Chapter 869

The good news didn't work, but the bad news did. Perhaps it was because his mouth had been opened. Only a week later, the bad news came.

A large number of troops were gathering along the coast of France. Needless to say, they were here for the British Isles.

Hearing the bad news, Swindin couldn't care less and hurriedly asked the Chief of Military Intelligence, "Has the enemy's warships been commissioned?"

To land on the British Isles, a naval battle was inevitable. Shinra had the air force to protect them, but so did Britannia.

Even if they were slightly weaker, if they fought with their lives on the line, they could still hold back the enemy for a short time.

In order to protect the transport ships, the Shinra Navy had to fight. Based on the current strength of the two sides, the Royal Navy still had a higher chance of winning.

The only thing that could change this situation was the commissioning of new warships. Although the construction time seemed a little tight, the enemy was the world's largest industrial power. It was reasonable to work overtime and finish ahead of schedule.

In fact, as early as more than a month ago, the Navy had received information about the enemy's main warships, but it was not confirmed.

From entering the water to entering service, and then to forming combat power, it was certainly not completed in a short period of more than a month. But the battle on land hadn't started yet?

A war also took a long time from preparation to launch. By the time the preparation work was completed, perhaps the training would also be completed.

The Chief of Military Intelligence, Laserda, nodded, "At present, it can be confirmed that the enemy has at least two Dreadnaught-class battleships in service.

The enemy's main warships started construction at almost the same time. Even if the other battleships haven't been commissioned yet, I'm afraid it won't be long before they are commissioned. "

Swindin didn't feel good after hearing the confirmation.

One step slower, all the steps slower.

Britannia's battleships started construction one step later, and the shipyard was attacked by the enemy halfway, so the construction progress was even slower.

Once the enemy's warships entered service, the Royal Navy would be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of numbers in the dreadnought class.

Although the quality wasn't enough, they could make up for it with quantity. But the dreadnought had the ability to kill ordinary warships. Who knew how much it would cost to erase this advantage?

If the Royal Navy didn't have the confidence to win, then his joke of "one person, one plane, one bomb for one warship" would become a reality.

Death fighters were easy to find, but death fighter pilots were not. Although they were both island countries, the British Empire was not Japan after all. There were people fighting to recruit the suicide squad.

Not to mention anything else, just look at the air battle in London. Once the fighter jet was damaged, it would immediately turn around and flee. Once it realized that it was impossible to escape, the pilot would immediately parachute.

At the same time, many planes had been wasted. Many of the planes that could have been salvaged had been abandoned.

There was no need to criticize them. Those who dared to fight in the sky were all heroes. There was even a group of pilots who refused to participate.

There was a good reason. The performance difference was too great. of the pilots would've died. Since he was courting death, he naturally couldn't go.

It was not popular in Britain to be unafraid of death. The British government did not have much confidence in the early stages of the war.

Except for active pilots who could not avoid it and had to go to the battlefield, amateurs and civil aviation pilots all had the right to refuse.

The main reason was that the compulsory military service law had not been introduced yet, so the government's punishment for those who refused to be drafted was very limited.

"

While the British were in a state of panic, the international situation was also quietly changing. The bad news that came one after another continuously eroded everyone's confidence in the British Empire.

"India." Shinra attacked from Persia and Indochina. Although they were far away, no one thought that the Persians and a group of colonial troops could stop the world's first land power.

In particular, the Russians had also sent their troops from Afghanistan, and British India was in essence besieged on all sides.

"Distance and terrain are not enough to fight against the world's first and second land powers. Unless the British could cheat, there was no hope at all."

"British Africa has almost fallen." If there was no India, would Britain still be an "Empire"?

No matter how powerful the Royal Navy was, they couldn't reverse the defeat on land. What's more, they lost the Battle of Malacca.

The battle to defend the Strait of Gibraltar had begun. The Spanish, stimulated by the victory, finally had the courage to attack Gibraltar.

It was estimated that they were preparing to replicate the victory of the last war against France and return to the ranks of the great powers with the prestige bonus brought by the victorious country.

"Great powers" weren't just a name. There were also a lot of benefits behind it, which was especially important for trading countries.

For example, the United States and the Allied Nations were not weak, but because they didn't have the title of a great power, they had no right to speak on the international stage.

Although Spain's strength wasn't good, its reputation was still resounding. Its international voice was second only to Britain, Austria, and Russia.

Of course, this was only the beginning of the victory of the anti-French alliance. Later, because of the Philippines War, its reputation was greatly damaged. Then, it consumed its national power in the war to suppress the colonies. Even its international voice was reduced a lot.

Russia and Spain had joined in, and the European fence-sitters naturally couldn't sit still. Favorable battles had always been everyone's favorite.

What's more, the Government of Vienna also promised great benefits and directly used "India" as bait. How could the governments bear it?

With the active support of various countries, the mainland coalition forces had already taken shape. All that was left was the final integration. After these tasks were completed, it was time for the decisive battle.

Compared to the mainland coalition's member states, the member states of the Oceanic Alliance were much more scattered. Each of them was in different parts of the world. If they wanted to gather, they had to cross the ocean.

The difficulty of power integration was not just one level higher.

Although the Government of the United Kingdom had worked very hard, due to the distance, the integration of the Oceanic Alliance was more than a step slower.

If the war continued for two or three years, the strength of the Oceanic Alliance could naturally be gathered. But judging from the current situation, the enemy definitely wouldn't give them enough time.

Seeing that the enemy's strength continued to grow, the situation on the battlefield was becoming more and more disadvantageous for the Oceanic Alliance. The governments of various countries also saw this and were anxious.

The navies of various countries had already participated in the escort movement. The air force had also transferred elite pilots to reinforce Britannia. The land forces had also begun to gather.

But if they wanted to defeat the mainland coalition, these were still not enough. If they gathered the strength of the entire European continent, they would be invincible in this era.

More and more knowledgeable people realized that getting involved in this war was a mistake.

Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world. It was easy to participate in the war, but it was difficult to withdraw.

On the surface, everyone was still a good ally of Britannia and was working hard for this war. But in private, there were already undercurrents surging.

Everything depended on the final battle. If Britannia could crush the "Sea Lion Plan" and at the same time protect India, then everyone was still a good ally.

But if something happened to one of them, then there was nothing they could do. They could only bear with the pain and cut off their own flesh to stop the losses.

It could only be said that empiricism killed people. In every European war in the past two hundred years, the British were the big winners in the end.

The long-term victories brought confidence to everyone. In addition, the Royal Navy had the advantage of sea power, and the countries were isolated overseas. The worst outcome that could be expected was nothing more than not being defeated.

According to the British promise, even if they did not lose, they could still divide the overseas colonies of Shinra, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and other countries.

Unfortunately, the reality was cruel. The British Empire, which had missed the second industrial revolution, was like an old man in his twilight years, no longer having the vitality of the past.

…

The international diplomatic storm was rising again, and the battlefield was also blossoming. With the loss of the Battle of Malacca, the British had to strategically retreat in the Far East.

Other than the Indo-China Peninsula, which was still fighting, the other regions had already endured the pain and cut off their own flesh. But this was still not enough. The continental alliance did not give them a chance to breathe.

The high-spirited Governor William was now suffering and happy at the same time. Every man had the dream of being a hero on the battlefield. Now that the opportunity to lead the army had finally come, William had a headache.

Not everyone had the ability to "the more the better". At least, Governor William did not have the ability to lead a million troops.

If not for the outbreak of war, perhaps no one would dare to believe that the continental alliance could mobilize millions of troops in the Nanyang region.

However, reality really did happen. The Dutch sent 100,000 troops, the Spanish sent 80,000, the Portuguese sent 3,000, plus the Austrian Nanyang Army of 130,000. Together with the noble coalition army and civilian armed forces that arrived one after another, the total number of troops broke the million mark.

That was not all. There were new troops joining every day, as if there was no end to them. It was giving Governor William a headache.

Unlike the complete organizational framework in Africa, which directly followed the previous reserve structure, most of the troops in the Nanyang region were scattered.

Just the European immigrants naturally could not form a million troops, but with the addition of the Lanfang Autonomous Province, it became more than enough.

One could only blame the military nobility system for attracting people. After so many years of operation, the credibility of Emperor Franz had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

In the past, people did not have the opportunity to participate even if they wanted to. The main reason was that it was too far from the battlefield, and the conscription order could not reach here.

Now that the opportunity was delivered to the door, the Chinese family in Lanfang could not sit still. Driven by the interests, everyone overcame their fear of the British and joined the war.

In addition, in order to obtain more military merits, the nobles continued to recruit private troops, and the coalition army rapidly expanded.

They did not love war, but that was only because the interests were not enough. Everyone knew that the emperor was generous enough to distribute land in units of hectares.

Even if they could not get a noble title, it was worth it to get a piece of land. Wealth was found in danger. Any ambitious young man who wanted to make a comeback appeared in the army.

If one looked closely, one could also find the figures of the international students. Not only did they participate, but they also returned to their country to recruit people.

The momentum of the million troops increased, but the combat power decreased. Other than the direct troops, only the private troops of the nobles had combat power. The rest were a motley crew.

Including the troops sent by the Spanish and Dutch, in the eyes of Governor William, they were just there to help.

Even though he knew that they were a motley crew, William could not refuse everyone's enthusiasm to participate in the war. On one hand, it was to bind the interests, and on the other hand, it was to exert enough pressure on the British.

Regardless of whether they were a motley crew or not, with the numbers, the British had to send a large number of troops to intercept them.

Anyway, it was a bad era. The main battle force of the continent alliance only had two to three hundred thousand people, and the rest were a motley crew. The British were even more miserable.

The reinforcements that rushed over from the mainland were all new troops, and the temporary colonial army was the best among the motley crew.

If they really fought, William felt that his side still had a higher chance of winning. They were also a motley crew, but at least the morale of his troops was high.

The large number of civilian armed forces was not forcibly recruited by William. He merely issued a call, and everyone voluntarily came to his door.

Since they were fighting for him, their morale naturally would not be low. Especially during the oath, William's speech had directly promised the entire army that after they won this war, the compensation for those who died in battle would not be less than 500 Divine Shields or five hectares of land.

The native immigrants and the regular army did not feel anything. According to past practice, this was just a normal operation. The various subsidies added up one after another, and in the end, it was often higher than the compensation.

But the others could not. 500 Divine Shields was equivalent to thousands of taels of silver. Based on the economic level of the Far East region, it was an astronomical figure for 99% of the people.

The temptation of five hectares of land was even greater because it was a military field. In the Holy Roman Empire, as long as the military field was not sold, it was permanently tax-free.

This kind of money to buy one's life was already a sky-high price in the Far East region. In a sense, the continuous stream of people joining was also stimulated by William himself.

Since he had already said it, he had to fulfill his promise. After being influenced by Franz for a long time, William naturally knew the importance of credibility.

The reputation of the House of Habsburg could not be bought with money. There was no need to put his own credibility on the line just to save hundreds of millions of Divine Shields.

Moreover, from his point of view, 500 Divine Shields in exchange for a person's life was really not a lot. Needless to say, the land was taken from the hands of the enemy. There was no need to feel bad at all.

As the King's reserve, William also needed to establish his own credibility.

There were many ethnic groups living in the Nanyang region. If he could spend hundreds of millions of Divine Shields to establish his own credibility among the various ethnic groups, based on William's understanding of his father, he would definitely be willing to pay the bill.

Moreover, he did not need to pay for the war. The Government of Vienna had always been fully responsible for the war's expenses. At most, the royal family would take the lead in donating money at critical moments.

Now, even donations were not needed. The war had only been going on for a few months, and the Government of Vienna's pockets had not been exhausted so quickly.

It was impossible to lead a motley crew into battle without psychological pressure. Even if he did not expect to kill his way all the way to India, he at least wanted to conquer the Indo-China Peninsula.