In the British Prime Minister's Office at 10 Downing Street in London, England, War Secretary Henry Wiley and Foreign Minister Marquess Lansdowne heard from Prime Minister Henry ? Campbell? Banervan, after just deciding to build 8 Iron Duke-class super dreadnought battleships, and then spending a lot of money to build 12 Lion-class battlecruisers, couldn't help but exclaim.

"God, to build 12 Lion-class battlecruisers at the same time, even according to 1 2.62 million pounds, it will also cost 31.44 million pounds, Prime Minister, is it too much to build, after all, the battlecruisers have not been tested in actual combat, should we be conservative and build a few fewer first." War Secretary Henry Willy hesitated and said.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Marquis of Lansdowne, followed and said: "The Royal Navy of our British Empire suffered extremely heavy losses in the war that just ended, plus the naval battle of Chittagong, India, not to mention the loss of warships, nearly 80,000 officers and sailors alone have been killed or missing, and there are still a large number of warships in our shipyard, which are under construction, and now we have to add so many super dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers, can we use the personnel of our navy?" Don't have a situation where there are ships and no people, that's bad. ”

Fisher, the admiral next to him, heard the words of the other 2 British ministers, and scolded his mother in his heart, you are definitely envious, jealous and hateful, don't you all think about the 150 million pound loan, but our navy only needs 55 million pounds to build 8 Iron Duke-class super dreadnought battleships and 12 Lion-class battlecruisers, even if you build a batch of other types of warships, it may not take up half of the 150 million pounds. What do you mean by jumping out in such a hurry?

So Prime Minister Henry? Campbell? Banavin hasn't spoken yet. Fisher hurriedly said: "Although the battlecruiser has not been in actual combat, it relies on the firepower and speed of the battlecruiser. Not only can it be competent for the bombardment battle between battleships, but it also has a very big advantage in the sea sabotage war, and the Chinese Empire dares to build 12 battle cruisers at once, which can show how strong the combat effectiveness of the battle cruisers is. Although our navy has lost a lot of excellent officers and men after declaring war with the Chinese Empire, our navy has a perfect reserve system, and there will be absolutely no problem with the staffing of 8 Iron Duke-class super dreadnought battleships and 12 Lion-class battlecruisers. ”

Henry? Campbell? Banavon knew about the £150 million loan he had gotten. There are many people staring at it, but the reason why the bank loan was originally to expand the power of the navy, after all, Britain has just received the news that the Germans are going to build 8 super dreadnought battleships, if Britain wants to continue to play in the game of military competition, the British navy must increase the capital warships accordingly.

Henry? Campbell? Banervin said at this time: "I agree with General Fisher's opinion, in addition to the 55 million pounds required for these 8 Iron Duke-class super dreadnought battleships and 12 Lion-class battlecruisers, I am also ready to allocate 15 million pounds to the Admiralty for the manufacture of other types of warships." In addition, with a loan of 150 million from several banks, we can also increase the pensions of some of the fallen officers and soldiers of the Navy and Army, and we cannot afford to inappropriate the families of those who have sacrificed their lives for the British Empire. By the way, those Indians who died in battle also need to pay less pensions. After all, it was also for us to fight and die in battle. ”

Fisher said excitedly: "If there is another £15 million in funding, we in the Admiralty can add many more fast protection cruisers, destroyers and submarines." Fight with the newly built Iron Duke-class super dreadnought battleships and Lion-class battlecruisers, and increase a portion of the pension. It can raise the morale of our naval officers and men a little higher. ”

War Minister Henry Wiley nodded and said: "It is time to increase the pension for the officers and soldiers who died in battle, at present, our army has lost hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers of the regular army, and the Indian soldiers have also lost millions, and the increase in the amount of the pension is also conducive to our army to continue to recruit, I hope the prime minister can take out a part of the loan to equip our army with some heavy weapons, such as tanks, armored vehicles and artillery, and now the heavy weapons of our British army regular army, not to mention compared with the Chinese Empire, Even compared with the Germans, there is a big gap. ”

For the expansion of the British Army, the British treasury has long put the funds into the account of the War Department, and now there are still many funds for the expansion of the Army, so Henry Willy hopes to obtain some loans to strengthen the Army's heavy weapons and equipment, after all, the troops that have been expanded now are equipped with the same weapons as the previous troops, and the number of heavy weapons is much less than that of the German Army.

Henry? Campbell? Banavin continued: "In addition to the remaining loan for the purchase of war materials, I will set aside a part of it for the construction of new fighters, and as long as the new fighters are successfully designed, we will start mass production immediately." ”

Outside the city of Ufa, when the Royal Army of the Chinese Empire was attacking the positions of the coalition forces, an escort fleet sent by the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, escorting three divisions of the Marine Corps, arrived at the sea outside the port of Sydney on the east coast of Australia at about 8 o'clock in the morning on December 20, 1908.

Sydney is the first port established by Europeans in Australia, and it is also the largest port city in Australia at present, with a population of about 4.5 million in Australia, of which about 3.5 million are European immigrants, and the rest are millions of Aboriginal Australians, while Sydney has a population of nearly 400,000, accounting for more than one-ninth of European immigrants in Australia.

The main warships of the escort fleet this time are basically the warships of the Royal Navy's Fourth Fleet, and Chen Ming, the commander of the Fourth Fleet, also followed over this time and became the commander-in-chief of the escort fleet.

In the bridge of the dreadnought battleship Longwei, the flagship of the Fourth Fleet, Chen Ming summoned the three division commanders of the Marine Corps, Ju Peng, Wang Youlin, and Sha Lei, to discuss the battle plan for the port of Sydney.

Chen Ming smiled and said to the three division commanders of the Marine Corps: "I really didn't expect that the British warships in Australia, as well as the Australians' own warships. They are all concentrated in Sydney Harbour, which can save our navy a lot of trouble. I was afraid that the enemy would hide the warship in the sea and then take the opportunity to attack our supply transport ships at sea. Then our navy will have to toss, every time we send supplies, our navy must send a large number of warships to escort the supply transport ships, now we only need to destroy these enemy warships in Sydney Harbor, and in the future, it will be much easier to escort the supply transport ships, I have to thank the commander of the British Navy in Australia. ”

Ju Peng, the commander of the 1st Marine Division, also said with a smile: "The best enemy army commander also has the courage to take Australia's British Army and Australia's own army like a naval commander. All concentrated in Sydney, so that we Marines can do their job in one battle. ”

Australia is vast and sparsely populated, and Ju Peng hopes that the British Army and the Australian Army can concentrate their main forces together and fight a decisive battle with the Marines to settle the situation and solve Australia's problems.

Chen Ming said: "Look at the posture, the enemy's army is also indispensable in Sydney, they are all a family, so I won't be verbose." Our escort fleet immediately launched an attack on the harbor, trying to destroy the enemy's fleet in the harbor, destroying most of the harbor's shore defense guns and fortifications, and then your 3 marine divisions landed again. It's up to you to discuss how to log in! The warships of our escort fleet will help your 3 divisions clear the obstacles first. ”

Wang Youlin, commander of the 2nd Marine Division, said with a smile: "With so many warships in our navy, I think it will be time for our three divisions to land." It should be easy, after our warships have almost destroyed the fleet, shore defense guns, and fortifications in Sydney Harbour. The British and Australian armies don't want to stop our marines. ”

Sha Lei, the commander of the 3rd Marine Division, also said with a smile: "It's been a long time since I've seen the scene of the battleship's main guns bombarding the port, and that scene is very enjoyable. Hehe, we'll see you in a moment. ”

Several other people couldn't help but laugh when they heard Sha Lei's words.

In a humble two-story small white building in the city of Sydney, Vice Admiral Mihir Layton, the commander of the British Army in Australia, Admiral Mudhill, the minister of the Australian War Department, Colonel Yonander, the commander of the British Navy in Australia, Vice Admiral Natalitan, the minister of the Australian Admiralty, and the mayor of Sydney, Robert Taggia, are all gathered here.

Vice Admiral Natalitan, the Minister of the Australian Admiralty, said angrily: "The fleet of the Chinese Empire has reached the waters outside the port of Sydney, and it may not be long before it will attack the port of Sydney, and now our entire Australian warships, as well as the British fleet, are trapped here, and there is no need to argue about whether the navy needs to leave the port of Sydney." ”

In fact, the British naval commander, Colonel Yonander, and the Australian naval commander, Vice Admiral Natalita, had a very big disagreement about the navy's tactics for some time before.

Vice Admiral Natalitale believes that the escort fleet sent by the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire this time is too strong and exceeds the fleets of the two countries of Britain and Australia, and in order to avoid unnecessary losses, the fleets of the two countries should immediately leave the port and go into the vast sea, waiting for an opportunity to attack the sea supply lines of the imperial Chinese army, and cooperate with the land forces of the two countries on land to resist the army of the Chinese Empire in the vast territory of Australia.

However, as an old-fashioned British naval colonel, who is nearly 60 years old this year, Jonander does not agree with the British and Australian navies to flee without a fight, and Jonander believes that the warships of the two countries should be concentrated here in Sydney Harbor, and then cooperate with the shore defense guns in Sydney Harbor to resist the landing of the Chinese Imperial Army on Australia, so as not to fall into the prestige of the British Royal Navy.

Although Natalitan is a lieutenant general, Britain is Australia's eldest brother, and Australia, as the younger brother, can only listen to the advice of the eldest brother, so the commander-in-chief of the British and Australian navies is the British naval colonel Jonandel, so now the warships of the British and Australian countries in the entire Australia are concentrated in Sydney Harbor.

Vice Admiral Nataletan of Australia has quarreled with British Navy Captain Jonandel several times over this matter, and Vice Admiral Nattaletan hopes that Jonandel will immediately change the order and let the fleets of Britain and Australia leave Sydney Harbor, or let the Australian fleet leave, but the stubborn Jonandel does not agree no matter what he says, and it is too late for Jonandel to agree.

Yonander sneered and said, "It's okay to come, some people in the province want to be deserters!" ”

"Who do you say is a deserter! Don't you look at the size of the escort fleet of the Chinese Empire, is it something we can resist? I see that you, the arrogant British Naval Colonel, have lived for such a long time in vain, and you can't figure out such a shallow path! You've walked into the grave with half a foot yourself, but you've had so many navy boys bury you! You're an old bastard! Lieutenant General Natalitan slapped the table and stood up and shouted.

"How dare you call me an old bastard! I'm going to duel with you! Yonander also stood up and glared at Natalitan.

"Okay, don't quarrel, the fleet and army of the Chinese Empire have already hit our noses, you still have the heart to continue arguing, now we must put all our energy on guarding Sydney, you have to quarrel and wait until you hold Sydney, and then find a place where there is no one to continue to quarrel." Lieutenant General Michiel Layton, commander of the British Army, said in a deep voice.

After Lieutenant General Mihir Layton finished speaking, both Yonander and Natalitan snorted coldly at each other, and then sat down again.

Mihil Leiden glanced at the British Navy Commander Yonandell and shook his head helplessly, how could the Navy send such a superb stubborn old man to command the British Navy's fleet in Australia!

The British Army was already preparing to implement the guerrilla tactics of the South African Boers on Australian soil, using the vast territory of Australia to contain the troops of the Chinese Empire, so that the Chinese Empire could not easily occupy Australia.

The British Admiralty also gave an order to Jonander to lead the LinkedIn Navy's fleet in Australia to avoid fighting with the fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy as much as possible, preserve strength, and take attacking the maritime logistics line of the Chinese Empire as the main combat objective.

However, Yonander sent a telegram to the British Admiralty, which meant that the Royal Navy of the British Empire had suffered successive defeats in this war, which made the morale of the officers and men of the entire British Navy plummet, and now the fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy came to Australia again, for the honor of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, he was determined to fight the fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy to the end, and the Royal Navy of the British Empire could be defeated, but it must not be afraid of battle. (To be continued.) )