After hearing the price of each of the three missiles, Minister Thomas finally breathed a sigh of relief, and said to Herman quite confidently: "Director Herman, the Ministry of Defense plans to order 2,500 missiles from your institute in the next three years.

Of these, 1,200 test-3 missiles were ordered in the air-to-air version, 800 test-3 missiles in the air-to-ground version, and 500 pigeon missiles.

Based on the selling price you offered, the Department of Defence will pay a $12 million deposit this year and a $7 million final payment each year for the remaining two years, how about that? ”

The procurement of 2,500 missiles is a figure that Secretary Thomas has come up with after careful consideration. With these 2,500 missiles, Australasia's air force can be further enhanced, and there is no need to worry about whether the island nation will surpass Australasia in terms of navy.

In World War II, island nations once carried out a kind of suicide attack on U.S. warships, that is, the pilots of the planes rushed directly to U.S. warships and aircraft carriers.

Such an act did cause casualties to the US warship in a short period of time, but on the whole it still had a little effect.

And Australasia's new generation of missiles is a way to kill much more than a suicide shock.

For an attack on a warship, even if it is only a one-third hit rate, these 500 pigeon missiles are enough to make the navy of the island country suffer.

Moreover, missiles can be specifically responsible for attacking large warships of the enemy. Those small warships can be encircled by the Australasian Navy.

In this way, the missile can play a greater role, after all, the large warship will be larger, and the hit rate will be correspondingly higher.

As for whether the warships of the island countries have the ability to intercept missiles, at least for the next 10 years, there is basically none.

In other words, the pressure on the Australasian Navy could be greatly reduced by missiles that were not so expensive.

In the Pacific Ocean, Australasia's competitors are only island nations. This also means that Australasia's navy only needs to maintain the same level as the island nation, and with the surprise attack of missiles, it can define its superiority in the Pacific Ocean.

Hearing what Minister Thomas said about the missile order plan, Sherman naturally did not veto. After all, this order can also bring a lot of research funds to the Missile Research Institute, and as a scientist who attaches great importance to research, Herman will definitely not refuse the funds sent to his door.

By the time the two discussed the details of the missile order, Arthur had already gotten into the car and returned to Fort St. Arthur.

Arthur didn't have much interest in the details of the order, so let Minister Thomas and Director Herman decide for themselves.

A few days after returning to Fort St. Arthur, Arthur received bad news from Russia. Nicholas II was completely defeated in the war, and a small number of troops were escorting Nicholas II to the east.

This army was the only remaining army loyal to Nicholas II, and now numbered less than 5,000 people.

The army, which was escorting many members of the Russian imperial family, including Nicholas II, was fleeing towards Siberia.

Siberia was much larger, an area that neither Nicholas II nor his opponents controlled.

The fact that the other side has occupied St. Petersburg means that the war is de facto over.

Arthur didn't know how he felt about it. The defeat of Nicholas II was good news for Arthur, who had a legal source for the throne.

However, the jurisprudence only has a theoretical basis, and the stability of the throne depends on the strength of the country itself and the degree of recognition of the royal family by the people.

Judging by Arthur's current prestige and status among the people, Arthur could still build an all-Australasian empire even without legal reasoning.

However, it is not known how long such an empire will last. Napoleon had built an all-French empire, but the Napoleonic dynasty did not last long.

Then there was the all-German empire established by Prussia and the all-Austrian empire established by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz.

However, both empires claimed to have inherited the jurisprudence of the Holy Roman Empire, and were not truly states without jurisprudence.

In fact, the defeat of Nicholas II was a mixed blessing for Arthur.

The good news is that Russia will be stronger in the coming years than it was during the reign of Nicholas II. If he is given a few years of development, he will be an important help in the fight against Germany in the future.

But the bad news is that because the country has a lot of potential than it did during the reign of Nicholas II, Arthur is a potential competitor.

When Australasia defeats the island nation, it will inevitably have some contradictions with the Pacific Northwest coast of this country.

After all, for a country like Russia, which does not have many natural good ports, the good ports on the Pacific Northwest do not want to be wasted.

Even if they defeat the island nation, they will still face an opponent with even greater potential, which is really not good news.

After the defeat of Nicholas II, Arthur had to rethink the current world situation.

Whoever is the biggest competitor at present and who is the biggest competitor in the future must go through a detailed plan and formulate a certain strategic defense.

For example, Russia now. Even in the future World War II, it will become an important help against Germany.

But for this country, it is impossible for Arthur not to take certain precautions. After the demise of the United States, it is very likely that the future world situation will evolve into the world poles of Australasia and this country.

Without some restrictions on the country, Arthur did not want to see a Cold War-like confrontation happen to Australasia in the future.

This kind of situation where it is very likely that the enemy will throw a nuclear weapon on the head, whether it is Arthur or the future monarch, I believe that it does not want to happen to him.

In order to prevent such a scene from happening, the best way is to weaken his competitors as much as possible, so that he can maintain a certain strength, but not too strong state.

Of course, even if it is a restriction, it will definitely have to wait until later. At present, the most important thing is how to deal with the Russian royal family, and how to properly deal with the transfer of legal principles.

When it comes to such issues, of course, it is necessary to convene a meeting in the Cabinet Government.

On January 17, 1932, a cabinet meeting was officially convened at Fort St. Arthur to discuss what to do with Nicholas II and others, as well as the idea of building a new empire.

To be honest, the cabinet was actually very happy to see the establishment of a new empire.

When Arthur became emperor, they were of course the first assistants. Even if you can't rely on such merit to continue to stay in the cabinet, at least you can get a lot of merit and make your knighthood even better.

In this life, in addition to the grand goal of realizing one's ideals, isn't the rest of oneself to be promoted to a knighthood, so that he and his family can live a good life?

As long as Arthur can become emperor, these important cabinet ministers and knighthoods will definitely go one step further.

Not to mention anything else, it should be indispensable to guarantee a hereditary baronial title. With such a generous reward, what official would jump out and speak out?

"Everyone, let's talk about it, how to deal with the current situation in Russia?" At the cabinet meeting, Arthur went straight to the topic and looked at the cabinet officials.

Everyone understood that the establishment of the Australasian Empire had entered the countdown, and they were all excited.

Prime Minister Raul was the first to stand up and give his opinion: "Your Majesty, the Russian royal family must be protected, after all, Your Majesty, you also signed the European Royal Family Joint Declaration, which cannot be violated.

However, when to rescue the Russian royal family, and which members of the Russian royal family can be rescued, is not up to us to decide. ”

Regardless of whether Arthur and Nicholas II reached a private agreement, Arthur could not have watched Nicholas II's family be arrested just by virtue of the joint declaration of European royals that Arthur had drafted at that time.

After all, in history, Nicholas II's family was directly shot in the revolution, and this direct massacre of royal family members was naturally a direct provocation to the European Royal Joint Declaration and Arthur.

If Arthur sat idly by, the Russian royal family would be slaughtered in the future, and many European royal families, including Arthur and many European royal families who signed the joint declaration of the European royal family, would become the laughing stock of the whole world.

However, the meaning of Prime Minister Raul's words is also very clear. Retain the blood of the Russian royal family, that is, Princess Shayanna, which was agreed by Arthur and Nicholas II at that time.

But whether the rest of the people can come to Australasia safely or not seems to be something that Australasia can't decide, but in fact it can be controlled by man.

It's just that with such a strategy, it is impossible for Arthur to directly nod and agree. Raul understood this, too, and turned his attention to the other cabinet ministers.

"Indeed, Your Majesty, Your Excellency the Prime Minister." Defense Secretary Thomas stepped forward and chimed in: "At the moment we have only general information that His Majesty Nicholas II has fled east from St. Petersburg with members of the royal family and a small army.

We can't be sure where they've been, so we can't carry out a more detailed rescue.

Moreover, Australasia takes quite a long time to get to St. Petersburg or to the Russian Far East.

Even if we send troops in time, we may not be able to arrive in time to save most of the Russian royal family. ”

Minister Thomas's words were to give Arthur a step down to prevent the Australasian army from being suspected and ridiculed by the other nations after rescuing only a small number of Russian members.

Once there were steps, Arthur went down: "I understand the difficulties of this rescue operation. But friendship with Russia is very important to us, and we cannot turn a blind eye to the crisis of the Russian royal family. ”

"Minister Wellington." Arthur looked at Foreign Secretary Wellington.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Minister Wellington hurriedly stood up and respectfully awaited Arthur's order.

"Contact all the royal families who signed the Joint Declaration of European Royals at that time, and ask them to join us in testing the pressure on Russia and ensuring the safety of Nicholas II's family.

At the same time, to obtain the consent of the world coalition as much as possible, so that our rescue of the Russian royal family becomes legitimate.

On that basis, Minister Thomas, I would like you to assemble a small army to rescue the Nicholas II family as much as possible without a conflict breaking out. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Foreign Secretary Wellington and Defence Secretary Thomas said in unison.

Although according to the joint declaration of European royal families at that time, the countries that signed the declaration could legally rescue the royal families in distress.

But the problem is that it is still quite difficult to rescue the family of Nicholas II throughout Russia.

Moreover, it is necessary to rescue only Princess Shaiana and a small number of members of the Russian royal family, which must be timed.

For Arthur, naturally, he did not want to see Nicholas II rescued to Australasia.

After all, Australasia still has a large number of Russian people, including a lot of Russian capital.

If these Russians supported the restoration of Nicholas II, Arthur would have to face both sides.

After all, the enemies of the restoration of Nicholas II were very strong, and there were some kind of forbidden reasons that were simply impossible.

Instead of creating some trouble for the future, it is better to put an end to such trouble. With the exception of Nicholas II, most of the rest of the Russian royal family could actually be rescued.

Including the Empress of Nicholas II, Princess Shaiana, as well as many side members of the Russian imperial family, as well as some of the last capitals of Russia, etc.

These Russian capitals are not stupid. Loyal to Nicholas II, they can also get some benefits by virtue of Nicholas II, and it is even easier to exploit the people.

But if the regime is controlled by another Russia, the fate of their capital is not easy to say.

At that time, there was a considerable contradiction between the bourgeois Russian government and another Russia, and capital also had a deep understanding of the ideas and ways of doing things in this Russia.

Therefore, after the complete defeat of Nicholas II, the remaining capital in Russia also chose to flee.

When these Russian capitals fled, there were only two places of choice, namely Western Europe and Australasia.

After the demise of the United States, it is true that Europe and Australia are developed, and other regions are not so attractive to capital for various reasons.

Australasia has become the most welcoming region for Russian capital alongside Western Europe, largely because of the large number of Russians in Australasia.

These Russian capitalists are most familiar with the Russians, and they know how to exploit the Russians to the maximum extent possible when it is legal.

They are also optimistic about Australasia's capital environment. Although Western Europe is currently the most developed region, the capital of Western Europe is very strong, and it is not the current Russian capital that can touch the porcelain.

After Russian capital moved to Western Europe, there were not many companies that were able to take root steadily. There are many enterprises that will be jointly divided by local capital and become the best nourishment for others.

In Australasia, because of the monopoly and control of all walks of life by the royal consortium, Australia does not have such a large amount of private capital.

The best result of this is that enterprises and capital do not form a monopoly, and they cannot squeeze the people by raising prices.

All walks of life are in a state of blooming everywhere and a hundred flowers competing for beauty. In this case, the prices of various commodities are not destined to be too high.

This is in turn good for the people, which is why Arthur wants to put an end to private companies that have monopolies in various industries.

Even if Arthur's royal consortium had a monopoly, it would not be possible to squeeze the people in every way like capital.

But private business is different. Even if private enterprises and capital were well-intentioned at the beginning, they could not resist the poison of capitalism and profits.

Arthur does not believe that capital can strictly monitor and control the company like he does.

For Arthur, Australasia is also his property, and the stability of Australasia cannot be undermined.

But for those capitals, only the money in their own hands belongs to them, and the interests and stability of the country are nothing in front of their own interests.

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Two shifts tomorrow.

(End of chapter)