Tsarist Russia had undergone great changes, and the happiest thing was the allies, especially Germany.

Compared with the elite German team, the Tsarist Russian army was almost a scum. Since the war started, Tsarist Russia lost a large area of ​​territory, was beaten by the Germans and retreated step by step, almost losing its capital. But that's it. With Tsarist Russia's vast territory and huge population base, it worked hard to pile up with people, like an indestructible young strongman, let the Germans beat them back and forth with their left hook and right jab, but they refused to fall down happily.

This result made the Germans speechless. Seeing that the other side was shaking but refused to admit defeat, Germany could only invest nearly half of its national strength and military strength on the Eastern Front and repeatedly entangled with Tsarist Russia. From the perspective of the German General Staff, if Tsarist Russia had not restrained the Eastern Front, the German military strength would have long defeated the opponent on the Western Front, thus winning the victory of the war. Now Tsarist Russia has finally fallen, and the Germans are all happy from top to bottom. In their opinion, the victory is not far away, and the European war will end soon.

Compared with the allies, the Allies were worried. The fall of Tsarist Russia made the Allies about to withdraw from the Eastern Front and concentrate their efforts to deal with the war on the Western Front. If this were the case, the already exhausted British and French coalition forces would suffer major setbacks and faced pressures that were the most powerful since the war began. If they could not withstand the Germans, they would probably lose the war. For this reason, the main members of the Allies met urgently. Britain and France first agreed to negotiate and announced to the outside world that they would continue to recognize the Tsarist rule, and did not accept the Provisional Government as the orthodox government of Tsarist Russia, and put pressure on diplomatically. Forced the Provisional Government to hand over the rights to Nicholas II again.

This is superficially, in private. Britain and France sent representatives to contact the Tsarist Russian Provisional Government and issued conditions. Britain and France agreed that only if the provisional government needs to continue to fulfill the obligations of the members of the Allied States, and if they do not terminate the war with the allied countries, they will formally recognize the legitimacy of the provisional government.

In addition, due to the sudden change in the European situation, Britain and France urgently demanded that other members of the Allied Powers, especially China, and Japan join the war as soon as possible. From the beginning of the war to the present, Japan, as a member of the Allied Powers, only declared war on the allied powers on the surface, but did not fulfill any obligation to participate in the war. Instead, it fought with China in the Far East, which has caused extreme dissatisfaction within the Alliance.

Compared with Japan, although China has not sent troops to fight, it has fulfilled its obligations as members of the Allied Powers in terms of war materials. Although Britain, France and other countries do not say it, they also know in their hearts that if it were not for the support of the Chinese, the collapse of Tsarist Russia would probably be a long time earlier than now. The war has reached this point, and it is not easy for Tsarist Russia to support it until now.

British Ambassador Jurden soon received a domestic order to deliver the British government's request to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, followed by the French, whose requests were similar. They were all asked to fulfill their obligations as a member of the Allied State and send troops to Europe.

Like the Chinese, the Japanese also received these requests. For these two countries, Britain and France valued Japan's navy, which is the largest in the Far East, and China's huge population base. They believed that as long as China and Japan jointly sent troops to fill the gap in Tsarist Russia's fall, whoever fights this war may be able to recover.

Upon receiving the news, Song Jiaoren hurriedly convened a cabinet meeting to discuss the situation. In the meeting, those who opposed sending troops were far more than those who agreed with the sending troops, because in the eyes of many people, the collapse of Tsarist Russia marked the balance point of the European war that had slipped to the allies, and it was not a wise choice to formally send troops at this time. Once the Allies lose this war, the outcome of China as a defeated country can be imagined. Some even proposed to take advantage of the huge changes in Tsarist Russia to let China withdraw from the Allies, re-choose neutrality, or directly join the camp of the Allies.

There are many people who hold these opinions. Even Wu Peifu feels that it is not wise to continue to follow the Allies under this situation. Whether from the war situation or the international situation, the Allies have the upper hand. Moreover, when inspecting Europe, Wu Peifu has seen the elite and ferocious German soldiers with his own eyes. From a military perspective, he believes that the Allies are likely to defeat the Allies due to the collapse of Tsarist Russia.

Even Wu Peifu thought so, let alone others. But Fang Zida knew very well that the difficult days of the Allies were only short, because just like the collapse of Tsarist Russia, the Allies also had such a crisis.

The first to be brunt is the Ottoman Empire. This old empire has long lost its glory. Although it is still one of the ancient empires in Europe and has a territory spanning three major states, the country has long been corrupt, with high debts and people living in poverty. Otherwise, the Ottoman Empire would not have jumped into the arms of the allies without hesitation for the benefit of a mere 100 million francs.

Secondly, it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As the protagonist of the war and the Germans who were close to each other as brothers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire reached a point of collapse in this war. The domestic conflicts intensified, but the battlefield progress was nowhere to be achieved, which made the imperial rule shaky. Once these two empires fell together, Germany would face the slightest fight. No matter how powerful the Germans were, they could not defeat four hands with both fists, and they would inevitably be beaten to death by the agreed country.

In addition to these, there are also Americans who have been watching the fire from the other side and have not taken action. Although the Americans kept shouting slogans of peace and democracy, their hands were not soft at all when they launched the war. Of course, Fang Zida was the same. From this point of view, both sides have a common language, otherwise he would not cooperate with American capital. But while the Americans were making money, they were also quietly prepared. The so-called staying away from war and never participating in the war is just for ordinary people. Once the time comes, it would be strange if the Americans didn't take action. As for the reasons for participating in the war, does this need to be discussed? Until now, it can be used as a reason for any thing, which is a small matter for politicians than eating and drinking water.

At the cabinet meeting, the discussions on whether to send troops to participate in the war were endless. Almost all the chiefs of the cabinet opposed sending troops. Even the chief of the diplomatic chief Cao Rulin, who had always supported Fang Zida, felt that it would be better to suspend the troops to see the situation. But Fang Zida did not think so. He was the first to agree to send troops and decided to transport 100,000 troops to Europe in one breath to participate in the war. Fang Zida's view was opposed by many people, and even Liao Zhongkai felt that this was too hasty and did not support his decision. What surprised Fang Zida was that there were no one who agreed, but the person who agreed was not the General Staff, but the Ministry of National Defense. Duan Zhigui, as the spokesperson of Duan Qirui, actually voted Fang Zida in the cabinet meeting to show his support.

There was no result in the meeting. Song Jiaoren was deeply concerned about this and decided to consider it carefully before making a resolution. Like China, the Japanese were hesitant about it. The Japanese cabinet had their own opinions on whether to send troops to Europe to quarrel. A few days later, Fang Zida privately asked Song Jiaoren to discuss with him various reasons for sending troops, and asked the Chinese government to negotiate with Britain, France and other countries before sending troops to divide the interests after the victory of the war to ensure that China's interests are not damaged. In addition, Fang Zida also brought Song Jiaoren a message that the US government has considered joining the agreement country to participate in the war.

Timely help is far better than adding icing on the cake. If China wants to gain a place in the world, now is the best time. If it misses, it will lose a lot. Moreover, even if it sends troops, mobilization, assembly and transportation of 100,000 troops, assembly and transportation, etc. cannot be completed in the short term. The Chinese government's dispatch of troops is just a gesture in the final analysis. Maybe when the troops arrive in Europe, the war may not be over. China's early response can force the Allies to make concessions internationally and make decisions that favor China for the division of forces after the peace in the future. This is of great benefit to the country.

Then again, what if the Allies lose in the end? Germany is a European country and does not border China. The same is true for the rest of the allies. It does not have much power in the Far East, and the situation will not be bad for China at worst. Moreover, the Chinese government will learn from Italy at that time, and it will generally change its camp from the allies to the agreement.

"But, 100,000 troops... it's no small matter to withdraw so many troops." Song Jiaoren was moved by Fang Zida's words, but then hesitated.

"I said Brother Dunchu, it is the truth that we sent 100,000 troops, but we didn't say we wanted to pull out the National Defense Forces within the organization! Can't we train some new troops or send some local troops to Europe? Isn't this a good thing to kill two birds with one stone?"

Song Jiaoren's eyes lit up, and Fang Zida's words reminded him. After several years of construction of the National Defense Forces, local forces are not as powerful as before, but after all, they cannot be eradicated for a while. It would be great if you use troops to solve local problems, but what should you do if you are weapons, equipment, etc.? One hundred thousand troops, this is a huge consumption!

In this regard, Fang Zida came up with another opinion, which is to refer to the loan terms of the Americans to Britain, France, the Soviet Union and other countries during World War II. You, Britain and France, are in a hurry to let the Chinese go to Europe to fight, yes! But weapons, equipment, logistics, etc. must be provided, and the battlefield command must be under the command of the Chinese side. If you can't afford the money, you will be guaranteed by the Americans, and the United States will underwrite the Chinese government's war bonds and add joint funding to purchase weapons and other equipment. Isn't this the best of both worlds?

"What if they refuse?"
Chapter completed!