Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 424: Britain's weapons development process

The carriage kept going.

Finally arrived outside Buckingham Palace!

The magnificent palace came into view, and Palmerston's heart subconsciously tightened.

Two of the Queen's guards came forward and gave the carriage a thorough inspection before letting Palmerston pass.

"Prime Minister, please!"

Palmerston nodded, held his hat with his hand, stepped out of the car, held his head high, and walked towards the interior of Buckingham Palace.

The guards and maids on both sides of the road bowed to Palmerston with great respect.

However, in Palmerston's eyes, these people seemed not to exist as he walked along the cobblestone path and came into the palace.

Soon, he arrived outside the Queen's office.

"Palmerston here presents his warmest regards to Her Majesty the Queen."

"I wish Her Majesty the Queen good health and happiness forever."

Victoria just nodded when she heard this, and then signaled the servant Brown to bring a chair for Palmerston.

After Palmerston had seated himself in the chair brought by the servant, Victoria finally spoke up.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to know what the current situation in Crimea is like?"

Victoria had also received news that the Allied forces had suffered a defeat in Crimea.

But the specific situation is not well understood.

That's why he asked Palmerston, wanting to get the truth about the Crimean War from the Prime Minister.

Palmerston was silent for a moment, then spoke.

"Your Majesty, the situation in Crimea is not good right now."

"Although Sevastopol is still under the control of the coalition forces, the coalition forces still have the upper hand in the overall situation."

"But the counterattack from the Tsarist Russia was equally fierce. Now the battle lines of both sides are deadlocked in the Yalta area. In the short term, the coalition forces will not be able to advance."

"Unless we can send more troops to Crimea again!"

The reason for this is very simple.

It is true that the destructive power that a rotary machine gun can unleash in a defensive battle is too astonishing.

After pushing the front line back to Yalta, the Russian army did not continue to advance, but instead used miniature machine guns to set up defensive positions, as if they were determined to nail the enemy down in Yalta.

The coalition forces organized several counterattacks, but were defeated every time by machine gun fire.

Not only did there not be any actual results, but there were also heavy losses.

Queen Victoria was silent for a moment, then spoke.

"Well, let's do as the Prime Minister wishes."

"Britain must achieve complete victory in the Crimean War."

France went to war in Crimea in order to free itself from the constraints of the Holy Alliance.

Britain started the war in Crimea in order to compete with Tsarist Russia for the right to speak and practical interests in the Middle East.

In a struggle for interests, it is impossible to give up easily unless one side completely surrenders.

At this point, Victoria seemed to remember something and asked.

"By the way, how is the production line establishment of our Great Britain's breech-loading weapons going?"

“What is the current production capacity?”

After the Industrial Revolution began, Britain, as a pioneer, had already gone a long way on this path.

Today, Britain is undoubtedly the world's first industrial country.

Even the Tang Dynasty's current industrial capacity is actually inferior to that of Britain.

The biggest advantage that the Tang Dynasty has over Britain at present, apart from its strong development potential, is that it has made great progress in military industry.

As for other aspects, there is still a big gap.

As the world's first industrial country, when the British concentrate their efforts on doing something, their efficiency will definitely not be slow.

For example, now, after being inspired by the Tang Dynasty to develop breech-loading weapons, Britain began to carry out research and development and production.

Now, even the production line has been set up.

Palmerston heard this and spoke.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Great Britain has made great progress in the research and development of breech-loading weapons."

"For rifles, we referred to the Prussian Dreyse M1841 striker rifle and the Tang Dynasty's Zhaowu Year One rifle, and developed the Enfield M1856 rifle that belongs to Great Britain."

"The gun has a caliber of 14.7 mm, a length of 1.4 meters, and is equipped with a bayonet, a gun belt and other parts. It uses paper shell fixed ammunition..."

"At present, the Enfield M1856 rifle has been finalized and has begun mass production, with the current production capacity reaching 1400 rifles per month."

"As for breech-loading artillery, we also referred to the Tang Dynasty breech-loading artillery and invented the Armstrong breech-loading artillery of Great Britain."

"The outer length of the bore is 84 inches, the inner depth is 73.375 inches, and the weight of the shell is five pounds."

“It’s already quite practical!”

"However, in terms of durability, range, accuracy, etc., there is still a clear gap between them and the Tang-made artillery."

How to say it, the Tang Dynasty's breech-loading rifled cannon is not only exquisite in processing technology.

Even the material is special special steel!
Not only is it lighter than traditional steel, it is also stronger.

It is easy for the British to imitate the Tang Dynasty's artillery, but it is not so easy to imitate the materials.

"And the rotary machine gun has also been successfully copied, but the production cost of the ammunition is very high."

Palmerston continued his report.

Victoria frowned and thought after hearing this. "The production capacity of rifles is limited, and the quality of artillery is not good. In other words, the arms trade between Great Britain and Tang Kingdom still needs to be discussed?"

Palmerston nodded when he heard this.

"For now, that's true."

“But in my opinion, this is actually a good thing.”

"Tang's arms are always being sold abroad. If we don't buy them, the Slavs will."

"If we buy more, the Slavs will have to buy less."

"If we raise the price, the Slavs will follow suit..."

"In the long run, Tsarist Russia will definitely not be able to outlast us."

In Palmerston's view, even if Britain had the ability to produce breech-loading weapons, it would be better not to stop purchasing arms from abroad.

Apart from anything else, even if it is just to make things difficult for Tsarist Russia, this has to be done.

Tsarist Russia did not have the industrial capacity to produce breech-loading weapons on its own, and even if Britain and France had them, they would not sell them.

Therefore, the arms trade line with the Tang Dynasty was the lifeline of Tsarist Russia.

Since Britain was unable to stop the arms trade between the Tang Dynasty and Tsarist Russia, their best option was to make things difficult for Tsarist Russia by raising prices.

As long as Tsarist Russia cannot obtain enough arms from the Tang Dynasty, and the war in Crimea intensifies further, Tsarist Russia's defense line will collapse sooner or later.

Victoria nodded slightly after hearing this.

Suddenly, Victoria asked again.

"Also, there is the situation in Southeast Asia."

"I heard from the Dutch and Spanish that the Chinese are eyeing their colonies of Manila and Batavia and are testing them."

"The Dutch and Spanish authorities hope that Britain can intervene and help them to keep Batavia and Manila."

"What does the Prime Minister think Britain should do?"

"Also, after the Chinese have taken Manila and Batavia, will they go even further and threaten Britain's Straits Settlements?"

“This also needs to be taken into consideration!”

The Tang Dynasty was eyeing Batavia and Manila. The Netherlands and Spain did not want to sit and wait for death, but they could not defeat the Tang Dynasty, so they could only ask for help from Britain, the leader of Europe.

I hope big brother can be kind enough to give me a hand!
Palmerston was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, the priority for Great Britain should be Crimea."

"Before resolving the Crimean War, there should be no unnecessary complications in projecting power into Southeast Asia."

"For the sake of Great Britain, we have to put our Dutch and Spanish friends in a difficult position for the time being."

Palmerston was a warmongerer, but he was also a staunch supporter of the interests of the British Empire.

In his eyes, the interests of Britain are above all else.

Even if you are Britain's ally, it is impossible for us to harm Britain's interests for your sake.

Having said this, Palmerston paused for a moment, then continued.

"As for the Straits Settlements..."

"I think the Chinese don't want to intensify the conflict with Great Britain before they have dealt with Manila and Batavia."

"The Straits Settlements should be safe for the time being."

"During this period, the Chinese only targeted the Netherlands and Spain, and did not attack Great Britain. This is the most powerful proof."

After hearing this, Victoria nodded in satisfaction and then spoke.

“So best!”

After talking to the Queen for a while, Palmerston said goodbye to Buckingham Palace and returned to 10 Downing Street to work.

……

Paris France.

The Palace of Fontainebleau!
Napoleon III is enjoying dinner with his queen Eugenie.

Fat French foie gras, steaming snails baked in red wine, baguettes spread with butter and cheese, and the best French red wine.

Plus a small portion of pudding for dessert!

Well, this dessert pudding is from the Empress Eugenie.

Napoleon III was not a fan of desserts.

Clang, the wine glasses touched each other, and the blood-red wine in the glasses swayed slightly under the candlelight, reflecting the alluring light.

After taking a sip of red wine, Napoleon III began to cut the foie gras with a knife and fork.

But at this moment, a servant walked in from outside.

The attendant came to Napoleon III and spoke.

"Your Majesty, a telegram from the diplomat in Vienna, Austria."

As he spoke, the attendant handed the telegram to Napoleon III.

Napoleon III wiped his mouth with a silk handkerchief, took the telegram, and began to read it.

The telegram contained a report submitted by Garcia, a French diplomat in Vienna.

In the report, Garcia stated that the diplomat sent by the Tsarist Russia, Alexander Mikhailovich Gorchakov, was seeking the possibility of peace.

Diplomat Gorchakov met with French Ambassador Garcia, hoping that France could play a more decisive role in the situation in Crimea.

Garcia couldn't make up his mind, so he reported to Napoleon III.

I hope Napoleon III makes this decision himself!
(End of this chapter)