Chapter 221 Gap

As the de facto supreme commander of the Ottoman Navy, Ramiz Bey is more convinced that the reason why the Ottoman Navy is not as strong as the Greek Navy is the current situation of the Ottoman Empire.

If the gap between the Ottoman Navy and the Greek Navy is only in the performance of warships, even if it is still unlikely to defeat the Greek Navy, it will not make the Ottoman Navy dare not even go out of the gate.

The gap in performance between the two countries' warships is only on the surface. The real weakness of the Ottoman Navy is more fatal in less obvious aspects.

Due to limited funds, the warships of the Ottoman Navy have not been effectively maintained and maintained. Under the influence of mechanical wear and rust, the two battleships purchased in 1906, which originally had a speed of 16 knots, can now only reach a maximum speed of 10 knots.

The second is the gap in crew quality.

Greece is a maritime country. The Greeks in the city-state era began to row famous boats to trade in the Mediterranean.

Today's Greece is also a shipping power. Greeks are also happy to become crew members, and there is a strong atmosphere of learning navigation technology in society.

In addition, the Greek Naval Technical College has continuously cultivated shipping talents.

Therefore, the Greek Navy can recruit enough talents.

Unlike Greece, the Ottoman Empire is a land country and not a shipping power. There are not many qualified crew members in the Ottoman Empire.

As for naval officers with higher ability requirements, it is even more miserable.

The education of the Ottoman Empire itself is very backward. Most of the officers in the navy have completed their studies through education in Germany and Britain.

And this situation has led to another trouble. That is, the Ottomans who have completed their naval studies abroad have seen the thriving social outlook of the powers with their own eyes. They have broad vision and rich knowledge, and are very dissatisfied with the stale and conservative Ottoman government.

These new talents who have completed their studies abroad are naturally elite talents with ideals and pursuits.

In the eyes of the old Ottoman bureaucrats, these people spent the government's money to study abroad, and after graduation, they actually opposed their own country. It is really evil and ambitious.

The naval talents, which are already in short supply, are disgusting with the Ottoman officials.

Thinking of this, Lazizbeyi was also full of resentment.

If it weren't for the obstruction of these stubborn and conservative bureaucrats, the Ottoman Empire would have purchased two super-dreadnoughts from Britain long ago.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the world's naval technology emerged in an endless stream, and the wind and clouds were surging. With the naval competition between Germany and Britain fueling the flames, the new warships of a few years ago were completely outdated a few years later.

In just over a decade, there were armored cruisers, pre-dreadnoughts, strategic cruisers, dreadnoughts, and now super-dreadnoughts.

In the eyes of feudal officials, the world is static. They can't understand what is changing with each passing day and what is technological innovation.

In their eyes, the same 10,000-ton-class ships, equipped with indestructible armor and powerful artillery, why are Barbaros Hayreddin and Torgut (the Turkish name of the two Brandenburg-class pre-dreadnoughts) not as strong as the two Greek warships.

They don't understand why naval ships, even if they do nothing, need to spend a lot of money to maintain and conduct military exercises.

Due to the backward industry in the Ottoman Empire, the shipbuilding industry was weak in technology, the cost of maintenance and upkeep was also high, and there was no ability to provide timely and effective maintenance and upkeep for the navy's warships.

The warships of the Ottoman Navy were rusted and covered in dust in the naval port for many years.

They didn't think of the navy until the war.

There was a clear gap between the Ottoman Navy and the Greek Navy in terms of warship performance, naval personnel, and logistics maintenance.

Ramiz Bey knew this gap in his heart, and naturally would not lead the Ottoman Navy to fight a naval battle that was bound to fail.

It was not until Kontoriotis's plaintext telegram that caused an uproar in the Ottoman Empire. At the special moment when the Ottoman army was fighting passionately in Macedonia and the Balkan Alliance, the cowardly navy seemed extremely dazzling.

Under strong pressure from both inside and outside the country, Jemal Pasha went to the naval port to persuade Raziz Bey to fight.

In Jemal's words, even if it knew it was no match for the enemy, the navy should have taken some positive actions to inform the public that the warships purchased by the Ottoman Empire at a cost of countless money were useful.

After all, the two super-dreadnoughts purchased by the Ottoman Empire from Britain are still under construction on the slipway, although they have been suspended due to lack of money to pay the bills after the outbreak of the war with the Balkan League.

In addition to foreign loans, a considerable part of the funds for the purchase of these two warships was obtained through social donations. Even the elementary school students in Constantinople donated money for these two super-dreadnoughts.

Why did the Ottoman people react so strongly to the Greeks' insulting telegrams, because not long ago, everyone enthusiastically donated money to buy new warships.

As a result, the navy that everyone enthusiastically supported performed like this.

Although reluctantly, Laziz Bey was forced to agree to lead the navy into the Aegean Sea. The vice admiral, who knew the gap between the enemy and us, did not intend to fight the Greek fleet head-on.

After preliminary analysis, the activity tracks of Greek warships have been roughly ascertained. In the absence of the Ottoman Navy, Greek destroyers were mainly responsible for reconnaissance and patrolling along the Aegean coast.

The main force of the Greek Navy, two Invincible-class battlecruisers, were mainly moored in the port of Lemue Island for recuperation.

After careful calculation by Laziz Bey, a simple and effective strategy was developed - using bait to drag the Greek destroyers to create an opportunity for the main fleet to annihilate them. After a successful attack, they immediately returned to the Dardanelles to avoid the two Greek main battleships.

As long as the results are achieved, the Ottoman Navy will benefit greatly, and can well fight back against those officials who oppose naval construction, proving the correctness of investing in the navy.

Therefore, last night, with the help of the cover of night, the Ottoman fleet sailed out of the Dardanelles and entered the Aegean Sea without anyone noticing.

The cover of night made the two Greek destroyers patrolling the Dardanelles strait not notice anything unusual.

For this plan, Laziz Bey believes that the possibility of success is very high.

Even if it fails, there will be no loss.

After all, this is the entire Ottoman Empire's naval strength against several auxiliary warships of the Greek Navy.

As for the two destroyers in the Dardanelles, they are also part of the Ottoman fleet's target. When the fleet returns, they can be dealt with along the way.

Two pre-dreadnought battleships, Barbaros Hayreddin and Torgut, are escorted by the protected cruiser Mecidiye and four destroyers, a total of seven warships, majestic and majestic, chasing the target sea area.

"Report to the general, the Tallinn ship acting as a bait sent a telegram, they encountered two Greek destroyers 120 nautical miles northeast of Lemue Island, and requested fleet support"

The signalman reported the translated telegram to the thoughtful Laziz Bey.