The Moresby Fortress incident shocked the world!

The British army did not fire a single shot, adopted a policy of non-resistance, and gave the Moresby Fortress, which took more than ten years of painstaking efforts to build, to the Chinese Empire, which made friends all over the world blind their titanium alloy dog eyes.

"What's wrong with the British? Is the fear of the Chinese Empire to the point where it does not have the courage to resist aggression? ”

The American Daily published a front-page headline accusing the British government of a mistake in adopting a policy of non-resistance, which would seriously weaken the morale of the British soldiers and at the same time boost the arrogance of the Chinese Imperial Army.

"I thought that the sixth Sino-British war would break out, but the British learned to be patient, which is to maintain international peace, show that the British Empire does not want to be ruined, please understand the British people's mind, don't invade!"

The Times hastened to publish a front-page newspaper that wanted to cover up Britain's policy of non-resistance and not weaken the face of the British Empire. This really exhausted the reporters and editors of the Times, who had not slept all night and had dozens of gray hairs, before they could barely write such an article, hoping to appease the British military and civilians.

As a result, the more they tried to cover up the policy of non-resistance, the more they met with strong anger and protests from the British military and civilians.

Soon, large-scale anti-Chinese demonstrations were set off across the UK. A large number of British students petitioned the government, abandoned the policy of non-resistance, and ordered the British army to retake the fortress of Moresby.

All of a sudden, workers' strikes, student strikes, and merchants' strikes across the country, and the opposition launched a vigorous impeachment campaign.

"Don't appease the British military and civilians!"

In the Prime Minister's Office in Downing Street, Saul called again and again, personally informing the major newspapers to cancel the strategy of appeasing the British military and civilians, and at the same time ordering officials in various parts of Britain to actively incite the British military and civilians to resist China.

When Cook learns of this, he hurries to meet Thor.

"Why are you doing this? Don't you know that your orders will ruin your political career? ”

In the face of Cook's concern, Saul smiled slightly and said: "At this point, I am destined to become a sinner in the history of the British Empire, but I hope that I, a sinner, can do the last thing for the British Empire." ”

Cook frowned, "What do you mean by that?" ”

Thor replied, "There must always be someone who plays blackface, and now I am this blackface!" It was I who gave the order of the policy of non-resistance, and the consequences can only be borne by me! However, I hope that this policy of non-resistance of mine can inspire the determination of the people of the whole country to resist China, establish a united front of the people of the British Empire, and then defeat the Chinese Empire in one fell swoop and regain the world hegemony of the British Empire. ”

Cook was stunned, he couldn't imagine that Thor could be this kind of thought, great and heroic.

"Did you talk to the other conservative leaders? Do they agree with your approach and sacrifice? ”

Thor shook his head and said, "If I had told them first, then my plan would never have been executed." They would never allow me to do that! But since I have done so, I am mentally ready to resign, and even resign from all positions inside and outside the party. ”

Cook sighed and said, "If you do this, we conservatives will step down!" ”

Thor smiled slightly and asked rhetorically, "Do you think that in the face of the aggressive military threat of the Chinese Empire now, we alone can stop it?" Without uniting with the radicals, we have absolutely no chance of winning. If you want to fight the Chinese Empire, you must have two factions working together. ”

After a pause, Saul said: "I have already talked to the leader of the radical faction, William Glaston, after I step down, our two factions will form a coalition government, this time we will completely settle the old and new hatreds with the Chinese Empire, so we must unite all the forces that can be united." ”

Cook was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect Saul to be so bold, but after thinking about the current situation, it was indeed Saul who could not support himself and had to seek foreign help.

In the months that followed, British politics was in turmoil, with conservatives and radicals negotiating secretly and, after bargaining, agreed to form a coalition cabinet to deal with the threat of war from the Chinese Empire.

However, considering that the British Empire's preparations for war were not sufficient, Saul did not resign for the time being, but continued to act as prime minister.

In fact, it is for Saul to continue to play the black face, on the one hand, to attract the hatred of the people of the whole country, and on the other hand, to appease the Chinese Empire. After all, whether the Chinese Empire welcomed Saul's policy of non-resistance, once Saul stepped down, the new prime minister was bound to not be able to implement the policy of non-resistance, and then war and conflict with the Chinese Empire would inevitably break out.

So, in order to stall for time, Saul continued to serve as prime minister, but in private, the radical leader William Gladstone had already seized power, and the two factions cooperated to mobilize all forces and speed up the pace of war preparations.

During these four months, the Chinese Empire continued to find excuses to send troops to attack the British troops on the island of Papua, but the British commander, Major General Karan, strictly pursued a policy of non-resistance, and no matter how the Chinese Imperial Shence Army bullied him, he just did not fight back and kept retreating.

In this way, the Chinese empire had to face international public opinion. If the British army can't fight back and scold or fight back, how can you Chinese Imperial Shence Army drop and completely shamelessly launch a war of aggression?

Apparently that's impossible!

Japan, the most shameless country in history, has no face to launch a full-scale war in the face of a policy of non-resistance, let alone the dignified Chinese Empire, which must be famous in order to be famous!

Half a year later, the Chinese Empire's Shence Army completely occupied the main island of Papua and the surrounding islands, and the British army did not fight back, and even took the initiative to withdraw, ceding the world's second largest island with a total area of 810,000 square kilometers to the Chinese Empire.

In the Forbidden City, Li Weiguo was also very happy when he learned that the Chinese Imperial Army had completely occupied Papua Island, and he directly obtained 810,000 square kilometers of land without a single shot or a bullet and without buying it from the British.

The island of Papua is very rich in resources, especially high-quality copper ore, which was extremely important to the Chinese Empire.

You must know that all kinds of guns and ammunition in the Chinese Imperial Military are still made of copper, and after every war, the consumption of copper resources is quite amazing, and for the Chinese Empire, the shortage of copper resources is a big burden.

In fact, Li Weiguo really wanted to use steel to make bullets, but cutting steel is obviously a hundred times more difficult than cutting copper, and the military industry department once tried to use steel to make bullets, but in the end the evaluation found that the cost was too high, and finally had to give up.

As a result, the Chinese Empire turned to importing copper ore from abroad, mainly from Chile and Peru. Hoarding copper resources in peacetime to meet the consumption during war. At the same time, after the Chinese Empire occupied Australia, the shortage of copper resources was significantly improved, and Australia's copper resources met the domestic consumption of the Chinese Empire.

But it was only satisfied, and with the acquisition of the island of Papua by the Chinese Empire, the copper resources were completely enriched, and there was no need to import them from South America. The cost fell sharply again, which was a shot in the arm for the bullet production industry of the Chinese Empire.

However, the joy of getting Papua Island was soon broken by a message.

"Your Majesty, intelligence shows that the British Dreadnought battleship will be completed in a few months!"

"What? Didn't you say it would take at least another year? ”

Seeing Li Weiguo frowning, Cheng Kun hurriedly explained: "It's the minister's dereliction of duty!" The anti-China cries in Britain were rising, the opposition faction mobilized the masses to engage in production on a large scale, and the workers of the British shipyards worked overtime to build warships, which greatly accelerated the construction of dreadnoughts in the British Navy. The British side imposed controls and forbade people from coming and going, and our intelligence officers were trapped inside and couldn't get out, so they were delayed. ”

Li Weiguo did not get angry, but calmed down.

According to the intelligence of the Chinese S.H.I.E.L.D.L.D., the British Navy will obtain twelve dreadnought-type battleships in the next six months, which are the strongest Queen Mary-class battleships, with a displacement of more than 25,000 tons and 12 343-mm guns.

On the surface, the 6 Queen Mary-class battleships are very powerful, with more than 2,000 tons more tonnage than the Chinese Empire's dreadnought battleships, and the number of main guns on both sides is the same, but the Queen Mary class uses a 343 mm caliber that is slightly larger than the Chinese Empire's Dreadnought-class 330 mm caliber, but the Queen Mary-class main gun is only 40 times the caliber, while the Chinese Empire's Dreadnought-class main gun is 305 mm 50 times the diameter and 330 mm 45 times the diameter.

However, the ****** of the Chinese Empire was the most powerful T Nttit, which used armor-piercing blasting shells, while the British ones were picric acid that had just been developed, and the armor-piercing bullets and explosive bullets were used separately, and they were obviously inferior to the Chinese Empire in terms of power and destructive power.

At the same time, the Chinese Empire used steam turbine technology, and the battleships of more than 22,000 tons were able to run at a speed of 21 knots, while the British Queen Mary-class battleships also used traditional steam engines, and the 25,000-ton behemoths would definitely not exceed 17 knots without sacrificing armor.

This is hidden data, Li Weiguo was able to analyze the approximate performance of the Queen Mary-class battleships, but the British side was unable to deduce the hidden performance of the Chinese Empire's Dreadnought-class battleships.

That's the advantage, and it's a very big advantage.

The Imperial Chinese Navy, which had this advantage, was not afraid of being overtaken by the British Navy.

Li Weiguo is even more convinced of this.

Cheng Kun said again: "Although the British Navy can only have 6 Queen Mary-class battleships when it is completed at an accelerated pace, Britain still has allies, and the Confederate States of America still has 8 Indiana-class battleships, and Japan has 2 Fuji-class battleships. Among them, the United States has a strong industrial strength and a very fast speed of shipbuilding, although the British Queen Mary class started construction first, but the Indiana class may be completed a month earlier. Japan's Fuji-class was relatively slow to build, and even if it worked overtime, it would have to be completed in a year. ”

Li Weiguo calculated and said: "That is to say, in the next six months, the British and American navies will have a total of 14 dreadnought battleships!" ”

The Chinese Empire had 12 Dreadnought-class battleships, and Britain and the United States had 14, and on the surface Britain and the United States had an advantage, but in Li Weiguo's view, the British and American navies together still could not defeat the Chinese Imperial Navy, and at most they had a chance of winning, provided that the Chinese Imperial Navy made a major mistake.

"What about other countries?"

Hearing Li Weiguo's question, Cheng Kun hurriedly opened the folder, found relevant information, and then reported back.

"Your Majesty, in addition to Britain, the United States, and Japan, the German Empire, the Second French Empire, the Tsarist Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and the Spanish Empire are all starting to build dreadnought battleships."

"Among them, the German Empire's dreadnought battleships are being built at the fastest speed, and at present, the hulls of the four Nassau-class battleships have been completed and launched, and the main guns and superstructures are being installed, and they can be completed in another year under normal circumstances, but intelligence shows that the Kaiser has ordered the construction to start day and night, and it is estimated that it will be completed within half a year."

The Nassau-class battleship is a first-class battleship built by the Imperial German Navy for the Queen Mary-class battleships of the British Navy, with a design displacement of 23,000 tons, equipped with four triple 305 mm 50 times the diameter main gun, and a theoretical speed of 18 knots. Among them, the hull, steam engine and other systems were produced and built by the German Navy itself, and the triple 305 mm 50 times diameter main gun was imported from the Chinese Empire.

Li Weiguo said with a smile: "With the four Nassau-class battleships of the German Empire, the British Navy will not dare to act rashly, and his six Queen Mary-class battleships are estimated to be placed in the North Sea, and it is impossible to easily transfer them to the Pacific Ocean." ”

Cheng Kun agreed: "Your Majesty is too accurate, the German Empire has the technical support behind us, so the construction of the Nassau-class battleships is fast and very smooth, as for the French Empire, although it has also begun to build 4 Kolbe-class battleships, but it should be built and dismantled, demolished and rebuilt, and it will be completed in at least two years." Therefore, France could not contain Germany, and the British could only contain the German navy themselves. ”

As for the other European powers, in terms of dreadnought battleships, they are all groping their way forward, so although they are all starting to build dreadnought battleships, they are all making slow progress. The British themselves were working overtime and had no time to help these countries, and the Chinese Empire could not easily export Dreadnought-class battleship technology to these countries.

Li Weiguo nodded and said, "Theoretically, even if the British have a Queen Mary-class battleship, they will not dare to start a full-scale war with us." ”

Cheng Kun said with a smile: "Your Majesty is wise, the empire has now captured the Papua Islands without blood, and can take the opportunity to attack the Solomon Islands and New Zealand again, I believe that the British have to continue to tolerate and continue to pursue their policy of non-resistance." ”

Li Weiguo thought for a while and said: "This is the case in theory, but in fact, whether the British will continue to resist remains to be verified!" ”

Thinking of this, Li Weiguo picked up the phone and gave an order to the military department, ordering the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy to sail to the Solomon Islands and New Zealand Island, and continue to use the excuse of exterminating the remnants of the Viking pirate group, and make a tentative landing to see the reaction of the British.

At the same time, Li Weiguo also convened key naval officials to discuss the current international naval form.

Finally, at the unanimous request of the Admiralty officials, Li Weiguo approved the 3985 naval defense budget of Jianyuan, allocating 10 million yuan to start construction of four more powerful dreadnought battleships to deal with the future threat of the British, American, and Japanese navies to the Chinese Empire. (To be continued.) )