Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 744 Strength

  1897

  At the time of the changing world, the slanted Ocean Kingdom is immersed in development, railway lines are extending, highway lines are improving, petrochemical projects are in full swing, social culture, and medical services are developing in an all-round way. It is a thriving scene.

  Due to the interference of the Surabaya incident in the Dutch East Indies, the Luzon riot planned by the Political Intelligence Bureau was forced to end. Later, Li Fushou personally issued a secret order to cancel it, and found another plan.

  Gein is in the same Nanyang region, and the same riots and two completely different reactions give the outside world the impression that it is too false and hard to justify.

  Ocean Kingdom, as an important country in the Western Pacific region, needs to create a responsible image of a major country. Without sufficient excuses, it is not convenient to intervene in the affairs of Spanish Luzon.

  In the original plan of the Political Intelligence Bureau

  The A option is to plan a riot, the B option is pirates, the C option is the Manila port ship is attacked, and the D option sailors are missing.

After comprehensive consideration, King Li Fushou has discarded all these options.

  Even if the pirates of option B are too accidental and there are too many uncontrollable factors, the reasons for the two options C and D are also far-fetched, and it is inevitable that they will not be criticized.

  Before the Spanish-American War

In the hostility of the Spanish colonial government, the Citi government sent the battleship Maine to Havana, Cuba for a friendly visit, and then the battleship Maine exploded one night. The violent explosion caused the front to be completely blown up and occupied. One-third of the ship's hull broke apart, and the warship sank rapidly. In the incident, more than 260 sailors were sacrificed.

  Even if the sacrifice was so great and became the fuse of the Spanish-American War, the Citigroup government will inevitably be criticized.

  Because the battleship Maine is a cutting-edge battleship just launched in 1890, with a displacement of 13,500 tons and a main armor belt of 406 mm thick. It is one of the most powerful battleships in the world today.

   Say something bad

  Faced with the destroyers of the Western Governor's Mansion in the Port of Havana, the battleship Maine was parked there, and they were unable to break the defense of the battleship Maine even if their ships were bombarded.

To achieve the effect of blasting the entire bow of the ship, at least a dozen tons of explosives must be placed in the cabin. At the time of the incident, all the officers and soldiers of the Maine were on board, and only two officers were on land. It is simply impossible to put a dozen tons of explosives in without noticing it.

  Li Fushou could not bear to blow up the battleships Red River Valley and Brisbane that he had just built. These two ships are the lifeblood of the navy. If he dare to explode, Admiral He Fang will be able to commit suicide angrily in protest.

  So, the excuse for starting a war is very difficult to find.

  For Ocean Kingdom, the threat of Citigroup is very close at hand.

  Because of geostrategic considerations, Li Fushou is reluctant to cross the vast Pacific Ocean and reach Luzon Island by Citigroup’s hands anyway.

  Historical experience shows

In future generations, no matter which European country has influence in South Asia, its influence in South Asia cannot be compared with that of Citigroup. Among these are the natural influence of world hegemons, and Citigroup has operated in Luzon for decades and used it as a stronghold in Southeast Asia. The result of radiation influence.

   Therefore, it is necessary to stop Citi's strategic attempt to colonize Luzon Island.

  After entering 1897

  There has been a noticeable increase in Australian reports on the situation in Central America. People of insight in politics, business and academia have written reports in newspapers. Many observers have clearly pointed out Citi's ambitions to interfere with Cuba and Puerto Rico, and even attracted strong protests from the Citi State Embassy.

  In fact, similar public opinion reports in the United States are not uncommon.

  Many Citigroup political and business people have made no secret of their ambitions for Spanish Central America. Some people even openly clamored for war against Spain to capture Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in order to gain attention or to win greater public support.

  I have to say that the Citigroup government has done a terrible job of keeping confidentiality.

  On April 19, 1897, Theodore Roosevelt became Deputy Secretary of the Navy. In September, he began to consider a battle plan with Spain.

On September 20, he wrote in a letter to Yoday Lang: “We should be prepared to take immediate preemptive action... Put our main force in Cuba, under the command of General Walker, and with a team led by Evans. Or a flying fleet led by someone similar to Spain, while the Asian fleet is fighting the Philippines, I believe things will not be very difficult."

  Citi's reports of the Cuban people suffering from war disasters are full of front page news in newspapers.

  In New York City, William Randolph Hirst’s "New York News" and Joseph Pulitzer’s "New York World" are competing in the news newspapers. Journalists do not care about exaggerating the already tragic and inhumane situation. Most of them are made up of sensational stories.

  The people of Citigroup care about Central American affairs. This kind of news reports tends to oppose Spanish public opinion, which helps newspaper sales.

  For observers from various countries throughout the year of 1897, as long as they are not blind, they can see that Citi has unstoppable expansion ambitions in Spanish Central America and the Philippines.

Although the Citi National Army has less than 60,000 people, it is a country with a total population of more than 74 million (population growth in 1897). It has a staggering number of militias and paramilitary forces. The navy has 4 new battleships and a dozen cruisers. There are still the same number of warships under construction on the board, and they are strong enough to fight against the European powers.

  For the reasons of this and that, most of the European powers have been indifferent to this, and they have a posture of hanging up high.

  Even in the old colonial countries such as Britain and France, Europe has always been the core of national strategy, while in Central America and Southeast Asia, it is only marginal interests.

  In the eyes of emerging powers, whether it is the rotten and ossified Qing empire, the Ottoman empire reduced to the sick man in West Asia, or the decayed Spanish empire, they are nothing more than food on the plate.

  They are unwilling to go to war on matters that do not involve the core interests of Europe. Anyway, the world is very big and there are many colonies, so they adopt an attitude of indifference and even connivance.

   late 19th century

  The industrial economic strength of Citigroup ranks first in the world. The rapidly expanding economy has driven the already aggressive Citigroup to expand frantically, seeking new sources of raw materials, commodity sales markets, and investment venues in order to squeeze more high monopoly profits.

  At this time, the whole world has been divided up for the old colonial powers.

  Citi wanted to re-divide the world's colonies, but due to its limited power, it was unable to compete with Britain and France and other countries. Only the old empire Spain was a soft persimmon, which looked sweet and delicious.

  At this time, Spain is dying, and the only large empire colonies in the past are Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in Asia.

  The Spanish Caribbean colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico, located at the gate of Citi, have important strategic value and rich natural resources. Citi has been coveting them for a long time.

  As early as 1805

  Citigroup President Jefferson stated blatantly that once it fights Spain, Citigroup will occupy Cuba.

  By the end of the century, Citigroup couldn’t bear it anymore, and decided to use Spain first to seize the Spanish colonies in order to control Central America and the Caribbean, and occupy the Philippines, gaining a base for expansion into the Far East and Asia.

  Ocean Kingdom in the southern Pacific Ocean

  Li Fushou calmly sat and watched the changing world, knowing that what should come is still coming. The British or French can allow Citi to occupy the Philippines, but the Ocean Kingdom cannot.

  For the affairs of the Western Pacific region, without the Ocean Kingdom nodding, no one wants to mess around.

Since May 1897, the Ocean Kingdom has continuously sent heavyweight intelligence to London through diplomatic channels, including a memorandum of conversation from President McKinley of Citi, a private message from Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, and even a copy of The battle plan of the Hong Kong Far East Fleet.

  But these did not cause much repercussions in London, which made Li Fushou soberly aware;

   Out of fear of the Ocean Kingdom, London deliberately supported the Sang Nation. The purpose was not only to counter the strategy of Tsarist Russia’s southward move, but also an attempt to curb the Ocean Kingdom’s influence in the Far East.

  Not so. It cannot be explained that under the circumstances of extremely busy building tasks of its own warships, the British Empire took only two and a half years to re-arm the Fuso United Fleet, and gave it the latest naval guns and new steam turbine power.

  Otherwise, it cannot explain Britain’s position in the “Guangzhou Incident”.

  Otherwise, it cannot explain its ambition to condone Citi's expansion in Luzon.

  In this case, the Ocean Kingdom should also have its own independent policy of not relying on Britain.

  Li Fushou is not afraid of breaking up with the United Kingdom. Today, the Ocean Kingdom’s rapid industrial and agricultural economic development, prosperity in commerce, science, education and culture are already an important regional force that cannot be ignored.

  As of the end of 1897

  Ocean Kingdom Australia has completed modern industrialization and has caught up with the most advanced industrial countries in the world. Overseas states, mainly Borneo, Shangri-La and Mozambique, have begun the process of industrialization, with one foot already on the threshold of industrialization.

  From a global perspective

  Citi's industrial output value accounted for 15% of the world in 1860, ranking fourth, totaling 1.907 billion US dollars.

  The United Kingdom is 2.808 billion U.S. dollars, France is 2.092 billion U.S. dollars, Germany is 1.995 billion U.S. dollars, and the Ocean Kingdom is 0.

  By 1897, the United States occupied the first place in the world with 12.198 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 6 times. The United Kingdom was 5.463 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 1 time. Germany was 4.157 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 2 times, France was 3.3 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 1.5 times, and the Ocean Kingdom was 2.666 billion U.S. dollars.

During the two decades from 1876 to 1896, the development speed of Citigroup exceeded the world average, reaching 6.3%.

  In the same time, the average development speed of the Ocean Kingdom reached 11.3%, the highest speed among industrialized countries in the world.

  Especially in recent years

  Shangri-La has developed an industrial system based on tobacco, sugar, food processing, mining, natural rubber and inland watercraft manufacturing, and has rapidly moved from agriculturalization to semi-industrialization.

  Mozambique has developed cash crops based on cotton planting and characteristic dried fruits, and relying on this to vigorously develop the cotton textile industry, printing and dyeing and clothing industries, initially began the process of industrialization.

  Borneo is led by major petrochemical industries, with characteristic natural rubber, cane sugar, and spice plantation economy as the main force. It has entered the industrialization process with a more rapid attitude than the former two, and its future prospects are extremely bright.

  All these thriving developments laid the foundation for Ocean Kingdom.

  Take Citi State as an example;

  In 1859 before the Civil War, its agricultural output value accounted for 63.8% of the total industrial and agricultural output value.

  11 years later, in 1870, Citigroup’s industrial output value accounted for 64.4% of the total industrial and agricultural output value, and the industrial and agricultural output value had fallen a bit. Industry became the dominant force in the national economy and entered the process of industrialization in an all-round way.

By 1889, Citigroup’s industry had accounted for 77.5% of the industrial and agricultural output value, forming an industrial and agricultural country dominated by light industry. Food industry, textile industry, steel industry, and wood processing industry were the four major sectors of modern Citigroup. It accounts for 54% of the national industrial output value.

  Compared with this, Ocean Kingdom has almost embarked on a similar economic development process.

  In 1885, the statistics of the Ocean Kingdom (excluding the southern states) showed that the industrial output value of Australia, including Shangri-La, Borneo, and Mozambique, accounted for 39.2% of the total industrial and agricultural output value.

  12 years later, this figure has risen sharply to 64.9%, with agricultural output value accounting for 27.4%, and commercial transportation output value accounting for 7.7%.

  This statistic shows

  Ocean Kingdom has made up for the lack of the first wave of revolution and caught up with the process of the second industrialization revolution. The process of industrialization is second only to countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany and France among the world’s powers, and higher than Italy, Austro-Hungary and Tsarist Russia.

  The national economy ranks 6th in the world after the United States, Britain, Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary. The process of industrialization has crushed France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, showing stronger strength.

  In the world economic map, there is already a place that the Ocean Kingdom cannot ignore.

  Military construction

  Ocean Kingdom implemented a military system similar to the combination of conscripts and reserve soldiers in the German Empire, with 163,000 active army posts (including 26,000 imperial guards).

  In addition to the 8 full-staffed Class A standing divisions, the War Department also has 13 Class B divisions and several garrison divisions.

  In the army establishment

The   Class B division can be called a frame division, and only retains a full group of combat strength. The other frame regiments are mainly officers and senior sergeants, and they take turns in daily training and training.

  The power of the Admiralty has expanded considerably in recent years. The highly anticipated Metropolitan-class battleships have entered service with the "Red River Valley" and "Brisbane".

  The 16,000-ton "Songjiang", which has a larger displacement and stronger combat effectiveness, was launched at the end of 1897 and is expected to be completed in October 1898 and officially enter service.

  The follow-up "Melbourne" is under construction on the slipway, and is expected to be launched in July 1898. The shelter will be completed in the first half of 1899 and officially entered service.

  In addition, the "Beilun" and the "Tianquan" have started construction one after another, and will be completed and put into service at the end of the century, welcoming the new century with a lineup of 6 powerful battleships.

Besides

  The general cruiser construction plan submitted by the Admiralty is also on the agenda. It is the "Humen" class cruiser named after the small and medium-sized city, and the first ship "Humen".

  In order to adapt to the growing trend of naval warships of various countries in the world, the displacement of this class of ships has been enlarged to 6,200 to 6,500 tons, focusing on ocean navigation capabilities and economy.

  It is with these strong support that Li Fushou can now publicly say “no” to London. He knows that Britain’s Far East policy needs the strong support of the Ocean Kingdom, and it also needs the Ocean Kingdom on the South African issue.

  London is naturally clear about the development of the Ocean Kingdom. Starting with the pastoral battle, Vietnam and the “Guangzhou Incident”, the seeds of distrust germinated and grew vigorously.

  In the increasingly fierce dispute between the United States and Spain, London has maintained a rather ambiguous attitude, turning a blind eye to and deafening the important information transmitted through diplomatic channels, which is a very good interpretation of London’s complex attitude.

  By the end of 1897

  The elderly Queen Victoria is very old. She has been in power for more than a decade since she came to power in June 1837. She is an old man who is nearly eighty years old, deaf and dazzled, and has severe memory decline.

  The Crown Prince Edward, who has always been uncomfortable with Li Fushou, said in public many times that Australia, which belongs to the United Kingdom, was stolen.

  This kind of extremely irresponsible and seriously hurting the relationship between the two countries, which was hardly imagined in the past, is now openly appearing in the upper circle of London, showing the uncertainty of the upper circle in London at the end of the century.

  For this stupid argument, Li Fushou dismissed it.

  When a stupid dog barks and yells, you can't learn how to do it, and that's undoubtedly self-defeating.

  (End of this chapter)