Chapter 527: The Beat of the Future
On the day of the National Day, the young king of Ireland wore a golden helmet, a military uniform, and a long sword at his waist, standing proudly in front of the world with his heroic temperament. In front of the National Cathedral in Limerick, he www.biquge.info the "Holy Circle" in front of the National Cathedral of Limerick, and in a loud voice, he made a declaration to defend Ireland to the death, and at the parade platform in Liberty Square, he looked back on the past in a calm tone, and looked forward to the grand vision of the future with pride.
ββ¦β¦ The future of the world must belong to peace-loving and justice-seeking people. The reason why we cling to our weapons is to defend our country and our people, to defend peace and justice, and to protect the world from being encroached upon by evil forces that despise justice, ignore humanity and disregard for life. We swear in the name of Christ the Lord that the military power of Ireland will never be used against aggression against other countries, and will never be used against the civilian population by force, and that the Irish green on the warriors will be a symbol of peace and order......"
This sonorous and powerful voice was echoing in the square, and the VIP seats at the parade site were in the corner, but the two white-haired veterans were gloomy. Their double-breasted coats were still fashionable half a century ago, but judging from the texture of the fabric, they were newly made military uniforms, and their ornaments and insignia were rare in Europe, and anyone with a little discerning could identify them.
The older one was Major General Hugh Scott, chief of staff of the U.S. Federal Forces, and next to his colleague, Colonel Carter Clegg, who was in charge of personnel and readiness for the federal forces.
In the past, in international disputes such as the Moroccan crisis and the Balkan conflict, the United States mostly played the role of mediator, giving people the impression that it was a peace-loving and justice-upholding country, but this was not the case. Although the size of the American army is several circles smaller than that of the European powers, it oppresses the weak but is unambiguous. Needless to say, in 1898, it provoked the Spanish-American War, and since the beginning of the 20th century, the United States has attacked everywhere in the Latin American world while the European powers have no time to care for him, and in 1903 instigated a coup d'Γ©tat in Panama and stationed troops in the Canal Zone to form a state within a state; the military occupation of Cuba in 1906 and the establishment of a military junta that obeyed the orders of the United States; invaded Nicaragua in 1909 and imposed a long-term occupation of it; two interventions in the Mexican Revolution in 1914 and 1916; In 1915, it invaded Haiti in the name of protecting American investors and brutally encircled and suppressed Haitian guerrillas; In 1916, the Dominican Republic was occupied militarily on the grounds that the Dominican Government had violated the economic treaty between the two countries...... In terms of the number of foreign wars waged, the United States of America was more aggressive than the Second German Reich, which was so much criticized by the world!
Obviously, it was because of this disgraceful deed in the process of expansion of the United States that Major General Skett and Colonel Clegg, who came to Ireland to attend the military parade, felt that the King of Ireland's remarks were referring to the United States government and satirizing it, but they did not know that it reflected the theme of humanity throughout the 20th century.
The Americans didn't squeak, but they heard someone in the front row whispering in English: "It's called a thief shouting to catch a thief, it's so brazen!" β
Major General Skeeter picked his eyes and saw that the two people who were whispering were not the same as the Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, Sir Archibald Murray, and the famous General Sir Douglas Haig, the new commander of the Home Defence Force?
At present, the United States and Britain have a close strategic cooperative relationship between their navies, and the generals of the two sides have exchanged a lot of information, and they are already very familiar with each other, but the British Army led by Kitchener only purchases weapons and equipment from the United States, and has very little direct cooperation with the US military, and the senior generals of the two sides do not look at each other very well.
Sir Haig spoke before Sir Murray replied: "Is the military occupation of Bahrain not aggression?" If there is a conflict of interests with the locals, will they put away their bayonets and be beaten for nothing? What a joke! β
In the past two years, Britain's global strategy has basically been in a state of contraction, but how shrewd Britain's veteran politicians are, and how sanctimonious they are to call "liberation" those areas that do not have the energy to maintain their occupation are touted by public opinion, and the audience who do not know the truth applauds one after another, but they forget how much bloody and dark history Britain has written in the past two or three centuries.
"Unless Ireland breaks away from the Confederate system, how can it maintain its independent will with the Covenant in place? Free Ireland, in fact, is the least liberal country, and it is simply a servant and puppet of the Germans. How can you keep your hands clean when you follow the devil? β
Haig humiliated unceremoniously, and the disdainful look on the face of the man next to him showed that he deeply agreed with this view. Because of the trampling on Belgium's neutral status during the Great War and the burning of Louvain, Germany, which expanded its colonies after the war, has become synonymous with evil in the minds of many people. The King of Ireland's speech at the military parade seemed to be mercilessly attacking the expansion strategies of the allies, but if you taste his wording, you will find that there is no word in this speech about the colonies, and as we all know, most of the newly acquired colonies of Germany after the war were taken over from the defeated countries such as Britain and France through armistice treaties, and there was no such thing as aggression in a broad sense, and the Germans managed the colonies in a relatively civilized way, and there were far fewer bloodsheds in their hands than those of Britain and France. It's just that Kaiser Wilhelm II said that the temper of the cannon left a bad impression of cruelty and violence on the world, and the public opinion of Britain, France and other countries also played a role in fueling the flames.
Although the side of the viewing platform was basically filled with representatives of countries that did not have good relations with the Allies, the faces of Major General Scott and his colleagues were surprised when two high-ranking British generals were talking to each other as if no one was around. After a while, the major general whispered: "New hatred and old hatred, unforgettable, let me see, sooner or later there will be a war between the two countries." β
Colonel Clegg frowned: "If it is a one-on-one conflict, Britain will definitely win, but Ireland is an important part of the Allied camp, and the Germans will never sit idly by, if a war breaks out between the two countries, I am afraid it will become the fuse of the next big war, and it is difficult for us to stay out of it." β
"It's really hard for the U.S. Navy to stay out of it, but what can we do? Are we going to send our cowboys to Europe to wrestle with the Germans who have been in the military for generations? Major General Skeeter shook his head helplessly, only more than two months ago, the second armed intervention of the United States in Mexico ended in failure, and the main opponent was not the regular army, but the peasant guerrillas of Mexico, which was a big blow to the morale and image of the American army. On the other hand, the German army, with the Prussian military system as the core, has been a brave and warlike professional army since the time of Frederick the Great, and after more than two centuries, it has constantly sharpened its blade with the whetstone of war, and has always maintained a leading position in military technology and tactics.
Colonel Clegg shrugged his shoulders and said noncommittally, "Who knows? β
A short time later, the King of Ireland's short, powerful and meaningful speech ended, and the parade officially began. The soldiers of the Royal Irish Army appeared in square goose steps, their steel helmets, broad shoulders and rifles on their backs vibrating rhythmically with their neat steps, and the scene had a strong German style, and it was easy to mistake it for a German army parade if it were not for the different colors and ornaments of the military uniforms.
The soldiers who came on foot, energetic and scrappy, belonged to the Royal Marksman Regiment, known as the first regiment in Ireland, and were the first regular army formed in Ireland, fighting the fierce Russian army on the front lines in Belarus and Ukraine, and making a name for themselves with courage and blood.
The straight-cut military uniforms and standard equipment issued by the Royal Irish Marksmen Regiment made their elite temperament fully displayed, but the officers of various countries on the viewing platform paid the most attention to the two weapons in the hands of these Irish soldiers - the Hubert 16 rifle and the T-Beretta 15 submachine gun. They have not been in mass production for a long time, and at present only part of the main forces of the Irish army and special forces are currently installed. They are highly regarded in Ireland and by the German military, but to date, no country other than Germany has received physical samples or technical drawings.
This Hubert 16 uses the basic technology of Mauser 1898, shortening the gun body and improving the bolt mechanism, just like the Mauser 98K that accompanied the German soldiers throughout World War II, which is an excellent work that improves the performance of manual rifles to the extreme level. The T-Beretta 15 was the first submachine gun in the true sense of the word, and it claimed to be the original work of the Irish military industry, but the early development and testing were actually carried out in Germany - after several years of repeated improvements, Tony "Cauliflower Head" from the Italian Beretta family finally completed his famous work. When the Royal Irish Guards infiltrated Liverpool to raid the remnants of the Belfast Division, the Irish soldiers used the submachine guns to fight a beautiful battle with fewer victories and a complete escape.
The limited number of infantry was not the protagonist of the parade, and the appearance of armored and mobile units showed the uniqueness of Irish military development - the combination of cars, motorcycles and machine guns greatly improved the mobility of field infantry, although this combination appeared before the outbreak of the Great War and was widely used during the Great War, the Irish Army was the first to push it to a strategic level; The combination of 105 mm medium howitzers, 150 mm caliber heavy howitzers and tracked tractors made by Krupp has greatly improved the field mobility of artillery units, and combined with the indirect firing technology of artillery spawned by the Great War, it will certainly play a greater role in the future battlefield; The first Hobert 13 naval tank, which was not up to the task of destroying cities with firepower and protection, was improved into a light armored personnel carrier by the Irish military industry, and their appearance with the Hubert 14 gave people a glimpse of what the future battlefield would look like......
The future development trend is here, but not everyone can see it, and not every country has the insight and courage to promote it.
The appearance of the German army at this parade was not very impressive, and what was concerned was how well the combined forces could be used on the modern battlefield. The so-called joint forces are not a mixture of soldiers from the two countries, but similar to the anti-French coalition that defeated Napoleon, and the troops of each country are controlled by a commander-in-chief when marching and fighting, and work together to kill the enemy side by side. The Irish army was trained by the Germans in terms of structure, training, equipment, and tactics, and a considerable number of German officers held middle and senior positions.
(End of chapter)