Iron Dynasty

London.

One bad news after another reached Tulip Palace. Britain was continuously losing its colonies in Africa: Cape Town, Gambia, Basutoland, and Southern Rhodesia. And when the Great Yu Empire occupied Tangier, the French colony in Morocco, the entire Britain fell into a panic. Morocco was located at the northwestern tip of Africa. It was mainly a Spanish and French colony. Most importantly, Tangier, a Moroccan port, was directly across from Spain, so the Spanish coast could be seen from there, and it was only two thousand kilometers away from Britain.

“Your Majesty, we have lost all our colonies in Africa,” Murphy said to Queen Victoria with a heavy heart.

Since the Empire declared war on Britain, Queen Victoria had not had a peaceful night’s sleep. Every day, she would wake up from a nightmare. But in fact, every time she woke up, she often found that reality was more terrifying than a nightmare. The enraged Empire was like a mad beast, and any enemy in front of it was torn to pieces.

“How many people are willing to support us?” Queen Victoria asked.

“None,” Murphy said, stating a fact that made Queen Victoria feel desperate. They had thought they could get the support of European countries, but the fact was that not a single country was willing to be Britain’s ally in this war, not even Prussia, which had a marriage alliance with Britain.

“Hehehe… everyone is waiting to see Britain’s joke, aren’t they?” Queen Victoria’s eyes held a hint of despair. In this game with the Empire, she had lost completely, and it made her understand more deeply that only interests are eternal between nations.

Faced with such a powerful Eastern Empire, no European country dared to get involved in the war.

“This is probably the current reality,” Murphy’s face was also grim. It was clear that their choice this time had put them on the stage to fight the Empire, and they would not have any allies to support them.

Queen Victoria slowly got up, and she asked with a final glimmer of hope, “How long will it take for us to implement the technology we got from their warships?”

“Although we have a lot of data, I’m afraid we won’t be able to replicate the Imperial weapons for a long time, because the technology they use is very complex and requires extremely precise machine tools to achieve. Moreover, the steel used in these weapons is also something we can’t produce.”

During this time, Murphy’s initial ecstasy from getting the technical data had turned into extreme disappointment because the things they had painstakingly obtained were useless to Britain at its current stage.

“It seems that we can only fight alone. Tell Brooke to take a message to all the countries: If they don’t help Britain, Britain’s current fate will be their future fate. A disunited Europe will only become a vassal of the Empire, and the pride of the white people will fall from this point on.” Queen Victoria’s will to fight was always very firm. She understood that other European countries did not like the Great Yu Empire, after all, White Supremacy was engraved in the Europeans’ bones. However, just as they did not like the Empire, they also did not like the former hegemon, Britain. When two tigers fight, they are happy to watch from the sidelines.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Murphy’s expression was solemn. Queen Victoria’s words were Britain’s last cry to Europe.

…

Tangier.

Liu Chen was sitting in an office building by the sea, looking at the Imperial fleet anchored on the sea. This fleet, composed of forty-two warships, had swept from the southernmost point of Africa to the northernmost point. No European warship dared to fight against the Imperial fleet. And the landing operations were all similar. Now, it was as easy for them to bully the Europeans as it was for the Europeans to bully the natives back then. Of course, the reason why they were able to easily take all of Britain’s colonies in Africa was also related to Europe’s lack of attention to Africa.

“General, the French prisoners have been counted. There are 2,320 in total.” A general, Yang Liyang, the commander of the First Division of the Naval Marines, saluted Liu Chen.

“The Emperor wants to build Tangier into the Empire’s largest military base in Africa. When the engineering troops arrive, hand these prisoners over to them.” Liu Chen withdrew his gaze. He was in a good mood today. The war was going smoothly, and they were getting closer and closer to Britain. However, such smooth progress made the Empire’s supply line longer and longer, and the follow-up troops did not even have time to occupy and consolidate the occupied ports.

So, after taking Tangier, Liu Chen ordered a temporary halt to the offensive and waited for the supply ships to store enough supplies in Tangier. After all, they were about to start fighting Britain, which would be a long process. Although the supply ships could provide them with some supplies, for a long-term war, they still needed a stable military base.

After a pause, he continued, “How is the takeover of Tangier going? We have to try to use the colonial assets to support ourselves.”

Yang Liyang smiled bitterly and said, “This place really can’t let us be self-sufficient. In addition to fishing, the main income here is from the port. Oh, I did find a lot of phosphates here. These are high-quality raw materials for making chemical fertilizers, but neither the locals nor the Europeans seem to be interested in them. If we transport them back to the Empire, it would be beneficial to the Empire’s agriculture.”

Liu Chen nodded. If that was the case, he would have to wait in Tangier for a few days.

…

Qingzhou.

Xiao Ming was listening to all kinds of intelligence provided by Wang Xuan. After executing the Cao family father and son and dealing with the domestic chaos, the internal problems of the Empire were basically solved. Both Li San’s and Wang Xuan’s intelligence reports rarely mentioned any information about rebellions, only information about the supervision of officials. The entire Empire was becoming stable.

Thanks to the stable situation, the Empire’s industry and commerce had grown rapidly in recent years. Officials no longer focused on infighting, but instead dedicated all their efforts to extending the Empire’s industry to every city. And the five-year plan was successfully completed in this atmosphere. Now, the Empire was implementing its second five-year plan. The goal of this plan was to expand electricity to the central and lower prefectures of the Empire, complete the paving of asphalt roads between the prefectures, and, in addition, build thousands of bridges across the country and the magnificent project of building a railway into Sichuan.

“Your Majesty, Yao Yongchang is now the most prestigious daimyo in Japan. The Empire’s plan can be said to have been perfectly realized,” Wang Xuan said. “It’s time to make sure Japan can never rise again.”

Xiao Ming nodded in satisfaction. This Yao Yongchang was a Secret Agent of the Empire who had infiltrated Japan under a pseudonym. In the anti-rebellion battles that had been waged in Japan over the years, he had successfully defeated all the other rebel armies and unified Japan, becoming the most prestigious person in Japan at the moment. Of course, Yao Yongchang’s success was due to the Empire’s secret assistance, and Yamada Nobunaga’s bitter plot had been completely foiled by the Empire.