If you are backward, you will be beaten, this sentence is really a universal truth, Li Mu and his group of capitalists joined forces, and even the national policy of the United States could be influenced, not to mention the nascent Republic of Panama, in the face of the huge canal company, the Republic of Panama had no ability to resist at all, and had to give in.

People are swordsmen, and I am fish and meat.

The current Canal Company and the Government of the Republic of Panama already have a broad consensus of interests on the basis of the Panama Canal, so after receiving the commitment of the Republic of Panama, the Canal Company will help the Government of the Republic of Panama to build an army of no less than 5,000 men within three months, and at the same time provide the Government of the Republic of Panama with material assistance worth about 2 million US dollars, including of course the weapons and equipment needed by the army.

Although Martínez Silva tried his best, the command of this army was ultimately owned by the Panama Company, and although Martínez Silva was reluctant, he had to admit that the entire Republic of Panama could not find a qualified military talent to lead this army, which also made Martínez Silva particularly frustrated.

Relatively speaking, the Panamanian company can really be called a full of talents, and now the Panamanian company has nearly 100 officers with service experience in the regular army of the US military, and the highest rank is colonel, which is only one step away from the general.

According to information obtained by Martínez Silva, the Colombian government has recruited four divisions of nearly 50,000 troops in order to quell the "rebellion" in Panama, and is receiving new training for British officers near Bogotá.

In fact, when it comes to the army, compared with the British, it should be the French army, but the honor of the French army has been squandered in the Franco-Prussian War, so British training has become the best choice for the Colombian government at this stage.

It can be seen from this incident that the current Colombian government has messed up, if it is to train the navy, it is reasonable to hire British officers, but to train the army, even if the French are not selected, there are Germans to choose from, and it really makes no sense to choose the British.

Germany is actually a very amazing country, for hundreds of years before reunification, Prussia provided mercenaries for almost the whole world, so it was normal to hire German officers, even the French took it for granted, and the British had no position against it.

Before the Franco-Prussian War, Britain supported Prussia and attacked France, and after the Franco-Prussian War, Britain turned to France to weaken Germany, and the situation that Britain most wanted to see was that there were several forces on the European continent to check and balance each other, so that Britain could always maintain a detached position, and no country could threaten Britain.

It's a pity that the British didn't calculate the problem, not on the European continent, but on the distant American continent, and in the end it was precisely because the rise of the United States replaced Britain's position in the world.

Objectively speaking, Britain did not fail to anticipate the threat of the United States, in order to deal with the United States, Britain can be regarded as hollowing out its mind, from the very beginning of the War of Independence, to the past Civil War, and then to the imminent outbreak of the "Goba War", Britain has always played a disgraceful role, single-mindedly trying to suppress the rise of the United States, and continue to play a balance on the American continent.

It's a pity that the British still underestimate the ambitions of the Americans, and if Britain knows what the US government is planning during this time, then the British government should have a clearer understanding of the United States.

On the evening after the meeting, Li Mu took a train to New Haven overnight to attend the artillery handover ceremony the next morning.

This time, the 203-mm naval naval guns ordered by the US War Department from the New Haven Artillery Factory will be handed over, and the first batch of 18 will be handed over, and within six months, the New Haven Artillery Factory will provide 96 203-mm guns to the War Department.

The 203mm naval gun is the largest caliber naval gun that the New Haven artillery factory can produce, and the 254mm naval gun is being developed by the Horse Arms Company and the Krupp Group, but it is still far from success, so in a short time, the 203mm will become the main naval gun of the US Navy.

The 203 mm naval gun, using all the advanced technology of the Horse Arms Company and the Krupp Group, is rare in the world that can be compared with the 203 mm caliber naval gun, and this kind of gun will be equipped on the latest warships to be installed by the US Navy and become the main warship of the US Navy.

Li Mu will be joined on his way to New Haven by George Dewey, who has just been awarded the rank of lieutenant general, and will join Sherman, the secretary of war, who has already arrived in New Haven in advance, for tomorrow morning's ceremony.

Li Mu and George Dewey are already old friends, and the two of them are not outside, and they exchanged the latest information they have obtained from each other on the ship.

The main thing is that George Dewey is saying, Li Mu is listening, Li Mu will choose the more valuable part from it, as the focus of the work of the horse weapons company in the future, George Dewey also needs to use Li Mu to achieve his goals, so the two have their own needs.

"The War Department has now become a madhouse, and every day people are clamoring to teach some people who are not long-sighted, if you want to ask them specific goals, they will count all the countries in the world one by one, so all they need is a war, so that they can have some sustenance, as for who to fight, no one cares about this question..."From George Dewey's words, Li Mu probably understood the current state of the War Department, which is very good, and it is very in line with the interests of Li Mu and the Horse Arms Company.

Li Mu once talked to the new Secretary of State William Evatt about this issue, and William Evatt did not seem to be keen on this issue, and only wanted the United States to maintain a stable and peaceful period of rapid economic growth.

Of course, this kind of thinking is good and very much in line with the interests of the United States, but it is not in the interests of Li Mu and the Junma Arms Company, nor is it in the interests of the vast majority of Americans, so Li Mu's prescription to William Evatt is that he should find an opportunity to start a foreign war, and it is better to find an old imperialist country that has now weakened its national strength to fight the international status of the United States, so as to be more in line with the interests of the United States.

Li Mu didn't know if William Evatt had listened to his advice, but judging from the scale of naval guns ordered by the U.S. government during this time, it seems that the matter of launching a foreign war is not groundless.

"The United States needs a foreign war to tell the world and the entire American people that the United States has stood up, and this war not only has urgent practical needs, but also can meet the spiritual needs of all Americans, so whether to start a foreign war is no longer a decision for one person." Li Mu resolutely did not miss any opportunity to advocate war, especially a person like George Dewey, if George Dewey turned into a fanatical militarist, it would not only be good for George Dewey himself but also for the United States.

"You damn arms dealer, you can do anything to make money." George Dewey laughed and scolded, not much malice, more like a mutual tear between friends.

"Don't tell me you don't want to, otherwise wouldn't it be more comfortable to stay in an office in Washington, make a cup of coffee, read the newspaper, and chat with a beautiful secretary?" Li Mu didn't care about George Dewey's cynicism, in fact, as far as Li Mu knew, George Dewey was going further and further down the road of "militarism".

No wonder these two can be friends.

"Of course I want to, but I care more about my ideals than I make money... Ideals, you know? Don't tell me your ideal is for all the humans in the world to kill each other with weapons made by the Horse Arms Company. "George Dewey was a bit unscrupulous in absolute private, and if it got out, it would be a big scandal.

"As you say, my ideal is not for people all over the world to kill each other with weapons made by Horse Arms, but for people all over the world to take weapons from Horse Arms to protect their interests from infringement when needed." Li Mu quietly changed his words, although the result was no different, but the meaning immediately made a world of difference.

"You cunning fellow, tell me, with your businessman's eyes, if the United States needs a war, then who should we take the knife?" George Dewey trusted Li Mu's judgment, which was based on the mutual trust that the two had always had.

When he was in Cuba, George Dewey trusted Li Mu's judgment ability, and Li Mu trusted George Dewey's conducting art, which made a friendship between the two.

"As long as it's not the UK, anyone can do it." Li Mu dealt with it casually, and swallowed the "Spain" in his throat and eyes.

In fact, in Li Mu's view, if you want to seek foreign wars, of course, Spain is the most suitable, and it can only be Spain.

During this period of time, Spain can be described as internal and external troubles, the domestic political situation is chaotic, civil wars are frequent, and foreign colonies are even more panicked, and several colonies have openly declared their independence from the Spanish government.

During the Cuban War of Independence, Li Mu and George Dewey had already seen the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army, and to put it mildly, the Spanish army at that time performed better on the battlefield than the American militia.

More than four years have passed in a flash, and in these more than four years, the political situation in Spain has continued to deteriorate, and the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army must be inferior to that of the Cuban War of Independence, so Li Mu firmly believes that Spain is the most suitable opponent for the United States.

"It's the same in any country? Is it okay to start a war with the Qing Empire? George Dewey deliberately found fault and quickly grabbed Li Mu's sore spot.

"Of course you can, as long as you can find a way to get Congress to agree..." Li Mu will never protect his shortcomings on this issue, if George Dewey has this ability, Li Mu will be happy to see it.

The world is really wonderful, don't look at the Qing empire now looks extremely weak, in fact, because of the surrounding powers, the Qing Empire is facing a very comfortable international environment, and there is no need to worry about foreign invasion.

It sounds incredible, right, but in fact, it has something to do with the population of the Qing Empire, after all, the Qing Empire has the world's largest population of 400 million, which is the largest market in the world.

"Wait and see, maybe that day is not far off, this time the Navy has purchased six new warships, and there will be eight more in the future, and when these warships are all installed, it will be the time to start a foreign war." George Dewey knew what Li Mu wanted, and believed that Li Mu had already understood the relevant specific situation, so he simply told him about it.

This does not mean that Li Mu has an eye in the Ministry of War, after all, the naval guns needed by warships are all ordered from the New Haven Artillery Factory, and according to the number of naval guns, it is not difficult to guess the specific number of warships.

"It's best in this way, at the right time, with the right opponent, to have a suitable war, the businessman earns profits, the soldiers get meritorious service, and the people get pride, why not do such a good thing..."

The car arrived in New Haven, and Li Mu was just in time to have dinner with Sherman.

In order to get this order from the Ministry of War, Li Mu wrote Sherman an astronomical check, several times more than the one he gave to Martinez Silva, so Sherman was a little worried while being happy, and simply went to New Haven to keep an eye on it.

However, it is obvious that Sherman is spending the amount of a gentleman in the belly of a villain, because of some additional expenses, the Horse Arms Company does make a little less money, but these expenses are necessary to establish a long-term and good relationship between the Horse Weapons Company and the US Department of War, so Li Mu did not cut corners.

In this era, American goods are not at all equated with high performance and high quality, and the market is full of a large number of counterfeit and shoddy goods, and American goods, like German goods, have been synonymous with "inferior products" for a while.

Of course, that was a long time ago, in recent years, the reputation of American goods has been much better, especially after the birth of the Horse Group, because of the monopoly on a variety of products, there are no competitors at all, so there is no way to compare, people have to die than people, live than goods have to be thrown, no comparison, naturally there is no harm.

"Mr. Minister, thank you for your personal presence, and I believe that tomorrow's handover ceremony will be smoother because of your arrival." Facing Sherman, Li Mu's attitude immediately became much more polite.

Of course, this also means that compared with George Dewey, the relationship between Li Mu and Sherman is not as good as it seems.

"Thank you, Reem, if it weren't for you, maybe I'd be in Europe right now." Sherman's attitude towards Li Mu is not bad, not too enthusiastic, nor too indifferent.

Enough is enough to maintain the current relationship.