Three-six-zero tangled Britain

Window. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

The drizzle was drizzling, and as if the whole of London was shrouded in smoke and dust, the streets were full of people and cars, and the tea houses on both sides of the streets were crowded with people, and the people who were quiet in the afternoon tea leisurely did not know that the British Empire was facing a full-scale crisis.

Prime Minister Salisbury sighed, lit his fingertip cigar and let the smoke drift in front of him.

The Boer War was in full swing, for many years only attached importance to the navy, neglected the construction of the army, immersed in the glory of the sun never set, the British Empire was finally counterattacked, the slackness of the army in the face of tens of thousands of Boer armed forces even lost in successive battles, the war has been fought for a year has not recovered the disadvantage, and then had to change the commander.

In addition to the lack of good weapons, the reason for this is that the aging infantry lacks sufficient numbers and mobility, and is helpless in the face of the Boer forces, which are almost all cavalry.

Faced with the possibility of the empire's gold and diamonds being seized by the Boers, his pressure can be imagined, especially after the successive defeats of the army, and the voices in parliament calling for his resignation, which is a heavy blow to him

Britain has begun to draw troops from all over the world, not only the infantry stationed in Canada and Australia, but also the troops stationed in the West Indies, but judging from the feedback from the front, it is still far from enough

According to a telegram sent back from the front by General Joubert, it would take at least between 300,000 and 400,000 to completely contain the Boer offensive and defend such a wide area.

30 to 400 thousand

Salisbury felt dizzy when he thought of this number, the total number of troops in the British Empire was only 400,000, half of which was overseas, and now 100,000 people had been transferred to Boer in China, and almost half of the offshore colonies had been withdrawn, and 200,000 troops had barely gathered in South Africa, but now it was necessary to send 100,000 more

But where else can troops be drawn from? Draw all the domestic army? Or India? Egypt or ......, the Far East

Egypt was vetoed first, because Hamid II was a brutal guy, he was a natural eccentric, and he was extremely dissatisfied with the British occupation of Egypt and control of the Suez Canal, plus Germany and France and other countries have been eyeing it there, and it is unrealistic to take too many troops from Egypt at this time.

Originally, the best place for troops was the Far East, because there were 50,000 troops stationed in India and the Far East respectively, and there were also Far East Fleets and Indian Fleets, which were more than enough for defense. (Full text reading, all in. (.i. Want. Wen. But the problem is that over the years, Li Mo's guy has continued to expand the army, and now he has extended his sense to the southern tip of the East Indies, and his relationship with Britain has been deadlocked since Japan, and he does not trust each other, and now he is seriously facing off on the southeast issue, and it is not too much to say that he will go wrong at any time, and it is very dangerous to transfer troops from the Far East in this situation

If it was just to siphon out tens of thousands of troops, it might not be too annoying, because there is still a navy there, and there is a fleet to protect it, but the problem is that the once powerful British Far East Fleet is facing a serious threat

The appearance of a powerful, even epoch-making battleship sent a chill to the bones throughout Britain

Thinking of this, Prime Minister Salisbury finally returned his gaze to the living room from his contemplation, and the ministers who were whispering around him immediately stopped talking.

Everyone here knows the current predicament of the British Empire, so they are here today to find a solution, but the reality is very hard

"Your Majesty, Limer has concluded his visit to Ottoman yesterday and will arrive in Italy tomorrow morning, and then will take the train to France, according to the timetable they announced, the arrival time in Germany will be ten days later" Kimberley took out the schedule of the visit transferred by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, although he is the foreign secretary, but everyone here knows that he is only a shadow of the Marquis of Salisbury, and the real decision is still made by the Prime Minister who is bent on changing Britain's conservative policy.

"Wilhelm II has convened an emergency meeting of the Navy, Tirpitz has been authorized to obtain the battleship's technology at any cost, and he has sent men to Italy to accompany Limer until he reaches Germany safely"

"These damn Germans"

Kimberley's words immediately attracted a curse, and even Prime Minister Salisbury did not expect Germany to be so proactive this time, and hurriedly looked at Prince Badenberg, the Minister of the Admiralty.

"Your Majesty, has the Admiralty found the answer?"

Prince Badenberg was much older than he had been a few years ago, and he was overwhelmed by the sheer size of his navy and the challenges from various countries, and when he saw the Prime Minister's gaze, he did not speak immediately, but turned directly to John Fisher, who had just returned from the West Indies and had been reinstated as the Third Admiralty.

Whatever the reason for his reinstatement, Fisher did not want to pursue any further investigation, and it was crucial for him to find out the technology to deal with the battleship immediately, but when he returned and visited a number of naval technical experts, the result was extremely disappointing.

Deconstruction is not a problem

The motivation is not much of a problem either

The problem is still that damn naval gun recoil

The British Empire has a huge scientific research institution, they have been trying to maintain a technological lead, even when he was removed from the post of Third Admiralty, his idea of multiple guns has not actually been abandoned, the Admiralty has been secretly organizing to tackle key problems, but this time they really feel tricky, the accuracy and recoil of the triple naval guns have become a big constraint, according to calculations, let alone ten guns, even if they are equipped with six twelve-inch naval guns, a salvo will cause the deck to collapse

Unless the hull is enlarged to twenty-five thousand tons

God, such a large displacement will cause the speed to drop to an unbearable thirteen knots, although battleships do not rely on speed, but no one likes a snail-like warship

"Prime Minister, I can't guarantee how long it will take to solve the technology, but I believe that if there are two years, then we can solve it" Fisher swore an oath, but in fact, he was extremely dissatisfied with this timetable in his heart, Li Mo had already put on a posture of selling the battleship, France and Germany were trying their best to fight for it, and even the Ottoman Empire expressed its desire to order one from China not long ago, but Li Mo still bit his heart and did not let go.

After watching it coldly for many years, he already knows Li Mo very well, that guy is very good at taking advantage of the contradictions of various countries, even if there are no contradictions, he has to create conflicts, and he is finally taking advantage of conflicts.

Therefore, he will never give up this opportunity to find a European partner, not to mention that even if he changes himself and has a technology that can change the development of the Navy, he will consider using it to the extreme and strive for benefits.

He was dealt with a good deck of cards, and if he was lucky, he might be able to force France and Germany to support his reunification, in which case Britain would be completely isolated in the Far East and would no longer be able to prevent China from unifying the country

But this kind of thinking of him seriously threatened the maritime supremacy of the British Empire, and whether he sold that battleship to France or Germany, it would be a disaster for the powerful Britain, especially if the latter got it, and the ambitious Wilhelm II would certainly immediately put it into construction.

The thought of the kind of battleships that Germany would launch in the next few years made everyone here feel a palpitation, which meant that all the current battleships of the British Empire would be scrap metal, and the Atlantic Ocean would be completely shrouded in the shadow of battleships.

Crucially, it will take at least two more years for the UK to have the same technology, and by the time the construction and testing are completed, Germany may have already built more than eight capital ships of this type, and the UK will go from a leader to a catch-up

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister." In the corner, a voice suddenly remembered, and Ogner slowly got up under the gaze of everyone.

As a former ambassador to China, he has returned to the political scene after a few years of sabbatical, becoming a staff member in the Prime Minister's Office for Far Eastern affairs, so after seeing everyone's doubts and worries, he immediately got up and said: "Perhaps, we should really reconsider the Far East policy"

"Reconsider the Far Eastern policy?"

Salisbury looked at his former Far Eastern affairs staff with some puzzlement, and asked, "Your Majesty Ogna, can you tell me more details?" ”

"Actually, it's very simple, I believe you all know that the rupture of relations between Li Mo and the empire stems from our support for Japan a few years ago, after Li Mo established China, although it seriously threatened our interests in the Far East, but everyone overlooked one point, he actually helped the empire resist Russian expansion, but also brought Americans into fear."

"In fact, in my opinion, if there is no Li Mo, whether it is Japan or Russia, it will affect the interests of the empire there, and the United States will also enter the Pacific Ocean quickly, because they are both ambitious countries, so the establishment of China is just a change of opponent."

"From what I know of Li Mo, a complete China is more important to him than anything else, and if we give up some interests in the Far East in exchange for his trust, then I don't think he wants to see Germany dominate the Atlantic."

"So, I think we have to revise our Far East policy, and it may be a good choice to support Li Mo's reunification with China."

"No, no" Before Ogner's words were finished, Fisher immediately stood up excitedly: "Your Majesty, you only saw that Li Mo might make concessions for China, but you didn't notice his ambitions, he is more greedy than Japan and Russia, if he agrees to China, then he will immediately intervene in the East Indies and even Australia, and then he will even be willing to learn from the Netherlands, Spain and Germany to challenge our country's maritime supremacy"

"But?"

"Nothing but"

In order to strengthen his tone, Fisher waved his arm vigorously and interrupted Ogner's words: "The British Empire cannot show weakness, and Li Mo is not an idiot, since he brought this battleship to Europe, and he still made a lot of publicity, just to make profits, so I believe that he will definitely take the initiative to come to us in the future."

"I firmly believe"

Looking at the crowd in the room, Prime Minister Salisbury's head was dizzy, and he was confronted with a tangled dilemma, on the one hand, the need for an army force from the Far East, and on the other hand, the naval challenge posed by the battleship, and he had to find a balanced policy

"Prime Minister, I have just received the news that the Germans have vacated several important dockyards, saying that they are going to turn and enlarge them."

The confidential secretary pushed open the door, saw the prime minister holding his forehead and meditating, and after hesitating for a moment, he immediately said the situation on the other side, but this news made Fisher and others, who were familiar with shipbuilding, look sink.

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