Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 997: The Edge of Collapse

After dismantling some of the defensive weapons, the bomb load of the four-shot bomber reached an astonishing 1.9 tons. Taking the [-] kg standard aerial bomb as an example, the bomber dispatched once, the weight of the bomb dropped was equivalent to a salvo of a heavy artillery brigade.

Taking the artillery division in southern Africa as an example, a heavy artillery brigade is equipped with 36 150mm caliber howitzers with a shell weight of 45 kg.

The mission to bomb Brussels was carried out by the 40st Bomber Wing. [-] bombers started bombing multiple targets in Brussels on the [-]st.

The German fighters took off to try to intercept the bombers, but they were hit by strong wind fighters. After three consecutive air battles, the German air force in Belgium was almost exhausted. Belgium completely opened its airspace to the bombers of the British Expeditionary Force. .

At the same time as the bombing of Brussels began, more tanks were sent to Belgium, and the British Expeditionary Force began to train more tankers in preparation for the next attack on the German army.

As expected by Roque, Robert Nivelle did not get support from Roque, so he turned to seek the support of the British government, hoping to force the British Expeditionary Force to cooperate with the French army's offensive through the British War Department.

What Robert Nivelle didn't expect was that, unlike the French government, which was full of internal friction, after Winston became prime minister, Kitchener's position was consolidated again. In order to win over the Conservative Party, Winston invited Lloyd George to be the finance minister. Minister, this position is very important in peacetime, but during war, the power of the Minister of Finance is greatly limited, and the Ministry of War does not need the approval of the Ministry of Finance to purchase supplies.

In the British government and the British War Department, Robert Niveller did not get the support he wanted. Rock's position in the British Expeditionary Force was as solid as Mount Tai. Even if Robert Niveller's English was standard, he could not win the support of Winston And Kitchener's favor.

Robert Neville's mother was English.

On January [-]th, the high-level Allied Powers held a meeting in Rome. When Winston went to Rome, he stopped by Rock's headquarters in Dunkirk.

After the British Expeditionary Force invaded Belgium, Rock moved his headquarters to Dunkirk, which was closer to the front line and closer to the English Channel.

In Dunkirk, there is also the material transfer center and field hospital of the British Expeditionary Force, and the largest field airfield is also built here. Here Rock finally used his armored command vehicle, and Winston was very envious of this.

"You are more free here, God knows what I have experienced in London, endless meetings, endless documents, sometimes I will suddenly wake up in the night, but fortunately you have constant news of victory here, I Now I understand why Asquith always looked sleep deprived before, and I am also seriously deprived of sleep now, and the quality of sleep is very poor.” Winston didn’t look in good condition, he was very thin, and his eyes were dark. The bags under the eyes are obvious, and the expression is full of exhaustion. He didn't even light his favorite cigar, but just held it in his hand.

"That's because you choose to keep yourself busy. If you want to be lazy, you can learn from President Engale—" Rock is not laughing at anyone. The national conditions are different, so we can't generalize.

Poincaré is the current president of France, which is very interesting. The French prime minister has changed like a revolving door. Since the outbreak of the World War, there have been four changes in two and a half years, but the president has always been Poincaré.

The French system of government is like this. If the president does not do things, he will not make mistakes. The specific work is done by the prime minister. As a result, the prime minister becomes a scapegoat and the president is safe and sound.

Roque's meaning is obvious. There are 23 members of the British cabinet. The prime minister, Winston, is only in charge of the general direction. No need to do everything yourself.

"If only it were that simple. I worked my ass off to become Prime Minister, not just to dawdle." Winston has pursuits, he has never been a mediocre person, since he carried a gun when he was a reporter It can be seen that although his gun caused him a lot of trouble.

If Winston hadn't been carrying a gun during the Second Boer War, then Louis Botha would have no reason to detain Winston. Journalists are not military personnel, and the Boer Republic needed journalists to help promote it.

Back at the headquarters, Roque knew the real purpose of Winston's coming to Roque.

The British government is out of money.

"Our military expenditure last year accounted for 70.00% of the gross national product, taxes can only cover a quarter of the expenditure, and we have to give military aid to the Russian Empire, France, and Italy. God bless, now I don't have to worry about Cyprus. The Kingdom of Ervi and the Kingdom of Romania, otherwise we will need to spend more money." Winston is gloomy, and as far as Roque knows, the United Kingdom needs to purchase about 1500 million pounds of supplies in southern Africa every week. So far, excluding the loan owed by the British government to the Rand Bank, the British government owes a total of 7800 million rand to the Federal Government of Southern Africa.

It should be noted that the British government borrowed money from the Rand Bank with the gold in the Rand Mine as collateral. Right to take away.

"France and Italy don't matter. You must be careful of the Russian Empire. If you fail, you will lose all your money—" Rock reminded again. Judging from the current situation, in the First World War, all countries participating in the war will lose money. , Even if it is a victorious country, it will not be able to recover the cost after the war.

In all the wars before the World War, basically the victorious countries could recover their costs after the war ended. The World War was an exception. It lasted too long, and the cost invested by the participating countries was too high. the point.

In the First World War in another time and space, Britain spent a total of 91 billion pounds, France spent 1500 billion francs, equivalent to 59 billion pounds, and Germany spent the most, spending a total of 98 billion pounds.

"I know it's possible, but we have no choice but to try our best to keep the Russian Empire going, otherwise if the million German troops on the Eastern Front are released, you know what the result will be." Winston also had no choice. Knowing that the situation in the Russian Empire is not good, but no one can do anything.

Rock nodded with lingering fear. Of course he knew what would happen if all the German troops on the Eastern Front were released.

At the beginning of 1916, the Allies had a total of 400 million troops on the Western Front, about 175 integrated infantry divisions, and the rest were all auxiliary troops.

The German army on the western front has a total of 250 million people, about 134 infantry divisions. If an additional 100 million is added, then the British Expeditionary Force may be able to withstand it in Belgium, and the French army in Verdun will definitely collapse.

This can explain why Roque must place his headquarters in the coastal area. If the situation is not good, Roque can board the ship at any time and run back to the UK.

"We are left with 8700 million worth of securities and [-] million worth of gold. You know what this means. If you can't get more loans, the British government will go bankrupt in the next few weeks." Winston said Looking for Rock is still for money.

"Go to the Rand Bank—" Rock didn't want to talk about money with Winston, hurting his feelings.

"I found it. All the mortgages that can be mortgaged have been mortgaged. In order to find your Rand Bank loan, Prime Minister Asquith even used the tax revenue of the British Empire as collateral. What else can you see? You are welcome !" Winston was very dissatisfied, looking at Rock with contempt.

What the heck, Feng Shui turns around, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China——

Can't say, can't say, let's talk about Britain.

"Winston, I'm a soldier—" Rock said sincerely.

"Pretend! You keep pretending to me, dare you say you have nothing to do with Rand Bank? Do you dare say you have nothing to do with that Ida? You seem to have forgotten which bar you put me in at the beginning—" Wen Stone's memory is so good that Rock himself forgot.

Even though it was Winston's reminder, Rock still thought for a long time before he remembered that it was the first time that Rock met Winston. Winston was drunk in Ade's manor, and Rock and Henry took Wen Stone settled in Ada's Table Mountain bar.

"Okay, okay, how much do you want?" Rock was helpless, and the gentle Winston could swear, which showed how angry Winston was.

"6000 million, every month!" Winston Lion said loudly. The British government needs to purchase supplies worth 1500 million pounds in southern Africa every week. In other words, the British government will have to pay on credit in the future.

Nima, is it too late for Rock to order a sign saying "Small profits, no debts" to hang on the gate of Ade's mansion?

It is estimated that it is too late.

"6000 million, and every month—" every time Rock said, Winston nodded, looking at Rock with hope in his eyes.

Rock didn't tease Winston for too long: "How much money do you think Rand Bank has? Why do you want to evacuate Rand Bank!"

Evacuating the Rand Bank is estimated to be a few hundred million.

"Whatever you think, we're all on the same boat now, and if the boat sinks, you won't make any money!" Winston was just as ready to play tricks as a rogue.

"Winston, it's not like you—" Rock said.

"Stop talking nonsense. Is southern Africa an overseas territory of the British Empire? Will you, Earl of Nyasaland, still serve the king? Do you still want Southwest Africa and Tanganyika?" Winston's soul repeated.

of course!

of course!

Of course I do!

"Plus the Mesopotamia—" Roque asked the price. If he didn't pay a heavy price at this time, Roque would not be Roque.

"Okay, you can do whatever you want, as long as you're not afraid of dying!" Winston didn't bargain, and Roque would give whatever he wanted. The British government was already on the verge of collapse, so Winston didn't care about the final ownership of the Mesopotamia.

The left and right are nothing but land, which is really not rare for the British Empire.

(End of this chapter)