Looking back on this period of history many years later, Winston admitted that the Conservative government did not expect that the federal government in Southern Africa would take such a tough stance.
It can only be said that Rock's performance has been too confusing. In the eyes of Neville and Winston, Rock does not lack the mellowness of the Oriental and the cunning of the businessman. This has led to the Conservative government's suspicion of Rock's character.
It was a serious misjudgment that Roark would make certain concessions to the United Kingdom for the sake of the Commonwealth market.
Coupled with the fueling of public opinion at the time and the British's intensification of anger after learning about Southern Africa's attitude, Southern Africa was ultimately prompted to secede from the Commonwealth.
In March 1930, the British Commonwealth suffered severe losses.
After the British Parliament passed the Act of Westminster, Australia was the first to gain independence in domestic and foreign affairs. The United Kingdom retained only partial legislative power and judicial final adjudication power.
Then there was the matter of Southern Africa seceding from the Commonwealth.
It is not an easy matter to leave the Commonwealth. As a member of the Commonwealth, Southern Africa enjoyed all the rights of a Commonwealth member state.
After leaving the Commonwealth, relations between Southern Africa and the United Kingdom tended to normalize, and a series of tariff and trade agreements, economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, and military relations had to be reviewed. Therefore, Yang Smuts led a delegation to London.
, launching protracted negotiations with the Conservative government.
Pretoria also wants to inform the United States, France, Japan, and Italy that since Southern Africa has left the Commonwealth, the "Washington Naval Treaty" and "London Naval Treaty" signed by Southern Africa as a Commonwealth dependency are all invalid.
, Southern Africa officially recognized itself as an independent country and demanded treatment commensurate with its strength.
To put it bluntly, it is the tonnage of the battleship.
Regardless of whether Rock likes capital ships or not, Southern Africa must actively fight for its rights at this time.
The United States responded most positively to the demands of southern Africa. Roosevelt sent invitations to all signatories of the Washington Naval Treaty, hoping to reconvene a naval conference in Washington and give southern Africa the treatment it deserves.
France and Italy have an ambiguous attitude, neither agreeing nor opposing. The French government issued a mild statement opposing the intensifying arms race in the Mediterranean.
Italy ignored Roosevelt's invitation. The first ship of the "Veneto" class battleship, the "Vittorio Veneto", had begun laying the keel at the Adriatic Shipyard. The "Naval Holiday Era" had ceased in name only.
Britain was in dire straits. After Southern Africa left the Commonwealth, London was surprised to find that Britain could no longer guarantee the safety of the Suez Canal, let alone the Strait of Malacca.
Southern Africa has Cyprus in the Mediterranean and a military base in Aden, which means that Southern Africa can block the Suez Canal from both sides if it wants to.
Is London still in the mood to pay attention to Roosevelt's proposal at this time?
Just now in the British House of Commons, the Royal Navy officially proposed a new shipbuilding plan, hoping to build two more "Nelson" class battleships, and immediately begin the development of more advanced battleships to ensure the Royal Navy's superiority in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.
The Royal Navy has not given up its pursuit of Diego Garcia and Changi Naval Base, but even John Jellicoe admits the hope is slim.
The most fiercely opposed was Japan. Not only did Japan not agree to reconvene the naval conference, but it also hoped that the League of Nations could punish Southern Africa for tearing up the "Washington Naval Treaty" and "London Naval Treaty" and at the same time restrict Southern Africa's expansion in Asia.
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Pretoria did not respond to Japan's provocation. On May 1, the French newspaper "Le Figaro" published a shipbuilding plan of unknown origin. The plan detailed in the form of a time list that a certain country will build a ship in the next five years.
A total of twelve battleships with a total tonnage of 500,000 tons were built during the year.
12 ships!
500,000 tons!
Calculated, each ship is a little over 40,000, which is larger than the 38,400-ton "Colorado"-class battleship and the 39,120-ton "Nagato"-class battleship, and a little smaller than the 43,140-ton "Nelson" class battleship.
As soon as this plan was exposed, all countries collectively fell silent.
Although "Le Figaro" did not indicate the source of the news, there is only one country in the world that has the ability to build so many capital ships and does not yet have so many capital ships.
Southern Africa originally had four battleships, and they were built after the end of the World War. So far, the ships are not more than ten years old.
Now Southern Africa has to build 12 capital ships in one go. What is this?
Do you want to challenge the rhythm of the world?
Don't be surprised. According to the saying that only battleships of the same level can sink battleships, to pose a threat to 12 battleships with a displacement of 40,000 tons, it can only be done by forcing G7.
The United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan combined only have 7 ships that are close to the G7, and Southern Africa alone has 12 ships, so it is definitely not a dream to challenge the world alone.
Of course, the collective silence of all countries is not because they are frightened by this shipbuilding plan, but because all countries need time to determine the authenticity of this shipbuilding plan.
After all, G7-class battleships are expensive. Even if they are from Britain, the United States, or Japan, it will take a long time to demonstrate and prepare to build a new one. Southern Africa has to build 12 ships at a time. Even with the strength of Southern Africa, it is estimated that it will not be able to build one.
Not caught.
What Rock didn't expect was that Britain, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy had not expressed their opinions yet, but Anton and Patton were attracted by the shipbuilding plan and came directly to Rock.
"So, we are going to build 12 40,000-ton battleships next?" Patton was so excited that he never thought about whether this was reliable or not.
"Oh, we don't need as many as 12 ships. Half of them are enough. Don't irritate the Japanese too much. By then, the Atlantic Fleet and the Indian Ocean Fleet will have three ships, and the four eliminated battleships can be divided between the Home Fleet and Changi Fleet.
The fleet, the Mediterranean Squadron, and the Persian Gulf Squadron are one ship at a time, and the squadron commanders finally no longer need to use heavy cruisers as flagships." Anton seemed to be tolerant and generous, but in fact he was in harmony with Patton.
"I think the 406mm main gun is not good enough. The caliber of the Nagato and Mutsu main guns are both 410. We need 420 or 430 no matter what. The number of main guns does not need to be too many. Three triple mounts are enough.
Well, plus more than a dozen anti-aircraft guns, dozens of double-linked quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns, the gods will kill the gods, and the Buddha will destroy the Buddha." Patton made a good calculation. In the so-called "shipbuilding plan", the calibers of the main guns were all the same.
of 406 mm.
It's strange that at this time, we are still abiding by the provisions of the "Washington Naval Treaty".
"Hey, we have to consider the reactions of other countries. Just 406mm is enough." Anton said while carefully observing Roque's expression.
Luo Ke half-smiled but looked at these two idiots.
Anton and Barton shut up at the same time.
"Let's play, keep playing." Rock even took the initiative to pour tea for Anton and Barton, for fear of drying up their mouths.
"I'll do it, I'll do it." Anton immediately rushed to work with a silly smile on his face.
"The Times is right, that shipbuilding plan is fake." Rock downplayed it. The Times, as the mouthpiece of the Southern African federal government, has clarified it immediately.
Of course, Rock has no control over whether this clarification will be considered to be a cover-up.
Anyway, it’s true and false, and there’s no cost in spreading rumors.
Anton immediately felt like a deflated rubber ball, and Roque didn't even have to fill it up.
There are also emotions.
Barton took the teapot and served it to Rock respectfully.
This is the right attitude.
"You should have known as soon as you saw the news that even if we build warships, we will not build any battleships." Rock's attitude towards battleships has not changed.
"Hey, what if." Patton smiled like a Secretary of the Navy, not to mention more cunning and cunning.
We can't blame Patton for his random thoughts. The editor of "Le Figaro" is really too dedicated. The time list is not detailed. The various data of the battleship are also accurate to the decimal point. The length of the ship is 216.6 meters and the draft is 9.1 meters.
, Crewman 1314, everything is complete, and it’s very auspicious.
In fact, it is a copied "Nelson".
There is no way, "Colorado" and "Nagato" are too small.
"Nothing unexpected." Rock simply said, not giving Barton any room for fantasy.
"Lord, even if you don't build battleships, you can always build a few more aircraft carriers." Anton settled for the next best thing. With the two under construction, there are already six aircraft carriers in southern Africa, which is not enough.
We cannot blame Britain, the United States, France, Japan, and Italy for overreacting to Southern Africa. How long has it taken for the two aircraft carriers in Southern Africa to lay down their keels? They are already preparing to launch them. This speed is about the same as dumplings.
At least at this speed, not even the United States, which has the strongest troop speed, can achieve it.
At this rate, even if Southern Africa has to build 12 ships to equal the G7, it will not take five years.
"You were right just now. You can't irritate the Japanese too much. You have to give them the feeling that as long as I work harder, I can catch up with us. I can't let them despair." This is the real long-term plan of Rock to catch the big fish.
, an arms race also requires someone to participate.
Now, Japan, without its empire, would have a hard time building a torpedo boat of more than 700 tons. If Southern Africa were to launch 12 mine boats in one go and compete with the G7, not to mention Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States would all go crazy.
Therefore, Southern Africa cannot go too far. It builds an aircraft carrier today, a supply ship tomorrow, and the slipway for light and heavy cruisers is not idle. If it is slowly used up like this, sooner or later the Japanese will be driven to death.
"Haha, if I were Japanese, I would be very desperate right now." Button was still very confident when talking about the Japanese.
Regardless of the fact that the Japanese won the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, in fact Patton really looked down upon the combat effectiveness of the Japanese navy. At least in the last world war, the Japanese navy did not receive a real test. Now East Asia still has
Not the monster house of the future, but kindergartens and nursing homes.
Southern Africa has no interest in dominating kindergartens and nursing homes.
