After the end of the last war with the Chinese Empire, Russia only had the territory of Europe, with an area of about 6 million square kilometers, but before that, Russia's main industry, population and economy were concentrated in Europe, so although Russia was occupied by the Chinese Empire so much land, Russia's industrial strength and economic system did not suffer much loss. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

The reason why Russia is so dependent on the financial aid of Britain, France and the United States is completely because Tsar Nicholas II expanded Russia's armaments at any cost, once Britain, France and the United States stopped their financial aid to Russia, then it is impossible to support such a huge army by relying on Russia alone, and the financial assistance of Britain, France and the United States to Russia can be said to be Russia's top priority at present, and most of the energy of Russian Finance Minister Witte is now focused on negotiating aid funds with Britain, France and the United States.

Hearing Tsar Nicholas II inquire about the next free aid fund for Britain, Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte immediately said: "Tell His Majesty the Tsar that the British government has not yet agreed to the next free aid of 20 million pounds, and the minister is still negotiating with the representatives of the British government." ”

Tsar Nicholas II cursed Lin Daxin again, and then said helplessly: "If it is not for the Chinese Empire, how can our powerful Russian Empire rely so much on the three countries of Britain, France and the United States, look at their faces, this year's free aid from Britain, France and the United States adds up to only about 35 million pounds, of which 8 million pounds will be paid to the Chinese Empire, and now all this money has been invested in the navy, land and air forces, Russia's own finances have also been put into military spending this year, but these funds are far from enough. ”

After a pause, Tsar Nicholas II continued: "The Navy's ship-building plan in this round has not yet been fully funded, the Air Force still needs to add more fighters, and the Army needs to continue to expand the new group army, which requires a lot of funds, so this time the British must come up with the 20 million pounds, otherwise it will delay the Tsar's expansion plan!" Not only do we have to talk with Britain about the next amount of free aid, but we also have to talk with the United States and France, and if our Russian Empire wants to defeat the Chinese Empire, the scale of the navy, land and air forces is far from enough. ”

At the British Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, England, after the end of the last war, Herbert? Henry? Asquith, put the British Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert ? Peel, Secretary of War Henry Wiley, Secretary of the Navy Fisher, and Secretary of the Air Force Rossberry were all summoned here.

Henry, the previous Prime Minister? Campbell? After the collapse of the cabinet formed by Banervin, War Secretary Henry Wiley and Navy Secretary Fisher immediately got in touch with the new Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? Asquith, but the former Foreign Minister, the Marquess of Lansdowne, did not catch the train of the new prime minister and withdrew from British politics.

Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? Asquith frowned and said to the four British ministers: "The Russians are now desperately asking our British Empire to give them another 20 million pounds in free aid in the near future, what do you think about this?" ”

Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? As soon as Asquith's words fell, the Admiralty Minister Fisher said urgently: "Prime Minister, haven't we already given the Russians 12 million pounds in gratuitous aid this year?" The Russians are insatiable, 20 million pounds is enough for our Navy to build 6 or 7 super dreadnought battleships! ”

Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? Asquith sighed and said: "It is true that 12 million pounds have been given to the Russians this year, but the Russians emphasize that they are carrying out a large-scale expansion of the army, navy and air force, and this year our British Empire, as well as France and the United States, have spent their financial aid on the expansion!" You must know that our British Empire has been very helpful to Russia in expanding its military strength in recent years, and the reason is clear to everyone, but the Russian Tsar has reached the point of expanding the army at any cost, and most of Russia's financial revenue this year has been invested in the Russian army. ”

War Secretary Henry Willy said in a deep voice: "Now that our British Empire has been tied to this Russian chariot, we can only continue to support Russia, after all, Russia is now the most important force to contain the Chinese Empire, and the 7 million huge army troops are not decorations, but I don't think there is a need to give the Russians 20 million pounds this time, the Russians are already a bottomless pit, as long as they give the Russians a part of the funds, so that their huge army will not collapse because of the problem of funds." ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert? Peel then said in a deep voice: "Our Entente led by the British Empire, as well as the Allied Powers led by Germany, and the US-Japan Alliance led by the United States, all have conflicts of interest with the Chinese Empire, since the rise of the Chinese Empire, has seized a large amount of land and resources, but also dumped a large number of cheap industrial products on all countries in the world, these are intolerable to the old empires, if we want to return to the position of world hegemon, we will inevitably have a life-and-death war with the Chinese Empire." ”

After a pause, Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert? Peel sighed and said: "But the current military strength of the Chinese Empire is too strong, since the end of the last war, our British Empire has invested a huge amount of military spending on the navy, land and air forces, almost all of them have caught up with astronomical amounts, but with our British Empire's current military strength, it is still impossible to be the opponent of the Chinese Empire, so we need an ally like Russia to fight with our British Empire in the next war between our British Empire and the Chinese Empire. Gratuitous aid to Russia cannot be stopped, and of course it cannot be given as much as Russia wants, and we in the British Empire will give as much as we want. ”

Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? Asquith rubbed his temples to Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert? Peel said: "Russia's request for free aid again will be handled by you, the Chancellor of the Exchequer!" This time try to give the Russians as little money as possible, and the money of our British Empire is not blowing in the wind! ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Robert? Peel nodded and said: "The Prime Minister can rest assured, his subordinates will handle it properly, and try to control the amount of this free aid within 10 million pounds." ”

Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? Asquith turned his head to the Minister of the Navy Fisher and said: "In the future war with the Chinese Empire, the key is to rely on your Royal Navy, if the Royal Navy can regain the position of the world's first navy, our British Empire can have the confidence to defeat the Chinese Empire." ”

Admiral Fisher nodded with a serious face and said: "Prime Minister, in recent years, thanks to the support of a large amount of funds, our Royal Navy of the British Empire has narrowed the gap with the Imperial Navy of China, and at present, our Royal Navy of the British Empire has 8 Fury-class aircraft carriers, 5 Orion-class super-class dreadnought battleships, 8 King George V-class dreadnought battleships, 8 Iron Duke-class super dreadnought battleships, 12 Lion-class battlecruisers, 1 Dreadnought-class dreadnought-class battleship, 3 St. Vincent-class dreadnought-class battleships, 4 Neptune-class dreadnought battleships and 3 giant-class dreadnought battleships, a total of 52 capital warships, although only half of the 104 capital warships of the Imperial Chinese Navy, but in our shipyard, there are still 12 Queen Elizabeth-class super battleships, 12 Tiger battlecruisers and 8 Glorious-class aircraft carriers under construction, and within 2 years, the 30 capital warships under construction will enter the ranks of the Royal Navy. ”

The Fury-class aircraft carrier was the first aircraft carrier of the British Navy shortly after the end of the last war, and they deeply felt the huge role that aircraft carriers could play in naval warfare.

Thanks to the strong design and manufacturing capabilities of the British shipbuilding industry, coupled with the aircraft carriers of the Chinese Empire as a reference, the first aircraft carrier of the British Navy was soon designed, known as the Fury-class aircraft carrier, with a full load displacement of 28,000 tons, a length of 236.8 meters, a width of 41.6 meters, a maximum draft of 7.5 meters, a design maximum speed of 24 knots, and 16 57 mm anti-aircraft guns and 18 anti-aircraft machine guns.

The British also specially designed an aircraft carrier fighter, an aircraft carrier dive bomber and an aircraft carrier torpedo bomber for this Fury-class aircraft carrier, which can carry 30 British aircraft carrier fighters, 20 British aircraft carrier dive bombers, 20 British aircraft carrier torpedo bombers and 4 reconnaissance aircraft.

In order to catch up with the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, the British Navy built 8 Fury-class aircraft carriers at the same time, and immediately after the completion of the construction of these 8 Fury-class aircraft carriers, the construction of the second aircraft carrier of the British Navy, the Glorious-class aircraft carrier with a full load displacement of 34,000 tons.

The Glorious-class aircraft carriers are faster than the Fury-class aircraft carriers, reaching a maximum of 26 knots, and can carry 36 British carrier fighters, 24 British carrier dive bombers, 24 British carrier torpedo bombers, and 4 reconnaissance aircraft, an increase of 14 carrier-based aircraft.

Although the British Navy knew that aircraft carriers could play a huge role in naval warfare, the British Navy, which was fond of artillery giants, did not give up the construction of super dreadnought battleships and battle cruisers, and after completing the construction of the King George V-class dreadnought battleships, the Iron Duke-class super dreadnought battleships and the Lion-class battlecruisers, the British Navy began to build the Queen Elizabeth-class super battleships and the Tiger battlecruisers one after another.

Queen Elizabeth-class super battleship with a standard displacement of 29,150 tons, a full load displacement of 32,600 tons, and a length of 195 meters, The ship is 27.6 meters wide, the maximum draft is 9.2 meters, and the design maximum speed is 25 knots, in order to consolidate its dominant position in terms of firepower, the Queen Elizabeth-class super dreadnought battleship is equipped with a 45-fold caliber 381 mm main gun, replacing the original British Navy Super Dreadnought battleship 343 mm main gun, but due to the large weight of the main gun and the increase in power, the Queen Elizabeth class is one less main gun turret than the super battleship built by the British Navy before, and the four double-mounted main gun turrets are symmetrically arranged in the front and rear of the hull with a knapsack layout, which reduces the number of main guns and the number of main turrets to save the space and armor weight of the hull, which is used to strengthen the power system and increase the thickness of defensive armor.

The Queen Elizabeth-class superbattleship was also armed with 14 105 mm secondary guns, 16 57 mm anti-aircraft guns, 12 12.9 mm anti-aircraft machine guns, 4 533 mm torpedo tubes, horizontal armor belts from 228 mm to 330 mm, deck armor 76 mm, main turret armor 330 mm, conning tower armor 330 mm, crew 982 people.

The Tiger battlecruiser was designed on the basis of the Lion-class battlecruiser with a standard displacement of 28840 tons and a full load displacement of 35900 tons. The ship has a length of 214.6 meters, a width of 27.6 meters, a maximum draft of 9.3 meters, 39 boilers, 6 steam units, a designed maximum speed of 27.5 knots, and is equipped with 5 twin 45 times the caliber 343 mm main gun, 12 152 mm secondary guns, 16 57 mm anti-aircraft guns, 16 anti-aircraft machine guns of 12.9 mm caliber, 2 533 mm torpedo tubes, horizontal armor belts from 102 mm to 228 mm, deck armor 63 mm, main turret armor 228 mm, conning tower armor 280 mm, and a crew of 1210 people.

Listening to the words of Admiral Fischer, Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? Asquith couldn't help but smile bitterly, since the end of the last war, the British government has invested a lot of money in the army, most of which has been invested in the British Royal Navy, but so much money in exchange for only half of the main warship has just reached half of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire.

According to the current division of countries in the world, all-steel battleships are no longer classified as the main warships of the navy, otherwise the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, which has 52 all-steel battleships, will have a large more than the British Royal Navy in terms of the number of main warships, and now the British Royal Navy only has 19 all-steel battleships.

Prime Minister Herbert? Henry? Asquith sighed and said: "It is really incredible that our Royal Navy of the British Empire has such a powerful strength, and the number of main warships is only half of that of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire. ”

Admiral Fisher sighed and said: "The main reason is that our Royal Navy of the British Empire has lost a large number of warships in the previous wars, and among the main warships in service with the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire, there are 1 Orion-class super dreadnought-class battleship, 2 Bellerophon-class dreadnought-class battleships and 1 St. Vincent-class dreadnought-class battleship of our British Imperial Royal Navy. (To be continued.) )