Australian Storm 1876

  Chapter 72 World Tinker

   "Prime Minister, this morning I have fresh plum pies, oatmeal, two hard-boiled eggs, a grilled mushroom, smoked bacon and Australian ham slices. I wish you a pleasant meal."

  "Thank you, Joe, I like plum pie, oh... and delicious slices of Australian ham. Can you give me another piece of toast, it’s more delicious with ham."

   "As you wish, sir, I wish you a good appetite."

   "You are so kind, Joe."

  Disraeli rubbed his hands with excitement. There were several newspapers published in the morning beside the round table in the restaurant. There were some urgent items on the top for the Prime Minister to spend time during the meal and handle some official duties by the way.

  He was not in a hurry to read the newspaper, but picked up the top urgent item, and his face sank after a few glances.

  Damn, the good mood of this day is ruined.

  This urgent message from Australia was delivered to the desk in Downing Street as quickly as possible, which means that at least two days have passed since the Battle of Lake Carl.

  There is an 11-hour time difference between Australia and the United Kingdom, and coupled with the transoceanic telegraph relay transmission, it will take 48 hours to arrive at the fastest.

  In an unknown place in Australia

  More than 1,000 white cavalry were wiped out by more than 200 bandits. Among them was a retired British empire colonel, Mr. Macbeth, which is simply incredible!

  This telegram came out of fashion, and the thought of the battle between the War Department and the Navy Department was a headache.

  The British Empire is a country with a glorious naval tradition. The Imperial Navy has also lived up to the expectations of Her Majesty the Queen. It crosses the seven seas and is invincible. It has made numerous contributions for the establishment of an empire that never sets, and has made great achievements as a hegemon.

  The vast ocean is the imperial navy’s bath. You can swim as you want, or as you like.

  After a century of naval dominance, the upper aristocracy and political forces of the British Empire have formed powerful interest groups, and they are all staunch supporters of the Imperial Navy.

  The problem is that it is impossible for the navy to fight on land. The British Army is equally important. After the British Imperial Navy established a firm hegemony, the European powers turned to land, and the evolution became more brutal and bloody.

  Europe

From 1877 to October 1878, in the brutal Russian-Turkish war, the British sent army and navy to support the Ottoman platform and forced Russia to abandon its strategic attempt to seize the right bank of the Dnieper. The Russian bear was blocked in the first place. By the Nebo River, you can't cross the Lei Pond one step.

  Africa

  In July 1878, the Battle of Udylen broke out between the British Army and the Zulus of South Africa, and the Zulus were defeated.

  South America

  Bolivia, Peru, and Chile have sharp conflicts due to the division of interests. In order to mediate the conflicts and avoid war, the British Empire sent navy and 760 army soldiers to South America as a deterrent.

  The contradiction between the three countries of South America originated from the discovery of abundant guano and saltpetre deposits in the middle and north of the Atacama Desert, which made the disputes between the three countries more acute.

Bird droppings, as a high-quality organic fertilizer, is Bolivia's most important export commodity and source of foreign exchange. Saltpeter is even more important. It is an important raw material used by European and American powers to produce explosives and has extremely high strategic value.

  The development of this area was mainly carried out by Chilean companies. In early 1878, in order to obtain more fiscal revenue, the Bolivian government unilaterally announced that Chilean companies in the Atacama area would increase commercial taxes, but the Chilean company categorically refused.

  Shortly afterwards, Bolivia announced that it would withdraw its mineral development rights in this area, and the crisis completely detonated...

  This is the "guano war" fought by the three South American nations. In the four-year rookie pecking, Chile's 1:2ko opponent won the coveted precious strategic resources...guano and saltpeter mines.

  West Asia

  Afghanistan located in West Asia has an important strategic position and is known as the crossroads of the world island. It was the focus area of ​​the great powers of Britain and Russia in the 19th century, and its importance is irreplaceable.

  Tsarist Russia regarded it as a strategic springboard for its southward journey to the Indian Ocean, while Britain regarded Afghanistan as a barrier to maintain British Indian rule in the north. The strategic contradictions between the two sides cannot be eased and cannot be avoided.

  Afghanistan is like a wall. If Russia tears down this wall, it can enter the warm Indian Ocean smoothly and pose a serious threat to the British North India region.

  The British can only passively challenge at home, and the strategic posture is extremely unfavorable.

   Conversely, when the British occupied Afghanistan, they could build this wall indestructible and completely cut off the Russian bear’s strategic attempt to expand southward.

  The Russian, known as the "European Steam Roller", became famous after defeating Napoleon. It is a shadow that hung over the heads of European countries.

  No matter how self-confident the British are, they also know that the imperial army is a few kilograms, and it is impossible to imagine defeating the endless gray cattle of Russia in West Asia.

   Therefore, preemptive occupation of Afghanistan is a strategic choice.

  Since the failure of the 1st Anglo-Arab War, the British Army has been actively preparing for the 2nd Anglo-Arab War. There is no country that cannot be resolved by the two wars. If there is... it will be the third.

  As a world overlord, the British Empire intervened everywhere in the world. In the end, various problems converged on the central nervous system of Downing Street.

  Benjamin Disraeli was in a bad mood early in the morning, which can be said to be terrible.

  Faced with Australia’s request for help, Disraeli knew that he would not be able to send soldiers to land on that wild continent thousands of miles away.

   Hell, more than 1,000 white cavalry followed for more than 6 months, and finally they were killed by the gang. It sounds like an April Fool's Day joke.

  Fortunately in misfortune

   Fortunately, it is only the local white armed militia. If the regular army suffers such a fiasco, facing fierce criticism from the House of Parliament and the House of Commons, the current Conservative government will take the blame and resign.

  The taste of a breakfast is the same as chewing wax, and there is no interest in it.

  After eating, Benjamin Disraeli came to the Prime Minister’s office and immediately ordered the high-level officials of the War Department and the Colonial Department to discuss countermeasures.

  Oh, yes, there is also the imperial Treasury Department, which must ask the parliament for a budget for this matter.

  The secret meeting on Downing Street was held soon, but the summary situation was desperate.

  The Ministry of War was very bitter, and strongly opposed sending even a soldier to Australia, because they really had nothing to do.

  Britain is a world naval power, but it has never been a world army power. This is due to the size of the British population.

  In 1850, the British mainland plus Ireland had a population of 27.5 million. By 1878, it was only a little over 30 million, which was much smaller than the population of France and Germany.

  Because of the extreme importance of maritime hegemony, it is destined that Britain can only maintain the pattern of a small army and a large navy, with emphasis on naval construction.

   The military expenditure in 1878 was 12.62 million pounds. The total number of the army and the navy was 367,000, of which 136,000 were the local standing army, 231,000 were the Royal Navy, and the total tonnage of warships was 650,000 tons.

  As far as the Dnieper River in Europe, Bolivia in South America, Transvaal in South Africa to the Suez Canal in South Africa, Afghanistan, the British Empire’s army has been used to the extreme, and now almost 200 soldiers can’t be drawn out.

As a world overlord, with a colony and protectorate covering an area of ​​33 million square kilometers, the army of the British Empire can be used like pepper noodles, not to mention the intensive preparations for the second Anglo-Arab war. The children are all used.

  Benjamin Disraeli is now facing a situation where there are no soldiers to send. He can only rely on the Australian autonomous states to find a way. Downing Street can only send blessings, and God bless!

  After winning the first war of resistance against Britain, Hill Ali, son of Afghan King Dost Mohammed, succeeded to the throne. Adopting a policy of close to Tsarist Russia and alienating Britain, it formed an alliance with Russia in July 1878 and refused the entry of British envoys into Afghanistan.

  A small country with few people, short-sighted.

  Hill Ali dared to touch the strategic interests of the British Empire. He was undoubtedly seeking his own death, and the gods could not save him.

  Out of strategic considerations, the British Army moved quickly to increase its troops by sea to the North India area on a large scale, and transported weapons, ammunition and supplies sufficient to sustain a year’s battle, actively preparing for the second Anglo-Arab war.

  One more sentence here;

  Among the supplies prepared by the British Empire Army, Honghe brand canned food, sausages, Australian ham, milk powder, milk candies and leather products account for a large share and are essential and important materials.

As of the end of October 1878, the British Army had assembled more than 37,000 soldiers, eyeing up and preparing to launch a war, passing through Khyber, Gulham, and Bitram into Afghanistan, targeting the Afghan King in Kandahar. court.

  This large-scale war operation has received full domestic support, with the highest priority and the greatest determination. All resources are unconditionally tilted towards the war in Afghanistan, in order to make a contribution in one fell swoop.

  This is a major military action of Benjamin Disraeli’s administration, and one of the main achievements, which should not be missed.

  At this important point, who has the time to go to the vast Australian mainland to catch gangsters? Isn’t that a head show?

  What's more, in the strategic considerations of the British government, Australia has always been placed in a remote location, not because it is not important, but because it is more urgently needed elsewhere.

  From the current situation;

  The South African colony is likely to deteriorate rapidly. The conflicts between the British and the Boers in Transvaal have accumulated more and more acute, almost reaching a feverish degree, and the war is about to start.

  The situation in Europe is equally grim

  The cruel Russian-Turkish war has come to an end. Downing Street has just breathed a sigh of relief, but the next hot spot is fermenting again. The Germans are restlessly messing around on the European continent.

  The Germans were in the Balkans, in Iran, and even beat the Ottoman Empire, making frequent small movements, which made the British very annoying.

   can only follow and fill up loopholes everywhere, block Germany's continued strong path, and maintain the balance of power in Europe.

  In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War ended, the Second German Empire was born, and Germany became the largest power on the European continent.

  The Prussians obtained Alsace and Lorraine, and received a huge indemnity of 5 billion francs from France.

  According to Bismarck’s original plan, it was from then on to burden France with heavy debts and would never be able to turn over. However, the iron-blooded Prime Minister Bismarck underestimated France’s wealthy peasants, and the French who inspired patriotism soon made up enough of the compensation and handed it to Germany.

  Prussian troops had to withdraw from French territory. While licking their wounds, the French quickly moved closer to Russia and jointly resisted the Germans’ strong position on the European continent.

  The hatred between France and Germany has gradually escalated, contradictions have escalated, and interests have been sharply opposed to the point where it can hardly be alleviated.

After the Germans defeated France, their biggest opponent, they looked around the world. They were surprised to find that the colonies of the world were almost divided by Britain and France. There are also some corners and corners belonging to the old European colonists Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. There are almost no Germans to get involved.

   simply outrageous!

  The Kaiser Wilhelm I could not tolerate this situation at all, and it was reasonable to make trouble everywhere.

  People say that the United Kingdom is the cockroach of the European continent. Benjamin Disraeli prefers to call this important position of his "world tinker", working tirelessly to maintain the hegemony of the empire.

  From South America to the eastern end of the World Island, from the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa to the Suez Canal, and from the western end of the World Island to the Greenland Islands, the interests of the British Empire spread all over the world, and they must make up for it everywhere.

In such an extremely complex world situation, who has the leisure to be a group of bandits on the remote Australian continent, even if it is the brutal bandit "Wild Wolf" Birken, who is well-known in Europe and the United States, it is not worth sending an army unit to land. Australia.

  They also have more important strategic tasks, 10,000 times more important than the bandits.

  (End of this chapter)