Chapter 212 Mediation

The British nodded lightly and darkly. Although it looked a little blurry, my consistent judgment with Zaiying was because the British did not want others to find out that he had nodded, especially their friend Russians.

The French have ambiguous attitude. The British informed Zaiying of the right to use the Saigon port that France opened to Russia for half a year through private channels, but the British did not want us to attack French ports, which is not in the interests of the British Empire. The French did not have much power in the Far East navy. If the Russian fleet was entrenched in Saigon, it would add a lot of variables to the future situation. This means that in the next ten years, there will always be a thorn on the feet of the south. If you want to pull it out, you have to look at others' faces. Moreover, this thorn is very powerful, which is untolerable for any leader with great ambitions. I naturally know what Zhao Kuangyin said.

On the Zhao Kuangyin, the joint meeting of the Royal Navy's General Staff is being held. There is no need to wait for Beijing's edict. In three days, the six imperial power ranks will be in harmony. Given the situation in Japan, the Japanese must also put appropriate pressure on the Japanese. Therefore, the first agenda is to determine the return of the two old ships with old age and slow speed. The two captains Sa Zhenbing and Qiu Baoren are naturally one thousand reluctant. They were originally trained as the commanders of the future Northeast Asian fleet of the Royal Navy, so in Liu Buchan, the Kangxi, Lin Tai once lived in the Li Shimin, and Langweili

After Fang Boqian was the captain of the ship Zhao Kuangyin, Lin Yongsheng was at Zhu Di, Deng Shichang was at Liu Che, and Ye Zugui was at Ying Zheng, they replaced the pride of the Beiyang Navy and the Dingzhen Second, the number one giant ship in East Asia, and were responsible for the appeasement of the sea near Japan. However, they also lost the opportunity to take over the new cruiser that was launched. They had this pride, but after the long-term use of the old ship, the two who had already complained began to gradually regret why they didn't volunteer to pick up the Li Jing and Guan Yu back then? What a glory that was!

They originally thought they could show their skills in the South China Sea, but now they are facing the arrangement of withdrawing Japan, and their eyes are almost bulging, but the military orders are falling. Since Liu Buchan, who officially obtained the title after the flag withdrawal dispute that year, has long formed an irresistible authority among this group of naval elites.

Three days later, the Pacific Fleet formed a new combat sequence, and two imperial power-class battleships replaced Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, and the total age of the twenty-four main combat ships did not exceed double digits.

During these three days, the Spanish and Russians on the opposite side also did a lot of things. While the whole world was almost holding their breath around this unprecedented naval battle that would not be fought, the Spanish Expeditionary Force, which had a total strength of more than 40,000 people, under the leadership of the new Governor Boravisha, launched a large counterattack on the revolutionary army of Katipunan on Luzon Island. After a week of continuous attacks, except for some areas in Southern Luzon, Katipunan had almost been driven out of the sea. What was cruising in the strait was the Russian employed fleet with the banner of St. Andre.

During this period, the German Emperor's heart could hardly beat smoothly. First, he urgently summoned Schlieffen, who had returned from the Far East, and asked him to organize the exercises of the road army and the support drills for the logistics system as soon as possible. In addition, he participated in the parliamentary debate several times in a row. Almost under his request, the parliament officially passed Tirpitz's naval plan. The German Emperor was very enthusiastic and summoned British envoys almost immediately and asked them to ask for balls through the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. Germany needed to send an observation fleet to the Far East as soon as possible to pay attention to the imminent sea battle in East Asia.

Of course, there is no reason for the British to refuse such a request. The Germans have been very popular with China recently. Logically speaking, they would not rob the Philippines, which is a bit hot now. Of course, the British also have a private hope that if the Germans unite the Chinese to destroy the Russian fleet, there will be almost no possibility of repeated recurrence between Germany and Russia. The Russians will hold their legs tightly behind the Germans.

The European policies of the British Empire have always been to attack Europe's largest power and win over the second-strong power. In today's unpredictable era, Germany makes more enemies in Europe, the better. William II seems to have made some progress. In this Russian-Turkey War, the Germans did not send ground troops directly to the Russians like they did two years ago, which was a small surprise.

The negotiations between Russia and Turkey are still continuing. While withdrawing troops, Russia still insists on a Mediterranean estuary. This demand is almost blackmailed. Britain is secretly supporting the Turks behind the scenes and will not let go. A secret agreement between Britain and Turkey is already in the negotiations. The general idea is that if Russia fights the Ottoman Turkish Empire in order to seek the Mediterranean estuary, Britain will do its best to ensure Turkey's territorial integrity.

The Russians withdrew from the Armenian line without any rest, so they were directly ordered to move towards the Caspian Sea. After bypassing the Caspian Sea, they entered Kazakhstan, which had been operating for more than a century, and would face the Xinjiang defense line in the east. After half a month of movement, the Ili defense line, which I had been operating for four or five years, will also face the most severe test since Zuo Zongtang's recovery of Xinjiang. At the same time, Yekaterin Arbor, a major town in the east of the Russian Empire, also reached the most lively peak since the embarrassing shutdown of the Far East Railway. A 150,000 elite Cossacks arrived here from Europe in Poland. Here they will take a rest for a while, waiting for the final order from St. Petersburg.

Given that he suffered a great loss in the Far East, Nicholas II seemed to have much more capital than before. In the north and west defense lines, there were more than 400,000 Cossacks gathered. In the two parts of the defense lines, Ding Ruchang had more than 90,000 new and old troops, including 36,000 new and old troops with new rifles. This was an elite soldier he had carefully tempered for four or five years. The rest were cavalry from various Mongolian banners, and his combat capabilities were about the same as the Russian Cossack cavalry on the opposite side.

The situation on the front line of Yili is even worse. General Chang Geng of Yili has a new army of 45,000 people, and his equipment is excellent, but there are no more trustworthy troops in addition to this. In terms of military strength, such a strength comparison is a great loss. Fortunately, there is good news from the Germans. A German army regiment has begun to travel to the port to prepare to take a boat to China. This is the agreement signed by Schliffen when he visited. He will arrive at the originally agreed line of Kulun within fifty days and be controlled by Ding Ruchang. Of course, this plan must be modified now, and I plan to send them to Yili, where the troops are seriously insufficient.

The diplomatic confrontation also began quickly. The Russian envoy had officially submitted a route notice to Zai Ying for the Baltic Fleet, claiming that in the next month, a fleet of more than 20 ships would sail from Manila, the Philippines to Japan. Any attack on the Russian fleet would be regarded as a declaration of war on the Russian Empire, and the Tsar was ready to face all ignorance. Zai Ying would naturally not take his own actions, claiming that China does not support such a plan, and the Royal Navy would not be responsible for the safety of the fleet.

The domestic combat readiness work has almost reached an imminent point. The propaganda machine has started and issuing the whole country, with a coverage of 80% of the national population. The China Times published the process of the whole incident. In my name, Kang Youwei wrote a letter to the people of the world, declaring that the Russian fleet was going to Japan to become enemies with China, and Japan's recent act of being ready to move. Finally, it expressed the determination of the court. My dignified Heavenly Dynasty is the master of East Asia. If anyone comes here with hostility, then he will be greeted with stronger hostility.

The domestic internal comfort work has also been strengthened. The national amnesty was released, except for the unforgivable severe prisoners, and those who were willing to go to the East China Sea area would be given double the supplies and funding. The economic situation also began a major rectification. The various industrial and mining departments and the Ministry of Education and Chemical Corporation jointly conducted education, and the slogan of preparing for the war was implemented in the hearts of every worker.

The shareholding class of Far East Co., Ltd. in recent years has exceeded my imagination. Due to its massive expansion in recent years, almost all provinces across the country have invested funds, and the personnel components are even more diverse. The landlord class and the industrial and commercial class are naturally the main force. This time, Far East Co., Ltd. was also ordered to disclose the trend and distribution of interests in the newspaper. One fifth of the interests are in the East China Sea area under Yuan Shikai's jurisdiction, and nearly one third is in the nearly semi-mature Liaodong region that has been developed, and Xinyu Province under Yiketanga, north of Heilongjiang. If this battle is lost, all this will be thrown into the water. Therefore, once the imperial edict on combat determination is announced, the whole country is applauding. War has always been a continuation of politics. Now, whether this war will break out is economic driving behind it.

With this determination, logistics work is easy to do. Most of it depends on state management, and part of it is relying on the logistics lines of various merchants to operate at full speed. The logistics department is famous for the least owed money to the government. Now the country is increasing the storage of materials in the north and the west. All large and small businesses have put in full force to earn the imperial court's money. The trains that transport troops and supplies to Dihua and Kulun are all connected.

The military deployment was also being closely mobilized. Considering that the Russians did not have large-scale movement capabilities in the Far East and were close to the beginning of winter, it was almost impossible to launch an attack on Xinyu Province through Siberia. The 200,000 most elite troops under Yiketanga were not necessary to spend there. They were drawn away 150,000 people by various means, and they must go to Kulun in the shortest time, and were controlled by Ding Ruchang. The Xiliang New Army of Shanxi expanded and added 48,000 people to the Shanxi Green Camp on the spot, gathered 60,000 people, and took trains from Datong to Dihua in batches, and then added to the Yili defense line. The 25 infantry divisions in Shaanxi, Sichuan and Gansu, were drawn out fifteen of them in provinces and gathered to Xi'an on standby.

The Fengtai Camp and Xishan Camp of the Beijing Guard were adapted on site by Nie Shicheng and Prince Yi Zai Bing. Within one month, all the 150,000 Beijing peripheral camps would be adapted into new infantry divisions. Considering the complexity of the situation of the Beijing Guard, 150,000 people were adapted into eight to nine divisions, plus two divisions of the Dragon Flag Army, the essence of the ten divisions, and the guard regiment of about 15 to 165,000 people would form a reserve elite force, which could be dealt with at any time.

These steps can be implemented in about a month, and the German fleet is expected to arrive in Tianjin in a month. Therefore, an urgent agreement was signed to Germany for the purchase of the Mauser 1896 rifle. The first batch should be armed immediately, which means at least the first batch should be given 45,000 rifles and 10 million bullets. The domestic storage must be maintained, and a large number of materials have been shipped to the front line. The military factories in Tianjin and Wuhan are almost working day and night, but the total strength of the two sides is close to a land battle of nearly one million people. How can they keep up?

Of course, the Germans have difficulties. Time is too tight and the inventory is definitely not enough to deal with. Although there is real money and silver to pay the bills, it is still quite difficult, so they have to ship them in batches one after another.

The Spanish offensive was not delayed, and diplomatic affairs were becoming more and more important. A considerable part of the military command and decision-making were handed over to Li Hongzhang and Nie Shicheng to discuss and handle it, and the major decisions were reported to me. Under their command, the Navy successively contacted Katipnan and analyzed the current situation with them. Tieliang, who was responsible for Southeast Asian affairs, was newly appointed as the head of the Southeast Asian Bureau of the Military Intelligence and Administration Department. He also made a special trip to the Philippines and met with several giants in Katipnan.

In the name of observing the battle situation, the Royal Navy Pacific Fleet sent Tieliang and a batch of arms to Southern Luzon landed, and then had several confrontations with the Russian Baltic Fleet. However, without receiving the orders of the highest level, the war finally did not break out. Both sides were frightened by the strength of each other, and the Russians were not sure to dare to fire the first shot, so after waiting on the sea of ​​Southern Luzon for a long time, Tieliang returned safely.

This is also the best opportunity to find out the opponent's strength. Liu Buchan even ordered the fire several times, but was finally persuaded by Lin Tai to return to Kaohsiung Port on the grounds that his division was unknown.

On the Philippines, after the situation was fully analyzed and received a large amount of assistance, Katipunan regained confidence, the large-scale offensive of the front-line Spaniards was curbed, Katipunan even pushed the front a lot after a week. In the half month when the whole world was worried about the situation where the unfighted war between China and Russia, or struggling to fight or watch the fire across the mountains, the ground situation in the Philippines has been pulled back and forth several times.

The world is not calm. The military deployment against Russia is of course a tough stance against iron fists. This is a matter on the surface, but this is not all, and the actions behind it are of course also being carried out. Taking advantage of the nearly month since both sides are mobilizing their troops on a large scale to prepare for a grand showdown on land, the international side has also experienced many changes under the interaction between the two sides.

The earliest change occurred in the east. Since Japan tried to provoke the two major powers in the west to make a full-scale war and a big move, I naturally didn't have any good results for him. It's just that I don't have enough energy to play with him now. Therefore, when a secret order came to Tianhai Kingdom, Shino Matsuhira, who had been a little nervous, was about to kneel down to receive the order with tears in his eyes. In his opinion, this was a great opportunity for him to restore his ancestors' glory to restore the old Japanese system.

The 50,000 elite troops of the Tianhai Kingdom, which had been tempered for more than three years, were almost all dispatched. In recent years, the old Beiyang Navy ships, which were sold to him as gifts or at a low price, were successively landed more than 20,000 vanguards on the front line of Aomori Prefecture in the northern part of Honshu Island. Then, Shino Matsuhira personally served as the commander, under the banner of clearing the monarch and saving the emperor. He claimed to be a 100,000 army. Shino Matsuhira, who claimed to be a general, commanded his troops to advance to the south and attacked all the way. Honshu Island, which was almost unpreserved in the north, was in chaos.

Yama Prefecture Aritoto, who has taken office as prime minister since the coup, is now equivalent to half an emperor, and of course he is not a fool. Five days later, the well-equipped and well-trained Kinki Corps began to advance northward, and the decisive battle between the two sides was about to break out, just like the battle between Oda Nobunaga and Takeda Shingen.

This is a small civil strife that is almost a civil war. Although in the eyes of the Japanese, thousands of peasants who charge face to face can be called a joint war, which is a shocking event. If you command more than 10,000 people, you can become a prince who has been famous in history. However, compared with the large confrontation of nearly one million people on the Sino-Russian border, this small farce that took place in the northeast corner of Asia has almost no international attention.

The German Emperor's army in Poland also began large-scale exercises at the actual combat level, and the latest achievements of the German industry were displayed one after another. In addition to guns and cannons, the Germans also created a strange regiment of troops. In addition to rifles, each squad was also equipped with a new thing - flamethrower. This new weapon that can almost destroy the psychology of the soldiers on the other side is actually not new. The Germans just made this thing large-scale, lightweight and practical.

Even so, this practical exercise of six divisions code-named Dongfang Determination still shocked the whole of Europe. As the world's number one army, any innovations of their own could be enough to panic their enemies.

Germany's Western Front was a calm undercurrent. After Schlieffen's plan was fully approved and implemented, under the command of Schlieffen and Moltke, who had recently been transferred to the General Staff, the German army's rapid advancement and the supply support system for the use of railway lines were testing whether Schlieffen's idea could be applied to actual combat.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire in the south also cooperated with the exercises on the Eastern Front, and four Austrian cavalry divisions completed exercises such as long-distance raids and tactical deterrence. At the same time, five infantry divisions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire entered Germany, which was part of Germany's cooperation plan to train the army for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Europe is the center of the world. Nowadays, Asia is in turmoil. How can Europe, as the core, remain unchanged?

I have almost received envoys from Germany and Britain in Beijing. In addition to repeatedly guaranteeing that China would not be able to sit idly by and against Russia, the Germans also said that if the Russian fleet disappeared in the Far East, Germany would do their best to guarantee that China would not be retaliated from any country. The Germans seemed to have made up their minds to clear obstacles for their Baltic fleet. As a sign, the Germans' younger brother, Prince Heinrich, of the Prussian Prince, has been transferred to the Baltic Fleet as deputy commander. In my opinion, the Germans most hope that the Baltic Fleet will be destroyed is the Germans.

When I met with the British envoy, I almost showed my anger in a performance. The eunuchs who were accompanying me didn't know how much scolding me. Of course, I had already arranged Kou Lian to calm their anger. This was also a sign, but I didn't know if the people in the harem could see that.

The British repeatedly expressed their understanding of China's position and anger, but they also had a fear. For the countries that enjoy the most interests in the world, the British Empire, the best pattern is to maintain the status quo. The direction of their efforts over the years has been like this. The complete control of the two European crises is a complete display of their abilities in this regard.

If the war between China and Russia breaks out in full swing, the Germans will inevitably follow up. Once the Germans join, France will definitely enter the war. The war in the whole world is inevitable. War is a double-edged sword, and no one can win forever. Even in the British Empire, who can guarantee that their interests will not be damaged by the war?

So, when the Russian Baltic fleet ended its two-week Spanish lease period, Britain officially began its good office, and they needed a peaceful world, a peaceful Asia.

On the first day of my meeting with the British was almost always angry with the eunuch, and I had almost no chance to get involved in the topic.

And the next day, they saw my anger. The China Times published my second letter to the subjects of the whole country, once again declaring China's absolute status in East Asia. The Russians wanted to place a strong fleet in East Asia to support the Japanese. I have no reason to agree.

In order to give the British an impression that I was not so warlike, there was also a "National Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imperial Imper

"East Asia must have order. The British Empire and our Chinese Empire are the makers and defenders of this order. Except for the British Empire, I will never allow any country to station fleets in East Asia. If Russia is willing to stand by Japan and become enemies with our Chinese, I will be heartbroken, but I will be helpless. If there is a war, although I cherish peace, I am not afraid of China." The next day, the British received my official statement.

There is not much time left, it’s been a few days since the war or a peace.
Chapter completed!