Beginning at 10:30 a.m. on February 9, the British Cabinet was completely fried, and different departments and personnel such as the Admiralty, the War Office, the Colonial Office, and the Secretary of State for Indian Affairs received different telegrams one after another.

The escort fleet was completely annihilated by the Lanfang Kingdom;

More than 200,000 men of the entire army and Indian servant army were captured by the Lanfang Kingdom;

The battleships and heavy cruisers of the Lanfang Kingdom had advanced performance, and their combat effectiveness far exceeded that of the existing battleships and cruisers of the empire;

The Lanfang Kingdom was able to launch a large number of torpedoes by unknown means, and the escort fleet was heavily damaged by these torpedoes. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

These contents give everyone a common feeling, that is, the Far Eastern Fleet is over, and the Far Eastern colonies will be seriously threatened.

The Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell Benenenen, immediately convened a meeting of the relevant members of the Cabinet to discuss countermeasures. The meeting was attended by War Secretary Richard Haldane, Foreign Secretary Edward Gray, Chancellor of the Exchequer Herbert Henry Asquith, First Sea Secretary John Abbasnot Fisher, Indian Affairs Secretary John Moorley, Undersecretary for Colonial Affairs Winston Churchill, and Foreign Trade Secretary David Lloyd George.

The meeting first determined that the dispatch of troops from India to Sumatra to help the Kingdom of the Netherlands recover its colonies had been a complete failure; Next, we will discuss how to deal with the aftermath.

The Foreign Secretary spoke first: "This is a provocation against the British Empire, this is a humiliation to the Royal Navy of the British Empire, and it is a naked slap in the face of our Empire, and the Kingdom of Lanfang must be severely attacked and completely destroyed." ”

The Minister of War said: "The Navy should be fully responsible for this defeat, the Admiralty has withdrawn the fleets of several colonies in the Far East to the mainland, and the remaining old warships have been merged into the Far East Fleet, whose strength is not enough to protect our colonies in Asia and Oceania, and now it has been completely annihilated, and even the army has been captured by the navy of the Lanfang Kingdom, which is a crime against the Empire." ”

The First Sea Minister said: "The funds we applied for could not be obtained, the application for the construction of battleships was not approved, and the navy's funding has been reduced year after year, so it is difficult for the navy to use anything to protect our colonies, and according to the current development trend, it is difficult to protect our colonies, not to mention protecting our colonies." The Admiralty applied for a grant and it was necessary to build new battleships and new cruisers, didn't you read the telegram that came back? The combat effectiveness of the opponent's 1 battleship exceeds our existing 3 battleships, even the opponent's cruisers can compete with our battleships, so how can the navy protect the mainland? How to protect the colony? Is it important to protect the colony or to protect the homeland? ”

"Now the finances are tight and there is no money. Having just finished the Boer War, the finances had bottomed out. ”

The Minister of Indian Affairs said: "The first issue now is how to protect the Indian colonies, the Indian colonies are like fat hanging on the lips of the Lanfang Kingdom, they can take a few bites at any time, if we lose the Indian colonies, then our finances will be even more strained." ”

The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Colonial Affairs said: "Not only India, but also places such as the Straits Settlements and Australia are closer to the Kingdom of Lanfang, where it is more dangerous, how can these colonies be protected?" ”

"The dignified sea hegemon, the main warship is not as advanced as the warship owned by a new kingdom, this is a shame for the sea hegemon. Is it someone else who has progressed or are we going backwards? Now the other side has 3 battleships and 6 heavy cruisers, even if all our battleships are sent, they may not be able to win, and the speed of others is more than 20 knots, the speed is not as fast as our people, the rate of fire is more than twice that of our people, and the range is not as far as our family, even if it is towed, people can drag our battleships to death. The First Sea Lord questioned loudly.

The Prime Minister took up and said, "Your words remind me how a new kingdom can have such advanced battleships. “

The Prime Minister's words surprised everyone, and they unconsciously fell into contemplation, how can a kingdom that has not been founded for 2 months have such advanced battleships and heavy cruisers? It's a manufacturing cycle that takes several years, and besides, such an advanced battleship doesn't even have the British Empire, who has such strong design and manufacturing capabilities?

At this time, the foreign secretary suddenly remembered the telegram sent by the Governor of the Straits Settlements, and said: "Prime Minister, the Governor of the Straits Settlements once sent a telegram, it is estimated that the Kingdom of Lanfang should be supported by the Chinese hermit family, they not only have a strong navy, but at the end of last year, they completely annihilated the naval fleet of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and their army is even more powerful; The army cannons they use have a short range, but they can move with the army, making them ideal for jungle warfare; The mine-striking boats they made were small, fast, and technologically advanced; It can be seen that the strength behind it should be very strong, otherwise we will not train so many excellent armies and excellent navies, we are a maritime power, and we should know how difficult it is to train a navy. “

"If you have such a strong strength, why didn't you attack us before?" Some people began to have doubts.

"According to the telegram, the Chinese are a very mysterious race, with thousands of years of civilization inheritance, and the heritage is very profound, if it were not for the Dutch governor's extermination policy against the Chinese, this force would not have shown its head, it was the Dutch pigs who lured these demons out, and they should be punished by God."

The prime minister hurriedly stopped everyone, "Today is to discuss how we should deal with it next, whether to make peace with the Lanfang Kingdom or expand the scale of the war?" “

Everyone is pondering, no one speaks, at this time the prime minister is in a hurry, he doesn't speak, do I let me take responsibility alone? "What does the Admiralty mean?"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, we don't know much about the Lanfang Kingdom and the forces behind it now, I don't know how much strength they still have not exposed, we still take the principle of defending the homeland, the colony is only a subsidiary force after all, and our roots are in the homeland, besides, now our battleships are not the opponents of the other party at all, and they will deliver food if they go."

"Does the Ministry of Foreign Trade understand where their warships were purchased from?"

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have no information on this."

"Is there anything wrong with the Ministry of Finance?"

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, our economy does not support a large-scale war for the time being."

"What about the War Department?"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, without the participation of the Navy, our Army cannot fly over, and the road is too far."

"What about the Indian Office?"

"What we mean by this is that the security of the Indian colonies must be guaranteed, and there must be no compromise on the Indian question."

"What about the Colonial Office?"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, our colonies are too scattered, and there are many colonies around the Lanfang Kingdom, it seems unrealistic to ensure the security of all the colonies, but we must keep the Straits Settlements, otherwise we will lose the right to speak in the entire Far East."

"What about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, now that we are discussing this, it is tantamount to doing it behind closed doors, we don't know what the Lanfang Kingdom means, it is best to send someone to contact the Lanfang Kingdom privately first, to see how big their appetite is, or what they have to ask to quell this war."

The War Secretary said: "Your Excellency, General MacDonald must be rescued as soon as possible in any case, otherwise it will be a disgrace to our British Empire, and besides, it is not his fault, and I do not want the War Office to bear this black cauldron." “

The Prime Minister said: "Please rest assured, not only General MacDonald, but also more than 50,000 army officers and more than 10,000 navy officers and sailors are guests in the Lanfang Kingdom, and we will inform them to return home as soon as possible." Now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will inform the Governor of the Straits Settlements and ask him to send a representative to make private contact with the Lanfang Kingdom first, and then we will think of countermeasures. “

"Yes, Your Excellency Prime Minister."

"I'll report to His Majesty the King, and let's dismiss."