"According to the report of the cruiser Blake, a direct clash broke out between the two sides because of the accidental collision of a French transport ship with a mine, which, of course, is not the point. The point is that the German Navy easily sent one of France's most advanced battleships and two cruisers to the bottom of the sea with 2 armored cruisers, and the whole process took only 1 hour! Truth be told, this combat power is a little too terrifying for any of the two Royal Navy cruisers to do. Prince Louis, the Third Sea Minister in charge of military affairs, said solemnly.

"But this time the French were to blame, their own battleship accidentally hit a mine and opened fire first, and the Germans acted exclusively in self-defense. Not to mention that this would have been a war between Germany and Portugal, and the dispatch of a fleet by the French had already constituted a provocation. Chamberlain, who was on the side, said.

"Your attitude seems to be leaning towards Germany." At this time, Sir Milne, who was the chief of the general staff of the British Mediterranean Fleet, looked at the colonial minister with a suspicious eye, knowing that Chamberlain advocated active expansion, and the outbreak of the Second Boer War was "credited" to him.

"I just don't want to waste the Empire's precious limited military power elsewhere, the Army's performance is just too bad! In just over a month, the Boers almost captured this Eastern Cape region, where hundreds of thousands of Boers were mobilized! The insurgency is growing further, and we have spent more than £30 million on it so far! Chamberlain's words made the Secretary of War next to him lose face.

"I don't think that the Reich should get involved in this dispute, regardless of who is right and who is wrong between France and Germany, because our financial resources do not allow us to do so!" The chancellor of the exchequer next to him also supported Chamberlain's opinion. The fiscal deficit after the outbreak of the Boer War was already a headache for him, and if he intervened in the Franco-German dispute, the amount of money that would need to be spent would really become a bottomless pit.

"It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of strategy, and you can think that if this time, the Germans completely overwhelm France, then who else in the whole of Europe can compete with Germany with Russia's all-out efforts to the east? The emergence of a dominant country in Western Europe is unacceptable for Britain, and this country is also the first industrial power in Europe and the second industrial power in the world! Can you imagine the horror of this? The Foreign Secretary said.

"The rise of Germany must be taken seriously, but it is not a problem that needs to be solved urgently, the most important thing we need to solve in front of us is the Boer problem in South Africa, and our biggest enemy is still Russia, if Russia succeeds in defeating Japan and developing southward, then the world will have no power to stop Russia!"

"What's more, the Russians may be even more anxious than we are in the French question, after all, the French are their financiers, and even for the sake of the franc, the Russians will put pressure on Germany. Of course, I think Germany and France will keep a low profile. Chamberlain said.

Now the British are very entangled, on the one hand, in order to maintain the balance of power in Europe, to ensure that the major European powers contain each other is the established national policy of the British for a hundred years, for this national policy, they can once ally the Russians fall out, but also help the nephew of the old enemy. It is even possible to allow a new power to rise. The strength shown by the Germans in this operation shocked the British.

The German Army's razor-sharp sword had already proven its sharpness in the Franco-Prussian War, and another sword had already been forged. For the foreseeable future, Germany will have an overwhelming advantage over France. At this time, Russia was an enemy of Britain and was busy competing with Japan in the Far East. The British found that in Europe there was little power to stop Germany. So the British wanted to warn Germany.

But it is a pity that there are various problems in Britain itself at this time, the Boer War greatly involved the energy of the British, wasting a lot of money is a trivial matter, and the poor performance of the British Army is what makes the British Empire feel intolerable! Since the time of the Sun King, the British have not only relied on a powerful navy to stand at the top of the world, but their army has also been synonymous with elite. And now, the British suddenly found that after decades of not fighting, they could not even deal with the Boer militia, how could this be embarrassing!

"Britain must show its attitude! Because this time, we are facing not only Germany, but also the United States! Less than a year after the failed invasion of the Philippines last year, their troops had already fought in the Boer War, and this time, the Germans dared to do so because they had the support of the United States! The Americans were using their ships to transport people and supplies to the Germans, which was equivalent to going to war! Prince Louis said.

"The first and second industrial powers of the world have come together, and they are forging a quasi-alliance that will be difficult for even the British Empire to face at the rate of expansion of the fleets of the two countries! The main forces of the German fleet are pinning down our native fleet and the Mediterranean fleet in the North Sea, while the Americans can maneuver on the vast oceans, and in the foreseeable future, as long as the United States and Germany join forces, it will be difficult for the navy of the British Empire to cope with this situation, so we need allies, and we need to destroy them before the United States and Germany form this alliance! Prince Louis said as he looked at the surprised and hesitant eyes of those present.

"The situation in Europe must be ensured, Germany cannot take military action against the French mainland, we need to communicate with the French, the Russians and even Italy, together to stop the Germans, we can contact the French government now, and then show our attitude! As for the Portuguese? Let them take care of the troubles they cause. British Prime Minister Salisbury, who has not spoken, said.

"Your Excellency, words alone have no power." Chamberlain said.

"The Royal Navy is willing to pay any price for the Empire's promise! No matter how strong the German fleet was, it was impossible to withstand the footsteps of the Royal Navy. Prince Louis said confidently.

"But if the Germans were really at war with France, they would be able to solve everything with their army! Is the Royal Navy planning to change its name to the Marines? Chamberlain scoffed.

"Well, leave the problem of the army to the Russians, they will not sit idly by and watch the German army enter France." Salisbury said.

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