Chapter XXXVII

The Americans produced more than 23 million tons of steel in 1906, about twice as many as the second-ranked British. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe British produced more than 10 million tons of steel in this year (more than in the rest of the world), and the Germans produced more than 10 million tons of steel. Although China's production of 8 million tons of steel is much more than before, it is still far from the United States, Britain and Germany.

Well, it's far worse than the Americans, and it's just a little worse than the British and Germans. Try harder, and there is hope to catch up with the British. And China does have that potential. Compared with the annual output of more than one billion tons in later generations, more than 20 million tons is just a drizzle.

The British are now building the battleship "Dreadnought" while renovating, or rather expanding, their land forces. Since the Boer War, the British have rarely suffered so much. In the first battle on the Tibetan Plateau, although the British lost few native troops, the annihilation of the whole army made them lose face greatly.

In addition to face, Tibet is located on the top of the world, and it is easy to rush to the pearl of India, the empress, from top to bottom. Although it is not so easy in practice, since there is such a possibility, then the British cannot ignore it.

After several successive failed attacks on Tibet, the British learned the hard way and spent a great deal of money to arm their small (relative to Russia and China) and strong (relative to countries other than the Great Powers) army to the teeth.

Light machine guns, rapid-fire guns, heavy artillery, the latest Lee Enfield rifle, this time, the British mobilized tens of thousands of local lobster soldiers, and tens of thousands of colonial troops, and slaughtered the Tibetan Plateau in one fell swoop.

However, the British had to face the Tibetans, who were also armed to the teeth. Although the quality of the Tubo people is relatively poor, and the serfs who were summoned do not know anything except guns, the Tubo people have foreign aid.....

The volunteers operated 105mm howitzers, 150mm howitzers, and 122mm cannons, and brought down the British soldiers who stubbornly used line tactics to the ground piece by piece. The British also washed the fortress held by the Tibetans over and over again with cannons of various calibers.

However, it is not easy to supply on the plateau, and the attacking side needs to use more and larger shells in order to inflict considerable damage on the defender. After paying nearly 10,000 dead and wounded and running out the shells they carried, the Tibetans still stubbornly held on to their positions.

Although those serfs were a little jerky in their skills and tactics, after a few battles, they became elite veterans. At the same time, the Tibetan soldiers believed that if they died in battle for the gods and Buddhas, they would be able to ascend to a paradise full of milk and honey after death, and they would be able to endure casualties and starvation.

The war continued for several months, but the British had no choice but to retreat. In his report to London, the general who led the team wrote: "..... If you want to force the Tibetans to submit, you must mobilize an army of 100,000 and increase the supply of ammunition tenfold....."

“...... Those Tibetans used Chinese-made munitions and caused us a lot of damage...... Their artillery, in particular, always finds our artillery positions very quickly and destroys them......"

The Times lamented: ".... This defeat almost lost the face of the empire....."

However, the British had already lost face in the previous battles. Almost all countries in the world were happy to see the defeat of the British. Both the United States and Russia would rejoice in the loss of the British. And the people who are most happy about this are probably the Germans.

Since the Battle of Sedan had been gaining momentum, the Germans had grown rapidly, and steel production had largely caught up with the British. Moreover, the Germans have developed science and technology very quickly, and have their own uniqueness in chemical industry, which has been at a similar level with the British, and has made the United States, France, Russia and other powers a lot stronger.

With such strength, the Germans urgently needed more colonies to meet the growing productive forces at home. Although China's rapid industrialization found a huge market for the world's products, Germany, which did not have a strong navy and was unable to secure the strategic point of Qingdao in China, did not benefit much.

Faced with the resurgence of the British's strength, the Germans, who were about to be suffocated from their internal wounds, were already thinking about building a large fleet that could compete with the Royal Navy - that is, the future High Seas Fleet. Without a strong navy, more colonies could not be captured.

Without a strong navy, the Germans could only spread their influence to Africa below Europe. And how much purchasing power can Africa have? Those black uncles probably haven't even fully implemented the concept of money, and they can have a ghost's purchasing power.

If we want to turn Africa into a qualified dumping ground for products, we must first spend a lot of effort to build infrastructure, management, and education.... The Germans still adhered to the white skin of Europe and the United States, and only plundered the outside world, regardless of construction.

Even to their own people, the great powers are just as brutal, but because of the progress of technological development, it will seem a little better. In this day and age, no/production/order/grade is not an adjective. After decades, the Japanese will still be able to do such a thing as contract labor, and if they can force dozens of millions of young girls to sell themselves in the South Seas, you can see how brutal imperialism is.

In contrast, Chen Cheng's brutal policies in the north, such as sitting, can only be regarded as pediatric. For example, in the United States now, when large companies and big conglomerates are rampant. The big conglomerates had thousands of thugs, and they had repeatedly killed the striking workers in rivers of blood.

This world is so cruel that a country that cannot brutalize its own people does not even have the right to speak in the international community. In this world of the law of the jungle, there is no government that is not brutal. All countries, with the exception of the United States, are in a state of peril.

The situation of the Germans was even more dangerous, because for various reasons, Chancellor Bismarck's policy of alliance with Russia was angered by Wilhelm II. Now around Germany, France, England, and Russia are all on the opposite side of it. If they want to fight their way out of such an encircled state, the Germans need to pay more sacrifices and build a stronger army and navy.

The advent of the dreadnought made all the previous battleships obsolete, and the Germans were now rarely on the same starting line as the British.... Well, a little bit behind in the position. This is when they have the best chance of catching up with the British in terms of the navy.

In the face of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the Germans had already made up their minds.