On January 3, 1906, in Togo's coastal basin area of Benin, a group of civil and Korean engineers sat at the dock waiting to be evacuated. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info They have found a large oil field and have drilled several oil wells. Everyone discussed the geological characteristics of this oil field and the experience of exploitation, and also talked about the joy of returning home for the New Year. They were oil workers who had come by ship from Hungary, and the comrades who had been out for the longest time had not returned home for two years.

As they spoke, they saw the Germans approach, and everyone immediately stopped discussing. It is possible to help the Germans drill oil wells, but there is no reason to teach the Germans to drill oil wells. The Germans are not naïve to try, they have tried many times before, and they have all touched the nose, and they are too lazy to do it again. The officer who came over said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have received a telegram that the ship will enter the harbor immediately, please get ready." ”

As soon as they heard that they would soon be able to embark on the journey back to China, the oil workers were full of joy, and they were anxious to stand on a high place and begin to look out to sea. The Chinese were happy to go home, and the Germans were equally happy to explain to their superiors that the news of the oil had reached Berlin.

Berlin's high-ranking officials were pleasantly surprised, but not simply happy. The discovery of oil in Togo is good news, but Benin is too far away from Germany, and Germany does not have the same professional tankers as the Minchao Dynasty. From a purely economic point of view, buying oil from the Middle East is actually no more expensive than shipping oil back from Benin.

"If war starts, the French will probably attack our colonies in Africa as soon as possible." Moltke Jr., Chief of Staff, couldn't help but ask.

No one immediately replied that Africa had developed beyond what Germany had originally imagined. Although the Republic of China gained huge benefits from the development of Africa, the Germans did not expect that they would actually develop an industrial center in Africa, at least the local resources can definitely support an industrial center.

Seeing that no one answered, Moltke Jr. said, "Are we going to protect the African colonies in future wars?" ”

As with the previous question, there was still no answer. If the colonies in Africa were a wasteland, the people who wanted to come to Berlin would have made a decision at once. It's good to get a big gain, but it also makes it harder to make a decision.

There was no shortage of pro-British people in Germany, and when the news of Germany's oil in Africa reached Berlin, London was quickly informed, and the British became nervous. After discussion, the British Secretary of State for Defense invited the ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Korea to meet.

According to the decision of the British Parliament to rotate London and Victoria every four years a few years ago, the British Parliament and the King of England were in London at this time. However, many people believe that perhaps the next time the British Parliament and the King arrive in North America, the North American transformation of Britain will be completed.

Britain has changed so much in recent years that the ambassador of the Republic of China to Britain is more convinced of the probability of such a judgment occurring. There are only 15 million people left on the island of Great Britain, and the real population is only 10 million after removing the 5 million old people who decided to live on the island of Great Britain for the rest of their lives. 9 million urban population and 1 million urban elderly population, 1 million rural population and 4 million rural elderly population. The British government not only did not let capital run rampant on the island of Great Britain, but on the contrary, Lloyd's. Under George's leadership, a series of laws were completed, such as the Regulations on the Promotion of Family Farms, the Regulations on the Nationalization of Coal Mines, and the Urban District Heating Law.

Anyone with a little discerning can see that these laws are copying the Republic of China, and Britain itself does not care about learning from the management experience of other countries. In particular, with the passage of the "Coal Mine Nationalization Ordinance", the ambassador of the Republic of China was not worried about Britain moving towards socialism from now on, because it was simply impossible. What the ambassador of the Republic of China cares about is that there is said to be a "Backward Technology Elimination Law" behind this regulation, and the Republic of China has a similar law, but the name is "National Laboratory Law". With the power of the state to ensure that enterprises use the most advanced technology, and regularly eliminate outdated technology. If the British really did this, they would not be left behind in the future competition, but tenaciously continue to compete with the Republic of China.

Thinking about it, the car unconsciously stopped in front of the office building of the British Secretary of Defense. London did not imitate the amazing urban model of the Republic of China with ten lanes and a large number of overpasses, and the main roads of London, England, were generally six or even eight lanes after the demolition. Coupled with the start of London's Underground network, travel has become less congested.

After the meeting, the British Secretary of State for Defense asked bluntly: "May I ask why your country is helping Germany to drill oil wells?" ”

The ambassador replied bluntly: "Because we want Germany to stop being so stubbornly opposed to Hungary." ”

The whole of Europe knows that Hungary is the heart and soul of the Republic of China, and it is surprising that the Republic of China does not support Hungary. The Minister of Defense was speechless by such a straightforward answer, so he could only touch his nose first to adjust his thinking.

"Germany has already agreed to cooperate with Hungary?" The Secretary of State for Defense has found the gist of the next question.

"Do you think Germany will come to an agreement with Hungary?" The ambassador of the Republic of China couldn't help but laugh.

Of course, the British Secretary of State for Defense does not believe in such a ridiculous thing, but he is now facing the powerful government of the Republic of China, and ten years ago no one in the world believed that the Republic of China would be able to sweep the United States, which is more than 8 million square kilometers in more than three years. "Maybe you can bring about such a treaty." The Secretary of State for Defence used the phrase of urgency.

"We, the People's Republic of China, have never tried anything that is completely impossible, and this time we only ask Germany not to deliberately target Hungary on Hungary's external path." The ambassador of the Republic of China told the matter. The organization agreed with the ambassador to tell this fact because there was a suspicion that the European countries might not necessarily believe it to be true.

The British Secretary of State for Defense was silent, he thought it was too funny. If Britain had done such a thing, the price of Germany's comeback would not have been a simple stumbling block for Hungary. With the proficiency of the British Empire, Germany had to bleed several times if it did not vomit a kidney. Therefore, the Minister of Defense simply stopped pestering, and the military had a military style, and the Minister of Defense went straight to the point, "I don't know what the Republic of China thinks of Crete." ”

"We bought Crete, and Crete is the territory of our Minchao. What else does this need to be looked at? The ambassador began to play dumb.

"European countries will not agree to such a change!" The Minister of Defense spoke in a strong tone.

"Will you Britains accept such a change?" The corners of the ambassador's mouth turned up slightly, and a smile appeared.

"We in the UK can coordinate from this, if the Republic of China allows Cretan autonomy...... "The Secretary of State for Defense hastened to pitch a British solution.

"We don't have to worry about the internal affairs of the Republic of China, Your Excellency the Minister of Defense, I think what you should consider in this matter is whether Britain should stop the British when the troops of the Republic of China land on the island. Next year at the latest, our troops from the Democratic Republic of Korea will definitely land on the island this year. With that, the ambassador stood up and took his leave.

"Can't we discuss it anymore?" The British Secretary of State for Defense asked.

"Will Britain accept the question of whether the island of Great Britain should be self-governing?" The ambassador of the Republic of China to Britain left this sentence and walked away.

Looking at the back of the ambassador of the Republic of China, the British Secretary of State for Defense just sighed and sat back in his chair. Looking up at the map of Europe, the location of Crete is very prominent. Italy, jutting into the Mediterranean Sea like a boot, divides the Mediterranean Sea in two, and the rectangular island of Crete lies in the center of the right half of the Mediterranean. The island of Crete covers an area of more than 8,000 square kilometers and has a number of ports that control the Mediterranean shipping routes. If a detachment had been stationed in the formidable Great Fleet of the Min Dynasty, the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, with the exception of the Ottoman Empire, would probably have had no rest.

"Alas......" the British Secretary of State sighed and put the matter down. Now is not at all the time for Britain to jump out and speak, and until it has the ability to deal with the Grand Fleet of the Republic of China, all nonsense is self-inflicted.

The events in Crete shook the whole of Europe, the British could afford to let it go, and the Russians, France, and Italy with troops stationed on the island of Crete were greatly disturbed. The three countries were now allied, with Italy facing Crete and Russia and France facing the possibility of the North Korean fleet entering the Black Sea and the western Mediterranean. Although they had not fought against the Grand Fleet of the Min Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms were aware of the strength of the British Royal Navy. The navy of the Republic of China defeated the Royal Navy again and again, and fought all the way from the far western Pacific to the Mediterranean. Such a powerful navy is by no means something that the three countries can defeat at the moment.

The distraught representatives of the three countries sent representatives to a meeting in Versailles,

France, after all, was an old colonial power, and they demanded that they also send troops to Ethiopia to fight the war. After all, the war so far has been supported by Italy alone, and when Italy tried to expand its influence in East Africa, France, like other countries, waited to see the outcome of Italy. Now France entered the war not only by sending troops, but first by asking Italy to divide part of the Eritrean coast to Italy.

The two countries had to coordinate, and all kinds of past grievances were brought up and discussed. The settlement of the East African dispute was preceded by deep negotiations between France and Italy over the dispute in North Africa. In the final Versailles Agreement, France and Italy thoroughly defined their spheres of influence in North Africa and agreed on their spheres of influence in Ethiopia.

This kind of spoils sharing meeting will last for a long time, and even after it is over, it will be discussed and decided by the upper echelons of the two countries. By the time the matter went back to the Ethiopian War, it was in April 1906.

Italy and France both have their own internal lines in Ethiopia, so the information they get when they exchange intelligence with each other is so consistent that the personnel of the two countries are puzzled and ask: "Are you sure that China will not send troops here?" ”

The matter of the Minchao providing advisers and weapons to Ethiopia was also public, but the Minchao said to the Ethiopian emperor, "Fight with one punch, lest a hundred blows come." So we hope that the Italian aggressors will be dealt with by Ethiopia's own forces. Only in this way will Italy not send an army again for revenge, and we believe in the strength of your country. ”

Knowing the attitude of the Minchao, the Italian representative laughed angrily: "Ha! Ha ha! Hahahaha...... Very good! Let's see what strength those Ethiopians have! ”

The French delegates also wanted to laugh, but they were a little worried that the Minchao might not really send troops, and maybe the Minchao just wanted to get more benefits from Ethiopia, so they used these words to blackmail the Ethiopians.

In any case, wars are fought by men. The Italians sent two armies with a total of 60,000 troops, and the French did not dare to hold it up, so they sent 40,000 troops to the war. Together with the more than 10,000 Italian troops who had remained in Ethiopia before, the Italo-French army totaled 100,000. At this time, the total number of Ethiopian troops was only 100,000.

In order for Ethiopia to defeat and expel the invaders, Italy and France, in addition to controlling Ethiopia, wanted to set up a naval base here to prevent the free entry of the navy of the Republic of China and North Korea into the Mediterranean. The purpose of the two forces is clear, and the decisive battle will soon begin.