The British Government had run into trouble, but naturally, the outside world knew nothing of it. There were neither satellite surveillance nor convenient internet communications in this day and age.
Being able to roughly judge a country's industrial capacity was already impressive. Trying to figure out the state of every single specialized sector was simply impossible.
Even intelligence gathering had to begin within the British Government itself. If the British Government had not compiled the statistics beforehand, no one else could possibly do it for them.
With something this major happening, strict secrecy was only natural. Keeping it secret forever was unrealistic, but blocking the news in the short term was still achievable.
While the British were waving banknotes around and buying everything in sight, the Russo-Japanese War had also entered its white-hot stage.
Perhaps they had learned the lessons of the previous wars, or perhaps the Russian Navy was simply too weak. This time, the Tsarist Government was rational for once and did not embark on a far-flung expedition.
Of course, their public explanation was that they would settle accounts with the Japanese after the warships ordered from the Holy Roman Empire entered service.
Whether anyone believed it or not, the Russians believed it.
The Russian Army cast aside its former image of reckless brutes and went all-out on the defensive in the Far East, relying on fortifications and strongholds to slow the Japanese Army's advance and buy time for the Siberian Railway to open.
A decisive battle was out of the question. No matter how the Japanese Army provoked them, the Russian Army simply held its ground and refused to come out.
The Russian Empire might not have much else, but it certainly had plenty of land. "Trading space for time"—the Tsarist Government was not afraid in the