Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2068

Time flies, those generals who participated in the last world war are old.

The oldest member of the Southern African Navy is Jackson Marshall, commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, who is 55 years old this year.

Lieutenant Admiral Mike Tolland participated in the Battle of Jutland with the Southern African Navy during World War I.

After the war, Lieutenant General Mike Tolan served in the Indian Ocean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet successively. He went from the captain of the destroyer to the commander of the Cyprus Squadron. After General Jackie Marshall retired, Lieutenant General Mike Tolan was the Indian Ocean fleet One of Commander's top contenders.

The pressure of the Cyprus Squadron in the Mediterranean mainly came from Italy and France, and Mike Tolan was naturally unhappy with Darlan.

As long as France has a little ambition, the Italians will not be so arrogant.

"General Tolland, you're quarreling, don't get me involved." Dudley Pound was also angry.

With the launch of the arms race around the Mediterranean, the pressure on the Mediterranean Fleet is also increasing.

During the "Madagascar" visit to the Portsmouth Naval Base, the impact of the Royal Navy's poor performance has not yet completely subsided. One admiral has been forced to retire, two vice admirals have been demoted, and the high-level personnel of the local fleet have been greatly reduced. Changes, the Royal Navy's shipbuilding plan for the next two years will even be affected.

Although the Royal Navy is to blame for all this, it has nothing to do with the Southern African Navy.

Who made the Southern African Navy perform so well.

If there is no southern Africa, then the Royal Navy is still passable. Although it has lost its status as the maritime hegemony, it is still one of the naval powers.

Compared with the southern African navy, the Royal Navy suddenly became unprofessional, some deep-rooted ills were infinitely magnified, and the so-called naval tradition looked more and more stupid.

Centennial Navy?

Ha ha, just deceiving yourself and others.

"It's okay, if you don't agree, then you don't have to participate." Mike Tolan was not angry, he had expected the lack of cooperation between the Royal Navy and the French Navy.

The friendship between Britain and France depends on Germany.

These two are like two hedgehogs in winter, they have to lean together to keep warm, but also keep a certain distance to avoid being stabbed by each other.

The French knew very well that to fight against Germany, they had to rely on the help of Britain.

So even if the British implement the policy of appeasement, the French dare not really turn against the British.

The British also know very well that once Germany loses control, it will hit France first and Britain second.

Therefore, even if the British support Germany, they must try their best to maintain relations with France.

In this case, the British government and the French government can be close to each other.

The same applies to the navies of the two countries.

It doesn't matter here in Southern Africa.

Even without the participation of Britain and France, the Cyprus Squadron holds exercises every year.

After the joint exercise with the British and French navies this year, the Cyprus Squadron will also participate in the joint exercise of the Indian Ocean Fleet, the Persian Gulf Squadron, and the Changi Squadron. This is the highlight.

Under Mike Tolan's insistence, the exercise was held as scheduled, and "evacuation" became not only one of the items of the exercise, but also the most important item, which was held on the first day of the exercise.

On the first day of the exercise, the main force of the Mediterranean Fleet and the Cyprus Squadron came out in full force, and all six warships sent by the French Navy to participate in the exercise also participated.

The background of the exercise is that Cyprus was attacked by the enemy and had to be evacuated to Marlborough across the sea. In order to make the exercise more realistic, some residents of East Cape will also participate.

When seeing this background setting, Darlan almost twisted his nose in anger.

Although Stoudemire has always been very dissatisfied with Cyprus' military power, in fact Cyprus' military power is still quite strong.

The Cyprus Squadron consists of 33 warships. The flagship is the heavy cruiser "Richmond". ship and the seventh ship.

In addition to the two heavy cruisers, the Cyprus squadron also has 6 light cruisers, 9 destroyers, a supply ship, two transport ships, and a submarine force composed of 13 submarines.

With so many warships, apart from having no battleships, their strength is no less than that of the Mediterranean Fleet.

If you add the land-based aviation deployed in Cyprus, then the strength of Cyprus firmly exceeds that of the Mediterranean Fleet.

What's more, the peacekeeping force of the League of Nations stationed in the Dardanelles is also dominated by southern African troops. Once a war breaks out, the peacekeeping force of the League of Nations will almost certainly accept the transfer of the Cyprus squadron.

With such a powerful strength, when facing an invasion, the first thing to do is not to fight back, but to prepare to escape.

It was obvious that the plan was not for Cyprus at all, but for Saint Roque.

Regardless of what Darlan thought, Mike Tolan ordered all the ships in Cyprus to be ready three days in advance according to the plan formulated by the staff department, waiting for the military to transfer at any time.

Although the Cyprus Squadron has two transport ships, other warships and supply ships can also temporarily act as transport ships, but it is far from enough compared to the 40 residents of East Cape.

It was at this time that Darlan and Pound realized that the strength of Cyprus had reached this level.

In today's Europe, a city with a population of 40 people is already a standard big city, and a city with a population of more than one million can be regarded as a giant city.

When Arthur was named the Baron of Cyprus, the combined population of the entire island of Cyprus was less than 5.

In just 20 years, Cyprus now has a population of more than 100 million.

The French government should be very envious of this population growth rate.

The key point is that the increased population of Cyprus did not come from the colonies, but new immigrants attracted from Europe.

Since Roque served as the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and placed his headquarters in Cyprus, Cyprus has gradually become the best place for Europeans to escape the war.

At that time, the logistics base and medical center of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force were in Cyprus.

So far, the level of medical care in Cyprus is still the best in Europe.

After Cyprus became Arthur's fiefdom, the Federal Government of Southern Africa tried to build Cyprus into a bridgehead of Southern Africa in the Mediterranean region, putting a lot of effort into it.

In today's Cyprus, the Ring Road, the Ring Railway, and the two cities of East and West Cape, one east and one west, have become a transit point for Cyprus to connect with Europe and Port Elizabeth.

The oil exported from Port Elizabeth to Europe is transited through East Cape.

No matter what city, as long as it is involved with oil, there will be endless wealth.

Cyprus itself is also in good condition. After establishing a complete infrastructure, Cyprus has become a tourist destination for Europeans.

Especially in the context of the rising arms race in Europe, immigrants are pouring in like overwhelming.

Applying to immigrate to France does not require any conditions.

To apply to immigrate to Cyprus, in addition to having certain economic capabilities, you must also accept the background review of the Cyprus government.

Many newcomers to Cyprus are from France.

This made Darlan even more uncomfortable.

Pound's focus is different from Darlan's.

In a city with a population of 40, even if only one-tenth of the population participates in the exercise, the cooperation of all ships in Cyprus is required.

This is almost impossible in the UK.

Don't look at the various propaganda of the British government during the Dunkirk retreat.

That's the same as when the Titanic sank, all kinds of humanitarian flashes, most of them are gimmicks.

Cyprus is different.

After Mike Tolan's order, Pound was surprised to find that all the ships in Cyprus, including the yachts of the rich, the fishing boats of the poor, the passenger ships of the shipping company, and even some ship owners came from Marlborough to cooperate with the Cyprus squadron action.

For three full days, East Cape did not leave port except for tankers.

All ships are on standby at berth, awaiting the dispatch of the Cyprus Squadron.

Some boat owners even live directly on board.

This kind of order and prohibition situation is not surprising to people, it is simply fear.

This is only Cyprus.

What if the entire southern Africa is banned like Cyprus?

Pound also participated in the World Wars.

In 1916, as the captain of the battleship "Giant", Pound led the "Giant" to sink two German cruisers and repel the sneak attack of two German destroyers in the Battle of Jutland.

In addition, through skilled command, Pound dodged 5 torpedoes fired at the "Giant".

Now Pound finally understands why the Southern African Expeditionary Force performed so well in the World War.

On the day the exercise started, something even more incomprehensible to Pound happened.

Residents of East Cape who participated in the exercise came to the port area to assemble in full accordance with the guidance of the sailors of the Cyprus Squadron, without any accidents.

In a large scene with tens of thousands of people, it is normal for accidents to happen. Crowding, stampede, conflicts, and violent crimes are all possible.

All of this does not exist in East Cape. The school in East Cape even organized students to participate collectively, treating the "evacuation" exercise as a spring outing.

This finally made Pound feel a little comfort.

That's right, it's just an exercise. There are no enemy planes in the sky, no enemy tanks on the ground, and the sound of guns getting closer and closer can't be heard. It's normal and orderly.

As for the ships that cooperate with the exercise.

Pound just learned that every ship that received an order to cooperate with the exercise was subsidized by the Cyprus government.

That's right, how can there be such obedient citizens.

Of course, when Pound knew how much Cyprus subsidized the shipowner, Pound still couldn't help scolding the rich man.

The subsidy of the Cyprus government is based on the tonnage of the ship as a reference standard. The larger the tonnage, the more subsidies will be given.

Therefore, if the ship owner does not ship, not only will he not lose money, but he will make money.

No wonder the ship owners will cooperate unconditionally.

(End of this chapter)