over the hearts of people, even taking care of the lower ranks of officers and soldiers.

Now everyone was focused on winning the war quickly to distribute the spoils; the allure of power was nothing compared to the allure of fiefdoms.

Given these circumstances, even if some individuals harbored other ideas, they could only suppress them within their hearts.

The Empire’s object of loyalty had always been the Emperor; a tradition that has continued for a thousand years could not be easily overwhelmed by new thoughts. This was especially the case in the Holy Roman Empire, where the nobility system still peaked, minimizing the influence.

With the military having no objections, the government had even less room to complain. In the Holy Roman Empire, separation of military and government was not a joke; any politicians daring to overreach towards the military had long since been out of the picture.

In his first time commanding a million-strong army, despite only being responsible for coordinating relationships, Crown Prince Frederick felt the pressure.

This was different from his previous ceremonial role—now he had actual work to do. Gauging and smoothing out the relationships among the armies of more than a dozen countries was exceedingly challenging, not to mention orchestrating them to fight together.

If one were to simply calculate the combat strength, at this time “1+1” did not equal 2. It would be good if it even totaled 1.6.

Moreover, the more countries that participated in the Allied Forces, the more their combat strength would be compromised. Essentially, this attack on The British Isles was like going to war with a team of pigs.

No matter how inadequate the pig teammates were, the Allied Forces were still necessary. Even Monaco, a tiny nation, sent a platoon to join the fray.

Beyond the need for cannon fodder on the battlefield, there was a greater political necessity.

From a long-term perspective, the more nations are bound now, the greater the force suppressing backlash will be in the future, and the more stable the newly established international system will become, thus naturally solidifying the hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the Calais Allied Command, watching the back-and-forth shuttle of combat staff and listening to the “drip drip drip” of the telegram, even Frederick, with his abundance of patience, couldn’t help feeling an inexplicable irritation.

The anxious wait was the most torturous, far worse than observing the battle on the front lines. However, the concept that “the son of wealth should never sit in danger” had taken root in Frederick’s mind and prevented him from acting on whim.

As time ticked by second by second, the clash on the battlefield grew increasingly intense, and the English Channel had become enveloped in gun smoke, with the sea water changing color.

The sound of gunfire drowned out the noise of the tide, deafening. Occasionally, airplanes would crash, slapping the surface of the sea, causing waves to bloom.

The slaughter on the sea was exceptionally fierce. The roaring of explosions told of the grandeur of large guns and warships, while the rolling waves conveyed the afterglow of the setting sun.

This was the most glorious era for heavy artillery and warships, but also the beginning of their decline. The emergence of aircraft carriers had already changed the pattern of naval warfare.

The winds and waves of the Atlantic Ocean could only prolong the life of heavy artillery and warships for this last surge. The battle of the English Channel was destined to be their swan song.

With a total of over four hundred warships, both sides directly lined up for bombardment, much like two dueling knights.

No matter how mentally drained or how deeply wounded they were, both sides fought relentlessly for the glory of being called a knight.

In the midst of fierce combat, neither fleet maintained formation. Suffering bombardment was child’s play, and by now, it was nearly impossible to find an unscathed warship.

Some unlucky destroyers and cruisers accidentally got caught in the melee between battleships, and the scenes were tragic. Some even had the misfortune of being cut in half.

Amid blood and fire, both sides saw red. Everyone’s thought process stalled, with only one goal in mind—annihilate the enemy.

Some who were hot-headed, when their ship was severely damaged, even steered straight into a collision, creating an incredibly tragic scene.

As time went on, the number of sunken ships on both sides kept increasing, truly exemplifying “one man’s valor, a hundred ships laid to rest.”

This was a battle evenly matched. Although the Royal Navy had the highest standards and more warships, they had fewer dreadnoughts than the Allied Forces.

In the era of large guns and warships, it boiled down to whose ships were larger and whose cannons were sharper to hold the advantage.

In order to engage the extra dreadnoughts of the Shinra Navy, the Royal Navy could only use three to five regular battleships to entangle them, risking being sunk.

With adept tactical coordination, both sides fought vibrantly. The numerical advantage of the Continent United Army’s dreadnoughts was not fully realized.

There was no choice, calling upon various navies to join the battlefield did increase the number of ships, but tactical coordination was hard to maintain.

While it appeared as a union, in reality, everyone was still fighting their battles. The coordination within one’s own navy was passable, but as soon as allies were involved, it became very clumsy.

Just by observing the confrontations at sea, it was clear that overall, the sides were evenly matched—nobody could discern which would emerge as the ultimate victor of this naval engagement.

In contrast to the tense situation on the sea, the air battle was much clearer. Simply by counting the number of falling planes, everyone knew who had the advantage.

The gap has always been a gap, unable to be bridged by a few slogans or mere deception.

However, compared to the previous air battle over London, the British Air Force had clearly matured a lot. The fight had just erupted when they surged forward, nearly reversing the tide with a sudden numerical advantage against the Shinra Air Force.

Alas, they were just a tad short. With the arrival of subsequent planes, this advantage was quickly overturned.

The initial lead they had gained was swiftly eroded away. By the end of the fight, they could only desperately hold on through sheer determination.

Dumplings began to fall into the sea: some filled with airplanes, others with ships, offering a variety of tastes that whetted the ocean’s appetite.

As the weather dimmed, it became increasingly difficult to identify targets on the battlefield, and both sides had no choice but to call a halt to the fighting.

At this moment, the sea was a complete mess, the night having saved both parties involved in the fight. What tomorrow might bring, however, remained unclear to everyone.

After the ceasefire, both sides dispatched their rescue boats, shining searchlights to save any officers and sailors who had fallen into the water. Enemy or ally, as long as they were alive, they were pulled aboard.

Everyone was devoid of the will to fight, and even if they encountered each other, they would pretend not to see, and then each would go their separate ways.

Of course, the most important thing was that the rescue boats were unarmed. It’s not like they could start crashing into each other, is it?

At midnight, Crown Prince Frederick, who was still anxiously waiting at the command center, finally received the battle report from the day.

The naval battle had not been lost, which for the Continental Alliance was definitely an invigorating piece of news. Yes, the standards everyone held were that high.

For the Continental Alliance, it didn’t matter so much whether they won the naval battle. As long as they could maintain a non-defeat, or rather, not suffer a crushing defeat, it was a strategic victory.

But after seeing the battle report, Frederick couldn’t feel happy.

Mutual heavy casualties were supposed to be good news for the Continental Alliance, which had stronger industrial power and could replenish warships faster. Consuming resources was not an issue.

Yet allies had been wiped out completely, and it wasn’t just one that had suffered this fate.

In the day’s battle, the navies of Montenegro, Sardinia, Two Sicilies, and Belgium had been entirely decimated; only one destroyer was left of the Greek Navy, and the Nordic Federation Navy had over half its vessels lost.

The navies of the aforementioned countries didn’t have many ships to begin with. Even if they were wiped out together, the military impact was minimal, but the political repercussions were significant.

As the commander of the Allied Forces, Frederick now needed to give a reasonable explanation to those suffering losses.

The heavy losses of Greece and the Nordic Federation could be set aside; in the chaos of battle, one could only blame bad luck. At most, they could be compensated with a few more warships after the war.

But for the nations obliterated, such a simple explanation wouldn’t suffice. A complete wipeout without defeat was bound to raise suspicions among the allies.

To have everyone accept reality, at the very least, it needed to be shown that the allies weren’t used as cannon fodder in the day’s battle, and the wipeout was a normal combat loss.

Unfortunately, this was something that simply couldn’t be made clear. Even if there were survivors and other national navies to prove it, the grieving parties might opt to ignore such evidence selectively.

Politics are often like children; most of the time, the crying child gets fed, while the quiet, well-behaved children are often overlooked.

With such a good opportunity to demand compensation for suffering, it would be a disservice not to invoke pity for the sacrifice of the navy.

Without any surprises, this was just the beginning. In the upcoming battles, similar predicaments were set to escalate.

Tiny contributors like Monaco, with a mere company of troops, and Montenegro, with a battalion, were likely to be wiped out on the battlefield within minutes.

Land combat was somewhat better; the small contingents could be placed in the rear acting as logistics soldiers, or sent to maintain order in the occupied territories.

Over the years, the Vienna Government had grouped up to tackle “dungeons” multiple times without a total wipeout, so they had considerable experience in handling such situations.

This, however, was not like the past. While ground troops could be held back, warships couldn’t just be kept inactive and out of the fight.

In naval combat, every additional ship increased the chances of victory. Even a mere thousand-ton destroyer could be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

If the navy could continue to draw, and the air force gradually gained the upper hand, with full-scale amphibious operations underway, the enemy would definitely target troop transports.

The smaller countries, with limited troop contributions, could often be packed onto a single ship. If unlucky enough to be caught in an enemy attack, they might end up as fish food.

This was an unavoidable issue; maintaining an alliance required outward equitability, and the care for smaller nations was limited.

Regardless of troop size, no one was exempted from taking a turn on the battlefield. Otherwise, not only other allies would object, but even the officers and soldiers of their own nation would take issue.

Duty-bound, no matter how troublesome, the tasks must be done. Besides these issues, logistical supplies for various national troops, wartime coordination, and providing crucial firepower support were all matters needing attention.

The role of the commander of Allied Command was essentially a comprehensive position that juggled politics, military, and diplomacy.

Due to the peculiarities of war, the commander of Allied Command was even granted the power to make decisions on the spot.

A high-ranking post is never easy. This was only the troublesome beginning, far from reaching a peak.

Closing the battle report, Frederick’s frown deepened, and after a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Chief of Staff, in today’s battle, our forces suffered such heavy casualties. What were the gains?”

Casualties were indeed heavy. According to incomplete statistics, 37 ships had sunk in the day’s fighting, including three regular battleships, and nearly all had sustained varying degrees of damage.

Fortunately, the super battleships were robust; even the worst injured was only paralyzed and did not sink outright, making it possible for rescue.

The enemy had shot down 318 of our planes, injured over a thousand, and nearly all the aircraft involved in the battle required major repairs. The losses for the air force were the heaviest since the start of the war.

As for the specific personnel losses, too many countries were involved to tally quickly. A preliminary estimate put the number of deaths at no less than 10,000, with the wounded not below 15,000.

Mörck waved his hand and said, “The count has not yet been completed, but it’s sure to be not small. Analyzing the situation on the battlefield, it’s certain that the enemy’s fallen planes and sunken ships were even more numerous.

However, this can’t be generalized. With the air force, we have an advantage and likely reaped some benefits.

Naval combat is uncertain. Since we have more new battleships, and the enemy fought with older ships, it’s normal for them to have lost more.

Considering the damaged and in-need-of-repair warships, who holds the advantage in the short term in naval power is still an unknown.”