England.
Portsmouth Harbour.
A strange-looking ship, which looked like a giant turtle lying on the sea, returned to Portsmouth harbor, puffing thick smoke.
On the port.
The senior nobles of the British Empire, the dukes and marquises, as well as King George III and his Prime Minister William Pitt Jr., all stood at the edge of the port, watching the ironclad ship returning to the port.
As the turtle boat came to a stop.
A man about forty years old, with two general stars on his shoulders, walked down from the ladder extending from the deck.
When he arrived in front of George III, he took off his hat and saluted respectfully.
This was Vice Admiral Nelson, who was captured by the Ming Dynasty navy on the Indian Ocean battlefield and was later redeemed by the British Governor-General of India for nearly 200,000 pounds.
And the ship he just stepped off.
It was the first ironclad ship with practical significance produced by the British Empire after several years of research and development!
Named the battleship "Warrior".
This is a battleship that brings together all of Britain's advanced technologies.
Steam engine, armor, 10-inch copper-rifled gun.
In order to regain hegemony on the ocean, Britain in recent years has begun to tighten its belt and fully promote the development of ironclad ships.
And the final product.
This is the ironclad "Warrior".
"Your Majesty the King, this is an epoch-making warship! With only 10 such ironclad ships, we are enough to block the Chinese navy in the waters east of the Cape of Good Hope!"
Is it really possible?
After hearing Nelson's words, George III was a little skeptical.
But he still said with a smile: "But such a warship is indeed too expensive."
"But he is invincible!" Nelson said: "The Warrior's armor is thick enough to withstand the bombardment of the main guns of any Chinese warship, and the five 10-inch caliber rifled guns it installs are enough to penetrate the armor of any Chinese warship. !”
"The Chinese are not good at naval warfare. Their maritime tactics are simply scripted and old-fashioned. As long as we have similar weapons, our navy can definitely suppress them!"
Nelson said.
"So, what we need now is to establish military ports at key nodes on the ocean to meet the needs of naval warfare in the new era. We need to control the Caribbean Sea and at the same time station enough warships at the Cape of Good Hope to prevent the Chinese from attacking. Naval power enters the Atlantic Ocean.”
King George III sighed after hearing this.
The warships of the British Empire once cruised around the world.
but now.
But they can only consider relying on important nodes for defense.
On the way back to Windsor Castle.
Nelson and Little William returned in the same carriage as George III.
Young William Burt is analyzing the power structure of the world to George III.
"Your Majesty, the world today is completely different from that of ten years ago. Ten years ago, the center of power was concentrated in Europe, Britain, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, and Russia. At that time, the United States had not yet appeared, and China was closed to the outside world. At that time, The British Empire only needs to maintain a balance in Europe, support one faction, suppress another faction, and prevent the European continent from being ruled by any one powerful country. With its naval superiority, the British Empire can seize hegemony in this world. Because as long as there are more than two powerful countries in the European continent , they must maintain a strong enough army. As a result, they cannot invest enough financial resources into the navy, so that they cannot threaten the hegemony of the British Empire."
"But the situation is different now. The current pattern of the world is not that the superpowers are juxtaposed, but that one superpower has many powers! And what's worse is that this superpower is not in Europe! Because if they were in Europe, those who feel threatened would European countries will definitely unite. But this superpower is far away in East Asia. For most European countries that have no world interests but only regional interests, they do not want to offend this superpower that is thousands of miles away."
Needless to say, this superpower, both George III and Nelson, knew it was referring to the Ming Empire.
“The emergence of this superpower has disrupted the logic of balanced diplomacy, because no country in Asia is qualified to balance China, and similarly, no country in Europe is worthy of balancing with China—unless Europe United.”
"But union is impossible, isn't it?" said George III.
"Yes, only Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands, whose interests have been harmed, may unite."
"What about Russia?"
asked King George III.
"them."
Little William Pitt frowned.
"We can try to talk to Russia, but don't get our hopes up."
King George III nodded.
France, Britain, Spain and other countries united to deal with the Ming Empire.
Even if they were defeated, they would at most be forced to retreat to Europe - they would not believe that the Ming Empire had the ability to cross the Eurasian continent and attack the homelands of these Western European countries.
But Russia is different.
Once Russia chooses to go against Ming Dynasty.
Their homeland is definitely under threat.
The Ming Empire also controlled the nomadic tribes in the east.
They can graze along the Eurasian steppe belt all the way to Moscow.
therefore.
Russia may not dare to make a bet.
"Actually we'd better not bring the Russians in."
Nelson said.
George III was stunned.
"They're a good buffer country, aren't they?" Nelson spread his hands.
"Who wants to be neighbors with the Ming Empire now?"
"In other words, the diplomatic efforts we need to make are to unite as much as possible with other European countries that have conflicts of interest with the Ming Empire, perhaps including the United States, to maintain a basic balance with the Ming Empire?"
George III said with a headache.
Nelson and young William Pitt looked at each other.
Now the British Empire can no longer find any country that can balance with the Ming Empire.
We must unite the power of half of Europe.
But even so.
alliance of these countries.
It seems like they are just joining a group to keep warm.
“Just joining the group to keep warm”
Paris.
Napoleon, the dictator of the French Republic, placed a letter from the King of England on his desk.
His fingers tapped lightly on the table.
Then he raised his head and said: "In principle, France agrees to unite with Britain, but Britain must support France's conquest of Italy, or support my coronation as the king of Italy. In addition, in Spain, I want to marry the Spanish Princess Maria Isabel, and Britain wants to support Isabel as first in line to the Spanish throne!”
Napoleon said.
France, Italy, Spain.
By winning these three territories, I might be able to take a step further.
Like reviving the Roman Empire or something?
(End of chapter)
