Chapter 576: A Hypothesis (II)

These words of Mr. President are not high-sound. But it sounded like a stimulant to Rex, and he knew very well that when the president said this, he was actually implying that in the event of a full-scale war between the German Empire and Tsarist Russia, if China wished, it could use the troops stationed in the western frontier to meet the German army and attack the belly of Tsarist Russia, which was no better than the Far East, which was Central Asia, which, for historical, cultural and other reasons, was the weakest region of Tsarist Russia's rule, and once that place was attacked, Russia would have to divide a large part of its forces to deal with it, and Germany would be able to concentrate its forces on the rapid crushing of Russian military power in Europe.

So, when the president spoke of "unpleasant incidents" between China and Russia, he clearly meant war, and he wondered what Germany's position would be if China went to war with Tsarist Russia. The president's caution is understandable, as Germany does not have a good reputation in this regard. When Britain went to war with the Boers in South Africa, Germany did not give the Boers any decent foreign 'diplomatic support', and even betrayed the Boers in the final stage of the war.

"Mr. President, I need to ask for domestic advice on this issue, but in my personal opinion, if the number of troops in your country in the western frontier is too small, I am afraid it will be difficult for them to hold out until international intervention comes."

Rex's remarks are also roundabout, he means that China should station heavy troops in the western frontier region, and only in this way can the German government attach importance to this strategic plan of a two-front attack, otherwise, Germany's military strategic focus will still be on the western front, that is, the border area between France and Belgium.

Zhao Bei pondered the other party's words, as a historical traveler, he knew very well that the reason why Germany adopted the strategy of "attacking the west and defending the east" in the First World War was certainly related to despising the French Army, but the lack of a trustworthy ally in the west was also an important reason, and Germany at that time was very isolated in the international community, unless France was quickly defeated. Otherwise, Germany's "two-front war" will eventually turn into a "two-front stalemate" and will completely drag Germany down.

However, the situation is somewhat different now, because of the performance of the "Far East madman", Germany has noticed China's strategic value, especially the industrial development in the past two years, which has made Germany more clear its determination to use China's war potential.

Even putting aside the exaggerated plan of the German Army General Staff's "Far East African Korps", even if China does not send troops to fight abroad, as long as China places a heavy army group in the direction of Central Asia, then for Tsarist Russia, this is also extremely worrying, if Germany can pull the "sick man of West Asia" Ottoman Empire into Germany's chariot, then, once the war begins, the Chinese army can march from Central Asia to the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, and the Ottoman army can march from West Asia to the Caucasus, threatening the Black Sea region of tsarist Russia. If this strategic offensive plan can be implemented, Germany can completely change the strategy of "attacking from the west and defending the east" that it had previously formulated, and Germany can temporarily adopt a defensive strategy against France, concentrate its military forces to 'advance' to the east first, sweep through the European regions of Tsarist Russia, and flank the Russian army with the Ottoman army and the Chinese army coming from the south and east, force Tsarist Russia to withdraw from the war, and then clean up France and Britain after it has cleaned up Tsarist Russia.

Of course, this is an ideal strategy, and it is difficult to implement it concretely, and we must take into account the changes in the international situation, such as Japan's attitude toward China and Britain's attitude toward China, so this strategy is not at all in the German General Staff, but in the Chinese Presidential Palace, in this two-story building of the Commander's Command, the key figure is the "madman president."

Zhao Bei knew very well that if he formed an alliance with Germany, then now China would immediately face the dilemma of fighting on two fronts, Japan was of course China's strategic enemy, and Tsarist Russia would probably never tolerate the situation of fighting on two fronts, so if it formed an alliance with Germany now, China was likely to be immediately dragged into a war, which was what he tried his best to avoid, and it was also the fundamental reason why he refused to conclude a military alliance treaty with Germany.

"Mr. Minister, you are quite right. At present, although our country has established enough standing army divisions, they can only meet the needs of defense, and cannot cope with two-front operations, so I need to know the clear position of the German government, and whether Germany is determined to make a complete break with Russia in the event of a conflict between China and Russia. ”

The president's words calmed Rex, and he suddenly understood why Germany's Reichstag and Bundestag insisted that now was not a good time to conclude a military alliance treaty with China.

If China and Germany conclude a military alliance treaty, then Tsarist Russia will definitely immediately realize the damage to Russia's interests caused by this alliance treaty, and it is difficult to guarantee that Russia will not immediately unite with Japan to launch a war against China, and once the war breaks out, Germany must activate the principle of mutual defense in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Sino-German alliance treaty, Germany must carry out a national mobilization and launch an attack on Tsarist Russia to save its Far Eastern allies, and at the same time, Tsarist Russia's European allies, France and Britain, will also immediately launch an attack on Germany, In other words, a full-scale war in Europe will break out immediately because of this Sino-German alliance treaty.

Although this is also a hypothesis, it is a very realistic assumption, and Rex and the German parliamentarians have to be cautious.

Is Germany ready for all-out war now? The answer is no. Germany's army is, of course, formidable. However, the German navy was far inferior to the British navy, and the reserve of war materials had only just begun, and the outbreak of a full-scale war at this time would be detrimental to Germany.

Therefore, in the eyes of the opposition in Germany, Germany cannot be drawn into a European war in advance because of an alliance with China, although they all understand that in such an era of emphasizing the survival of the fittest, a full-scale war in Europe is inevitable. They did not want to follow the paranoid emperor to take risks, German blood can only be shed under the premise of guaranteed victory, not because of the will of the emperor alone, after all, Germany has a constitution, the emperor alone cannot support a Central European empire, if the emperor insists on going his own way, the imperial parliament may not be able to convene a meeting to veto the treaty of association, provided that the emperor does not dissolve the parliament.

Coincidentally, the Chinese parliament is also opposed to the Sino-German alliance, so what the German parliamentarians could not do was done by the Chinese parliamentarians.

"Mr. President, I really can't answer this question, and I need to consult the domestic opinion."

Rex wiped the sweat from his forehead, he finally realized that the congressmen's view was correct, once China and Germany form an alliance, the world situation will definitely change quickly, neither the Chinese nor the Germans are now ready to deal with the drastic changes in the world situation, and he also realized that the reason why the Chinese president said these words to him may also be to test Germany's determination to form an alliance.

It must be admitted that there are some similarities between China and Germany today, both countries are victims of the old world order, both countries are held by strongmen with supreme power, and both are subject to certain constraints, the difference is that Germany has the strength to sit on an equal footing with international rivals, but China does not have this strength at all, which may explain why the Chinese are so cautious about forming alliances.

Rex was so exhausted that he had almost forgotten that he had come to meet the president today to test the bottom line of the president's policies. Moreover, the strategy and tactics he had prepared were completely useless, and as for the relations between China and Japan, it seemed that he did not need to care about it, and when he found that China and Germany could not form an alliance immediately, he wisely chose to leave in advance, and he needed to ask for instructions from home, and he must tell His Majesty the Emperor that it was impossible for Mr. President of China to suppress the opinion of the Congress, because the President himself did not have much confidence in confronting Russia, and as long as the treaty between Russia and Japan remained in force, then, China must remain vigilant against military threats from these two close neighbors, and unless Germany can guarantee that it will assist China in modernizing its military in a short period of time, China's alliance with Germany will be meaningless.

Yes, if Germany needs China as an ally to work for Germany, not only will Germany not be able to cut its technical and financial aid to China, but it will also have to increase it, so strategically, China's parliament will not harm Sino-German relations if it wants China as an ally.

Seeing off the German minister, Zhao Bei returned to the commander's hall with some exhaustion, Tang Xiangming and others had not left, still sitting in the reception room, waiting for the president to make up his mind.

Seeing the president return to the reception room, everyone hurriedly stood up and saluted, with a look of anxiety on their faces.

Can you not be anxious? The "Haiqi" cruiser went to Nanyang to express condolences to the Chinese and overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and the Political Propaganda Committee took the opportunity to launch a patriotic fund-raising activity, and the key area for fund-raising was the coastal hometown of overseas Chinese, and overseas Chinese and their relatives responded positively, but in a short period of time, it raised 5 million yuan of patriotic donations, plus the donations of the people in the inland provinces before, it was almost 15 million yuan, and this money was just sent to the Ministry of Finance yesterday, and it had not had time to allocate the use, and the Admiralty learned the news, and Tang Xiangming hurriedly rushed to the Ministry of Finance in person. I want to get this patriotic donation in my hands and buy a few more surface ships for the navy, even if I can't buy cruisers, I should at least buy a few destroyers, but the Ministry of Finance will not pull out the 'hair', so today Tang Xiangming took several senior admirals to the presidential palace to "cry money", no matter what, they also want to 'get' this patriotic donation, after all, this money is an "unplanned money", even if it is misappropriated, it will not have any impact on the industrial plan of the center.

Just now, the president told the German minister that the chief of the navy came to thank the German technicians for their outstanding contributions to China's shipbuilding industry, which was nonsense.