Nanyang Storm 1864

Emperor Zheng of the Great Chu Kingdom has approved the Royal Navy's plan to build two more "Kunlun Mountain" class warships, namely the fifth "Emei Mountain" and the sixth "Yandang Mountain".

Construction began in 1907 and the ships were commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1908.

Based on the shortcomings discovered during sea trials, the two new ships underwent minor improvements, increasing their tonnage by more than 890 tons and their displacement to more than 26400 tons.

The blueprint for a new generation of battleships is also in the planning stages, and they are expected to be put into construction in shipyards in two years. The current technical status is not yet finalized.

Its biggest change
The main guns will adopt a revolutionary triple-mounted architecture, still with a compact humpback layout. This means a significant increase in the warship's firepower, which can be called a "super dreadnought," or a battleship with all heavy guns in the traditional sense.

At the current stage, the experimental triple-mounted turret is undergoing reliability and mechanical testing at a land-based testing range, mainly addressing issues related to the reliability of ammunition depot transport and naval operations, as well as the technical problem of mutual interference between muzzle flashes of naval guns.

The new generation of battleships has been named the "Justice" class. Its displacement will be as high as 2.8 to 3 tons, and its speed will be over 23 knots. The specific technical specifications are not yet fixed and may fluctuate.

After Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Empire gave the order, the fifteen battleships of the Royal Navy were organized into three squadrons and began rotating deployments for duty, maintenance, and high-intensity maritime exercises.

The Royal Army conducted high-intensity combat training with its newly formed divisions at more than ten large field training grounds on Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Shangri-La.

The secretly developed armored vehicle battalion also made its appearance on the training ground, training in combination with field infantry, creating quite a stir.

At the beginning of the 20th century

Countries around the world have successively developed various types of armored vehicles, most of which are existing vehicles covered with armor, and almost no two are exactly the same.

Its style is extremely similar to the hand-crafted armored vehicles of later Syria.

Among the Russian Far East troops stationed in Vladivostok, there were more than a dozen such strange-looking armored vehicles, all of which were built by local generals on a whim using readily available materials.

As early as the Java campaign, the Royal Army of the Great Chu Empire had built an armored chariot battalion, which participated in dozens of assault battles and achieved considerable results.

Numerous problems have also been exposed during its use.

The biggest problem is its extremely poor mobility. Battlefield environments are often littered with rubble and ruins, making it impossible to travel as smoothly as a flat road. This is the biggest challenge for armored vehicles.

Many seemingly sturdy armored vehicles were unable to advance in front of a collapsed wall, becoming targets caught in a dilemma.

The solution for the Great Chu Empire was simple.

It involves utilizing the country's world-leading agricultural machinery technology to reinforce the chassis of a tracked tractor, then adding armor plating to transform it into an armored vehicle capable of withstanding heavy machine gun fire from the front.

Because of its bulky appearance and resemblance to a water tank, it is called a "tank" in English, which is pronounced "thank you".

The Army established a special "Tank" project team for this purpose, investing a large amount of funds in its modification, which yielded very significant results.

After his inspection, Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Empire put forward several important suggestions.

First, we shouldn't expect tanks to be too big and have everything. If we cram a dozen soldiers into a tank and add several turrets, the weight will make the tank unable to move.

A tank only needs one turret, and at most one heavy machine gun. The crew should not exceed four people: one driver, one gunner, one ammunition handler, and one commander.

A tank equipped with a Maxim 37mm rapid-fire cannon can be compressed into a crew of three, making it more agile in combat.

Secondly, the tank's off-road speed must not be lower than 22 kilometers per hour, and it must have a strong obstacle-crossing ability, so that ordinary ditches and bumps cannot stop it.

Third, we should especially strengthen frontal defense, while ensuring that the sides and back can defend against rifle bullets; we should focus on these key areas.

Fourth, we will research specialized tank chassis, shock absorbers, running gear, and steering systems to improve mechanical reliability and eliminate various possible malfunctions.

Fifth, the tank machine gun is a backup weapon and does not require a fixed heavy machine gunner. Whoever is available during wartime can operate it.

Sixth, the turret must be able to rotate 360 ​​degrees to provide flexible firing directions.

These six elements became the unwavering principles for tank development that the Royal Army followed, influencing the technological roadmap for the development of main battle tanks and preventing many detours.

In recent years, the Royal Army has developed an armored tank known as the "Scorpion," which uses a tracked running gear and is topped with a welded turret. It can withstand heavy machine gun fire from the front and comes in two versions.

The "Scorpion" tank is equipped with a 37mm rapid-fire cannon, mainly used for land assault, to break through strong defensive facilities and strike the enemy, serving as a heavy-hitting weapon to clear the way.

The "Scorpion" Type B tank is equipped with a Maxim heavy machine gun, mainly used for accompanying attacks, striking enemy forces and flanking enemies gathered along the way, and covering the advance of the Type B troops.

Following His Majesty the Emperor's decree, the Royal Army urgently ordered 200 Scorpion tanks from Nanyang Heavy Industries, including 80 Scorpion Type A tanks and 120 Scorpion Type B tanks, all to be delivered by the end of August next year.

That is to say, at least 20 units must be produced each month.

This will become a trump card in the hands of the Royal Army of the Great Chu Empire. When used when necessary, it can greatly reduce the number of infantry casualties and inflict a heavier blow on the enemy.

A few months later
Just after the Lunar New Year of 1907, before the Lantern Festival, British envoy Henry Primrose, having caught wind of the situation, came to the door to request an audience with Imperial Prime Minister Li Jinghui.

At Moon Lake Residence

Prime Minister Lee Kyong-hoi, accompanied by several cabinet ministers, met with Henry Primrose and his delegation, and the two sides held frank talks.

At the beginning of the talks
Henry Primrose proactively expressed London's concerns, hoping for stability in the Far East and the Western Pacific region and avoiding further turmoil, which would be detrimental to the interests of all parties.

The implication was a subtle warning to the State of Chu not to cause any more trouble.

After entering the 20th century

Britain's power was declining rapidly, but neither Britain nor its people clearly recognized this. They continued to maintain an arrogant attitude and acted domineeringly towards other powers.

The aggressive preparations for war by the Chu army and navy over the past few months have alerted the cunning British, who are taking precautions against any potential threats.

Prime Minister Lee Kyung-hui smiled nonchalantly, not taking the British envoy's arrogance to heart. Instead, he used his Tai Chi-like skills to express Chu's deep concern for regional peace and stability.

They spouted all sorts of fancy diplomatic rhetoric, but in retrospect, it was all just empty talk.

The promises that the British envoy, Lord Henry Primrose, wanted were even less likely to come; when he tried to get an audience with His Majesty the Emperor, he learned that the Emperor was on holiday.

After spending over ten days in Manila, attending a constant stream of aristocratic banquets and lavish parties, his hospitality was impeccable. He ultimately left with a large stack of gifts. This British envoy, not carrying any secret letter from King Edward VII, was clearly less important. He was easily dismissed; an audience with His Majesty was out of the question.

After the relevant information was reported, Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Dynasty shook his head speechlessly.
These British guys have incredibly sharp noses; they can guess the movements of the Great Chu Empire with almost perfect accuracy.

Even if the British could guess that it concerned a matter of great military importance, the Great Chu Empire would not admit it.

As for angering the British, the Great Chu Empire wouldn't care at all.

This matter involves the core interests of the Great Chu Empire, and we must take decisive action to eliminate the hidden dangers, rather than allowing the Fusang Allied Fleet to grow further and become too powerful to control.

It was no use in Edward VII opposing this, and even if Queen Victoria climbed out of her coffin, she couldn't stop it.

In early 1907

The Great Chu Empire's army and navy underwent a complete reorganization, replacing outdated command structures, troop formations, uniforms and equipment, and standard weapons, and making comprehensive improvements for the new era.

The Royal Navy only involves uniforms and standard weapons for naval personnel. Officers wear the Type 06 white dress uniform, white peaked cap, jacket-style service uniform, light grey combat uniform, etc. Ranks are composed of collar badges, shoulder boards, and sleeve insignia, making them look heroic, handsome, and particularly stylish.

Naval soldiers wear white tops and blue bottoms, brimless military caps, and sailor shirts. They are equipped with Type 05 7.62mm standard submachine guns, which are used solely for close-quarters self-defense.

All Royal Army officers switched to the Type 06 grey-green plush uniform, with a standard peaked cap, collar insignia, cap badge and medals, making them look heroic and imposing.

Royal Army soldiers also wore grey-green uniforms made of cotton, and were fitted with new helmets that resembled the later German M35 helmets. They also wore leather individual equipment crossed in front of their chests, standard water bottles, blankets, and standard suede boots.

In the organization of an army division, the regiment, battalion, company, and platoon are all in a "four-four system". An army division has four infantry regiments, each infantry regiment has four infantry battalions, each infantry battalion has four infantry companies, and each infantry company has four infantry platoons.

Besides
It is also equipped with artillery regiments, engineer battalions, motor transport battalions, reconnaissance battalions, guard battalions, and divisional medical battalions, thus improving the combat formation of the Army Expeditionary Division.

After the reorganization, a Class A expeditionary field division has a total of 13672 personnel. In wartime, it also needs to be attached with supplementary corps, training corps and supply corps, so the total number of personnel attached to the division can easily exceed 1.7.

This was a comprehensive reorganization of the Royal Army after carefully learning from the experience of the Russo-Japanese War, in order to adapt to the new requirements of decisive victory in large-scale land warfare and further strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Class A expeditionary field divisions.

From the perspective of staffing
Each field division was given an additional 3-4% of its manpower, with enhanced artillery and heavy machine gun firepower, improved transport capacity, and strengthened logistics and wartime medical treatment capabilities, greatly improving its independent combat effectiveness.

Tank units, as a new type of elite land warfare force currently under formation, have not yet been assigned to field divisions, but exist as an independent mobile strike force.

During wartime, resources can be flexibly allocated as needed.

From a certain perspective, it's also to protect military secrets, since no one wants to reveal their trump card too early.

The Great Chu Empire is making intensive military preparations, and all plans are progressing in an orderly manner.

At the societal level

Yet no trace of military preparations could be detected. The domestic import and export market remained prosperous, with new ocean-going vessels weighing tens of thousands of tons being launched one after another, and the demand in the maritime transport market was extremely strong.

Just like the modernization of warships, the rapid development of new marine technologies is also reflected in the civilian marine shipbuilding industry.

The large, low-speed steam turbines for ships produced by Nanyang Heavy Industries are of world-class standard and are widely used on newly manufactured large ocean-going vessels, greatly extending their range and reducing coal consumption to less than half of the original.

nowadays

The large ocean-going vessels operated by the Great Chu Empire on the Eurasian shipping route could reach the ports under the jurisdiction of the East African Governorate along the Red Sea coast directly after resupplying at the port of Aceh, without having to stop at the port of Cochin in the Indian subcontinent.

On the return journey from Europe, supplies can be replenished at Red Sea ports.

The one-way journey on the Eurasian route has been significantly shortened from the original 45-48 days to only 26-28 days, making a round trip possible in two months.

With an average speed of 12 knots, operational efficiency increased by half, and coal consumption reduced by 60%, these are the tremendous changes that new technologies have brought to global shipping.
It is precisely because of these numerous benefits that major shipping companies in the Great Chu Empire have decommissioned their old ships and built new large ocean-going vessels, leading to the current prosperity of the shipbuilding industry.

At the same time, the financial industry is also developing very well.

How did financiers from the State of Chu and the United States make such a fortune during the recently concluded Russo-Japanese War?

Japan alone spent a staggering 16 billion yen on war expenses, most of which came from loans from American banks and a small portion from British banks.

With the support of the United States and Britain, the Japanese finally won the war.

Japan provided manpower and resources, the United States provided funding, and the British acted as behind-the-scenes backers, staging a fascinating drama of regional rivalry on the world stage.

On the Russian side, the financial backer shifted to France, given the continued existence of the Franco-Russian military alliance, which served as a strategic pillar for France in Europe against the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Austria.

In reality, most of the funds flowed into the territory of the Chu state and were converted into weapons, ammunition, and provisions.

The reason is very simple.

More than 80% of the bullets and shells used in the Russo-Japanese War originated from the State of Chu. Chu itself was a world-leading copper exporter and the only developed country in the south, possessing extremely strong industrial capabilities.

The Great Chu Empire was a world-class supplier of essential resources such as copper, saltpeter, sulfur, and grain, holding an important position in the world market.

So the Americans and French waved their checks and placed orders in the State of Chu, ordering entire ships full of arms, often hundreds of millions or even billions of bullets and shells, to be shipped directly from Chu to the north.

Those belonging to Japan were transported to Tokyo Bay, and those belonging to Tsarist Russia were transported to Vladivostok, and then distributed to their respective troops for use in one fierce battle after another.

The Great Chu Empire was originally a major ammunition supplier for Britain, France, and Germany, and was also the main beneficiary of the recently concluded Russo-Japanese War, during which the empire's financial industry experienced significant growth.

A significant portion of the funds used by the United States and France to purchase weapons, ammunition, and provisions came from loans from major banks in the State of Chu, accounting for more than half.

As a neutral country during the Russo-Japanese War, the relevant banks of the Great Chu Empire did not lend directly to Japan and Russia. Instead, they went through American and French banks to facilitate the large-scale transactions of the aforementioned weapons.

This was not determined by the industrial strength of the Great Chu Empire, but rather by the inevitable result of the combination of the empire's resource advantages, geographical advantages, and financial advantages.

No one would have imagined that the Great Chu Empire was actually a beneficiary of the Russo-Japanese War. (End of Chapter)