Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 697 Worthless

The monitoring of Phoebe Lasker and Sean Nehemiah was being carried out by Umbrella, and Roark had no time to pay attention to these little minions.

The British blockade of the Strait of Malacca did not stop the Dutch. Sumatra is an island, and the Strait of Malacca was impassable. The Far East Fleet simply circled around Sumatra, trying to bypass the Strait of Malacca and blockade the port of Medan.

On June 25th, the Far East Fleet arrived at the sea off Medan Port, and fired at the Medan Port fort.

The latest flagship of the Far East Fleet is more than 15 years old, and the artillery is also from the last century. It cannot compete with the new artillery just installed on the Medan Fort. The artillery battle lasted for three hours. An offshore gunboat of the Far East Fleet was shot. Sinking, one armored cruiser was damaged.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Port of Medan dispatched torpedo bombers to attack the Far East Fleet and sank the stranded Far East Fleet "Nickels".

Although the torpedo bomber was not the protagonist of the battle, the Lion City, which was just across the sea, still noticed the role of the torpedo bomber, so Viscount Gladstone came to Nyasaland again.

"The sinking of the Nichols was not caused by the bombers. The bombs dropped by the bombers did not hit the Nichols at all. It was the gunpowder piled up on the deck of the Nichols that was ignited when the fighter jets fired with machine guns. That's why the Nichols sank." Rock didn't lie, the hit rate of the bombers is really touching now.

In the era when there were no bomb sights, the bombs dropped by aircraft could only rely on experience, or mainly rely on ignorance.

The last time the Air Force of Medan launched an air strike on Xianda, it was because Xianda occupied a relatively large area, and it was still unbiased. It was very difficult to launch an attack on a warship at sea, even if it was stranded. , a warship more than ten meters wide and more than one hundred meters long will not work, and the "Albatross" does not yet have this ability.

Including torpedoes, the hit rate of torpedoes at this time is actually very impressive. They can't hit accurately, can't run far, lose power inexplicably, and sometimes they won't explode even if they hit the target. Many weapons performed very well in the test field. But in actual combat, there are many problems.

This is why Rock would rather take the risk of leaking the secrets in advance and send the "Albatross" to East India. Although there are planes from southern Africa in North Africa, there is only a simplified version of "Strong Wind" and no "Albatross". The military observers sent by southern Africa to Italy and the Ottoman Empire were all screened by Italy and the Ottoman Empire after all. The reference value is actually not much. It is still necessary to have enough first-hand information to continue the "albatross". Improve.

"At least this method can pose a threat to warships now. You also hope that the albatross can become the nemesis of dreadnought ships. Therefore, the Southern African Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of War can jointly improve the albatross." Viscount Gladstone It is also hungry, as long as it can target the German fleet, Viscount Gladstone is willing to try.

"Don't have too much hope for the Albatross. Although the Nichols is an armored cruiser, it is still made of wood in essence. The Dutch refused to build a new ship to save money, so they used the iron cladding of the previous battleship as an armored cruiser. This is not news, only dreadnoughts can sink dreadnoughts." Roque is telling the truth, at least now the whole world believes that only dreadnoughts can sink dreadnoughts.

This is also the reason why the European powers have to build dreadnoughts. As a super battleship that was born out of nowhere, the dreadnought swept all the previous warships into the pile of old papers, with thicker armor, stronger firepower, and greater survivability. We all know that dreadnoughts are expensive, but this only shortcoming cannot stop European powers from pursuing dreadnoughts.

Just like the "Star Wars Project" proposed by another space-time United States, although the old man knew that the "Star Wars Project" was unreliable, he still had to fight because there was no choice at all.

"Locke, measure the cost between the dreadnought and the albatross. Even if a hundred albatross are exchanged for a German dreadnought, we are still the winner." Viscount Gladstone insisted that the battleship was not completely destroyed. Shen Cai loses its function. A warship that is operating in a high-speed circuit in the ocean only needs to lose its power, or lose part of it, and it may lose its value.

The role of torpedoes at this time is extremely important. The biggest role of destroyers in decisive battles is to launch torpedoes near the battleships at high speed to attack the enemy's capital ships.

There is no need to compare it with dreadnoughts. Even compared with destroyers, torpedo bombers are undoubtedly a more economical choice.

"My lord, you haven't considered the value of a pilot. A qualified pilot is worth far more than a torpedo bomber." Rock is still habitually emphasizing humanity. There has always been a saying in the aviation industry in the 21st century that a qualified pilot must cultivate The cost is equivalent to the same weight of gold.

But that was the 21st century. At the beginning of the [-]th century, the value of pilots was not so important, and even pilots were just consumables.

At least in the eyes of Viscount Gladstone.

So Viscount Gladstone is very reckless about human life: "Locke, the value of individuals in war is insignificant, even including us, if we are victors, then we will shine brilliantly. If we are unfortunately defeated, Locke, I don't know What will happen to you, but I will definitely die a glorious battle before I am defeated!"

It's really a disregard for human life, and you don't even care about your own life.

In other words, Viscount Gladstone and Rock care about different things.

"My lord, I don't doubt your loyalty and determination to the British Empire. I believe you know that when necessary, I can give my everything, even my life, without hesitation, but before that, I will definitely Trying everything to defeat my enemies, the albatross has a future, but not good enough, I don't want to let the Germans know more, Lord, if you can promise, I will send the albatross back to the mainland, the Germans will not If you get any news, then you can take the albatross away." Rock will also be sensational, but blindly sensationalism cannot solve the problem.

The current situation in Germany and the United Kingdom is that I have you in me and you have me in you. Even the British king and the German emperor are relatives. The relationship between the two countries is actually very complicated.

There must be German spies in London now, and there must be British spies in Berlin. Even Viscount Gladstone can’t guarantee to what extent Germany has penetrated the British government, so this problem is very realistic, at least now the British navy is When facing the German navy, it has an absolute advantage. Even without the albatross, the British navy can defeat the German navy.

Then the question arises, if the Germans also know the role of torpedo bombers, does the British government pay more attention to torpedo bombers, or does the Germans pay more attention to torpedo bombers?

This question does not need an answer, and there is no answer, but everyone has a balance in their hearts.

So for the first time, Viscount Gladstone was extremely entangled.

Rock didn't speak, waiting for Viscount Gladstone to make a decision.

"Lock, if the Ministry of War sends someone to southern Africa, are you willing to release all the information?" Viscount Gladstone took the next best thing and no longer insisted that Rock hand over the technology.

"Are you doubting me?" Rock's face was gloomy.

"No no no, Locke, I never doubted you, but in terms of the country's destiny, no matter how cautious you are, you can't be too cautious." Viscount Gladstone emphasized, just kidding, Viscount Gladstone is a viscount, and Rock is also a viscount. In terms of contribution to the British Empire, no one is much better than anyone else.

Moreover, Roque is still the first generation of military nobles, and the title of Viscount Gladstone is hereditary, so if you really want to talk about contributions, Roque is simply the Viscount Gladstone.

"Yes, if the Ministry of War sends people to southern Africa, I am willing to open up all the information - but one thing, the Nyasaland Aviation Group has invested heavily in the albatross, and they cannot get nothing, so the Ministry of War must report to the Nyasaland Aviation Group Make compensation." Rock made a condition, but not mentioning conditions at this time would be a shame for Rock's nickname of "death for money".

It was after Port Elizabeth began to sell oil to the British mainland that Rock gained the nickname of "Death for Money".

"How much do you want?" Viscount Gladstone said bluntly. Although Nyasaland Aviation Group has many nominal shareholders, Viscount Gladstone knows very well that those shareholders of Nyasaland Aviation Group are actually Rock Smoke bombs thrown.

Regarding this equity, it is difficult to say clearly in one or two sentences. There are six nominal shareholders of Nyasaland Aviation Group, namely Rand Bank, Nyasaland Agricultural Company, Umbrella Company, Adan Company, Nyasaland State Government, and the Southern African Ministry of Defense.

Both the Nyasaland State Government and the Southern African Ministry of Defense are shareholders who only receive dividends and have no decision-making power.

The shares of Rand Bank and Nyasaland Agricultural Company are about the same, about 20.00%. The shareholding status of these two companies is more complicated. The equity status is unknown, because one of the two companies is registered in Johannesburg and the other is the Aldan Islands. Even the Southern African Federal Government does not know the equity status of these two companies.

But one thing is for sure, the many companies mentioned above, as well as the government of Nyasaland State and the Ministry of Defense of Southern Africa, are all inextricably linked to Roque. Although it is inappropriate to ask directly, Viscount Gladstone Still very direct.

"As of now, the Nyasaland Aviation Group has invested a total of 500 million pounds in the Albatross." Rock is full of confidence. This figure is not fabricated, and it is well documented.

"500 million! Locke, how much is Nyasaland Aviation Group worth now?" Viscount Gladstone was speechless. The principal of the largest private bank in the UK, "Bahrain Bank", was only 290 million pounds a decade ago. Is the pound so worthless? ! ! !

(End of this chapter)