After nearly a month of deceitful and deceitful wrangling, the new Cabinet of the main war faction headed by Palmerston finally got rid of the constraints of the main peace faction and began to make great strides in the direction of centralization with the covert support of Prince Albert.

Palmerston is now more powerful than he was last when he was prime minister, and public opinion in London has erupted into a new upsurge after the establishment of the main war cabinet.

Newspapers led by the Advertising Morning Post, stimulated by the Romanian financiers behind the scenes and certain "foreign forces," began to shout slogans about expanding the size of the British Army.

The slogan quickly attracted widespread support from people from all walks of life and officers of the British Army.

As we all know, Britain's army has been under the "curse" of downsizing and downsizing since the Napoleonic Wars of 1815. Especially in the era when the older generation of generals led by Wellington gradually withered, the British Army with sea power as the core has become an existence that is not hurt by the father and not loved by the mother.

The once "patriotic" volunteer units completely disappeared from the Napoleonic wars, and were replaced by drunkards and vagabonds who were destitute but unwilling to enter the factories, and they were brought into the troops by the British army by various coercive means, using alcohol and opium to anesthetize them, and using leather whips to make them learn to obey. In the mouths of British officers, you will never hear insulting words such as "pigs" and "scum", and these forcibly recruited "soldiers" have no sense of glory either, they are self-depraved, they have no shame, and their lives are of no use except to die for the Kingdom of Britain, (but who made them such people?). ），

Even so, the total strength of the Kingdom of Britain was just over 100,000, of which about 23,000 troops were scattered in India, 36,520 in other British colonies, and the remaining 44,980 in British proper. (refers to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland).

Among the 44,000 troops, there are nearly one-eighth of the officers, most of whom are children of the nobility, all of whom imitate the Duke of Wellington, and the purpose of entering the army is to leave a living for their descendants.

After all, Britain strictly implements the primogeniture system, and if the remaining children are not gifted and unwilling to join the army, there is only one way to go, the abbey.

This resulted in an average of 7 soldiers for every British officer, and worse still, the children of this group of nobles were only at the rank of colonel.

Just imagine, a major commanding 7 soldiers fighting, the scene is too spectacular.

And Britain not only has many officers at the rank of captain, but also has a lot of officers at the level of generals, too much because of God's favor for the British, resulting in the general longevity of British generals, not to mention the Duke of Wellington, who died only a year ago, there are 13 officers over 70 years old, and 37 generals over 60 years old, not to mention those 40-60-year-old "little fresh meat" generals are about to exceed three digits.

The current command system of the British army has completely presented a situation of overlapping powers, and many people simply do not know who to obey.

However, the situation of the Ministry of War government cannot be changed in any way, because those who can stay in the Ministry of War and eat the imperial food are either generals with great military achievements or the children of some great nobles.

The slightest movement will pull out a series of personnel, and which nobleman dares to really break the kettle of reform.

It can only be accepted in its entirety, and this has led to the annual military expenditure of this army of only 100,000 men reaching a staggering 9.5 million pounds, which is 244.8 million francs in francs.

Such a huge expenditure situation is fully enough to feed the 400,000 army plus part of the navy before France.

Of course, for the children of the nobility who were stationed in London and eager to "make a difference", 40,000 troops were simply not enough to support their grand strategic blueprint.

Now that Palmerston, the main war against Russia, has come to power, it means that the war is about to begin.

How could the 40,000 troops left behind by Britain be an opponent with a large number of cheap Slavic livestock.

Playing tricks in order to steal ...... No, for the glory of the Queen, it is a real thing for the cabinet to spend more money to expand the army.

In this way, under the fanatical agitation of some groups, Palmerston could only convene a (small) cabinet meeting on whether or not the army should be expanded.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State for War and the Secretary of State for the Exchequer, all of whom were important components involved in the proposal.

After the (small) Cabinet meeting began, Palmerston first felt honored that he was once again able to lead Britain, and then there were all kinds of drowsy words touting Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and it was only at the end of the speech that Palmerston really got to the point of the Cabinet meeting.

"As far as the current situation facing Britain is concerned, Britain should expand the number of its army, and I hope you will speak freely! Thank you! With that, Palmerston made an inviting gesture to the three ministers.

The first to respond was the Duke of Newcastle, who is the Secretary of State for War, "May I say a few words first?" ”

Prime Minister Palmerston, Foreign Secretary Clarendon, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Grastone all cast curious glances at the Duke of Newcastle.

This duke, who has been the Minister of War since the beginning of Russell's cabinet, turned his temper and acted as a bird? For a while, Palmerston and others speculated whether it was because some of the noble children behind the Duke of Newcastle united to make a fortune.

"The Lord Chancellor of Pelham (the Duke of Newcastle's full name is Henry Brown. Pelham. Alexander. Clinton), please say! Palmerston replied to the Duke of Newcastle with a friendly smile.

"Ahem...... Ahem" The Duke of Newcastle cleared his throat, reorganized his words and said: "I think our country's army should indeed be slightly expanded, only 40,000 troops are not able to maintain the safety of the homeland!" ”

"It's the aristocratic interests behind you!" Palmerston couldn't help but complain in his heart, and asked Newcastle in a consultative tone: "Then Minister Perham, how many troops do you think Britain needs to be able to maintain the security of the homeland!" ”

"According to my humble opinion, if you want to maintain the security of the homeland and guard against a possible surprise attack, you must at least keep 15-200,000 troops!" As soon as the Duke of Newcastle spoke, the three people present were taken aback.

Especially the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gladstone, at this time, Gladstone's expression was like that of a person who was constipated and couldn't pull it out.

Did he not know what to say, to expand Britain's native army to 15-200,000? Not to mention whether Britain's current population can afford the mobilization brought about by expansion, military spending alone is a large expense, and it will have to be doubled or tripled from the original military expenditure of 9.5 million pounds.

It is conceivable that if Newcastle's proposal had been successful, the children of the nobility would have gotten what they wanted, but the price would have to be borne by all the Britons and the province.

Thinking of this, Glasteton immediately said aloud: "I object! ”

Seeing his chancellor of the exchequer speak out against it, Palmerston finally breathed a sigh of relief, if there was no opposition in the small cabinet, maybe it could really be passed, and the weight ratio of the House of Commons in this year has obviously suppressed the House of Commons, and once it is submitted to the House of Lords, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Palmerston's opposition was a relief for Palmerston, who glanced at Paststone gratefully: "Minister Glassstone, what is the reason for your objection?" ”

Glaston said to Palmerston with a straight face: "Britain's finances cannot afford the huge military spending! ”

"Impossible!" The Duke of Newcarth replied decisively to Glasdeton: "Judging by Britain's current expenditures, we are fully capable of feeding 15-200,000 troops!" ”

"If Britain can indeed support such an army if it is only valued and nothing else, but we cannot only pay attention to the army and thus ignore the other aspects!" Glassstone responded decently.

"I'm not saying that it will always be around 150,000-200,000 people, we must ensure that we can quickly mobilize a combat-ready army during the war!" The Duke of Newcaster stepped back a little and said to Glass: "Then, 100,000 people will always do!" ”

"100,000 people?" Graston once again estimated the annual cost of the soldier and the income he generated, but still shook his head and said: "100,000 people is still too much, and it is a waste to put it on the mainland!" ”

"80,000! At least 80,000! The Duke of Newcaster gritted his teeth, as if with a great deal of determination, and consulted with Gladstone.

"8......" Gladstone was about to say something, but he heard a knock on the door outside.

Palmerston, who was in the middle of a small cabinet meeting, frowned slightly, then stood up with an apologetic smile and said, "Wait a minute! ”

Palmerston walked to the door, opened it, and the figure of the Prime Minister's (private) secretary appeared in the doorway.

At this time, he was looking at Palmerston with a panicked expression, his mouth was like a loan, and he said quickly: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, important information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!" ”

Palmerston took the information, looked at it carefully, and then took a deep breath, his face even heavier.

"Okay! I know! After putting away the information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Palmerston nodded to the secretary, then closed the door and addressed everyone present in a heavy tone: "Everyone, I'm afraid we're in big trouble!" ”

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