I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France

Chapter 618: The Participation of the French Navy

Brest Shipyard, General Winter spread out the nautical chart to explain to Shire the difficulties currently facing the Royal Navy.

"After the outbreak of war, we made some adjustments to our blockade strategy against the German Army." General Winter pointed at Helgoland Bay, saying, "Before the war, we imposed a close blockade, but after the war, we switched to a distant blockade, with our main forces fully withdrawn to the north."

(The image above shows the position of Helgoland Island, with Helgoland Bay to the east of the island, which is Germany’s most important outlet.)

Shire nodded, this approach was very wise.

Although the Royal Navy is much stronger than the German Navy, implementing a close blockade near German waters was still challenging or extremely uneconomical.

The reason is that Germany can use a massive number of torpedo boats to wear down the Royal Navy’s destroyers and even battleships slowly, after which their large warships could break the blockade or even defeat the Royal Navy.

But if Britain opted for a distant blockade, those German torpedo boats, which are only suitable for coastal operations, would be rendered useless, unable to pose a threat to the Royal Navy.

General Winter continued, pointing at the route chart:

"We divided the fleet into three parts."

"Battleships and other main warships are primarily in the north, the narrow English Channel in the south is blockaded with small vessels and mines, and the middle section is patrolled by destroyers, battlecruisers, and other fast ships."

"Meanwhile, they also escort merchant ships and try to enhance the linkage between the northern and southern blockade lines."

(The image above is a schematic diagram of the British blockade of the German Navy, mainly divided into upper, middle, and lower three parts.)

"Where’s the problem?" Shire asked.

This layout and distribution seemed reasonable; Shire couldn’t see any flaws.

General Winter replied, "We always believed that the German Fleet would only break through from the north, because the south is the narrow English Channel, where the German Navy would almost certainly meet its doom."

Shire looked up at General Winter with some surprise in his eyes: "You mean the Germans chose to break through from the south?"

"Yes," General Winter nodded, "Recently, German destroyers have been frequently harassing the southern blockade line, clearing mines, breaking nets, and even sinking several of our minelayers and torpedo boats."

Shire was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "A very clever tactic, they know your main forces are in the north, and the south is your weak point."

"Right, Vice Admiral." General Winter spread his hands helplessly, "The current issue is that the southern blockade line is extremely passive. In this local area, our forces not only do not have an advantage but are also at a disadvantage. However, we cannot transfer the northern fleet back, as this would allow the Germans to break through the blockade."

This is an inevitable issue with blockades.

Although the Royal Navy is nearly twice the size of the German Navy, when divided into three, only the main northern fleet is stronger than the German forces, while the other two parts are weaker than the German forces.

If the southern route were not crucial, it would be fine to blockade it completely with mines, preventing German warships from breaking through.

However, the English Channel is the most important supply line on the Western Front. If the route were reverse-blockaded by the German Army, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"This doesn’t seem to have anything to do with your request for ’Echo Detectors’." Shire said.

"We have a plan." General Winter explained, "If our warships were equipped with a large number of ’Echo Detectors,’ we could increase our submarine advantage while combating German submarines, which might benefit the southern battle situation."

Shire understood.

The British plan was to ’fight fire with fire’ in the south, using destroyers, submarines, and small ships like torpedo boats to deplete the German Navy’s main forces.

Thus, using destroyers equipped with ’Echo Detectors’ to suppress German submarines became particularly important.

Otherwise, just the German submarines could make the British fleet exhausted and unable to organize a fleet to engage again.

"This might be a solution." Shire praised, but he still firmly refused: "But I can’t agree, you know the reason."

General Winter smiled helplessly, indicating his understanding.

The ’Echo Detector’ was related to material control. If Shire agreed, it would be like putting their necks out for the British to control.

A slight smile appeared on Shire’s lips, and his voice carried a hint of pride: "We seem to have another solution, having the French Fleet assist the British in blocking the English Channel, thus compensating for your southern deficiencies. What do you think?"

Before General Winter could answer, Shire added:

"As you said, we are allies, General."

"And we have ’Echo Detectors’ and will produce them in large quantities in the future."

"You can safely hand over anti-submarine and escort tasks to the French Fleet, freeing your warships to deal with the Germans."

General Winter did not reply, using the act of drinking coffee to cover his embarrassment.

As a Vice Admiral, he had of course thought of this.

This would indeed strengthen the strength of the Allied navies and be greatly beneficial for blockading the German Navy.

However, doing so would undoubtedly release the French Navy from its constraints, involving them more deeply in naval warfare and rapidly developing them into a powerful navy capable of competing with the Royal Navy.

This was something the Royal Navy did not want to see.

More importantly, the French Navy equipped with ’Echo Detectors’ would be more suitable for escorting, as they could locate and sink submarines.

But escorting merchant ships was far from a simple task.

Over time, the British Navy would be unable to intervene, and the French Navy would control it, leading to a strategic materials monopoly by France.

Why?

The Royal Navy fought hard against the German Navy to protect the route’s safety, but the materials were controlled by the French Navy?

The Royal Navy took the risks of fighting, while the French Navy enjoyed the benefits?

Shire saw through General Winter’s thoughts and calmly said: "You seem to have no other choice, either let the French Fleet participate, or risk failure or a breakthrough by the German Fleet."

"No need for concern, General." General Winter replied coldly: "We can handle it ourselves. You seem to forget that the Royal Navy is the world’s most powerful navy; there’s nothing we cannot solve."

"Is that so?" Shire maintained his smile, unfazed.

"Of course!" General Winter nodded emphatically: "However, if your forces could add a few destroyers to lighten our anti-submarine burden, we might consider it."

Adding a limited number of ships was different from full participation, which was favorable for the Royal Navy.

"No problem." Shire readily agreed: "Then add another 12 ships to form another anti-submarine squadron; you have no objections, right?"

General Winter hesitated, then nodded with difficulty.

In fact, adding 12 ships was still far from enough.

This was quite contradictory!

On one hand, there was a strong demand for anti-submarine efforts; on the other, there was a reluctance for too much French Navy involvement.

Damn it, how could Shire develop the ’Echo Detector’!