Seven Seas Beacon Fire

Therefore, Leonard had no reason to sell the ship to another country; the ship was something the Bharat Navy had its eye on.

Of these four battleships, two Bavaria-class battleships were the core of the Victorian Empire's plan to arm the Bharat Navy, and were sold to the Bharat Navy for one pound. After all, if the Bharat Navy didn't have two truly formidable adversaries in the future, these Indians could still run rampant in Bharat for several more days, given their temperament.

It is said that the admiral of the Bharat Navy was immediately captivated upon seeing the Agincourt; the seven main gun turrets were indeed quite unique in design and appeared extremely powerful.

Of course, the main side armor belt of this dreadnought was only eight inches (203 mm) thick, and the armor of the turrets and gun mounts was only nine inches thick...

There are capable people in the Bharat Navy. Admiral Spanga obviously does not have the ability and qualities to truly command a fleet. However, the current deputy commander of the Bharat Navy is a former Victorian Royal Navy officer with one-quarter Bharat blood, selected by the Royal Navy.

When the Barat Navy learned that they could purchase Bavaria-class battleships for one pound per ship, they also received a special low-interest loan from the Victorian Empire, which included a list of all warships currently available for sale by the Victorian Royal Navy.

Under these circumstances, one of the few truly high-ranking officers in the Bharat Navy, Vice Admiral Sanjav, who had one-quarter Bharat blood, selected these two ships from this roster.

Lieutenant General Sanjav certainly didn't take bribes; he had a perfectly good reason for choosing these two battleships—they were cheap!

£75 for a ship, two ships together for only £150 million. At the beginning of this century, this price could only buy a pre-dreadnought from the Victorian Empire, but now, it can buy two ships directly!

Don't worry about whether the performance of these first batch of dreadnoughts is good or not now, and don't worry about whether the Agincourt battleship will become a firework in the future. At such a cheap price, what more could you want?

Although some Bharat officials, who had lost their minds, thought they should take this opportunity to buy more ships, the majority of Bharat people were still sensible. Maintaining four battleships was already a huge burden for a country like Bharat that did not treat its people as human beings. If they wanted to build new ships, they would really be powerless.

At this moment, Spanga, who was giving a passionate speech on stage, entered the final stage. After reiterating the friendship between the two countries countless times, he waved his hand and pointed to the four capital ships lying still on the dock: "...Here, I will bestow upon these battleships, which represent the supreme friendship between our country and yours, a brand new name—"

The battleship formerly known as Sachsen was renamed the battleship 'Virat'.

The battleship formerly known as the Württemberg was renamed the battleship Vishnu.

The battleship formerly known as HMS Agincourt was renamed HMS Agni.

The former Vanguard battleship was renamed the Ganesh battleship.

The Bharat Federal Navy will set sail from here starting today!

Chapter 249 Torturing the Enemy is Torturing Yourself Even More (2)

Although the two Bavarian battleships sold by the British Empire to the Balatian Federation cost only £2 each, and the two dreadnoughts together cost only £150 million, the total price of all the ships was the same as the discounted price paid after the war for the Admiral Torrae battleship, which Chile ordered before the war and was requisitioned by the British Empire during the war.

This super-dreadnought originally cost a whopping £300 million, but after being requisitioned by the Victorian Empire, it was resold to Chile after the war, described as "99% new for His Majesty's personal use," at a 1% discount. This was already a significant discount, but it seemed worlds apart from the discounts enjoyed by the Bharat Federation Navy.

However, the Victorian Empire was no saint. All gifts came with a price tag in the first place. After Spanga enthusiastically completed the handover and renaming ceremony of the warships, the equally excited soldiers of the Bharat Navy were told that they could not yet board these warships, which theoretically belonged to the Bharat Navy.

This move naturally provoked strong dissatisfaction among many officers and sailors of the Bharat Navy. Although the ships were being sold at a very favorable price, these officers and sailors could not intuitively understand just how favorable the price was. In their eyes, battleships priced at 300 million pounds and 75 pounds were astronomical prices that were out of reach. In their minds, they had already paid for these ships, and they were being told, "I've already paid and completed the formalities, why won't you let me board these ships?"

Are you Victorians going to use the same tricks you used on the Ottomans on us again?

Even Spanga, a self-proclaimed "spiritual Victorian," felt that the Royal Victorian Navy's actions were going too far.

"I know that the naval officers and soldiers we've selected aren't qualified enough to directly operate these giant ships, but isn't it a bit... inappropriate to not even let our people board the ships?"

Spanga had intended to loudly rebuke the Victorians, but when his gaze met Betty's expression, the slightly harsh words he was about to utter softened. David Betty was hailed as a bull-like man in the Royal Navy, a true tough guy and a hard-bone who had rolled through the front lines of the elite squads from Dogger Sands to Skaderac.

Back when the ammunition depot on the battlecruiser HMS Lion was almost blown up by the battlecruiser HMS Derfflinger of the Leitanian High Seas Fleet, he always managed to remain calm and composed even in the face of a collapsing mountain. Not to mention now, he only needed a glance to shut Spanga up.

"General Spanga, we are doing this for the sake of your navy. The 2000-plus officers and soldiers your country has selected are only enough for two capital ships. Nearly half of them have no prior experience serving on any warship. They were just ordinary seamen before. The complexity of modern battleships is beyond your imagination. It's not as simple as starting the boilers and having a few helmsmen to set them on board. They must undergo training before they are allowed to board these large ships. At the very least, I have to ensure that they won't install the shell fuses backwards or set the ship on fire while cooking, right?"

Betty probably never imagined that the absurd reasons he made up for Spanga today would be successfully replicated by the Bharat Navy in the future.

After the handover ceremony at the dock, more than 2000 officers and men of the Bharat Navy were assigned to several Edward VII-class and Duncan-class battleships.

Among these aging pre-dreadnought battleships, several Edward VII-class battleships had a displacement of over 15,000 tons and were equipped with two twin-mounted 12-inch (305mm) guns, four single-mounted 9.2-inch (234mm) guns, and ten 6-inch (152mm) guns. They were originally scheduled to be decommissioned next year. The Duncan-class battleships, which were smaller in displacement, were not equipped with 9.2-inch guns. In fact, these Duncan-class battleships were decommissioned at the end of last year.

However, these ships are now used to train the officers and soldiers of the Bharat Navy, allowing them to get in touch with real battleships, practice operating large-caliber naval guns, and steer warships of more than 10,000 tons.

Of course, some sailors were fortunate enough to train on newer, active-duty light cruisers. These were basically future boiler crewmen. After all, you can't expect these boiler crewmen to operate reciprocating triple-expansion steam engines on forward positions and then go back and serve the steam turbines on several battleships, can you? They should at least serve real steam turbines, right?

When Spanga realized that the Victorians were genuinely sincere in helping them develop their navy, the slight resistance he had felt vanished instantly. After having a couple of drinks with several officers of the Victorian Royal Navy at the officers' club, their relationship was almost on par with that of brothers.

However, after sobering up the next day, Spanga received a new bill, and his eyes widened as soon as he glanced at the zero on the bill.

"I don't remember drinking that much yesterday. Did I somehow destroy a cruiser while drunk?"

Spanga looked at the numbers on the bill in his hand; the money was enough to buy a light cruiser.

“Please take another look. These are the upgrade costs for two Bavarian—oh, now we should call them the Virat-class battleships.” The officials from the Victorian Admiralty and Foreign Ministry maintained the usual elegance of British gentlemen.

"Upgrade cost?" Spanga thought of those two one-pound battleships. Good heavens, were they waiting for me here?!

After carefully listening to the introduction, Spanga decided to sell the two Bavarian-class battleships for one pound each. The reason for choosing the third and fourth ships out of the four Bavarian-class battleships was that these two ships had not actually completed all the construction work. Although the power system and firepower system had been installed, the interior decoration had not been done, and the original fire control system of the Kingdom of Letania also had some minor problems. Moreover, given the current chaotic situation in Letania, there was probably no proper after-sales service to solve the problem.

Of course, these are minor issues; the Victorian British Empire had a complete solution!

First and foremost is the fire control system. The Great Victoria's fire control technology was the best in the world! Before this great war broke out, the Victorian Empire's fire control technology was unparalleled in the world! The Letanian Empire and the pre-war Ming Empire could only be considered second-rate, while the likes of the Gallic Kingdom and the Syracuse Kingdom were not even second-rate!

Do you even understand the value of having Polon on my left and Dreil on my right?

The upgrade program offered by the Royal Navy Victoria will equip these two Leitanian battleships with Victoria's fire control systems. In particular, taking into account the future skill level of the officers and crew of the Barat Navy, the Drell fire control console, which is more user-friendly for beginners, has been chosen, requiring only a small additional expense.

Of course, taking into consideration that the Virat Federation was newly established, these upgrade costs do not need to be paid for with precious metals provided by the Bharat Federation like the two dreadnoughts. Instead, the Bharat Federation only needs to grant some of the privileges to some of Victoria's enterprises, and then the entire set of modification plans can be offset by this.

You little brat! You think I can't control you now that you're independent?

However, while the Victorian Empire's high command had already laid out all their plans, the Royal Navy, responsible for training these Bharat sailors, was already complaining bitterly.

Over the past 100 years, the Victorian Empire has supported many countries, helped them build their modern navies, sent instructors to many countries, and thereby infiltrated and influenced these countries in all aspects of military and political affairs.

But the Victorians never imagined that their top-notch "naval educators" would encounter a group of "uncivilized monkeys."

It was one thing for the Viraat sailors to be slow to learn new things—the Victorians were known for their slow learning, and the Ottomans were also slow learners—but the problem with the Viraat sailors wasn't just their slowness in accepting new information. Sometimes, when faced with something they had been taught many times but still couldn't understand, they wouldn't ask their instructors; instead, they would rely on their "thinking power."

The propellant won't go into the breech? Try poking it in with a stick; (luckily, propellant for a 4-inch cannon can't be put into the breech of a 12-pounder no matter what).

Do I need to add fuel to the torpedo? I'm thinking both kerosene and gasoline can burn, so adding them in should be about right;

What do you mean these bearings need regular maintenance? I thought they'd been used like this ever since they left the factory. Wait a minute, what kind of grease do you use for lubrication?

Moreover, after some time, the Royal Navy of Victoria discovered that these Bharat sailors had various problems not only in operating the warships.

One day, during roll call aboard the battleship HMS Edward VII, it was discovered that a Royal Victorian sailor was missing.

The loss of a person on a warship is a very serious matter, because the missing person may have accidentally fallen into the water, especially in high-latitude waters where a slightly longer period of time in the water could lead to death. Therefore, the battleship HMS Edward VII quickly notified the other ships in the vicinity of the ship, and the ships that were conducting exercises at sea began to search repeatedly at sea.

However, this sailor's post was in the engine room, and he wouldn't come to the deck during training. Other sailors with access to the deck also said they hadn't seen him come to the deck, so it was ultimately suspected that the sailor was still somewhere on the ship.

After repeated searches, the poor sailor was finally found in a storage compartment at the bottom of the HMS Edward VII's ship. When he was found, his hands and feet were tied and his mouth was stuffed with something. He was lying on his side with his buttocks sticking up. After the stuff was removed from his mouth, he burst into uncontrollable sobs.

He was raped by a sailor from Barat.

Soon the instigators were arrested, and the Bharat sailors, after being captured, confessed to a shocking scandal—they thought that the Victoria sailor was also a prostitute, but when they experienced her kindness, they realized that the path they had taken for granted was a bit narrow, and they realized that they had mistaken her for someone else. At this point, they had no choice but to tie her up and hide her in the bottom of the cabin, and they still hadn't figured out what to do with her until they were caught.

The Victorian Empire officials in charge of the investigation were furious. What do you mean you think that Victorian sailor was a prostitute? What do you take the Royal Navy for? You're here at the Royal Navy to learn, not to visit brothels!

But the details these London-born young men learned next shocked them. Further investigation revealed that what the Bharat sailors said was true; they had indeed mistaken the Victoria sailor for someone else, and that person did indeed engage in prostitution.

Even more outrageous, further investigation revealed that this behavior was not an isolated case. Since the end of the last century, the Royal Victoria Navy has been engaged in a naval arms race with the Ursus Empire and the Kingdom of Gaul, and later with the Leitanian Empire. It can be said that the shipbuilding race has never stopped.

The navy invested a large amount of its funds in building massive steel warships, leaving the officers and sailors with little choice but to endure hardship. This resulted in these sailors having to find other part-time jobs to earn enough to support themselves and their families. In the Victorian Empire, known as the "British Country," some of the more attractive sailors naturally turned to prostitution.

Moreover, because it's a quick way to make money, it's not uncommon for low-ranking sailors to do this job!

The Royal Navy of Victoria was initially furious about the actions of the sailors in the Barratt incident and was prepared to give Barratt a good talking-to. However, the investigation turned out to be much bigger and bigger, and the more knowledgeable Downing Street quickly called off the Navy's investigation.

Some things are better left uninvestigated; what if they turn out to be something suspicious? You see!

After the matter was temporarily brought to a close, First Sea Lord Beatty of the Royal Navy looked at the statistics on various accidents, large and small, that had occurred among the Bharat sailors during their training over the past period, and covered his eyes in anguish.

God, are we toiling away doing all this just to torment the Tang Empire, or are we tormenting ourselves?

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PS: The above plot is not something I made up or fabricated. The treatment of British sailors had a long history in that era. Compared to the fictional Victorian British Empire in the book, the problem in the real British Empire was even more serious in this regard.

Fisher's reforms in the Royal Navy were not limited to military matters. He wielded a heavy hand against the outward appearance of a large number of old ships in the Royal Navy, and in fact, he also tackled many other problems within the Royal Navy that could not be examined in detail.

However, Fisher's original intention in doing all this was certainly not to improve the treatment of the lower-ranking officers and soldiers. His original intention was to concentrate the limited funds on building a more efficient navy. So in fact... it did not solve many of the problems of the officers and soldiers.

However, for the British Navy now, the treatment of sailors is much better than before. After all, the British commissioners, including Wallace, have realized that it is much faster to take action directly on the Royal Navy's warships than to try to squeeze money out of the soldiers.

Chapter 250 Everyone is learning to exploit loopholes

The news that the Bharat Federation had acquired four capital ships from the Victorian Empire quickly spread around the world. Such large-scale transactions involving large surface warships were already eye-catching, let alone the fact that a newly independent country was purchasing four ships at once.

而且维多利亚皇家海军对巴拉特联邦海军的扶持并不仅限在这四条战列舰上，维多利亚皇家海军还将原本莱塔尼亚第二帝国公海舰队投降的其他非主力舰当中，以几乎扶贫办的优惠价格，把包括4艘轻巡洋舰、6艘大型驱逐舰（千吨级以上）、6艘小型驱逐舰、3艘炮舰、四艘扫雷舰以及多达20条鱼雷艇、13艘巡逻艇和22艘摩托艇。

This essentially set up the framework of the Bharat Navy all at once. Of course, compared to the four large-scale battleships, these were at most second-class ships in the navy, and most of them were just small things that seemed rather insignificant at this time.

After all, no one is a fool. There are no free lunches in this world. Surely the British Victorian Empire can't wait until the Barat Federation becomes independent before thinking about the great kindness it has done for the people of the South Asian subcontinent over the years and wanting to compensate them through the navy, right?

However, those who know a little about the inside story know that the Victorian Empire was not deliberately hiding anything this time. They basically transferred all the ships of the Second Leitanian Empire's High Seas Fleet that they had been assigned to to the Barat Navy. This directly resulted in the Barat Navy, although it was built by the Victorian Empire, giving people a strong Leitanian feel.

The reason only four cruisers were provided was that the vast majority of the resources the Leitanian Empire used to build its high seas fleet were devoted to capital ships. For a long time, the number of light cruisers in the high seas fleet was even less than the number of capital ships. By the end of the war, after deducting those damaged in battle and those scuttled, only nine light cruisers were left intact.

Compared to the capital ships, which require longer training periods, these cruisers, destroyers, and smaller vessels arrived in the newly formed Bharat Federation much earlier. The first president of the Bharat Federation, Singh, welcomed the first batch of warships to arrive at the dock.

As the founding president of the Bharat Federation, which was supported by the Victorian Empire at the end of its colonial rule, Singh knew very well that his prestige and reputation in Bharat were no match for that of Gortai, the leader of the non-cooperation movement. If it were a normal election, he would definitely not have become the president of Bharat. Even now that he has taken this position with the support of the Victorian Empire, Gortai is still a shadow he cannot escape.

After all, Goltayq is not an ordinary person without a background. He is the son of the prime minister of Bharat and came to Victoria to study when he was 19 years old. He has knowledge, ability, reputation and family background.

If Singh wants to secure his position as Commander-in-Chief of Barat, he must excel in other areas, and the navy is Singh's top priority.

For over a century, the development of the navy has been an effective means of fostering national pride and confidence and enhancing national cohesion. After all, without a strong nation, there can be no strong navy.

Photos of Singh welcoming several cruisers at the dock quickly appeared in newspapers in many countries, along with the battleship "Virat" which was conducting training in the waters around the Victorian Empire.

A Gaulish newspaper reported on this as, "The world's fastest-growing naval power is becoming familiar with how to operate warships."

The Gauls' sour grapes are evident in the headline of this report. After all, the most powerful battleships the Gauls currently possess are the Normandy-class battleships, which are inferior to the Bavarian-class battleships not only in terms of tonnage and armor, but also in terms of firepower. It's hard to say whether the 12 340mm guns are as powerful as the 8 380mm guns.

Meanwhile, the next generation of Gallic battleships, the Lyon-class, still had not made any breakthroughs in artillery. Before the outbreak of the war, the Gauls believed that 340mm guns were sufficient, and that future capital ships would only need to increase the number of gun barrels. Therefore, they terminated the development plan for larger caliber guns. They did not spend money then, and now that the war was over, when no one wanted to spend money, it was even less likely that they would allocate a large amount of funds to develop new large-caliber naval guns.

So although the Lyon-class battleships on the blueprints also had the idea of ​​being fitted with four twin 16-inch guns, the Lyon-class battleships that were ultimately built still used the same quadruple 340mm guns as the Normandy-class battleships. The only difference was that before the construction of the Lyon-class battleships began, the Gauls finally thought of expanding the length of their domestic shipyards' dry docks. This allowed the Lyon-class battleships to break through the previous length restrictions of the Gallic battleships, increasing in length by 17.5 meters compared to the Normandy-class battleships, reaching a total length of 193.5 meters.

However, by the time the Lyon-class battleships began construction, even the Gauls themselves realized how naive their earlier idea of ​​a decisive battle at 10,000 meters had been. Therefore, the Lyon-class battleships no longer limited their gun elevation to 12 degrees. This successfully freed up the battleship's firing range, but in longer-range gun battles, the sheer number of guns was still crucial. Could twelve 340mm guns achieve the same effectiveness as eight 380mm guns?

These answers are all unknowns. Therefore, the Gallic Navy has long coveted the most advanced Bavarian-class battleships of the Leitanian Empire. In the end, not only did they fail to get their hands on them, but you damned Victorians actually handed over such a dream ship to the Baratians.

The Gauls felt a pang of heartache as they watched their beloved goddess being given to goblins.

Compared to the newspapers of the people of the blast furnace region, the newspapers in the East were rather indifferent to this matter. Some readers, after seeing reports on this topic, would subconsciously pause for a moment, and then curiously ask the people around them, "Where is the country of Bharat?"

However, in contrast to the rather lukewarm public opinion, the acquisition of these four battleships by the Balat Navy has sparked a terrible argument and even internal brawls within the Tang Dynasty's imperial court.

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"Previously, the Crown Prince presided over the court assemblies. Today, I am finally reunited with you all after a long absence." The "Restored Emperor," who had been traveling for a long time, finally returned to Yingtian Prefecture. On the throne surrounded by sandalwood incense, Li Zongdi casually turned his jade thumb ring, completely ignoring the twitching lips of several former officials.

These elderly ministers with their goatees found it difficult to accept the new emperor's mannerisms. While it was harmless to address the crown prince and grandson as "I" in private, it was unacceptable in this solemn and dignified court assembly...

Well, it's already pretty good. At least now he knows he should come back and finish the meetings he needs to attend. If His Majesty the Emperor could spend less time on his troops and more time on "governing the country," that would be wonderful.

Of course, in the eyes of these old ministers, "governing the country" meant that His Majesty the Emperor stayed in the Forbidden City every day, did not run around, and governed by virtue of his inaction. That would make him the best emperor in the world.

Minister of Works Wang Maoxiu ultimately swallowed back the words of advice he wanted to offer. After all, it was already a rare privilege for this emperor, who was on horseback, to return from the military camp to govern. If he could spare some time from training troops to focus on governing the country, he should be grateful.

"The ink is barely dry on the agreements with the Allied powers, and the naval conference proposed by Victoria hasn't even convened yet, and someone's already rushing to resort to underhanded tactics." The Emperor suddenly slammed his hand on the gilded armrest, making it vibrate loudly. "Four capital ships! Has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a formal protest with the Lia Empire?"

"Your Majesty, we have sent three diplomatic notes. However, according to a secret report from our envoy in Europe, the Victorian Empire claims that their warship trade with the Kingdom of Bharat is a normal arms deal, and that the Bharat Federation is now an independent country, so they claim that our protest is directed at the wrong party."

"Wolf-like ambitions!" The Minister of War suddenly stepped forward, his black official robe sweeping across the shadow cast by the dragon pillar: "The British Empire's actions are clearly an attempt to evade the constraints of the treaty. Since they can do it once, we'll do it fifteenth! This old minister believes we can also arm Silla or..."

"Ridiculous!" someone exclaimed after hearing the Minister of War's words. "To try and gain a temporary advantage over the Victorians in this matter by doing something so petty and ultimately detrimental is the worst possible strategy!"

Hearing his own work described as a terrible solution, a barely perceptible hint of displeasure flashed in the Minister's eyes. These young people today, while possessing considerable personal abilities, are truly lacking in social skills...

The officials in their purple robes fell silent, as if trembling with fear. Only the tapping sound of the emperor's knuckles on the dragon throne echoed among the beams and pillars. The official's words had indeed hit the nail on the head.

Could the Tang Dynasty have played the same tricks as the Victorian British Empire? Theoretically, yes, but in reality, it would have only created trouble for itself. It would have been a classic case of picking up sesame seeds while losing a watermelon. But what are sesame seeds? And what is a watermelon?

Both Lee Cheol and Lee In-chi were attending the court assembly. When Lee Cheol heard that the Minister of War was actually planning to follow the methods of the Victorian British Empire to provide aid to the Kingdom of Silla or some other country, he knew that this Minister, who came from a military background, was thinking too simply.

From a purely cost-conscious perspective, the Tang Dynasty navy could not possibly retain all its capital ships in the future. Therefore, following the example of the Victorian British Empire, it was entirely feasible to take a few of the older battleships and distribute them to countries with good relations and close ties with the Tang Dynasty.

However, the reason why the Bharat Federation can support four capital ships is because the Bharat Federation is the only independent country in the South Asian subcontinent. With so many people and resources combined, Bharat can say that it will be able to support these battleships in the future.

As for the surrounding states of Tang Dynasty, could Silla, in its current state, afford to maintain its capital ships? Even if you gave them away for free, Silla probably wouldn't want them. The Yanping navy has already merged with the Tang navy; you can't just let Yanping become independent again to exploit a loophole in the treaty, can you?

“Your Majesty,” Li Che stepped forward when the debate among the ministers in the court had subsided slightly, “the methods used by the Victorian British Empire to exploit loopholes are not very suitable for us. I think we should now focus on the movements of the United States of Colombia.”

Li Che's words were a wake-up call. He was right; whether the Tang Dynasty could emulate the Victorian British Empire was still questionable. However, for the United States of Colombia, they now possessed a more effective system than the Bharat Federation.

"Kid, you mean those damn North American bastards will learn from the Victorian Empire's methods and rearm Yingzhou?"

“I cannot rule out such a possibility, and I think it is very likely.” Li Che continued to respond with his hands clasped in response: “In the end, the support that the British Victorian Empire provides to the Balat Federation Navy is largely based on the ‘legacy’ of the High Seas Fleet. For the British Victorian Empire, such a legacy can be said to be a risk-free business. We do not have the capital to do such a risk-free business, but it is clear that the United States of Colombia has the same capital.”

With just a few words, Li Che rekindled the shadow of the United States of Colombia in everyone's hearts, and subsequent developments seemed to confirm his words. Just as the Spring Festival had ended here, the Colombian government across the ocean officially announced a major event to the public.