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Piaotian Literature of the Fourth Empire of China www.piaotia.com Chapter 500: Summoning

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    For Britain, giving up the Far East was only a last resort.  Compared to India, Myanmar and the Straits Settlements are nothing to mention.  The wealth that Britain seizes from India every year reaches tens of millions of pounds. India has become an indispensable and important guarantee for Britain to maintain its national power and world hegemony. If India is attacked, the colonial system that Britain has painstakingly established will completely collapse.  .  Of course, in order to defend India, Britain will do its best.  As for China, although it won the naval battle, its national power was almost exhausted to the limit, and it was impossible to fight the British for India.  Being able to obtain Nanyang is already very good for China.  The various resources and vast markets in the Nanyang region are urgently needed by China.  Furthermore, China will face attacks from Japan and the United States next. Therefore, in this war, it will not attack India or challenge the limits of Britain.

    "Sir John Fisher. When will the Imperial Navy regain its strength? Or, when will it have the strength to defeat the Chinese Navy?" Prime Minister Arthur Balfour asked.  Britain's dominance is maintained by its powerful navy.  Once the naval strength is damaged, British interests will be seriously provoked.

    "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Ministry of the Navy currently has a total of 12 battleships under construction, including 6 'Old Man' star battleships and 6 'Dreadnought' class battleships. Among them, 6 'Old Man' star battleships will be built starting from the end of this year.  The six 'Dreadnought-class' battleships will not be able to enter service until the end of next year. It is expected that by the middle of the next year, all six 'Dreadnought-class' battleships will be in service. By then, the Imperial Navy will be able to protect itself.  !" said Sir John Fisher, Lord of the Admiralty.

    "Among the 12 battleships built, only the 'Dreadnought-class' battleship is a new battleship, right? Compared with the Chinese two-class new battleships. How is its performance?" Prime Minister Arthur Balfour frowned.

    "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the combat power of our 'Dreadnought-class' battleships should be comparable to the Chinese Navy's 'Zhonghua-class' battleships, but they are not as good as the Chinese Navy's 'Qin-class' battleships." Sir John Fisher said honestly  replied honestly.

    Prime Minister Arthur Balfour nodded. He knew that the British Navy had fallen behind and needed to catch up with the Chinese Navy.  It will take more time.  "Sir John Fisher, I hope the Navy can speed up the construction. Strive for 6 'Dreadnought-class' battleships to be put into service before the end of next year. At the same time, the Navy must design a 'Qin-class' to rival the Chinese Navy as soon as possible.  Battleships, even battleships more powerful than the 'Qin-class' battleships are coming out! The vast territory of the British Empire needs powerful battleships to protect it!" Prime Minister Arthur Balfour said.

    "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Ministry of the Navy will do its best. The construction of rebuilt battleships can be accelerated. The design bureau has also begun designing new battleships. However, this will cost a lot of money. In addition to other armored cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers  , for a long time to come. The Imperial Navy will need a lot of military spending!" Sir John Fisher said.  Now, the annual military expenditure that the British Navy can get is only 20 million pounds.  In normal times, this is already a large amount of military expenditure.  But now the British naval strength is greatly reduced.  If you want to quickly restore your strength, this military expenditure seems a bit insignificant!

    "In addition to the annual military expenditure, I will allocate 20 million pounds in shipbuilding military expenditure for the navy from other financial income of the empire. I only hope that the Royal Navy can return to the world's number one within five years!"  Prime Minister Arthur Balfour said.

    "Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Admiralty will do its best!" Sir John Fisher felt a lot of pressure.  However, he knew that there was no way around it.  The British navy was severely damaged and its strength was greatly reduced.  During this period, the UK will face a very difficult situation.  In particular, Germany is now frantically building warships. Germany has obtained a complete set of design drawings of the 'Chinese-class' battleships from China, and the transformed 'Nassau-class' battleships are expected to be in service early next year. This is very important to the United Kingdom.  It will be a very big threat.  By then, Britain will only have some old-fashioned battleships to support the scene.  Even the 'Old Man Star' battleship that can be put into service at the end of this year is far from the opponent of the 'Nassau-class' battleship. The British Navy can only maintain the status of the British Navy with the number of battleships.

    "Then, next, Lord Lansdowne, please contact China! We must negotiate peace with China as soon as possible and end the state of war. At the same time, we must ensure the interests of the British Empire as much as possible. Recently, those Boers in South Africa,  There is some restlessness again, and behind this, there may be instigation from the Chinese and Germans!" Prime Minister Arthur Balfour said.  Although becoming Prime Minister, this is what he has always wanted.  But now, this situation is not what he wants to see.

    France, which is only separated from the United Kingdom by a strait, also closed the door on the morning of June 22.By the time the navy was sent back from the Far East, it was defeated.  The French navy also suffered heavy losses in the naval battle.  All five armored cruisers were sunk, and most of the light cruisers and destroyers were also sunk. Only a few light cruisers and destroyers escaped.

    French President Emile Fran?ois Loubet convened an emergency meeting of the government. Prime Minister Waldeck Rousseau, who had just taken office, Foreign Minister Alexandre Ribaud, War Minister Charles de Frescine, Finance Minister  Minister Maurice Rouvier and Minister of the Navy Godefroy Cavaignac attended this meeting.

    "Everyone, the combined fleet failed in the Far East, and the army of the Indochina colony will soon be wiped out by the Chinese. What should we do now?" President Emile Francois Loubet said with a gloomy face,  If this matter is not handled well, he may be kicked out directly.  You know, he has only been president for four months, and he doesn't want to be kicked out like this.

    "Your Excellency, it seems that the Indochina colony can no longer be saved. The combined fleet is so powerful that it cannot defeat the Chinese navy. The entire Far East and Pacific region have become the world of the Chinese!" Navy Minister Godefreud  Val Cavaignac said.  Compared with the losses of Britain and Russia, the losses of the French navy were much smaller.

    "So, how do we face the angry people? I am sure that tomorrow morning, the Elysee Palace will be surrounded by protesting people!" President Emile Francois Loubet said.

    "Your Excellency, we can attribute the failure of this war to the British. According to the intelligence we received, while the French navy was fighting bloody battles, the British navy shamelessly escaped! France was captured by the British  We have been deceived, and I believe that the people of Guangdong will forgive us!" Prime Minister Waldeck Rousseau suggested.

    Everyone¡¯s eyes lit up, this was a very good way to divert conflicts.  However, this would cause a sharp decline in relations between France and Britain.

    "Your Excellency, the main force of the British Navy has been eliminated, and their threat to France has been reduced to a minimum. France now does not need to be afraid of Britain. What matters now is how to bring the troops trapped in the Far East back to France. If it can  If we can safely bring the troops from the Far East back to France, I believe the people will understand us!" Foreign Minister Alexandre Ribot also said.

    France has more than 100,000 troops in its Indochina colony.  Although these troops were completely defeated by the Chinese Army on the battlefield, the casualties were not large, and most of them entered the prisoner-of-war camps of the Chinese Army.  If these captured soldiers can be safely rescued back to France, then the government will definitely gain the support of the majority of the people.  This is very beneficial for this government to get out of the crisis.

    "What do you think of this method?" The gloomy look on President Emile Francois Loubet's face has completely disappeared.  Based on his intuition, if he did this, he might be able to get through the difficulties this time.

    "Your Excellency, since China has won this war, it is time for France to withdraw. Even if it pays a high price, it must get out of the quagmire of the Far East. We are no better than the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom must defend India, and  The Indochina colony is not the most important to France!" War Minister Charles de Frecinet also expressed his position.

    "France's focus is in Europe. What we should be wary of now is the rise of Germany, rather than provoking a powerful enemy that has risen in the Far East. France's energy in the future should be reduced to Europe!" Navy Minister Godef  Roy Cavaignac also said.

    "Very good, then let's do it! Your Excellency Alexander Ribot, you will set off for China tomorrow. No matter what, France must withdraw from this war, and at the same time, bring back the troops in the Far East safely. Charles  "De Frescinet, you can order the troops in the Far East to stop resisting, so as not to suffer unnecessary sacrifices!" President Emile Francois Loubet concluded.

    On the morning of June 23, Paris time, after receiving news of the navy¡¯s defeat, the angry French people surrounded the Elys¨¦e Palace.  However, President Emile Francois Loubet came out to reassure everyone and put all the blame on Britain.  At the same time, I would like to assure everyone that the French government will make every effort to bring more than 100,000 French young men from the Far East back to France safely.  At the same time, French Foreign Minister Alexandre Ribot also waited for a new light cruiser and quickly headed to China.  With the government's appeasement, the French people accepted the government's rhetoric.  However, the UK is very dissatisfied with France's statement that puts all the blame on the UK!

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