Chapter 381 A piece of fat fell from the sky
More than 80% of the 59 million rubles purchased for the Fengtian Iron Mine was funded by the Japanese government.
Like Dowson Bank, the Japanese government, which invested more money, did not obtain the dominant right of Henry Company. It only obtained the right of first refusal for the iron ore, and the price was based on the market price without any discount.
There is nothing we can do about it. The Japanese government knows it is a trap, but it has no choice but to jump in.
After the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese government spent huge sums of money to order steel equipment from Germany and rebuild the Yawata Iron Works.
After the Yawata Steel Works was built, the Japanese government found that there was no steel to be smelted, and almost all the iron ore supply in East Asia was monopolized by the Amur Steel Group.
In order to purchase iron ore, the Japanese government tried every means, even spending a lot of money to purchase it from the United States, and finally succeeded in igniting the Yawat Steel Works.
In April this year, Yawata Steel produced its first batch of steel. The Japanese government invited ministers from various countries to hold a grand commemorative ceremony.
As a result, another accident happened during the memorial ceremony.
After the first furnace of steel was made, the door of the steel-making furnace could not be opened for a long time and failed.
The Japanese government believed that problems with steel equipment and German technical instructors led to the failure.
After inviting technical personnel from many countries for "consultation", it was determined that it was not a technical problem, but that the iron ore from the United States was not suitable for the steel equipment ordered by Japan.
Steelmaking is a very complicated matter. The Hanyang Iron Works of the Qing Empire was unable to start operations due to equipment problems.
Yawat Iron Works made the same mistake as Hanyang Iron Works. If they want to make steel smoothly, they must either continue to invest huge sums of money to transform the equipment, or find suitable iron ore.
The iron ore from Fengtian Iron Mine has been determined by technical personnel to perfectly meet the requirements of Yawat Iron Works.
That's why Japan is investing so much.
The Japanese government’s cumulative investment in Yawat Steel Works and Fengtian Iron Mine has exceeded 100 million yen.
If Fengtian Iron Mine cannot be put into production, it means that the previous investment will be lost.
"Buy! No matter what, we must get the iron ore."
Kanada Kojima is destined to die if he fails, and there is no way out.
"Actually, it's the same when we order iron ore from India."
Robert Henry also wanted to take a bite out of the Japanese and ordered iron ore from India, but the freight was more expensive.
"Mr. Henry, do you know what the total revenue of the Japanese government is for the whole year?"
Kanada Kojima can only go to the dark side in one way.
Henry smiled awkwardly but politely.
"190 million - 190 million yen!"
Kanada Kojima reported last year's fiscal revenue.
Henry looked at Kaneda Kojima with pity in his eyes.
Japan has invested more than 100 million yen in steelmaking.
Ordering equipment from Amur will cost nearly 20 million.
If these equipment are ordered from the UK, they will only cost 1.2 million pounds, which is equivalent to about 12 million rubles.
What Henry is worried about is that the 20 million is not the end. Even if he gives it, he doesn’t know what tricks the Russians will come up with.
George has many ways to trouble the Japanese.
Ordering equipment, from design to production, it takes a few months a year.
After the equipment is produced, it still needs to be installed, which will take several months.
To load the iron ore from Fengtian Iron Mine, it must go to Dalini via the South Manchuria Railway. This journey is full of difficulties.
Giving up the mining rights of mineral resources along the Middle East Railway is not a loss for George. The St. Petersburg auction alone earned George nearly 70 million rubles.
George was very happy. 40 million rubles were given to East India and 30 million rubles were given to the Siberian Fleet. Warships could be built at will.
Peter was in pain and happy.
30 million rubles is indeed a lot.
But in the smashing navy, not even a splash can be seen.
The cost of a "Borodino" class battleship is 11 million rubles for the Navy. According to the calculation of the Vladivostok Shipyard, the cost is about 7.5 million rubles.
If it’s too much, even if it’s 8 million, maybe 30 million, you can build four ships.
If it is a fully heavy artillery battleship, then only 2 can be built. The Siberian Fleet not only lacks battleships, but also lacks heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, transport ships, supply ships, hospital ships, and submarines——
In short, everything is lacking.
If you have a warship, you must have a military port, and the corresponding logistics personnel and maintenance personnel must increase. Based on this calculation, another 10 30 million will not be enough.
George has nothing to say. Anyway, there is only so much money, it’s up to you.
Peter convened a meeting with the officers of the Siberian Fleet all night long, and finally decided to build 4 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, two transport ships, two supply ships, and a hospital ship.
The total cost of these warships exceeds 36 million rubles.
This is still the cost price given by the Vladivostok Shipyard.
If it is the normal price, it should be at least doubled.
“Don’t want a battleship?”
George was curious and didn’t know how Peter made this determination.
“Sorry!”
Peter, Chief of Staff Krzhakov, and Deputy Commander Rakitsky were in tears. If they could, they would definitely double up.
“That’s all you have!”
George laughed at the crowd.
Krzhakov and Rakitsky looked at each other, wondering what George meant.
“Our ambitions are all given by you——”
Peter was crestfallen. What he meant was that if we were embarrassed, it would be your shame too.
“Get out of here!”
George was furious.
The three giants of the Siberian fleet fled.
Ye Luoxin and Milyujing came to George for a drink rarely.
Ye Luoxin is in trouble.
Mi Liujing was dragged here by Ye Luoxin.
George sees things through but doesn’t tell them.
After three rounds of wine and five tastes of food, Ye Luoxin became more energetic the more she drank.
“Is it time for our army to expand?”
Ye Luoxin really did not come for the Siberian Fleet.
The Amur Military District has two regular army divisions and four reserve divisions, totaling 60,000 people.
Ye Luoxin not only has to worry about Amul, but also East India, which is really too much to take care of.
However, in an emergency, the Amur Military Region can also mobilize two divisions from Goryeo and four divisions from the Aceh Sultanate.
So I can make do.
George frowned.
Mi Liujing smiled and said nothing.
Amul is actually not short of money.
It was rare to have such a large windfall, and the army did not get a kopeck. For some reason, Ye Luoxin always felt like he was at a disadvantage.
“Kuklev said that the aircraft can already be used in actual combat - after the train gun was sold to the Siberian Fleet, it was not replenished in time. I heard that the 330 artillery can now be used, right - the armored vehicle of the police station has been It has been in service for several years. When will the heavy tank be equipped with troops?"
Ye Luoxin talked a lot, and the Army had a lot of money to spend.
Not to mention anything else, the aircraft can indeed be used in actual combat.
The technology of the Vladivostok airship is actually very complete. One of the important reasons why it has not been put into use is that the technology of aircraft develops too fast. The airship has become useless and is on the verge of being eliminated.
It can’t be said to be eliminated.
The advantages of airships are actually quite obvious. They have a long stay in the air, a heavy load, and can fly far. They are especially useful for monitoring enemies.
(End of this chapter)