I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 742: Feudal Remnants
Compared with another time and space, Russia's biggest advantage is its relaxed external environment.

In another time and space, after the end of World War I, Red Russia was excluded from the international community. Not only did it not participate in the Paris Peace Conference, but it also failed to join the League of Nations. Moreover, due to the crazy interference of foreign forces, it successively lost Finland, the three Baltic countries, Warsaw and other places.

Russia now not only has access to the Black Sea, but has also broken the blockade of the Baltic Sea. Through free trade organizations, it has tightly gathered a large group of younger brothers around Russia. Even Britain, France and Italy have to rely on Russian resources for reconstruction.

With the completion of a large number of key projects represented by the Bosphorus Bridge, Russia's domestic construction level has reached a new level.

George built a road network across Russia, connecting all Russian cities.

The level of urban infrastructure was also successfully transformed and upgraded through reconstruction. Constantinople and St. Petersburg, as well as Moscow, Warsaw and other cities that were severely damaged in the war took advantage of the opportunity and completed a gorgeous turnaround in just a few years.

Due to its geographical location, Constantinople has become one of the most important transportation hubs in Russia.

Compared with Constantinople under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the current Constantinople has a more reasonable layout, wider streets, and all roads have been hardened, which has strongly promoted the modernization of Constantinople.

Constantinople was the second city in Russia to install street lights on every street.

The first one is Vladivostok.

Constantinople is also the second city in Russia with the largest number of cars.

The first one is still Vladivostok.

Constantinople is also the second largest port in Russia.

Soon it will be number one.

In early May, George went to Crimea to inspect the new capital of Alexandria which was under construction.

Although Vladivostok and Constantinople have received much praise, Alexandria is the first truly modern city in Russia.

Alexandria is located in southern Crimea, about 40 kilometers from Sevastopol, the home port of the Black Sea Fleet. Most of the construction in the city has been completed, and Russia will officially move most of its government agencies from Constantinople to here early next year.

克里米亚1月的平均气温4度，7月24度，年降水量300-500毫米，一直是俄罗斯最著名的旅游胜地。

Alexandria has beautiful scenery and convenient transportation. It not only has complete urban infrastructure, but also has fascinating hot springs and a large number of palaces built in the Tsarist era.

George inspected schools, hospitals, shopping malls, parks, libraries, theaters and other facilities, with a focus on underground parking lots.

There is an underground parking lot under every residential building in Alexandria. The largest underground parking lot has three floors and can accommodate 3 cars.

When George first made this request, he was questioned by many people. Witt even claimed that only 10 parking lots would be enough to accommodate all the cars in the entire city of Alexandria.

When Alexander began construction, there were fewer than 1.5 cars in Constantinople.

In just two years, there were more than 5 cars in Constantinople.

This does not include the large number of bicycles and motorcycles.

With economic development, cars have gradually entered ordinary households. Russia produced more than 500 million cars last year alone.

This year, with the commissioning of automobile factories in St. Petersburg and Constantinople, Russia's annual automobile production will exceed 800 million.

From this perspective, in ten years at most, Russia will also become a country on wheels.

While George was inspecting Alexandria, Lloyd George was forced to resign under pressure from both home and abroad.

The person who succeeded Lloyd George in forming a cabinet was Andrew Bonar Law, the Lord Chancellor, the Conservative Party leader of the House of Commons and the Lord Chancellor of the House of Commons.

Like Lloyd George, who was appointed to office during the war, Bonar Law also took over a mess.

In 1922, Britain had not yet escaped the impact of the economic crisis. The economy continued to be sluggish, prices soared, people complained, and the country was facing internal and external troubles.

The first problem Bonar Law faced was forming a cabinet.

Before becoming prime minister, Bonar Law retired from politics due to health reasons and stayed at home unemployed. Even members of the Conservative Party doubted whether Bonar Law could fulfill his duties as prime minister.

The cabinet led by Lloyd George was a wartime cabinet formed by the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and the Labour Party.

Not only was Bonar Law opposed by the Liberal Party and the Labour Party, but even ministers from the Conservative Party did not support Bonar Law becoming prime minister and resisted the new cabinet led by Bonar Law.

There is nothing new under the sun, and the same is true in the UK. There are plenty of people willing to do the job of minister.

Bonar Law quickly formed a new cabinet of 11 people and successfully performed his duties.

When he first became prime minister, Bonar Law was full of confidence and vowed to lead Britain out of the economic crisis and return to the top of the world.

Reality soon hit Bonar Law hard.

During the Liberal Party's rule, Bonar Law was the most vocal Conservative MP.

Whether Asquith or Lloyd George was prime minister, Bonar Law was like an angry young man, opposing everything the prime minister did.

Bonar Law not only opposed the Prime Minister, but also attacked Churchill, who was the First Lord of the Admiralty, for being a complete layman who knew nothing about the navy.

After Churchill left office, Bonar Law became Colonial Secretary. Bonar Law also slandered Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, as an unrealistic lunatic. As a result, after Kitchener's death, Bonar Law, who had never served in the army, succeeded Kitchener as British Secretary of State for War.

Now you know why the British Army performed so poorly in the World War.

Because the British Secretary of State for War, like the Secretary of State for the Admiralty, is a layman and knows nothing about the Army.

After Lloyd George became Prime Minister, he appointed Bonar Law as Chancellor of the Exchequer. The two were once the closest political partners.

However, the good times did not last long, as the most fatal stab in the back for Lloyd George came from Bonar Law.

After successfully taking up his post, Bonar Law will put repayment of US loans on the agenda.

During Lloyd George's tenure as Prime Minister, Britain used the excuse that Germany had not paid reparations to not only pay very little interest, but also tried to default on US loans.

Bonar Law asked Chancellor of the Exchequer Stanley Baldwin to draw up a repayment plan that would increase the interest paid by the UK government from £3400 million a year to £4000 million.

Naturally, this plan was opposed by the British Parliament.

The person who had the strongest opposition was none other than former Prime Minister Lloyd George, who had just resigned.

This big drama in the UK will continue to unfold.

Like the US loan, the blockage of the Suez Canal has reached a point where it must be resolved.

From March to May, there was still no sign of a solution to the canal blockage, and the countries around the Mediterranean became increasingly opposed to Britain. The new British ambassador to the League of Nations only attended one plenary meeting of the League of Nations before he was scolded by Nicholas the Younger and left.

Although the countries surrounding the Mediterranean have deep resentment, they are unable to shake Britain, so Britain can ignore it.

What caught Bonar Law off guard was that even the United States urged Britain to resolve the problem as soon as possible, otherwise the United States would strike against Britain.

Not a military strike, but a sell-off of the pound.

During the world war, Britain's abolition of the gold standard had already dealt a serious blow to the credibility of the pound.

If the United States sells the pound, its international currency status will be in jeopardy.

Bonar Law had to face up to the fact that the Suez was still stranded in the canal.

The crux of the Suez is that the Canal Company wants to confiscate the oil loaded on the Suez to compensate for the losses.

For its own interests, the Dolgorukov Shipping Company, to which the Suez belonged, sent mercenaries to station next to the Suez and did not allow anyone to approach.

Bonar Law contacted Witt, who was visiting Australia, hoping that Witt would come forward and ask Dolgorukov Shipping Company to make concessions on its own initiative.

Witt's reply to Bonar Law was extremely perfunctory.

If the Dolgorukov Shipping Company could have made concessions, it would have done so when Lloyd George was Prime Minister. So is it still your turn to solve the problem?
Bonar Law was outraged and ordered the British troops stationed in the canal zone to expel the shipping company's mercenaries.

Before the British troops were dispatched, the Russian Mediterranean Fleet announced that it would hold military exercises in the eastern Mediterranean.

Bonar Law's heart instantly rose to his throat.

I hope the Russians won’t be angry again!
Young Nicholas made a statement in the League of Nations that if anyone dared to harm the interests of Russian companies overseas, Russia would fight to the end.

Peter, who had returned to Russia after the Washington Naval Conference, also said that the Russian Navy is not afraid of any challenge!
It was obvious that these words were meant for the Mediterranean Fleet.

The Mediterranean Sea is very large, covering 251 million square kilometers, and is the most important transportation hub in Europe.

The Mediterranean Sea is also very small and cannot accommodate two Mediterranean fleets.

Russian army generals, led by Duke Vasily of Suvorov, also spoke intensively, saying that if the navy could not defeat the feudal remnants, the Russian army would avenge the navy.

Bonar Law never imagined that he, the British Prime Minister, would one day be pointed at and scolded as a "feudal remnant".

It makes sense if you think about it carefully.

After the fall of the four great empires, the British Empire was the only one left in Europe.

The others that still have monarchies are kingdoms and are not worth mentioning.

Bonar Law was helpless and hoped that the canal company would make concessions on its own initiative.

This time Bonar Law was scolded even more harshly.

If the canal company is willing to make concessions, does it need your mediation?
Things changed. After resigning and returning to the House of Lords, Churchill finally found an opportunity to denounce Bonar Law as a traitor to the British Empire.

The interests of Russian companies have been damaged, and military and political officials have been saying that anyone who dares to touch Russian companies will be destroyed by the Russian army.

As the British Prime Minister, instead of safeguarding the overseas interests of British companies, you force British companies to make concessions to foreign companies. Whose side are you on, Andrew Bonar Law?
Bonar Law was in tears and finally realized how difficult it was to be prime minister.

Lloyd George was very happy: You old man, so it comes to pass!
(End of this chapter)