For Britain, the abandonment of the Far East was only a matter of necessity. Compared to India, Burma and the Straits Settlements are nothing to mention. Every year, Britain grabs tens of millions of pounds of wealth from India, and India has become an indispensable and important guarantee for Britain to maintain its national strength and world hegemony. Of course, in order to defend India, Britain will do its best. And China, although it won the naval battle, its national strength has almost been consumed to the limit, and it is impossible to fight Britain desperately for India. To be able to obtain the South Seas is already very good for China. The various resources of the Nanyang region, as well as the vast market, are urgently needed by China. Moreover, China will face attacks from Japan and the United States, so in this war, it will not attack India and will not challenge Britain's limits.

"John? Sir Fisher. When will the Imperial Navy be able to regain its strength? Or, when will it have the strength to defeat the Chinese Navy? "Arthur? Prime Minister Balfour asked. Britain's supremacy was maintained by a strong navy. As soon as naval strength is damaged, British interests are provoked by stern provocations.

"Your Excellency, the Admiralty now has a total of 12 battleships under construction, including 6 'Old Man' and 6 'Dreadnought-class' battleships. Among them, 6 'old man' battleships can be put into service one after another from the end of this year. The six 'Dreadnought-class' battleships will not be able to enter service until the end of next year, and it is expected that by the middle of next year, all six Dreadnought-class battleships will be put into service. When the time comes. The Imperial Navy will have the power to protect itself! "Lord of the Admirals John? Sir Fisher said.

"Of the 12 battleships built. Only the 'Dreadnought-class' battleships are new battleships, right? Compared with the Chinese's two-stage new battleships. What about performance? "Arthur? Prime Minister Balfour frowned.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, our 'Dreadnought-class' battleships should be able to match the Chinese Navy's 'Zhonghua-class' battleships, but they are not as good as the Chinese Navy's 'Qin-class' battleships." John? Sir Fisher replied honestly.

Arthur? Prime Minister Balfour nodded, he knew that the British Navy was already lagging behind and needed to catch up with the Chinese Navy. It's going to take more time. "John? Sir Fisher, I hope that the Navy will speed up the pace of construction. Strive for six 'dreadnought-class' battleships to be fully commissioned by the end of next year. At the same time, the Admiralty must do its best to design a 'Qin-class' battleship that rivals the Chinese Navy, and even a battleship that is even more powerful than the 'Qin-class' battleship! The vast territory of the British Empire needs powerful battleships to defend it! "Arthur? Prime Minister Balfour said.

"Your Excellency, the Admiralty will do its best. The construction of rebuilt battleships can be accelerated, and the design bureau of new types of battleships has also begun to design. But. This costs a lot of money. Plus other armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers, for a long time to come. The Imperial Navy needs a lot of military spending! "John? Sir Fisher said. At present, the British Navy can only receive 20 million pounds of military spending every year. In peacetime, this is already a large amount of military spending. But now the British navy has suffered a significant loss. If you want to quickly restore your strength, this military expenditure is a bit insignificant!

"In addition to the annual military expenditure, I will allocate twenty million pounds for the navy from the other financial revenues of the empire. I only hope that within five years, the Royal Navy will be able to return to the number one in the world! "Arthur? Prime Minister Balfour said.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Admiralty will do its best!" John? Sir Fisher felt a great deal of pressure. However, he knew that there was no way around it. The British Navy was badly whitened and greatly weakened. During this period, the UK will face a very difficult situation. In particular, Germany is now frantically building warships, and Germany has obtained a full set of design drawings for the 'Zhonghua-class' battleships from China, and the transformed 'Nassau-class' battleships are expected to be able to enter service at the beginning of next year, which will be a very big threat to Britain. At that time, Britain will only have a few old battleships to support the scene. Even the 'old man-star' battleships that can be commissioned at the end of this year are far from being the opponents of the 'Nassau-class' battleships, and the British Navy can only maintain the position of the British Navy with the number of battleships.

"Now, then, Lord Lansdowne, contact the Chinese side! We must do our best to negotiate peace with China and end the state of war. At the same time, the interests of the British Empire should be guaranteed as much as possible. Recently, those Boers in South Africa have become a little restless again, and behind this, there is no instigation from the Chinese and Germans! "Arthur? Prime Minister Balfour said. Although he became prime minister, this is what he has always hoped for. But now, this situation is not what he wants to see.

France, which was separated from Britain by only one strait, also received a naval defeat from the Far East on the morning of June 22. The French navy also suffered heavy losses in naval battles. All 5 armored cruisers were sunk, and most of the light cruisers and destroyers were sunk, and only a few light cruisers and destroyers escaped.

French President Emile? Francois? Lube summoned an emergency meeting of the government, and the newly appointed Prime Minister Waldeck? Rousseau, Foreign Minister Alexander? Ribo, Minister of War Charles? Morality? Fresine, Secretary of the Treasury Morris? Ruvière, Minister of the Navy Godfroa? Kafenjak attended the meeting.

"Guys, the Combined Fleet has failed in the Far East, and the land forces of the Indochina colonies are about to be wiped out by the Chinese, what should we do now?" President Emile? Francois? Lubé said with a gloomy face, if this matter is not handled well, he is afraid that he will be ousted from power directly. You know, he's only been president for four months, and he doesn't want to be ousted like this.

"Your Excellency, it now seems that the colony of Indochina cannot be saved. With such a strong strength, the combined fleet cannot defeat the Chinese Navy, and the entire Far East and the Pacific region have become the world of the Chinese! "Minister of the Navy Godfrois? Kafenjak said. Compared to the losses of Britain and Russia, the losses of the French navy were much smaller.

"So, how do we deal with an angry populace? I'm sure tomorrow morning the Élysée Palace will be surrounded by protesting people! "President Emile? Francois? Lube said.

"Your Excellency, we can attribute the failure of this war to the British. According to the information we have received, while the French Navy is fighting bloodily, the British Navy has shamelessly fled! France has been deceived by the British, and I believe that the people of Canton will forgive us! "Prime Minister Waldeck? Rousseau built yì tract.

Everyone's eyes lit up, which is a very good way to divert conflicts. However, this will lead to a sharp decline in relations between France and the United Kingdom.

"Your Excellency, the main force of the British navy has been wiped out, and their threat to France has been minimized, and France can now have no fear of Britain. What matters now is how to bring back the troops trapped in the Far East to France. If we can bring the troops from the Far East back to France safely, I believe the people will understand us! "Foreign Minister Alexander? Ribo also said.

The French colony in Indochina had more than 100,000 troops. Although these troops were defeated by the Chinese Army on the battlefield, the casualties were not large, and most of them entered the prisoner of war camp of the squadron. If these captured soldiers can be safely rescued back to France, then the government will surely have the support of the majority of the people. This is very beneficial for this government to get out of the crisis.

"What do you think of this approach?" President Emile? Francois? The gloomy look on Lube's face had completely vanished. His instincts were that if he did, he might be able to get through this time.

"Your Excellency the President, since China has won this war, it is appropriate for France to withdraw, even if it costs a great price, and to get out of the quagmire of the Far East. We are no better than England, who had to defend India, and the colonies of Indochina were not the most important thing for France! "War Secretary Charles? Morality? Fresine also said.

"France's center of gravity is in Europe, and we should now be wary of the rise of Germany, not in the Far East to provoke a formidable enemy that has already risen. France's energy in the future should be contracted to the European part! "Minister of the Navy Godfrois? Kafenjak also said.

"Very well, so be it! Alexander? Tomorrow you will set out for China, Your Excellency Ribeau, for in any case France must withdraw from this war, and bring back the troops of the Far East safely. Shire? Morality? Fresine, you can order the armies of the Far East to stop resisting, lest they suffer unnecessary sacrifices! "President Emile? Francois? Lubbe concluded.

On the morning of June 23, Paris time, after receiving the news of the defeat of the navy, the angry French people surrounded the Elysée Palace. However, President Emile? Francois? Lubet stepped forward to reassure everyone and put all the blame on the British. At the same time, I would like to assure you that the French government will make every effort to bring back to France more than 100,000 French boys from the Far East safely. At the same time, the French Foreign Minister Alexandre? Ribo also waited for a new light cruiser to quickly go to China. Reassured by the government, the French people accepted the government's rhetoric. However, Britain is very dissatisfied with France's statement that it will put all the blame on Britain! (To be continued.) )

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