Victoria cleaned up her frustration, she clenched her fists and cheered herself up: You are Victoria, the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the monarch of the most powerful empire in the world, how can you be hit by the difficulties in front of you? Cheer up, believe in yourself, and believe that with 30 million people of the British Empire as your backing, and the most powerful military and economic power in the world to rely on, you will be able to overcome all difficulties, put down rebellions, and return to the supreme glory of the empire on which the sun never sets!

Thinking of this, Victoria suddenly felt that she had some strength again. She was about to return to the apse when Postmaster Roland Hill hurried through the crowd, waving a telegram in his hand and panting and shouting: "Your Majesty, something is wrong!" ”

Victoria still respects the invention of the Penny stamp, the postal reformer of the British Empire and the founder of stamps, and even puts him in charge of the latest telegraph business on the Irish side. She stopped and looked back at Roland Hill.

"Your Majesty, the United Kingdom of Great Britain is in danger! Just now, an urgent telegram came from the port of Belfast in the north of the island of Ireland, saying that three days ago, a rebel organization called the Fenia Society in Ireland led a large group of Irish rebels to launch a riot in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, and that the police station and town hall in Dublin had been captured by the rebels, and the rebels had grown rapidly, and the rebels in Dublin and the surrounding areas had reached tens of thousands, including more than 7,000 Irish veterans and more than 1,000 servicemen. Tens of thousands of Dublin troops and policemen loyal to the United Kingdom have been surrounded by the rebels in their barracks in Dublin City, struggling to support the garrisons elsewhere on the island of Ireland and for the British side to send troops to the rescue. ”

"What!?" Victoria's mood that had just calmed down fell to the bottom in an instant, and the little strength she had just recovered disappeared in a flash, her whole body was like she was in prostration, and her lips trembled: "Dublin has also been captured?" Is Ireland in turmoil? This, how can this be good? ”

At this time, Victoria's lips turned pale, and although her eyes looked at Roland Hill and Rose and others in front of her, her eyes were a little distant. What the hell is going on here? Could it be that God wants his Hanoverian dynasty to end its rule in India and Ireland? Victoria, who was already troubled by her husband's illness, was provoked by the rebellion in India and Ireland, and suddenly felt that the world was spinning, and she stumbled under her feet, and fell to the ground.

Or the Earl of Derby, he was not far from Queen Victoria, and he had a very close relationship with the queen, so he immediately grabbed Victoria and said eagerly: "Victoria, what's wrong with you?" After speaking, he shouted behind him: "Quick, call the court doctor quickly!" ”

Prime Minister Russell didn't expect the Secretary of State for Posts and Telecommunications to suddenly bring such shocking news, and he was also shocked, until he saw Earl Derby holding Queen Victoria, who was about to faint, that he reacted, glared at Roland Hill fiercely, and hurriedly stepped forward to support the other side of the Queen.

Victoria was actually just emaciated, and was suddenly stimulated by the news of the Indian rebellion and the Irish riot, and then her eyes turned black and fainted, and then she had eased up, opened her eyes, stood up with the help of the Earl of Derby, reached out and grabbed Derby, and said weakly: "Earl, I'm fine." Suddenly hearing such a shocking news, I was a little distracted for a while. Prime Minister Russell, and Ministers, this is a major crisis in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and I would like to be invited to give us urgent notice of an urgent meeting of Parliament, and I will be present to discuss how to deal with this crisis in the United Kingdom! ”

There was a sense of awe in everyone's hearts, and they hurriedly divided up to prepare.

At the same time, a large-scale rebellion broke out in India, with Sikhs, princely rebels, Burmese, and rebels of the Bengali Native Legion rebelling everywhere, and many towns in Delhi, Mumbai, and the Bengal Jurisdiction were occupied by the rebels. And, with it, news spread that the Irish had also begun to rebel. All this made the British people in the city of London panic and panic. In the streets and alleys, there were even rumors that the queen fainted immediately after hearing the news of the rebellion in India and the riots in Ireland, and waited with her prince and husband for medical treatment, etc., and so on.

At the same time, Queen Victoria summoned all cabinet ministers to appear directly in Parliament and personally proposed to the majority of parliamentarians to take urgent measures against Britain and announce the kingdom's war mobilization to suppress the rebels at home.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is in the midst of the greatest crisis since I became Queen, and you all know that there is now a rebellion not only in India on a greater scale than the year before, but also in Ireland. The Kingdom must act now. The King declares that from this day onwards, the United Kingdom will enter a state of emergency war, mobilizing all its staff, cancelling all leave, and urgently dispatching troops to India and the island of Ireland to quell the rebellion. Victoria announced directly.

Suddenly, the members of the parliament began to talk. However, because of the prestige of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne for more than 20 years, no parliamentarians openly objected, and in the end, the parliament abstained with a small number of voters, and the overwhelming majority of parliamentarians voted in favor of the large percentage of support, and passed the plan proposed by the queen directly to help the cabinet to quell the rebellion in the two places, and the whole United Kingdom entered a wartime emergency.

The adoption of the plan for the use of troops in both places was only the first step for Victoria, who had already anticipated that the most important thing was how to quickly put down the rebellion. After leaving Parliament, Victoria went directly to the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street and brought all the cabinet members together to discuss the plan to send troops.

In fact, since the last few prime ministers, they have not lived in this very dilapidated prime minister's official residence, but only used it as a place to work during the day. But at this moment, Victoria, looking at the dilapidated 10 Downing Street, is unhappy in her heart, such a dilapidated Prime Minister's official residence, does it imply the decline of the British Empire?

She didn't have time to think about it, and in the face of all the cabinet members, she directly motioned for Prime Minister Ross to preside over the meeting, then sat next to her and said: "The stakes are very high, and today your cabinet is discussing sending troops to quell the rebellion, and I will listen directly here, so I can rest assured." Let's go. ”

Ross stood up, saluted Victoria first, and looked at the crowd: "The parliament has passed a resolution to send troops to India and Ireland to quell the rebellion. Sidney Herbert and Panmer Ramsay, both of you will give Her Majesty the Queen and the Cabinet a briefing! ”

Sidney Herbert, Minister of War for the Navy, first said: "Although our Royal Navy is the first in the world, with a total tonnage of 520,000 tons of naval ships and more than 200 main warships of various types, the Royal Navy has suffered huge losses due to the total annihilation of the expeditionary fleet some time ago, and the total strength of the Navy today is only more than 80,000 people. Of course, as soon as the conscription and mobilization order is issued, those naval soldiers who retired in previous years should be able to recall tens of thousands, and if the recruitment efforts are increased, there should be no problem in bringing the Royal Navy's strength to 150,000 in the short term. ”

"However, European seas such as the Atlantic Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet are the core interests of the kingdom, and there is no room for error, and only some naval forces can be withdrawn, while other overseas trade areas must also have a certain naval deterrence. Therefore, the Royal Navy can only mobilize more than 20,000 troops, and 30,000 troops is already the limit in the short term. Of course, it was also necessary to escort the troop transport fleet that transported the army. ”

The suppression of the rebellion in the two places was originally based on the army, but Prime Minister Ross did not say anything, and he was clear about the strength of the navy. However, he remembered that the Burmese in India had sent troops, and Burma was a vassal state of the empire in the East, and once a war started, the other side's navy would not come to help or intervene, so he spoke: "The overseas fleet of the Royal Navy will be transferred to the coast of India as quickly as possible, first, to help transport the army to India to quell the rebels, and second, to protect the ports along the coast of India from foreign invasion, recover Mumbai, and protect the coastal ports such as Kolkata." ”

Sidney Herbert wrote it down and turned his head to look at Secretary of War Panmel Ramsay.

Ramsey knew that it was his turn, and as the Minister of War, his army would naturally be the main force to quell the rebellion, so he hurriedly introduced: "In terms of the army, the army of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was originally replenished to a certain extent after the Crimean War, and the local strength reached 160,000. However, after the disastrous defeat of the expeditionary force to China, it lost more than 20,000 troops, and now there are only 140,000 people. Like the Royal Navy, because Her Majesty the Queen and Her Excellency the Prime Minister have issued a war mobilization order, it will not be long before a large number of retired soldiers and other civilians to participate in the war can be quickly recruited, and it is initially expected to reach 250,000 troops within three months, and 500,000 or even 600,000 troops within half a year, but half of the initially trained recruits will not increase their combat effectiveness too much. At the same time, the expenditure on military salaries will be very large, especially in the current situation in the United Kingdom, where economic development has regressed compared with previous years, which will bring a heavy economic burden to the United Kingdom's finances. ”

Victoria interjected: "Sir Ramsay, you don't have to think about the finances first, it's a big deal to take some treasures from my royal family and sell them for military expenses, and also to quell the rebellion." Let's talk about how many troops you can send to quell the rebellion. ”

Seeing that the queen spoke directly, Ramsey hurriedly said: "Okay, Your Majesty! The telegram from the Governor General of India, Canning, must have been known to everyone, and I think India is more urgent than Ireland. But Ireland is close at the doorstep of Great Britain itself, and in the event of a large-scale riot, the unity and protection of the Irish people will surely cause a huge chain reaction, leading the whole of Ireland into the abyss of rebellion. Therefore, it is necessary to do both, India and Ireland send troops to quell the rebellion at the same time! ”

"But then there will be a shortage of troops! In the current situation, we must send troops immediately, and it is too late to slowly recruit troops. Prime Minister Russell frowned on the sidelines.

The former Prime Minister and now the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Earl Derby, who was young and had great prestige and was also trusted by Queen Victoria and the members of Parliament, said directly to Ramsey: "Ramsay, you should answer Her Majesty's question directly, how many troops are you going to send to quell the rebellion." ”

Ramsey's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly said, "I'm sorry." I am simply reminding Her Majesty and the Cabinet that troops must be sent at the same time, and that a limited number of troops would make Great Britain itself weaker. But it doesn't affect the kingdom too much! Ladies and gentlemen, the War Office is prepared to carry out the war mobilization order according to the criteria for the invasion of the United Kingdom, not only within Great Britain itself, but also in Ireland, the Indian colonies, North America and New South Wales, and in the allies of Northern and Western Europe, so as to increase the number of troops as quickly and as far as possible. In this case, our War Department can immediately send the first batch of 60,000 troops directly from the mainland, plus the 30,000 Royal Navy of the Admiralty, plus nearly 10,000 troops from the Ottoman Empire and Persia, adding up to 100,000 troops, to go to India to quell the rebellion, and we should be able to quickly put down the rebellion! Not only that, but within six months to eight months, the War Department would coordinate the navy and send an additional 50,000 overseas troops from North America and New South Wales to India, first defeat all the princely states and Bengali rebels, and finally defeat all Sikhs and Burma, turning them into two other territories of Great Britain. ”

"As for Ireland, because of its proximity to Great Britain, 20,000 troops directly from Wales and Scotland, plus 20,000 English soldiers on the island of Ireland, should soon put down the rebellion in Dublin and elsewhere. It was just such a transfer of troops, and for a period of time, the British army on the British mainland was only 40,000 or 50,000, which was too weak. Of course, this is also temporary, and it will be replenished to nearly 150,000 people in three months. There shouldn't be any problem! ”

After listening to Ramsay's army troop transfer arrangement, Victoria and Prime Minister Russell both nodded in approval. Victoria sighed and said, "I can't imagine that the kingdom's troops are so short! Alas, Prime Minister Russell and Chancellor of the Exchequer, this year's military spending will have to be set out a lot more, and as for the over-budgeted part, I will explain it to the MPs. She has decided that she will massively increase military spending next year, even if it will increase taxes and cause turmoil among the British people.