Chapter 148: The Age of Empire

Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London.

British Empire Prime Minister Belford stood in front of the recliner with a respectful look.

The old king Edward VII drank a sip of black tea, closed his eyes and rested for a moment, and said tiredly: "Earl, did the Chinese refuse to mediate... This is not unexpected. They are winners, and they win beautifully, and deserve rewards..."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Prime Minister Belfort bowed. "The Cabinet also believes that the Chinese have reason to punish the Japanese. After all, their emperor's assassination is likely to be a troublemaker behind the scenes. The public opinion in their country has been so boiling that it is probably not that easy even if the government wants to stop."

"Since that's the case, is the balance of power in East Asia finally going to be broken..." Edward VII sighed softly, "These Chinese are really surprising. In just a blink of an eye, they have gone from a crisis of retreating and fire on all sides to a victorious victor who is advancing. This Japanese shepherd dog will eventually be completely overturned to the ground."

"What is the countermeasure of the Cabinet?" The old king raised his head and stared at Count Belfort, "You once promised the glory of victory to Britain, but now..."

"Your Majesty, please believe that your ministers have used all their wisdom." Prime Minister Belfort said, "At present, the main force of the Royal Navy in the Far East are six old star battleships, as well as three fear-class battleships and three London-class battleships that were added after the war started. At present, the local fleet can be called newer battleships, with only two London-class battleships and six Duncan-class battleships, and the other nine solemn, one prestige, and two centurion-class are obviously a bit outdated, not to mention the eight monarch-class old ships..."

"According to the intelligence sent back by the Royal Navy observers, the Chinese suffered minor losses in the naval battle, especially their main core combat powers - two Guangzhou-class, two Cheetah-class, two Haikou-class, two special cruisers or fast armored ships and two Wenzhou-classes, were almost not seriously damaged. Their airships, aircraft, and submarine forces were impressive..."

"According to the intelligence of the Navy, the Chinese have just completed two Cheetah-class follow-up ships and started sea trials. There are two Guangzhou-class follow-up ships in the next two months. What's even more terrifying is that the remaining five warships in the Japanese fleet chose to surrender voluntarily and handed over the warships to the Chinese... The Navy's judgment is that the Japanese may have chosen to surrender rather than confront the Chinese to the end."

"Did the Japanese... finally decide to give up?" Edward VII lowered his eyes slightly and sighed imperceptibly, "It seems that we have all underestimated the wisdom of the yellow people. These people finally decided to pick up that Asianism... but unfortunately they are dominated by the Chinese."

"Yes, your Majesty." Prime Minister Belfort said, "Although the final news has not been heard yet, the cabinet judged that the Japanese surrender was the case in the past few days... It seems that they are not fools, and knowing that if they continue to fight against the Chinese is nothing more than... cannon fodder."

"In other words, the Japanese themselves no longer want to fight." Edward VII narrowed his eyes, "and the Royal Navy does not have enough power to conduct armed intervention. Can I understand this way?"

Prime Minister Belfort was silent for a moment and bowed deeply.

"What about the Americans' Great White Fleet? Contact them, can you intervene together?"

"It will take at least three months for the Americans to arrive in the war zone," said Prime Minister Belfort. "Your Majesty, please allow me to give my humble opinion: it is not a good idea for North American farmers to cross the Pacific Ocean, travel a long distance, and fight a powerful fleet that has been rested and completed. Even with the cooperation of the Royal Navy Far East Fleet, it will not be able to form an overwhelming advantage for the Chinese, let alone the other side has strong light forces, airships, aircraft and submarine groups... What's more troublesome is that Lord Curzon and Sir Kitchener of India have sent urgent electricity, and India is unstable."

Belfort's words made the old king raise his head as if he was touched by electricity: "Is it... those people from Congress?"

"There is no more wise than your majesty." Lord Belfur nodded, "The victory of the Chinese Mongolian made the radicals of the Congress party ecstatic, and the Hindustan newspapers reported in a long and long way about the 'great victory' of the northern neighbors' "for the white colonists'. Tirak was already semi-publicly inciting the Hindustan people to rise up against the authorities, and even Gandhi began to talk about Sino-Indian cooperation..."

“What advice does India and the Ministry of Colonial Affairs have?”

"In Sir Kitchener's judgment, if the Chinese dispatch troops to the south and cooperate with the naval squadron, the Chinese in the South Ocean will launch violence, and the Dutch East India and British Malaya will fall soon, and India will inevitably have a large-scale uprising. With the current strength of the Imperial Army in Asia, this situation is unbearable."

"Where is the colonial army?"

"Sir Kitchener believes that the greatest danger lies in the British and Indian troops themselves," said Lord Belfur. "Once the Chinese turn against the empire, as long as the empire is defeated, these Hindus and Muslims will easily launch rebellions under the instigation of nationalist religious elements, which they will find it difficult to trust. Sir Kitchener and Lord Curzon both believe that they should contact Karansha, Nepal, and hire more Dunergu troops."

"Where is our own army?"

"The empire has always implemented a recruiting system, and it is difficult to compare with a recruiting country in terms of military expansion." Lord Belfer said carefully, "The number of pure British troops in Britain and India is less than one-fifth. Once the interference of the empire triggers a Sino-British war, the Chinese will inevitably take the banner of Asian liberation. At that time, the colonial troops will no longer be reliable..."

Edward VII was silent for a while, sighed a long time, and smiled bitterly: "In my opinion, there is more than this trouble... Let's make a bet with you, Prime Minister. As long as we have a conflict with the Chinese, my nephew (referring to the German Emperor William II) will definitely take Austro-Hungarian and Italians against the French, and then try to cross the strait and sweep Britain... It will be a nightmare for the whole of Europe."

"The Russians are no longer afraid, and Germany has no worries." The aging king tightened his nightgown. "The Chinese have shown their strength in both land and sea, which will definitely make the bad boy Willy ecstatic... He must have tried to pull the Chinese to his side. If we really turn against the Chinese, it will be his thoughts."

Prime Minister Belfort bowed deeply.

"The fleet is hard to achieve, this is really a reluctant conclusion... So what about money?" the old king paused and said, "We hold a lot of their national debts, as well as railway bonds and corporate bonds. Can't these things be used as weapons?"

"Your Majesty, this will be another important issue that I have to explain to you, and it is likely to be one of the more important ones." Prime Minister Belford smiled bitterly, "China has long been one of Britain's most important debtor countries and one of the most important overseas investment targets. Currently, the Chinese nationals hold Chinese nationals, and the loans to Chinese companies by British banks, totaling up to 260 million pounds. Once this huge debt defaults due to the breakdown of Sino-British relations, a terrible avalanche in Britain's financial system will occur, which will be an unbearable nightmare for the empire. As a result, once Hindustan is lost..."

"This is a wonderful situation." King Edward VII smiled mockingly, "That old Chinese Napoleon borrowed so much money from us, but we had to stand on his side. Now, I have to admit that it is this clever debt arrangement that has made the Chinese kidnapped us, not the other way around..."

"Now that little Napoleon used this to boycott us again, and made Britain look ugly. He is really a father and son..." Edward VII said, with a little appreciation in his tone. "Borrowing debts is of such a wonderful use... It seems that Britain's glory has been too long, and many of our gentlemen have habitually despised their opponents."

Prime Minister Belfort listened respectfully.

"Okay, Prime Minister, since that's the case, there's no need to consider the matter of using force... But money is a wonderful thing. It's the blood of war and the source of vitality of a country." The aging king drank a cup of coffee, closed his eyes and rested, and after a moment, he would slowly say, "Prime Minister, how many debts will the Chinese have to mature in the next two years? Will their financial situation still support the war? If the financial markets in London and Paris close their doors to them... they can even pull New York again, can the Chinese continue this Napoleonic war in the East?"

"Thanks to the generosity of the United States and Britain and France, the Chinese have enough foreign exchange to support them in paying all foreign debts."

Washington, DC, White House.

In the presidential office, President Theodore Roosevelt was silent while playing with the Chinese knot in his hand.

"...At present, public opinion is generally biased towards China. Among the people, the humiliating history of the Chinese in modern times and the bravery and tenacity shown in this resistance to multi-national aggression have successfully impressed the people. In the United States, the Chinese have become New England more than a hundred years ago, fighting for national freedom to resist the violence of the colonists. If the government sends fleets to interfere with force, not to mention whether it can be successful, nor do they say that the government and the people have accumulated a total of $1.5 billion in loans from China, and the investment of $600 million will be wasted collectively... Just the conflict between the people's feelings, many cities will break out, and Congress will also launch impeachment... Bryan of the Democratic Party has announced that his heart is 'beat with the Chinese people'."

Theodore Roosevelt knew that Secretary of State John Hay was right.

Ever since bringing Morgan and a large number of Jewish funds into their own camps to short Japan's national debt, Xue Dongcheng and others have pulled these American bosses to create public opinion in order to avoid the possible possible forceful intervention of the United States in China's "final solution" against Japan.

The Democratic Party has always relied on the support of the Morgan family. As the saying goes, "The Republican Party belongs to Rockefeller, and the Democratic Party belongs to Morgan." In order to ensure the success of shorting Japan's treasury bond plan, Morgan and other consortiums mobilized the Democratic Party, setting off a wave of public opinion and political craze in the United States, exaggerating China's tragedy, and praising the "Oriental Abolition War" and the "Oriental New England War of Independence."

Under this craze, between China, Japan and Russia, American people almost fell to the side of China. In addition, Chinese goods re-exported through Australia have been on the rise in the US market.

President Theodore Roosevelt, who is well aware of American political traditions, does not have much hope for so-called armed interference.

Since its founding, the United States has been shrouded in a strong atmosphere of "glorious isolation". In a series of documents left by the founding father Washington, the founding father repeatedly taught the American people to "not to trap American peace and prosperity into the net of European ambitions, competition, interests, likes and dislikes and capriciousness", "The United States can concentrate on developing the American continent and build a free and great country... set a noble and novel example for mankind for a nation that is always guided by justice and kindness." In his farewell speech, Washington even clearly pointed out that "... political connections should be avoided as much as possible when expanding our trade relations... as the highest code of action that our country should follow in treating foreign countries."

The sixth President John Quincy Adams declared that "democracy and security mean keeping Europe away from our affairs and our neighbors, and we are also away from their affairs", and ultimately formed the three principles of the Monroe Declaration: the American system principle, the principle of non-interference and the principle of non-coloniality.

Even when the United States was in great strength and began to expose its sharp teeth to the outside world, the essence was still the expansion of the Monroe Declaration, that is, to clear the last remnants of European colonial forces from Central America and the Caribbean. And Theodore Roosevelt's military adventure against the Philippines failed due to China's unexpected toughness, which made the dilapidated American elite realize that not only in Europe, but "in Asia, the United States is not suitable to easily get involved in disputes between major powers."

As the person who laid the foundation for the international political policy pattern of the United States in the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt consciously promoted the United States to transform its economic strength into political influence, "expand American interests" by "participating international politics", and attempted to implement its "balance policy" outside the Western Hemisphere, but the long-term isolationist tradition of the United States was not something he could reverse with his own strength.

"...At present, the entire land military force of the United States is only 200,000, with old equipment, lax training, and aging tactics. Compared with everything the Chinese showed in this war, our force is almost insignificant..." John Hay said, "Our naval observers believe that with the warship level, tactical literacy, and naval combat tactics demonstrated by the Chinese, even if the Dabai Fleet is equipped with enough support forces, they cannot win in the battle. They even doubt whether the fleet can last half an afternoon..."

"I don't know which bastard was stabbing the matter. The Democratic Party is already grasping this big thing, accusing the government of betraying American values ​​and trying to join forces with the dirty old colonists to kill a national independence movement that pursues freedom and democracy according to the colonial laws of the old world..." John Hay smiled bitterly, "Now the public opinion is in an uproar, and the government is asking for clarification of the rumors."

"I have arranged for a White House spokesman to hold a press conference," Theodore Roosevelt said. "The White Fleet is a friendly visit, and I will stick to this at any time... The White House has never wanted to interfere with the Chinese by force. They continue to spread rumors and slander, and we will file a lawsuit."

John Hay's expression calmed down a little.

"Martial interference is not the best way," said Theodore Roosevelt. "The Panama Canal is still being built and the economy is still recovering. The people of the United States yearn for peace and prosperity, not war and depression... The Japanese are about to perish, and the Chinese are destined to occupy most of the Western Pacific. They are already the largest single trading partner of the United States, and there is no need to fall into hostility with the Chinese for an island country doomed to hell."

"Since that's the case, don't have the rat heads." Theodore Roosevelt stood up and said firmly, "The victory of the Chinese is clear. At this time, the United States must stand on the side of the winner... The Japanese need to pay the price for everything they have done to the Chinese, but the United States cannot tolerate annexation of a sovereign and independent nation-state... Japan must continue to maintain independence, and the rest should follow the Chinese."

"Remember, John, across the ocean, must be friends of the United States."

Paris, Elysee Palace.

President Emile François Lube sat behind his desk with a frown.

The Prime Minister Morris Ruvier, opposite, also looked bitter: "...The focus now is on Russia. Once Russia suffers a crushing defeat, the investment of major consortiums in the Republic may have problems with Russia. At that time, the financial system will collapse and the economy will be even worse..."

"How is the situation with the fleet?"

"For the blessing of the Green Water Navy, the current fleet is just a decoration, and most warships can only adapt to the calm Mediterranean Sea." Luvier said, "What is more dangerous is that Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy, Turkey's telegrams are frequent, and on the other side of the border, the situation is somewhat subtle... It seems that the Germans have begun to dispatch troops to the border."

President Lube was stung by a hornet: "German? What do they want to do?"

"It seems that the polio patient (referring to the German Emperor William II) seems to have to seize this opportunity to abandon his cousin (referring to Nicholas II) and win over the Chinese." Ruvier said, "If the Chinese stand on his side, the British will throw away the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, the Chinese and the Turks will divide the land of Russia, Persia, and even Egypt with the Germans, and France will become a sea of ​​blood under the sound of German and Austrian guns..."

President Lube's face was pale.

The presidential election that just ended, the non-partisan Falier was elected and will take office in February next year. Now Lube is just preparing to hand over. France's investment of up to 15 billion francs in Russia has become a high-risk river under the dramatic failure of Russia, making France's political and economic circles restless.

The reason why France took advantage of the opportunity of the expiration of the "Three Emperors Alliance" of Germany, Austria and Russia to win over Russia to establish a French-Russian agreement was simply to use Russia to attack Germany and reduce the military pressure that France faced. But now the Russians were beaten to the east by the more powerful Chinese people. Seeing that they could no longer care about Germany, France's national defense situation suddenly became bad.

All the difficulties are entangled together, and the French government is already in a state of confusion.

It is obvious that China is no longer an era where a fleet and thousands of colonial troops can be sent to travel. This newly emerging nation-state has enough strength and courage. They destroyed the Russian army, which is considered to be the first-class in Europe in land battles, and at sea, they easily destroyed the huge Japanese-Russian joint fleet, and the tonnage of the warships sunk exceeded the total tonnage of the French Navy.

Their country is located in the far east. They are equipped with warships, airships, aircraft and submarines that are better than the West. They have a tight network of bases, advanced tactics and high morale. Their immigrants are spread all over the Southeast Asian region, and the beautiful cars whistling by the streets of Paris are always showing the country's industrial standards in the most direct way.

This is already a powerful empire that can no longer be conquered by force or intimidated by diplomacy.

What's even more terrifying is that the moody German supreme is already contacting this Eastern German.

For a dying projectile Japan, is France really going to risk his country's demise and travel thousands of miles to carry out a hopeless interference?

"France will never allow Chinese people to join the German camp." President Lube took a deep breath and said firmly, "Contact London. No matter how angry the British are, we cannot allow them to interfere with the Chinese's disposal of Japan by force."

German Empire. Stuttgart, German Palace.

William II put down the telegram in his hand, and his face showed an indescribable great joy.

"Alfred, you're right. Those Chinese are a group of real war magicians. They have made war an art. Yes, it's art." William II's left hand held the saber and his right hand waved hard in the air. "Underwater battleships, high-speed battleships, firepower and speed blended into one, and their survivability were the main warships. They did it, better than the British ships."

"Those islanders think they can occupy the blue sea of ​​the world forever, but the Chinese have told them with facts that this is just a delusional dream of in the name of God, the German army, their navy... No, their army is also very strong, that is a real Eastern Germany." William II turned his head and stared at the admiral opposite, "Alfred, how do you think I should treat this Eastern Empire?"

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, the Prussians have sought for more than half a century of natural allies and have appeared before you." Alfred von Tirpitz, the Navy Minister of the German Empire, bowed deeply, "This country can make Russia miserable on land, restrain Britain on the ocean, and even directly threaten India, Myanmar and Malaya, or even attack the Red Sea from Persia and cut off the Strait of Hormuz. This is a gift from God to Germany, and it is Germany's natural companion to usher in a new era."

"You are right, Alfred." William II walked over and patted his beloved shoulder intimately, "This is God's revelation. From this moment on, Germany will no longer be lonely. The Western Empire and the Eastern Empire... This is the beginning of a new world, belonging to the two German eras."

Chapter 148: The Age of Empire

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