Germany was never short of ambition, and as the founding monarch of the German Empire, Wilhelm Frederick Ludwig, who was known as the 'Prince of the Butcher's Shotgun' before being crowned the first emperor of the German Empire, was even more ambitious.

He was not satisfied with Germany being just a 'giant middle power', and his goal was to make Germany a first-class world empire like England, with vast overseas colonies.

For reasons of national security, and for the sake of the severe external situation, he had to suppress his inner ambitions in recent years, agree with Bismarck's ideas, develop a defensive navy in a low-key manner, and agree to the foreign policy of 'honest brokers'.

He always believed that he would not see Germany develop into a first-class world empire in his lifetime, and for this reason, he expressed regret and unwillingness on many occasions, and when England instigated the invasion of the Transvaal by sending troops to South Africa, although he was unwilling to destroy relations with the Qing state, he still agreed to send troops, in order to disturb this backwater and find opportunities.

The Maputo Bay Combined Fleet was completely wiped out, and he could be said to be desperate, and he didn't want God to send him another opportunity, but this time, the driving force behind it was not England but the Qing Kingdom far to the east.

Although he understands that Qingguo is as uneasy as Yingli, he still can't contain his inner ambitions, there are risks, but it is also an opportunity! He couldn't forgive himself if he missed this opportunity!

What's more, even Bismarck, who has always been a steady advocate of forbearance, is moved, so why shouldn't he be moved?

Although he was moved, he remained silent on the surface, and said: "Qing may be able to help us win the friendship of Russia, but Qing country's warships and torpedo submarines are not given for nothing, and at least hundreds of millions of gold marks will be needed." ”

Bismarck said without hesitation: "You can issue national bonds, you can reduce the army's military spending, and you can negotiate with the Qing State to reduce the price as much as possible." ”

Nodding slightly, William continued, "What's the situation with Bechuana?" ”

"Bechuana is located in the Kalahadi Basin in the middle of the South African highlands, mainly deserts and savannahs, bordering the Transvaal, the local black people in order to prevent being annexed by the Boers, actively seeking English protection, the British designated Bechuana as a protected area, called Bechuana Reserve, strictly speaking, is not a British colony."

Bismarck had done his homework before he came, and said: "Bechuana's Mafutins are not far from Pretoria and Johannesburg, and the Qing Kingdom, as the victor of this war, has no great difficulty in asking the British to transfer Bechuana to our country for the sake of Johannesburg's security." ”

After a pause, he continued: "As for saying that Bechuana has more diamond mines than the Kimberleys, as an easy contentment person, he should not lie, and there is no need for him to lie!" ”

After a moment of silence, William said, "What about Austria-Hungary and Italy?" ”

Bismarck was stunned for a moment, and soon came to his senses, "Your Majesty hopes that Austria-Hungary and Italy will also participate in the partition of the English colonies in South Africa?" ”

William laughed: "We can't let the hatred of the British all be concentrated on us. ”

"The Qing people probably won't object." Bismarck pondered: "However, it is difficult to say whether Austria-Hungary and Italy have the guts to do so, and of course we can leak some information appropriately." ”

Maputo, Qing army battalion, headquarters, war room.

In front of the huge sand table, Feng Zicai pointed with his hand pole and said slowly: "The progress of railway repair is not ideal, according to the current progress, it will take at least .....a month to recover Johannesburg and Pretoria." ”

Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment before continuing: "The great victory in the naval battle of Maputo has caused the coalition forces to be disheartened and demoralized, in fact...... There is no need to rely on railways anymore. ”

Yi Zhengxing glanced at Li Hongzhang and didn't say a word, in fact, he also agreed with Feng Zicai's idea, in this case, there is really no need to follow the railway line step by step, it is completely possible to make great strides and quickly recover Johannesburg.

Although Li Hongzhang did not know Yi Zhixiang's overall plan for South Africa, he knew that Yi Zhixiang's delay in calling for instructions must have another reason, and he groaned slightly, and then he said slowly: "For the South African strategy, the big shopkeeper will inevitably consider it as a whole, since there is no call to instruct, we don't need to be greedy for merit, according to the established plan, steady progress is." ”

Listening to the words of greed for merit, Feng Zicai didn't feel a little empty in his heart, the naval battle was a great victory, he was indeed a little anxious, plus the news from Shanghai, the ministers of the five European countries seemed to have begun to negotiate with the Zhennan Palace, he was worried that the war would end, and the 100,000 troops would go to South Africa.

Yi Zhengxing was very clear about Feng Zicai's thoughts, and after pondering for a while, he said: "The current situation has changed, so it is better to ask for instructions on whether the established strategy needs to be changed." ”

"It's fine." Li Hongzhang nodded.

Yi Zhengxing said loudly: "Let's just say that the naval victory is high, the morale is high, and the enemy's army is disheartened, it is a good opportunity to recover Johannesburg and Pretoria, please ask me if you can march quickly?" ”

Johannesburg, Coalition Command.

In the war room, the commander of the Allied Army, Lieutenant General Louis Léon Cezal Federb sat alone in front of a large map of South Africa, smoking a pipe and silent.

For this situation, he is not surprised at all, in the war in South Africa, the land war is not the key, the key is the naval battle, no matter which side controls the sea power, it means the final victory.

With such a huge size of the Combined Fleet, the total annihilation of the entire army in the first battle in Maputo Bay is equivalent to burying all hopes, how can this battle be fought? It is also reasonable that the forces of the Five Nations Alliance will fall apart, and in the face of a completely hopeless war, can the five countries be expected to unite and work closely together?

The Qing navy has such a strong strength, defeat is already a matter of time, the question is what is the attitude of the Qing state? Will they be able to negotiate a dignified withdrawal? If the Qing state takes a tough stance and the negotiations break down, the war is likely to continue.

Everyone is happy to be able to withdraw their troops with dignity, but if the fight continues, how should they deal with it? Is it a retreat? Or do you want to fight to break the net? With the strength of the coalition army and the existing supplies, if they can work together, they still have the strength to fight, unless the Qing army continues to increase its troops, of course, with his proposition, it is better to retreat, even if it is a fish to the death, there is no point in breaking the net.

Nowadays, this situation of not advancing and retreating is the most difficult, but there is no way but to passively wait and wait for the results of the negotiations.

Shanghai, Consulate General of England in Shanghai.

In the office, Wei Tuma took a small sip of a cup of bitter and astringent coffee, compared to coffee, he was more bitter in his heart, Yuan Qi was not against negotiating an armistice, but the conditions put forward were unacceptable, 50 million pounds of war reparations were not counted, Durban and the occupied Indian territories should be ceded, and all prisoners of war also needed to be redeemed for a high amount.

It is impossible for the British Empire to accept such humiliating conditions, he is too lazy to report to London, it is impossible for the country to agree at all, but it is possible to be provoked, he dare not imagine what the consequences will be if he continues to fight?

In his opinion, Yuan Qi did not have the sincerity of the armistice at all, or that the Qing State did not want to stop in South Africa, and if this was the case, it would be a big trouble.

Consul Mai Huatuo said softly: "Yuan Qi seems to be courting Germany, do you want to test it?" ”

"Nothing will come of it." Wittoma shook her head slowly.

"Tuk Tuk" There was a soft knock on the door, and Wei Tuma turned his head and said, "Please come in." ”

A counsellor pushed the door open and reported: "The French minister has come to visit." ”

"Invite him to the parlor." Wittoma said and stood up, Yuan Qi on the grounds that the commanders of the allied navy and army were all French generals, and the conditions proposed by France were also 50 million pounds of war reparations, while Austria-Hungary and Italy were 30 million pounds of war reparations, and the other party must have come to discuss countermeasures.

Entering the small meeting room, politely greeting a few words, the French minister Baohai said directly: "The ministers of Austria-Hungary and Italy have gone to ......the German consulate, and the Qing people should be deliberately dividing us. ”

After a slight groan, Wei Toma spoke: "I think, we might as well think about it from another angle, why does the Qing Kingdom divide and divide us?" ”

Listening to the translation, Baohai frowned slightly, indeed, under the condition of complete control of the sea power, the Qing army can be said to have established an absolute advantage, in this case, why should they be divided? He pondered and said, "What do you mean, that the Qing Kingdom does not want the war in South Africa to continue?" ”

"It should be said that the Qing state wanted to expand its interests in South Africa, but it also did not want to continue to expand the war." Wei Tuma said slowly: "That's why the Qing State will win over Germany and then divide our five-nation alliance, which is to obtain the greatest benefits at the minimum cost." ”

Baohai said with a worried face: "Is there a way to prevent Germany, Austria and Italy from falling to the Qing Kingdom?" ”

"Then we have to figure out how much benefit the Qing Kingdom promised to the Three Kingdoms." Wittoma said with a gloomy face.

"I think there's another key." Bao Hai said faintly: "Can you prevent the Qing fleet from entering Europe and burning the flames of war to the mainland of each country." ”

Coercion and temptation are two aspects, relative to the inducement, coercion is the main thing, now the elite of the five navies is lost, the Qing fleet can be said to be invincible, once the Qing fleet hits the door, it will be absolutely disastrous consequences, even if there is no inducement, Germany, Austria and Italy will not be willing to deteriorate things to this point.

"It is impossible for the Qing fleet to go on an expedition to Europe!" Wei Tuma said categorically: "The Qing fleet is all pure steam-powered ironclad ships, and they need to replenish coal along the way when they go to Europe, but the farthest naval base of the Qing State is Maputo, and if you want to go on an expedition to Europe, you must carry a huge transport fleet, which is unrealistic."

In addition, the widespread severe drought in the northern part of the Qing Dynasty has lasted for five years, which has greatly consumed the manpower, material and financial resources of the Qing Kingdom. ”

This is the truth, although the Qing naval fleet is strong in battle, but to go on an expedition to Europe, it lacks the necessary supply bases along the way, and in this case, it absolutely does not dare to go on a large-scale expedition.

Baohai nodded slightly, relieved his heart, the Qing State can threaten them in two aspects, one is the fleet expedition to Europe, harassing the coastal ports of each country, and the other is the army of each country in South Africa.

The strength of the five-nation coalition army in South Africa is as high as more than 300,000, and after losing the right to control the sea, it is equivalent to cutting off supplies, but if the five countries can work together, they can completely deal with the Qing country for a long time, it can be said that it is easy for the Qing army to recover the Transvaal, but it is definitely not an easy thing to eliminate more than 300,000 coalition troops, even if it can, it must pay a great price and a long time.

Shanghai Hongkou, Huangpu Road, German Consulate.

With a smile on his face, the German Embassy in China made a somewhat stiff gesture to the ministers of Austria-Hungary and Italy sitting opposite, "This is a very famous Fujian Da Hong Pao in the Qing Dynasty, two of you can taste it." ”

Italian Minister Lu Jiade said very facelessly: "I'm not used to drinking tea, and I'm not in the mood." ”

Mu Mo smiled, took a shallow sip of the blue and white teacup, which was as fragrant as amber, and said slowly: "In my opinion, this South African war is actually just a war between the Qing Kingdom and England, and we are only involved because of our greed for the Transvaal gold mines. ”

The Austro-Hungarian Minister to China, Roston, said bluntly: "The armistice conditions proposed by the Qing State are too harsh, and we cannot accept the war reparations of 30 million pounds. ”

Lu Jiade continued: "I wonder if your country needs to pay war reparations? ”

"War reparations, there should be, but there is no mention of it yet." Mu Mo said truthfully: "Qing Guo needs to make a deal with my country. After a pause, he said: "The Qing Kingdom needs to weaken the power of England in South Africa, and I hope that our country will cooperate with the takeover of the Bechuana District." ”

Listening to the translation, Lu Jiade and Rostone couldn't help but glance at each other, and their eyes were full of surprise. It's pie in the sky! Lu Jiade asked eagerly, "What conditions?" ”

"There are no conditions." The smile on Mu Mo's face did not hide the pride in his heart, "In the naval battle of Maputo, my country took the lead in making the right choice. ”

Lu Jiade said dissatisfiedly: "It should be our three countries that made the right choice!" ”

Mu Mo smiled, "If you dare to participate in the division of the British colonies in South Africa, the Qing Kingdom will definitely not refuse." ”

"Why don't you dare?" Lu Jiade said without hesitation: "The current England is no longer the former maritime hegemon!" ”