Chapter 1198 Killing Ying, Bleeding, and Bleeding Again (Third update, please subscribe)
In fact, the Royal Navy's aspirations have now been lowered a lot.
Historically, just a few decades ago, the British believed that in order to maintain their dominant position, the British Navy had to be stronger than the sum of the other six navies except Britain. This ensured that Britain could accept the common challenge of the navies of one, two, or even more countries at the same time, and could deal with two or three large-scale naval battles at the same time. This was the navy that the British Empire needed.
"At the end of the 18th century, in order to establish our absolute superiority, we began to build ships, and by the beginning of the 19th century we had achieved our goal. In 1815, the British Navy had 99 sailing battleships with a tonnage of 622,000 tons, more than the combined tonnage of France, Russia and Spain..."
When mentioning the glorious past of the Royal Navy, Earl Northbrook's eyes were filled with nostalgia for the past. The Royal Navy of that era was so powerful, so powerful that it dominated the entire blue planet!
At that time, except for France and Russia, the navies of other countries could be almost ignored, because the total tonnage of the Spanish Navy, which ranked fourth, was only 55,000 tons, which was not enough to fill the gaps in the Royal Navy. As for other countries, the British could completely ignore their existence. Because even the French Navy, which ranked second, had a tonnage of only 228,300 tons, which was only about one-third of the British Navy. The total tonnage of the Spanish Navy, which ranked fourth in the world, was less than one-tenth of its own. So Britain's arrogance was definitely confident and powerful.
"There is no doubt that the Royal Navy was the world's number one naval power at the time, and Britain was the world's undisputed maritime hegemon. But what about now?"
The Earl of Northbrook's tone changed slightly.
"With the rise of countries like the United States, Russia and the United States, and with the increase in national strength, the world's major industrial powers have begun to expand their navies, and the Royal Navy can no longer maintain its standard of the top six. But we will never give up our position as the hegemon of the sea, so if we want to maintain this position of hegemony at sea, the implementation of the "two-power standard" is the only option. Our "two-power standard" is that the strength of the Royal Navy should not be lower than the naval strength of any two naval powers combined, that is, its strength is at least equivalent to the sum of the naval strengths of the second and third largest countries in the world."
Faced with the "two strong navies" proposed by the Earl, Prime Minister Cecil was silent for a while, then asked.
"Count, you should know that this is a competition that requires a lot of money. At present, the Ming Empire's navy is still expanding, and the French are also expanding their maritime forces."
The Prime Minister's rhetorical question prompted Earl Northbrook to answer promptly.
"Then we will use our tenacious and unyielding will to tell them that the British Empire will accept the challenge!"
"Your Excellency, the British Empire is not the only one participating in this competition. Our allies in North America, the Americans, are also involved in this competition. During the last Turkish War, the Four Emperors' Fleet had a comprehensive advantage over the British Empire in terms of strength for the first time. This is the first time since the 19th century that the Royal Navy has been surpassed by other countries in terms of strength. Now, all we need is to use our strength to tell the world that the Royal Navy has set sail again! The British Empire is destined to be the ruler of the sea!"
In fact, the Royal Navy has not had an easy time in recent years!
What was the most humiliating moment for the Royal Navy?
It was the "Turkish War". At that time, the power of the Royal Navy was surpassed by the "Four Emperors' Alliance" for the first time. It was also from that time that Britain completely abandoned "splendid isolation".
Even Prime Minister Cecil himself was once a supporter of "splendid isolation", but after the end of the "Turkish War", he became a supporter of the alliance policy and even facilitated the alliance with Germany.
"The power of the alliance is strong, but the stability of the alliance needs to be based on strength. If we want the Americans, Germans and Italians to stand on the same front with us, we must let them see how powerful the Royal Navy is!"
After saying this in an affirmative tone, Prime Minister Cecil said.
"Since the Turkish War, everyone who cares about the Royal Navy knows that the Royal Navy has been surpassed by the enemy. Now, it is time to take it back! Gentlemen, prepare your plan! Let us take back the sea that belongs to the British Empire! Let the Royal Navy rule the sea again!"
Faced with challenges from developing countries, the British Empire accepted the challenge!
It is just like the choice made by the British Empire when facing Napoleon. In fact, this is a very normal choice. No hegemon will give up its hegemony. When facing challenges, what is the instinctive choice made by all hegemons?
Just meet the challenge.
Meeting challenges, meeting challenges from underdeveloped countries, and responding with the most stubborn attitude is what a hegemon would do. After all, no hegemon would give up its hegemonic position.
"Any illusions about peace must be abandoned!"
When leaving 10 Downing Street, James Bond had such an idea in his mind. The reason why he had such an idea was not only because the Prime Minister’s speech in Parliament would once again sound the clarion call for the expansion of the Royal Navy, but more importantly, he saw that the choice Britain would make in the face of challenges was nothing more than war.
Britain is bound to use war to deal with any enemy who tries to challenge him!
“When will the war break out?”
James Bond was thinking to himself as he walked. Just as he was moving forward, he heard the shouting of a newsboy in front of him.
"Read the newspaper, read the newspaper, the gold mines in southern Africa have very little output, and the gold mines are completely worthless..."
"Read the newspaper: The Barberton gold mine bubble burst..."
The newsboy's shouting didn't even attract James Bond's attention. As a senior secretary at 10 Downing Street, he had already learned the news of the bursting of the gold bubble in South Africa before the press got the news. As early as a few months ago, the gold mining companies there had fallen into crisis - most companies had not discovered gold mines at all, and even if they had discovered gold mines, they had no mining value. People who were well-informed had already sold their stocks when the stocks fell, but most investors in London lost all their money.
I wonder how many investors will jump into the Thames tomorrow...
James Bond thought silently in his heart that he actually also invested in gold mines in southern Africa, but he sold his stocks in advance.
Imagining those people who failed in their investments, James Bond couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
"Oh, what a poor bunch of people..."
In fact, it is not just the investors who are pitiful. The British Empire also suffered heavy losses in this bubble without realizing it.
What was even more unexpected to them was that in the coming year, the gold mines in southern Africa were like a blood-letting knife.
The British Empire was bleeding again and again. Even with the blood transfusion from India's blood transfusion machine, such bloodletting was an unbearable loss for the British Empire.
(End of this chapter)
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