Chapter 710： Cunningham's decision

Alexandria, which was tortured by the Romanian airstrikes, was a mess, and there were miserable images everywhere. The three aircraft carriers sank into the sea, only a small piece of the ship island was exposed, and the counterattack was the one with the same treatment.

As for the remaining five battleships, the Nelson has been filled with more than 4,000 tons of sea water, and the damage management team has been unable to control the danger. The Malaya was also unable to move at all because the power chamber was submerged by sea water. The only ones that can move now are the three battleships Rodney, Sovereign, and War exhaustion. For the first time, Great Britain felt such a miserable situation.

It's just that Cunningham can't care about the grief over the loss of Alexandria, because he has one more important thing to do.

Because of this matter he had a dispute with Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Hawkins.

"Hawkins, you can't look at this issue like that. It is a wrong choice to let the three battleships leave now. Without adequate cover from warships, how far they can go out of the port. Don't forget that they are still injured. When the enemy pursues it, then it will even fall into the Jedi."

Cunningham is dispelling his Chief of Staff Hawkins, trying to get the three battleships to leave first. In fact, this idea is not the idea of ​​the chief of staff alone, but the idea of ​​many people in the fleet.

In their view, taking advantage of the departure of the Romanian airstrike fleet, immediately let the three active battleships leave immediately to avoid greater losses. Yes, this kind of thinking is what most people think.

But this is why they can't become famous. In Cunningham's view, this was a bad idea. Let the three battleships leave, how far they can run, in this state, they can run up to 20 knots. But Cunningham seemed to be unclear about the enemy situation outside, and it was not suitable to go out.

And even if there are no enemies outside, it would be more than 60 kilometers in two hours. This point is only ten minutes away from the plane, and the three battleships lacking protection at that time will not be able to withstand the enemy's repeated attacks. Even bring other warships in the port.

In the face of Cunningham's opposition, Hawkins asked rhetorically. "Then the next time the enemy air strikes, what should these warships do? They are all wounded. When the next attack comes, we might not even be able to keep these three warships."

"It's not necessarily."

Facing Hawkins' rhetorical question, Cunningham retorted.

"what?"

"I said it's not necessarily."

After hearing Cunningham utter this sentence in the most standard English, Hawkins didn't want to continue the argument. He wanted to hear what his commander had in mind.

I saw Cunningham say his way without hesitation. "My method is to wait until the next air strike comes, we will ground the three battleships first. And arrange more firepower around them, consume the enemy's ammunition, and buy time for Cairo and Said's air support."

Hawkins was shocked by Cunningham's words. Because stranding will cause huge damage to the battleship, especially the damage to the keel, it will be the most serious. And let these three powerful battleships run aground, even if they succeed in keeping the battleships, the damage caused by them is still very serious.

More importantly, it will be very troublesome to put it back on the battlefield after it is stranded, and it will take at least three months.

This also means that even if these three battleships are ultimately saved, it will mean that there will be no capital ships available for the Mediterranean fleet for a short time, unless the mainland is re-deployed.

It's just that it is quite unrealistic to want to re-deploy the home country. According to the size of the Romanian fleet, if the number of dispatch is less, it is nothing more than sending food. If there is more, what should the local defense do. Moreover, the pressure on the local fleet is not small, and it also serves as a blockade of the German navy. So this will also mean that in a short period of time, the British Navy will be missing in the Eastern Mediterranean. The areas of Egypt and French Syria that have lost the protection of the Mediterranean fleet will most likely become targets for the Romanians.

Thinking of this terrible catastrophic consequence, Hawkins immediately rejected Cunningham’s approach, “It’s impossible to do this. This will put the Eastern Mediterranean under the control of the Romanians, which will cause unbearable consequences. "

Can Cunningham not know the consequences of Hawkins' words? He explained patiently. "I know what you said, but look here!"

Cunningham pointed to the counterattack with only the tip of the ship in the military port, and said. "Do you still think that we are capable of preventing the Romanians from reaching out to the Eastern Mediterranean?"

Cunningham's question left Hawkins speechless. Because the facts can't deceive people, with the five wounded battleships of the fleet, it is impossible to block the Romanian fleet at all.

Not to mention that there are currently two ships, the Nelson and the Malaya, which are dangerous. One has almost capsized and the other has been damaged.

Hawkins was actually about to be persuaded by Cunningham, but he planned to fight again. "Because of this, it is even more necessary to protect these three ships, otherwise the Romanians will be unscrupulous. And your method will make the entire fleet have no resistance at all. The enemy can scare us with just one battleship. Don't dare to go to sea."

"My Chief of Staff, you should wake up."

Cunningham patted Hawkins on the shoulder. "It takes several years to build a battleship, and it only takes an hour to sink them. We can't let the empire's precious warship bet on a illusory opportunity. Now we need to find a way to minimize the damage suffered by the warship, instead of Gamble."

Cunningham's words convinced Hawkins, only to see him speak. "Well, your commander, just follow your opinion."

After hearing that the Chief of Staff agreed with him Cunningham felt that he should give some good news. "Chief of Staff, Air Force Commander Ted made a promise to me just now. He has deployed Cairo and Said fighter jets and can give us reinforcements at any time. Log El Airport has also temporarily cleared a runway to accept them. In addition, we still have more than a dozen planes. With the help of these fighters, we may not be able to keep them."

That’s right, General Ted, the air force commander, has urgently deployed 3 squadrons of Hurricane fighters, 2 squadrons of Gladiator fighters, and 2 squadrons of Hawker fighters from these two air bases to become a powerful air support force for the six squadrons. This is also the essence of the British air force in Egypt.

In the port, the location for the grounding of the three battleships that can still move has also been selected. It is at the southwest corner of the port. The water depth here is about 5-6 meters. More importantly, the seabed is sandy, which is beneficial. Protect the keel. In addition to these three ships, the Malaya, which lost power, was also pulled over. I hope this method can save these four battleships.

As for the USS Nelson, even Cunningham has given up on this warship that has been heavily tilted.

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