In fact, the result of the Natuna Islands Battle was indeed much beyond Fisher's expectations, because Fisher received an assessment report from Irving before the war, believing that the Far East Fleet had at least 60% chance of this naval battle, and the worst was that it could be a draw. In addition, the British government also needs a victory to boost morale, so Fisher decided to fight this battle, but he did not expect to underestimate the combat effectiveness of the People's Army Navy.

If we had known that this would be the result, Fisher would certainly not have ordered the Far East Fleet to fight, so that the Far East Fleet could still preserve its strength, support Japan, and restrain the People's Army's navy. But it was too late to regret it now. Before the Expeditionary Force arrived, Britain also gave up the sea control power. However, Fisher still couldn't understand that the People's Army's navy was really strong enough to beat the British Navy with roughly equal strength?

However, after reading the war report sent back by Owen, Fisher understood a little. It turned out that after the Naval Battle of the Natuna, Owen knew very well that his military career had basically ended. But when he recalled this war, the combat effectiveness of the People's Army Navy was indeed beyond his expectations. The assessment report he wrote before the war was completely wrong. If the Expeditionary Force still used that assessment report to measure the combat effectiveness of the People's Army Navy, even if it increased some weight coefficients, it would suffer a great loss. Therefore, out of the sense of responsibility of the soldiers, Owen copied the entire process of the Natuna Battle of the Natuna and the performance of the warships of the People's Army Navy, and asked the personnel of the warships fleeing back to the base, and then wrote a detailed report back to the UK. Due to the extremely long length, the telegram was sent for more than 10 hours.

Fisher attached great importance to this report. He first read it carefully, and then he felt a sudden realization. At the same time, he was very guilty. He had despised the People's Army's naval before. In fact, there were many clues before that the East China government's naval technology was not inferior to that of the United Kingdom. The East China government had deep military cooperation with Germany. The United Kingdom mastered a lot of situations through spies located in Germany. For example, the German-class battleship designed by the East China government for Germany and the Ganjiang battleship they customized in Germany, all of which were similar to the design ideas of the USS Dreadnought battleship being built by the United Kingdom. They all adopted the concept of full-heavy artillery design. In addition, the East China government is also jointly developing and developing the integrated fire control system and steam turbine of warships with Germany, etc.

Unfortunately, the British Navy, including Fisher himself, did not pay enough attention to this information for various reasons. For example, the German-class battleship was slowly constructed and lagged behind the USS Fearless. Moreover, there was still a lot of controversy over the design of this type of battleship within the German Navy, and even Emperor William II had a very slight remark. Therefore, the original plan of the German-class battleship was to build five ships in batches and form a formation, just like the previous German battleships, but due to the controversy, the German Navy Minister Tirpitz had to decide to build two ships first to try the effect; in addition, the Hannover-class battleship was built, using the design of the previous Brunswick-class battleship, and equipped with the first-class main gun and the second-class main gun.

Although the Ganjiang battleship customized by the East China government in Germany was completed and delivered before the war, the tonnage was too small, only 12,500 tons and 8 main guns, but the caliber was only 280 mm. It cannot be compared with the Defenceless USS under construction in the UK. The design displacement of the Defenceless USS is 18,000 tons and equipped with 5 2-mounted 305 mm main guns. The tonnage of the warship is combat effectiveness, so it is obvious that these two types of warships are not of the same level. In the British Admiralty, some people believe that the Ganjiang battleship designed by the East China government is just to build firepower, and they cannot have the concept of full-heavy firepower at all. As for the integrated fire control system and steam turbine, the Admiralty believes that the development time of the East China government and Germany is too short, at least five years behind the United Kingdom, and they don't take it too seriously.

However, in the Natuna Naval Battle, the Ganjiang and Moye of the East China government adopted the method of volleys of the main guns. They not only had a long range, but also had a very high hit rate. These are the design ideas of the Fearless. They used the integrated fire control system to lift the firing unit of the entire ship, expand the range and increase the hit rate by volleys of the main guns. The East China government obviously did all these, and also walked ahead of the UK, because the design ideas of the Fearless were proposed by Fisher in 1904, completed the design in May 1905, started construction in October, and launched outfits in February this year; the Ganjiang started construction in Germany in 1903, so the latest completion of the design was in 1902, and almost every node was at least 2 years earlier than the UK.

The strength of the British navy is not only reflected in the scale of the two-strong standard, but also the naval technology is leading to the level of countries about 5 years. Although the design of a warship cannot prove that the East China government's naval technology is ahead of the United Kingdom, at least in some aspects, it is indeed a little higher than that of the United Kingdom.

Thinking of this, Fisher couldn't help but feel scared and sweated. Fortunately, the East China government has not yet become a major trend. Although it is also a separatist side, it cannot be regarded as a real country after all. Otherwise, the cornerstone of Britain's hegemony would be really shaken.

However, the East China government and Germany are now closely related. They not only customize battleships in Germany, but also help Germany design battleships and jointly develop naval technology with Germany. Germany's comprehensive national strength is not comparable to that of the East China government. Now they have a tense relationship with the UK due to the vigorous development of the naval. If Germany's industrial manufacturing capabilities are combined with the East China government's naval technology, it will be the most unfavorable situation for the UK. Therefore, Fisher suddenly had a conflict. Imagine the Prime Minister suggesting that Britain should change its strategy, treat the East China government as its biggest enemy, and at all costs, eliminate the East China government first and eliminate future troubles forever.

But this is just Fisher thought about it. Although Fisher is a soldier, he also has a very smart political mind. Otherwise, he would not be able to sit on the throne of the British Navy Secretary. Moreover, he is also very clear about the current international trend. Britain's focus is always in Europe. As Germany rises and the relationship between Britain and Germany continues to deteriorate, of course it is impossible to turn the point and do its best to deal with the East China government thousands of miles away. However, if Fisher really suggests to the Prime Minister to change the strategic goals of Britain, he may be dismissed by Prime Minister Bannerman. Therefore, although Fisher was worried, he could only tactfully remind Prime Minister Bannerman through a stubborn attack.

First of all, Fisher assured Prime Minister Banerman that although the Far East Fleet was defeated, the expeditionary force's navy would never be defeated by the People's Army Navy. At this time, Fisher must make such a guarantee, of course, Fisher also believed that the Bijing People's Army Navy now has only 8 battleships in total, and only the Gan Jiang and Moye, two battleships that have reached the veracity of the Fearless. The Expeditionary Force Navy has 24 battleships, 14 in Britain alone, and there are also new battleships like Edward VII participating in the battle. The huge numerical advantage can completely offset the technological advantages of the People's Army Navy.

After listening to Fisher's explanation, Prime Minister Bannerman finally felt a little relieved. As the British Prime Minister, he still had a certain understanding of the navy and trusted Fisher's professional ability, so he could basically believe Fisher's guarantee. Fisher took the opportunity to suggest to Prime Minister Bannerman that the East China government is likely to have some more advanced naval technologies than Britain and is providing Germany with these naval technologies, which is quite unfavorable to the UK. Therefore, he hopes that the cabinet can carefully consider its response measures.

After hearing this, Prime Minister Benerman pondered for a while and said that he would seriously consider countermeasures after the Far East War, but the most urgent task now is to end the Far East War decently as soon as possible.

At this time, Prime Minister Banerman knew very well that the Expeditionary Force could not completely suppress the East China government. At most, he could only have a certain advantage at sea. Therefore, he could only hope that the Expeditionary Force would have the advantage at sea and be able to add some bargaining chips at the negotiating table, and if necessary, forced Japan and Russia to accept the conditions for compensation in exchange for peace in the Far East.

As for the questions raised by Fisher, Prime Minister Bannerman did not ignore it. However, the East China government is now inadequate in its comprehensive strength, and it may be possible to dominate the region. However, it will take at least 2 or 30 years to develop to challenge Britain's global hegemony. Germany is now the second largest country in the world economy and the largest industrial strength. Although its comprehensive national strength is not as good as the UK, it is not far apart. One is far-fetched and the other is close concern. The Prime Minister can still clearly distinguish which one is more important, which one is slow and which one is urgent.

Although the East China government provides naval technology to Germany, it can indeed pose a great threat to Britain, Prime Minister Bannerman is very clear that the East China government will never provide advanced naval technology to Germany unconditionally, because advanced naval technology is highly confidential to any country, and it will not be provided to other countries under unsuccessful circumstances. For example, the battleships built by Britain for other countries are one lower than those used by its own naval self-use, and the naval technology provided to other countries must also be at the second-level of its active service in the country. The East China government now provides naval technology to Germany, but because its own development time is too short and its foundation is too weak, it requires German industrial basic technology and equipment, but this will never last long. Once the East China government completes this primitive accumulation, it will not easily provide Germany with advanced naval technology. Moreover, after the end of the Far East War, the UK can also consider providing some technology and equipment to the East China government.

In addition, Prime Minister Bannerman also firmly believes that the East China government's naval technology will never be able to lead the UK in all respects, and at most it is only more than some technologies, so there is no need to worry too much.
Chapter completed!