At the end of June, it was rainy in London, and it seemed that the summer sun, after sweeping across the European continent, had lost its power because of this so-called invincible empire, hiding in the clouds, rolling up the sky and then flying down.

Of course, this is a self-deprecating joke, because no one likes this kind of weather.

In the old parliament building, a window was quietly lifted a little, as if to dispel the heat and humidity of the house, Prince Louis of Badenberg stood in front of the window, with his back to the window, listening to the sound of gasps around him, and a wry smile on his lips.

"Is this true? That fleet of arsonists from the Far East really defeated the Russian fleet? ”

"God, that's the best joke I've ever heard."

"It can't be."

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid it's true!" In the face of the parliamentarians' questioning, Prince Louis of Badenberg continued to shake his head with a wry smile while holding up telegrams sent by Commander of the Far Eastern Fleet, Philimante, and Ambassador to China, Ogner.

Although he, as the first minister of the navy, also very doubted the real surname of this telegram, after all, the main force of Russia has four battleships and six armored cruisers, and its strength is not weaker than that of the Far East Fleet of the British Empire, but such a fleet was completely annihilated by the newly rising Pacific Fleet in less than three months after it arrived in the Far East!

It's just too much to accept!

Russia is not a book! This third naval power has collapsed in such a way, and the total tonnage of naval ships has plummeted by 100,000 tons, I am afraid that Nicholas II is already going crazy!

So a year later, when all the warships I ordered returned to China, would I really be able to defeat the Pacific Army? Is it time for the British Empire to consider a change in its approach to the Far East? Is it worth continuing to seize two battleships of the Pacific Army? If there is a rift with them because of this, will it affect Britain's future interests in the Far East?

You know, in the Pacific, not only the Far East, Australia's weak defense is even inferior to Northeast China!

Not far from Badenberg, the Third Admiral Fischer was also full of seriousness, completely annihilating the Russian Far East Fleet, capturing the Russian cutting-edge battleships Chesma and Sinop, so that the battleships of the Pacific Fleet increased to six at once, plus the capture of several armored cruisers, so that the total tonnage of the Pacific Fleet reached nearly 150,000 tons!

I heard that the Germans were rushing to build two new battleships for them at night, and with the fall of the Russian ranking, the Pacific Fleet has surpassed Turkey in one fell swoop to become the fourth navy in the world!

And this merit was not obtained by building ships and buying ships in a frenzy!

They defeated the eleventh one! Indirectly defeated the seventh-place Qing Kingdom, and now it has defeated the third-placed Russia! Such a great feat, even the Imperial Royal Navy must be sideways!

In particular, they have gained the most valuable ironclad combat experience through two naval battles, and have trained a large number of new generation naval officers, an advantage that even the British Royal Navy at this moment cannot compare!

Is it a blessing or a curse for such a fleet to lie in the Far East, where the empire has great interests?

The Pacific Ocean, the world's largest ocean, is becoming more and more unpredictable because of the rise of Hawaii and the Americans' catch-up, the Americans' three Indiana-class battleships have all been commissioned, and the new four Iowa-class (1896 version) are also being built at an accelerated pace, and are expected to be completed in one year, plus their new armored cruisers in service and under construction, the total tonnage of the US Navy will also exceed 200,000 tons in two years!

The Imperial Navy is facing serious challenges and must find a new path!

"Gentlemen, Sir O'Gner has called and suggested that we reconsider the situation in the Far East, and consider our relations with Hawaii, and I think it is necessary for us to respond!" The new Prime Minister, Marquis Salisbury, who had only been in office for four months, stood up and scanned the audience: "The Hawaiians have taken the lead in the race in the Far East, the Russians will surely carry out the craziest retaliation, the Ben is also gathering momentum, the Americans are also catching up, and the Imperial Far East Fleet will face the greatest challenge ever!" ”

"In the Boers, the empire is also facing chaos, the Boers have armed more than 30,000 soldiers, and this number is growing every day! The Germans, the French are digging up the interests that belong to the Reich there! If Boole loses control, I'm sure you all know what to lose! The bearded Marquis of Salisbury waved his arms, trying to infect the parliamentarians and Imperial ministers around him.

"In the Atlantic, in the Pacific, the empire will be challenged!" The Marquis of Salisbury continued: "So I suggest that it is necessary to re-examine the foreign policy of the Empire, and in the meantime we should immediately start a new shipbuilding program to deal with the current situation!" ”

"In addition, I have decided to send an envoy to the Far East at once." The Marquis of Salisbury waved his arm, trying to make himself look more incendiary: "In that land, no powerful regime is in the interests of the British Empire, and what we have to do now is to confine the Honolulu people to that icy and snowy land, and we must not let them continue to expand southward, nor let them continue to attack Russia!" ”

In the conference room, the voice of the Marquis of Salisbury was impassioned, and with his voice, the British envoy stepped on the warship bound for the Far East. At this time, Li Mo, who was far away in the Ryukyus, probably no one would have thought that after he swallowed the Russian Far East Fleet in one bite, the first to make changes would be the British, and with the plan of as many as six old man-rated battleships on the road, the whole world was pryed up by this whirlwind blowing from the Far East!

Just three days after the Marquis of Salisbury made a report on the situation in the Far East, the American political axe also reacted, because the Honolulu political axe was in the Pacific Ocean, so the pressure on the Americans was greater than that of the British, after learning that the Russian Far East Fleet had been completely annihilated, because of the fear that the situation in the Far East would change significantly, immediately sent Roosevelt as a special envoy to the Far East to mediate the war.

At the same time, having learned that the British would build six new battleships in response to changes in the Far East, the Americans immediately chose to follow suit and decided to build four new battleships of the Chilsage class.

But because the technology is not as strong as the British, the Americans have to continue to expand and improve on the basis of the Iowa class, instead of redesigning newer battleships like the British Empire!

The violent reaction of Britain and the United States led to a new round of naval competition across the Atlantic, with Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, and even Italy and the Ottoman Empire all sending envoys to the Far East and starting their own shipbuilding programs.

Young Master Li may not have expected that because of his appearance, this competition that had only reached the ** level before World War I was several years earlier than in history! And the bigger the scale, the more money will be consumed! ――

At the entrance of the East Palace in St. Petersburg, the statue of the giant god Atlas stands impressively, and in the Peacock Hall, where two tons of malachite and nine kinds of precious wood are used, Nicholas II sits on a throne studded with diamonds and gold, his face is gloomy, and even the map of Russia inlaid with 45,000 colored stones behind him seems to have lost its former brilliance.

Because the jewel that was gradually shining in the crown of the empire was extinguished today, and four first-class battleships, six second-class battleships, and more than twenty other warships, large and small, all became other people's playthings!

What's even more shameful is that the Chesma and Sinop have just been sent to the Far East, and they were actually captured.

What's more, Vladivostok, which was painstakingly built by the empire and known as the first fortress in the Far East, was completely destroyed under enemy fire, and the bombardment of the Pacific Army in a day and night caused a total of 13,000 deaths and more than 20,000 injuries, most of which were poorly prepared land forces, and most of them were seriously burned and smashed, and in the coming harsh winter, they could not survive with all the materials destroyed!

Although emergency redeployment of supplies from Beria has begun, progress has been very slow due to the lack of railways and poor roads.

Without material support, not even reinforcements could pass, and without the protection of the fleet, the Imperial Army stationed in the Far East was almost completely wiped out, and even the proud Cossack cavalry laid down their sabers and awaited an unknown fate.

And in Korea, the port of Wonsan has also been lost, and the Russian forces in Korea have almost been liquidated by the person himself, and now where has it almost become the world of the person!

Now what? It's to keep fighting! Or is it realistic?

Nicholas II and his empire are faced with a major choice!

"Your Majesty, I suggest that someone be sent to Honolulu to negotiate immediately, the most important thing at the moment is not to counterattack, but to preserve the last strength of the empire in the Far East, we can no longer let the soldiers be consumed in Korea and the Far East, which is even more detrimental to the decisive battle in the future!" Alexei. General Kuropatkin was the first to speak, for him, the army always comes first! As for the Navy, hum! It can only be said that they are so incompetent that they will lose to that small country whose entire territory is less than one Kamchatka Peninsula in the empire!

It's a shame!

The Army should not fall victim to the Navy's disgrace!

"No, the Army must not be withdrawn!" Grand Duke Alexander Lovech, Minister of the Navy, glared at Kuropatkin and said: "Your Majesty, the fleet is being assembled, and in just a few days, they will be able to set off immediately, and I will let everyone know how terrible the wrath of the Great Russian Empire is!" ”

"No, the army must be withdrawn immediately, we can't do unnecessary attrition." Kuropatkin was originally at odds with Alexander Lovech, and with such a good opportunity, how could he not strike at it, so he immediately said: "Your Majesty, the Navy has lost more than half of its warships, and the empire's first-class battleships can only go down a few, and the second-class battleships are only five!" And our opponents, who originally had eight capital ships, have now got the warships of the Empire, and have surpassed us, so I suggest that we withdraw the army for the winter first, and then the army will launch a counterattack after next spring! ”

Nicholas II, who had already had a bad face, now heard about the capture of the warship, and his face became even more gloomy!

"Army! Can your army fight to the Ryukyus and Hawaii on its own? Aleksandrovich sneered.

"The Army can't do it? Do you have a navy? The Imperial Army is the number one in the world! With the most powerful Cossack cavalry, only our army can hold the entire Far East! After Kuropatkin finished speaking, he deliberately ridiculed: "Navy? Hmph, I really don't know where so much of the Empire's naval budget is spent every year! ”

"Shut up!" This taunt suddenly made Alexander Lovech burst into a rage, rushed up a few steps and shouted: "Didn't your army obediently raise the white flag in the Far East?" Cossack? Even the war horse was given away! ”

"Shut up, y'all!" Nicholas II really couldn't stand it anymore and shouted!

One is a dignified Duke of the Empire, the other is the Minister of War of the Earl, and he didn't think about how to work together to deal with the current situation, but he actually caused infighting! And they are arguing like no one is in their own peacock hall! I still don't think about myself as an emperor!

Nicholas II withdrew his gaze from the two ministers of the navy and turned to the other.

Sergei Witt, who holds both the posts of Minister of Transport and Minister of the Exchequer of the Reich, is currently the second most powerful person in the hall after the Minister of the Interior, so when Nicholas II's eyes looked at him, he immediately said: "Your Majesty, I do not recommend going to war now. ”

"Why!" Nicholas II didn't expect to wait for such a frustrating sentence after waiting for a long time, and couldn't help but sink his voice.

"Because the consumption is too large, the empire doesn't have that much money." Witte shrugged his shoulders and ignored the gloomy face of Nicholas II.

"No money! What is the reason for this? With so many taxes paid every year in the vast territory of the empire, how could there be no money? His words immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of all the ministers, and several who had already been interested in the post of chancellor of the exchequer even questioned it in person.

In the face of doubts, Werther was unhurried, looked around, and then slowly spread his hands and said: "I mean there is not so much money, not that there is no money." ”

"Is it any difference?" Nicholas II asked with a frown.

"Absolutely!"

Witt stood in the middle of the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, please don't forget, the Trans-Siberian Railway has just started, and we have spent a lot of military money in order to transport 50,000 troops and send fleets, and it took a full year!" How long will it take to fight back now? So I think that if we can wait until the railway opens before counterattacking, then we can save more military money to build warships and have more time to raise military expenses! ”

"Of course, if Your Majesty wants to fight back now, I have no opinion, but Vladivostok has been completely destroyed, and according to the report of Governor Aleksayev, it will take at least two years to repair it, and another 50,000 laborers and 30 million rubles! Otherwise, even if the fleet departs now, there will be no base available. ”

"The most important thing is that even if the fleet leaves now, it will be winter when it arrives in the Far East, and we need to draw troops from all over the country, which will take about half a year. As you know, the mobilization of troops in the winter is very expensive, and according to my calculations, if you are ready to counterattack now, then you need a budget of at least 200 million rubles! ”

(Set in the book, ten rubles for one pound) 200 million?!

When everyone, including Nicholas II, heard this number, they all took a breath of cold air!

With 200 million rubles, you can build a whole new fleet!

Do you want to fight back?

(To be continued)