"His Excellency the Prime Minister, Earl Nelson's telegram stated that he believed that the Battle of Guiyin Channel showed that the Sovereign class was a failed battleship and had nothing but strong armor. He recommended that the Admiralty immediately begin the design of a new fifteen thousand tons Class fast armored cruiser, at our current level, this is the most effective route, so the design and construction work should start immediately.
In addition, we should also start pre-research on invincible battleships of 20,000 tons or even 30,000 tons. If we are destined to be unable to match our opponents in terms of numbers, then we will need several super battleships that can offset Ming's numerical advantage..."
At this time, Secretary of the Navy Robert Peel took out a telegram from Lord Nelson, Commander of the Indian Grand Fleet, breaking the dull atmosphere in the conference room.
Earl Nelson is indeed the naval god of the British Empire. As soon as he received George Elliot's report, he knew what the problem was in defeating the battle. Well, it's mainly because of the weapons. This is not a weapon-only theory, but a pragmatic approach.
As the core asset of the British Empire Navy, the Sovereign class is obviously difficult to take on a large role. In fact, when designing the Sovereign class, someone raised this question - the 13.5-inch gun of the Sovereign class is too big for a 15,000-ton ship. Still too big. Moreover, the cost of building this class of battleships is extremely expensive, and they are simply expensive waste. If Britain invests all its limited military expenditures in the construction of the monarch level, then there will be no need to fight a full-scale war in the future, and Britain will definitely lose. Therefore, Nelson, the naval genius of the British Empire, came up with a countermeasure for his empire in the shortest possible time.
Nelson had two countermeasures. One was to build fast armored cruisers - not only to seize the T-shaped position in future naval battles, but also because the British Empire had too many interests to defend, and she had a large number of colonies. And far away from the mainland, if there are only cumbersome and slow iron-clad battleships, once a war breaks out in a place where the empire's strength is weak, it will be difficult for the Royal Navy to quickly reach the battlefield.
So fast armored cruisers are essential to the British Empire!
However, the cost of building this kind of 15,000-ton patrol equipment is definitely not cheap... After all, the tonnage of the Sovereign Class is only about 15,000 tons.
net
The second is to build super battleships - the quantity is insufficient but the quality is not enough, the quality is not high, and the tonnage is just enough. Since the British Empire could not compete with the Ming Dynasty in the number of battleships, it could only compete in the quality or tonnage of the battleships.
Of course, it is extremely difficult to build a 20,000-ton or 30,000-ton battleship, and it is definitely not something that can be built casually. It takes a lot of time and money just to research the design and key technologies.
Moreover, the single-ship cost of such a super battleship must be very expensive. For the British Empire with insufficient financial resources, the difficulties will be huge.
When Prime Minister Jenkinson thought about the cost of building a large number of 15,000-ton cruise ships and 20,000-30,000-ton battleships, his brain began to hurt... Moreover, the cost of the navy was only part of the cost, and the army now also needs to expand its army. Ready for war.
The British Empire's rule in India must be defended by the Army, so the Army has to spend more money!
And Britain is currently in an economic crisis. Where does the money come from?
When he thinks about money, Jenkinson's brain hurts! Is this going to cause a stroke? The Prime Minister had no choice but to look for help at George Canning, who was twisting the cap of a wine bottle.
"Prime Minister," Foreign Secretary George Canning, who had just taken a sip of Yapian tincture, could see the Prime Minister's thoughts at this time, "Now there is a way to raise enough funds."
"What solution?" The British Prime Minister looked at his Foreign Secretary and asked with a frown, "You don't want to increase taxes, do you? This is during the economic crisis..."
"Prime Minister," George Canning said, "increasing taxes is necessary! And as long as the right people increase taxes, not only will it not worsen the economy, but it may also stimulate production in the British Isles, with no harm at all."
"George," Chancellor of the Exchequer Robinson seemed to be very dissatisfied with the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary George Canning discussing financial issues, so he interrupted with a gloomy face at this moment, "Do you want to impose any special tax on the gentlemen in the House of Lords?"
George Canning glanced at Robinson and said with a smile: "If necessary, of course they should be taxed... But now, there is no such need, because it is not the British Isles that Ming is trying to invade. But India! So what needs to be defended is not the gentlemen of the British Isles, but the various superiors of the Indian Empire. They should contribute money and efforts to protect the emperor, the country and private property."
"But the Indians have already contributed a lot of money," Robinson frowned. "India is our colony after all. We can't expect too much."
"Maybe we can make a little change," George Canning said.
"Change?" Robinson is the chairman of the Cabinet Committee on India. When he heard the change, he frowned, "How to change it?"
"The East India Company is an obsolete thing and should be abolished." George Canning said. "There should be a cabinet appointed by the Emperor of India to govern the Indian Empire."
"Emperor of India?" Robinson asked. "Emperor of the Mughals?"
"Of course not," George Canning laughed. "The Mughal emperor has obviously lost the support of the Indian nobles and people. He should transfer his throne to our King. This will make India in the form By transforming our country into a British co-monarchy, our King will become the Emperor of India, and the nobles and people of India will become loyal subjects of His Majesty the Emperor of India.
In order to protect the Indian Empire, the Indian Emperor and their own interests, they will do anything! Not only will they be happy to pay their taxes, but they will also join the army! "
George Canning took another sip of Yipian tincture to cheer up and said happily: "And the government of the Indian Empire used the taxes collected from India to order warships, guns, and ammunition from the British Isles, and hired us The civil servants, military officers and engineers will help them govern the country and train the army, which will also greatly improve employment in the British Isles, and maybe it can pull the UK out of the quagmire of economic crisis."
I have to say that when it comes to drugstores, George Canning is really a genius who is good at planning what he wants!
Robinson frowned and asked, "But how could the Mughal emperor be willing to transfer his throne to His Majesty the King?"
George Canning laughed. Just when he was about to explain to Robinson how to seek government and usurp the throne (there are special records in several history books on Chinese politics), Cabinet Secretary Huck hurried into the conference room. When he arrived, he loudly reported the latest telegram received: "Mr. Prime Minister, urgent telegram from Alexandria... Zhuge Weijiu, the special envoy of the Ming Empire, has just arrived at Kabat Castle in Alexandria, Egypt. He was greeted by Ali Pasha and his son. A grand reception!”
When George Canning heard the news, he actually laughed again: "Prime Minister, this is good news! It is obvious that Turkey wants to join forces... For them, this is indeed a temptation that is difficult to refuse. , on the one hand, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Turkish Empire has always been good; on the other hand, the Ming Dynasty and Turkey can join forces to cut off the Suyins Canal. But this is what we are looking forward to! Because the Ming Dynasty and the Turkish Empire join forces, they will place themselves in the entire West The opposite of civilization, from the snowfields of Russia and the vast plains of America to the boundless rainforests of South America, all Westerners who believe in Christianity will gather around the British Empire, and our struggle with the Ming Dynasty will become a civilized war. Duel!"
The British Prime Minister, the Earl of Liverpool, nodded and said with a smile: "The Ming Empire was originally a civilization. It would be difficult to defeat it relying on the strength of the British Empire. If we can unite the power of the entire European Christian world, then the final victory must belong to us. From the British Empire!”
