Chapter 508 Escape
The current situation in Amur is much better than that in St. Petersburg.
On January 25, after three months of bargaining, Dowson Bank sold the operating rights of the China Eastern Railway to the China Eastern Railway Company for 7.5 million rubles.
This is a win-win deal. After selling the China Eastern Railway to the China Eastern Railway Company, Daosheng Bank was able to move into battle with ease and shift its main business direction to the Qing Empire.
The China Eastern Railway Company has acquired all the China Eastern Railway, the South Manchuria Railway, the North Manchuria Railway, and the railways in Goryeo, completely controlling the Kanto railway transportation.
Not satisfied yet, George promoted the joint venture between the China Eastern Railway Company and the Siberian Railway Company. At the same time, he invested heavily in upgrading the China Eastern Railway and improving its transportation capacity.
After the upgrade of the Middle East Railway is completed, the distance from Chita to Vladivostok will be reduced by 1,000 kilometers. Immigrants from Russia and Europe will no longer pass through Vladivostok, but will go directly from Chita to Dalini to board the ship. Travel to East Indies.
Merchant ships in Vladivostok need the help of icebreakers in winter to enter and exit smoothly.
Dalini is a frost-free port that can be used all year round. After the Russo-Japanese War, George used 150,000 Japanese prisoners of war to carry out large-scale construction in Dalini. In just two years, it was completed Dalini was built to become the largest port in Kanto.
The Siberian Fleet is now based in Nagasaki, and the status of Arthur's Fortress has plummeted, serving only as a sub-base for the Siberian Fleet.
The sub-bases of the Siberian Fleet are now spread across the Far East, from Nikolayevsk (Temple Street) at the northernmost end to Bataan at the southernmost end. There are a total of 14 Siberian Fleet bases along the route.
So 5 battleships are really not enough.
The battleship "Russia" has laid its keel at the Vladivostok Shipyard and will be launched this summer and put into service next summer.
One of the four new all-heavy artillery battleships built by the Navy Ministry is being built at the Vladivostok Shipyard. Construction of this battleship has now begun and is expected to be completed within two years.
The Baltic Fleet now has 4 battleships, enough to protect St. Petersburg.
Peter hopes to assign the all-heavy artillery battleship built by the Vladivostok Shipyard to the Siberian Fleet.
In the era when Alexei dominated the Admiralty, it was fine that the Siberian Fleet was not popular.
Now that the Admiralty is in charge of George and Peter, the Siberian Fleet is finally married, and it is not too much to gain some benefits.
George gave Peter two choices. One was the all-heavy artillery battleship built by the Vladivostok Shipyard.
The other is an aircraft carrier that can carry fighter jets.
Also in January, Captain Schenkov of the Amur Military District piloted the "Eagle" fighter jet and successfully landed on the "Victory" seaplane carrier.
The "Eagle" is no longer a seaplane. It can not only be used for air combat, but also can carry aerial bombs and perform ground attack missions.
The emergence of all-heavy artillery battleships provoked an arms race.
The emergence of fighter jets has changed the battlefield from a flat surface to a three-dimensional one, which will surely trigger a new arms race -
Not necessarily.
In George's opinion, the so-called "famous generals" in various European countries are about the same level as little Nicholas.
This does not mean to belittle Nicholas. Europe is too small and there is no room for detours. As long as the war cannot end in a short time, it will become a war of attrition. No matter how clever it is, There is no way to talk about tactics.
The people in Europe also have little vision. Machine guns and submarines had already made their debut during the Civil War. Until the outbreak of the World War, machine guns still did not attract the attention of European countries.
It was not until World War II that submarines really came into play.
In George's view, if the colonial countries in Europe cannot rely on their industrial advantages and weapons generation differences to crush each other, then they will just be novices pecking each other. The Russian Empire now has armored vehicles, submarines, and aircraft.
If George successfully completes the military reform and convinces Nicholas not to go all out as soon as the world war breaks out, George will not know how the Russian Empire will lose.
Peter is also a fan of new things. Once he has an aircraft carrier, he will immediately forget about battleships.
George did not plan to build a new one. He first transformed the "Victory" seaplane carrier into an aircraft carrier, verifying the technology and accumulating experience at the same time.
Today's aircraft carriers are not even as technical as battleships. If the coal ships of the Siberian Fleet are modified, they can actually make do.
The "Victory" is limited by space and can only carry 6 fighter jets.
The next task for Amur technicians is to continue to strengthen the wings. If the fixed wings can be upgraded to folding wings, the aircraft carrying capacity will be greatly increased.
George did not hide the performance of the aircraft and went directly to Nikola, hoping to increase the aviation force.
When George was studying airplanes, he once competed with Nikola, who was no stranger to airplanes.
When Nikolai initially supported Mozhaysky in researching airplanes, he only regarded airplanes as toys.
After learning that George used aircraft in the field of warfare, Nicholas was not surprised at all.
“During the Russo-Japanese War, seaplanes were only used for reconnaissance and achieved good results. In fact, our aircraft can be used in combat long ago. In order not to expose the performance of the aircraft prematurely, we have hidden it until now.”
George was actually helpless. If he didn't take out the plane, the market would be taken away by the Americans.
Little John originally purchased an airplane from Vladivostok for 1.5 million rubles.
At that time, the aircraft technology was not mature enough. Shortly after Little John’s plane was purchased, it crashed during a performance and he lost all his money.
Little John did not give up, and later purchased multiple aircraft from Vladivostok. Until three years ago, Little John finally tried to build his first airplane.
Little John's first aircraft was not successful, and its performance was seriously lagging behind the aircraft produced in Vladivostok.
After Little John started producing airplanes, he tried to install machine guns on airplanes.
In the past few years, Little John's aircraft have made rapid progress. The latest aircraft produced is almost the same as the aircraft Little John originally purchased from Vladivostok, and he successfully obtained an order from the U.S. Navy Department.
Now that the U.S. Navy has begun to purchase aircraft, George no longer hides them, so seaplanes will only appear briefly during the Russo-Japanese War and will disappear from the stage.
It cannot be said that it should be withdrawn. Seaplanes are still valuable in some fields.
"George, it's not that I won't help you. You should know that the empire's financial situation is very tight now and it really does not have the ability to purchase aircraft."
Nicholas made a mistake, he is not Help George, but help yourself.
“Nikki, build an airport in Tsarskoye Selo.”
George does not insist. If Nikolai builds an airport in Tsarskoye Selo, George will give Nikolai an airport. Transport aircraft.
This transport plane was used for Nikolai to escape.
(End of this chapter)