Chapter 795: Die first to respect
Stanley Baldwin overlooked one thing. When he defined the war between Britain and Theo as a "foreign war," Stanley Baldwin subconsciously defined Theo as an independent country independent of the British Commonwealth. foreign sovereign states.
Stanley Baldwin's purpose in launching the war was not to conquer Theo, but to divert domestic conflicts.
David Beatty supported the war in order to maintain the influence of the Royal Navy.
Britain is a maritime country, and the navy's influence in Britain is much greater than that of the army.
However, in the world war, the performance of the Royal Navy did not meet expectations, which made many people begin to doubt the correctness of "Sea Power".
Russia's previous Rivne exercises have fully demonstrated the importance of maintaining a strong army.
Britain's strength has declined to the point where even its naval superiority is in jeopardy, and a choice must be made.
Just when London decided to launch a war, Russia also took active action.
On April 30, the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet will visit Coconut City and will hold joint exercises with the Navy of the Grand Duchy of Yuriev.
This exercise was so grand that not only the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet was used, but the Air Force and Army also participated.
The exercise area designated by the Pacific Fleet is located between the Grand Duchy of Yuriev and Theo, which was strongly opposed by the United Kingdom.
The purpose of Britain's reactionary war is to divert domestic conflicts, which determines that Britain cannot invest too much energy in Theo. The main task of the Royal Navy is to block the coastline of Theo.
The Pacific Fleet has designated the sea area between the Grand Duchy of Yuriev and Theo as an exercise area. When Royal Navy warships enter this area, the risk of conflict will be greatly increased.
Ignoring British objections, Peter not only transferred all three battleships of the Pacific Fleet to Coconut City, but also dispatched battleships from the Atlantic Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet to Coconut City for support.
The news instantly attracted worldwide attention.
During the Russo-Japanese War, the reinforcement fleet formed by Russia was completely wiped out due to the expedition, which made the Japanese navy the pinnacle.
Will the reinforcement fleet this time have to go around Africa to reach East Asia?
The last time the Royal Navy wanted to go to Australia through the Suez Canal, the canal company refused, triggering a canal crisis.
This time, the canal company opened the door to facilitate the passage of the Russian reinforcement fleet through the Suez Canal.
This made the British very unhappy.
When the Royal Navy wanted to pass through the Suez Canal, the canal company refused to agree, and the two companies are still fighting a lawsuit.
After the canal crisis was resolved, the canal company asked the British Mediterranean Fleet to compensate the canal company for the losses caused by blocking the canal.
The Mediterranean Fleet ignored it, I was just blocked, what can you do!
Now that the Russian fleet is going to pass through the Suez Canal, the canal company has the green light. Why?
The Canal Company's reply was exactly the same as that of the Mediterranean Fleet: I am willing!
The canal company's headquarters had been moved from London to Constantinople, beyond the reach of the Mediterranean fleet.
The "Liberty" passenger ship from France was seized by the British Asia Fleet.
The "Liberty" passenger ship carried 800 gold prospectors heading to Theo.
Since the discovery of gold mines in Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, there has been an endless stream of gold prospectors coming to Theo to prospect for gold. This reason seems to be normal.
After the rebellions in Kalgoorlie and Kurgardie subsided, Theo's government has nationalized all the gold mines in the two places and operated them by Yuriev Mining Company. The private gold mining business has been completely stopped.
So these so-called gold diggers are clearly the so-called "volunteers" who went to Theo to join the war.
During the Second Boer War, more than 2,000 volunteers from Europe went to South Africa to fight.
The key is not how strong the combat effectiveness of these more than 2,000 people is, but that these volunteers from various countries turned the Boer War, which had nothing to do with European countries, into the focus of the world and put huge pressure on the British Expeditionary Force. Otherwise, they would die. There were more than 26,370 women and children in the concentration camps.
But looking at this number, it seems that it is not much compared to the millions of casualties in world wars.
But you must know that the total population of the Boers is only 440,000.
This is why during the World War, South Africa, as a Commonwealth country, only sent two symbolic divisions.
There is no need to compare with Australia and Canada, which are also autonomous territories.
South Africa's contribution to the Commonwealth during the World War was inferior to that of New Zealand, which had a total population of only 1 million.
There are 100,000 New Zealanders in the Anzac Corps, equivalent to 10% of the total population of New Zealand.
Since the "jewels" of the Boer War were at hand, it was logical that the "Liberty" passenger ship was impounded.
For the British, it is a matter of course.
For France, it is simply a joke in the world.
In 1926, France was currently engaged in two wars at the same time, one was the Rif War with 300,000 troops, and the other was a rebellion in the colonies in the Middle East.
France obtained Syria, which originally belonged to the Ottoman Empire, through the Paris Peace Conference, and then France began its colonial rule in Syria.
The Syrians do not recognize the French government, and have resisted French colonial rule one after another. Finally, at the end of last year, a major uprising broke out with the participation of 200,000 people. The French government was reeling from colonial uprisings.
At this time, Britain came to add fuel to the fire, and Paris could not bear it.
On May 9, just one week after the British army seized the "Liberty", the French government officially expressed its support for the independence of Theo.
Previously, only some French politicians supported Theo's independence, and the French government's attitude has always been ambiguous and has not made a public statement.
While Britain was becoming increasingly isolated internationally, on May 12, a fishing boat from the Philippines was sunk by the British navy, killing four fishermen.
This process is also quite tortuous.
On May 12, the Royal Navy's destroyer HMS Roar discovered a fishing boat from the Philippines in the waters north of Sioux.
The Philippines and Australia are separated by the Grand Duchy of Yuriev. Since disputes between Filipino fishermen and fishermen from the Grand Duchy of Yuriev occur from time to time, it is unlikely that Philippine fishing boats will appear in the waters.
When the Royal Navy asked the Philippine fishing boat to stop for inspection, the Philippine fishing boat not only failed to obey the Royal Navy's request, but also accelerated to escape.
It’s just that the Royal Navy can’t offend the menacing Russian Navy.
The Philippines, a US colony, dares to break ground on Tai Sui?
So the Royal Navy accidentally sank the Philippine fishing boat while firing warning shots.
The U.S. colonization of the Philippines was different from the British direct rule. It adopted the method of supporting the Philippine government for indirect colonization. Therefore, compared with the British overseas dominions or colonies, the Philippine government has relatively greater power. With the United States as its backer, the Philippines The government also has the confidence to challenge the Royal Navy.
The Philippine government requires the Royal Navy to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and compensate the Filipino fishermen.
The Royal Navy insists it was not a fishing boat that was sunk but a smuggling vessel.
If it was a fishing boat, what would it do after seeing the Royal Navy? Stop the ship for inspection honestly, the Royal Navy doesn't know how to eat people.
Since he ran away, there must be something shady going on.
The Philippine government does not accept the Royal Navy's explanation.
Does it mean that the smuggling ship cannot just rely on the Royal Navy's words, so-called "catching thieves and seizing stolen goods", where is the evidence?
The evidence is on the bottom of the sea. Whoever claims it has to provide evidence. As long as the Philippines can prove that it was an ordinary fishing boat and there was no contraband on board, the Royal Navy will lose money.
The legal battle between the Royal Navy and the Philippines is about to reach the League of Nations. On May 15, the exercises between Russia and the Grand Duchy of Yuriev officially began.
The "Roar", which had just sunk a Philippine fishing boat a few days ago, was ordered to go to the waters near the exercise for closer observation.
What the captain of the "Roar" didn't expect was that the first thing that appeared was not a Russian warship, but a bomber from the Grand Duchy of Yuriev.
The bombers of the Grand Duchy of Yuriev are of the same lineage as the Russian bombers. Except for the different national flags on the fuselage and under the wings, there is no other difference.
The bomber pilots of the Grand Duchy of Yuriev were also reckless. After discovering the "Roar", they not only did not stay away, but also flew directly towards the "Roar".
As if facing a formidable enemy, the "Roar" not only sounded the air defense alarm, but also began to use "zig-zag" tactics to evade.
This bomber is not a heavy bomber with four engines, but a torpedo plane with two engines.
For warships, torpedo planes pose a greater threat than heavy bombers. If the "Roar", which has a displacement of only 800 tons, is directly hit by a torpedo, the entire ship will be torn to pieces, and no one will be spared.
"The opponent has made an attack stance, we can shoot it down."
"Roar" Chief Officer Cole's face was ashen. The unprofessional behavior of the Yuriev Grand Duchy bomber was a serious provocation to the Royal Navy.
Captain Stewart pursed his lips and looked at the torpedo machine getting closer without saying a word.
This is not a fishing boat from the Philippines. It will be sunk if it is said to be sunk. The United States will not fall out with the United Kingdom over such trivial matters.
The Grand Duchy of Yuriev has a dog-like attitude.
Don't talk about shooting down military planes directly.
Even if the torpedo plane crashed near the "Roar" due to its own malfunction, the Grand Duchy of Yuriev would rely on the Royal Navy.
So not only was the "Roar" unable to fire, Stewart had to pray that no accident would occur to the aircraft.
The pilot of the torpedo plane was Mang Gui Mang, and his skills were still very high. He flew towards the "Roar" close to the sea and passed by the "Roar" at high speed.
What made Stewart angry was that when the torpedo plane flew over, it deliberately turned sideways and showed the torpedo under the fuselage to the "Roar".
This is simply a big deal.
What Stewart didn't expect was that because the "Roar" was maneuvering at high speed, a sailor who was operating an anti-aircraft machine gun on the deck accidentally fell into the water.
This——
The Russian warship has not been seen yet, and a Royal Navy sailor died first.
(End of chapter)