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In the cramped Prime Minister's room, Prime Minister Asquith was full of anxiety, and beside him, the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Gray, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd George, the Admiralty Secretary, Winston Churchill, and the Colonial Secretary, Bona Law, were all present, but like the Prime Minister, they were all black-faced and slow to speak.

This is undoubtedly one of the toughest choices in the history of the British Empire, and as Prime Minister and Cabinet members, they all know what today's decision means!

Either forget about Germany and go all out to fight a decisive battle with the Xinhua Empire! Forget about Xinhua and go all out with Germany!

There is no second way to go!

"Winston, what's going on with Cameron?" Asquith broke his silence and turned his attention to Britain's most important and patron navy, which was at the helm of Churchill.

"It's not going to be good." Although Churchill did not agree to the compromise, he could only shake his head under the pressure of German reality: "Limer's second fleet has arrived off the Strait of Hormuz and is confronting Cameron!" ”

"They sent four of the newest battleships, and although Cameron had six Nelson-class battleships in his hands, the situation was still very bad, mainly because we didn't have a way to contain that kind of fast small cruisers, and according to General Cameron, the Mighty could run aground solely because they didn't carry out a torpedo attack, otherwise." George glanced at Churchill and continued in his place.

"So, they have a chance to expand their gains?" Asquith's eyes lit up, then dimmed again, and asked, "Everyone, I wonder if we can be sure to defeat the Chinese at this time!" ”

"If I am allowed to draw battleships from the home fleet, then we can do it!" Churchill gritted his teeth and said fiercely.

"No!" Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary, immediately stopped Churchill: "Your Excellency, please forgive me, General Cameron's words are already very clear, the Chinese had the opportunity to carry out the killing, but they gave up, which shows that they do not want to make a big deal about it, for our country, the threat of the Germans is greater than that of China!" ”

"I think that Li Mo's sudden and large-scale military deployment this time was because the Pacific plan we implemented with the Americans stimulated him, so he took the opportunity to move in the Strait of Gilbert and Hormuz in succession, and threatened us with the Baghdad railway! If we now draw stronger battleships from the home fleet to India, although we can defeat him, the losses will definitely not be small! ”

"At that time, how did we deal with the German high seas fleet? They are already building two new Bavaria-class battleships, and the remaining four are about to start construction, but our country has only five Queen Elizabeth-class ones, which cannot be suppressed! Gray's quick and clear analysis made the air in the conference room cold again, and Churchill was reluctant and shouted: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we should build more battleships, either five more Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, or we should start building newer battleships!" ”

"Oh God!" Prime Minister Asquith looked at Churchill and his chest began to hurt, although he also knew that the German Bagolia-class battleships that he originally thought would start construction next year completely broke the advantage of Britain in numbers, but the problem is that the current financial pressure is too great, and he doesn't know how to convince the parliament if he proposes to build a capital ship!

"Your Excellency Chancellor, we have no way back, either we win or let the Germans rule Europe!" Churchill waved his hand, trying to infect the cabinet ministers, and said in a tone that was almost pleading: "If we can't get battleships, then at least we should give them battlecruisers, I don't want to be pointed at by German artillery!" ”

"Wait, Winston, we are discussing this crisis of the Chinese, and as for your request, I think we can talk about it later." George interrupted Churchill: "If the Chinese cannot be solved, then no matter how many battleships we build, we must fight on two fronts, do you think this is possible?!" ”

"Yes, as long as twenty battleships and forty battlecruisers are being built!"

"Phew!" Prime Minister Asquith is going to spew blood, and if it is under construction, I am afraid that without a war, Britain can declare bankruptcy! So he immediately glared at Churchill and said, "Winston, don't say any more, we must solve this crisis first!" ”

"Yes, this is the most urgent at the moment!" Gray's expression did not change because of Churchill's exaggerated plan, and he continued: "The Chinese have sent a signal that they are willing to stop building the Baghdad Railway, so we must seize the opportunity and not expand the crisis again until it turns into war!" ”

"So what do we do? The Chinese's article. Before the colonial minister Bonarau could finish his words, there was a knock on the door outside the conference room, and the prime minister's secretary hurriedly walked in and said hurriedly: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, we have bad news. ”

"What's the news?"

"We have just received information that the Chinese Army has begun to transport troops to the southwest, the Marines stationed in the Philippines and Borneo are also massing, and one of their infantry divisions is advancing from Chengdu to Tibetan Province!"

"What!"

"Damn, these yellow-skinned pigs, what the hell are they trying to do!"

"Prime Minister, they're pressuring!" Facing the enraged cabinet members, Gray took a deep breath: "To us. ”

"Pressuring?" Asquith somewhat understood.

There is no doubt that since Gilbert, Limer has been demonstrating, and in this way he wants to tell Britain not to meddle in Pacific affairs! This bastard, the arsonist, saw that Britain was in a deep arms race with Germany, so he dared to force it to the doorstep of India!

"Gray, contact the Chinese immediately, we are willing to negotiate, but their army must stop acting!"

"Winston, get the four Orion battleships ready!"

"Law, let Austin Chamberlain go to India."

"George, you and I went to America once, and I had to meet President Taft."

On October 20, 1912, the crisis caused by the dispute over the Baghdad railway began to intensify, first the Xinhua Empire began to increase troops to the borders of Burma and India, and then the third batch of two Yanjing-class battleships drawn from the Pacific Fleet also arrived in the Strait of Hormuz, which made the Xinhua Empire's strength in the Indian Ocean increase by three percent.

At the same time, Britain showed no signs of weakness, and four new Iron Duke-class battleships quickly entered the Mediterranean Sea and crossed the Suez Canal on October 25, while two Invincible-class battlecruisers stationed in Australia also arrived off the coast of West Guinea controlled by Xinhua.

On October 28, the Xinhua Empire also took out its strongest strength, the first Hebei-class battleship and the second Henan, which had just been delivered, set off for the Indian Ocean under the protection of five destroyers, which also indicated that the threat of a misfire between the two countries was increasing!

For anyone, even the initiator Li Mo, this is a moment of almost fascension, with the arrival of two [***] ships in the Indian Ocean one by one, everyone knows that as long as there is a little spark at this time, it will be a catastrophe!

But just then, another unexpected happened.

On November 2, when Zhang Zuolin, the representative of the Army of the Xinhua Empire, and Austin Chamberlain, the British envoy and the new Minister of Indian Affairs, arrived in Delhi at the same time, Wilhelm II inspected the powerful German High Seas Fleet outside Wilhelmshaven!

This move is undoubtedly a naked provocation!

Faced with the smoke of gunfire that could no longer be concealed in Europe, all circles in Britain began to seriously consider whether it was worth launching an all-out confrontation with another country thousands of miles away at this time.

It was at this time that the British people breathed a sigh of relief with a piece of news.

On November 3, Zhang Zuolin, chief of staff of the Xinhua Imperial Army, who had just arrived in Delhi, announced that Xinhua was willing to give up the construction of the Baghdad Railway, but only if Xinhua's interests in the Persian region were respected and protected.

On 4 November, after the first day of preliminary confrontations, Austin Chamberlain, the British political representative who was anxious to resolve the Persian Gulf crisis, began arduous negotiations after communicating with each other at home.

On 14 November, after 11 days of consultations, Britain and Xinhua reached a "Gulf Agreement" in Delhi on the settlement of disputes in the Persian Gulf, according to which Britain would allow the Xinhua Imperial Navy to dispatch a small fleet of no more than 10,000 tons of gross tonnage and no more than 3,000 troops to carry out escort missions in the Persian Gulf, and at the same time pay 100,000 pounds in compensation for the loss caused to the shipping company by killing two Chinese shipwrights.

In addition, Britain announced the termination of the protection agreement with the Kuwaiti sheikhs, ensuring fair and equitable treatment of the Persian Gulf Royal Oil Company, invested by Xinhua Emperor Li Mo.

Xinhua also promised to pay 200,000 pounds in compensation for the maintenance of the Qiangsheng, said that it would not build the Baghdad railway for at least 10 years, promised not to interfere in the interests of British protectorates other than Kuwait, and promised that the Royal Oil Company would not stop selling oil to Britain and its allies at any time.

The most unexpected thing is that according to the final terms of the agreement, Xinhua will provide Britain with a loan worth 71.5 million pounds, about 500 million blue coins, and the loan will be collateralized by 300 tons of gold and some British overseas assets in Xinhua and Nanyang, and the loan will be used to purchase strategic resources such as grain, rubber, steel, automobile engines, generators, and oil from Xinhua.

For Britain, this result is not a failure, nor is it a victory for Xinhua, because the Strait of Hormuz is still in the hands of Britain, the Indian Ocean is still Britain's backyard, and a mere 3,000 troops is not enough to change anything, but the 10,000-ton escort fleet that can be stuffed into it still lays a bane for this gate.

On 15 November, the same day that Britain and Xinhua reached an agreement to begin withdrawing their respective fleets, Prime Minister Asquith arrived in the United States for a five-day visit and discussed with US President Taft on a series of issues including the Anglo-American Pacific.

At the same time, Zhang Zuolin also rushed to Istanbul non-stop, and held secret negotiations with the Ottoman Emperor Muhammad V who was deeply involved in the Balkan War for five hours, and finally reached an agreement that the Ottoman Empire would merge Kuwait, Basra and the Euphrates River estuary triangle, including Abadan, into Greater Kuwait, and lease it to the Xinhua Empire in exchange for military aid worth 300 million blue coins.

For the Ottomans, it seems that they have lost their land, but in fact, those lands have always been out of their control, and the voices of opposition to the Ottomans in Persia have never stopped, not to mention that they were previously controlled by the British, so it is too cost-effective to exchange for military aid of 300 million blue coins.

300 million blue coins will be exchanged for a super oil field area accounting for 3% of the world's total reserves, and Emperor Li can't close his mouth, even according to the current profits of the Persian Gulf Oil Company, it will only take two years.

Not only did he snatch a big business of 500 million blue coin loans from the United States, which continued to receive large loans from Europe, but more importantly, it meant that he had finally opened a gap in the Iron Curtain Persia!

Excited, he immediately announced his decision to send two battalions of the 4th Marine Division with a total of 2,000 soldiers and five Defend-class destroyers to protect the Empire's interests in Greater Kuwait.

The fleet was named Reading the number.

Seventh Fleet! ……

(To be continued)