The Xia Empire's desire to exchange battleships for Canadian territory was quickly reported to the British Empire's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chief

British Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith immediately summoned the members of the Cabinet to a Cabinet meeting. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

At the Prime Minister's behest, Sir Grey, the Foreign Secretary, briefed the Xia Empire on its request.

Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, immediately objected: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Admiralty is studying this kind of battleship, and in another two to three years, the Reich will be able to build it itself, so we consider cultivating our own design talents and supporting shipyards, and the Admiralty does not recommend exchanging land for the battleships of the Xia Empire." “

The Chancellor of the Exchequer asked: "Your Excellency, how much will it cost us to build our own battleships of this type?" “

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill said after careful consideration: "It's about £2.5 million. ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer went on to ask the Colonial Secretary: "How much does the Western and Northwestern provinces of Canada give to the Reich each year?" ”

The Minister of Colony said: "The Yukon and Northwest Territories provinces that the Xia Empire requested an exchange for were vast and sparsely populated, and after the gold rush, there was no revenue there, and the Canadian government had to subsidize a lot of expenses every year for the local government to maintain its operations; British Columbia is only a little prosperous in the southwest, and the industry is mainly concentrated in the marine fishing and logging industry, and the whole province can create 600,000 jobs for Canadians every year and 200,000 pounds in taxes; These 3 provinces and territories of the Dominion of Canada contributed very little to the empire. ”

The Minister of War said at this time: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, we cannot only consider economic interests, but also military considerations, now that the Xia Empire has occupied the Midwest and Alaska regions of the United States, and has implemented a semi-encirclement of the Canadian Dominion, they want to occupy those territories, it is effortless at all, the Xia Empire is willing to exchange battleships for the above territories, which is already very face-saving for the Empire, since the Xia Empire wants these territories, it is difficult for the Empire to keep them anyway, so my opinion is exchangeable." ”

The Minister of the Colonies said: "No, the area of the Northwest Territories Province is too large, more than 3.3 million square kilometers, and it is not cost-effective to exchange only 1 battleship, I do not agree!" If you want to exchange, you can exchange it with Yukon and British Columbia, and it is also a good deal to exchange 2 battleships. ”

The Minister of War said: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, since the Xia Empire wants it, who can stop the Xia Empire's army?" Even if the Xia Empire does not attack there for the time being, how many land forces does the empire need to send to defend? How high will these fees be? Therefore, I advise you not to have illusions. ”

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the Minister of the Navy, listened to everyone's speeches, and felt that he just did not agree to the exchange, the Xia Empire would also occupy those territories, and the navy and army were not capable of protecting the security there, so he said helplessly: "Now that the Xia Empire controls the entire Pacific Ocean, our navy cannot go to the Pacific waters of the Canadian Dominion, and if there is a war, we can only transport people and materials from the southeast to the northwest and west, and it is very difficult to logistics alone; My suggestion is to exchange gradually, you can exchange 2 battleships of the Xia Empire now, and then exchange 2 more when the Xia Empire has newer battleships in the future, and those places can't be kept anyway. ”

Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith saw that everyone was gradually agreeing to the agreement, so he asked: "Let's continue to analyze, if we exchange these two provinces with the Xia Empire, will it be convenient for the Xia Empire to use troops against the Canadian Dominion?" ”

The Minister of War said: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, now that the Xia Empire has occupied the western and southern territories of the Canadian Dominion, it is very easy to attack the Canadian Dominion, as far as their powerful army is concerned, the Empire cannot stop it at all, not to mention anything else, let's just say that the Xia Empire has nearly 2 million officers and soldiers stationed in the United States now, and if the Empire wants to protect the Dominion of Canada, it needs at least 4 million officers and soldiers, can the Empire do it now?" “

Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith asked: "Will this damage the prestige of our British Empire?" ”

The Minister of Colony said: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, I feel that if the British Empire does not exchange with the Xia Empire, they will also exchange with other countries, for example, Germany's Papua colony is now surrounded by the Xia Empire. “

The Prime Minister continued: "What if they have to exchange the Northwest Territories Province?" “

The Minister of the Colonies said: "The Northwest Province has more than 3 million square kilometers, and if they insist on that piece of land, we will ask for at least two battleships in exchange, and then we will be able to make it worth." ”

The Minister of the Navy smiled and said, "Do you think the Xia Empire is stupid, it is still a barren land now, how can you agree to exchange 2 battleships?" ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer also interjected: "Everyone, don't be too greedy, you must know that the price of Alaska was only 1.5 million pounds, you know, the area we exchanged is still prosperous around Vancouver, and the other areas are barren land, if we exchange 3 battleships, we have made a lot of money." ”

The prime minister thought to himself, now the exchange is more or less cheap, if the Xia Empire wants to occupy, the empire can't stop it at all, if you want to do the United States, there will be no gain at all, and after the defeat, you have to bear the military expenses of the Xia Empire, that is a loss-making business.

Foreign Secretary Gray said at this time: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we can agree to the Xia Empire's exchange request, but we should also have corresponding restrictions, for example, requiring them to merge the exchange area and Alaska into a separate country, and absolutely not allow them to merge with the Midwest of the United States that they are now occupying into one country, or merge into the territory of the Xia Empire." ”

The Secretary of War said: "This is a good idea, we can ask them to station no more than a certain amount of troops in the exchange area." ”

The Minister of Commerce said, "We can also ask them not to restrict the circulation of the Empire's goods in the exchange area, and to give certain tax benefits to the Empire's goods." ”

After careful consideration, Churchill, the Minister of the Admiralty, said: "My opinion is to divide the Northwest Territories Province into two provinces, east and west, and only exchange them for the western provinces, I don't want the navy of the Xia Empire to appear in the eastern coastal area, in that case, the entire Canadian Dominion will not be able to keep it, you know, now we don't know how big the appetite of the Xia Empire is." ”

The prime minister asked, "How do you divide the eastern and western provinces into two provinces?" ”

The Minister of Colony said: "This method is not good, if it is divided according to the extension of the eastern boundary of British Columbia, the Xia Empire will certainly not agree; If it is calculated according to the extension of the eastern border of Albert Province, then Albert will become the meat of the Xia Empire, and will be eaten by them at any time. ”

Churchill retorted: "If it is not divided in this way, and the Xia Empire deploys a navy in the east, then the entire Canadian Dominion will become the meat of the Xia Empire, and they will swallow the entire Canadian Dominion at any time, weighing the pros and cons, it is better to exchange Albert Province for the Xia Empire." ”

The colonial minister also retorted: "It is very difficult to exchange the Northwest Territories Province, it is very difficult for them to garrison troops there, British Columbia is blocked by the Rocky Mountains, even if the Xia Empire wants to occupy the Canadian Dominion, it is not easy, if Albert Province is exchanged to the Xia Empire, then it is much easier for them to occupy the entire Canadian Dominion." ”

The Minister of War felt that the words of the two had a certain amount of truth, so he said: "The words of the two of you are reasonable, the key is not whether the terrain is flat, nor whether the Xia Empire is stationed in the navy, it is very simple for them to occupy those areas, it is enough to attack directly from the south, saving time and effort, the key to the matter is how big the appetite of the Xia Empire is, when to launch an attack, similar areas and the Australian Federation, the Xia Empire wants to occupy, and the empire cannot defend it no matter what." ”

The Minister of War's words made the cabinet members attending the meeting stunned, it was true, not caring what the empire thought, but how big the appetite of the Xia empire was.

After a short period of calm, the colony minister said: "I feel that the Xia Empire wants to take the entire Pacific Rim region as their sphere of influence, and the colonies within this range are in danger, and it is difficult for any country to resist the attack of the Xia Empire alone, we must unite more countries, advance and retreat together, and defend together, otherwise we will definitely be defeated by the Xia Empire." ”

The prime minister smiled bitterly: "Everyone has known this situation for a long time, but the empire must first shrink its forces now to defend our homeland, you must know that our roots are in Europe, and before the Xia Empire threatens Europe, it will be difficult for all Western countries to unite against the Xia Empire." Okay, don't think about it so long-term now, let's consider the exchange with the Xia Empire first, my opinion is to adopt the opinion of the Minister of the Navy, and even Albert Province will be exchanged with the Xia Empire, so that at least 4 battleships will be exchanged, and the empire will develop more powerful battleships on this basis, as long as our European foundation is not lost, there will be a chance to revive it again and fight back against the Xia Empire, otherwise everything is empty talk. ”

Everyone agreed with the Prime Minister's opinion, and after summing up the other additional conditions, the Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith said: "Okay, I will immediately attack and report to His Majesty the King, and after His Majesty the King agrees, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will begin talks with the Xia Empire, and after the agreement is confirmed, I will apply to the Parliament for approval, until then, everyone must keep the contents of the meeting strictly confidential and not leak it to the public." ”

Although the cabinet members present at the meeting did not want the British Empire to be forced to choose to exchange land for battleships under pressure, everyone knew that perhaps this was the most favorable condition for the British Empire. --The free app reader on this site is officially launched! All the popular novels are free for you to read! Support offline download function, making it easier for readers to read without the Internet! To download, please pay attention to the WeChat public account xuanhuan11 (press and hold for three seconds to copy) to install a mobile reader!