Australian Storm 1876 - Chapter 1104

Chapter 1104 Friction

After listening to the relevant affairs report, Li Fushou waved Gu Kaizhi back.

The general trend of today’s world is basically decided by the three countries of Great Britain, France, and the West. As old powers in the Western world, Britain and France have traditional spheres of influence all over the world, huge influence, and play a traditional leading role on the world stage.

As a rising star, the Ocean Empire ranks among the top in the world in terms of economic and military strength. However, due to the short time, the international political influence is slightly lacking, and it is temporarily ranked third in the world after Britain and France.

In today’s world, the only countries that can build a global colonial empire are Britain, France, and the Ocean. They don’t think like a fourth person.

Over the past 200 years, Britain and France have actively participated in global affairs, expanded their own strength and influence, and established global influence step by step.

in this regard

Ocean Empire is just a beginner and still very young.

In the post-war global affairs, the Oceanic Empire should actively participate in and exert its unique influence, especially in the international affairs of the Pacific Rim region, and should play a leading role, rather than being at the mercy of European powers.

The core interests and fundamentals of the Ocean Empire lie in the Pacific Rim region. To put it bluntly, its Pacific hegemony status is more secure in the post-war world pattern.

Whether Britain, France, Italy or Germany, the United States, and Japan have been fighting incessantly in the past few years, their national strength has been greatly depleted. Many previously rich creditor countries have turned into heavily indebted debtor countries, and the huge wealth that has accumulated for a hundred years has been depleted.

On the other hand, the Ocean Empire

After the introduction of the “Golden Ocean Settlement Act”, its importance in the field of international trade and finance has increased rapidly.

Especially after the victory of the battle of Ukraine in the west of the Eastern Front, the national prestige has risen steadily, and Jinyang’s position in trade settlement has improved significantly, accounting for 39.2% of the world’s total trade, surpassing the pound to become the world’s largest settlement currency. .

The fields of politics, military and economics have always complemented each other and have a strong linkage effect.

One and the other, the Ocean Empire further consolidated its political, economic and military advantages in the Pacific Rim. Grow into an unshakable world power.

The first to realize that the Ocean Empire threatened the British Royal Navy, and made frequent small movements, making all kinds of unfriendly noises.

In the case of struggling to maintain the blockade of the German High Seas Fleet, the British also began to focus on the post-war world pattern.

they were surprised to find;

The Royal Navy of the Ocean Empire has swelled to an unstoppable level, bringing the Pacific Rim and Indian Ocean regions under firm control and establishing a comparative advantage.

In order to fully deal with the German High Seas Fleet, the United Kingdom has largely withdrawn the main ships of the Third Battle Fleet stationed in the Indian subcontinent since 2014 and returned to the mainland to strengthen the blockade of the German fleet.

up to now

The Royal Navy’s Third Battleship Fleet stationed in Calcutta is weak and has become a regional fleet dominated by old battleships and cruisers taking the lead. Its strength has dropped by more than two grades.

And the British Far East Fleet has only a few old cruisers as the main force, reduced to a fleet of existence.

The naval strength of   , let alone compete with the Royal Navy of the Ocean Empire, is far inferior even to its subordinate Indian Ocean fleet.

For the past two years

The Fuso National Navy tightened its belt and developed a post-dreadnought standard “King Kong” class battleship, which has greatly improved its strength. It has surpassed the fleet strength of Britain, France and other countries in the Pacific region, and its navy ranks second in size.

Such a situation made the British Royal Navy, which has always been a powerful force in the world’s seas and used to being a big boss, very uncomfortable. It suffered huge losses in the two large-scale naval decisive battles of the Battle of Jutland and the Battle of the North Sea, and it hurt its muscles. degree of bone movement.

The British Royal Navy suffers from the fact that the main force is currently used in Europe, and it is temporarily unable to take into account the Asia-Pacific waters.

As a result, the British navy was seriously out of balance, and various conspiracy theories were introduced, targeting the Royal Navy of the Ocean Empire, all kinds of nitpicking and dissatisfaction.

In response to this new situation, Li Fushou once held a special imperial conference to unify thoughts;

We don’t pick things up, but we’re not afraid of things either.

In terms of backstabbing allies, the British are habitual offenders, so we must properly handle the relationship between the two countries and be vigilant at all times in line with the principle of cooperation in competition and competition in cooperation.

Small things don’t have to be on the top line, stick to the bottom line when it comes to issues of principle, and don’t give in an inch.

For example, in March, in the Tianzhu fortress area on Great Hanish Island in the Red Sea, there was an incident where the local British garrison battalion commander, Major Romney Kestner, seduced the wife of a fortress officer. The impact was extremely bad and eventually led to the withdrawal of the British garrison.

After the incident, the Chinese officer drew a gun and wounded Major Romney-Kestner, and chased him all the way to the British barracks, almost killing him on the spot.

This incident caused an uproar, and the relationship between the British garrison and the garrison in the imperial fortress was extremely tense.

The Red Sea Fortress on the Great Hanish Island has received a small number of British troops for more than 20 years, which reflects the close and friendly relationship between the two countries.

was originally intended to enhance mutual trust in the military and to jointly garrison troops on important coastal defense fronts. It was also a compromise arrangement made by the Ocean Empire to avoid British suspicion when its strength was weak.

This range includes the Red Sea Sky Fortress, Madagascar Naval Base, Mozambique Island and later the Panama Canal Zone, the Malacca Strait Fortress, the Straits Province, the Norfolk Naval Base in North America, etc. Basically, British troops are stationed at the naval bases of the Ocean Empire.

The composition of the British army, the largest one infantry battalion and the least one infantry company, mostly between three or four hundred to one or two hundred people, a symbolic military presence.

Take the Red Sea Sky Fortress on Great Hanish Island as an example;

In peacetime, the imperial garrison on the island is maintained at around 4200~4600 people all year round, and in wartime it reaches tens of thousands.

A British infantry battalion of several hundred people was stationed outside the fortress, in the barracks next to the pier on Grand Hanish Island, and its actual function was almost useless.

After the “British Officer’s Mistress Scandal” broke out, in order to maintain the overall situation of friendship between the two countries, the British and Oceanian navies, in line with the principle of “owning their own children,” sent the officers involved to the Military Law Division for severe punishment.

However, the British garrison on the island was inevitably crowded out. From the supply of living materials to the vacation, the officers and soldiers of the two sides had more than a dozen frictions in local towns, which led to a big fight.

In the end, the British had to withdraw the infantry battalion.

It is easy to withdraw, but it is difficult to return.

In the Panama Canal Zone, the local British newspaper stood on the moral high ground, publicly expressing its dissatisfaction with the local Chinese government’s exclusion and suppression of the indigenous people, and provoking trouble everywhere.

Panama State officials retorted, recounting the various oppressive acts of the British in the colonies, the methods were cruel and bloody, and they really wanted to be a **** and set up a torii.

The two sides fought a lawsuit, and this public opinion war was so fierce that the Times and the World Daily got involved, and began to expose each other’s shortcomings, attack each other, and the fight was very lively.

The French “Le Figaro” pointed out this sharply;

This is a new contest between Britain, which represents the order of the old era, and the Ocean Empire, which represents the order of the new era.

Actually

This is a new round of running-in between the old and the new imperialists, and it is just some tentative moves to accurately position each other in the post-war order.

With a lonely and poignant tone, “Le Figaro” revealed the truth of a series of frictions between the Ocean Empire and Britain.

Whether you admit it or not, France has suffered heavy losses in the world war, carrying heavy debts, and the glory days of the past have ended, and they are no longer able to participate in global competition.

To say it is miserable, no one is worse than the French!

Like a falling meteor, the former “Usury Empire” is no longer mentioned. After the outbreak of the World War, France’s hundreds of billions of francs of foreign loan principal and interest have fallen, and almost no money can be returned.

But who is to blame?

Statistics show that the top 4 foreign loan countries of France are Tsarist Russia, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Germany.

In pursuit of high profits, French loan sharks disregarded national interests and provided a large number of franc loans to the enemy camp, and finally suffered the consequences.

In order to win this life-threatening war, France almost emptied its wealth and borrowed a lot of Jinyang loans, and its strength plummeted.

Report of the Governor’s Office of the Channel;

After the   Ocean Empire won the Second East Indies War, it took over Sumatra from the Dutch and implemented a new round of ruthless cleansing of the local indigenous population.

Including but not limited to sending a large number of young indigenous men to the European battlefield, army officers and soldiers looting local indigenous young women, bullying and oppressing, in some Chinese plantations, there are a large number of indigenous laborers, and their living conditions are worrying…

The above-mentioned inhumane measures have led to a sharp decrease in the local indigenous population, which is estimated to be less than 170,000. Most of them are located in plantations and farms all over Sumatra. They are generally too old and cannot marry wives, have children and reproduce offspring while enduring heavy labor. , no hope, no future…

The report from the Governor’s Office of the Straits is full of pity from the superiors. It does not mention that the British and French businessmen are the main force of sending native laborers to Europe.

Not to mention that after arriving in Europe, these originally laboring indigenous populations were incorporated into the armies of the British and French governments and sent to the battlefield, and eventually became cannon fodder.

On the contrary, with a sympathetic appearance, he publicly criticized the relevant policies of the Ocean Empire, which inevitably caused a new round of war of words.

At the end of the World War

There are more and more frictions between the United Kingdom and the Ocean Empire, and problems that were previously invisible have sprung up, quietly affecting public opinion, affecting international perceptions, and affecting the glory of Ocean Empire in Europe. image…

In the aspect of friction, the British guy can be said to be the originator, and his reputation has long been stinky on the street.

But you can’t deny that these methods are really useful, although they are done under the hood.

(end of this chapter)