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Text Chapter 398 Breaking off diplomatic relations

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    Under night, 370 nautical miles west of Bordeaux, a small fleet of ships was increasing its power and sailing towards Nantes.

    Due to the rampant German submarine activities, the two British destroyers escorting were filled with wide-eyed sailors. The spray from dead branches, seabirds and even fish fins would cause a commotion and shelling.  In addition to being nervous, the center of the fleet joined them when it passed Gibraltar. The Chinese Red Cross hospital ship preparing to go to the Western Front also surprised them because no one expected that a semi-colonial country in the past would send medical treatment to the European civilized world.  Team.  But they will not exclude anyone who comes to help them, because they are not well-dressed politicians who even plan to get into bed. A fleet full of medicines can save thousands of army partners, so they let it go immediately after confirming their identity.  Joining also focuses on protection.  .

    Major Barnes raised his telescope and saw in the residual light of the searchlight that the Chinese female students chatting on the deck of the ship were very charming. Could it be that he was attracted by the charm of the East?  He smiled self-deprecatingly, but when he turned his eyes to the other side, his eyeballs suddenly hurt as if they were exploding!  Periscope Two snow-white fast tracks appeared in the searchlight. Major Barnes's fleet still did not escape misfortune. A torpedo passed by his destroyer and accurately hit the slower destroyer.  Red Cross ship.  He saw that the few female students he "admired" had disappeared, and the whole ship was sinking rapidly!  Firekill the cornered Krauts!  There was a violent explosion. Barnes and the sailors were furious. Fire and shells swept down from the destroyer in an instant. However, it was still in vain. As torpedoes appeared one after another, the fleet coming down from South Africa  Encountered a terrible massacre!

    But when the massacre is over.  The German captain in the periscope did not feel the excitement of sinking the enemy. Instead, he frowned because the Red Cross and Republic of China flags suddenly appeared on the first sinking ship that was hit by him.  Chinese?  How could they appear in the British fleet!  Have they already joined the Concordat?

    Lloyd George was thinking under the lamp about the secret agreement he was about to reach with China.  What he has to weigh now is not whether it is worth it, but how to proceed.  As a quartermaster, he knows very well that Britain currently cannot provide the weapons and equipment to arm at least 400,000 troops!  So I always think of the young man who transformed from a party dictator into the leader of the free world, and then left his assistants named Hu Weide and Wang Zhengting to continue the follow-up negotiations, but secretly went to Paris accompanied by Foch and military officers to see the war situation up close.  He had a headache.  Judging from that young man's decisiveness and code of conduct, I'm afraid he will be a very difficult opponent in the future!  Is the appearance of such a person in the Far East, where the empire's interests are huge, a good thing or a bad thing?  He exhaled and shook his head to temporarily abandon the bad thoughts. No matter what, the 600,000 Squadron was beyond everyone's expectations, so he was afraid that Yang Qiu would regret it after seeing the cruel scenes on the front line, so he immediately convinced the two of them with his suggestion.  The Chinese Navy each allocated a light cruiser.  The navy flag of the Republic of China was hoisted without even replacing the sailors above.  Joined the European escort of the Republic of China Navy temporarily led by Qiu Baoren

    Observe the squadron.

    Fait accompli is the favorite method of politicians, and he is no exception!  I believe that Germany should be able to see these two warships now. Will it immediately break off diplomatic relations?  In addition to the two light cruisers, the United States has also agreed to sell all 21 Paulding-class destroyers to China.  These destroyers were all manufactured by the United States before the war.  The standard displacement is 742 tons, and the full load is 835 tons. It all uses naval-type small water tube oil-fired boilers and Parsons steam turbines. It has a maximum speed of 32 knots. It is equipped with three 127 mm naval guns and three 18-inch torpedo launch tubes. Due to the incompatibility with China  Navy standard, the United States also promised to immediately transform it in accordance with the requirements of the Chinese Navy.  The main focus is on installing a launch rail for a new type of weapon said to be used for anti-submarine warfare and adding four 37mm rapid-fire cannons.  Moreover, the Chinese Navy has decided to temporarily take over these warships from more than 2,000 naval officers who have been training in the United States for more than a year and were originally prepared to accept two Anhai-class large cruisers.  Until new reception personnel are sent from the country.

    Of course, for this batch of destroyers, the British government needs to pay half of the cost, which is 840,000 pounds at 40,000 pounds per destroyer. It also helps the Chinese Navy save the time needed to build it on its own!  Thinking of this, Lloyd George wondered if this was deliberately arranged by Yang Qiu. Even the personnel training had been done in advance!  Each link is extremely precise.  If that were the case, his thoughts would be really terrible!

    Of course, being able to reach an agreement so quickly not only shows that the United States is secretly leaning towards Britain, but also shows that the country is relatively satisfied with the initial intention reached by Edward Gray and Yang Qiu this time, because this contract barely saves the face of the British Empire and only needs to be revoked.  Inland concessions such as Weihai and Tianjin, which originally had little interest, were converted into Sino-British Free Trade Zones, not to mention that there is still a ten-year special protection buffer period.  As for the core southern coast, including Shanghai and Hong Kong, they are all safe for the time being. More importantly, the key clause of the distribution of interests in the post-war world has been preserved.  Even if I give it backSome will be given, but how much and what will be given is completely decided by the UK.  So in this case, loans, military expenditures, weapons and equipment, logistics support, and machinery and equipment that need to be provided within a year are just games of money and numbers. It is still worthwhile to exchange money for 600,000 cannon fodder. At least they will get it.  Veterans from nearly 10 divisions!  The only thing that worries him may be whether the Anglo-Japanese alliance can continue to be maintained. Perhaps some appropriate compensation should be made to Japan in order to continue to contain this guy who puts money on his face and claims to be the leader of the free world after the war?

    "David."

    When Lloyd George began to conceive of the new world order in his mind, Edward Gray was also worried about the follow-up operations. He did not want to work hard to obtain a 600,000-strong army at a huge cost only to be unable to take effect due to delays in weapons, so he took the list and left  When he came to the side, he looked worried: "The Chinese made it clear that all the weapons and equipment they are currently producing are orders from Russia, as well as our artillery shell orders, so they can only ensure the equipment of 8 divisions, and the remaining 22 are all from us.  Provided, 5 of them need to be shipped to Shanghai within two months. In addition, I just asked about the domestic shipyard equipment. There is no problem with the shipyard equipment. Portsmouth has sufficient reserve equipment. We also have old equipment for steam turbines and boilers. Chemical industry, trucks  , radios, etc., the United States can provide them immediately, but the Army they can¡¯t provide them. We also can¡¯t provide all the equipment of a large arsenal immediately.¡±

    Lloyd George rubbed his temples vigorously. It is true that Britain cannot produce so much weapons and equipment. You must know that Britain's armament development has mainly focused on the navy since the founding of the country. It is not difficult to immediately produce a shipyard's equipment, but it must immediately produce weapons.  It is impossible to employ 100,000 people and provide an army arsenal with thousands of pieces of equipment!  The art situation is also very bad, because the U.S. Army was very small before the war, and its geographical advantage meant that they lacked external enemies, so they never thought that one day they would need such a large amount of Army weapons and equipment, not to mention that almost all of their current Army production lines  Filled with orders from Russia, Russia purchased 2 million rifles alone (in the parallel world, the United States manufactured a total of 2.5 million rifles and 2.5 billion rounds of ammunition during World War I. But 2 million of the rifles and most of the ammunition were sold to Russia  and Britain and France. In the end, when they sent out troops, they could not find enough weapons and had to rely on France.) There was no time to immediately arm 500,000 Chinese soldiers.

    "France should be able to put together a batch of arsenal equipment, Italy can also provide some, and our Wesker cannon factory can mobilize a batch of gun barrel manufacturing equipment. I am going to let Russia provide the rest. Anyway, they don't have enough workers at the moment.  It should be possible to transport the two arsenals on the Black Sea coast to the Far East within two months, and then find ways to make up for them after the war. As for weapons and equipment, the French may still have some reserves. Newcastle has just produced 50,000 Enfest  Rifle. I asked the designer that the 7.7mm caliber we used can be quickly changed to the 7.6251 standard used by China without too complicated processes. I have also telegraphed the rest to the United States. They have manufactured Chinese Type 12 rifles before and said that they can be prioritized.  Produce 200,000 pieces. The goods will arrive within three months at the latest. France has also studied the production of Type 12 rifles. The remaining cannons and tanksthe quantity is not large and should be fine. As for the heavy artillery needed.  I remember that the Admiralty has 66 L40 12-inch naval guns in reserve, so let them transport them all back." Lloyd George looked tired and quickly came up with a plan.  It must be said that as Minister of Munitions, he did his duty.  As he sorted out the chaotic logistics and military support of the Allied Powers, it gradually became clear.

    After saying this, he tried to cheer up, put aside his cluttered thoughts, picked up the documents, and prepared to go to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to coordinate assistance to China. After all, no one wanted the squadron to be unable to appear on the urgently needed battlefield because of the lack of weapons.  But just when he opened the door and was about to call the driver to drive, Viviani came uninvited, and the two almost collided head-on due to their hurry.

    Edward Gray quickly pulled him away to avoid the collision and asked: "Sir Sif, what happened?" "The damn Germans just sunk four more of our transport ships." After Viviani finished cursing, his face changed.  The captain was actually excited and handed the telegram to Gray: "But God allowed them to appear in the fleet."

    The two of them had long been numb to the news that the cargo ship had encountered a submarine, but their eyes lit up when they saw the contents of the telegram clearly!  A Chinese Red Cross shipGod!  "Quickly, announce the news to the newspaper immediately. I want the whole world to know the news!" When Gray and Viviani rushed out of the room excitedly, Lloyd George picked up the telegram on the table and frowned secretly. Is this right?  Too much of a coincidence?

    On August 3, 1916, when Yang Qiu secretly arrived in Paris to inspect the front line, a piece of news suddenly detonated the whole world, deliberately spread by Britain and France.  A hospital ship full of members of the Chinese Red Cross Society was sunk by a German submarine 370 nautical miles southwest of Bordeaux as it entered the west coast of France through the Strait of Gibraltar.  Because the incident occurred suddenly and at night, only 52 people were rescued, and the remaining hundreds of people and medicines worth millions were lost.?, the sight of "Chinese" corpses on the sea shocked the whole of Europe!

    Faced with this "sudden" news, Yang Qiu, who had just returned to Bordeaux after inspecting the brutal battlefields on the Western Front, looked sad in front of reporters from Britain, France and other countries: "We came with the good wish to alleviate the trauma of the war, and we worked hard to make both sides  When we stopped, some people deliberately treated our kindness with malice. I just want to say that through this period of observation and visits, I saw a lot of things that made me sad! So it¡¯s time to take all necessary measures  The war is over!¡±

    After his words and the news of the shipwreck spread quickly back to China, the whole Republic of China was also in an uproar.  With the help of well-intentioned people, this accident was immediately implicitly interpreted as Germany's intention to retaliate against China, which was getting closer to France, and warned China not to meddle in Europe's business.  "Your ExcellencyI'm afraid the situation will get very bad!" Traun stood by the window in the German Embassy in Shanghai and looked at the roaring protest march outside.  My heart suddenly sank to freezing point!  At this moment, he could already determine that China was far away from Germany, and the human resources that the Allies lacked most would be gone forever.

    "Let's go. Go prepare the car." Traun seemed to have aged many years. He picked up his hat and dusted it off: "No matter what, as a diplomat, I have to fight for it."

    When his car drove towards Nanjing, the newly built General Staff of the Ministry of National Defense at the foot of Purple Mountain was bustling with people, and the phone was busy almost from morning to night.  After news of the sinking of the Red Cross ship returned home, everyone understood that participation in the war was inevitable.  Under this circumstance, the previously secretive transfers were gradually made public. The three reserve divisions had just completed preliminary training, and the General Staff once again submitted a draft to the Presidential Office and Congress to form 15 reserve divisions to prevent changes in the world situation.  Benefited from the Conscription and Reserves Act of 1913.  The Republic of China government, which had abundant human resources, took only a few days to determine the scale and number of conscription for each province.

    Once the state machine turns,  Any force or individual that stands in its way will be ruthlessly crushed.  So when Jiang Fangzhen arrived at the General Staff Headquarters, he was surrounded by generals and people.  In particular, the navy is particularly active this time. 2 light cruisers and 21 destroyers (the British gave all the Paulding class to the Republic of China) are really important to the transforming navy!  In order to make good use of this half-sold and half-given aid and train the troops, Sa Zhenbing almost immediately came up with a plan to mobilize more than 200 officers and more than 1,000 sailors from the front line to build his own Anhai class on five 10,000-ton ships.  France takes over two light cruisers donated by Britain and France.  And he also brought enough depth charges and 50 of the latest imitation German H8 models with a 15-year-old style with a thunderhead cap~~

    ? ef="

    net-

    The first update~~The hot power torpedo.  At the same time, for the first time, through the National Socialist Party, Zhi Gong Tang and other socialist parties that still have great influence overseas, 3,000 naval reserves were recruited for the first time from Nanyang and overseas Chinese living in Europe and the United States with higher cultural levels to receive training in Britain and France.

    In the General Staff Conference Room of the Ministry of National Defense, Li Zongren handed the plan to Li Yuanhong and the newly arrived Jiang Fangzhen and others. On the podium, Bai Chongxi pointed at the blackboard with a pointer and introduced to everyone: "According to the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief, the naval escort fleet to Europe will be led by Ye Zugui  As commander, he dispatched Hai Rong, Haitian (Caroline class sent by Britain), Haihua (De Achans class sent by France), 2 Changfeng class ships, 2 Yongji class ships, and 21 Paulding ships purchased from the United States.  It is composed of destroyers, and after the six Changfengs are built, they will also be sent for training if there is an opportunity. The task will be to undertake escorts from China to Marseille, France, and anti-submarine escorts on both sides of the Atlantic.

    The European Air Force will dispatch 48 Haidong Qing and 12 Dapeng bombers, and more than 300 pilot students will be incorporated into the Allied Air Force.

    The Army.  The first batch of assistance equipment from Britain and France will be used to form five infantry divisions from 224 to 228 (temporary establishment and reserve starting with 2xx), three ** heavy artillery brigades 703, 704, and 705 (the original 2 ** mobile artillery regiments for the Sino-Japanese War  Later it was changed to the 701st and 702nd artillery brigades, with six battalions and two regiments. The Ministry of National Defense determined that the future artillery brigades would all start with 7xx, and there would be separate formations behind the armored trains) and the formation of the 501st tank brigade (tank and armor  Troop** Troop number starting with 5xx).  After going to France, Britain and France will continue to provide infantry equipment for at least 5 ** heavy artillery brigades (706, 707, 708, 709 and 710 brigades), 502 tank brigades and 18 divisions.  To reduce domestic logistics pressure.  We recommend recruiting in China for 100 days of basic training before going to France for further adaptive training.

    According to the requirements of the British and French first batch of at least five main divisions, the first batch to go to France totaled 9 divisions, consisting of the 5th, 8th, 20th, and 103rd main divisions and the 221st, 222nd, and 223rd reserve divisions, and then from  An infantry brigade was selected from each of the 1st and 3rd divisions, and they were organized into the 201st and 202nd divisions together with six reserve recruit brigades, as well as the 701st artillery brigade and the 706** heavy artillery brigade formed in France.  The main force on the Russian side will be the 6th Division and the 121st Division (combined divisions starting with 12x) and two heavy artillery brigades as the vanguard, assisted by three reserve divisions.  After Russia agrees to jointly manage the railway, the National Guard will send two brigades into Chita and IrkutsFour important railway hubs, namely Croatia, Tomsk and the Urals, participate in the management and monitor all freight from Vladivostok, Changchun to the Urals.

    After the troops are dispatched, domestic adjustments will also be made. Four divisions are guaranteed in the northeast, one infantry division and two mixed divisions are left in the northwest, and three divisions are Beijing-Tianjin, Hebei and Shandong.  There are 3 divisions in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Fujian, 2 divisions in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi, and 5 divisions in the Central Plains and Hubei provinces.  There is a guard division here in Nanjing, and the defense is basically intact under the condition that Britain and France promised to ensure the security of our country's territory.  In addition, the commander-in-chief also suggested that we must take advantage of this opportunity of large-scale military aid from Britain and France to lay a long-term foundation for future military equipment and calibers, simplify the number of calibers and enhance the versatility of ammunition as much as possible.  "

    "Good guy!" Li Yuanhong didn't care about logistical matters. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and looked at the Middle East Railway from Changchun to Chita on the map, and the longer Siberian Railway line behind it. He was secretly worried about Yang Qiu's plan.  What a great fight!  Said: "Chen Hua really dares to speak. Will the Emperor Nicholas agree if two security brigades go over?"

    "It is no longer up to him whether to agree or not!" Song Ziqing said: "Britain and France are already very dissatisfied with the Russian army's consecutive defeats, and the domestic situation in Russia is also very bad. Therefore, there is no obstruction in giving us the right to command the army."

    "The ** command power is very important. But officers and logistics are still a big problem." Jiang Fangzhen did not expect that Yang Qiu could win a ** command power. Only officers will understand how important this thing is!  Especially when going to the Eastern Front of the European War, where the situation was complicated. If he didn't have this right, he would probably be dragged down by the Russian army without fighting. From this point, it can be seen that Yang Qiu sent troops to the Eastern Front after careful consideration.  However, he still feels that going to the Eastern Front is too risky. The weather and logistics are enough to destroy any elite unit.  There is also the issue of officers.  The reserve division also needs to be supported by enough officers, otherwise it will have no combat effectiveness at all. The National Defense Force was established in too short a time, and the systematic training of the officer corps has only taken place in the past two years.

    "There are about 20,000 officer vacancies. We are going to first recruit qualified veterans from the current main divisions to supplement them, and then mobilize a group of non-commissioned officers from several army academies across the country. As for logistics" Song Ziqing took out  He handed the information to everyone for circulation and said: "There is no shortage of food in Russia. The Ural and Don River Basin are both grain-producing areas. This is the report sent back by Li Liejun. According to the information, the Ural area alone has a stockpile of about 1 million troops.  Eat food for the first half of the year. More than 200,000 Springfield rifles and a large amount of ammunition ordered from the United States are also stored there, so it is more than enough to supply several divisions. The real problem is that the railway is a mess after crossing the Urals, lacking effective command and dispatch.  Officials from all over the country only focus on exploitation and interception, which seriously prevents supplies from being transported to the front line!"

    "Then what should we do? We can't just leave when we reach the Urals, right? Will Nicholas II give us control of the railway from the Urals to the front line?" Feng Guozhang knows best the importance of logistics to an army. There are no guns or bullets.  You can also get some from enemies.  But having nothing to eat is very troublesome.  What's more, the weather in Russia was bad, and the soldiers who had no food ended up either mutinying or retreating.  Song Ziqing was helpless at this point and said: "After the Ural, we will reach the border of Europe. No matter how much Russia believes in us, it will never be possible for us to hand over this section of the railway to our joint management. However, the commander said that we don't have to worry about this for the time being, as long as we set off as early as possible and arrive at the Ural first.  Just be prepared for the winter, and the restcan wait."

    "Wait? Are you kidding me?"

    Li Shucheng stood up. After reunification, he had been serving as Army Staff in the Staff Department. Originally, his party was firmly opposed to sending troops. Hearing this, he stood up quickly and said: "How can we wait for 100,000 soldiers in five divisions! This is human life."  It¡¯s a big deal!¡±

    Li Shucheng's words resonated with each other, but Yue Peng, who had just returned from Fengtian, had different opinions. He broke the silence with a cough: "Brother Shucheng said it is true, but we are soldiers! We must obey orders and the needs of the country. This time we send troops  Although the risk is extremely high, the benefits to our country are also obvious. Not to mention that the agreement will provide so many factories within a year, which will greatly promote our country¡¯s industrial construction. The loan of 500 million pounds alone is 2.5 billion US dollars. In exchange for our RMB  That¡¯s 5 billion! This is equivalent to our country¡¯s current total income for four years. It can meet the needs of infrastructure construction including railways, power plants, etc., and can also accelerate land and social reform! So I think that no matter how difficult it is, we soldiers should do it.  The country has made sacrifices, it is our responsibility to put on the military uniform!" After such a long period of training, Yue Peng has become a completely different person, and he is also the most popular candidate to go to Europe to unite the troops.  These words made many hesitant officers nod secretly. How many great things can be done with 5 billion yuan of funds!  When soldiers defend the country, they must also fight and sacrifice for the interests of the country.

    Jiang Fangzhen saw that the smell of gunpowder between the two men was relatively strong. He stood up and said, "Don't think too much about this matter for now. Maybe the vice president has other ways to solve it. Has the military leader been selected?"

    ? ??It is divided into three armies. We propose the First Army for the European Expedition  Song Ziqing glanced at Yue Peng and said, "Yue Peng will be appointed commander of the First Army, Su Xiaohu will be appointed deputy commander, and Zhang Tingfu will be appointed chief of staff."  The Second Army to Russia was headed by Shi Xiaolou as commander, Wu Peifu as deputy commander, and Chen Huan and Xu Shuzheng as staff officers.  The Third Army is tentatively appointed as commander by Brother Songpo, and the candidates for deputy commander and chief of staff are yet to be determined.  "

    Jiang Fangzhen nodded, this appointment can almost be regarded as preparing for the worst!  It can be seen that Yang Qiu also knew that going to Europe must be an arduous battle. When he was about to speak, Wang Anlan ran in and panted: "President, the German ambassador is here." Li Yuanhong and Tang Shaoyi, who said nothing, looked at each other, chubby  He walked out quickly.

    On August 10, 1916, President Li Yuanhong issued an ultimatum to Germany on behalf of the Republic of China government, requiring Germany to hand over the murderer who sank the Red Cross ship within a week, and at the same time compensate the Republic of China government and the victim's family for a total of US$50 million.  Compensation for the aftermath.

    On the same day, Yang Qiu set off from Bordeaux to New York.

    On August 11, the Republic of China government announced that as a precaution, all non-essential personnel and cadets studying in Germany would be evacuated from the four countries of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman and Bulgaria to immediately evacuate to the neutral country of Switzerland for temporary residence.  Since Bingwen and others had served in the German army for more than two years, Germany was worried that they would leak secrets and once arrested them. However, considering that the Republic of China government also had thousands of "prisoners of war" detained from Qingdao, the Republic of China government made all military decisions to study abroad.  After the cadets and cadets guaranteed that they would not join the Wehrmacht at the end of the war, they were sent to Switzerland and placed under special guard.

    On August 17, just before the ultimatum ended, the governments of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria announced that they would sever all diplomatic relations with China.

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