Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 584: Ironclad Battleships of the Royal Navy

Claude concluded his visit to the Pamigal National Republic on 11 August and returned to the shipbuilding base of the overseas autonomous Patres military port. The visit was very effective, and both the Overseas Autonomous Territories Assembly and the Autonomous Territories expressed great satisfaction with the results achieved. The deputy chairman of the Autonomous Council, Marshal Bolognick, led a group of deputies to Patres military port to welcome Claude back and expressed great appreciation for the economic cooperation agreement between the Overseas Autonomous Territories and the Pamigal National Republic...

Claude knew that most of the investment projects in this economic cooperation agreement between the Overseas Autonomous Territories and the Pamigal National Republic were in the hands of the family businesses and private joint-stock industries of these parliamentarians, and that every gold krone they invested in the Pamigal National Republic would yield more than dozens of gold kroner in the future, which is why they would come here to greet themselves with joy.

Claude, of course, also lacks the benefits, and his share is unforgettable. Instead, General Boquer, who accompanied him on a mission, obtained an exclusive license for the bison dealership for that type of Zhuangyang medicine wine. That is, only a buffalo dealer, which Claude shares with Boquer's father, has the right to sell the Pamigal-made Zhuangyang liquor in the Overseas Autonomous Territories, believing that the unique effect of this liquor will bring Claude countless gold coins...

Compared to the economic cooperation agreement, Claude attaches more importance to the military cooperation agreement between the Autonomous Military Region and the Pamigal National Republic, the effect of which is so obvious that all the colonial Powers of the West Coast do not have any interest in the Pamigal National Republic, while also measuring whether their own country has the strength to provoke the Autonomous Military Region behind the Pamigals. Claude's massive visit had made it clear that the autonomous collar was the mountain relationship behind the Pamigals, but had instead added a layer of concern to those colonial Powers and had dared not provoke war easily.

The Port Filims lease agreement furthered the impression of those colonial Powers on the West Coast that the Overseas Autonomous Territories had formed a de facto military alliance with the Pamigal National Republic. In such circumstances, an invasion or attack on the Pamigal National Republic would be tantamount to a challenge to the dignity of the overseas autonomous territories, which could easily justify joining the war.

In the eyes of those colonial Powers on the West Coast, three indigenous peoples were rioting colonies, the only one of value being the Pamigal National Republic, which had been established independently. And the land occupied by the Russman League of Chiefs, the desert and the wilderness, is huge but of little development value. Not to mention that the Russman nomadic tribes in this colony are currently killing each other, simply because of their geographical location between the Overseas Autonomous Territories and the Pamigal republics, which has led those colonial countries to renounce their intention to seize the colony.

The colony of the Principality of Vasilik, which is more complex, is a hilly mountainous area where two indigenous peoples, the Skolo and the Gistad, are killing each other in the wild rather than rioting, rather than waging a war of extermination against each other. The Principality of Vassilico, which exhausted its energy in two expedition wars, has now decided to abandon the colony and is silently withdrawing its immigrants...

The colonial forces of the Union of the States of the City of Opsaro, originally called for by the colonial authorities of the Principality of Vasilik, entered the colony and occupied only a few coastal seaports and towns, where they did not dare to march inland or withdraw. Looks like they're trying to annex this colony without the courage to be caught in a war between those two indigenous peoples...

So the three most beautiful and delicious colonies that appear to be the Pamigal lands, although they have been established independently, have not been recognized by a single West Coast colonial Power. But now that the Overseas Autonomous Territories and the Pamigal National Republic are standing together, all the West Coast colonial Powers who have taken the Pamigal idea need to think carefully about whether it's worth it to catch a rabbit and piss off the elephant behind it...

Without the idea of the Pamigal National Republic, the only remaining colony in the Kingdom of Riznia, which has little capacity for self-preservation at the moment, would be the best target. The colonies of the Kingdom of Cameron and the Principality of Leriolo had once again turned their attention to the territory sandwiched between their two colonies, although they were equally at risk of a maritime blockade and declaration of war by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Fox Islands and were afraid to make an easy decision.

Claude, who returned to Langhu City, was once again busy, and in the last days of his visit to the Pamigal National Republic, Claude visited the volunteer corps stationed there in the Autonomous Territory. Although two divisions of General Bitchcline's Rock Corps and local armed veterans formed the volunteer corps known as the Overseas Autonomous Territories Civil Veterans Assistance to the Pamigals, Claude found it difficult to be optimistic after visiting this volunteer corps...

The divisions of the two Rock Legions were better off as a result of the rotation strategy implemented by General Bitchklin, but the majority of the armed veterans in those areas decided to leave the Voluntary Legion and remain in the Pamigal National Republic instead of returning to life in the Overseas Autonomous Territories. The reason is simple: you can stay here and marry two Pamigal women, and after ending the war with the Expeditionary Army of the three colonial Powers, six months of rest and recuperation allowed the veterans of these volunteer regiments to find themselves close to the site...

The Pamigal National Republic is pleased with this situation, and even some of the successful veterans of the battlefield have received the commitment of the Pamigal military to continue their military journeys by leaving the voluntary corps with a mid-level officer in the newly formed Standing Army of the Republic. Claude had no choice but to be willing, and now that the veterans had decided to stay here, he had no way of stopping them.

Only then did Claude discover that, apart from the two rotating division generals of the Rock Corps, the remaining two division veterans, most of whom would remain in the Pamigal National Republic except for a small part who decided to return home. At the very least, it's convenient to find a wife here and marry two wives. This is a welfare treatment that the Autonomous Region cannot afford...

In short, this volunteer corps has been abolished, and upon the return of the divisions of the two Rock Corps to the Overseas Autonomous Territories, the Volunteer Corps will no longer be able to retain this structure, which amounts to the development of a large number of military personnel with operational experience in the Autonomous Territories for the Pamigal National Republic. This made Claude start to worry that when the Legion of Thunder arrived, he would be seduced by the Pamigals by the same means as a bunch of generals...

By the end of September, the Autonomous Navy's ocean convoy had again transported more than 400,000 Hicks military immigrants, which had been completed for the fourth time in the Holy Lights calendar of 606. However, more than a million members of the military forces gathered in the Kingdom of Breot on loan to the autonomous military region of Port Patcala, as well as the Legion of Thunder and the eight Hicks Return Regiments, are expected to need to be transported at least four more times to complete the migration mission.

With the absorption of this group of Hicks military immigrants by the Overseas Autonomous Territories, which totalled nearly 3.8 million military immigrants from the Kingdom of Hicks, the total population would reach around 11 million, with a palpable demographic pass. This will allow for the development and exploitation of one third of the territory of the overseas self-governing territories, without leaving the towns where the immigrants are gathered and looking around in a deserted landscape.

General Muried came to the headquarters of the Autonomous Leadership Zone in Langhu City on the occasion of a brief inspection renovation of all ocean transport vessels, entangling Claude's request that the Zone allocate funds for the construction of four-generation Ironclad warships and decommissioning all second-generation Ironclad warships. Looking at the shipbuilding reports submitted by the Navy, Claude did not hesitate to reject General Muried's application for shipbuilding at first sight, when he saw the final amount requested for the shipbuilding.

Just kidding. Where did the Autonomous Territory get a 20 million kroner sum for the Navy to build the fourth generation of Ironclad warships? And now the higher the technical content, the more expensive, Claude remembers that the first generation of Ironclad warships cost no more than 50,000 gold kroner, the second generation of Ironclad warships cost nearly 100,000, and the third generation of Ironclad destroyers cost more than 150,000 gold kroner, Ironclad cruisers are a 220,000 gold kroner quote, only Ironclad carriers are the cheapest, and one is nearly 100,000 gold kroner.

As for the fourth generation of experimental Ironclad, which Master Byrd now manufactures, the cost is close to 350,000 gold kroner. Though large-scale construction will leverage some costs, it's not that exaggerated a few hundred thousand less, and it would be nice to reduce the construction cost by 34,000 gold kroner. General Muried submitted a request for funding for the construction of a fourth generation Ironclad warship, amounting to 20 million gold kroner, which is clearly intended to eliminate the third generation of Ironclad warships as well...

Today, when the first and second generation of Ironclad warships can be wrapped in invincibility, Claude would be out of his mind to approve this naval shipbuilding application. After denouncing General Muried, General Muried presented a piece of evidence, and Claude was shocked and rushed to summon General Fordless, the head of the Military Intelligence Department, who told Claude that the Military Intelligence Department was unaware of the situation, as no intelligence investigation against the Royal Navy had been deployed in the military region...

The evidence presented by General Muried is precisely information about the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Ovieras, where Claude travelled to White Deer City, the mainland of the Kingdom, before carrying out the strategic plan of the Kingdom of Hicks, handing over sixteen Ironclad warships to the Royal Navy and completing arms deals in the Autonomous Territory and the Kingdom. Then the Autonomous Territory did not pay attention to the movement of the Royal Navy's sixteen Ironclad warships. They all phased out the refurbished goods. They could deal with wind and sail wooden warships, but the Ironclad warships of the Autonomous Navy were not of a class.

Only General Muried, as governor of the autonomous navy, has been following the intelligence of the Royal Navy. Of course, this has something to do with General Muried's perception of the Royal Navy as an imaginary enemy. Moreover, the Royal Navy is equipped with sixteen Ironclad warships, even if they are the first generation of obsolescence, which is harder to deal with than the wind and sail fleets of other navies.

But nobody expected the Royal Navy to carry out such a fussy operation on these 16 Ironclad warships, 16 Ironclad warships, and three Ironclad warships were pulled to the dock from the beginning to rip open their bellies as research samples, and were reprogrammed for various tests. Destroyers, cruisers and transporters in each of these three Ironclad warships have also earned the Royal Navy money.

After a year of research, the kingdom began to emulate these marine dynamics, only from scratch to the difficulties posed to the kingdom's technical experts, and the work of emulating Ironclad warships was difficult without anyone pointing to samples alone.

According to a technical expert who was bought by the Autonomous Navy, the Royal family of Sterling deliberately appropriated five million gold kroner to imitate the Ironclad Battleship, but the money seemed to run out, and there was still little progress on the imitation mission...

In order to fool the Minister of Chinchilla, whom His Majesty the King sent to patrol, the Royal Navy built a huge battleship with an iron shell, and then dismantled two iron armor destroyers, carrying the ship's power from the two iron armor destroyers onto the empty iron shell ship to drive the iron shell ship. Their response plan succeeded. Minister Qin Chao, who came down for a tour, did not understand at all. Seeing that the huge Iron Shell battleship built by the Kingdom itself could be sailed at sea, he thought the counterfeiting was successful. He reported with joy that the counterfeiting was progressing well...

His Majesty then reallocated an enormous sum of five million gold kroner to build an iron armored fleet no less than that of the Overseas Autonomous Territories. It was just that the Royal Navy was waxed on its side, and no one expected His Majesty to be so sincere that there was no other way but to continue to make fools of it, to continue to build huge Iron Shell battleships, and to order a bunch of boat power from the Overseas Autonomous Territories. Since the mainland side of the kingdom is a decommissioned generation of marine power, the Autonomous Territory's mechanical power plant also took this order.

As a result, the five million gold kroner shipbuilding funds of the Royal Navy were quickly spent. In order to cope with the royal inquiry, the Royal Navy launched the idea of the remaining 11 Ironclad warships, scrapped the five Ironclad warships and sold them to other coastal countries at high prices for various reasons, including sinking the reef, training accidents and storm attacks. The funds of the million gold kroner that could continue to be developed were collected.

General Muried received information that the United Kingdom of the Fox Islands had purchased two Ironclad warships at a high price of over KK 400,000. There are also three other coastal States that have purchased the remaining three Ironclad warships, all acting as agents, so the Royal Navy technician who was bought by the Autonomous Navy did not find out the names of those three coastal States...

This was all happening in the second half of last year, when General Muried argued that other coastal States invested more money in the development of Ironclad warships and that technicians were more professional than the Royal Navy in the Kingdom itself. He believed that in the second half of the year or next year, the four coastal States that had acquired Ironclad would make significant progress and would likely develop their own Ironclad warships, thus posing a threat to the Ironclad fleet of the Autonomous Navy.

So General Muried, on behalf of the Navy, hopes to eliminate all second-generation Ironclad warships and replace them with fourth-generation Ironclad warships. This will create a generational advantage over the future enemy's Ironclad fleet and will still crush them at sea...

General Fordless, the head of the Military Intelligence Department, expressed his doubts about the information submitted by General Muried, who personally believed that it was impossible for the Royal Navy to carry out such an operation. But Claude told him that the information submitted by General Muried was most likely true, because last year the Speaker of the Autonomous Council, Bennett, received several protests from the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, the Marquis Blancatte, that the Ironclad deal between the Autonomous Territory and the Royal Navy existed with many good deceptions, several Ironclad warships suffered training accidents and sea catastrophes sunk or scrapped...

Speaker Bennett did not take these protests seriously, but rather blamed the Royal Navy for improper operation and bad luck. Later, he told Claude these as jokes, and nobody took Prime Minister Blanchard's protest seriously. Anyway, the deal is done, and what happened to the Royal Navy can only be blamed for their own bad luck.

Only now, taken together, the Royal Navy is very suspicious, and they do have the possibility to do so. General Fordless doubted that the Royal Navy had the audacity to deceive him, and Claude could only laugh and tell him that, in keeping with the Royal Navy's traditional integrity, he believed that half of the tens of millions of gold kroner allocated by His Majesty on two occasions could be implemented to replicate the Ironclad.

Most of the appropriations are either misappropriated or embezzled, which is a traditional bureaucratic practice of the Royal Navy. Now the Royal Navy does not have a fast way to earn money. They can only focus on these appropriations. In any case, there is a financial strain. No one is willing to throw up the benefits again. So the Royal Navy was forced to end up with the idea of an Ironclad battleship, which was inevitable.

Claude has given General Fordless a new assignment to find out in the shortest possible time all the secrets that have occurred in the Royal Navy. As for General Muried, Claude gave him a hard beating. Can the Autonomous Navy not defeat new enemies without the advantages of generations? The enemy only got the first generation of Ironclad warships. What's the rush? The second generation of Ironclad warships can handle the first generation of Ironclad warships. You know what I mean...

Finally, the Navy's shipbuilding application report was thrown into the trash by Claude, who said very seriously to General Muriel that there were no major shipbuilding plans in the autonomous military region in the coming years. Each of the four major shipyards at the Patrez Military Port Shipbuilding Base leaves only one military dock and can only build four additional warships a year for the Autonomous Territory Navy. In the case of the fourth generation of Ironclad warships, it is likely that the third generation of Ironclad warships can only be built because the cost is too high and the Autonomous Territory cannot afford it.

General Muried finally went back frustrated...