As for Germany, the other coal power, in addition to England, was divided for a long time, and it was not until the late 19th century that it was united. Unfortunately, at that time, the world had already been divided, and England's navy had already achieved absolute superiority. In addition, England could block Germany's sea routes through the English Channel and the northern North Sea, so that Germany, although industrially developed, could not participate in the division of the world.

In addition to Germany, the Czech Republic and Ukraine are also rich in coal and iron resources in Europe. But these two countries were useless, the Czech Republic was later under the rule of Austria-Hungary, but the Austro-Hungarian access to the sea was in the Adriatic Sea, which was very easy to blockade. Even if you rush out of the Adriatic Sea, you can't get out of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. As for Ukraine, it is even more tragic, although rich in coal and iron, it has always been ruled by the barbaric Tsarist Russia. Then, even if it is close to the sea, the Black Sea is a standard inland sea, and the road to the sea is blocked by Turkey. Even if it is rushed out of the Turkish Strait, there is a blockade of the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar waiting in particular.

Therefore, if you want to dominate the global sea, you must not only have rich coal and iron resources, but also have good location advantages. Just like France, in fact, the domestic resources are very poor, and the quality of iron ore is also very poor. However, because of the geographical advantage of relying on the Atlantic, it was very convenient for France to participate in the battle for maritime hegemony.

Later, in the 19th century, when the Europeans carved up Africa, France relied on its geographical advantage to eat the largest piece of cake. If it weren't for the extremely high value of gold mines in South Africa, it would have been possible that France would have swallowed more African colonies than Britain. After all, West Africa, annexed by France, is very close to the European mainland and is easy to manage.

However, France's poor coal and iron resources made the quality of French artillery very poor. It was not until the Frenchman Martin developed the "Martin Furnace", refining inferior pig iron and wrought iron into steel, smoothing the gap with British steel technology (reverberatory furnace technology), and surpassing it, that France's maritime strength gradually caught up with Britain and became the second naval power.

Of course, that was during the Great Industrial Age. At that time, France was already able to easily import coal from abroad, as well as obtain coal from the colonies.

However, in this era, the exchange of goods between countries was very poor. Therefore, England, which is rich in coal and iron resources, is more likely to rise first.

And France also has its advantages, that is, relying on a huge population base, it can play land hegemony. As for the battle for supremacy at sea...... It's all tears when you talk too much - France's neighbor to the north, England, and its neighbor to the southwest, Spain, are both maritime powers, and neither of them wants to see France's maritime power develop...... Even Portugal, which has good relations with France because of Spain, is not happy to see the behemoth of France join in the battle for maritime hegemony......

You know, France is too rich in human resources. In terms of population alone, France currently has 15 million people, while England has only 3.75 million after the unification of Scotland and Ireland, and Portugal has only 3 million. England and Portugal combined, only 6.75 million, not even half of France.

For the colonies, having enough human resources meant that they were enough to control. If France, a behemoth, squeezed into the colonial realm, what way would other countries live?

Just like the partition of Africa in the 19th century, France, relying on its large size and strength, almost monopolized West Africa, leaving only Spain to a barren land of Western Sahara. As strong as the UK, it can only get a handful of places such as Nigeria and the Gold Coast in the Gulf of Guinea. The rest of West Africa was swallowed up by the "fat" France. Britain, on the other hand, can only get some territory on the side of South Africa and Egypt.

Therefore, as long as you are not a fool, you will not allow a populous country like France to participate in the frenzy of carving up the world. Unless, it really can't be stopped......

Just like later in the 19th century, Britain was willing to let France share the world, but it was also very reluctant. After all, France is too close to West Africa and easy to grab. And after the era of ironclad warships began, France did not lag behind, and even sometimes advanced in technology, so that Britain had to accept France to share the world with him.

However, the biggest problem of the 19th century was the difficulty of secrecy. For example, in the 18th century, the British were able to keep the secret of secondary iron refining with reverberatory furnaces, but in the 19th century, because exchanges between countries became easier and more frequent, secrecy became very difficult. Just like the French had just issued the troops with Lebel 1886 rifles that used smokeless gunpowder, and as soon as they were put into the army, they were taken to Germany by a soldier on the French border and sold to the Germans for 20,000 marks.

So, in the 19th century, it was difficult to keep secrets between European countries. As long as the price is high enough, there are flexible people who will sell you the secret. Moreover, at that time, Europe completely entered the age of capital, and people had no reverence for the state and royal power, nor did they have morality and shame, and it was easier to sell state secrets.

But it's okay now, because the chivalry of the European Middle Ages has not been abandoned, plus the royal power and divine power are still strong, and the countries are relatively closed to each other, so the farming technology of Marin can be kept secret for so long, and only a little rumor is known, but the details are not known.

Of course, it is also Marlin who is cunning, and the potash and apatite are secretly processed and kept strictly secret, so that the user does not know what he is using. Even the feces are deliberately air-dried for several months to dissipate the smell as much as possible, and then stirred and adulterated so that people can't tell what it is. In addition, in this era, the transportation is backward and people's sense of awe is relatively heavy, so the secrets are not leaked.

Moreover, an island nation like England is actually easier to keep secrets. Because, it is surrounded by the sea on all sides. Even if you steal a secret, it's hard to leave with it.

But if you do make a shocking weapon, it's hard to keep it a secret. Just like the Mini rifle and the Mini bullet, it's not that hard to get out. However, the Mini rifle is so fierce that it is difficult not to be noticed.

In addition, the structure of the Mini rifle is too simple and can be easily imitated. That's why Marin was reluctant to take out the Mini rifle, preferring to work on a more complex one-headed bullet.

Single-headed bullets are more complex and more expensive to manufacture than mini-bombs. Moreover, in order to prevent the deformation of the wind grill of the warhead, it was also necessary to save the warhead with a special box, which significantly increased the cost. But his advantage is also obvious, that is, after hitting the target, because of the impact force, the classified air shield of the warhead will be squeezed into a lump of lead, so that people can not see the original appearance at all. If you want to imitate it, you can't talk about it.

So, despite the higher cost of making and preserving single-headed bullets, single-headed bullets are not as long-range as Mini rounds. However, considering the convenience of secrecy, Marin still chose to use a single bullet to equip his Guards Regiment as the hole card of the Beihai Army.

Although the Guards Regiment now has only a thousand people, the number is not large. However, because the trajectory of the single-headed bullet is straight within 200 meters, if it is fired by a platoon gun, it can ensure that the enemy on the opposite side will be put down in a row, like cutting leeks. Unlike ordinary smoothbore guns that use spherical buckshot now, at a distance, only a small number of people in a row will be shot, and if you are unlucky, you will be hit.

If, during the battle, the Guards suddenly appear in an important area, like the part of the enemy's high-ranking generals, and attack and kill many of the opponent's high-ranking generals, the enemy can easily collapse due to the characteristics of the army in this era. Even without a breakdown, morale can take a major hit.

……

On the Beihai mainland, Marin is receiving a group of soldiers returning from the North American colonies. These people were sent by Marin to the New York colony to "clear the field". The so-called "clearance" is actually to clean up the local natives, so that the natives don't come out to steal the scene when Karn and them used to act.

Originally, it was just an ordinary job. However, Nubi, the officer who led the team this time, tried his best to recommend the Evenki falconers that Marin had originally sent to North America to "play" with the army. Because several Evenki falconers who accompanied the army performed too well in this battle to clean up the aborigines, Nubi, the leader of the phalanx, was very surprised, so he highly recommended it to Marin.

As a result, Marin met with five Evenki falconers who went with the army to North America to purge the indigenous Indians. As soon as they saw Ma Lin, several black-skinned, not tall but strong Evenki falconry masters stroked their chests and saluted, and under the leadership of Bai Geri, the first falconer of Beihai Kingdom, they said in a not very proficient Chinese dialect with the flavor of Northeast Da Jiaozi (they knew that Ma Lin understood Chinese):

"Sauron's archers Baigeri (Suha, Balhu, Yadan, Muren) salute the Great Khan of the North Sea!"

"Great Khan? Sauron? Marin was stunned for a moment, then laughed. Because these goods thought he was the big chief of the nomadic tribe, they felt funny. But then, Marin was surprised again:

"Sauron warriors?"