Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 1142 - 156: Paratroopers Released

More than 50,000 tons of bombs had fallen on England’s head. Including previous bombings, England has cumulatively suffered the baptism of several hundred thousand tons of bombs.

Not a single port along the coast from the English Channel to the Dover Strait was intact. They were either destroyed by direct bombing or suffered heavy losses.

So many bombs were aimed at ports, cities, factories—all these densely populated areas. It was difficult for the casualties to be anything but heavy.

As a result, the Royal Navy had withdrawn to the rear. If the enemy were to launch another landing operation, it would take the Royal Navy a whole day to arrive.

Although it wasn’t explicitly stated, the reproach towards the Air Force was more than evident in his words.

Facing the gazes of everyone present, Attilio, the Air Force Minister, felt indescribable bitterness in his heart!

The Air Force really had done their best, yet the enemy was fighting desperately. They couldn’t win in a head-on fight, and even when they managed to set a trap, their own planes couldn’t keep up with the enemy.

Every aerial battle ended in failure. The British Air Force, even if they wanted to rally after each defeat, simply couldn’t afford to keep going!

Britain’s aviation technology was behind the times, let alone relying on allies.

At best, they could purchase some spare parts. For core components like engines, even if British companies were willing to open up supply technologies, it would take the allies three to five years to assimilate them.

With technology lagging, production capacity insufficient, and personnel reserves falling behind, it was no wonder battles were being lost.

“Don’t look at me. You all know how great the Air Force’s losses are. The war has only been going on for just over half a year, and the Air Force has already lost over four thousand aircraft.

Pilots have been replaced three times. That first batch of veteran pilots are now more than half gone.

In the struggle for air superiority, we have repeatedly shortened the training time for pilots. The shortest training period is less than half a month before they are forced onto the battlefield.

The Air Force has already been pushed to its limit. If we want to increase the intensity of combat further, the Air Force will have to be withdrawn from the military ranks.”

In order to preserve the vitality of the Air Force, Attilio completely stopped caring about appearances. If he did not express his concerns now, the Air Force would be wiped out.

With the ground anti-aircraft forces providing support, they could barely defend the airspace over London. That had already pushed the Air Force to its limits. To consider covering other areas was nothing but a pipe dream.

It wasn’t just the Air Force that couldn’t do it; the ground anti-aircraft forces couldn’t cover the whole nation either.

Unlike the precise targeting of later generations, where missiles could chase enemy planes, the hit rate of the anti-aircraft guns and machine guns of this era was heartbreakingly low.

To intercept enemy planes, it wasn’t enough to have a few machine guns or a few anti-aircraft guns; there needed to be an organized and large-scale anti-air fire force.

Take London as an example. The British Government concentrated thousands of anti-aircraft machine guns and nearly a thousand anti-aircraft guns to barely manage air defense in coordination with the Air Force.

Britain’s resources were limited. It was very difficult to secure London, not to mention investing so many resources in other rural areas.

Without sufficient ground anti-aircraft firepower, aerial combat became a solo challenge for the Air Force, and that kind of fight was simply unwinnable.

“The Air Force indeed has difficulties. Recently, the enemy has been attacking very fiercely. In the past month, we’ve shot down more than eight hundred enemy planes, yet their offensive shows no sign of slowing down.

Considering their continuous bombing of the ports, forcing the Royal Navy to retreat, we can preliminarily conclude that the enemy is preparing for a landing.

To prepare for the upcoming defense of Britain, the Air Force really shouldn’t deplete too much of its strength right now.”

The Minister said candidly.

This explanation couldn’t satisfy everyone, but they had no choice but to accept it. If they couldn’t win, they simply couldn’t win. The Royal Navy hadn’t managed to achieve victory, so how could they expect the Air Force to triumph against the odds.

Foreign Minister Adam: “Merely relying on chaos in Europe cannot delay time. As long as there are no major upheavals inside the Holy Roman Empire, the enemy’s offensive will not be greatly impacted.

The Empire now needs victories, and the Vienna Government is launching a diplomatic offensive. Many neutral countries are wavering in their stance.

Even our allies are starting to get restless, and some bastards have even secretly made contact with the Vienna Government, lacking only the right conditions to defect.

If the strategic situation doesn’t improve for a long time, the upcoming situation will be very dire for us.”

At this point, Adam had become desperate. He was destined to bear the title of the worst Foreign Minister for life, and he now bore an air of resignation.

The decision not to replace the Foreign Minister was partly because no clever person wanted to take the fall, and if a less clever one was appointed, it would be better to let Adam continue.

Although diplomatic results were unsatisfactory and the Foreign Minister’s morale was problematic, Adam’s actual abilities were still recognized by everyone.

After all, the main job of the Foreign Minister was to coordinate diplomatic work; the actual tasks still fell to the staff below. As long as the planning was sound, personal morale wouldn’t affect the big picture.

Of course, there was also the thought that if things were going to crumble, they might as well crumble together. After all, they hadn’t yet been defeated. Bearing the infamy wouldn’t be more severe than the consequences of defeat.

Before anyone could unify their stance, the Secretary-General rushed in, his voice trembling as he said, “Urgent telegrams from the front lines. Around 10 a.m. this morning, the enemy simultaneously launched landing operations in thirteen areas, including Weymouth, Poole, Isle of Wight, Worthing, Eastbourne, and others.

According to intelligence from reconnaissance planes, the enemy’s naval main force is heading toward London, and following behind are troop transports. It is very likely that they will launch an attack on London.”

Snatching the battle report, Campbell’s face instantly drained of color. An all-out, non-selective landing attack was clearly not in line with military logic.

If the British Army caught an opportunity and dealt a heavy blow to one or several of these routes, it could easily lead to heavy losses.

Looking at the map on the wall, the military officials were staring at each other, completely clueless about what the enemy was planning.

Even if it were a feint, choosing just two or three locations would suffice. It could achieve the effect of confusion while ensuring relatively concentrated forces, leaving no opportunity for exploitation.

Once everyone calmed down, the unanimous reaction was that the enemy had lost their minds.

Navy Minister Swindon was the first to break the silence, “The opportunity for battle has come. Since the enemy dares to disperse their forces, let’s not be polite. Let’s take out one of their routes first!”

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There was no time to delay; in the previous two major naval battles, the Royal Navy had completely lost face.

If they couldn’t produce results to solidify their position, it would probably be impossible for the navy to dominate as it does now in the future.

The target was easy to choose; inevitably, they would strike at the force attacking London. As for other areas, there was no rush for the moment.

…

Seaside breezes whisked away the heat of the blazing sun. Geller town, located by the Dover Strait, still maintained its usual tranquility.

Due to natural limitations, although near the sea, Geller town had no substantial port.

The coast was mostly cliffs and steep rocks, with only a few gentle areas where the continental shelf extended too gradually to be suitable for a harbor.

A temporary port dug out by hand might be adequate for small fishing boats of a few hundred tons, but large warships would ground as soon as the tide receded.

Such terrain was clearly unsuitable for a large army to land, so naturally, it wasn’t a priority for the British defense. They had merely stationed a symbolic contingent and some local militia, which constituted the entire armed force of the town.

The British Government’s attention was drawn to larger scale landing operations; they had no time to worry about a peripheral small town.

Major John, the defense officer of the town, was leisurely inspecting the defense line. Though he didn’t expect danger, a person always needed something to do, right?

Leaving the bright lights of the big city for this remote small town had disrupted John’s daily life.

Geller, a traditional agricultural town, lacked almost all forms of entertainment. Even the occasional banquet did not appeal to John.

Apart from nice scenery, Geller town had nothing else to offer. However, for his posting in this rural area, John was satisfied.

Despite various drawbacks, there was one aspect this region could not be matched in—safety.

Enemy planes often passed overhead without dropping a single bomb, which was enough to illustrate Geller’s strategic and economic insignificance.

A distinguished graduate of the Imperial Army College and of noble birth, Major John had more options at his disposal, but he declined them all, resolutely choosing the town’s defense officer position.

Even if accused of not being ambitious or being cowardly, John would just laugh it off.

Gaining honors and achievements on the battlefield sounded nice, but the reality was that war entails death.

John would not mind fighting if victory was certain. Alas, in this war, the power imbalance was too great, especially for the Army, where there was no hope to be seen.

Nobility’s honor was indeed valuable, but the precondition was to live and speak of it. Coming from a new noble family, John lacked the chivalrous spirit of the established nobility.

Being willing to serve on the battlefield was already giving face to the Queen. Many new nobles outright refused military service.

Don’t ask why; it’s because they had too much wealth at home and couldn’t bear the thought of dying.

Capitalists were reluctant to serve in the military, and so were nobles who were capitalists. Lacking a martial spirit at heart, they were naturally unwilling to go to war.

This was where Britain and Anglo-Austria differed starkly. In Britain, accumulating wealth could lead to nobility through internal dealings; whereas in Shinra, without military merit, no amount of money would allow one to cross the threshold of nobility.

Their different cores resulted in different outcomes.

In the original timeline, this was true for Britain as well—during the World Wars, it was almost always the old military nobility who fought valiantly, while the new nobles were far less interested in defending the Empire than in making money.

The irony was evident in the end—the old nobility who fought for their country ended up broken and depleted, while those who made fortunes from the war behind the lines took home the spoils of victory.

Learn from the past, gain wisdom for the future.

With the lesson learned, no one wanted to sacrifice their lives for the country anymore, and the inevitable decline of the Great Britain Empire ensued.

For now, it was premature; Major John, the “smart one”, was still looked down upon.

The roar of airplanes startled the Guards as they shouted in panic, “Major, the enemy planes are here, a lot of them…”

John glared at the running Guard and sternly reprimanded, “I’m not deaf; I can hear. No need for your reminder.

It’s just enemy fighter planes. What’s there to fuss about…”

Before he could finish, dots fell from the sky, followed by loud blasts, kicking up dust and debris from buildings. The scene was chaos incarnate.

Over a hundred bombers targeting an insignificant small town left Major John feeling like his brain couldn’t keep up.

He didn’t need to waste any brainpower, though, because in the recent air raid, he had been knocked out by the explosion.

Following the bombing, parachutes bloomed in the sky one by one. If you looked closely, you could even spot a person dangling from each parachute.

Scattered resistance lingered, but without their commanding officer, the defense force could hardly muster any significant fighting power—not that they had much to begin with.

Faced with an unbeatable enemy, the hastily assembled militia were the first to start the process of surrender.