Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 1120: Chapter 134: Heavy Losses

Everything has its first time, and as the first true aerial combat in human history, the British paid a costly tuition with their strength.

Fueling tactics, only suitable for specific situations. In aerial combat, this was clearly nothing more than sending lives into danger.

Regrettably, Britannia had never experienced aerial combat before. Upon encountering an attack, the British Government’s first reaction was to deploy the Air Force to intercept, without considering the need for assembly.

Due to differences in distance and reaction speeds, British fighters that took off from various airports eventually arrived at the front line in batches.

The aerial combat continued, and after paying a heavy price, the British Air Force finally managed to assemble a three-digit number of fighters. Although they were still at a disadvantage, the fight was no longer one-sided.

The Shinra Air Force participating in the battle had already switched units, as the previous fighters had limited flight times and had returned to base for rest after completing their mission.

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Unlike the first wave, which primarily consisted of bombers, the current Shinra fighters in the sky were almost all combat aircraft.

If this were the future, it would be clear that today’s bombing had ended, and now they were targeting the main force of the British Air Force.

Since they couldn’t win a direct confrontation, the best course of action now was to preserve their fighting strength. Even if they truly needed to fight desperately, they should choose a battlefield more favorable to themselves.

Below was London, where every crashing plane acted as a giant bomb, its destructive power surpassing any bomb in the world today.

Frankly speaking, the damage the bombing caused to London wasn’t even one-tenth of the harm caused by crashing aircraft during the aerial combat.

Obviously, the British Government, caught up in the situation, couldn’t think of so much; their only thought was to gather more fighters, hold the enemy back, and wash away today’s disgrace.

As for the “losses” caused by this, the bigwigs filled with anger couldn’t care less.

The anxious battle was irritating. As the aerial combat did not stop for a moment, everyone could only stay huddled in the air-raid shelters.

London’s order was spiraling out of control, and although the Cabinet Government had repeatedly ordered to reassure the public, asking bureaucrats to work under enemy fire was too difficult.

With such a major event, someone always needed to take responsibility. The battle in the sky was not over yet, but the high-ranking officials of the British Government had already started thinking about post-event handling.

“Prime Minister, things have turned terribly bad!”

The sound of the secretary interrupted everyone’s thoughts. Prime Minister Campbell, with furrowed brows, asked hastily, “Has our Air Force been defeated?”

The war had already reached London, things had long turned dire. If there was even worse news, it must be that the Air Force had been defeated in the aerial combat.

The enemy was the world’s leading Air Force power. As a qualified politician, naturally, he had already prepared for the worst outcome.

Defeat of the Air Force was the worst expected result at this moment, without a doubt.

“No!”

Following a habitual response, the secretary quickly explained: “The battle in the skies continues, although the losses are hefty, our fighters are continuously arriving, and driving the enemy away is only a matter of time.

News has just arrived from Liverpool Port; they have also suffered an air raid by the enemy, and the garrison is requesting fighter support.”

Upon hearing “the aerial combat is still ongoing,” Prime Minister Campbell’s tense emotions slightly eased, only to become tense again immediately.

Under the dominance of the Royal Navy, the Britannian Air Force was only slightly better than the Army. The British Government, having never experienced aerial combat, did not anticipate today’s events.

Had it not been for the Holy Roman Empire investing heavily in their Air Force with the mindset of “if the enemy has it, we must too,” Britannia wouldn’t have bothered with an Air Force at all.

Starting late, and further hamstrung by falling behind during the second industrial revolution, the hastily developed Air Force could not compete with the Shinra Air Force.

If not for the advantage of fighting on home soil, the aerial battle would have been lost already. The current situation wasn’t much better, the fighter planes didn’t flee because they simply couldn’t.

Their overall aircraft performance couldn’t keep up, and upon close contact, they couldn’t shake off the enemy and had no choice but to fight stubbornly.

Coincidentally, the military headquarters had issued a death order; the personnel below had no understanding of the situation in the skies and thought the Air Force was fighting bravely.

These issues didn’t prevent Campbell from making a decision now. With both London and Liverpool under attack, it was clear that the British Air Force couldn’t handle both battlefields simultaneously, prioritizing one was implicit.

After a brief consideration, Prime Minister Campbell spoke in an artful tone, “Tell the defensive forces in Liverpool to organize anti-air defenses themselves first, reinforcements will arrive as soon as possible.”

“What ‘as soon as possible’ specifically means was another unsolved mystery in human history, unclear across ages and cultures.

However, it was fitting for Britannia’s current situation. If the people below weren’t given enough confidence, panicked folks might even forget to organize resistance.

Though under limited anti-air fire powers, resistance would hardly prove effective, it was better to have tried and even shooting down one enemy fighter would be considered an achievement.

After sending the secretary away, Prime Minister Campbell reflected on the situation. A Prime Minister commanding military battles seemed out of line.

Not every British Prime Minister was Mr. Churchill, keen on participating in military command. Campbell, at least, had no interest in commanding troops in battles.

Unlike any previous war, the current one required a combined effort from land, sea, and air forces.

Whenever something happens for the first time, it’s invariably problematic. This time was no exception; besides military command, political equilibrium must also be considered.

It could be said, that aside from King Edward VII himself taking charge, anyone else leading the combined forces would attract controversy.

The problem was that even as a powerful King, King Edward VII, at most could be a figurehead and wouldn’t personally coordinate combined military operations.

If it was a windfall battle that could garner accolades, Edward VII would likely have stepped forward to take command of the forces.

Unfortunately, the war had just begun, and Britannia faced its darkest day, deeply undermining everyone’s confidence in winning.

Under uncertain circumstances, the shrewd Edward VII naturally wouldn’t appear. After all, the Cabinet oversaw daily operations and would take the blame now as well, the inescapable kind of blame.

Realizing the severity of the situation, Prime Minister Campbell decided to hasten the establishment of a command system. After all, war should be left to the professionals.

…

Liverpool Port, the order from the London Government arrived just as the bombing ended.

Looking at the telegram, Major General Winston felt devastated. Perhaps out of a newfound conscience or to shirk responsibility, the air raid warning finally came through.

It was even later than the London Government’s orders to organize resistance on the spot. Other than profanely cursing the involved bureaucrats and all their relatives internally, there was nothing else Major General Winston could do now.

Their response time was already very quick. According to normal procedures, just going through the processes would take at least a week, and in some cases, it might drag on for six months.

Following procedures is a consistent principle for the Great British civil servant, untainted by any moral or legal accusation.

Although the bombing had ended, the big shots in Liverpool Port had still not made an appearance. Perhaps they were too busy, or maybe it was because they were too selflessly dedicated, prompting military and political officials to signal their subordinates to report to Major General Winston.

Major General Winston, still dazed, accidentally became the de facto supreme commander of Liverpool.

Not only did he have to command the troops, but he also had to restore city order and organize personnel for self-rescue…all the cleanup became his responsibility.

Don’t think this was any good fortune. If nothing unexpected occurred, the fury of the citizens and the primary responsibility for Liverpool enduring the air raid also fell squarely on him, the unlucky duty major general.

By this juncture, it was too late to refuse. From the moment the first self-rescue orders were issued, Major General Winston became the scapegoat pushed forward by everyone.

There was no choice, as Liverpool was not only a commercial port but also one of the most crucial military ports for Britain. As the officer on duty, Major General Winston inherently had inescapable responsibility for this air raid.

With so many burdens, since his career was already doomed, taking the blame for everyone didn’t matter much.

Essentially, everyone was unlucky. Out of so many cities in Britain, the Shinra Air Force chose Liverpool; where could the people even begin to complain?

Fortunately, they had London’s company. With well-fortified London suffering grievous losses, militarily weak Liverpool’s devastation was also militarily acceptable.

If responsibility were to be assigned, the British Government would be the foremost accountable. In this context, the likely outcome was “raised high, dropped softly.”

Major General Winston, fulfilling his duties, asked, “Have the losses been tallied yet?”

The officer in charge of the summary responded, “For now, we have only preliminarily tallied the losses of personnel, warships, shipyards, and port buildings. Other aspects of damage are still being estimated.

If all goes smoothly, the tally will be complete in two days. The specific loss data are as follows:

A total of 1,287 people died, including 49 officers and 757 soldiers; and 5,176 people were injured, including 276 officers and 1,186 soldiers.

The bulk of the military losses was concentrated in the navy, mainly because the warships were the focus of enemy attacks. Although we managed to get out of port in time, the damage from the initial attacks was still immense.

The sunken warships include 2 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 4 torpedo boats, and 7 auxiliary military ships; the damaged ones were even more numerous, including two dreadnoughts among them, more than half of the warships sustained varying degrees of damage.

The shipyards suffered greater losses, with multiple docks severely damaged. Three dreadnoughts under construction in the docks were completely destroyed; the loss of various infrastructure was innumerable.

Civilian casualties mostly occurred at the shipyards. When the bombing erupted, the shipyard was in operation, and many people were buried by collapsing buildings before they could react.

…”

Even though he was mentally prepared, upon hearing the specific numbers of the losses, Major General Winston fell silent.

The losses of the Royal Navy were akin to those in a major battle. It might not seem like many ships had sunk, but the number of damaged vessels was overwhelming!

Ship repairs would require time, particularly when the shipyards were critically damaged. To undertake repairs in other areas would be necessary.

With his professional expertise, Major General Winston judged that it would take at least six months to restore the Royal Navy fleet stationed in Liverpool.

Shipyards were beyond mention; while warships could escape, the shipyards remained in place, left to be bullied by the enemy; clearing the ruins alone would take months.

Compared to that, the loss of other infrastructure was not significant. It was evident that the enemy had prepared in advance, even selecting their targets beforehand.

Once calm, Major General Winston coldly said, “Compile the losses as quickly as possible and send them to the London Government. Also, ask whether we actually have an air raid warning system.”

Blame is blame, but things that could lessen one’s responsibility still had to be done.

Experiencing an enemy air raid without prior warning was the best excuse to shift blame.

Even if they had been warned, it wouldn’t have changed the outcome. But that didn’t stop Major General Winston from using it to make a point.

…

Post-war Liverpool was desolate; the damage brought by war was not something that could be simply summarized by a few cold numbers on paper.

Moreover, bureaucrats always had a tradition of artistic embellishment; how could they accurately calculate all the losses just a few hours after the bombing ended?

In addition to the heavily targeted warships and shipyards, the station overpasses, platforms, and rail tracks were bombed to pieces; the ground was covered with charred, incomplete corpses.

On the docks, Tom, who had narrowly escaped the catastrophe, wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and looked up at the red sun illuminating the blood-red earth, which was so intense that he couldn’t open his eyes.

War left behind bloodshed, desolation, instantly destroyed homes, and irreparable pain.

Just moments ago, his co-worker, with whom he had been chatting and joking, was now reduced to rubble and dismembered limbs; agonizing moans could still be heard sporadically.

Tom didn’t attend to them, not for lack of sympathy, but because his capacity to help was utterly lacking.

One had to admit, there really was a social hierarchy among people. The big shots were precious; even with a mere scratch, a whole team of medical staff would follow; while the lower-class folks, even if critically injured, were ignored entirely.

Don’t ask why. The answer is: “We’ve done our best, but there’s a shortage of medical resources; it’s hard to cook a meal without rice.”

After ensuring it was safe, Tom got up from the ground and, following the sounds of cries, realized it was John, with whom he had just been chatting.

At that moment, John had lost his earlier flair, crushed under collapsed cargo on his lower body; the ground was a gory mess.

After hesitating momentarily, Tom withdrew his extended foot and rushed home.

It wasn’t that Tom was cold-hearted; it was simply that he was struggling to take care of his own and had no capacity to meddle in others’ affairs.

It might seem that John’s injury was limited to his lower limbs and that, with timely rescue and medical treatment, saving his life seemed feasible.

But for the lower-class dockworkers, even ordinary illnesses like colds and fevers could plunge their lives into hardship, let alone severe bodily injuries.

The exorbitant medical costs alone could bankrupt an ordinary family. John couldn’t afford it, and neither could Tom.

Saving a person might not turn out to be a good thing for John’s family after all. It could either ruin them financially or expose them to the ugliness of humanity.

For the lower-class people, facing such situations, it might be better to just end the suffering quickly.