Just as when the Jianghuai Army was still very weak, Beiyang was helpless to take Chai Dongliang, and the current Jianghuai Army has nothing to do with Yueben. It is impossible for Beiyang to row across the Yangtze River to attack Anqing and Wuhu, and it is impossible for Chai Dongliang to expect the still weak Yangtze River Fleet to shake the combined fleet.

The industrial bases of the Jianghuai Army are basically along the coast and along the river, Shanghai, Wuhu, Jiujiang were originally quite safe, these three places are all treaty ports, the Western powers have concessions here, have huge economic interests, to put it bluntly, it is the porcelain shop of all countries, once the enemy invades is likely to trigger the collective touch of porcelain by the Western powers, and the foreign devils are more familiar with porcelain than the Chinese.

However, World War I was about to break out, the great powers were too busy to take care of themselves, Britain and the United States could not turn their faces with Japan for the sake of a little economic interest in the East, and Germany and France were not strong enough in the Far East, so they were no match for the combined fleet at all. The Yangtze River Fleet has always been Chai Dongliang's killer weapon, Beiyang hates and fears, Li Yuanhong, Sun Wen and others have to ask Chai Dongliang, but when facing foreign enemies, the navy has become a short board.

During the Russo-Russian War, Russia, which had the most advanced battleships, mistook British fishing boats for destroyers in the North Sea, and as a result, only four Britons were killed in one night's battle, and three Russian sailors were injured by mistake. For a time, the navies of the whole world understood the fact that Russia went to the Far East not to fight, but to die!

In recent days, the three ironclad cruisers manufactured by Austria-Hungary and Britain for the Qing court will also be delivered, and the two cruisers manufactured by the Guanghua Shipyard in Shanghai will also be delivered to the "Chilean" navy. The tonnage and artillery caliber of the Yangtze River Fleet are far inferior to those of the Yueben Combined Fleet, and even if the equipment is comparable to that of the Yueben Combined Fleet, it will not be an opponent of the Yueben Army. There is still an extremely huge gap between the training level of the fleet and the command ability of its officers compared with that of the combined fleet.

Once the naval battle is lost, the Yue army can land at any point along China's long coastline, and the Jianghuai army will have to run for its life, and its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

Sea power, sea power, a big country without sea power, the superiority of the army is simply nonsense, 90,000 miles of Guanshan in China, if there are police everywhere in the sea frontier, just a long journey can drag the tiger elite into a sick cat and a dead dog.

Chai Dongliang's air force, which had high hopes, was blocked because the development of torpedoes did not go well, and it was obviously an impossible task to sink the battleships of the United Fleet with aerial bombs weighing no more than 100 pounds at present! At present, airplanes are quite easy to use to attack the army, and the shock of machine guns and bombs to the army is undoubtedly huge, but if they are used to attack the navy, the power of the weapons is very insufficient. Moreover, in the current China, government orders and military orders cannot be unified, not to mention the north controlled by Beiyang, the south alone is enough for a headache, Yunnan has Tang Jiyao, Guangxi has Lu Rongting, Guizhou has Yang Xincheng, Fujian has Sun Daoren, Hunan has Feng Guozhang, Guangdong has Lei Zhenchun, now it seems that they are Yao Zun Chai Dongliang as the leader of the alliance in the south, but once the situation changes, God knows if these guys will shoot in the back.

If China has a central political axe that is well established in internal affairs and unified with the military and the government, then there is nothing to be afraid of, and it is a big deal to move the industrial base inward, shrink the army into the interior in great strides, lengthen the transportation line of the country, and drag the army to the rear and gather and annihilate it. If it really doesn't work, you can also clear the wilderness, burn grain and cities, and follow the example of Russia's scorched earth strategy against Napoleon.

A continental country with a vast territory and unlimited troops is considered an invincible state by modern strategists. In this regard, China and Russia have almost the same advantage.

However, in the current situation, this is not possible. First of all, it was impossible for Chai Dongliang to obey the orders of the central political axe, and the orders issued by the Jianghuai army were even more impossible for the warlords in Beiyang and the provinces to obey.

The Jianghuai Army has always been rich in the people and in the people, so Chai Dongliang is not afraid to send troops on expeditions, even if he mobilizes hundreds of thousands of troops to participate in the European war, it will not hurt the fundamentals, and China's population advantage is incomparable to any country in the world. As long as the industrial base is not hit and the strength of 10 divisions is retained in the area controlled by the Jianghuai Army, no one in the country will dare to touch a single hair of Chai Dongliang, even if the Jianghuai Army pours out of its nest and scatters among the people members of the shooting, equestrian, and aviation clubs, as well as the workers, peasants, and students who have received military training??? The Jianghuai region can provide hundreds of thousands of high-quality troops at any time. Jiang Huaijun may not be willing to die for Chai Dongliang, but everyone is willing to defend the land owned by their family, for the annual income from mineral resources, for the free education of their children, for the trade union system, for the sake of businessmen not being exploited, for the sake of wives and children, for the freedom of speech, and even for clean streets and subsidized public transportation???? The people of Jianghuai, everyone has something they are worth cherishing, and there are things that can make him forget about his life, defending the country is to defend his own interests, which is the root of the Jianghuai army's combat effectiveness, and it is also the thing that Chai Dongliang cherishes and is most proud of!

Attacking Anhui and Jiangxi, the disintegrated Beiyang did not have this ability, and the southwestern warlords who were working independently did not have the courage.

But Chai Dongliang was afraid that the war would burn to the mainland, if the army attacked Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong and other coastal areas, would the Jianghuai army save it or not? After dispatching the army to rescue and mobilizing the people, I am afraid that the army would have long since disappeared by boat, and at most we could see the devastated city and the refugees who survived the disaster. After repeated attempts, no matter how strong the combat effectiveness of the Jianghuai Army is, it will be dragged down, and it is very likely that it will be caught off guard by the Yue Army, which is waiting for work, and if the navy is dispatched to the rescue, the most likely surname is that the warship has just sailed out of the port protected by the shore defense artillery, and is sent to the bottom of the sea by the Yueben Combined Fleet, which is eyeing the sea.

If they sit idly by, the southern provinces will turn away from the Jianghuai army, and perhaps these people will turn into the arms of the Jianghuai army and become the fierce enemies of the Jianghuai army.

The great cause of reunification, which was held in hand, was colluded by Yuan Shikai and Yue himself, and it leaked on all sides, and the detailed battle plan now seems to be full of flaws. If the unification war divides the country, then Chai Dongliang will really become a sinner in history!

Yuan Shikai, you bastard, you really give Lao Tzu a headache, you won't really be so stupid as to become the thief of the Han Dynasty referred to by the people, right? Is the secret document sent by Xu Shuzheng real or fake?

Chai Dongliang rubbed his temples and said to himself with a wry smile.

???? Dividing line ????

"Absolutely impossible, I don't believe Yuan Shikai would do this! The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is all rubbish, and it would actually believe Yuan Shikai's nonsense??? Conspiracy, there must be conspiracy! Yama Youpeng tapped the floor with a cane.

"Patriarch, what do you think is a conspiracy here? Is it a conspiracy of the Shina people or a conspiracy of the Westerners? Akashi Genjiro, who was covered in a foul smell, rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked.

"The conspiracy of the Americans, I dare to conclude, must be behind the Americans, and if the empire really sends troops to support Yuan Shikai's regime, it will provide an excuse for the Americans to intervene in the Far East??? Akashi-kun, please don't forget that last year, the people of China proposed to let Britain, France, the United States, and Germany intervene in Manchurian and Mongolian affairs, and this time is just a copy of the last time! ”

You friends in Shanxian didn't believe it, Yuan Shikai would agree to the extremely harsh sixteen secret agreements, the content of this treaty was originally deliberately raised the threshold and forced Yuan Shikai to bargain, but Yuan Shikai agreed without saying a word. Where is there a non-bargain? If Yuan Shikai is desperate to bargain, it also shows that he is a little sincere, but he actually accepted all the orders, which is too suspicious!

If the opponent is a dumb Manchu nobleman, you friends in Shanxian still dare to believe it, but Yuan Shikai is an old slippery head who has been in the officialdom for a long time, and he is a well-known anti-rebel, will he be stupid to this extent? Youpeng of the old and cunning Shan County almost immediately concluded that there was a huge conspiracy hidden in it, but he still couldn't figure out what the core of this conspiracy was and who was behind it! It was only out of disgust with the Americans that some friends in Shan County unilaterally concluded that the Americans were setting up a trap behind them, waiting for the stupid person to drill into it.

"Senator, could it be the British who are behind it? Don't forget, Yuan Shikai has always relied on the British! Akashi Genjiro said slowly.

Youpeng in Shanxian was taken aback: "British, won't you?" ”

"Why can't it be the British, is it because of the existence of an Anglo-British alliance that the British will not come to the action against the Empire? The British can join forces with the empire against Russia, but won't they unite with China against the empire now? Don't forget, maintaining the balance of power in Europe and the Far East is the national policy of the British! Akashi Genjiro sneered.

Britain, an unimaginably powerful existence, the British Royal Navy is a nightmare for almost all countries' navies, especially an island country like Ben!

He may have the guts to wrestle with the emerging United States in the Pacific and dare to deal with Germany, the overlord of the army, but he also did not dare to deal with the officers of the British Empire and scare the officers of the Combined Fleet to death.

In his own country, others may still have illusions about the British Alliance, but Shan County Youpeng will definitely not, as one of the initiators of the British Alliance, he knows the British too well!

After the Russo-Russian War, the Russian Baltic and Pacific Fleets were completely defeated, and the Black Sea Fleet was blockaded by Britain and Turkey, and the Russian Navy could no longer pose a threat to the world. From the day the war ended, Britain no longer needed a book, and the bigwigs of politics saw this as clearly as the British prime minister in Downing Street.

Katsura Taro, the eldest disciple of Yama Prefecture Aritomo, once said that it was absolutely impossible for him to deal with Britain and Russia at the same time, and that Russia was the most urgent threat, and Britain was the greatest threat to him, and that he had defeated Russia and lifted the most urgent threat. But Ben would have faced Britain's greatest threat. The only way to survive and the only way for the Eastern nation to survive is to try their best to cut off the connection between Britain and Russia, and try their best to unite with Germany, so that the German alliance will fight against Britain after the British alliance. After the war against Russia, it was necessary to defeat the British hegemony, and then the East would have to sleep in peace, and then it would be said that there was life.

Katsura Taro was an active planner of the British Alliance, but when he said this, the ink on the alliance treaty had not yet dried, and he was fighting with Russia in Northeast China with the loan provided by the British!

After the Russo-Russian War, Katsura Taro even hoped to establish an alliance of Ben, China, Turkey, Germany, and Austria-Hungary to deal with the giant British Empire. It can be seen from this that the degree of jealousy of Britain at the top of the hierarchy has reached!

As a matter of fact, many people in the political circles of Yamamoto can see that after the Russo-Japanese War, Britain will turn against Yamamoto, and when Gonbei Yamamoto was prime minister, he actively promoted relations between Yamamoto and Germany, also in order to prevent a war with Britain one day.

The British control 80 percent of China's maritime shipping and 60 percent of foreign trade, to put it bluntly, China is almost an economic colony of Britain, how can Britain tolerate someone taking a piece of his pot?

The contradictions between Ben and Britain are almost irreconcilable.

The reason why Yama Youpeng and others worked hard to reconcile the relationship between Yuben and Britain, and was careful not to anger this "master of the seven seas", was also out of fear of Britain's [***] strength and financial resources, and they were not really close to Britain.

The relationship between Ben and Britain has almost become a forbidden area in the political circles, and everyone pretends to be full of confidence, as if the British alliance is unbreakable, but in fact they dare not face up to this problem??? Annoyed the British Empire, it is said that the islands will not sink if they are not killed!

Akashi Motojiro picked out this problem, and Yama County Youpeng couldn't help but face it, he gasped and said: "Akashi-kun, what do you think Yuan Shikai's intentions are?" What are the consequences if we agree to his terms? With the European war imminent, will the British really go to war with the Empire for the sake of China, regardless of the interests of Europe? ”

Akashi Motojiro said with a wry smile: "I don't know, as the patriarch said, Yuan Shikai is a cunning guy, and the British don't have a good impression of the empire!" The three secret treaties signed between the Empire and Russia in Manchurian and Mongolian were already very dissatisfied with the British??? The only thing I know is that in the event of a full-scale war between the Empire and Great Britain, the Combined Fleet, under the blows of the British Royal Navy, will last a week at most! ”

If Yuan Shikai fully turns to Yueben and has China's huge resources and manpower, Yueben will develop rapidly, and it is not impossible to surpass France and Germany within ten or eight years, and it is even possible to catch up with the British Empire, the world hegemon for three hundred years, this temptation is really too great.

However, if it was really a conspiracy of the British, once the British intervened in the Chinese civil war, the British would be able to send the combined fleet to the depths of the ocean with any excuse. Isn't it just a woman who has lost the protection of the navy, and the powers have to do it at their will? The Combined Fleet, which was so proud, was nothing more than a baby for the British Royal Navy.

As the island nation, once the sea transportation lines are lost, the supply of raw materials will immediately dry up, exports will also stop, factories that have lost orders will be closed, and the achievements of 40 years of farming and real estate will be destroyed.

That day is almost equivalent to the sinking of this land!

Great temptation also comes great danger! This temptation cannot be resisted by the friends of the county county, and the friends of the county county cannot bear this danger!

Yuan Shikai, you really give me a headache??? Youpeng of Shan County rubbed his temples with his old hand and said to himself with a wry smile.

(To be continued)