London, Hampton Court Palace.
Little Cromwell, who had been Lord Protector for eight years, was sitting in his father's former office, looking down at the design drawings of new naval warships sent by the Admiralty. After the news of the Battle of the Malacca Strait spread back to Europe, Britain As usual, the two naval powers, the Netherlands and the Netherlands, have begun a new round of money-burning shipbuilding competition.
Because the Protectorate level and Parliament level built by the two countries before became no longer applicable overnight!
The experience of the Malacca Strait War showed that warships with wooden hulls could hardly withstand nail-head shells, so wooden warships that could only be equipped with a small number of large-caliber bombardment guns became very outdated.
However, it is not possible for battleships with iron or copper shells to appear yet, so naval experts from the UK and the Netherlands can only temporarily give up the bulletproof capabilities of battleships and instead pursue more artillery and stronger firepower - since they cannot prevent it, Then bring more cannons and try to destroy the enemy's warships before the enemy's cannons destroy yours!
So the design drawings handed over to Cromwell by the Admiralty showed another big ship with a double gun deck and 52 18-pound long guns, with a load capacity of 1,200 tons!
The ship with a load capacity of 1,200 tons has 52 18-pound long guns, of course to strengthen its defense! But it's not bulletproof, it's explosion-proof. You can't prevent bullets, but you can still prevent explosions. The gun cabins of the new warships have been redesigned. Instead of having two guns in one cabin, they have been changed to one gun in one cabin. That is, the guns on the left and right sides are separated, and a corridor is left in the middle.
Looking at the drawings of the new battleship, little Cromwell couldn't help but sigh.
According to the quotation from Woolwich Shipyard, it will cost at least 25,000 pounds to build this 1,200-ton battleship.
And this is a preferential price when ordering 10 ships at a time... 10 ships is 250,000 pounds!
The current annual fiscal revenue of the British Republican government is only 2.5 million pounds, and 10 warships only use 10%.
The Admiralty believes that if it wants to ensure victory over the Dutch Navy in future battles, the British Navy needs to equip at least 100 such battleships.
If we want to defeat the Ming Navy...it is estimated that we will need to equip 200 ships!
This is going to force Britain into bankruptcy!
However, the cost of updating naval equipment is not the most troublesome thing for the protector of the country. What troubles him most is the rise of France!
France has a large population! More than the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Spain combined! Louis XIV now does not spend money to build a navy, but builds up an army. He now has 150,000 new-style armies.
The innovation of this new army lies in the large number of flintlock guns that can be equipped with bayonets, large-caliber short guns and mortars that can fire explosive shells.
Britain's New Model Army has also followed suit, but its number is not as large as 150,000 - Britain still has a navy and cannot afford too many armies, so the number of its upgraded New Model Army is now only 40,000.
An army of 40,000 people is enough for the interior. Now the British Isles are firmly under the control of Cromwell, and the royalists and Catholics can only escape with their tails between their legs. Those with money and background go to the European continent, while those without money and background have no choice but to go to America.
As for those who remain in England and cannot leave, the only thing left is to unite as one - whether they are English, Welsh, Scottish, or Irish, they must all become a people who love the motherland of England under the leadership of little Cromwell. British people!
And he must be a Puritan who believes in Anglican Puritanism!
This is the dream of the old Cromwell, and now it is becoming a reality bit by bit in the hands of the seemingly mediocre little Cromwell.
In order to realize the dream of uniting Britain as one, after Cromwell took power, he deliberately kept a distance from the powerful countries on the European continent to avoid being involved in a continental war for hegemony that would be equally costly and risky.
But there are some things that you can't avoid if you want... Britain doesn't want to cause trouble on the mainland, but France on the mainland is sharpening its sword and looks like it wants to punch Spain and kick the Netherlands. With their majestic appearance, if those two dwarfs Louis XIV and Prince Condé really succeeded, would Britain, alone on the sea, still have a good life?
Therefore, little Cromwell had to conduct secret diplomacy with De Witte of the Netherlands and Don Juan Jose of New Spain to discuss the possibility of an alliance between Britain and the Netherlands to jointly intervene in the war on the European continent.
Of course, Britain cannot do it in vain. There must be a satisfactory return... and the return Cromwell wants to get has two aspects. One is to completely end Britain's internal struggle—— The royalists, led by Charles II, had to leave Europe and at the same time give up their claim to supreme power in England.
The second is to hope to expand Britain's territory on the European continent - Dunkirk is still in British hands and has not been bought by the French. Young Cromwell hoped to carve another piece of land from the Spanish Netherlands so that he could join forces with Dunkirk to form a small republic dependent on Britain.
Now that the price has been called out, we are waiting for the answers from the big shots on the mainland.
Thinking of this, little Cromwell was already distracted and had no intention of looking at any more battleship drawings.
At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door, and then the voice of Andrew Marvell, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, was heard.
"Your Highness the Lord Protector, I am Marvel."
"Andrew, come in quickly!" Little Cromwell stood up, walked out from behind the desk, and greeted him in a pretentious manner.
The door of the office was opened by a secretary, and then Marvell walked in with a happy face. He bowed immediately when he saw little Cromwell.
"Andrew, how is the situation?" Little Cromwell asked hurriedly before he could sit down.
"Your Highness, Charles II has agreed!" Andrew Marvell said, "He has agreed to go to America... and he has also agreed to give up the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland!"
“Great!” Little Cromwell laughed, “Thank God, the British people can finally get a completely unified country of their own!
Andrew, I've thought of a new, more appropriate name for this country - The United States of England! All the countries and peoples on the British Isles unite as one, become one country, believe in one religion, and never be separated! "
Andrew Marvell also nodded, "Okay, this is the wish of the old protector and all British revolutionaries... We have been fighting for this for more than 20 years, and now it is finally coming true!"
He suddenly thought of something and looked at little Cromwell, "Your Highness, if the country is renamed the United States, should your position also be changed? The United States of New World on the east coast of the American continent has a king!"
"No, no, I won't call myself king. This is inappropriate..." Little Cromwell shook his head quickly, "If you want to change your name, then change it to Commander-in-Chief of the United States!"
Almost at the same moment, the French on the other side of the English Channel also learned that the British royalists were preparing to go into exile in America to establish their country.
Of course Louis XIV, who wanted to lead Europe, had his intelligence network, and Charles II had the spies he sent around him.
When the news came, the French King was inspecting the construction site of the Palace of Versailles. Construction of this famous palace began in 1661. The project has lasted for 5 years and is still not completed (historically it was completed in 1689).
"Your Majesty," Prince Condé, who was also following the king, immediately suggested, "We should send troops as soon as possible to prevent the British from getting ready to intervene!"
Louis XIV, who was about the same height as Prince Condé, was wearing high heels, but he still looked short. The French king took a few steps on a newly paved brick road and suddenly turned around and asked Prince Condé: "How much time do you have?" Can we hit the Dutch border?”
Prince Condé said: "It will take two weeks for the troops to enter the starting point of the attack, and then it will take up to a month to occupy the entire Spanish Netherlands!"
The King of France asked: "What if England, Holland, and Sweden intervene?"
