Chapter 539: Military Speed
In 1884, a total of 15 European powers held a conference in Berlin to carve up Africa. Although the Russian Empire attended as a non-voting participant, it gained nothing.
This has a lot to do with the weak navy of the Russian Empire at the time. With the power of the Russian navy at that time, it was simply unable to break through the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. Even if it gained a stronghold in Africa, it was unable to carry out colonial development.
The arrival of "Yuryev" and "Romanov" in the Mediterranean brought a Russian-style shock to the countries surrounding the Mediterranean.
At present, there are only four countries in the world with full-heavy artillery battleships: Britain, Germany, the United States, and Russia. Although France and Italy have always prided themselves on being naval powers, their full-heavy artillery battleships are still under construction. , not yet in service.
Although Italy was the first to propose the concept of a full-heavy artillery battleship, it did not start construction of the first one until the year before last year, and only one was built, which is expected to enter service next year.
France also started building full-heavy artillery battleships in 1909. The first batch of "Guba" class ships was built in total, and will be put into service as soon as the end of this year.
Equally tense as the Kingdom of Italy was the Ottoman Empire.
When the reinforcement fleet arrived near Tripoli, the Ottoman Empire dispatched the ironclad "Mesudiye" to monitor the reinforcement fleet.
The "Mesudiya" was ordered by the Ottoman Empire from Britain in 1871. The ship is already 40 years old.
After the "Mesudiye" was commissioned, it was used as the flagship of the Ottoman Navy and never participated in the war.
In 1886, when the Ottoman Empire was in confrontation with Greece, the "Mesudiye" was preparing to go into battle, but because the power system was rusty, it could not go to sea at all.
In 1900, the Ottoman Empire commissioned Italy to upgrade the "Mesudie".
After the modification, the displacement of the "Mesudiye" was increased to 9,100 tons, the maximum speed was 17 knots, and the main gun was two single-mounted 230 mm guns.
Rumors say that the main gun of the "Mesudiye" was not installed, but was replaced by two wooden sticks. I don't know if it is true.
Before the construction of all-heavy artillery battleships, the total number of ironclad ships in the Ottoman Empire was only 13.
The four all-heavy artillery battleships of the Ottoman Empire are all serving in the Black Sea Fleet and stationed in Constantinople.
The reinforcement fleet only has 4 battleships of over 10,000 tons, two of which are the latest fully heavy artillery battleships. If this fleet reaches Constantinople, it can cause damage to Constantinople. A devastating blow.
So the Ottoman Empire, despite the huge pressure from Britain and France, resolutely did not allow the reinforcement fleet to enter the Black Sea.
George had nothing to say to the Ottomans, so he ordered the reinforcement fleet to approach the Dardanelles Strait, assuming that if the Ottoman Empire did not allow it, the reinforcement fleet would force its way through, forcing the Ottoman Empire to submit.
The Ottoman Empire was on tight defense and sent all four heavy artillery battleships to the Dardanelles Strait. It did not hesitate to fight the Russian Empire and refused to reinforce the fleet to enter the Black Sea.
For a time, the Dardanelles was covered with clouds and war was about to break out. George liked to be nicknamed "Reckless George".
George was indeed a bit reckless when he transferred the reinforcement fleet from the Far East to the Mediterranean without the consent of the Ottoman Empire.
Britain and France are actually unwilling to allow the reinforcement fleet to enter the Black Sea. They prefer that the reinforcement fleet go to the Baltic Sea.
At the critical moment, William II publicly shouted to the Ottoman Empire, asking the Ottoman Empire to allow the reinforcement fleet to enter the Black Sea.
William II is more panicked than anyone else now.
In the arms race with Britain, Germany is already beyond its capabilities.
If the reinforcement fleet joins the Baltic Fleet, the Baltic Fleet and the Royal Navy will form a two-sided attack on the High Seas Fleet, and the High Seas Fleet will be very uncomfortable. When William II began to act, Nicholas was not idle either.
Nicholas actively coordinated with the Kingdom of Greece, hoping that the reinforcement fleet could be supplied through the ports of the Kingdom of Greece.
King George I of Greece is Nicholas's biological uncle, and the queen is the Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of the Russian Empire. The two relationships are superimposed together. Naturally, George I cannot bear to see more than 20,000 Russian navy troops. Officers and soldiers were starving in the Aegean Sea, so George I agreed to reinforce the fleet and supply it through Greek ports.
This decision triggered strong opposition from Britain, France and Italy.
Although Britain and France have formed an alliance with the Russian Empire, Britain and France are still strictly guarding against the Russian Empire and will never allow the Russian Empire's power to extend to the Mediterranean.
It would be okay if the reinforcement fleet is only for temporary supply.
But what if George refuses to leave?
If the Russian navy is allowed to gain a stronghold in the Mediterranean, the blockade of the Black Sea will be ineffective for the Russian Empire.
George still attaches great importance to the opinions of his allies.
So after the reinforcement fleet stopped in the Dardanelles Strait for two days, it turned back to Crete and entered Heraklion for supplies.
This once again caught Britain and France by surprise.
After the First Greco-Turkish War, in order to prevent a larger-scale conflict between Greece and the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France, Russia, and Italy joined forces to take over Crete.
Therefore, although Crete is not a territory of the Russian Empire, the Russian Empire has jurisdiction over Crete.
The reinforcement fleet was resupplied in Heraklion. Britain, France and Italy were also firmly opposed.
But the more than 20,000 Russian troops had to deal with eating, drinking, sleeping, sleeping, etc., which really made George anxious. Unless the British transferred the main fleet from the mainland, it would be difficult to deal with the reinforcement fleet.
Just when the relevant countries were frantically quarreling over the reinforcement fleet, the Italians finally took action.
On June 28, the Kingdom of Italy issued an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, requiring the Ottoman Empire to effectively protect the interests of Italians in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.
The Ottoman Empire immediately asked Britain, France, Russia and Germany for help, hoping that Britain, France, Russia and Germany would stop Italy's invasion attempt.
Not to mention Britain, France and Germany, after the Kingdom of Italy issued an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire immediately suggested that the Ottoman Empire meet the requirements of the Kingdom of Italy.
This response is a bit vague.
On the surface, the Kingdom of Italy asked the Ottoman Empire to protect Italian interests.
The actual meaning is: If the Ottoman Empire cannot do it, then I will send troops.
Needless to say, Germany and Austria-Hungary will definitely support the demands of their allies on the North African issue.
The United Kingdom and France did not respond immediately to the Ottoman Empire's request for help because the Ottoman Empire refused to reinforce the fleet into the Black Sea.
The Kingdom of Italy did not wait for the Ottoman Empire to issue relevant policies at all. It issued an ultimatum on June 28. On the night of the 29th, the Italian army had already appeared in Tripoli.
It’s really a battle of great speed.
(End of this chapter)