The strategic equilibrium in South America has been shattered, and the economic system of the Americas, which the British have painstakingly managed, is also facing the risk of disintegration and collapse under the pressure of the Americans.

The British were in a hurry, otherwise, Hermes, the British minister to Han who had always paid attention to the face of the empire and paid attention to the pomp and circumstance of the hegemon, would not have hurried to the headquarters building of the Han Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 11 o'clock in the evening.

"Your Excellency, in accordance with your instructions, the British Minister, Mr. Hermes, has been arranged to wait in the drawing-room."

"Okay, I got it."

Tang Jingsong, the chief minister of foreign affairs, nodded and said: "Tell the staff to prepare some simple tea and send it over, so that the British can't think that we don't understand the etiquette of hospitality." ”

"Yes, Chief." …………

After waiting patiently in the living room on the first floor for nearly ten minutes, the British Minister Hermes had just drunk the last bit of tea in the teacup, when he saw Tang Jingsong, the chief minister of the Han Foreign Ministry, coming down from the upper floor.

"Your Excellency, I'm sorry to disturb your rest so late."

The British minister stood up, first greeted politely, and then explained: "The Imperial side has received several important pieces of information, the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet has left the US mainland and is on its way to the Caribbean Sea, and the Imperial side speculates that the final destination of the US Atlantic Fleet may be the southern waters of South America, and the target of the American Atlantic Fleet is also likely to be your country's coastal garrison and your country's naval fleet deployed on the Atlantic side. ”

"Thank you for your kind reminder." In the face of the temptation of the British minister, Tang Jingsong replied in a resolute tone: "Although our Han country is inferior to the United States in terms of population and national strength, if the United States insists on provoking and repeatedly relies on force to interfere in the internal affairs of our Han country, then our Han country would rather fight with the United States than compromise or retreat!" ”

"Your Excellency and your country's courage is admirable, but the United States is militarily strong, and during the Civil War, the American North had the ability to mobilize a million soldiers to fight in the war, and now, more than twenty years after the end of the Civil War. After more than 20 years of development, the population and economic strength of the United States have increased several times compared with that of the Civil War, and the industrial strength and military strength that the United States can mobilize are far more powerful than during the Civil War.

On the other hand, although your country has been founded for more than 20 years and has a population of 18 million people, after all, the history of your country's founding is still relatively short, and its industrial and economic heritage is at an absolute disadvantage compared with the United States.

Moreover, your country's naval strength is still in the construction stage, and if you lose your naval strength that you have worked so hard to build for 20 years because of a war with a huge disparity in strength, I am afraid that Your Majesty the Emperor will also feel regretful and unwilling. ”

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, although I admit that there is a huge power gap between Han and the United States, I don't fully agree with your statement."

Tang Jingsong retorted: "First of all, the current hostile situation between Han and the United States does not belong to the responsibility of Han.

At the beginning of the founding of the Han Dynasty, it adhered to the international norms of mutual benefit and equal exchanges, and carried out friendly cooperation with various civilized countries in economic, cultural and other fields, and the Great Han Kingdom has always respected the interests and dignity of all civilized countries, and has never taken the initiative to carry out activities that harm the interests of the United States, and on the contrary, when the United States completed the construction task of the Pacific Railroad and was unwilling to accept those Chinese laborers who worked the railway construction site, the Han side not only took the initiative to contact the United States. He promised to help them relocate Chinese workers stranded in the United States to South America, and promised the American side to abandon the legacy of pursuing the American Railroad Company's abuse of Chinese workers and deducting their wages.

However, the generosity and concessions of the Han side not only did not bring satisfaction and gratitude from the Americans, but only intensified their persecution of Chinese laborers.

Between 1875 and 1885, the number of Chinese who died tragically at the hands of American thugs reached thousands, and among the Chinese who died tragically were not only male Chinese workers, but also the elderly, women and children!

For the pressing, provocation of the Americans step by step! For the sake of national interests, for the dignity of the people, and for the sake of seeking justice for the compatriots who died tragically, our Great Han Kingdom will never give in at all!

If the United States interferes in the affairs of South America with the intention of threatening Han with military force, then even if war breaks out,

The responsibility is also entirely on the side of the United States!

Han is a peace-loving country, and we don't want to be an enemy of the United States, but we are not afraid of being an enemy of the Americans!

If the United States is determined to wage an all-out war on its homeland,

Then, our Han Kingdom will also be well prepared for the whole people's war!

At that time, when the warships of the United States sailed into the coast of the homeland, and the soldiers of the United States set foot on the land of the Han Kingdom,

There are 18 million people in our Han country, no matter where they are! will be responsible for defending the land against the enemy!

Men and women, young and old, will surely face them head-on when they encounter the enemy forces of the United States! ”

Tang Jingsong's tone was sonorous, not so much expressing his determination not to be afraid of war with the United States, but rather a mobilization propaganda slogan against the United States.

From Tang Jingsong's words, Hermes not only felt the toughness of the Han official class, but also seemed to see the magnificent scene of all the people of the Han State struggling to meet the enemy when the war broke out.

According to the information collected over a long period of time, the Han Dynasty implemented a system of compulsory military service, and children and teenagers between the ages of 10 and 16 and adult men between the ages of 16 and 45 were all responsible for military service.

In the newly industrialized cities, agriculture, and pastoral villages of the Han Kingdom, one militia and garrison organization after another organized all the scattered men of working age in the Han Kingdom into a complete military mobilization collective.

The total population is 18 million, and there are more than 2 million registered militia and garrison of school age.

Behind the simple population figures, they represent high-quality soldiers who have received military education, have primary military skills, and have a strong desire to defend their territory against the enemy.

Perhaps due to the difference in traditional culture, education and social upbringing, although the soldiers who served in the Han Dynasty seemed to be somewhat honest and obedient compared with the soldiers of those European countries, when they formed one combat unit after another and threw themselves into the battlefield city, the feeling they brought to the enemy was completely different.

During the Argentine War in 1879, the British Expeditionary Fleet recorded the details of the battle against the Han army: "The Han army was inferior in size and size to the imperial army, but their fighting spirit was not inferior to the elite troops of the empire at all.

Under the leadership of the junior military commanders, they rushed to the position like a pack of wolves, that is, brave and fearless, full of oriental cunning and alertness. …………

”

Ten or twenty years have passed, the United States ended the Civil War and ushered in the economic take-off, Britain curbed the expansion of Tsarist Russia in Europe and the Near East, and began to enter the heyday of the empire, and after the end of the Argentine War in 1879, the South American Han Kingdom also showed explosive development changes in industry and military, the basic industrial system was gradually improved, the emerging chemical industry emerged in the international market, and the military industry and military force construction. With the installation of new rifles with smokeless gunpowder as propellant and self-built armored cruisers with army and navy units, it quickly pulled in and kept up with the average level of the European powers (in some subdivided military fields, the Han State maintained a certain first-mover advantage).

Comparing the military potential of Han and the United States, as well as the home field advantage of Han fighting in South America, Hermes perceives a fact that most British politicians ignore, in terms of military strength, Han already has the strength to resist American military invasion in South America.

The naval power, which mainly limited the military strength of the Han State, was a shortcoming for the Han State, but for the British, the lack of Han naval strength was a favorable condition for the further development of the Anglo-Chinese cooperative relationship.

Britain not only needs to curb the expansion of the power of its greatest imaginary enemy, the United States, but also to ensure that the development of the Han State will not cause damage to Britain's interests, and if it wants to grasp the balance and scale between the two, it is the most effective way to play an important role in regulating and balancing the competition between the United States and Han with Britain's unique naval strength in the world.