The Rise of the Empire

"Wars cost money. It is even said that wars are for money. Wars that have no benefits but only harm will not break out! I really don't understand what the British government can gain by intervening in this matter other than causing trouble for itself. Benefits? Can you tell me? Do you intend to win the friendship of the French, or force Germany to fall to Russia?" The prince asked with a smile. \u003c/p\u003e"This is a threat! Chiguoguo's threat!" Chamberlain now realized that his announcement was nothing to the prince in front of him! Because the other party did not believe that the British government would directly use force to intervene. Well, to be honest, Chamberlain himself did not believe that the United Kingdom would intervene by force at this time.... \u003c/p\u003eAs Colonial Secretary, Chamberlain knew that the situation of the Boer War was far worse than the outside world imagined! Except for a few individual seaport cities struggling to support under the cover of the navy, the British army has begun to retreat across the board. More and more descendants of the Dutch took up arms and began to attack the British. The British army repeatedly confronted the front, was harassed in the rear, and then was forced to retreat to the town, then was divided, and was eaten bite by bite. South Africa is so big that tens of thousands of British troops were thrown into it without even seeing a ripple, and it was diluted by the vast land. \u003c/p\u003eJust before coming here, when the British cabinet discussed the issue of the Boer War, when the Prime Minister asked how many troops the Boer War needed to solve the problem, the Secretary of the Army answered 180,000. And Chamberlain's own opinion is 250,000! Of course, he didn't dare to say this, because 180,000 troops alone is enough for the British to piece together from all over the world, and the money spent can even make the chancellor jump off the building! \u003c/p\u003eDuring the Napoleonic Wars, how many British troops were on the battlefield? How many were there during the Crimean War? As far as the army invested by the British is now comparable to the number of British troops in the fight against Napoleon the Great! However, sadly, so far, there is still no victory in sight. \u003c/p\u003eEven at the cabinet meeting, Chamberlain himself said that it is unimaginable to have a full-scale confrontation with Germany at this time. Although the British Royal Navy has the strength to crush its opponents, if Germany attacks France from land, Britain will The Royal Navy is useless, after all, warships cannot land! And judging from the current situation, if the army is not enough, then it needs to be supplemented by naval personnel. A large number of naval officers and soldiers will participate in land battles, and the funds are heavily tilted towards the army. The British navy has even begun to slow down its warships. build faster to squeeze out some pounds to support the war effort! \u003c/p\u003e You must know that in history, the British spent 220 million pounds in the Boer War! Calculated on the basis of 2.2 million pounds to build a super dreadnought, this is the money for 100 super dreadnoughts! And this is only the cost of the war period, and the cost of rebuilding and appeasing the Boers after the war has not been calculated.... And the Boer War in this plane is even more troublesome. The prince doesn't think that at this time, the British finances can support him to fight two wars at the same time! So he is not afraid at all! \u003c/p\u003e "I want to see the Kaiser." Chamberlain said angrily. \u003c/p\u003e "Whatever you want, if your country really does something beyond our imagination, then we may succumb. If the British Empire really wants to do this, then prepare quickly." The prince said indifferently, Throwing Chamberlain to the Kaiser, I have more important things to do. The German fleet is ready, and the whole army is ready to attack Lisbon! Do not agree to directly burn the city! Austria-Hungary has guaranteed supply ships to provide coal and food for the German fleet. The Italians have yet to take a stand. \u003c/p\u003eOf course, despite what I said, the British Royal Navy is powerful, and it is best not to match it. In order to avoid trouble,

Before the British reacted to these matters, the prince had already thought about it. On the third day after sending Chamberlain away, the German fleet set off, and then crossed the English Channel at high speed at night. Well, one night is definitely not enough time. , but using the foggy environment, it can also pass through relatively safely. After all, it is a peaceful time, and there are no mines in the strait... \u003c/p\u003eAfter crossing the English Channel, show up in Brest, France, scare the French, and then go straight to Portugal. At the same time, because the strength of the French fleet in Africa has seriously declined, Hipper's b The fleet is enough to keep watch on the remaining two French warships. Earl Spey will lead fleet A to join the main fleet off the coast of Lisbon. At that time, a dozen main battleships will not be afraid that the Portuguese will not yield! \u003c/p\u003e As for the British? According to the current progress, the British will not take any action before Chamberlain returns to the UK. After all, although the prince has a tough attitude, the final decision is still made by the Kaiser. Judging from Chamberlain's performance, he is quite confident in the Kaiser. That being the case, let the Kaiser and Chamberlain grind for a while. The hostility between the two countries is certain, but at least the face of both sides is still important. \u003c/p\u003eAfter the meeting with the prince, Chamberlain immediately sent a telegram to the country. In the telegram, he was not very optimistic about the future situation, saying that although he had not seen the Kaiser so far, Germany The high-level attitude is relatively firm, and the possibility of retreating is not very great. At least for now, Germany does not intend to let Portugal go, and finally asked at the end, what should we do... . \u003c/p\u003e5 days later, Chamberlain finally met the Kaiser, and stated the concerns of both parties to the Kaiser. In the Palace of Sanssouci, Chamberlain accidentally saw the retired prime minister. The prime minister whom the whole world looks up to is old, but in good spirits. \u003c/p\u003eIn this meeting, this great man played his role for the last time. He used a very euphemistic statement to express that the empire will not be hostile to Britain, but at the same time, it is impossible for Germany to tolerate Portugal's interests in Germany. violations, and will not back down. \u003c/p\u003e"We gave Portugal a chance, and we began to try to use external means to solve the problem. A whole month has passed, and Portugal's reply to us did not mention how to solve this problem. With the support of a certain big country Now, Portugal has challenged the dignity of the empire, which is absolutely unacceptable! It is even more impossible for us to give up because of the support of a big country that was once defeated by the empire. We are victims rather than provocateurs.”\u003c/p\u003e Bismarck’s words Reasonable and well-founded, although Germany has already made plans to flatten the Portuguese colony, if Portugal did not do it, Germany will find a way to do it, but this does not prevent a seasoned politician from saying these words with awe-inspiring righteousness! \u003c/p\u003eThank you for the \u003c/a\u003e~~~ of book friend bighill1982, and the \u003c/a\u003e support of book friend pure entropy and hataku81~~~! The third one is here~~~! Ask for a subscription\u003c/a\u003e~~~! \u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e