The British have always maintained a delicate relationship with the Ottoman Empire, that is, supporting and plundering at the same time, which can be said to be a very strange but reasonable attitude, and when Germany, Austria-Hungary, and China intervened, London immediately jumped out and demanded that all countries not interfere with the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire, and at the same time, the British also subtly expressed that Britain respected the attitude of the Ottoman Empire.

This time, when the Peking government suddenly became involved in the civil war of the Turks, the British government protested to the Chinese government again, but the Turkish Shabaab and General Enver, who had already taken control of the entire western territory of Ossimán, after receiving help from China, apparently grew tired of the arrogant attitude of the British earlier, and announced with a very resolute attitude that they would deepen military cooperation with China and Germany, the construction of railways, and the development of resources in the eastern territories.

You know, with the rise of the automobile wave from the Far East, oil has rapidly risen into a global industry, and the barren local resources of the British Empire have made Britain's overseas resource industry more predatory.

In the early process of using the Ottoman Empire against the Russians, the British did not take advantage of the Ottoman Empire, large and small oil companies spread all over the Ottoman territories near the Mediterranean Sea in West Asia, in fact, the British were most worried not about China's participation in the Ottoman resource industry, but about the entry of their strong rivals in Europe, the Germans.

The construction of the Berlin-Baghdad railway is being vigorously promoted under the leadership of the Germans, and it is clear that the German railway company is carrying out construction from Austria-Hungary and Baghdad in both directions. Within a few years. The completion of this railway would mean that Germany could easily send large numbers of troops to the Balkans. It also meant that Germany could launch an attack on Egypt from Baghdad, threatening important bases of the British Empire in Africa...... But what is difficult for the British to accept is that it was the diplomats of the British Empire who connived at and even instigated Germany's development into the Middle East at the end of the century!

Soon, the British minister to Germany, Lubet, began to visit the German top brass, and the British demanded to share with Germany the benefits of the weakened Ottoman Empire, although Germany also intended to plunder the Ottoman interests. But what Wilhelm II was more concerned about now was that he did control Morocco, the key position of the Strait of Gibraltar, and as for the interests of the Berlin and Baghdad railways, he did not have any idea of consulting with the British at all!

When the British came to discuss the interests of the Baghdad Railway with the Kaiser again, they were immediately sternly rejected by Berlin, and German Foreign Minister Schleier told the British very strongly that the Berlin and Baghdad Railway was an insurmountable line of interests for Germany! The only interests with the allies, Germany will do whatever it takes...... This means that war will be one of the means by which the two countries will resolve the final contradictions!

In October 1908, Germany and Britain were glaring at the interests of the Middle East. The sudden second Moroccan crisis came unexpectedly...... On October 22, France suddenly sent troops to occupy Oujda in eastern Morocco, and on the 29th in Casablanca sent a 150-man army of marines to land and take over the elegant city. Almost at the same time, there was a large-scale riot in the Moroccan capital of Fez, and if it were not for the timely appearance of British troops, the Moroccan royal family would probably have to flee the capital.

After the British took control of the situation, the French government also took the opportunity to send an army of 200 troops into Fez and some of the surrounding Moroccan cities where riots were taking place, under the pretext of protecting the expatriate......

On November 1, Germany sent a note to Britain and France that it would send troops into Morocco to assist the Germans there! Without waiting for Britain and France to make any statement, on the same day, the German gunboat "Panther" quickly appeared in Agadir, a port on the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

"Staff Officer Duan, how are the French, British, and Germans going to compete this time? It's been a fuss for more than a month, and I didn't see any of the spittle stars and Mars, but they pinched each other...... It's still a chaotic war! In the General Staff Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs in Beijing, a group of young officers surrounded several colonel-level staff officers and excitedly circulated news from Europe to each other, and then looked at Duan Qirui, who was carefully screening intelligence.

As a senior army staff officer, and has personally traveled to South Africa, West Asia experience, Duan Qirui, saw obviously far more far-reaching than those young people, he put down the confidential volume in his hand, and then pointed to the huge map of Europe, "These three old enemies, if they really fight, will definitely not go to Morocco to make a small fight, where outside the Strait of Gibraltar, it is really difficult to get big benefits, it must be noisy...... To be honest, as long as you understand people, you know that you can't afford to fight this battle! ”

"Old Duan, you are so sure...... According to what I heard while studying at the German General Staff, the Germans were completely opposite the French! A young soldier immediately stood up and expressed his opinion, the Chinese military is still quite frequent military interactions with Germany and Britain, especially the exchange of visits by the General Staff, and this staff major named Yan Wanxi obviously has a lot of research on the situation in Europe.

"The French are guarding the Germans all day, and everyone knows that, NND...... It's just that these Europeans know that there is a lot of noise all day long, and none of them are real guys! ”

"That's right, if it was placed around us, if anyone dared to be so provocative, they would have let the navy hit the door directly!"

"Don't underestimate the British, the Germans want to beat the British, there is no possibility in a few years!"

At this moment, the voice of the officer on duty saluting loudly came from outside the door, and the hurried and slightly messy footsteps quickly came from far and near, and the door of the General Staff Department was pushed open at once, and seven or eight soldiers strode in with Xu Shoushan, the chief of the Military Affairs Department.

The eyes of this weather-faced admiral from the navy swept over a room of fierce young soldiers, and Yan Sù's face showed a little smile, everyone who can work from the grassroots level all the way to the General Staff Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs has made very outstanding achievements below, and must have at least two years of battlefield experience, so it can be said that there is no doubt that they are the elite of the army.

And when a room of staff officers saw Xu Shoushan suddenly appear, they obviously realized the unusual taste in it, and immediately put down the work at hand, and strode to the map that had just been re-hung!

"Ottoman...... Macedonia! Ouyang Geng, the deputy chief of staff, who was holding an officer's hat and patting the dust boringly, muttered softly.

"From now on, enter the 24-hour combat mechanic!" Xu Shoushan's gaze swept over the officers in the room, and he gave an order loudly and calmly.

This short sentence immediately made everyone realize...... Something is wrong! Activating the 24-hour rotation mechanism means that war has broken out or is about to break out...... The problem is that at the moment it seems that there is no possibility of a possible conflict between Britain, France and Germany in the Ottomans! When the entire military and political department quickly entered the state, a series of telegrams had been sent in.

Just half an hour later, Premier Zhou Ruidong convened an emergency meeting and announced the fierce war that had just burned out in Europe - Italy had declared war on the Ottoman Empire on December 20, before Christmas, and the reason for the declaration of war was that Italian interests in Tripoli were said to have been violated, and Italian merchants in this Ottoman traditional African territory were oppressed by high taxes, so Italy demanded that the Italians should run it.

At this moment, Germany, France, and Britain were engaged in a war of words over the second Moroccan crisis, and excluded small fleets from spying on each other along the Moroccan coastline, and the Italians clearly saw this excellent opportunity, since the Ottoman Empire was unable to resist the seizure of Moroccan sovereignty, the barren land of Tripoli on the other side of Sicily was a must-win for Italy.

Lu Han, chairman of the Naval Development Committee, had obviously studied the navies of the Mediterranean countries for a long time, and after informing him of the telegram from Europe, he immediately came to the map of the Mediterranean that had just been hung, and the symbols of the fleet and the legions had already appeared on the large map......

"The Italian Navy, the strongest navy in the Mediterranean, the latest main battleship in service is the Queen Eleana class battleship, which is a twin 12-inch, 40 times the diameter of the main gun and 6 8-inch 45 times the diameter, the speed and armor are relatively perfect, including the Queen Eleana class, Queen Margarita, Philiberto-class, King Umberto class, Loria class A total of 11 more advanced battleships, the earlier Italian-class, Durio-class battleships, the combat power has been completely outdated!"

"The Ottoman Navy was built entirely with the aid of our country, but two dreadnoughts are under construction and have not yet been listed, and at present the navy can act as the main offensive force of 2 Xia-class battleships and 1 Shang-class battleship, and our officer corps is still stationed in the Ottoman port of Fethiye...... According to the feedback from the officer corps, the Ottoman navy was medium and inexperienced, and the admirals had experience in completely joint operations! ”

"General Lu, according to such a comparison of military strength, I don't think there is any suspense in the battle in the Mediterranean?" Tang Shaoyi, the Minister of Finance on the side, had already stood up and asked loudly, as an important overseas national policy of China at present, the new cabinet has also spent a lot of thought on supporting the Ottoman Empire, of course, the Ottoman Empire can still get money at least for now, so it is not a loss, but the aid expenses such as the officer corps still make him feel quite painful.

For Tang Shaoyi, who is full of economic interests, every copper plate is eager to be invested in domestic reproduction, and although the Ministry of Military Affairs is involved in the war through the Ottomans, it will definitely need to spend a lot of money, and as for the proceeds from the sale of arms to the Ottomans, God knows if it can make up for the gap...... So, naturally, he meant that he would rather not fight! (To be continued......)