There are currently eight Weiyan-class battleships under construction, and if all of them can be completed, the overall strength should still surpass that of the Chinese Navy, but the problem is that Britain cannot abandon its own coastal defense and transfer all the navy's latest capital ships to the Far East.

What's more, even if the British government really had such a great determination, it would take at least a year and a half for those Majestic-class battleships to join the Royal Navy's combat sequence.

In addition, the standard platoon of the Majesty-class battleships is close to 15,000 tons, and the draft is also deep, so it is impossible to cross the Suez Canal at all (in fact, there is still a way, but it is very troublesome. It is necessary to go around the Cape of Good Hope in a big circle to come to the Far East, and a long voyage is a kind of torture for both warships and personnel, and it is certainly not possible to carry out long-term maintenance and repair after being in place, and if these times are counted, it will take at least half a year.

In other words, it will take at least two years for the British government to have the strength to defeat the Chinese navy, and the Chinese navy must be willing to fight it, and don't forget, the overwhelming speed advantage of the Haitian over the battleships! And if the Chinese Navy adopts the tactic of breaking diplomatic relations, because Britain simply does not have a large armored cruiser capable of counterbalancing the Haitian-class cruisers, it is only a matter of time before the supply lines of the Grand Fleet sent from thousands of miles are cut off, which is enough to cause the British Grand Fleet to collapse without a fight.

Moreover, just two years of being unable to take the Chinese navy is enough to cause devastating damage to the image of the British Royal Navy, and once the other powers are no longer afraid of the British Navy, the British Empire, which now no longer has a clear advantage in industrial power, will soon fall from the throne of world hegemony, which Phillimant does not want to see in any case.

Seeing Philistine's grim expression, Zhou Chunyu was overjoyed, and immediately shook out a fierce material, exerting more pressure on it, "Don't think that the majestic class can overwhelm us if it is built, you are building warships, and we are also building, about three months later, the number of Haitian-class patrols will not be just 6, but 12!" ”

"What?" , Phimantle's heart suddenly cooled, although he also knew that the other party might just be scaring him, but what if it was true? If 12 Haitian-class battleships are installed, even if all the Majesty-class battleships are completed and put into service, Britain will not have much chance of winning, unless there is a general mobilization, but if that happens, the cost will be too great

It was not only Fremant who was surprised, Liu Buyun also cast a puzzled look at Zhou Chunyu, he remembered that Li Hui said that it would not be completed until the end of next year, but considering that Zhou Chunyu might just be bragging and scaring the British, Liu Buyun did not ask questions on the spot.

However, Zhou Chunyu guessed Liu Buyun's thoughts, and took the initiative to explain to him, and by the way, he also took this opportunity to further enhance the credibility of the matter of "China will soon have 12 Haitian-class armored cruisers", "We have always been cautious in our words, saying that by the end of next year at the latest, in fact, it will generally be earlier than this time, not to mention that at that time, Juzi and the elders were afraid that he would be rash, so they deliberately overreported the construction period when communicating with him."

"I see, that's great! With so many capital ships, I'm not afraid of any enemy! Although Liu Buyun was still a little skeptical, he still cooperated and made a look of great joy.

And although Philmante desperately warned himself that these words were probably just lies made up by the other party, he was not afraid of 10,000, only in case, if what Zhou Chunyu said was true, the British colonial system was in danger of completely collapsing, and the consequences made him shudder to think about it.

"What are you building so many capital ships for? Want to dominate the world? Unable to control his emotions any longer, Philmante asked sharply, but the high pitch revealed the deep trepidation in his heart.

Zhou Chunyu immediately shook his head and denied, "We Chinese have loved peace since ancient times, and Momen has always advocated 'non-offensive' and opposed all unjust wars."

Although it is not easy to think of an accurate translation of some words in a short period of time, Fermant still understood the general meaning, and he was so angry that he almost pointed at Zhou Chunyu's nose and scolded, "You shamelessly attacked our Far East Fleet without declaring war, and you are still embarrassed to say that you love peace?" ”

"The unequal treaties signed by the great powers and the Manchu government are all illegal and must be abolished in their entirety, so the ceded Hong Kong will naturally be recovered, and the British government will not take the initiative to return it anyway, so we can only take it ourselves, although this war was provoked by our side, but there is no doubt that it is a just war against aggression!" Zhou Chunyu replied confidently, "What's more, we have strictly followed the international diplomatic procedures, and yesterday our central government officially declared war on your country. ”

"How can we work together so well from a thousand miles away?" , Philmante did not believe.

Zhou Chunyu spread his hands and said something that made him vomit blood almost on the spot, "The time of the declaration of war was originally planned, and the task of our fleet was only to blockade Shanghai by sea and cooperate with the army's attack on the Shanghai concession. By the way, the army units in Guangzhou were supposed to attack Hong Kong in a few days, but as soon as you leave, as long as they are not too stupid, they will definitely do it immediately."

Vice Admiral Philmante only felt that his eyes were dark, and he almost fainted, although it was difficult to distinguish the truth from what the other party said, but the attack on Hong Kong should be true, in this case, it would be a big mistake to rashly take the main force of the fleet to the north, otherwise at least Hong Kong should be able to hold out for a few more days, if the information is a little better, the Far East Fleet even has a chance to escape safely.

Thinking that these mistakes would inevitably be caught and criticized by the opponent, and that being a prisoner of war had already disgraced the Royal Navy, Vice Admiral Felimante knew that his future was completely hopeless, and it would be good if he could not go to court-martial, and his report would probably be regarded as shirking responsibility, rather than attracting sufficient attention from the country.

Thinking of this, Fermante only felt disheartened, he seemed to be ten years old all of a sudden, and walked back to the cabin where the prisoners of war were housed, no longer paying attention to Zhou Chunyu, who didn't seem to finish speaking, "It's useless to say more, I'm already a disgrace to the Royal Navy, even if I say it, the country won't listen to it" (To be continued.) )