Chapter 445： The Great Song of Britain

After nearly a month of intriguing wrangling, the new cabinet of the main war faction headed by Palmerston finally got rid of the constraints of the main party and the Russian faction, and with the secret support of Prince Albert, began to make great strides in the direction of centralization.

Palmerston is now more powerful than the last time he was prime minister, and London's public opinion circles have also erupted in a new round of climax after the establishment of the main war cabinet.

Under the double stimulation of the Romanian sponsor and some "foreign forces", the newspapers headed by "Morning Advertisement" began to shout the slogan of expanding the size of the British Army.

Once the slogan appeared, it quickly attracted widespread support from people from all walks of life and British Army officers.

As we all know, the British Army has fallen into the "curse" of layoffs and downsizing since the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. Especially in the era when the older generation of generals headed by Wellington gradually withered away, the British Army with sea power as the core has become an existence that does not love fathers and mothers. Apart from whiplashes, he basically couldn't get anything, and being a second-class soldier in the army was even more humiliating.

Volunteers who were once full of "patriotic" enthusiasm disappeared completely in the Napoleonic Wars, and were replaced by drunkards and vagabonds who were impoverished but unwilling to enter the factory. They were forced by the British army in various ways. Sexual means were brought into the troops, numbing them with alcohol and opium, and using leather whips to teach them obedience. In the mouths of British officers, you can only hear insulting words such as "pig" and "scum", and these "soldiers" who were recruited by force also have no sense of glory. Shameless, their lives have no other use than to die for the kingdom of Britain, (but who made them into such people?),

Even so, the total strength of the Kingdom of Britain is only in the early 100,000s, of which about 23,000 troops are scattered in India, 36,520 are scattered in other British colonies, and the remaining 44,980 are stationed in the mainland of Britain. (referring to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland).

Among the 44,000-strong team, there are nearly one-eighth of the officers. Most of them are children of nobles. They all imitate the way of the original Duke of Wellington, and the purpose of entering the army is to leave a young man who can Subsistence work.

After all, Britain strictly implements the primogeniture system. If the remaining children have no talent and are unwilling to join the army, the only way to go is the monastery.

This led to an average of 7 soldiers for every British officer, and what was even worse was that the military rank of this group of noble children was only a school rank.

Just imagine, a major commander 7 soldiers fighting, the scene is too spectacular.

And Britain not only has many officers at the rank of captains, but also many officers at the rank of generals. It is because of God's care for the British people that the generals in Britain generally have a long life span. It is not worth mentioning that the Duke of Wellington, who only died for a year, was only 70 years old. There are 13 officers over the age of 13, and 37 generals over the age of 60, not to mention the "little fresh meat" generals who are 40-60 years old, and they are almost over three figures.

The redundant one-stop service has been fully realized, and the current British military command system has completely shown a situation where powers intersect each other, and many do not know who should obey.

However, the situation of the Ministry of War government cannot be changed in any way, because those who can stay in the Ministry of War to eat imperial food are either generals with illustrious military exploits, or the children of a certain great noble.

A slight movement will pull out a series of personnel, and no noble dares to really break through the reforms.

It can only be accepted in full, which also leads to the annual military expenditure of this army of only 100,000 people reaching a terrifying 9.5 million pounds, which is 244.8 million francs in francs.

Such a huge expenditure situation can fully support the 400,000 army before France plus part of the navy.

Of course, 40,000 troops are simply not enough to support their grand strategic blueprint for those aristocratic children who are squatting in London and eager to "make a fortune".

Since Palmerston, the main battle against Russia, came to power, it meant that the war was about to begin.

How could the 40,000 troops left behind in Britain alone be an opponent with a large number of cheap Slavic livestock.

In order to steal and play tricks... No, for the Queen's glory, it is the real thing that the cabinet pays more money to expand the army.

In this way, under the fanatical advocacy of certain groups, Palmerston could only convene a (small) cabinet meeting first on whether the army should be expanded.

Participating in the meeting were the foreign secretary, the war secretary, and the finance minister, all of whom were involved in an important part of the proposal.

After the (minor) cabinet meeting began, Palmerston was first honoured that he was able to lead Britain again, followed by all sorts of drowsy touts of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, to the end of the speech It was Palmerston who really got to the point of the cabinet meeting.

"In terms of the current situation facing Britain, Britain should expand the number of troops. I hope everyone can speak freely! Thank you!" After speaking, Palmerston made an invitation gesture to the three ministers.

The first to respond was the Duke of Newcastle, the war secretary, "May I say a few words first?"

Whether it was Prime Minister Palmerston, Foreign Secretary Clarendon, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gladstone, they all cast curious glances at the Duke of Newcastle.

This duke, who has been serving as Minister of War since the beginning of Russell's cabinet, actually turned his temper to act as a first-timer? For a time, Palmerston and others speculated whether it was because some noble children behind the Duke of Newcastle joined together.

"Minister of Pelham (the full name of the current Duke of Newcastle is Henry Pelham Alexander Clinton), please say it!" Palmerston responded to the Duke of Newcastle with a harmonious smile.

"Cough...cough" The Duke of Newcastle cleared his throat, reorganized his language and said, "I think our country's army should indeed be expanded a little bit, and a team of only 40,000 people can't maintain the safety of the country at all!"

"It's the interests of the nobles behind you!" Palmerston couldn't help complaining in his heart, and asked Newcastle in a negotiating tone: "Then Minister Pelham, how many troops do you think Britain needs to maintain the security of the homeland!"

"According to my humble opinion, if you want to maintain the security of the homeland and guard against possible raids, you must at least retain an army of 150,000-200,000!" The Duke of Newcastle startled the three people present as soon as he spoke. Jump.

Especially the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gladstone, who at this time looked like someone who had constipation and couldn't get it out.

He didn't know what to say, to expand the British army to 150,000-200,000? Not to mention whether the current population of Britain can afford the mobilization brought about by the expansion, the military expenditure alone is not a small expenditure. to three times.

It is conceivable that if Newcastle's proposal is successful, the noble children will indeed get what they want, but the price will need to be borne by all Britons and the province.

Thinking of this, Gladstone immediately said loudly: "I object!"

Palmerston finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his finance minister speak out against it. If there was no objection in the small cabinet, it might really pass. The weight ratio of the upper house has obviously suppressed the lower house these years. Once submitted to the House of Lords, the consequences would be disastrous.

Gladstone's objection was considered a relief for Palmerston. Palmerston glanced at Gladstone gratefully: "Secretary Gladstone, what is your reason for objecting?"

Gladstone said to Palmerston with a stern face: "Britain's finances cannot afford huge military expenditures!"

"Impossible!" The Duke of Newcastle responded decisively to Gladstone: "According to Britain's existing expenditure, we can fully support an army of 150,000 to 200,000 people!"

"If we only pay attention to the army and don't pay attention to other aspects, Britain can indeed support such an army, but we can't just pay attention to the army and ignore other aspects!" Gladstone responded appropriately.

"I'm not saying that it has been maintained at around 150,000 to 200,000 people. We must ensure that we can quickly mobilize a combat-capable army during the war!" The Duke of Newcastle stepped back a little to the Glasder channel: " Then, 100,000 people can always do it!”

"100,000 people?" Gladstone once again estimated the soldier's annual cost and the income he generated Still shook his head and said: "100,000 people is still too much, it is just a A waste!"

"80,000! At least 80,000!" The Duke of Newcastle gritted his teeth as if he had made a great determination to discuss with Gladstone.

"8..." Gladstone was about to say something when he heard a knock on the door from outside.

Palmerston, who was in the middle of a small cabinet meeting, frowned slightly, then showed an apologetic smile and stood up and said, "Please wait!"

Palmerston walked to the door, opened the door, and the Prime Minister's (private) secretary appeared at the door.

At this time, he was looking at Palmerston in a panic, his mouth seemed to be on loan, and he said quickly: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, important information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!"

Palmerston took the information, looked at it carefully, and then took a deep breath, his face became even heavier.

"Okay! I get it!" Palmerston nodded to his secretary after collecting the information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then closed the door and said to everyone present in a heavy tone, "Everyone, I'm afraid we're going to be in big trouble!"