Chapter 1142: War Breaks Out
Chapter 1120 – Outbreak of War
As the old world hegemon, the arrogance of the British had long been nurtured over the past hundred years.
After receiving the final disc from the Vienna government, the British parliamentarians, who felt that their dignity had been provoked, were rare and efficient, and made their choice in just one afternoon.
After the parliament reached an agreement, on the evening of December 26, 1904, Edward VII issued a universal mobilization order for war, and at the same time formally declared war on the Holy Roman Empire.
There may have been an element of gambling in the preemptive declaration of war! But more still because of political needs, although the means is a bit low-level, but as long as it is effective on the line.
Arrogant Britons do not fear this war, does not mean that the gang of allies who follow the yell is not afraid.
In fact, if not for the British government’s clever means, even coaxing and deceiving the countries to lure on the chariot, people simply will not come together to this hilarious.
Since the end of the Continental War, the world’s armies, which originally learned from the French Army, have turned around to learn from the Shinra Army.
Whether or not they had learned the essence was left aside, but the influence of the Holy Roman Empire spread out. Especially for the immigrant countries in the Americas that knew the history of the Holy Roman Empire, the impact on their minds was even greater.
Ignorant people will be fearless, sometimes know too much, is not necessarily a good thing. At least for Britannia, it is not good for allies to know too much.
Keep in mind that in the beginning, all Britannia told everyone was that they were only going up against a Holy Roman Empire alone, and that there was nothing at all for the continental countries.
Even in order to enhance everyone’s confidence, the British government has repeatedly guaranteed that there are several European countries to participate in the anti-Holy Roman alliance together, such as: the Russian Empire, France, Portugal, Holland …… and even the German lords.
There is nothing wrong with the logic, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, the European continent cannot accommodate two land power powers. When it comes to national strategic space and continental hegemony, there is reason to believe that Russia and Austria flip-flopped.
France and Shinra are sworn enemies, and for the past few hundred years, European history has been a history of hegemony between the two countries.
Some years ago and by the god Luo came a wave of hard, new hatred and old hatred together, if the French do not want to revenge, that would be a problem.
Portugal, Holland and other countries, are Britain’s hardcore little brother, although the relationship with God Luo is also good, but we believe that John Bull’s diplomacy.
However, the plan did not change quickly, the intended allies have become enemies, the strength of the two sides of the contrast has changed.
The deeper the understanding, the more uncertain everyone’s heart is. When the little brothers are panicking, the boss must find a way to stabilize the army’s heart. Otherwise, if people’s hearts are scattered, the team can’t be led.
After his own brainstorming, Franz’s heart instantly has a bottom. I am not afraid that the British will react, but I am afraid that the British will not react.
The British Empire at its peak was unusually powerful. This kind of power is not only expressed in the comprehensive national strength, but also includes diplomacy, culture and a series of soft power.
Hard power Shen Luo had already countered, or it would not have launched a challenge. Soft power would be difficult to define, although the Vienna government did a good job in this regard, but also dare not say that it exceeded the British.
The main thing is that reality is too bullshit, sometimes even more magical than fiction, and many things can’t be measured by common sense.
In the face of an opponent who was good at playing with politics and hearts, Franz never dared to take it lightly.
As it turned out, it seemed as if he had overthought things. No matter how good the British diplomacy was, there was a limit to it.
With the big stone in his heart falling, Franz continued to write furiously, drafting the Letter to the People of the British Isles.
As for the issue of declaring war, said the 27th then the 27th, sensei no matter what also can not be led by the British rhythm.
……
Late at night, the editorial office of the Nanyang Daily remained brightly lit. Lauren Cromwell, who was the editor-in-chief, yawned and randomly got up to make herself a cup of instant coffee.
There was no way around it, there was never a day or night for news people. News editors-in-chief, in particular, worked night shifts far more often than day shifts.
News has to be effective, and in order to be able to ensure that the next morning, the newspaper is delivered to every reader who subscribes to it, it can only be printed in the middle of the night.
“It’s on! Quickly, Mr. Lauren, quickly, quickly reorganize the layout, we have to debut ……”
An excited, trembling voice drew the attention of everyone in the editing room.
“Mr. Steve, calm down a little. We all know it’s on, this time there will be no concessions at home, the British are unlikely to accept our terms, and war is inevitable.
Here’s a sample of the paper that’s just been printed, we’ve gone ahead and previewed it, I’m sure there won’t be too much discrepancy.”
Lauren was still very optimistic about the young man in front of her. It was just that Steve’s current performance made him very disappointed.
The colonies have long been at war, and today the government has issued a 24-hour war circular disk to the British, there is no possibility of de-escalation between the two sides at all.
Even counting the time, we know that the war will start tomorrow. What’s more, the Vienna government had let the wind out long before that, and it had even been published in the newspapers, only with a different statement.
After catching his breath, Steve hurriedly explained, “It’s not the same, Mr. Lauren. Just a few moments ago, the British government declared war on us, and the outbreak of total war has been brought forward.”
Upon hearing this news, the crowd’s faces immediately changed drastically. Fortunately, the news came in time and the newspaper hadn’t been sent out yet, or else there would have been a big accident.
The most important thing about doing current news was accuracy. Once the news information that was published, did not match the reality, it would be a big accident.
Not only will the reputation of the newspaper be smashed, but it may also be reported by the readers and be investigated by the News Department.
Don’t think that in the colonies can be an exception, the Holy Roman Empire’s news management act, that is common in the whole empire.
Of course, this kind of wrong time of the outbreak of war, does not constitute a crime, can only be regarded as not rigorous.
Hearing this news, not waiting for Steve to continue to finish, Lauren went up and grabbed the telegram, reading it carefully.
After a moment’s effort, Lauren asked cautiously, “Has it been verified with the country to determine that only the British declared war on the 26th, and that we have no ……”
Steve: “Don’t worry, Mr. Lauren. It was already midnight early morning when we received this telegram. Even if there is still a change of heart, it will be on the 27th.”
After taking a breather, Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. This kind of thing, there was no room for sloppiness, and any slightest oversight could bring an eternal stain to one’s career.
“Well done Steve, it’s a good thing you got here in time or we’d be in big trouble.
The editorial team reworked the text and layout and came up with a new manuscript as soon as possible. Make sure you hit the ground running this time, I have a feeling that the ensuing newspaper sales will explode.
Promotions are not guaranteed, but your bonuses that follow will definitely increase along with the increase in newspaper sales.”
It was sincere, and a little later the paper would start printing. In order to ensure that important news was not missed, it was either stop and reprint the layout or issue additional columns.
It may seem like it would be easiest to issue additional columns and sell an extra copy, but it’s not.
With the times comes competition in all walks of life, and newspapers are no exception.
With more than 30 newspapers in Sulawesi alone, it is not easy to survive.
The era of the crude way of supplying news is long over. Nowadays, it’s not just about providing news content, it’s also about good customer service.
In this context, opening a column is very delicate. Not only must there be enough news content, but there must also be a refreshing interpretation.
In a few hours, the paper will be sent out. After the printing time is taken out, there is even less time left for the editorial board.
It’s almost impossible to come up with a column that readers will buy in such a short period of time.
It’s not unheard of for the editorial staff to scrap the previous print run, reformat it, and print it again to make sure the big stories don’t get missed.
The cost of printing a newspaper these days is not low due to productivity constraints, and the loss of each reprint is a strain on the newspaper.
In this context, the news people on breaking news, that is both love and hate.
……
The headquarters of the Southern Fleet of the Holy Roman Empire, as Admiral Aleister, the commander of the fleet, received the news a little earlier than the newspaper.
Since total war has broken out, the encounter with the Royal Navy has likewise entered a new phase.
Before the outbreak of total war, we thought of seeking opportunities to sneak attack and kill the other side’s main fleet at once. Now you can’t be so picky about what you eat, but you can’t let go of the small fish and shrimp.
Sneak attack god horse, temporarily is no need to think about. The birth of the airplane has changed the mode of war.
In the case of the enemy’s defense, want to hide from the enemy’s reconnaissance aircraft, reconnaissance ships, is simply impossible.
Unless the guts are fat, dare to risk the risk of getting lost, touching the reef overnight ship, running directly to the doorstep of the people to launch a sneak attack.
Just think about it, anyway, Arest will not take the Southern Fleet to gamble on that insignificant chance of success.
Holding his baton, he pointed at the map on the wall: “This is Cam Ranh Bay, one of the best harbors in all of Asia, and also the home base of our opponent this time, the British Royal Navy’s Far East Fleet.
With the efforts of our intelligence officers, we have basically molded the general situation of Cam Ranh Bay, and we can only say that it is very unpromising.
Perhaps it is because the Imperial Air Force is so famous that the British have been scared out of their wits, and now they attach great importance to air defense.
In Cam Ranh Bay, the British deployed two air force regiments and three air defense regiments, with no details of their specific armament. There were about eighty fighter planes, at least fifty anti-aircraft guns, and a number of anti-aircraft machine guns.
This is all what can be detected on the surface, whether there is any concealment in the dark is unknown for the time being.
Although the performance of all these weapons was not good, they were still very threatening to the fighter planes that carried out low-altitude bombing.
If it was normal times, this was naturally not a problem. As long as the battle results gained were large enough, paying some losses would be worth it.
The exception to this is that the Suez Canal has been disrupted, and we are going to have a hard time getting replacements from home for at least the next six months.
The fighters we have in our hands are now losing one to the next. The carrier group has only about 300 fighters in service and in reserve.
It may seem that we have more airplanes, but the carrier fighters are dominated by bombers, and the number of real fighters is very small.
Once the battle starts, the British Air Force, stationed in the surrounding area, will also reinforce.
Whether or not it’s worth it to take valuable carrier fighters and cash in with the enemy, we must now conduct a reexamination.”
Reality is so cruel, no matter how superior the performance of the fighters in the carrier formation is, but bombers are bombers after all, when they meet specialized fighters they still have to be cool.
Coupled with the enemy’s dense anti-aircraft firepower, Cam Ranh Bay was clearly a dragon’s den. If the raid fails to turn into a strong attack, whether the carrier formation can hold out is still an unknown.
In case of heavy losses, then after a wave of flow, the carrier formation built by the Vienna government with heavy money will be ruined.
You have to know that this thing is used to deal with the enemy warships, not used to fight the air war. If you really want to fight in the air, that is the scope of business of the air force.
Chief of Staff Ebert Gubostra: “Your Excellency the Commander, the mission given to us at home is to wreak havoc and minimize the flow of supplies from the Far East to the British Isles.
Compared to the vast empire, the British Isles are too small. Once the supplies leave the outside world, the war potential is immediately greatly diminished.
In this context, it is the British who should be anxious to seek a decisive battle. As long as we block the Malacca Straits, half of the task will be accomplished.
As for how to solve the problem of the Royal Navy’s Far East Fleet, that is not a matter of a day or two. As long as we stabilize the situation, it’s just a matter of slowly seeking opportunities later.”
Conservative and stereotypical?
No, it’s rational.
War serves politics, and the first thing the Holy Roman Empire had to do to win this war was to cut off supplies to the British Isles.
As long as this strategic goal was achieved, success or failure on other local battlefields was, on the whole, unimportant.
All are in the service of this war, absolutely no goat’s intention, at most just honor the heart.
Rear Admiral Davidson: “Good point, Chief of Staff. It’s the British who are anxious for a showdown now, and if they’re slow to move, we’ll take Singapore first and lock down the Malacca Straits.
At the same time, the war to break the diplomatic ties must also be launched quickly. The colonies all over the South Seas are our greatest advantage.
Once this advantage is brought into play, it will not be so simple for the British to transport supplies from the Far East to the British Isles again.
If this situation really occurs, in order to safeguard the coastline, the British’s Far East fleet can’t even think of not coming out to fight us.”
Being passive and active was very important, not only did it mean the right to speak, but more importantly, it was the ability to influence the choice of the location of the duel.
Fighting on one’s own doorstep was always more advantageous than laboring to fight on someone else’s doorstep. With any luck, the air force could even come out and make a show of it.
……
(End of chapter)