After the news of Lin Daxin's victory over the combined fleet of the United States and Italy spread around the world, Lin Daxin's navy was more scrupled by several major naval powers in the world, which made the world's naval powers involuntarily accelerate the speed of the naval arms race, and several neighbors around Lin Daxin also began to arrange for Lin Daxin.

At the British Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, England, the British Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, summoned the British Admiralty, Earl Campbell, to the Prime Minister's official residence. Salisbury, who is nearly 70 years old, is already serving as Britain's prime minister for the third time.

The Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, said: "Earl, you probably already know what is happening in Asia! ”

Earl Campbell, the Minister of the Navy, nodded and said: "Prime Minister, our Admiralty has received the exact battle report of the Battle of Manila Bay, but I really didn't expect that the combined fleets of the two countries were still defeated in the hands of that Far East military strongman Lin Daxin, and now he has captured 9 all-steel battleships from the United States and Italy, and his strength has become even stronger!" ”

The Prime Minister, the Marquis of Salisbury, nodded and said: "Although this Lin Daxin is only a governor of the Qing Dynasty, his current strength is completely capable of overthrowing the decadent and aging Qing Empire and becoming the master of the Qing Empire himself." But according to intelligence, Lin Daxin is a radical, and if he becomes the master of the Qing Dynasty, it will pose a very big threat to the interests of our British Empire in the Qing Dynasty, so our British Empire must continue to support the current Manchu rulers of the Qing Dynasty. This time, the Earl came over to discuss increasing the naval strength of our British Empire in Asia. In order to deal with the growing threat of Lin Daxin's fleet, and at the same time, it can also warn Lin Daxin not to act rashly. ”

Earl Campbell agreed: "We at the Admiralty also think that there is now a naval power in Asia. In the face of the frenzied expansion of the Japanese Navy, the Russian Navy, and Lin Daxin's fleet, although there are 4 Junquan-class all-steel battleships, they can no longer dominate the seas of Asia. In recent years, the Imperial Navy has been building warships, and it is time to strengthen the Empire's Asian Navy! ”

The Prime Minister, the Marquess of Salisbury, asked: "It turns out that your Admiralty already has the idea of strengthening the British Asian Navy, so is there a concrete plan?" ”

Earl Campbell said, "Our Admiralty has developed a plan to support the Imperial Asian Navy, and we are preparing to transfer the other four all-steel battleships of the Sovereign-class and the two all-steel battleships of the Pavrell-class to Asia. Two of the Sovereign-class ships joined the Chinese Fleet in Hong Kong, two of the Sovereign-class ships joined the Singapore Far East Fleet, and two of the Pavreel-class ships joined the East India Fleet. In this way, in the Asian region, the British Navy has 10 all-steel battleships, in addition to the original 12 ironclad battleships of the three Asian fleets, and 10 new large armored cruisers. 12 new protective cruisers. 10 new destroyers, as well as more than 20 old ironclad ships and armored ships, plus nearly 100 torpedo boats and gunboats. We, the British Navy, are confident in maintaining the dominance and authority of our British Empire in Asia! ”

Prime Minister Marquis Salisbury thought about it for a moment and said: "Transferring two more Majestic-class all-steel battleships to strengthen the Far East Fleet in Singapore must let Lin Daxin, who has obtained the Philippines, feel the power of the British Empire, although I am not worried that Lin Daxin dares to challenge our British Empire, but I am very worried that Lin Daxin has ambitions for the Dutch in Indonesia." You must know that Indonesia also has a large number of Chinese immigrants. ”

Count Campbell nodded. "Yes, Prime Minister! When I got back, I started to send these 8 all-steel battleships to Asia! ”

The Prime Minister, the Marquis of Salisbury, asked again: "What is going on with the new all-steel battleships of the Imperial Shipyards?" ”

Count Campbell said: "The new batch of all-steel battleships of the Imperial Navy is divided into two classes. A total of 12 Old Man-Star all-steel battleships were built, designed to be deployed in the Far East against the rapidly expanding Japanese Navy, the Russian Navy, and Lin Daxin's fleet, which were armed with the same armament as the Majesty class, but lighter and faster. The 12 Old Man Ships were built between 1900 and 1901. ”

The Prime Minister, the Marquis of Salisbury, smiled: "When the construction of these 12 old man-rated ships is completed and transferred to Asia, our Asian colonies will be truly foolproof!" ”

Count Campbell continued: "There is also an all-steel battleship of the Dreadnought class, which is an improved version of the Majesty class, and eight of them will be built in this class. In addition, the Admiralty has more plans to build large fast armored cruisers, fast cruisers and destroyers, and our Royal Navy will always be the most powerful navy in the world, there is no one! ”

In the Kremlin in St. Petersburg, Russia, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia brought the Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte and the Minister of the Admiralty, Grand Duke Vicky, into the palace.

Russian Tsar Nicholas II said to the two people with some surprise: "You already know the result of the naval battle between Lin Daxin in the Far East and the combined fleet of the United States and Italy, right?" ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte and Admiralty Archduke Vicky nodded at the same time.

Nicholas II couldn't help but sigh and said: "That Lin Daxin is really amazing, he can defeat a fleet with 20 all-steel battleships, you must know that our Russian Empire now has a total of 20 new all-steel battleships!" However, in this way, it seems that our Yellow Russia plan is not easy to achieve! ”

Admiral Chancellor Archduke Vich said: "Your Majesty, there are many reasons for the defeat of the combined fleet of the United States and Italy are not problems of strength, but many problems of tactics, and our Russian Navy is confident that it will defeat the naval fleet of Lin Daxin in the Far East and realize the Yellow Russia plan of the Russian Empire!" ”

Nicholas II said approvingly: "Not bad! Our Russian Navy should have such ambitions, but the strength of the Russian Navy, I think, needs to be strengthened, Grand Duke Vicky, has your Admiralty's second naval expansion plan been made? ”

Admiral Chancellor Vicky nodded and said: "Our Admiralty has designed a new Peresvet-class all-steel battleship with a displacement of 12,600 tons, and this class of all-steel battleship is an imitation of the Borodino-class. In order to reduce the construction cost, the armor design is thinner, but the corresponding speed will be faster. It can reach nearly 20 knots, and the main gun also chooses 2 twin 40 times the caliber of 254 mm, so that the cost of each Peresvet class is only three-fifths of that of the Borodino class. ”

Nicholas II nodded, he also knew that the current Russian finances could not support the Russian Navy to build expensive all-steel battleships without restrictions, so this kind of warship, which can be called a second-class all-steel battleship, is very suitable for Russia's current situation.

Nicholas II opened his mouth and asked: "How many all-steel battleships of the Peresvet class are ready to be planned by the Admiralty?" ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte said: "His Majesty the Tsar. Based on the current financial situation of the Empire, I can prepare for the construction of 6 Peresvet-class all-steel battleships! ”

Nicholas II frowned when he heard this, and after thinking about it, he said: "6 ships are not enough!" Victor. You'll have to pay for the construction of 8 Peresvet-class all-steel battleships! ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte thought about it in embarrassment, and finally gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty the Tsar, the minister tried his best to raise it, but fortunately, the cost of the Peresvet-class all-steel battleship is not high!" ”

Nicholas II nodded in satisfaction. And then said: "Don't we in Russia have 15 docks where we can build all-steel battleships?" Ben Tsar decided. One more money from the Tsar's coffers to continue the construction of 7 Borodino-class battleships in another 7 docks! ”

When the Admiral Chancellor Vicky heard this, his eyes suddenly showed excitement, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer Witte also showed a surprised look in his eyes when he looked at Nicholas II, this is the second time that Nicholas II has taken out the funds from the tsar's treasury to build a warship.

Nicholas II said: "After the 15 Peresvet-class ships are commissioned, the Trans-Siberian Railway will also be completed, and then it will be the time for the Russian Empire to expedition to the northeast!" ”

But the development of some things will not be determined by human will.

At the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan, Emperor Meiji brought Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito, Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu, and Combined Fleet Commander Heihachiro Togo into the palace.

Emperor Meiji said with a gloomy face, "Ladies and gentlemen of the Great Japanese Empire. For Lin Daxin in the Battle of Manila, he defeated the combined fleet of the United States and Italy, which had 20 all-steel battleships. What do you think? ”

Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu first said: "Emperor, the navies of the United States and Italy are very uncombative, which is the reason why they lost to the Northeast Navy Fleet under Lin Daxin in the naval battle!" ”

The commander of the Combined Fleet, Heihachiro Togo, also said: "In addition, the United States and Italy combined fleets also made heavy tactical mistakes, allowing the US Navy to independently face the 14 modified ironclad battleships, which made the US Navy suffer heavy losses soon after the naval battle began, and lost the strength to contain the ironclad battleships of the Northeast Navy!" In addition, the Northeast Navy has submarines with superior performance, which dealt a relatively heavy blow to the combined fleet of the United States and Italy, and finally the combined fleet of the United States and Italy was completely annihilated in the escape! ”

Emperor Meiji frowned and said: "Lin Daxin's submarine made us suffer a big loss in the last naval battle with our combined fleet, how is our Japanese submarine developing now?" ”

Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito said: "Emperor, all countries in the world are developing the latest submarines, but only Germany seems to have made some progress, and there has been no breakthrough in the development of submarines, including Japan!" ”

When Emperor Meiji heard this, he hurriedly asked: "The warships of our combined fleet will be ready for service by the end of this year, and if the combined fleet and the fleet under Lin Daxin fight again, won't the warships of our combined fleet still be attacked by Lin Daxin's submarines?" ”

Heihachiro Togo, commander of the Combined Fleet, said: "Emperor, the depth charges used by the Italian Navy are a sharp weapon against submarines, and the structure is so simple that we can manufacture them in the arsenals of Great Japan. With this depth charge in our possession, we can minimize the threat of submarines to our combined fleet! ”

Emperor Meiji breathed a sigh of relief in this way, Japan has been preparing for war in recent years, if there is no sharp weapon that can restrain Lin Daxin's submarine now, when the war breaks out again, the combined fleet may once again follow in the footsteps of the last war, and the course of the war may also be the same as the last time, after the defeat of the Japanese Navy, lose the right to control the sea, so that the Japanese Army can not get reinforcements and supplies, and finally Japan will lose the opportunity to rise!

Emperor Meiji asked Togo Heihachiro again: "At the end of this year, in addition to 18 all-steel battleships and 12 large armored cruisers in the Combined Fleet, which warships will enter service with the Combined Fleet?" ”

Heihachiro Togo said excitedly: "We also have 3 types of 12 protective cruisers built for us by Britain, France and Italy in service, 4 Compass class ships with a displacement of 2,135 tons in the United Kingdom, 4 Cartesian class ships with a displacement of 3,960 tons in France, and 4 Elba-class ships with a displacement of 2,800 tons in Italy. In addition, the shipyards of the empire have built 8 Yoshino-class protective cruisers with a displacement of 4,200 tons, so that the combined fleet will have 20 protective cruisers by the end of this year. In addition, 40 torpedo boats and 20 small gunboats entered service with the combined fleet at the same time. ”

Emperor Meiji waved his fist happily and said, "Good! Our combined fleet of Great Japan has finally been re-assembled! Togo-kun, when will these warships of the Combined Fleet be able to fully exert their combat effectiveness? ”

Heihachiro Togo hesitated for a moment and said: "Emperor, the officers and men of the Combined Fleet suffered too much losses in the last war, and now a large number of personnel have been recruited to supplement the Combined Fleet, and training has been carried out for several years, but training the Navy is not an overnight thing, and if the Combined Fleet wants to completely restore its combat effectiveness, at least after the warship is put into service, it will take one year for the officers and men of the Navy to become familiar with the warship!" ”

Emperor Meiji nodded and said, "One year, the empire is still waiting!" ”

Later, Emperor Meiji asked Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito, "What happened to the Japanese Army?" ”

"The Guards Division and the 26 Standing Divisions have been reorganized and are ready to fight for the Empire, and the Empire's arsenal has developed repeating rifles, heavy machine guns, grenades, and a tank fighting vehicle to equip the Japanese Army!" Ito said. ”

This tank tank tank in Japan is a light tank fighting vehicle weighing only 5 tons, with only one 37 mm gun, and one heavy machine gun.

Emperor Meiji thought about it for a while and said: "The empire is still very rich in funds, and ordered the army to form 10 new standing divisions within 1 year, so that our Japanese Army has 37 standing divisions, and our Great Japan will not only eliminate Lin Daxin and occupy the four northeastern provinces in 1 year, but also occupy the entire Qing Dynasty!" ”

The more he explained the emperor's tone, the more passionate he became.

Hirobumi Ito also shouted excitedly: "Hey! His Majesty the Emperor! We, Great Japan, must eliminate Lin Daxin and occupy the entire land of the Qing Dynasty! (To be continued......)