I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 569: The Kings Also Open

The experience in East India is not applicable to St. Petersburg. The situations in the two places are completely different. If Witte applies it mechanically, he will not be able to do it for long.

Considering the complicated situation in the next few years, George appointed De Young as the highest administrator of East India.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Dejan was ordered to appease the people of Kanto, and he completed the task very well. After the war, Dejan was ordered to rebuild the Darini and Arthur Fortresses, and coordinate the relationship between the Qing Empire and Amur, and safeguard Amur's interests in the Kanto region.

After the fall of the Qing Empire, a large number of Qing people poured into Guandong. In just two years, the population increased nearly tenfold, but there was no large-scale unrest in the Guandong region. Deyang made an indelible contribution to this.

George also gave DeYoung a mission. Once the war broke out, East India had to seize Germany's colonies in the Pacific before Britain.

Germany's colonies in the Pacific mainly consisted of Kaiser Wilhelm Territory and the Bismarck Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, the Caroline Islands, the Marshall Islands, and other islands.

These islands are relatively scattered and although there are many of them, they are not strong. With the strength of East India, it is entirely possible to take all of these islands before Britain.

There were not many regular troops in the East Indies, but the militia was strong. Most of the Cossacks who immigrated to the East Indies were retired veterans. Many of them had participated in the Russo-Japanese War and were not unfamiliar with military affairs.

"If we want to seize the island, I need the cooperation of the Pacific Fleet."

DeYoung was very cautious. In order to rebuild the Mediterranean Fleet, George almost emptied the Pacific Fleet. Now the Pacific Fleet did not even have a battleship. Its strength was not only weaker than that of the British Asiatic Fleet, but even weaker than that of the German Asiatic Fleet.

Germany still attached great importance to its Asian colonies, and the flagship of its Asian fleet was the battleship "Von der Tann", which entered service in 1910.

“冯·德·坦恩”是德国为对抗英国无敌级战列巡洋舰于1907年开始建造的，排水量1.9万吨，主炮为4座45倍径283毫米双联装舰炮。

If "Romanov" and "Yuriev" were still there, the Pacific Fleet would be strong enough to crush the German Asian Fleet.

The largest warship in the Pacific Fleet is the "Peter the Great" aircraft carrier, which entered service only two years ago.

The "Peter the Great" has a displacement of only 9800 tons and can carry 16 fighter jets. Unlike previous seaplane carriers, the "Peter the Great" carries real fighter jets.

Aircraft carriers have great potential, but have not been tested in war. Although the Black Sea Fleet's naval aviation successfully sank the Ottoman Empire's battleships in the Balkan War, the Black Sea Fleet's bombers took off from land bases, and countries still have doubts about the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers.

The flight deck of the Peter the Great was only 120 meters long and could not take off or land bombers.

"No problem, I will let Kerzakov fully cooperate with you."

George's strategy in Asia is completely different from that in Europe.

Europe's strategy is already very clear. As long as the German-Austrian alliance does not take the initiative to attack the Russian Empire, George will never take the initiative to attack Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In fact, Germany had only a few warships in Asia, and all its garrisons totaled less than 5000 people. With the strength of the Russian Empire in East Asia, it was possible to take away all of Germany's colonies in Asia.

This was the last chance to divide up the Asian colonies, and George could not miss it.

Kerzakov also has problems.

After Rakitsky became commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, Kerzakov succeeded Rakitsky as commander of the Pacific Fleet.

Kozakov also has doubts about the combat effectiveness of aircraft carriers. Apart from aircraft carriers, the largest warships in the Pacific Fleet are now heavy cruisers, and there are only three of them left. Kozakov hopes that the Pacific Fleet will continue to build large warships.

Even if there are no all-heavy artillery battleships, battlecruisers will do.

The Pacific Fleet's heavy cruisers are almost the same as the German battlecruisers in all other aspects except for their slightly weaker defense, and can still win in a three-on-one situation.

The home port of the German Asiatic Fleet is not far from Fort Arthur and Nagasaki. Not only can the submarines of the Pacific Fleet block the gate, but bombers taking off from land bases can also attack the German Asiatic Fleet.

George had good reasons for not building battleships.

The Russian Empire already had 11 all-heavy artillery battleships, enough to safeguard the Russian Empire's overseas interests.

After the "Queen Maria" class battleships are completed, George will transfer the "Yuriev" and "Romanov" back, and the Pacific Fleet will still be the first fleet in the Far East.

If St. Petersburg fell, it would be even simpler. George would immediately pull the warships of the Baltic Fleet to the Mediterranean and never give the Mensheviks the opportunity to bombard the Winter Palace.

Although we don’t build battleships, we can still build aircraft carriers.

Aircraft carriers these days are very simple and do not have much technical content. The flight decks of aircraft carriers are all made of wood, and the material requirements are very low.

Technicians in Vladivostok are developing a new aircraft carrier based on the "Peter the Great", striving to increase the number of carrier-based aircraft on the aircraft carrier from 16 to 60.

While George was in the East Indies, tensions in the Balkans once again grew.

Last year, due to the uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia intensified. Fortunately, the parties mediated in time and no war broke out. After that, the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to expand its army again, increasing the total force from 65 to 70.

Just after the New Year, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not wait to ask the Kingdom of Serbia to stop its aid to Bosnia and Herzegovina under the supervision of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Supervision meant that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would send military observers to the Kingdom of Serbia.

This is certainly unacceptable to the Kingdom of Serbia.

In response to the threat from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Balkan League held its first plenary session in 1914 in Adrianople, the new capital of Bulgaria.

The main purpose of this conference was to absorb Albania into the Balkan League.

After more than a year of construction, Adrianople has begun to take shape. Before the end of last year, the Kingdom of Bulgaria began to relocate some government departments from Sofia to Adrianople, and the capital relocation work officially began.

Compared with Sofia, Adrianople is a completely modern city with complete infrastructure and convenient transportation. The railway from Constantinople to Sofia and the railway from Varna to Kavala just meet in Adrianople. Therefore, the Ekaterinary Railway Station in Adrianople has become the largest and most advanced railway station in the Balkan Peninsula.

This train station was a gift from Catherine to her eldest grandson.

Unlike most train stations nowadays, Yekaterinburg Railway Station has implemented passenger diversion. Passengers arriving at the station reach the platform via the overpass, while passengers leaving the station leave through the underground passage. There is a bus stop in the square in front of the station, which passes through every corner of the city. If passengers are in a hurry, they can also take a taxi.

Even though cars have been around for a long time, most taxis and buses in European cities are horse-drawn carriages.

Taxis and buses in Adrianople are cars, and horse-drawn carriages are not even allowed into the city to avoid causing traffic congestion.

Looking at the 120-meter-wide main traffic artery in the city center, the kings and prime ministers from the Balkan countries were puzzled.

Such a wide road and still worried about traffic jams——

Is the Kingdom of Bulgaria going to drive its battleships onto Yuriev Boulevard?

You, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, don’t have any battleships at all!

"The number of cars in Adrianople has exceeded 1000, and I believe it will soon exceed 10000."

August is full of confidence that Adrianople's cars have begun to enter ordinary households.

The concept of private cars was not yet popular, and many wealthy families used horse-drawn carriages and were concerned about the reliability of cars.

Horse-drawn carriages are not only inefficient and slow, but also cause environmental pollution. If horse manure is not cleaned up in time, the entire city will become a cesspool.

The first people to buy cars as private vehicles were the pilots recruited by Polis.

Pilots can even fly planes, let alone cars. They are more receptive to new things and have strong hands-on skills. Even if the car has some minor problems, they can solve them by themselves.

In order to promote the popularity of cars, the Bulgarian government subsidizes cars. Car sales increase month by month and more and more jobs are provided.

"Even if there are 10 cars, there's no need for such a wide road—"

Georgi had mixed feelings. They were both kings and both came to power through a coup, but Polis had too many good resources.

The cars sold in the Kingdom of Bulgaria are imported directly from Vladivostok. They are not only cheap but also of the best quality.

This is not something that people would be jealous of, as Boris is already a shareholder of the Siberian Automobile Group.

In addition to cars, the Kingdom of Bulgaria could get the most favorable prices for all goods imported from the Russian Empire. The Russian Empire even contracted the security of the Kingdom of Bulgaria, which allowed the Kingdom of Bulgaria to focus all its energy on developing the economy.

For small countries with small populations, military expenditure has always been the heaviest burden.

Without security risks, the Kingdom of Bulgaria almost took off on the spot. Among all the Balkan countries, the current situation of the Kingdom of Bulgaria is the best.

"Who can tell what will happen in the future——"

August didn't think it was a waste. Anyway, the Bulgarian government didn't need to pay for it. Such a wide road was pleasing to the eye.

Now August could increasingly appreciate the changes that inviting Boris to be the King of Bulgaria would bring to Bulgaria.

During the Valdemar era, Bulgaria was in a state of chaos, with pro-German and pro-Russian factions fighting each other, making it impossible to focus on development.

Now all the pro-German factions in Bulgaria have been eliminated, the pro-Russian faction has gained an absolute advantage, and the domestic situation has suddenly changed.

(End of this chapter)