The spy hiding in the bearer was dumbfounded. The conversation between the two British officers seemed to have set off a storm in his heart. He finally understood the background of the old powers. It was not about the number of battleships or the filling of the treasury. , the key lies in the quantity of talent.
From the whispered conversation between the two British officers, he learned about the contradictory yet unified relationship between military development and national power.
Any country's development of military industry is not wishful thinking. Conflicts between soldiers and politicians have run through the entire history of mankind.
As a soldier, of course, I hope that the weapons and equipment on hand are the best, most advanced and sophisticated, but that is not what politicians think about. The first thing politicians consider is cost-effectiveness.
Why haven't Britain and France completely popularized and completed breech-loading rifled guns? It's not that they can't afford the equipment, but that there is no pressure on politicians. They think that the temporary arsenal can already guarantee our first and second position in the world, so why should we spend more?
Why didn’t the world’s first ironclad warship appear in the UK? Why didn’t such an epoch-making warship as the Zhiyuan appear in the British shipyard?
It's not because the British don't have this technology, or they don't have this design idea, but because they have now become the world's number one navy, and their past glory has become their current burden.
What to do with thousands of wooden-hulled warships? How could Congress approve the investment plan for a comprehensive Navy upgrade without actual combat examples as a reference?
Britain is not Ryukyu. Xiao Letian has no historical baggage on him. He can describe his new navy on a piece of white paper, but Britain cannot. Any arms upgrade is a major test of the country's finances and will cause great harm to the democratically elected government. A strong impact will definitely have a serious impact on the social economy.
These are things that politicians must consider, but soldiers do not have to consider these. What they pursue is naturally an indestructible sharp spear and an impregnable solid shield. Anyway, the more advanced the equipment, the better.
The cost of the Zhiyuan must be very, very expensive, and it must be so expensive that even the British feel a little distressed. This is where the super combat power comes from. No wonder those big-name goods have no chance of winning against the Zhiyuan.
But because it is so expensive, Xiao Letian must not be equipped with too much equipment, and in order to maintain the technological advantages of warships, he will definitely invest in building newer warships to supplement the navy.
In this way, the investment will become larger and larger, and Ryukyu's finances simply cannot support too many Zhiyuan ships. According to intelligence, Xiao Letian's arrogant appearance is a very calm heart. He is not a madman and his understanding of finance is no less than that of Europeans.
Of course he knows the contradictory relationship between military spending and national power, and he will never do anything stupid like killing the goose that lays the goose to lay eggs, so Xiao Letian's naval strategy is destined to be defensive.
"We will send a report to London in the evening. We conclude that Xiao Letian will not challenge the sea power of our empire on which the sun never sets in the next twenty years..."
The cruise of the Zhiyuan is still continuing, spies from various countries are still recording, and the British are getting deeper and deeper.
The Zhiyuan did not return home alone. Of course, those supply ships carrying equipment could not participate in this cruise performance. Some of them docked at the military port to unload, while the other part headed north to Tanggu, where a lot of equipment had to be sent.
Just because the ship was resting, many sailors took a day off. The Zhiyuan did not arrange for all sailors to board the ship to perform. Most of the soldiers received generous allowances and began to have fun and get drunk in the city.
Especially those Prussian sailors, holding the rewards from the Prime Minister's Palace and a thick stack of paper tickets in their pockets, excitedly rushed to the flowery city of Naha to enjoy their perfect holiday in the mysterious East.
Today, people all over the city climbed the mountain to see the Zhiyuan, which made many entertainment venues in the city extremely deserted. It happened that the Prussian soldiers did not have to queue up to wait for seats, and they appeared in all the pubs, brothels, and theaters. figure.
In a Japanese-style tavern, a topless prostitute with thick white powder on her face kept pouring sake into the soldier's mouth.
Those strong-flavored fish slices were stuffed into the mouth with mustard that stung the nose. It was so spicy that everyone had runny noses and tears. In the private room, the Japanese singer sang and danced, and the exotic atmosphere drove these soldiers crazy.
"Long live the King! Long live Prussia! The war you fought before was so beautiful..." Dutch sailors at the door came in to toast them, and first blessed the King of Prussia.
We saw familiar faces in the far east, and they were Dutch people with whom we had a good relationship. Of course, the Prussian boys were not stingy. After jointly wishing the Queen of the Netherlands long live, everyone gathered together to eat hazelnuts.
"Ryukyu is a golden country, and Naha is a port of wealth. All Westerners who come here to take risks have become rich. Bless Xiao Letian and the Prime Minister of China!" The Dutch sailors were not stingy and took out a few silver coins, and soon A lot of wine and food were served.
The chat slowly extended from the topic of hometown to women, and soon extended from women to this grand cruise of the Zhiyuan. The Dutch sailors asked excitedly, "You really taught the French a lesson in Dakar." ?Victory over the Peruvian Navy at Iquique?”
"That's amazing! We heard from British sailors before that the Battle of Dakar was not fought by you at all. It was actually a scam deliberately created by the French Governor of Dakar in order to make up for his corruption..."
With a bang, a Prussian soldier didn't like hearing it anymore. He threw the wine cup on the tatami and shouted with a red face, "Nonsense... nonsense! Those British people know how to fart..."
"Dakar... We conquered Dakar... We stole all the gold in the Governor's Palace, hahaha!"
Alcohol numbed everyone's hearts, and the Prussian soldiers accounted for every looting of the Dakar treasury, and increased the amount of gold to five tons.
"Do you know? Five tons of gold! It's piled like a mountain in the treasury... We used bayonets and whips to force the black people to carry the gold, and the long queue stretched from the Governor's Palace to the pier..."
"Countless gold, as well as ivory, rhinoceros horns, pearls, diamonds, rubies, emeralds... My God, I never thought that the French could be so good at looting. They are scraping the entire land of Africa. It’s clean…”
"By the way, the Chinese have a saying... called the sky is three feet high! That's right, just because of the French, the sky in Africa is several meters high!"
Several Dutch sailors shouted in agreement drunkenly, but no one noticed that deep in their eyes, there was a joy of discovering a treasure.
