Australian Storm 1876

   Chapter 1026 Island to Ship

  Ting discussed for a while

  The ministers have reached a consensus that Foreign Minister Li Sixian will lead the negotiations with the Allied countries to reach a deal on a package of matters such as labor, ship leasing, the import of weapons including aircraft and tanks, and immigration arrangements (escaped European women and children).

  Congress will introduce the Lend-Lease Act in due course, giving the green light to the transaction.

The core content is the exchange of islands for ships, mainly because the Royal Navy needs Atlantic islands, such as the Azores belonging to Portugal, the Canary Islands belonging to Spain, the Wallis and Futuna Islands of the French, and the St. Helen of the British Take the island, etc., or some archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean or Central America, but the value is greatly reduced.

  The Ocean Empire is not one of the two warring parties. Given so many things, it is natural to exchange them at an equivalent value. With the current pockets of the Allied countries, there is a high probability that they will not be able to come up with money.

   Therefore, the government will launch such an appropriate plan to solve the current urgent needs of the Allied countries.

   Although Germany has not attacked the merchant ships of the neutral countries, it shows no mercy to the merchant ships of the Allied countries. The North Sea area with the British Isles as the core is a place where German submarine activities are rampant, and news of merchant ships being sunk constantly.

From tens of thousands of tons per month in the early days of the war to tens of thousands of tons of merchant ships per month today, the merchant fleets of the Allied countries have suffered more and more losses. The cumulative loss of merchant ships has exceeded 1.4 million tons. It is also the reason why they urgently need **** ships, especially the 4,500-ton Brave cruisers are the most popular.

  Because this class of ships is old, but the tonnage is suitable and the speed is not fast enough to **** the merchant fleet, and the voyage is long enough and the price is low enough.

  The Royal Navy has a total of 37 Brave-class cruisers, all of which are required by the Allies.

   In addition, there are 36 6,500-ton "Flower Moon" class cruisers and more than 90 2,300-ton class destroyers, all of which are urgently needed by the Allies, which will greatly enhance the security of Atlantic trade.

  Building new ships, the Allies can't wait.

On the contrary, the Allies did not like the Royal Navy's capital ships, because these ships are too big, too expensive, and the operating costs are also high. Under the circumstance that the Allied countries firmly control the sea power, the demand is not urgent, and few people are willing to pay for this. Wasting money.

  Perhaps Portugal will want one or two ships to maintain the safety of overseas colonies.

   Take stock of several important islands in the Atlantic Ocean

   First of all, the Azores, which belong to Portugal. It is located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and consists of 9 main islands, about 1,450 kilometers from the coast of Portugal. It takes about three days for a cargo ship to travel from Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, to the Azores.

In the 15th century, Portuguese navigators discovered the Azores. For a long time, the archipelago has been an important supply point for the Atlantic route. For three hundred years, these islands controlled the trade between Europe and Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Geographical location is very important for most of the trade.

   owns the island. It is possible to achieve complete coverage of the mid-Atlantic routes. The island has relatively complete dock facilities and towns. A naval base is established here, and warships can **** the merchant fleet directly to Europe.

Due to the abundant geothermal energy in the area, it not only has many hot spring lakes, but also uses geothermal heat to cook dishes. Mix rice, sausages or vegetables with seasonings and put them into a wooden drum with holes around them. The steam pot steams continuously for hours on end, and it tastes unique.

  Portugal, as a member of the Allied Powers, has suffered numerous sneak attacks by German submarines on its merchant fleet and naval vessels, resulting in great losses, and it is objectively possible to reach a deal.

   In order to promote the urgently needed war material demand of the Allies, as long as Britain and France and other countries promise to compensate after the war, Portugal is very likely to agree.

   As an old colonial power, Britain, France and other countries have a lot of good things in their pockets, not to mention that as long as the war is won, a piece of meat from the Ottoman or Austro-Hungarian Empire will be enough for Portugal to eat.

  It’s just a small island, what is it worth?

   Followed by Spain's Canary Islands, which is slightly more difficult. Because Spain is a neutral country, his territory should not be invaded by both sides of the war.

  Canary Islands is located in the Atlantic Ocean, on the west coast of Africa, is an autonomous region of Spain, more than 1000 kilometers away from the Spanish mainland.

  There are 7 large islands and several small islands, which are divided into two island groups: east and west. East

The island group includes Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and 6 small islands, and the western group includes Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Palma, La Gomera and Ferro ( Also known as Hierro Island).

   In 1404, the French explorer Betancourt occupied the islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Ferro with the support of King Henry III of Spain. In 1420, Portuguese troops occupied La La Gomera. In 1479, the Treaty of Alcásova granted sovereignty over the islands to Spain.

  This is the most beautiful island in the Atlantic Ocean, with invincible beautiful scenery, just like paradise.

   Decades later, with the rise of tourism, 15 million tourists visit the Canary Islands every year, making it a world-class tourist resort. comparable to the Caribbean.

  The writer San Mao and her husband Jose settled on Gran Canaria. She and Jose chose a house far away from the city, on a hillside not far from the valley on the island, and spent the most romantic time of her life here.

   The third option is the French Wallis and Futuna Islands, which European countries have been fighting over. In the end the French triumphed, occupying the Wallis and Futuna islands in 1887 and 1888 respectively, which were French colonies.

The traditional culture of Wallis and Futuna Island is prevalent. The houses of the indigenous people are mostly built on platforms made of mud, covered with coral pieces, their roofs are paved with palm leaves, and the partition screens and lattice windows are made of Made of reed grass.

The volcanic scenery and tropical island scenery on the island are different from those in Europe, attracting many Europeans who come to vacation. The Lalaolao Lake on the island is the most perfect circular volcanic lake in the world. Cruise ships come here to play and paint on the shore of Lalaolao Lake, which is called "the closest place to the Garden of Eden".

  Netherlands Aruba is an island located in the Caribbean Sea, a colony of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and its location is much worse, comparable to the above-mentioned islands.

  Aruba was discovered and occupied by Spain in 1499, captured by the Netherlands in 1636 and occupied by the Dutch West India Company, briefly ruled by Britain during the Napoleonic Wars, and returned to the Netherlands in 1816.

Aruba is famous for its 10-kilometer-long continuous white sandy beach and seaside holiday houses, and it has the reputation of "blue-green coast", but as a naval base, the conditions are much worse, neither as the Guantanamo base in Central America, nor as good as Panama is just a bonus.

  There is also St. Helena Island in the United Kingdom. This island is famous for the exile of the French Emperor Napoleon. It is not far from Guinea in West Africa and can be easily reached by offshore ships.

   The island is a port of call for sea routes between Europe and the East Indies and is owned by the British East India Company. In 1673, the Dutch briefly occupied the island, but it was soon recaptured by the British as part of the East India Company.

   After the opening of the Suez Canal, the importance of the island dropped sharply and gradually became neglected.

The result of the    court proposal is to win two to three of the five Atlantic islands mentioned above, as part of the complete network of the Royal Navy's world base, which can also include islands in Central America and the Pacific. For example, the Andaman-Nicobar Islands, which exit the northwestern end of the Straits of Malacca, are all possible options.

  As the empire with the largest number of islands in the world, the Ocean Empire has nearly 30,000 islands spread across six continents. Li Fushou can be described as a king who has a habit of collecting islands. The more the better.

   Now that the war in Europe is in full swing, it is also the best time to make a deal.

   After the matter was settled, the ministers discussed several important matters in the meeting, and after reaching an agreement, the sage made a final decision and put it into practice.

  This time the court stopped and the discussion came to an end. All the ministers said goodbye to the saint. They talked about leaving the Dongji Hall all the way, and came to the outside of the palace to take the crown car that had been waiting here, and quickly dispersed.

   The Red River Valley metropolis in March is sunny and warm.

The Huangcheng District, with Daming Palace as the core, is located in a lush forest. The three magnificent main halls are located at the foot of the mountain. The inner courtyard of the palace follows the mountain and enters the deep valley. The highest-level Lingxiao Pavilion stands on the top of the hill. Above, the eaves and bucket arches are truly spectacular.

  The ancient trees here are towering and the sun is shining.

The entire Huangcheng District and the surrounding area is the largest forest area in the Red River Valley metropolis. Among the trees, the walls are covered with black tiles, and the palaces and pavilions are heavy. There are many aristocratic mansions built. Those who can live in this area are all non-rich. ie expensive.

The residence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Li Sixian, is also here. He was the royal secretary of the "Reneous, Righteous, Loyal and Xian" term. He worked by the Shengshang more than 20 years ago, and was later released as the deputy director of the Secretariat. Director of the Imperial Science and Technology Commission, Deputy Minister of Industry, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, after Tang Shaoyi was transferred to Minister of Finance, he took over from Tang Shaoyi as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the current cabinet.

  The car drove into the hospital from the concierge, and the housekeeper of the inner government stepped forward to open the door diligently.

Li Sixian got out of the car and looked a little tired, and handed the briefcase to his eldest son Li Jia, who came up, and explained; "Put the briefcase in the study, and let someone make a pot of tea, oh, and a few snacks. , I'm still a little hungry."

   "Father, why don't you eat a little earlier."

   "It's not necessary for the time being. I want to take care of today's court affairs. Don't disturb me."

   "Yes, father."

Li Jia followed his father to the study, and when he was about to reach the door of the study, Li Sixian suddenly stopped, turned around and looked at his son thoughtfully and said, "I heard your mother say, recently you and others What kind of movie company did you set up, what happened?"

   "Reporting to my father, this is indeed the case, and I haven't had time to report it to you," Li Jia admitted honestly, his eyes shrinking and his father's face turned away.

   Li Sixian didn't see any expression on his face, stared at his eldest son who was nearly 30 years old, and said in a deep voice; "Go to the study and talk."

   After saying that, he went straight into the study.

   (end of this chapter)