On the fifth day of the annihilation of the 2nd East India Division, the Dutch finally abandoned the mediation of the British government and began a full-scale offensive against Medan.

It was only at this time that the Dutch had a sense of urgency to lose the East Indies, not only the Dutch colonial government in the East Indies was rearming for war, but the Netherlands itself also issued a mobilization order to form an army to reinforce the East Indies, and at the same time contacted the French government to purchase warships to strengthen the Dutch Far East Fleet.

The reason for not looking for Britain is obvious, even if the Dutch go to Britain, the British government probably won't sell it, and even if Roque doesn't admit it, the relationship between the Medan army and southern Africa is well known.

What's more, the pressure on Britain from Germany is too great, and the British government is really not in the mood to do business.

"The Dutch government is in contact with France to buy the Franco-class battlecruisers that France is building, and it wants to buy dreadnoughts from France to strengthen the Far East Fleet." Ida informed Roque in a timely manner, and other countries did not dare to say it, but Ida still knew the situation in France very well.

"France doesn't want the Mediterranean anymore?" Roque blurted out.

During the Second Moroccan Crisis, Britain supported France against Germany, thus strengthening the Good Faith Agreement, and then Britain and France agreed that the British Navy would defend the English Channel and the French Navy would be responsible for the Mediterranean.

The second Moroccan crisis will not break out until next year, and now Britain and France have not yet divided their spheres of influence, so Roque's blurt out is actually a leak.

However, Ida didn't realize that the Mediterranean Sea has always been France's traditional sphere of influence, and the French fleet is mainly deployed in the Mediterranean.

"Of course, so Paris did not agree." Ida curled up beside Roque like a cat, lazy and susceptible.

In the context of the arms race, no one can be immune, Britain and Germany are desperately building warships, France of course also has to increase its strength, into the twentieth century, the French Navy put forward a huge shipbuilding plan, to establish two battleship squadrons and two armored cruiser squadrons in the Mediterranean, a total of 14 battleships, 6 battlecruisers, and 11 to 13 armored cruisers.

This plan has now begun to be carried out, and the newest Franco-class battlecruisers are being built, two of which were originally planned to be built, the Fras-France and the Paris.

The Dutch are also hungry, since losing the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, the Netherlands has not built a large warship for ten years, and now it does not even have the ability to design warships, so it can only be purchased from outside.

However, the Dutch probably ignored the arms race in Europe, warships are not something you can buy if you want to, the slipways in the shipyard are limited, and the French Navy is still waiting to be fed, and it is certainly not in the mood to sell the warships that are about to be built to the Dutch.

Even the Dutch can't afford to be rich.

"Then it doesn't matter, there are now forty fighters in the East Indies, which are enough to deal with the Far Eastern Fleet, as long as the Far Eastern Fleet dares to leave Batavia, it will be their end." Roque has confidence, in fact, Port Edward is also building the first cruiser in southern Africa, this class is set to be the Edward-class, and the plan given by the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa is to build 12 ships.

Southern Africa also has a long coastline, so it is necessary to build a strong navy to protect the maritime interests of southern Africa.

However, given the situation in southern Africa, there was no technology for building dreadnoughts, and the construction of battleships was outdated, so cruisers became the best option.

The Edward-class cruisers had a standard displacement of 7,700 tons and a full load displacement of 10,500 tons, and were armed with six eight-inch (203 mm) twin 50-diameter guns, four four-inch (102 mm) 45-diameter guns, and six 20-inch (508 mm) torpedo tubes at the request of the British government.

In fact, if it is only limited to southern Africa, there is no need to install torpedoes on warships, after all, there are no battleships in the surrounding countries of southern Africa, and it can be said that the Edward-class is an unrivaled giant in African waters, and the reason why torpedo tubes are installed is mainly for the sake of war in Europe.

The reason why Edward Shipyard was able to build ** Durward-class cruisers was also thanks to the technical support of the British Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, so Roque agreed to London's request to install torpedo tubes on Edward-class cruisers.

Of course, Roque is not without selfishness, the Edward-class has a displacement of less than 8,000 tons, and the installation of six eight-inch guns is purely thin-skinned and stuffy, and when war breaks out, it is actually not very useful.

So Roque is also a chicken thief, Edward Shipyard only builds one Edward-class lead ship, and then Southern Africa will make improvements, and when the cruiser-related technology is completely exhausted, Southern Africa will also improve it, and then determine the next class of cruisers.

Therefore, the Edward-class cruiser may only build one or two, and the plan given is just a plan, whether it is to be carried out or not is two different things.

"You should be prepared to send political officials to the East Indies and be prepared for the annexation of the East Indies." Ida is also ambitious, and Roque is not as radical as Ada.

"East India is still too far away from Southern Africa, we need the resources of East India, but we don't need the land of East India, South West Africa and Tanganyika are still waiting for us to annex it-" Roque really didn't want it, and his main focus was still on the periphery of Southern Africa.

There are some things that can't be said too clearly.

What to say about the East Indies, there have been too many problems for a long time, some contradictions are very prominent, and many things can be done but cannot be said, and Roque is now also trying, trying to establish an East India completely controlled by the Chinese, which has nothing to do with southern Africa.

To put it mildly, the East Indies could also apply to join the Federal Government of Southern Africa if conditions allow in the future.

This kind of thing is not without precedent, another time and space, the Philippines once held a referendum to join the United States, but the United States did not agree, so the Philippines will become independent.

No, the referendum is already after the independence of the Philippines.

The same is true for the East Indies, if the situation in southern Africa in the future meets Roque's requirements, then the East Indies can also hold a referendum to join the federal government of southern Africa, which is much better than the current direct annexation of the East Indies.

To put it bluntly, if southern Africa were to annex the East Indies directly, the biggest resistance would not come from the Netherlands, but from the British.

Can Britain's notorious "-stirring stick" character tolerate the unbridled and unlimited expansion of southern Africa?

The annexation of Tanganyika by Southern Africa would not have been agreed to by the British government, not to mention the East Indies, and even Port Elizabeth.

That's why Port Elizabeth would be the property of the Adan Company, otherwise Port Elizabeth would be the state of Elizabeth by now.

"Then why do you bother, invest so much, spend so much energy, and in the end it's just for the resources of the East Indies, you have to say so earlier, you don't have to be so troublesome at all." Ida is still very capable, if Roque only wants the resources of the East Indias, then there is no need to set up an East India Company at all, and there is no need to attack the port of Medan, the RAND Bank can do it.

This is the energy of capital, don't think of the RAND Bank as a simple bank, this is also a huge supergiant, now the RAND Bank is a common creditor of the Russian Empire, the Japanese Empire, and Southern Africa, there are so many banks in the world, how many banks can do it?

To put it bluntly, with the gold of Johannesburg on its back, any miracle can happen, so why should Southern Africa entrust the right to issue its currency to the RAND Bank?

It is because the RAND Bank has enough gold reserves.

More than the federal government of Southern Africa has more gold reserves.

"Just make your money, it's not something you should care about." Roque machismo, there are some things that can't be said in too much detail.

"Well, you're right, there's something I want to inform you, Mr. Arthur Locke is mischievous at school, and I really don't have the shame to go to parent-teacher conferences, I don't know if someone has time-" Ida threw out the trump card.

Arthur finally waited for Gavin and went to the primary school attached to the University of Nyasaland together.

Unlike the well-behaved and sensible Gavin, Arthur is probably used to being a little ruthless by Ada, and there is a tendency to develop into a "school bully" in school, so Ada has a headache.

In order to give Arthur a normal name, Ida changed her surname to "Locke" after returning to southern Africa from France last year.

The "Locke" here is not because of Roque, but because of Ada's husband.

That's right, the woman went back to France, and then claimed that she was married, and her husband's surname was "Locke", so Arthur's name became Arthur Locke.

Funnily enough, no one had ever seen this "Locke" at all, and no one attended Ada's wedding, even Phyllis knew about it, but there was nothing she could do.

It's not that Ida is helpless, Phyllis doesn't want to embarrass Roque, so she simply ignores Ada, as for the relationship between Roque and Arthur, of course Phyllis is very clear, and everyone in southern Africa is very clear, that is, everyone doesn't say anything, to be honest, it's not for Ada, but for Arthur.

Speaking of which, Arthur is Roque's eldest son.

According to English law, the eldest son has Roque's title and property inheritance, and the other children have nothing, and Arthur is already pitiful because he has no name.

"Be honest, lay your own eggs, and deal with them yourself." Roque is welcome, they are all old husbands and wives, and there is nothing that cannot be said.

"What did you say?" Ida couldn't believe it, she really didn't know what kind of madness she had made to fall in love with such a rude man.

"Don't make a fuss, I'll call Douglas back." Roque is really a headache, and in this regard, Roque really owes too much.