Volume 1: A turbulent era Chapter 213: Changes in the wind and clouds

Fang Zida did not stay in Shandong for long. China and Japan were at war. He needed many of the work of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, and he could not leave the capital for a long time. After staying in Ji*nan for five days, Fang Zida followed the troops in Jiaodong to Qingdao. First, he wanted to discuss the direction of the war with Wu Peifu and listen to the suggestions of his general. Second, Fang Zida was also curious about the Japanese army of this era and planned to take advantage of the opportunity to go to the front line to visit the troops to see these "Japanese devils" with his own eyes.

What made Fang Zida "disappointed" was that the "Japanese devils" today were not the same as he saw in the movie. Not to mention the steel helmet on his head, he didn't even have a "sloth curtain style" hat. He was wearing a uniform with different colors and styles that were similar to the China ** team, and he wore a large-brimmed military cap on his head, hiding behind the trenches and shooting back and forth with Chinese soldiers. Most of them were holding the primary version of the 38 rifle - the Type 30 rifle, commonly known as the "gold hook rifle". The machine guns used were not the later "criminal handles". They did not have the weapons used extensively in World War II in history. Even the China ** team had already distributed a large number of soldiers' grenades in the Japanese army.

Compared with the powers of Western countries, the current Japanese army can be called "short". Moreover, since it is landing operations, the heavy weapons such as heavy artillery used by the Japanese have not been brought up. Faced with more personnel, better equipment and complete artillery suppression, the poor Japanese can only be pinned to the ground in despair and beaten up by others.

Seeing that Wu Peifu had completely mastered the situation on the front line, Fang Zida was completely relieved. After staying in Qing*da for a short day, Fang Zida returned to Ji*nan, and then took the special train the next day to rush back to the capital.

Half a month since the war between China and Japan started, except for the Northeast, Jiaodong and other fronts have been fighting fiercely, and international forces have different views on this war. Although the agreement is extremely dissatisfied with Japan's sudden war against China, especially Britain has warned the Japanese government several times since the war between Japan started through diplomatic channels, requiring the Japanese government to immediately stop this "war that should not have occurred" to maintain the stability of the agreement. Following the governments of Britain, France and other countries is Tsarist Russia. In a sense, the war between China and Japan has had the greatest impact on Tsarist Russia. It is important to know that until the war has not yet been supported by China's large amount of material behind it, the Tsarist Russia, which has suffered heavy casualties on the front line.

The team may not be able to stand it anymore. Now that China and Japan have started the war, the source of supplies from Tsarist Russia will inevitably decrease sharply. Tsar Nicholas II, who has noticed some unstable situation in the country, was immediately anxious. In addition, due to the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas II had no good feelings for the Japanese. Following the British and French governments, they repeatedly warned the Japanese government, strongly demanding that the Japanese government immediately stop the war and restore the previous state of China and Japan. They were the first to propose in the agreement that if the Japanese government still insisted on doing its own thing, Japan's membership of the Allied Powers should be abolished and recognized that it was regarded as an ally. All members of the Allied Powers jointly set off war against Japan in accordance with the agreement.

Of course, the suggestion of Tsarist Russia was not recognized by Britain and France. At this point in the world war, although Britain and France were extremely dissatisfied with Japan, they would not be so stupid that they pushed Japan to the point of allies. If there was no war in Europe, major powers such as Britain, France, and Russia might be able to directly solve the Far East problem with force, but now they are dragged down by the European battlefield and cannot look east, they can only deal with China diplomatically, hoping that China can block the Japanese's footsteps, or the Japanese will stop and turn back to the shore.

Having said that, this is also the current consideration. If there was no war in Europe, would the members of the Allied Powers really be in charge of China's life or death? It would be great if they didn't wear a pair of pants with the Japanese and colluded with each other to act red and white. Since the Opium War, haven't the great powers dealt with China like this? In their eyes, whether it was China or Japan, these yellow-skinned Orientals had far less status than their whites. The rich land in the Far East was their ranch. Trying to take advantage of everything is the authenticity of their greedy face.

Compared with the Allies, the news of the war between China and Japan made the allies happy. The stalemate in the European battlefield caused the member states of the Allies to lose great national strength, but they still did not achieve the goal of defeating their opponents. Now, the conspiracy has started to fight with their own people inexplicably. When the news reached Europe, the happiest one was the German emperor William II. When we learned that the main areas of the Far East battlefield were the Northeast and the former German colony, Qingzhai Island, William II gloated and secretly glad that he had handed over Qingzhai Island to China early, and made it a "fuse for war" in the East like Sarajevo.

The Chinese and Japanese went to war. How many people died on both sides, or who the final winner was, were all irrelevant "small things" for William II. The Far East is so far from Europe, and after returning to Qinghai Island, Germany has no interests in the Far East. So let them fight more lively. The more people died, the better. No matter how it is, it will not affect Germany.

What's more, the outbreak of the war between China and Japan allowed William II to see the possibility of winning the European battlefield. Can Tsarist Russia, which lacks the source of Chinese materials, continue to block the German team's progress? As long as the Eastern Front defeated those country bumpkins - Russians, the great German could concentrate his strength and turn around the Western Front, attack the British and French troops in one fell swoop. When the French surrendered, the British, who were alone, could only seek peace even if they had the protection of the strait. In this way, Germany's rise in the world would no longer have the power to stop it, and the German emperor would also become the greatest emperor in history.

Just as the members of the Allied Powers were dealing with Japan's attack on China and trying to resolve the problem internally, William II first issued a statement in Europe. He first vigorously criticized Japan's "ugly behavior" of shameless invasion of China in the newspaper, and cursed the Japanese as the scum of civilized society. It is precisely the shameless country in the world that causes wars to continue to occur. Shameless Japanese are like Britain and France. Their evil existence is the biggest enemy that threatens world civilization. As a great German nation, this kind of thing is absolutely not allowed to happen. Then he talked endlessly and played Germany as a pure and flawless angel of peace, and also promoted the traditional friendship between China and Germany, especially the fact that Germany voluntarily returned to Qingdao to the great world, and extended an attractive olive branch to the Chinese government with a smile.

The German Emperor William's behavior is almost equivalent to saying: "Chinese people, look, what are the benefits of joining the Allied Power? These idiots in the Allied Power can't even control their own people. Why are you doing with them? Come on, come on! Put them in our arms and join forces to kill these idiots and shameless people. This is your wisest choice."

The opposite of German Emperor William was his brother-Australia and Hungary. Although the Austro-Hungary Empire did not yell internationally like Germany and directly attracted the Chinese with thick faces, the Austro-Hungary Empire sent special envoys to the Far East in private to prepare to contact the Japanese government and try to bring the Japanese to the Allies under the current circumstances.

One light and one dark, the Allies have tried their best to dismantle the power of the Allies from within. No matter what the final result is, it will be beneficial to the Allies. Who would not do such a deal that will definitely not lose money? The actions of the Allies have caused great fear of the Allies, especially Britain, France, and Russia. Whether China and Japan are being swept by the Allies, or whether the two countries are both defeated, it is an extremely bad thing for the Allies. Stop this war, stabilize the domestic situation of the Allies, and defeat the powerful opponents of Europe, is the most important thing.

Since the war started, the Chinese government has summoned Japanese ambassadors many times and demanded that the Japanese government stop the war immediately. However, the Japanese proudly refused the Chinese government's protests. Not only did they also hit the target and put the blame on the Chinese, claiming that Japan's troops were completely forced by the Chinese government, and they were just to safeguard the security of the expatriates and ensure Japan's interests in the Far East. As long as the Chinese government promised to ced Fengtian Province and Qingshidao to Japan and pay appropriate compensation, the Japanese army would consider a ceasefire.

Of course, Song Jiaoren would not agree to the Japanese's conditions for a big talk. Several negotiations failed. Song Jiaoren instructed Cao Rulin to conduct diplomatic contacts with Japan again. With the improvement of the situation in Jiaodong and the stalemate of the Northeast, the Chinese side gradually settled down from the initial chaos. The General Staff's plan to transfer troops has been basically completed. Reinforcements will be transferred to Fengtian in just a few days. Fengtian, with strong backing, is enough to block Japan's progress. In addition, the good news brought back by Fang Zida from Jiaodong, the Chinese government's confidence is higher day by day.

After Fang Zida returned to Beijing, Song Jiaoren summoned him immediately. After carefully inquiring about the situation in the Jiaodong front line, Song Jiaoren, who had been solemn, smiled.

"Wu Ziyu is such a talent!" Liao Zhongkai praised on the side. He never expected that Qing*dao would fight like this. Moreover, Duan Qirui's strategy of killing people with a knife became a training force under Wu Peifu's clever use. In the whole of China, Wu Peifu is probably the only general who can fight like this.

"Zhengming, you have worked hard on this journey. You came to Ji*nan to send a telegram to discuss with Ziyu. How are you talking?" Nodded in agreement with Liao Zhongkai's words, Song Jiaoren turned to ask.

"I'm a good talk. Before leaving, Brother Yu asked me to ask you something. This sentence is exactly what I want to ask." Fang Zida put down the tea in his hand, raised his head and looked at Song Jiaoren with bright eyes.

"What do you mean?"
Chapter completed!