Australian Storm 1876

   Chapter 629

  His Majesty the King’s personal conquest, which put tremendous pressure on the front line of Novorossiysk, and the preparations for a large-scale battle suddenly accelerated.

  The steam trains from various towns in Queensland to the southern front line carry soldiers and weapons around the clock, and when they return, they take a large number of people evacuated inland.

  The closer you are to the front line, the more intense the atmosphere of war.

Along the railway line in the same direction, you can often see troops marching southward. They are singing war songs and marching in neat rows. A large number of young eagle school students form a propaganda team along the way. Enthusiastic and loudly agitated propaganda.

The B Corps stationed in Wisconsin City was ordered to launch. The main force of the Corps, the Red Division, took up two steam locomotives and transported the fully loaded tank battalions and artillery regiments to the front line. The remaining one armored chariot regiment and two Infantry regiments are advancing in mixed formation, making full use of the existing vehicles on hand to speed up the march.

The armored chariot is not only full of soldiers, but also on the roof of the car is full of soldiers **** with backpack straps. The remaining soldiers are driven by carriages, trains and even on foot. The distance of more than 130 kilometers is only used. All the staff arrived in two and a half days, and the action was swift.

  And now

The main force of the   B Corps has just passed Wuyang City, and the vanguard has not yet arrived at Maoming Town. It is still nearly 90 kilometers away from the front line. It takes at least three days to reach it on foot.

   Smelling the dangerous smell of the Novorossiysk front line, the Confederate Army of the Confederate Army also came to a halt. The fierce battles of all sizes on the long front quickly died down, and weirdly calmed down.

  Like the tranquility before the storm, it is depressing to suffocation.

   Both the North and the South are gearing up to prepare for a decisive battle in order to break the current stalemate.

  The brutal fighting in the past half a month has verified the general consensus of the upper-level white conservatives of the Southern Federal Army that the combat effectiveness of the white militia is much higher than that of the Chinese militia, which has once again burst their confidence.

  If you don’t mention the artillery superiority of the Ocean Kingdom, or the defensive approach of the Ocean Kingdom, the two sides face-to-face duel like a noble knight, and a white militia can at least deal with two or more Chinese militias.

   Therefore, the Southern Federation is full of confidence at the moment, ready to play a big stud.

  They are stepping up the mobilization of various artillery reinforcements on the front line, and have even sent people to the United States to purchase large-scale inventory of used goods, in order to reverse the disadvantage of artillery equipment.

The world’s most advanced barrel hydraulic reclamation artillery technology is in the hands of Azure Weapon Company. The authorized production of British Armstrong Company, German Krupp Steel Company, French National Steel Company and other famous companies can produce advanced rapid-fire field operations. Gun, the problem is that the Southern Federation can't buy it.

  There are two factors here;

   One is that the Southern Federation is too eager to get the goods. These world-renowned weapons manufacturers cannot put aside the orders of users from other countries. As for the production of the Southern Federation first, they really don’t have such a big face.

  For example, the German Krupp Steel Company now holds orders for hundreds of artillery pieces from the Northern Navy of the Qing Dynasty, and also orders for the artillery pieces from Argentina, Chile, and the Ottoman Empire. Wouldn’t they not do all of them and go to the Free Federation of South Australia to produce them?

  Doing so will not only bear the loss of business reputation and economic benefits, but also affect the relationship with the above-mentioned countries, and the gains outweigh the losses.

  The second factor is the concern of the Ocean Kingdom. These world-famous companies feel that it is not appropriate to provide the Southern Federation with cutting-edge artillery. There are as many old artillery, while cutting-edge artillery does not work.

   Not to mention that the patented technology is in the hands of the Azure Weapons Company, just consider what the artillery is used for, and you know that things are far from being as simple as imagined.

  Selling artillery always kills people, and forge a blood feud, will the Australian market need it in the future?

  According to the overbearing character of Li Fushou, king of the Oceanic Kingdom, that he must be reported, and expecting him to quickly forget the old grievances, it is not reliable at all.

  It's not that I'm afraid of anyone, but that there is no need to mix up this mess.

   Merchants are very calculating, selling dozens of guns, at best hundreds of army field guns, which cost one or two hundred thousand pounds of business, and it is really not worth fighting.

  Most of the army field guns are small guns, 40mm caliber 60mm caliber, 75mm caliber, 95mm caliber or 105mm caliber. The mainstream is these guns, and the technical content and added value are not high.

The most expensive one is the naval gun. A twin-mounted 305mm naval gun can cost 20,000 to 30,000 pounds. An iron-clad battleship can be equipped with three twin-mounted main guns, plus a dozen large-caliber secondary guns and others. For ancillary facilities, a single value of more than 100,000 pounds.

  The Free Federation of South Australia does not have a navy, so it will naturally not build expensive iron-clad warships. The Ocean Kingdom is different. It has the foremost powerful naval power in the entire South Pacific region. So Toto is a real big customer!

Therefore, the Southern Confederation was forced to go to Citi State to turn over its inventory. After all, during the Civil War, the North and the South were equipped with more than 80,000 artillery pieces. .

  In addition, the Southern Federation is desperate for large-scale recruitment of troops. When it comes to the war, it is people who fight at the end. In this regard, they are very confident.

  Is it great that there are so many people in Dayang Kingdom?

   is nothing more than 10 million farmers who have just put down their hoes, and few can really fight.

   Just when the Southern Federation wiped up its sleeves and prepared to go on a big fight, the Ocean Kingdom was not idle. King Li Fushou sat on the front line and issued 4 heavyweight decree successively;

Article 1. In the Ocean Kingdom and its overseas territories, special war taxes will be fully collected, and convenient channels for donations will be opened to encourage rich people to contribute money and make a strong contribution. All the people will work together to protect the country. war.

  Article 2, the implementation of wartime special laws, hoarding everything, driving up prices, creating chaos, confusing people, spreading panic messages, and inciting disobedience will be punished quickly, confiscated family property, and sentenced to more than ten years of hard labor.

  Article 3, the third phase of recruitment is initiated. The enlistment is rated at 400,000. Anyone who is not willing to join the army will be confiscated and sentenced to more than five years of hard labor...

Article 4: From now on, it will be fully transferred to the wartime system. All material production will give priority to the supply of armaments. The army is allowed to urgently recruit carts, horses, cattle, sheep, construction and other combat needs. It is allowed to urgently recruit civilians, and people's losses can be deducted over the years. The taxes payable go so far.

  Once these four murderous heavyweight decree were promulgated, the already tense atmosphere of war was pushed to a climax, and the rear factory was fully operational and tried its best to support sufficient supplies on the front line.

Li Fushou is now also looking at it. He no longer counts the small amount of money in the inner treasury, and no longer deliberately controls the scale of war mobilization. Everything is supported by the front line, everything is focused on winning the war, and some money is still needed. Floral.

If this war is lost, it will undoubtedly be fatal to the new Ocean Kingdom. It will completely shake the foundation of the kingdom and shake the confidence of the people. It will also attract a crowd of greedy hunting giant crocodiles who will come to share this delicious cake. .

  Before the private conquest, the news from Europe further strengthened Li Fushou’s determination to break the situation as soon as possible. This Civil War cannot be delayed for too long, and it will change after a while!

  The news from Europe is good and two bad;

  The good news is that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tang Zhaoyi, through his efforts, got involved in the Royal Autumn Polo Tournament attended by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and personally presented King Li Fushou's secret letter to Her Majesty, winning a breath of respite from the war in Australia.

  According to the tradition of the British constitutional monarchy, Her Majesty Queen Victoria, as the head of state, does not participate in actual policy making, but the previous prime ministers regularly visit Buckingham Palace every week to pay respects to Her Majesty the Queen.

  The strength of the British Empire reached its peak during the period of Queen Victoria, and Her Majesty’s influence on Britain’s domestic and foreign affairs is beyond doubt.

  Although Buckingham Palace did not make any response to the secret letter, this is undoubtedly a good thing.

  The so-called; good things are not in pairs, bad things do not happen alone, and there are two bad things;

The first piece

  There is now an argument in London and Europe, that is, the "yellow peril theory",

This kind of argument first appeared in the Mongolian Expedition in the 13th century, and later disappeared in the long history. The re-evidence of old things originated from Citi, and after the "Chinese Exclusion Act" was promulgated in 1882, California even appeared specifically to mutilate the Chinese. The leader of the Saudi Party, Chinia, everywhere declared that the Orientals are the "yellow peril", which exerted a very bad influence.

  Now this kind of bad argument has spread to Europe, and 90% of them have contributed to it. This is obviously extremely detrimental to the Ocean Kingdom and is likely to cause hostility in the white world.

In view of this situation

  Li Fushou ordered the intelligence agencies in Europe to immediately strengthen the work of influencing the public opinion, support and buy influential social figures to openly refute this absurd argument, and minimize the bad influence.

the second one

  Earl John Lawrence Bard, who is currently the undersecretary of the British Foreign Office, jumped up and down, and publicly accused Li Fushou of an ambitious scourge, and took Australia away from the whites, which meant that he would be blamed.

  This **** is Li Fushou’s greatest enemy in London. When he was the Governor of New South Wales, he opposed Li Fushou everywhere. He is one of the backstages of the Free Federation of South Australia and a stubborn white conservative.

  At this time

  Li Fushou’s traditional allies, the Duke of Vickers and the Duke of Norfolk kept silent in a timely manner, and were reluctant to comment on this sensitive issue.

  They are waiting for a clear signal from Buckingham Palace, and this is the most uncontrollable thing.

The sooner the current Civil War is over, the less likely it is for the British to intervene on a large scale, because this means that the cost of intervention is higher. For the basic British foreign policy that has always advocated profit-oriented, it is enough for London to consider whether the cost of intervention is worthwhile. .

  After all, the ultimate goal of Ocean Kingdom is to join the Commonwealth, not to fight against Her Majesty. Australia is still Australia under the brilliance of the British Empire, but it has changed from a colonial status to a protectorate status. That's it, and the glory of the British Empire is not compromised.

This situation is not uncommon. Leaving aside Canada for the time being, and the dozens of kingdoms in India, it is said that the Orange Free State in South Africa and the Transvaal Republic are independent countries of this nature, the British Commonwealth. As a member of, it’s okay to have another Ocean Kingdom.

  One is the uncontrollable changes in the international situation, and the other is the process of the Australian war that can be controlled. The two evils are the lesser one, and the choice is obvious.

  Li Fushou is willing to control his destiny in his own hands, rather than relying on others’ good wishes for peace, so he decisively decided to break the deadlock as soon as possible to avoid the situation from slipping in an unpredictable direction, which will be even more troublesome.

  (End of this chapter)