Australian Storm 1876

   Chapter 901 Conspiracy Theory

   Colonel Pete gently stirred the black tea with milk clockwise with the silver spoon in his hand, so that the spoon would not touch the inner wall of the delicate porcelain and make the annoying sound of "ding ding dong", which is a very important detail of British aristocratic etiquette.

Stirring, he said; "There is no doubt that they are the best students in England. Both economic and military, and it all depends on a distinguished monarch in Oceania. It seems to me that Lee, who has the noble blood of the ancient East, Much wiser than Wilhelm II, Germany is more of a nouveau riche in this regard."

"Wilhelm II has gone crazy. From Hamburg to Bremen, he has been building warships day and night. The success of Fuso and Ocean Kingdom on the sea has stimulated German ambitions. I heard that Wilhelm II liked to wear court tailors in private. Sewing the uniform of the admiral of the Ocean Kingdom, drinking afternoon tea, tasting plum pie, and fantasizing about rushing out of the North Sea and dominating the Atlantic Ocean."

  Speaking of this

Major General    Sherman sighed softly and continued without worry; "I think he needs a doctor."

   "Friendly recommendation of electric shock therapy, Your Excellency, would you like a delicious cookie?" Colonel Pete handed over a small plate containing golden cookies.

He watched Major General Sherman take a piece of tasting, nodded approvingly and said "thank you", Colonel Pitt boasted proudly; "This is my exclusive pastry chef's specialty, he can always use simple things to make Delicious afternoon tea snacks, which are made of NSW flour, chopped Mozambique cashews, Victorian walnuts, oh... yes, cookies baked with Somali raisins, docked in Port Essen have such full You can enjoy the good logistical supply of Ocean Kingdom.”

   "They've been pretty good at this, with the oriental virtues of humility and generosity."

   "Yes, I have specially thanked the esteemed Crown Prince for this. His wisdom and generosity are impressive. I bet that he will be a very good emperor in the future."

   "I agree with you, Pete." Major General Sherman ate a cashew cookie, which was so delicious that he couldn't help reaching out and tasting another.

As he ate, he said; "Speaking of outstanding emperors, I think Lee is the most outstanding figure after Her Majesty Queen Victoria. You can look back on the history of the Ocean Kingdom established by him, is there a kind of mixture of William I and Prime Minister Bismarck? body feeling?"

Hearing Major General Sherman's question, Colonel Pete fell into his thoughts, and after a while, he nodded seriously and said; "Strategic vision is precise, and he strikes decisively, and he can always do the best at the right time. Decisive, from the layout of Africa to the intervention in the Spanish-American War, to take the lead in occupying the Luzon Islands in the eyes of the Americans, I feel like a brilliant dancer, stepping on the beat with every step."

"Yes, everyone knows that the Americans have always had ambitions for the Luzon Islands, but the ultimate beneficiary is Oceania. In 1898, Oceania and the United States went to war against Spain at the same time, and the fear of the Madrid court almost collapsed. In the end, after thinking about it again and again, I had to respectfully give up the Luzon Islands, which is a classic!"

   "Such a person still has enormous power, no wonder the Dutch and the Americans should not be able to sleep, after all, no one is used to having a person thinking about his yard all the time."

   "So I said, Lee is a very good monarch, and I admire him a lot."

   "So...the Wool War should not be a hastily decided war, but more of a long-planned expansionary operation, should it?" Colonel Pete asked a question that most of the world's top political elites would harbor today.

   "This possibility cannot be ruled out, but there is no evidence to prove it." Major General Sherman shrugged helplessly, spreading his hands and said;

"A lot of people have this question, from London, Paris to Berlin, Vienna to Madrid, you know that the Spaniards and the Italians are very concerned about this issue, and immigrants from these two countries are mainstream in Argentina and have great interests, so" Conspiracy theories" have a market.

   However, according to the authoritative information from London, this is a war caused by a foolish decision.

   is now determined;

The proposal to increase the tax that led to the outbreak of the "Wool War" originally originated from President Aviglaneda, who was descended from the Spanish white manor owner who had worked in Argentina for more than 370 years. His family is a famous Argentine. A prominent family, one of the top manor owners in the country.

   His family has a powerful presence in the northeast of the Pampas Plain. Without this, there is no way for him to become president in Argentine politics, where the system is corrupt and the network is complicated.

  President Avillianeda mentioned this novel idea at a closed cabinet meeting, which immediately received a positive response from the Minister of Finance and the Minister of the Interior, but was opposed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The reason of    the Foreign Minister is very simple, Argentina cannot afford to offend the Ocean Empire.

   However, the opposition was ineffective. Driven by greed and jealousy, the decision to impose high discriminatory and heavy taxes on the woolen textile industry, dominated by the merchants of the Ocean Empire, was finalized in this closed cabinet meeting.

   Agreed was Maupassant, the Minister of Finance, who was of English descent.

   There is Interior Minister Rodriguez, who is of Italian descent.

  There is the Minister of Agriculture, Salem, who is also of British descent.

   There are also the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Education, regardless of the minister, etc., the cabinet vote is 11:2, and only the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Director of the General Taxation Department are opposed.

   The reason for the objection of the director of the General Taxation Administration is that the money collected is also used by the government, but the General Taxation Administration has to face the powerful and tyrannical Argentine Wool Textile Industry Association alone, which is a hard bone and thankless.

   Some of these cabinet members are ours, some are from Madrid or Turin, but none of them may be from the Ocean Kingdom, there is no doubt about this.

so…"

Major General Sherman spread his hands and made his concluding remarks; "London, Paris and Berlin have all determined that this is a war caused by excessive greed. After the Ocean Empire declared war in anger, the Americans thought it was a war in the Pacific Ocean. A good opportunity to expand the impact, I am happy to end the game, and I am full of bumps."

"It's a pity, the Ocean Kingdom is not easy to deal with." Colonel Pete accepted this authoritative explanation, his eyes turned to the porthole, and he looked at it in a trance and said; "Judging from the past performance, the Americans can't hold Buenos. Ellis, there will definitely be a big loss."

"Hehe... It doesn't matter, the United States has enough size and depth and a solid economic foundation. This war will not end in a short time. We still have enough time to enjoy their pas de deux performance. Maybe there will be opportunities for us to participate, what do you think? , Pete?" Major General Sherman asked confidently, with a relaxed smile on the corner of his mouth.

   Colonel Pitt also smiled, took a sip of the black tea and said, "I very much agree with Your Excellency's view that nothing in this world can be done without the British Empire alone. This is the natural mission of the United Kingdom."

  The two British naval officers smiled knowingly, their arrogance beyond words.

   They are not optimistic about the defense of the US Atlantic Fleet deployed on the front line of Buenos Aires. The navy is a very aggressive service, but they have never heard of it being good at defense.

  The British Royal Navy's home fleet anchored in Portsmouth Bay can deter any challenger with wicked intentions around the world, relying not on defense, but on the unparalleled offensive power that dominates all over the world.

  This, the U.S. Atlantic Fleet obviously cannot do it.

  The Strait of Magellan is the most important passage connecting the southern Atlantic and the southern Pacific, but it is not the only passage.

   Between the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego and the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica, there is the world's widest strait, the Drake Passage.

  The Drake Passage is about 300 kilometers long from east to west and 970 kilometers wide from north to south. It is an important channel for large ships to travel between the two oceans.

  Drake Passage is affected by the polar cyclone, which has formed the "devil westerly belt". In severe weather all the year round, the wind is at least level 8 or above, and the waves of 10 meters start, and the monstrous waves of 20 meters are the main dish.

  Icebergs that slide down from the Antarctic often float in the strait, posing great danger to ships passing by.

   Therefore, the Drake Passage is the most dangerous strait in the world, and the Strait of Magellan is a calm river in front of him.

.

  The British battle cruiser "Lion" came to the Pacific Ocean through the Drake Passage. This grumpy strait is not impossible to go, but when can we go?

   In the coldest September, most of the Drake Passage is covered with icebergs. There are large and small icebergs floating in the strait, and the wind and waves are raging. That is the most dangerous time of the year.

   In the warmest February of each year, the melted ice retreats back to the periphery of the South Shetland Islands, and the wind and waves are much smaller, which is the most suitable time to travel.

   And now, in two days it will be February 1st.

The    Ocean Empire expedition strike formation carried a large number of infantry troops along with it. It seemed that they were going to land on Tierra del Fuego, so the time for the action was just a few days ago.

   The British guessed right, but the results surprised them.

The    Ocean Kingdom took action, and the landing force did not go to Tierra del Fuego with the fleet, but landed directly in Port Essen, Chile, for the reason of borrowing a way.

   Lao Tzu believed in your evil!

   This can **** off the British, and Chile is a neutral country.

  The Shangri-La Division and the Second Army Division (East Kalimantan Division), armed to the teeth by the Ocean Empire, with a total of 26,600 officers and soldiers landed in Port Essen, which is a serious violation of international norms.

The benefits of    landing in Port Essen are obvious, why do you say that?

  Chile is the longest and narrowest country in the world, with a total length of more than 4,500 kilometers from north to south, and a width of only 180 kilometers from east to west, just like a slender pencil.

   Landed in Port Essen, from here the Royal Ocean Empire Army troops can go straight into Buenos Aires, which is the southern end of the Andes Mountains with a total length of more than 9,000 kilometers, with flat and hilly mountains.

  After landing, we went directly eastward through the 145-kilometer hilly area to the border between Chile and Argentina. The good news is that there are many sandy roads in between, which provided natural convenience for the armored troops to pass.

  The people of the Ocean Empire are not stupid. If so, why go to the very dangerous Magellan Strait and Drake Strait?

  A little carelessness can lead to serious consequences for the shipwreck.

not to mention

  In the waters around Buenos Aires, where the main force of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet gathers, unprecedented and fierce naval battles are bound to break out, and the danger is self-evident.

   If the Royal Navy's expeditionary strike formation hadn't been kicked by a donkey, they wouldn't have carried the landing fleet to fight together. Wouldn't that be a big death?

When the main force of the fleet went out to fight for sea dominance, the army landing ship group still staying in Port Essen was a turtle peeling off its hard armor to reveal tender meat. If one or two battleships of the Atlantic Fleet came to attack, the old nest could It would be disastrous.

   Now, Army troops landed in Essen... well, everything is fine, perfect.

  The British quickly figured this out, but they still couldn't accept it. Chile is a neutral country!

   (end of this chapter)