Chapter 390: Attack India first, then Japan
The phrase "the country's own national conditions are here" sounded to George in his previous life, just like "everyone understands it", it was all pretentious.
In this life, George truly understood what "national conditions" meant.
The Russian Empire has people, resources, strategic depth, and climate bonuses. In George’s view, the Russian Empire is invincible no matter what situation it faces and is not afraid of any challenge.
But why did the Russian Empire collapse in the First World War? The royal family members fled to death, and even Nicholas and his family died silently in the basement——
George never understood it.
Now George understands, it was all done specially.
Is Parsons steam unit good?
Anyone who knows a little bit about the navy knows that Parsons steam generators are good.
But the Admiralty just doesn’t use it.
Are Makarov bullet caps good?
Good!
Everyone in the Russian Navy knows it, but they just don’t use it!
The question is that the Russian Empire has its own national conditions.
National conditions——
National Conditions——
National conditions for your sister!
George doesn’t care about anyone now, he only cares about strengthening himself.
As for the navy, it must be the dreadnought.
After the launch of the battleship built for the Pacific Fleet, the Vladivostok Shipyard finally freed up the slipway to build the dreadnought.
The first dreadnought of the Siberian Fleet has been named "Vladivostok".
The "Vladivostok" has a standard displacement of 18,000 tons and a full load displacement of 21,000 tons. The armament system is four piggyback twin-mounted 330 mm 40-fold electric-driven artillery, with the fastest speed Section 23, the total weight of the armor exceeds 6,000 tons, and the armor thickness of important parts exceeds 300 mm. Due to the substantial optimization of the watertight structure, the anti-sinking capability is greatly increased.
"Vladivostok" is definitely an epoch-making battleship. Once this battleship comes out, it means that all battleships in the world have fallen behind, and a new round of arms race is bound to start.
What George didn't expect was that Stark and Witheft disapproved of the "Vladivostok".
"Vladivostok" canceled the secondary guns and torpedoes that were completely useless.
The secondary gun is okay, but not very useful.
Torpedoes are the most powerful weapons in the navy today. As the most powerful warship, how can it be without torpedoes?
George was too lazy to explain.
The Pacific Fleet does not even have the power to replace artillery shells, so building "Vladivostok" is a wishful thinking.
The cost of the "Borodino" class is only 11 million rubles.
The cost of "Vladivostok" is 16 million rubles.
Although Stark has no decision-making power, he still covets the performance of "Vladivostok".
George does not feel sorry for Stark. The first phase of the "Vladivostok" construction plan has a total of four ships. Except for the "Vladivostok", the other three ships are "Haba" "Rovsk", "Nikolaevsk", and "Sakhalin".
"Khabarovsk" is Khabarovsk.
"Nikolaevsk" is Temple Street.
"Sakhalin" is Sakhalin.
In addition to the four "Vladivostok" class ships, the Siberian Fleet will also build 6 10,000-ton heavy cruisers and 12 light cruisers.
Including auxiliary warships, the expansion plan of the Siberian Fleet will cost more than 100 million rubles.
At this time in 1902, the Russian Empire attracted foreign investment, totaling only 1 billion rubles. The Amur Military Region used to be a low-key person, and was very picky about building warships. It only built light cruisers and was not even willing to build heavy cruisers.
Now that George has invested 100 million rubles in one breath, the whole world is paying attention.
The Royal Navy has always been known as the most powerful fleet in the world.
The Siberian Fleet now has all-heavy artillery battleships. Should the Royal Navy follow suit?
Japan’s attempt to build the Sixty-Sixth Fleet finally showed its prowess, and the Siberian Fleet took the initiative to provoke an arms race. Will the Japanese Navy accept the challenge?
Sarawak——
The British finally learned a lesson and did not send the South African Expeditionary Force directly to Sarawak. Instead, they sent British and Indian troops and some Japanese mercenaries to Sarawak.
After the Boer War, Britain shifted from strategic expansion to strategic contraction, and became more cautious about war.
Sarawak is obviously a pit, and London has to jump down.
You have to dance skillfully. The British did not send regular troops composed purely of white British people. Instead, they sent British-Indian troops and Japanese mercenaries. Anyway, they would not feel bad if they died.
George has nothing to say. Whether they are British, Indian, or Japanese, they will all be beaten the same when they come.
It must be said that compared with Indians, Japanese discipline is still very strict.
This is the first time Japan has deployed troops overseas. The Japanese government attaches great importance to it. It not only dispatches Japan’s ace Third Division, but also appoints Nogi Nogi, the most outstanding general of the Japanese army, as the commander of the Third Division.
The Third Division has a total strength of approximately 18,000 people. Its weapons and equipment have all been replaced with magazine-type rifles based on smokeless gunpowder. Its combat effectiveness is second to none in the Japanese Army.
On the first night after entering Kuching, the Third Division was attacked by unknown forces. Not only were the sentries killed by snipers, but the Third Division's camp was also shelled.
Sniper killing is understandable. After all, there are many precision shooters in the armies of various countries, and they are difficult to guard against.
The bombardment is too terrifying. This thing has a high technical content and is definitely not equipment that the rebels can possess.
To Nogi Nogi's regret, the Third Division did not stay in Kuching for too long. It followed the orders of the Straits Settlements and marched into the hinterland of Sarawak to find the main force of the rebels for a decisive battle.
"Are there really rebels in Sarawak?"
Nogi Nogi is also not sure. The British intelligence on Sarawak is not perfect and has many loopholes.
"If there is, it is supported by the East India Company."
Chief of Staff Kenji Kobayashi was dismissive.
The Third Division participated in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the Xinchou War successively, and has rich combat experience and well-equipped equipment.
"East India Company——"
Nogi Nogi fell into deep thought. He actually didn't know much about East India.
This is normal.
Although the Third Division had never fought a tough battle, its record was exceptionally brilliant. This gave Nogi Nogi the illusion that the Japanese army was invincible.
"Send telegrams to London and Tokyo respectively, we need support."
Nogi Nogi did not dare to go deep alone.
Compared with Nogi Nogi, the performance of the British and Indian troops was even worse.
The British and Indian troops are hierarchical, and the officers are all British. The Indians can only run errands and do odd jobs. The actual combat effectiveness has been fully proven in South Africa.
Put it this way.
The Boer War lasted for 31 months, and only one British-Indian unit surrendered as a whole without much resistance at all.
So George directly used the British and Indian troops as a breakthrough, first defeated the Indians, and then dealt with the Japanese.
(End of this chapter)