"Now that everyone has reached a consensus on the repatriation of the rebel fighters, this matter will be handed over to Marshal Garcia and General Abel."
Queen Isabella sat on the main seat and made the final decision on the repatriation plan for blacks. Then she turned her attention to her royal in-law sitting in the front row, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy Count Deu: "Count Deu, what's next?
There is an important matter related to the Imperial Navy, and I will let you introduce it to everyone."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Count Dewu stood up and said: "In 1879, in the early days of the North-South division, the area controlled by the imperial government included nine states along the central and northern coast. After the British intervened in the internal war of the empire, the republican rebels captured Bahia from the imperial army.
In the southern region of the state, since then, the confrontation line between the empire and the republican rebels has retreated from the line of Bahia and Minas Gerais to the line of Tinare Island, Valenca, and Serra Grande.
Because the area under actual control has been reduced and the front line of confrontation between the north and the south has moved back, the temporary capital of the empire, Saldoba, has been facing the threat of the republican rebel army."
Count Deu simply described the situation faced by the Brazilian Empire after the division of the north and the south, with no obvious emotional changes on his face: "Between 1879 and 1883, the Imperial Navy inherited the main naval strength of the period of His Majesty Pedro II.
Therefore, when facing land-based military pressure from the rebellious republican government, naval superiority can be relied upon to maintain the balance of the frontline armed forces of both sides.
However, starting from 1883, the situation changed fundamentally. As the advanced warships ordered by the Republican rebel group from Britain returned to South America one after another, the imperial navy's original maritime superiority was quickly offset. The southern rebel group's influence on the mainland of the empire, especially
The direct threat to the imperial capital Saldoba, which is far away from the front line of confrontation, is getting bigger and bigger..."
"El Salvador is the most important central city in the north-central region. If the central government agencies of the empire are relocated due to the military threat from the southern republican group, I am afraid it will cause panic among ordinary citizens and unpredictable political turmoil in the areas controlled by the empire."
After listening to Count Dewu's words and intuitively realizing the linkage effect caused by the imbalance of military power in the frontline army and navy, Duke Forbert immediately felt the seriousness of the matter.
"Moving the capital and relocating the central government of the empire is the final step. This step cannot be taken until the front confrontation line collapses irretrievably."
Duke Florbert thought for a moment and said, "Besides moving the capital, does your Excellency, the Count, have any other solutions?"
"Yes, Prime Minister Roberto."
Count Dewu gave Duke Forrobert a positive reply, explaining: "According to intelligence analysis sent back by the European side (mainly the Portuguese royal family) and some southern naval officers who are inclined to the imperial government, the southern republican group navy currently has three
There are a 5,000-ton armored cruiser ordered from the United Kingdom, a 4,000-ton medium-sized cruiser that is about to be completed, three old-fashioned ironclads with a capacity of about 2,000 tons, and more than ten small coastal defense gunboats, with a total tonnage of 2.4
A naval fleet between 10,000 tons and 28,000 tons.
Comparing the Imperial Navy, each squadron of the Navy has a total of 31 ships of various types with a total tonnage of 25,000 tons. In terms of total naval tonnage, the Imperial Navy is at the same level as the naval power controlled by the Southern Rebel Group.
However, in terms of actual maritime operations, because the main naval forces owned by the Southern Republic Group are mostly newly purchased advanced armored warships, and the main warships of the Imperial Navy are all old-fashioned ironclads inherited from the period of His Majesty Pedro, so if a large-scale outbreak occurs
In maritime conflicts, the Imperial Navy is unable to shoulder the important task of protecting the Empire's maritime security and assisting the Imperial Army in defending the homeland.
In order to counteract the maritime military pressure of the Southern Republican Group on the mainland of the empire, there are two main ways to deal with it:
The first is to resume the Navy's ship purchase plan and seek to purchase advanced warships from European countries such as the United Kingdom, France or Germany, thereby gradually reversing the imbalance in the naval strength between the North and the South.
The second is to break out of the naval arms race and carry out political, economic, and military attacks on the Southern Republican Group from other aspects, weaken the overall military strength of the Southern Republican Group, and buy time for the imperial government to restore its economy and develop its military strength."
"The counter-insurgency war in the empire's mainland is over. When the plan to repatriate blacks is completed and the potential risk of rebellion in the empire's mainland disappears, then part of the financial funds used for counter-insurgency funds can be transferred to the purchase of new warships."
Following Count Deu's words, Marshal Garcia expressed his opinion.
Although Marshal Garcia was born in the Brazilian Army, with a military rank and position of his level, the scope of the problem is not limited to the Army. The Army is the main force against the Southern Republican Group, and the Navy is also indispensable against the Southern Republican Group.
Therefore, in the face of the overall situation, it is also appropriate to transfer part of the interests to develop the navy.
"In the next two years, the imperial government can squeeze out a total of 350,000 pounds of foreign exchange funds (equivalent to 1.25 million taels of Kuping silver) to order an armored cruiser of about 5,000 tons."
After listening to Count Dewu's introduction, Duke Florbert knew that the 5,000-ton armored cruiser Aquitaban ordered by the southern republican government in 1885 was priced at 345,000 tons, so based on the quotation of Aquitaban, he added more
5,000 pounds.
"Bahia is the area where the most thorough counter-insurgency activities are carried out in the areas controlled by the empire, and because Bahia borders the areas controlled by the southern republican rebel group, in the past seven or eight years, there have been more than 100,000 pairs of republican groups.
White people who were dissatisfied with the administrative measures crossed the border and entered the central and northern areas of Bahia controlled by the imperial government. If the decision to move the capital was made due to naval reasons, the favorable conditions achieved in the counter-insurgency war would be completely lost. Therefore, just
For the sake of the more than 100,000 subjects who follow Her Majesty the Queen in Bahia, no compromise or concession can be made."
The plan to repatriate black people is a top priority for Abel. As the current core of the Brazilian Empire, the number of white people in the north-central region of Bahia has reached 140,000, and their population proportion has also increased to 32% of the total population.
Moreover, with the relocation and repatriation of black people who participated in the rebellion within the jurisdiction, and the continued influx of white people from the south, the proportion of white people in the central and northern Bahia area controlled by the Brazilian Empire is likely to increase to 100% in the next five years.
50.
In order to implement the plan to repatriate blacks smoothly, Abel followed Marshal Garcia's point of view and also agreed to a plan to allocate financial funds to the navy to a certain extent and order new warships.
Responding to the threat of the southern republican government and defending the Brazilian Empire was the unanimous interest of everyone. Therefore, ordering new warships to partially offset the military superiority of the southern navy has become a consensus among everyone.
"The core area of the empire's territory is occupied by the southern rebel group. Relying on the fiscal revenue of the eight and a half states in the central and northern coastal areas to engage in a naval arms race with the southern republican government is unfavorable to the imperial government. Therefore, it is allocating part of its financial funds to develop the empire.
At the same time, the military power of the navy, combined with external forces, to contain and disperse the military power of the southern republican government, is an aspect that the imperial government must pay attention to at present."
Ignoring the specific details of ordering new warships, Count Dewu focused on uniting external forces to jointly fight against the threat of the Brazilian Republican government: "Since the division of the north and south of the empire, the situation in South America has undergone essential changes.
Although the King of Paraguay, Lopez Jr., took advantage of the lack of military power of the Brazilian Republican government and occupied the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and part of Goiás state, Paraguay was experiencing internal turmoil, and Lopez Jr. was seriously ill.
The degree of control gradually decreased. Even if the imperial government abandoned its previous grievances and took the initiative to unite with Paraguay, it would not be able to effectively contain the southern republican government.
In addition to Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia were affected by the Guano War and had numerous internal separatist armed forces. They were also unable to share the military pressure on the imperial government.
Excluding Paraguay, Peru, and Bolivia, the Han Kingdom, which was once hostile to the imperial government, ranks first in South America in terms of population and military strength. It is currently the only country capable of suppressing and threatening the southern republican government with force.
On the other hand, Han's comprehensive national strength far exceeds that of South American countries. Although cooperation with Han will help alleviate the military pressure from the southern republican group, in the future, due to the further growth of Han's strength, it may bring greater consequences to the imperial government.
military and political pressure.”
After receiving the cooperation intention from the Han Dynasty through Silva, Count Dewu was emotionally unwilling to agree to the fact of cooperation with the former enemy country. However, facing the military threat from the Southern Republican Group, in the face of personal interests and the test of the survival of the entire Brazilian Empire, he decided to
Count Dewu finally put forward the cooperation plan conveyed by Silva at the meeting.
"Cooperating with the Han State has both risks and benefits. Before today's meeting, the Han State sent people to pass on the news privately, hoping to reach an agreement with the imperial government to deal with the military threat of the Southern Republican Government. However, the cooperation matters are too important, and I have to
After knowing the news, I did not dare to hide it. After getting permission from Her Majesty the Queen, I took the opportunity of this meeting to bring it up to you in person. I hope that after everyone's discussion, we can make an appropriate decision."
"The people in the East are too greedy for land. Their emperor always sets his sights on the land in the north. Cooperating with the Han Dynasty will face too many risks in the future.
However, if they reject the olive branch extended by the Han State and rely solely on the strength of the empire to confront the southern republican government supported by Britain, I am afraid that the imperial government will fall to the southern republican government before it sees the crisis of Han's further growth in the future.
Under military pressure to unite with Britain."
The strength of the Han army and the Han emperor's greed for land have been known to the senior officials of the Brazilian Empire after several wars. However, even though they knew that cooperation with the Han meant giving the Han an opportunity to grow in strength,
However, when faced with an imminent threat, the top brass of the Brazilian Empire still chose the decision that was most beneficial to them.
Just like a sentence that goes straight to the essence, there will be individuals who betray the class, but there will not be a class that betrays the class.
The interests of the nobles and generals in the palace are dependent on the Brazilian Empire and the constitution on which the empire is maintained. If the Brazilian Empire is gone, their interests will be gone too. Compared with the possible future threats from South America's Han Dynasty, maintaining the current class
It is not difficult to make a choice between interests and which ones are more important.
Abel's words stated the necessity of cooperation with the South American Han country, and then, the good news revealed by Count Dewu prompted the hesitant people to make a firm decision.
Count Deu is the commander of the Brazilian Imperial Navy. While managing the naval fleet affairs of the Brazilian Empire, he also maintains relationships with some senior generals in the navy of the Southern Republican Government who are inclined to the monarchy system through the relationship left over from the time of Pedro II.
, maintaining close contact,
Count Dewu was so rough that he shared the secrets he had with everyone, and also revealed his plan to use the opportunity of war between Han and the Southern Republican government in the future to incite the Southern Republican naval fleet to rebel.
According to Count Dewu's plan, if the operation goes well, some naval warships of the Southern Republican Government can be surrendered anyway. Not only can the strength of the Brazilian Imperial Navy be enhanced, but it can also be used as a breakthrough to attack the ruling foundation of the Southern Republican Government and create a solid foundation for the Brazilian Empire.
Create favorable conditions for reuniting the Brazilian Empire.
After the meeting, officials within the Brazilian Empire were once again busy.
Ebell was responsible for the deportation of rebel blacks,
Count Dewu was responsible for purchasing advanced warships, keeping in touch with the naval officers of the southern republican government, and instigating rebellion.
Duke Florentine and officials from various cabinet departments were busy raising financial funds while implementing an internal cleanup plan to suppress remaining dissidents within the empire on a large scale (including Republicans and blacks who were hostile to the Brazilian Empire).
