Europe and the United States are obviously opposed to the Southern African Union, and no one wants to see the emergence of a united and strong regional bloc in southern Africa, which will directly affect the interests of all countries in the world in Africa.

Although Southern Africa, including the United Kingdom, is still part of the British Commonwealth, it does not want to see continued expansion of southern Africa.

Southern Africa, which is 10 million square kilometers rich in resources, can provide almost unlimited cheap labor, and there are no countries around it that can pose a threat to southern Africa, and it is clear that it is the next United States.

Moreover, southern Africa is different from the United States, which is not a Commonwealth country and cannot replace British influence within the Commonwealth, and southern Africa can do it.

"After the end of the world war, the population of Australia and New Zealand not only did not increase, but continued to decline, and European countries preferred southern Africa, followed by the United States, Australia is a country of prisoners, and no one wants to immigrate to Australia unless it is absolutely necessary-" Viscount Gladstone was pessimistic and disappointed, when he was in southern Africa, southern Africa was thriving, which gave Viscount Gladstone a delusion, and as a result, it was only in Australia that Viscount Gladstone realized the cruelty of the world.

In the world of 1921, population still played a key role in determining development.

There is a future for people.

No one is on their own.

"We also want to learn from southern Africa and bring in immigrants from Asia, but we are recruiting Indians and Malays, and their arrival has not only brought wealth, but has brought some new social problems, so I am looking for another possibility, joining the Southern African Union, which is an opportunity for Australia and New Zealand." Viscount Gladstone is also helpless, the introduction of immigrants is good for southern Africa, and it is difficult to say for Australia.

Australia's own population is too small, and there are too many immigrants to bring in, and if you are not careful, white people will become a minority, which will cause more serious problems at that time.

"Sir, as much as I would love to see Australia and New Zealand join the Southern African Union, it is not realistic at this time and London will not allow that to happen." Roque is sincere, he has always had a good relationship with Viscount Gladstone, and he is willing to help, but unfortunately he can't.

"London—hehe, Locke, when London decided to make peace with the Boers, London was no longer the London it used to be." Viscount Gladstone's expression was indifferent, and now looking back, the Second Boer War was the beginning of the weakening of the British Empire, and the world war further accelerated this process.

In the case of the former British Empire, it would not have chosen to negotiate with the Boers at all.

The situation at that time, if the British held out for a while, the Boers would be completely subjugated.

As a result, because of the soaring military spending, London was finally overwhelmed, and the negotiations with the Boers also allowed other countries to see Britain's foreign power.

To put it mildly, if Britain had been tougher in the Second Boer War, Germany might not have been determined to start an arms race.

"In this way, Australia and New Zealand can join the Southern African Union as observer countries for the time being, and then decide whether Australia and New Zealand want to join the Southern African Union in a few years." Roque compromised, dragging is a good way.

Fast forward to 1921, after four years of economic downturn, the global economy finally showed some signs of recovery, and the impact of the economic crisis was improving.

The process is extremely difficult, countless enterprises have gone bankrupt and liquidated, workers have lost their jobs, farmers have gone bankrupt, and yesterday they were millionaires, and today they are penniless.

This is also the economic law of capitalism, and about every ten years or so, a serious economic crisis erupts.

It's 1921, and in another 10 years, maybe 29 or 30 years, the world will fall into a new round of economic crisis.

In contrast to this economic crisis, the next economic crisis has an exclusive term called "Great Depression", and you can see how serious the situation will be by then.

"Yes—" Viscount Gladstone didn't expect to do it all in one step, at least it was a good start.

The current Australia and New Zealand are actually of little significance to the Southern African Union, Australia and New Zealand have them, the Southern African Union has them, Australia and New Zealand do not have them, and Southern Africa also has them.

"Then it was decided, on April 1, we will form the Southern African Union." Philip was in high spirits, but the day was not very good.

Leaving the Palace of Justice and returning to the Ministry of Defense, there are still a lot of things to be dealt with by Roque.

After the establishment of the Southern African Union, the Southern African Coalition will be established to be responsible for the security and defence of the entire region.

The coalition headquarters will be located in Pretoria, with a total strength of about 300,000 troops, including six army divisions with a total strength of about 100,000; The Navy was further expanded on the basis of the existing one, and Roque was ready to create naval aviation and marines, which caused some controversy in the Ministry of Defense.

"The air force should be the air force, the marine corps must be the army, if the navy establishes the air force and the marine corps, will it cause confusion in command?" Derek Dodd was cautious, both the Air Corps and the Marine Corps were new troops, and there was no precedent to follow before, and he couldn't copy his homework if he wanted to.

"All the new planes we have produced in the past two years have been given to the navy, and the army is left with only long-range bombers and transport planes, and there are few new fighters, so isn't the airspace of southern Africa important?" Martin also complained that the navy in southern Africa has developed rapidly in the past two years, and it has more funds than the air force and army combined.

"Naval aviation can also protect the airspace of southern Africa, and in the future, there will be fewer and fewer opportunities for the army and air force to participate in wars, and only a strong navy can fully guarantee the interests of southern Africa." Roque's position in the Southern African Army is irreplaceable, and it is not too much to describe it in one word.

Although Roque didn't want to make a statement, many times, the thinking of Derek Dodd and Martin would still be influenced by the mainstream military thinking of Europe and the United States, and then Roque had to act arbitrarily.

"The neighboring countries and regions of southern Africa almost pose no threat to southern Africa, our core interests in the future are still in the ocean, whether it is the establishment of naval aviation, or the establishment of the Marine Corps, it is to enhance the long-range delivery capability of the navy, we now have the Edward fleet, the Walvis Bay fleet, and the Atlantic Fleet that has just been established, and the Indian Ocean Fleet will be established in the future, and the development of the army in the next ten years will be dominated by the navy." Roque is determined to start preparing for the next world war now.

The First World War was the time when southern Africa really came to the world stage.

By the time the next world war broke out, Roque hoped that southern Africa would be ready to replace Britain.

At that time, the opponents of southern Africa will not be Germany, Japan, Britain, France, and Italy, but the United States on the other side of the ocean, so southern Africa must have a powerful fleet that can compete with the United States, and long-range projection capability is a necessary capability for a strong fleet.

"The army of the future will no longer be as clear as before, the navy can have aviation, it can have the Marine Corps, the air force will also develop airborne troops to improve the ability to strike at the sea, and the army will develop in the direction of specialized mechanization, tanks, armored vehicles, long-range artillery, and even army aviation-" Roque said here and suddenly remembered helicopters -

Hey, when was the helicopter invented?

Regardless, with the industrial and technological capabilities possessed by southern Africa, it is entirely possible to start research on helicopters.

Speaking of which, it seems that missiles can also be put on the agenda.

With missiles, shouldn't we look into nuclear weapons?

Roque suddenly felt that time was pressing, originally it felt like twenty years was quite far away, but now it seems, twenty years is enough-

Not to mention that it has been 21 years now, and there are no twenty years left.

At the end of the meeting, Roque directly called Diesel and Bobby Holt and assigned them the task of developing a helicopter.

The research institute under the name of Diesel has been committed to the research and development and improvement of engines over the years, not only diesel engines, but also more advanced aero engines and marine engines.

Bobby Holt is the same Bobby Holt who improved the motorcycle, and he now works for Nyasaland Airlines and is the airline's chief designer.

After listening to Roque's introduction to the helicopter, Diesel and Bobby Holt were not surprised.

"I remember a Russian ten years ago who came up with this idea, what is it called?" Diesel is a true technical expert and has always paid attention to technical information.

"It seems to be called Gore, Gore Ivanovich Sikorsky." Bobby Holt is no stranger to helicopters either.

Sikorsky is the same Sikorsky who will be known as the "father of helicopters" in the future.

In 1909, Sikorsky began research on helicopters, but due to the state of technology at the time, Sikorsky did not succeed.

It wasn't until 30 years later that Sikorsky succeeded in developing the world's first truly practical helicopter in the United States, and the era of helicopters began.

Compared with airplanes, helicopters have a wider range of applications and a greater role, and are truly dual-use and have great prospects.

"That's it, Sikorsky didn't finish the design ten years ago, let's perfect it." Once again, Roque's golden finger came into play, and although the blueprints were not standard, the monorotor and tail rotor were clearly visible.

Sometimes, technological breakthroughs are really just a layer of window paper, and when they are pierced, a new world is created.

"It doesn't seem too difficult, after all, the technology has made great progress in the past ten years, and we can modify the existing aero engine and apply it to the helicopter, but there are still some technical problems to solve, and the scheme may have to be redesigned." Diesel is full of confidence, in terms of engines, if Diesel can't do it, then no one in the world can do it.

(End of chapter)