All kinds of joy had almost the same consensus. "The British Royal Navy can still beat the European countries for another hundred years."
The British couldn't be blamed for being so happy. Without the wireless, the British Navy might not have been able to catch the Russian ships so easily. Perhaps one or two of the three fleeing Russian warships could even escape alive. With the wireless communication, the British Navy's combat efficiency had more than doubled or tripled. In the North Atlantic, no country's navy could beat the British in a head-on battle, but the most difficult part of a naval battle was to let the British Empire effectively fight the enemy.
Of course, not everyone was able to share this happiness. "What the hell are you people doing?" The officer in charge of the wireless department was furious at his subordinates who made a mistake. In theory, the wireless department was the department that contributed the most in this war, and should not have suffered such an undeserved disaster. However, it was these people who were scolded. Because of improper operation, two of the twelve wireless radios had important components burned by the electric current. The price of the wireless radios sold by the Chinese was not considered expensive, and the price was several times higher than pure copper of the same weight. However, this was the price of buying the whole machine, and the price of the key components was much higher than the same weight of silver. Now, there was no doubt that the key components were burned.
The operator also had a sad look on his face. When they first saw the radio transmitter, the British thought that this small thing was made of metal and wood, so it should be a durable item. Who knew that some of the components surrounded by metal and wood were so delicate that they needed a series of serious preheating and voltage adjustment. Only then could it be used normally. Casually turning it on would cause the tube to burn.
The introduction of the patent itself contained a lot of vague things. The patent protection that China applied for in the United Kingdom could not be protected unless the United Kingdom was willing to invest and spend a lot of money to buy the production equipment and technology. Otherwise, these people would have to obediently and carefully take care of these delicate components, or continue to spend a lot of money to buy components from China.
After scolding their own people, the British technical department made full use of the waste. However, the result of the decomposition of the electron tube was disappointing. This was a component made of some glass and a little metal mesh. Just by looking at the recycling after the decomposition, it did not look like an object that was worth the money. But the British had also done a similar test, and the result of the test was that without the participation of the vacuum tube, no matter what method was used, the function of radio transmission could not be achieved. Just as the Chinese said, the vacuum tube was the core component of the transmitter.
"Regardless of the cost, we must localize the electron tubes!" The British technical department received a strict order.
This unhappiness only occurred on a very small scale. The British were rich and did not care about this small amount of money. Compared to the results of the battle, the value of the three Russian warships far exceeded the cost of these radios. More importantly, two out of the three warships actually surrendered when they saw that the situation was not right. Only one was sunk by the British Navy after a short but fierce exchange of fire. Capturing two Russian warships was even more profitable. The United Kingdom immediately placed an order with China, hoping to purchase 120 sets of radios. For the massive Royal Navy, this was just the first attempt.
Shipbuilding Master William? White was also ordered to go to the British Admiralty. A group of Admiralty and a small number of Army officials asked Grandmaster, "I've heard that you've already determined when China will be using the wireless?"
"Yes," Grandmaster William White said. He asked his assistant to hang up a picture on the blackboard. It was the structural diagram of a Chinese cruiser that China had given to the British as "war reparations."
"This time, there is a cabin behind the command center, just below the mast." White pointed at the diagram and told the officers. The people from the Admiralty were very experienced. They had all visited the Chinese warships, so they could immediately remember the cabin when they saw the diagram. At least they knew the position of the cabin on the entire ship.
"I've always been curious about the function of this cabin. The other cabins all have very clear functions. Only this one is in a good position, but it's difficult to find the most suitable use. After I got the radio, I carefully looked at the diagram again and did an on-site inspection of the warship. In the end, I was able to confirm that this location is the radio transmission room. From here, the cable is directly connected to the antenna at the top of the mast. This is the cabin that was prepared when the Chinese warship was designed. " Grandmaster White analyzed the information in an orderly manner.
After listening to the analysis, the faces of all the British naval officials changed. This warship was probably produced in 1874. If they started from the design, the design might have been completed in 1870. In other words, as early as 15 years ago, the Chinese already had mature radio technology. If this was true, it meant that as early as 15 years ago, China's technology had greatly surpassed the British level.
Even if they didn't care about the pride of the British, the British officials felt that this was completely impossible. If China's technology had reached such a level, why was China defeated by the British in 1840? So, Grandmaster William White's opinion was only considered as evidence. The British officials discussed another matter. "Should we invite the Chinese Navy to visit the United Kingdom?" "According to the Foreign Office, the Chinese Navy doesn't want to exist in the Atlantic Ocean.
If we invite them to visit the United Kingdom, it will only make the European countries think that the United Kingdom is afraid of China. " "If we invite them to visit the United Kingdom now, it will only make the European countries think that the United Kingdom is afraid of China. The Navy doesn't think it's appropriate to do this. Even if we want to have some naval cooperation with China, the Indian Ocean is the best place. "The Navy Minister of the Navy gave his opinion. The Pacific Ocean couldn't be helped. It was a waste of money for the United Kingdom to maintain a meaningful navy in the Pacific. If the Chinese wanted to dominate the Pacific Ocean, then they would let the Chinese do it. However, they couldn't let go of the Indian Ocean. From the looks of it, the naval battle between China and the United Kingdom would start in the Indian Ocean.
The Army had similar thoughts. After the Chinese Navy showed off, if the British did something like this, the other European countries would think that the United Kingdom was giving in. Therefore, the military's attitude quickly unified. The United Kingdom didn't accept China showing off in the Atlantic Ocean, and they had no reason to support China.
After the British Foreign Minister received the minutes of the meeting, he could only try his best to play the part. On September 24th, the entire Europe heard about a sensational event. The British Fleet destroyed a small Russian fleet in the waters near Bulgaria. After the Chinese Navy showed off, the British used their strength to prove who was the real boss of the European sea.
The whole of Europe was almost one-sided in their support for Russia's defeat. When Prime Minister Bismarck heard the news, he just snorted and didn't even bother to comment. The purpose of the Three Emperors Alliance was to deal with France. As for the long-standing conflict between the United Kingdom and Russia, Frankberg had no intention of getting involved. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was also a member of the Three Emperors Alliance, was happy. The British attacked the Russian Navy, which was equivalent to driving Russia out of Bulgaria. For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which already had a military alliance with Romania, this was great news.
The Osman Empire's attitude was, "The British didn't fight hard enough! It would have been better if they had directly attacked Crimea and destroyed the Black Sea Fleet of Russia. "
The Nordic countries and Russia were enemies. They had been fighting with Russia for hundreds of years, and it was only in the past few decades that they stopped fighting. Norway and Sweden had lost a lot of land to the Russians. When they heard that Russia was beaten, the Nordic countries' palaces were filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Russia was like the burly bad student in class who bullied people everywhere. Now, the class leader, who looked like a gentleman, took the opportunity to beat him up, so everyone in the class was happy. Of course, Russia wouldn't be happy.
The Tsar no longer had the heroic attitude of "The Tsar is fishing, Europe can wait" when he invaded Bulgaria. The 40-year-old monarch and his ministers held a meeting in St. Petersburg to deal with the British action. It was a meeting, but in the first fifteen minutes, the venue was filled with wonderful curses against Queen Elizabeth of India.
In theory, the best way for Russia was to send the Navy to attack the British Fleet to get back at them. In fact, the Russians didn't have the guts at all. They had already lost five warships, and the result of fighting would only be more losses. If they couldn't get back at the Navy, the only way to attack the British was probably on land. But if Russia wanted to attack the British on land, the only way left was to attack the British's lackey, the Osman Empire.
At this time, the British sent an invitation to the "relevant parties," including the whole of Russia, inviting these relevant countries to attend an international conference in London. They discussed the recent tense situation in Europe.
Seeing that the conference was to be held in London, Tsar Nicholas III immediately slammed the table and shouted, "If the British really want to hold this conference, then let the European countries hold the conference in St. Petersburg. I will never go to London! "
Russia refused to attend the conference as the main party involved. The news caused an uproar in Europe through the newspapers. The other forces were also in a difficult position. If Russia refused to attend the conference, then it was as if the conference had never been held. In the end, Prime Minister Bismarck, who was calm, publicly proposed to hold the conference in Berlin.
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