Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 274 A gift of tens of thousands of tons

Among the franchise companies of Fulinmen Gas Cooker Company in the British Isles, Red River Valley occupies about 3 floors of shares and interests. The second largest shareholder is Lord Ayton, the son of Duke Victor, and the other dozen major shareholders are Edward -Viscount Nelson is one of them, accounting for about 3.2% of the shares, which brings him nearly 7,500 pounds a year in income, which greatly eases his financial difficulties.

  It’s very expensive to pick up girls, and the little income from Viscount Nelson’s feast is not enough to cope with the lavish London courtesan Mrs. Emilia.

In this regard, Viscount Edward Nelson knew that he had always been kind to the Earl of Queensland, and he said; Only the Almighty God can do this, so please don't take it to heart."

"Thank you Edward, I know." Li Fushou said slightly apologetically to Mrs. Emilia; "Gentlemen have some boring topics to talk about. I'm very sorry, I want to borrow your Excellency... "

   "Oh...no problem, I wish you a pleasant chat."

  Ms. Emilia is a natural party animal. She is like a fish in a cocktail party where guests are like clouds. Obviously she didn't want to stay by the dull Viscount Edward Nelson long ago, and turned away happily.

   "So... what do you want to talk about now?" Viscount Edward Nelson turned his head and asked as he watched the very predictable wife leave.

"It's very difficult for me to deal with the Dutch. I want to develop four heavy cruisers with a displacement of about 5,000 to 6,000 tons as the backbone of the fleet. Will this touch the sensitive nerves of the British Empire's Admiralty?" Li Fushou asked bluntly .

"There is no doubt that they will, to be honest, they don’t have a good impression of you, but this is the normal state of London’s upper class. In Cambridge, contradictions are everywhere, just like that...you won't make everyone like it, but you still have to live." Viscount Edward Nelson shrugged indifferently.

  His implicit meaning is very clear;

  Several heavy cruisers are not enough to make the Royal Navy of the British Empire care. They are purely unhappy with the Earl of Queensland. They are built when they are actually built. It is inevitable that rumors are flying all over the sky. Can it really be scuttled?

  This thing is like a colleague relationship in a company. The leader of another department doesn't like you. Whether you do it or not, you will be arrogant and uncomfortable.

  But if you do it, you will do it. It may hinder your promotion in the future, but if you don’t have this motivated mind, another department leader can’t help you. That's probably what it meant.

Li Fushou understood in seconds, he pondered and asked; "The 50th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Victoria's ascension to the throne. Build 4 ships of the same class as the main force of the fleet, hoping to reduce the noise of the Imperial Royal Navy by then."

   "OK, then it's okay." Viscount Edward Nelson cheered upon hearing this.

  Her Majesty Queen Victoria was crowned the king on June 20, 1837. The 50th anniversary of her accession to the throne was June 20, 1887, which was five years and twenty days away. There was no time.

  Queensland's Lord Earl of Queensland has done several tricks in one fell swoop. The gift of tens of thousands of tons of heavy congratulations is enough to wipe out all the doubts. At the same time, he won the favor and acquiescence of the Royal Navy, and he has taken the position of a loyal subject of the British Empire.

  What is missing in the Royal Navy of the British Empire today?

  Lack of money, in order to compete for military expenditure, the War Department and the Admiralty Department have beaten each other's heads and attacked each other endlessly.

  Even though the British Empire is the richest in the world, the huge military expenditures it spends every year cannot make ends meet. Just looking at it makes your scalp numb.

The Army needs to maintain the British Empire’s colonies around the world and intervene in warfare in hotspots, from the shores of the Black Sea to Afghanistan, from Burma to South Africa, from Canada to Puerto Rico in South America. The task list is as thick as the Encyclopedia Britannica, and it takes a lot of money. How much military expenditure?

The same is true for the Royal Navy of the British Empire. In order to maintain the operation of the huge fleet to deter potential enemies, the huge local fleet will burn hundreds of thousands of pounds in a single dispatch. In addition, the crazy development of steam armored warships to replace old warships, no matter how much military expenditure is Not enough to burn.

  So, even if Li Fushou presented Shangri-La Island as a gift of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the British Empire was not rare, and it was far less effective than offering 4 heavy cruisers.

  This is really nothing bragging, it is true.

  The reason why the Earl of Carnarvon was awarded the title of fief was that he led Canada to become a de facto country and joined the Commonwealth, completely severing the Americans’ love for each other, and thus was awarded the title of earl.

  The United States has always had a strong impulse to aggression against Canada in the north. This is truly unrequited love.

  Earl Carnarvon wanted Canada to join the British mainland, but London categorically rejected it and only allowed him to join the Commonwealth. The treatment here is very different.

  British people don’t want Canada and Australia to join in. Diluting should be the superior treatment enjoyed by the British Isles. Don’t even think about this kind of good thing. There is a strong feeling of resistance among the British people, and the same is true for the upper class nobles.

  If Li Fushou proposes to join the United Kingdom on the second day after uniting Australia, 100% will be rejected. The best case is to join the Commonwealth and enjoy the same treatment as Canada.

  Have a promising career as a colony. Don’t think about other things too much.

   Tsarist Russia and Germany are insatiable, wanting to pull everything on their plate, the British are purely eating to survive the time of the sage, and the large tracts of land simply cannot arouse the desire to possess.

  Easily throwing the East Indies to the Dutch in the first place is a very good illustration of this problem.

  At this time, I will offer Shangri-La Island again. Isn’t it purely a humble person?

  Someone will ask questions;

  Since the British don’t care about territories, why did they send troops to occupy Afghanistan and Burma?

  Everyone knows that in addition to mountains or mountains, that ghost place in Afghanistan is a barren and barren land. The real poor mountains and evil waters produce the people, but it is precisely at the core of the world's crossroads, which is extremely important strategically.

  In order to sever the strategic intention of Tsarist Russia to go south, a solid barrier was erected for the Indian continent, the most dazzling jewel in the crown of Her Majesty the Queen of the British Empire and the Queen of India, to protect it from being violated by the Russian bears. It is imperative to take the lead in occupying Afghanistan.

  Tsarist Russia was able to mobilize millions of gray animals, and its army was powerful enough to make the whole of Europe tremble, and the British Empire was no exception.

  The Royal Navy of the British Empire has no rivals across the world and oceans. It does not mean that the army is equally strong. The British standing army is only 280,000 people.

  Looking back at Myanmar, the French have existed in the Indochina Peninsula for decades, and their intention to colonize the Indochina Peninsula is clear.

  If the Franco-Prussian War had not interrupted the French colonial process, the entire Indochina Peninsula would have fallen into the hands of the French colonial army.

  As a standard old silver coin, British strategists have long seen this and have taken preventive measures to prevent the French from invading the Indian peninsula. The specific action is to invade Burma and form a buffer zone between British and French colonies.

  The reason is simple. The British army is far inferior to the French army, and its background and mobilization capabilities are also far inferior. It must be guarded.

   Britain and France, two countries that have been in love and killed each other for hundreds of years, have invaded and colonized other countries side by side, and jointly dealt with Russia, and they had to prevent each other from injuring themselves in the back.

  In the Franco-Prussian War, the British supported the Prussians and gave the French a stab in the back.

The defeated France not only lost a large area of ​​territory, but also directly led to the destruction of the Third French Reich. Napoleon III went into exile in London, and the French paid a huge war indemnity of 5 billion francs. The German Emperor William I was crowned at Versailles. A layer of haze was buried in the proud French...

  Once there is a chance, the French don’t mind giving the British guy a shot.

   took the lead in occupying Burma, and it was impossible for the French army to directly invade the Indian continent. This left a great buffer time and distance for the British to respond effectively.

  As for the fact that the French fleet has landed from the sea, it’s just a matter of thinking about this possibility in a dream. It makes people laugh to say it.

  The grand cocktail party in the evening did not end. Li Fushou had already returned to Jingsi Pavilion. A big man like him couldn't let go of all his subordinates on the scene, and his performance was more honest than the other.

  When the Lord Earl left, the hustle and bustle of the grand reception immediately rose octaves, dancing and indulging in joy.

  In the Jingsi Pavilion, the lights are as bright as daylight.

  Li Fushou was sitting at the desk and savoring a cup of tea, tapping a document with his slender fingers. This is the first-class ironclad construction application report from the Coast Guard newspaper. It has been here for more than half a year.

The classification of steam iron armored battleships is based on the standard of 4000 tons. The first-class iron armored battleships are higher than this standard. The first-class iron armored battleships include iron armored battleships and heavy cruisers. The second-class iron armored ships below the 4000 tons standard are second-class iron armored ships. Cruisers and frigates, light armored gunboats.

  Geng Baogui, as the coast guard captain, has worked hard to promote the construction of the joint fleet over the past two years, come up with a number of plans for the construction of heavy cruisers, and rushed loudly, hoping to attract attention from all quarters.

  The development reports of the Coast Guard submitted by him were sent back one after another, but they were relentlessly submitted, showing eager development expectations.

  All of these are actually double reeds with Lord Earl.

After all, Li Fushou personally came forward to promote the construction of the navy. It will be discussed as a militant noble lord, and it will cause anxiety in the army. Everyone knows that naval construction is a behemoth of swallowing gold. Not only is the construction cost expensive, but the maintenance and use fees are also bottomless pits, especially This is especially true for large battleships.

  One shell weighs five to six hundred kilograms and is worth tens of hundreds of pounds. The lifespan of a large-caliber naval gun is only 250 to 300 rounds, and a barrel is worth more than 5,000 pounds. This is all a waste of money!

  The construction cost of a British standard 10,000-ton iron-clad battleship is enough to equip three divisions with nearly 20,000 troops.

  The construction cost of a 6000-ton heavy cruiser is enough to equip the army units of two divisions.

  This is enough to prove that building a navy is extremely expensive. Ten thousand-ton-class main battleships are very expensive, heavy cruisers are also gold swallowing beasts, and large ships and small ships are not cheap.

  If you want to be cheap, you can only buy the Randal shallow-water gunboat. The thing is purely scum, and it can only sway in the harbor and offshore, and the wind and waves will sink by itself when the wind and waves are big.

  Geng Baogui stepped forward to promote the naval construction plan, which was very appropriate from the perspective of identity and naval construction, and the criticisms would be lower.

   "The wolf is coming, the wolf is coming..." I kept shouting, and I was not surprised when the wolf really came.

   Originally, Li Fushou did not want to rush to develop heavy main battleships, but prepared to wait until the end of the steam armored battleship era and the introduction of the former Dreadnought-class battleships.

  This time node is 1894, but there are still more than ten years left.

  In this way, a large sum of money for ship purchase can be saved for economic construction, and farming will be developed slowly, accumulating steadily...

  The original idea is too beautiful, the facts are far more harsh than the idea.

  After several small-scale naval battles, Li Fushou deeply realized the important role of the navy, so now he changed his mind.

  Heavy iron-clad warships must not only develop, but also develop as soon as possible. The Queensland United Fleet is at best an offshore light naval force, and it is the Dutchman who can find the soft persimmon to succeed.

  When hydraulic double-advance artillery became popular, the Queensland combined fleet no longer had the firepower advantage, so relying on this batch of crispy ships could not protect the core rights and interests.

  You can hit others, and others can naturally hit you.

   Rumors of the Royal Netherlands Army’s attempt to purchase second-hand German warships are raging. Among them is the German 10,000-ton-class iron-clad warship parked at the Hols Shipyard, a serious threat that the Queensland combined fleet cannot contend.

  Leave aside, the Spaniards entrenched in the Luzon Island colony are not good candidates. They have two first-class steam ironclad warships with a displacement of more than 5,000 tons, which are far stronger than the Queensland United Fleet.

Now that the territory is big, Shangri-La Island is not protected by the British Empire as a private domain. It is possible for Germans or Americans to cut off a piece of meat. For the sake of prevention, the Queensland United Fleet must have enough The main battleship that shocked potential opponents.

  A soldier who defeats others without fighting is the best policy!

  The construction of heavy warships is indeed expensive, but the cost of war is also expensive. The serious consequences of losing the war are beyond Li Fushou's responsibility. The reason is that the foundation is too shallow, and one step back is facing a cliff.

  After comprehensive consideration, the development of heavy armored warships has become a top priority.

  More than 80 experts from the German Naval Shipyard Horvatz have arrived at Honghe Shipyard. They will help Honghe Shipyard break through technical difficulties, realize the ability to independently build 6000-ton heavy cruisers, and realize the take-off of shipbuilding technology.

  (End of this chapter)