Russell frowned, there are too few troops, that hateful eastern country, there are many soldiers, and there are tens of thousands of troops at every turn, I really can't figure out how the other party's military salary is raised! He could only shake his head and say, "There are too few troops!" Didn't the last parliament discuss the additional 250,000 for the army and 80,000 for the navy? Even if the financial resources are not in place for a while, they must be recruited first. ”

Herbert said: "The navy and army soldiers are only about one-third recruited, because of the deterioration of finances, the difficulty of replenishing warships quickly, and the autonomy of Ireland, the parliament feels that Great Britain does not need so many troops to spend on finances, so the decision to continue to increase the number of troops is terminated." Also, the Navy has not yet been allocated for the third quarter, and I have recently been negotiating with Chancellor of the Exchequer Gladstone for the import of the funds. If more troops are recruited, I am afraid that even the recruitment costs, clothing and ordnance will be difficult to support. ”

Russell sighed. He couldn't imagine why the British Empire, which had always been mighty, had become so weak all of a sudden. Financial problems are easy to solve, but they are also difficult to solve. Issuing bonds is a good idea, but the expenses are so huge that it is difficult to repay.

"On the part of the Army?" Russell looked at Ramsay.

"Mr. Prime Minister, on the land side, there were originally 140,000 troops on the mainland, and later it was planned to send 20,000 troops to Ireland to rebel and 60,000 troops to India to quell the rebellion, but in fact, due to the shortage of naval ships, 20,000 troops were transferred to Ireland and only 40,000 troops were transferred to India. There are now 80,000 troops left on the mainland, and with the newly recruited 230,000 troops, the total strength of the regular army in the Kingdom of Great Britain now stands at 310,000, plus the newly formed National Army of 120,000. It is a pity that the 20,000 troops in Ireland have been wiped out, and now even the 40,000 troops that rushed to India are gone. Ramsey was very sorry for the loss of the army.

"Don't talk about the useless ones! Ramsay, how many troops can you send to India and the Far East? Russell asked directly.

Ramsay replied: "If the military expenses and military salaries are satisfied, and the troop transport ships are sufficient, the War Department can deploy 200,000 troops." But the point is, can Great Britain now have so many pounds to cover the military expenses of its soldiers? On the navy's side, as I said just now, even if 360 troop carriers are dispatched, and some merchant ships are requisitioned to make up 500 ships, how many troops can be transported? With such a long distance, how many supplies have to be requisitioned in advance, and at the same time, 100,000 troops can be dispatched, which is already the limit! Unless it can be done in stages. But in stages, I am afraid that before the second batch of troops arrives in the Far East, the first batch of troops will be dumped by the Chinese Empire. ”

Ramsay's complaint is deep, but he is telling the truth. Both Derby and Herbert actually heard that Ramsey was a bit of a joke about Russell's lack of military understanding and deliberately made these key difficult points.

Sure enough, Russell froze. He didn't know much about military affairs, and he always thought that the Kingdom of Great Britain was the most powerful country in the world, with enough troops to crush any country in the world, but he didn't expect that the Chinese Empire had risen to such a point now, and Britain had fallen badly after several wars and civil strife. Even now, even if the island of Ceylon and Calcutta in India were captured by the troops of the Chinese Empire, Russell had not yet understood that the power of his Kingdom of Great Britain and the Chinese Empire of the other side was no longer what it used to be.

Speaking of which, in the end, it actually comes back to one issue, that is, the issue of military spending.

With the subsidence of the rebellion in Great Britain and the success of the peace talks of the Irish rebellion, the Kingdom of Great Britain is no longer short of troops, and there are enough troops to carry out expeditions, but the key is still the issue of military spending. All four people present understood this.

Earl Derby said directly: "Russell, on the issue of sending troops, we agree with you. The key is how to raise this huge wealth and how to convince those short-sighted parliamentarians, which is the key point we need to consider. ”

Russell was about to respond, the door opened, his assistant stood at the door with an embarrassed expression, two palace guards walked straight in, behind them, a gloomy face, with a short and fat figure, seeing this familiar figure appear outside the door, Russell and others immediately knew that this was Queen Victoria, and they came directly to the Prime Minister's residence.

Derby, Russell and others hurriedly greeted them.

"Your Majesty, why are you here in person?" Russell knew that the queen must have heard about India, but he pretended not to know the queen's intentions.

"Russell, such a big thing happened, even the whole of India was lost, you, the prime minister, and you cabinet ministers, still want to hide it?" Victoria's voice was hoarse, but she accused menacingly, "I wanted to see when you were going to tell me." However, this matter is too important for me to let the future of Great Britain be buried, and I cannot take the life and death of the kingdom as a child's play. ”

"Your Majesty is angry!" Derby stepped forward to support Victoria and explained, "It seems that Your Majesty knows the news of India. Prime Minister Russell and we have just received an urgent telegram from Ottoman, and we are discussing the dispatch of troops, and we have not yet had time to report to you. ”

Russell didn't expect Derby to take the opportunity to fall into the trap, but helped himself to explain, couldn't help but look at him gratefully, and said to Victoria: "Your Majesty, it is indeed as Sir Derby said." The four of us have already discussed it, and we are ready to send troops at once, and in any case, we must also recover India, and not only regain India, but also completely crush that eastern country. ”

Victoria's face softened slightly, and she said in a complicated mood: "Damn Oriental monkey! The occupation of Hong Kong Island and the Straits Settlements had already brought great humiliation to Great Britain, but now it is even aggressive, not only daring to declare war on our Great Britain, but also daring to send troops to invade the Indian territory of our kingdom without authorization, which is the most important overseas territory of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the pearl of the kingdom, and must not be lost!

Moreover, for that rising evil country in the East, it is necessary to strike with a retaliatory blow, and it is better to destroy it completely! By the way, I heard that all of this originated from the Eastern Emperor named Feng Yunshan, and if necessary, he could be wiped out of this world by all means! ”

Speaking of this, Victoria clenched her fists and went a little crazy: "Yes, it's all this evil Eastern devil, and he brought it all here." This despicable fellow has not only incited my Ireland to civil strife and independence, but now he has seized my India, and step by step the glory of our British empire is about to become a thing of the past! I will not allow such people to continue to endanger the Kingdom! The sun never sets on the status of the British Empire, and no country or person will be allowed to threaten it! ”

The four of them looked at Queen Victoria, who was gritting their teeth, and their hearts were cold, and they were secretly careful of being hated by the queen.

Russell took the opportunity to say to Victoria: "Your Majesty, it is the funds for sending troops, and the budget of my Kingdom of Great Britain is somewhat insufficient, I hope that Her Majesty will come forward and appeal to the Parliament, in addition, our cabinet will also mobilize the citizens of the entire Kingdom of Great Britain to donate money and issue war bonds." ”

Victoria snorted coldly: "It's all this time, who else dares to oppose the dispatch of troops and dare not allocate funds?" Chancellor of the Exchequer Gladstone dared to oppose and let him resign immediately! Is it India that matters, or is it the tens of millions of pounds that matter? India has brought more than 200 billion 3 billion pounds to the kingdom over the years, don't they have a little brain? ”

Speaking of this, Victoria stared at Russell and said, "Russell, I haven't investigated your matter with you yet." This time caused the Chinese Empire to declare war and send troops to India, so that the other side has an excuse, and your previous decision to sanction them has not shirked the responsibility. Therefore, you have to take the blame and resign for a while! ”

Russell's heart was gloomy for a while, he couldn't imagine that Queen Victoria was so ruthless, and she nodded and agreed to his decision. Who doesn't know that although the Kingdom of Great Britain now adopts the system of the prime minister, with Queen Victoria's prestige and influence in Parliament, the cabinet always has to consult her first and obtain her support for any major matters. But now, she turned her face and didn't admit it, which is really sad.