Chapter 752

A bad idea was still a good idea. No matter how low the price-performance ratio was, as long as it could save lives, the Tsarist government could only accept it.

At the end of 1904, the Siberian Railway was already open to traffic. Although it couldn't operate normally, on average, it could still send a few carriages every day.

Don't underestimate these inconspicuous carriages. At a critical moment, these supplies could even determine the outcome of a war.

The gap had to be filled eventually. The Tsarist government was actually trying anything in a desperate situation by pinning their hopes on the smuggling trade.

After the end of the European War, the air forces of various countries had tacitly chosen to eliminate airships. Except for a small number of transport airships, the sky was basically occupied by planes.

The Russian Empire also had an airship force, but due to the price-performance ratio, the scale was very small.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, they didn't transfer the airship force to the Far East. On one hand, it was because of the price-performance ratio, and on the other hand, the higher-ups of the military knew that their own airship force had been abolished.

It couldn't be helped. The service life of the airship was limited. If they didn't change their equipment for ten to twenty years, they didn't dare to easily fly even during daily training.

Not to mention completing the combat mission, transporting them to the Far East was also a problem. Anyway, the Russian Army's outdated airships couldn't fly to the destination by themselves.

In contrast, Shinra's airship force was different. Although it was withdrawn from the battle, the logistics force still retained its complete establishment.

Different from the bureaucratic response of Russia, as long as the military of Shinra was established, the weapons and equipment had to be changed when it was close to retirement.

Although the withdrawal of airships from the battlefield had dampened the enthusiasm of manufacturers, it was only the combat airships that had their production lines cut off. The transport airships still stubbornly survived.

Not only was the military using it, but the civilians were also using it. If it wasn't for the price-performance ratio, airships would have become the fourth mainstream means of transportation along with trains, ships, and cars.

Even a developed country like Shinra complained about the high cost, not to mention other developing countries like China. Even if they wanted to buy it, the money in their pockets wouldn't allow them to.

Under this background, the military's retired airships were in an awkward position. There was no market for exports, and the domestic market was ignored.

Capitalists were greedy, but they also had to consider the risks. The airships equipped by the military had good performance, but the logistical maintenance requirements were also high.

After all, they were flying in the sky. Any problem could lead to the destruction of the airships and the death of the passengers.

If they were sold to the Russians, there wouldn't be so much trouble. After the handover, the airships would be sent to the frontline immediately.

If there had been an accident during the flight, it must have been the work of the Japanese. Otherwise, it must have been the flight crew who did not follow the instructions. It had absolutely nothing to do with the airship itself.

It could be seen from their aggressive promotion that the senior officials of the Vienna government had done a good job in keeping the secret. Even their own people didn't know that the government was mentally prepared for the Tsar's government to default on its debt.

They had no choice but to prepare in advance. The Russians had a history of defaulting on their debts more than once. They were typical repeat offenders.

Russia didn't Russia, Russia was still, they win. as As they say, the price. the Russians would, the matter, the Russians., the situation, the Russia as.

Not only was the Tsarist government confident in the upcoming Siberian Railway, but the outside world was also confident in this railway.

Of the number. Wang... the number was. he..... the. to say,, the people...., of of.......... as..................

Franz didn't know how the number was calculated, but he didn't think the Russians could do it.

Not to mention the Siberian Railway, even the railway from Moscow to St. Petersburg wouldn't be able to achieve this theoretical goal if a single line was cut off.

It wasn't that the railway couldn't carry the load. It wasn't that the train was too slow. The real problem was the bad weather and lack of organization.

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union government set a record of 1.45 million tons per month.

However, because of the weather, the annual transportation volume of the Siberian Railway did not exceed 10 million tons.

It was 40 years ahead of schedule, and the capacity had to be increased by 50%. Unless the Tsarist government cheated, it was impossible.

Considering the difference in time, as long as they could complete one-tenth of the task, the Russian army would be able to beat the Japanese to the ground, not to mention challenging the limit of carrying capacity.

Unfortunately, transporting 145,000 tons of supplies per month was an unattainable dream.

At least until the Siberian Railway's surrounding facilities and management system were improved, it was not feasible.

Since the outside world was generally optimistic that the Russians would win, they naturally didn't think that the Tsarist government would go bankrupt. As long as they won the war, the losses could be passed on.

Even if Japan was poor, as long as they put in the effort, they could always squeeze out oil.

If it didn't work, they could use labor to make up for it. Unlike the lazy Japanese … Japanese labor was also a high-quality labor force.

…

While Russia and Austria were thinking of ways to deal with the logistics of the Russian Army, the situation in London was tense. The air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

Integrating industrial production capacity was a thankless task in itself. For the capitalists, the overall situation was far less important than making money.

People didn't have a good impression of the Campbell government that pushed all of this. The direct manifestation was: public opinion fiercely criticized as if the Campbell government was the sinner that destroyed Britannia.

The opposition also took the opportunity to initiate an impeachment in parliament. If it wasn't for King Edward VII's personal support, and the competitors didn't want to clean up the mess at this time, Downing Street would have changed owners by now.

It was fine to be scolded. As long as it was a serious government, there was no government that didn't get scolded. As long as it succeeded, the infamy could be cleared.

Looking at Prime Minister Campbell's expression, it was clear that things weren't going well.

Under the push of some people, the integration of industrial capacity was seen by the people as the government colluding with consortiums, intending to annex everyone's industry and monopolize the market.

For a time, there were endless protests, and the slogans of the demonstrators resounded throughout the British Isles. The small and medium-sized capitalists used practical actions to say to them – "No."

Not only did the people below resist, but even the consortiums lacked interest. "Monopolizing the market" sounded wonderful, but if you really put it into practice, you would find that many industries couldn't be played like this.

The low threshold was one thing, and the key was social stability. The Campbell government asked everyone not to lay off workers and not to raise prices.

In essence, the core advantage of a monopoly was to optimize the corporate structure, reduce production costs, and self-help to control the pricing power. Now that these two points were gone, what was the point of playing?

Especially for the financial consortiums, this was a disaster. Used to making quick money, everyone had no interest in doing industry honestly.

As the 2% in the "28% law," the financiers were working hard to control 120% of the world's wealth. Naturally, everyone "politely declined" the Campbell government's plan.

Since everyone opposed it, the plan naturally couldn't be promoted. After a few months of hard work, Prime Minister Campbell helplessly found that he had gained loneliness.

Even though the government had implemented tariff barriers, the domestic industry was still not much better.

International competition was only one aspect. The most important thing was that Britannia had embarked on the old path of the original usury empire. More and more domestic consortiums liked the financial industry, and fewer and fewer people were willing to do industry honestly.

The Government of the United Kingdom itself wasn't very strong. Policy guidance could affect the domestic economy, but it didn't have the ability to make a final decision.

The sunset industry, which lacked capital injection, didn't develop smoothly even with government support.

It could only be said that Campbell was too impatient. If he had been slower and waited for the previously formulated economic policy to ferment and let the outside world see that investment in industry was also profitable, naturally, people would join.

Obviously, Campbell couldn't wait, and Britannia couldn't wait either. The turbulent international situation told them that they must be "fast."

Industry Minister Henry Burks: "The opposition among the people is growing, and all sectors of society are opposed to the government's involvement in the economic market.

It's now impossible to integrate the domestic industry in a short period of time. The Ministry of Industry is preparing to adjust the plan and launch the backup plan. "

Politicians who plunged headfirst into it and didn't look back were always the minority. Most politicians still preferred to "improvise."

Seeing that the plan had failed, the Ministry of Industry, as the specific executor, naturally had to find a way to deal with the aftermath.

When he heard "launch the backup plan," Campbell's face became even more ugly. There was no other way. To put it nicely, it was a "backup plan." To put it bluntly, it was to use national interests to appease the capital world in exchange for everyone's cooperation.

Of course, this "cooperation" was built on the premise that the government gave up on the integration of the industry.

Minister of Internal Affairs Azevedo said impatiently, "If it failed, then it failed. Since everyone doesn't care about the big picture, why should we be the bad guys!"

This was the truth. The more he understood the country, the more despair Azevedo felt.

After the rise of the Holy Roman Empire, the powerful British Empire was only left with the bright and beautiful appearance.

Free trade made the British Empire glorious, but free trade also led the British Empire to a path of no return.

Under the free trade system, British capital ran around the world and made a lot of money.

Even though Shinra's economy was larger, the British still had more say in the capital market. Shinra capital made profits from industrial and commercial products, while British capital made huge profits from harvesting leeks.

Although Great Britain had a trade deficit for many years in international trade, the profits earned by British capital were no less than Shenluo's. In fact, they were even a little more.

In a sense, this was the core reason why the previous governments didn't withdraw from the free trade system, even though they knew that the trade deficit was expanding.

Until the Campbell era, the resentment in the domestic industrial and commercial industry had accumulated to the peak, and the contradictions couldn't be suppressed anymore, so they had no choice but to cut their losses.

With this, everyone realized how fragile Britannia was. It was fine if the emerging technology field was lagging behind, but the key was that even the traditional advantageous industries were now lacking in production capacity.

Azevedo, who had suffered a bellyful of anger outside, could no longer suppress his own resentment. He couldn't help but want to give up.

Minister of Finance Asquith said, "Calm down, Sir Azevedo. Britannia has reached the most critical moment. We can't let anger affect our rationality.

Even though the plan to integrate industrial production capacity is progressing slowly, it's not without gains. At least in the fields of steel, coal, and so on, resources are indeed more concentrated, and the increase in production capacity is just around the corner.

Even though the progress is a little slower than expected, we didn't waste this time. Using the Russo-Japanese War as a cover, the Empire bought a lot of scarce resources from overseas.

With these resources as a supplement, we won't be at a disadvantage in a short period of time. "

It would have been better if he didn't explain, but this explanation made the atmosphere in the room even more tense. Everyone was paying attention to the hidden meaning. If they weren't at a disadvantage in a short period of time, it meant that they would be at a disadvantage in the long-term competition.

Minister of War Marcus Katzel said, "We can't solve the problem even if we discuss it like this.

As an island country, it's unwise to compete with Shinra in terms of industrial strength. Don't forget that they are the overlord of Europe. Now that the Russians are busy advancing east, they can't do anything at all.

If we really fight for a long time, we won't just be facing the Holy Roman Empire, but also the European world under their wings.

From a military point of view, instead of waiting for the enemy to be ready and challenge us, it's better to take advantage of the advantage now and strike first.

No matter what method we use, as long as we can severely damage or even wipe out the Shinra Navy, the situation will be reversed immediately.

Even if we can't destroy the Holy Roman Empire this time, we can at least make them behave for another twenty years. I believe that with the strength of the Imperial Navy, it's not difficult to achieve this. "

After listening to Marcus' proposal, Minister of War Swindin could no longer sit still: "Sir, do you think we don't want to? But the problem now is that the main force of the Shinra Navy is holed up in the Mediterranean.

In the enemy's Mediterranean nest, with the air force and shore artillery as cover, even if the Imperial Navy ventured deep, it would be difficult to achieve results. "

The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

As the leader of the Britannia military, the Royal Navy shouldered the heavy responsibility of defending Britannia. All the decisive battle plans formulated by the Government of the United Kingdom revolved around the Navy.

The Royal Navy really lived up to expectations. In the past two hundred years, it had been 'God blocking the way, Buddha blocking the way, Buddha blocking the way'. With battle after battle, the British Empire's century-long glory was established.

However, the strength of the Royal Navy also had its limits. The enemy was holed up in their nest, but the Royal Navy was also powerless.

Minister of War Marcus did not show weakness: "If the enemy is unwilling to come out to fight, then find a way to draw them out.

At this time, there is no one who fantasizes about living in peace with the Holy Roman Empire, right?

Anyway, we are going to fight, so it is better to start in advance, disrupt the enemy's rhythm, and increase our chances of winning. "

Was Marcus really warlike?

The answer was naturally: no.

If he had more options, he would never think of fighting with Shinra now. If war broke out, not only the Navy had to rush forward, but the Army also had to go up.

Not to mention anything else, the Cape of Good Hope must be defended. Without this important port, it would be difficult to sail the route from the British Isles to India.

Not only the Cape of Good Hope, but also Persia, Indochina, and other areas bordering Shinra would face challenges.

But it was impossible not to fight. Now the Government of the United Kingdom had given its full support to the Navy. As for the Army, it could only follow behind and eat the leftovers.