Yanjing, Xinhua Palace, Golden Office of the Emperor of the Chinese Empire.

"Although the Battle of Cambrai was not a complete victory, it was still the first victory of our army after going abroad." Liang Shiyi said to Yuan Shikai, who was sitting on a large chair with a gloomy face and sitting on a Western-style chair in Huanghuali, "The officers and men of our army performed well in the battle, and the people of friendly countries praised them. ”

"What's the use of that? It wasn't for the Americans who came in time, and if they didn't get it right, the whole army would have been wiped out. Yuan Shikai sighed worriedly, "The combat power of the German army is indeed not comparable to us. ”

Yuan Shikai, who has been involved in China's national defense construction since the end of the Qing Dynasty, still has an instinctive fear of the German Army, the teacher of the Chinese Army, and this fear cannot be eliminated by a few new weapons and a few victories.

"This time our army could have won a great victory at Cambrai, but the later defeat was caused by the lack of cooperation between the British army and our army." Xu Shuzheng said, "At present, the entire army of our expeditionary force has arrived in France one after another, with a total strength of nearly 100,000 troops. ”

"Having said that, we can't afford to fight a battle of this scale, because we have too little capital." Yuan Shikai shook his head and said, "At the beginning, more than 10,000 people were lost, and according to this way of playing, our more than 100,000 people will not be able to support it for long." ”

After listening to the emperor's words, Liang Shiyi and Xu Shuzheng were silent.

Since the outbreak of the First World War, the media in China has been very concerned, similar to the general belief in the Western world at the beginning, and many people in China also believed that the war would end in one or two years without much bloodshed, but then the facts showed that everyone was wrong.

No one could have imagined in advance that this war would reverberate the whole world, lasting for many years, devouring millions of young lives and destroying the foundations of European civilization.

Since entering modern times, the West has been an object of learning for China, but this time, facing the European battlefield of corpses and blood, many Chinese have become confused, especially after China joined the Entente group to enter the war.

The reason why Yuan Shikai advocated participating in this war was to bet on the Allied bloc to win the victory quickly. On the one hand, he hoped to achieve a certain victory by participating in the war and improve the international status and reputation of the newly established Chinese Empire, and secondly, he hoped that after the war, as a victorious power, he would abolish a series of unequal treaties signed by the Qing Dynasty and the great powers, so as to clear the way for China's future development. But when China actually entered the war, Yuan Shikai found that the situation was much more complicated than he had previously thought.

In order to ensure the victory of the Chinese [***] team in Europe, Yuan Shikai almost did his best to prepare for the war, and organized 100,000 elite troops of the army to go to Europe, hoping to achieve several decent victories. But the results of the Battle of Cambrai showed that the cost of victory was too great.

The squadron lost more than 10,000 officers and men in this first battle, and if this war continues for a long time, it is not known how many Chinese will die on the battlefield.

Another fatal problem is that with China's current national strength, it is undoubtedly quite difficult to maintain a total of 100,000 troops to fight overseas for a long time.

"The U.S. political axe has agreed to help our country train more troops and provide corresponding material and equipment assistance." Prime Minister Yang Du said, "The Cabinet is currently discussing the military cooperation proposal put forward by the United States. ”

"To put it bluntly, we send people, they send guns and cannons, and let us fight for them." Yuan Shikai sighed helplessly, "That President Wilson was also afraid that there would be too many dead people, and it would be difficult to explain to the people in the country, so he came up with this idea." ”

Listening to Yuan Shikai's words, a trace of bitterness appeared on Yang Du's face.

As a direct negotiator with the Americans, why didn't he understand the intentions of the Americans?

In the Battle of Cambrai, although the number of casualties of the American army was far less than that of the British and Chinese troops, it also shocked the Americans. The Americans had underestimated the possible casualties of the war, and under pressure from domestic isolationist forces, Wilson thought of using China's abundant human resources.

Before the United States entered the war in 1917, domestic preparations were poor. At that time, the population of the United States had exceeded 100 million, but all the armed personnel in the United States combined were only a pitiful 196,000! Of these, 76,000 are regular members of the Army, and the rest are National Guards. The weapons and equipment of the US military are either outdated or non-existent. Like China, the United States does not have a separate air force, and less than 60 of the army's planes are part of the communications unit. Similar to the situation in Britain, France, and Russia at the beginning of the war, the elite of the U.S. Army was cavalry units that were slashed with sabers, and U.S. military engineers never considered blueprints for the manufacture of weapons such as tanks (which even China could not match). The military chiefs of the American political axes also do not know the organization of armies, divisions, or brigades. Since the Civil War, the U.S. Army has remained regimental. Not a single person in the U.S. Army, inside or out, had ever been trained in trench warfare.

In fact, it was under such circumstances that the United States joined the war. If Yuan Shikai had learned that the United States' war readiness was even worse than that of China, which had just defeated Yuben, he might have stared at him.

U.S. President Wilson, in the midst of strong opposition, went to great lengths to persuade Congress to conscript every able-bodied American between the ages of 21 and 31, and later changed the age group to 18 to 45. Under this decree, more than 4 million people will serve in the U.S. Army and 800,000 in the U.S. Navy. The command of the American Expeditionary Force was given to General Pershing, the supreme commander of the American [***] force, who had only experience dealing with Mexican bandits and Indians (Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for Defense, had only experience dealing with the Sultan Mahdi).

The Americans quickly realized that the fixed-front tactics of the Western Front were fundamentally different from any previous war. Contemporary warfare is a devastating battle between artillery, supplemented by machine guns, grenades, and white-knuckle combat. Shortly after the United States joined the Entente camp, hundreds of British and French officers crossed the Atlantic to train recruits in offensive and defensive methods, but for many Americans, it was after they arrived in France that the real training began.

Pershing set about reorganizing the U.S. Army to meet the needs of the war, and he decided that each U.S. division should contain 28,000 men, which was about twice the size of the British and French armies.

Because the two "meat grinder-style battles" of Verdun and the Somme were too terrifying, Wilson and Pershing did not want the same thing to happen to the American [***] team, and the British, they also took a fancy to China's rich human resources, so after China entered the war, the American political axe repeatedly proposed that China send more troops to Europe, and after learning about the financial difficulties of China's political axe, the big-spending Americans resolutely proposed to give China "material and financial help", He also expressed his willingness to help China train its troops and provide weapons "so that China can send more troops to fight in Europe." ”

"Although this matter and the country's face are a little unpleasant, I think it is still beneficial for my country to do so." Yang Du looked at Yuan Shikai and said carefully.

"Advantageous is advantageous, but if you are not careful, the hat of a traitor will be easily buttoned up." Yuan Shikai pointed to the newspaper on the table and sighed.

Yang Du stretched out his head and looked at a "Great China Newspaper" on the table, the black title on it was clear and dazzling, Yang Du glanced down slightly, and suddenly gasped.

“…… The reason for building the monarch is to rely on a concept of history and customs that seems to be a demon but not a demon to maintain its dignity; This dignity can have an effect invisibly, directly or indirectly, in the form of a blessing for the nation. The preciousness of the monarch must be here. Although the dignity of the undesecrated is also desecrated, it was once blasphemous, and it will no longer be maintained. For example, Zhu Fan carved earth puppets, the name of the gods, ascended to the grand hall, for the shrines, the group worshipped, the spirit should be like a sound; Suddenly, a mad creature dragged it down and trampled on it, and threw it into the woods, and after ten years of immortality, although it was re-ascended to re-enter the temple cage, its spirit was already faint. Since ancient times, the people of the monarchy have always regarded the monarch as a sacredness, and in its status, they dare not think about it. If, after a republic, this idea is as unsustainable as it is. Looking at the republics of the world, there are few people who do not suffer from the republic, and no country has the skills to get rid of the yoke of the republic. After the republic, the emperor and the government saw each other, and the royal government saw each other, but they were not overturned in an instant, and it was difficult to imagine that the republic would return to the monarch. Although it is said that the republic of our country is still shallow, it has been more than ten years in the making and four years in practice. When it was brewing, the revolutionaries slandered the monarch and compared it to the demons, so as to reduce the faith of the people, and their dignity became desecrated, and then the work of the revolution was also gathered. And when the state system changes abruptly and after the change, the proclamations of the government, the declarations of political parties, the remarks of newspapers, the talk of the streets and alleys, and the Tao and the monarch will always be crowned with evil words, and the gods will be honored for a long time. It is not easy to recover today's micro theory; If you want to seek the effect of the dignity of the past, how can you get more? Again, the republic reinstated the monarchy, and the resurrection of the old monarchy was the most smooth. So that the former Qing Dynasty is not suspected of race, then the English Charlie second, the law of the eighteenth Yi, the original is not impossible to appear in our country; However, Manchuria is not the same. If the newly built imperial system is not built after several years of difficulty, the merit is in the people, and the people who pray for eternal life hope for it. Therefore, I have lived alone for several years, and I also privately said that if China can return to the imperial government, it will be easy to survive and become stronger. And if you want the emergence of the imperial government, there are only two ways: one is that after the head of state cultivates the Ming Dynasty in internal governance, all kinds of waste are prosperous, the family gives people enough, the whole army is economical and martial, tastes the courage to lie on the salary, encounters fate, and dominates the foreign war. Second, after the second great turmoil, the whole country was boiling, and the heroes were divided, and after being cut off, it was set to be one. The husband is from the second way, so why should we pray this prayer? If this happens, the people of China have nothing left behind; And whether the person who is determined is my race or not, it is not known, it is equivalent to death. The first way is to be the only one, then it is now a promising person can live in a promising trend, a little vacation years, can be expected to turn to, and immediately effective. Isn't there a glimmer of hope for China's future? Therefore, it is said that the people of our country are said to be the most suitable not to make trouble with the caution of the head of state, so that we can specialize in one and seek great reform for the country, and then the ultimate and greatest goal of our people can be realized. What year is it? What is it said today? The great calamity is peaceful, the respite is undecided, and it is appropriate to withdraw from the suspension of the temple. If the fruit is picked before it is ripe, it hurts its roots; If the pregnancy is not full and urge, it will kill the mother. As I said in the past, if the hope for China's future is out of time, and if it falls from here, then the person who advocates it, although he dies nine times, how can he thank the world? May the public think carefully. The poem says: 'The people also work, and the people can rest.' 'In less than seven years since the eighth month of Xinhai, there has been a constitutional constitution in Manchuria, a republic of the five ethnic groups, a provisional president, a formal president, a provisional president, a constitutional law, a revision of the constitution, a convening of the National Assembly, a dissolution of the National Assembly, a cabinet system, a presidential system, a permanent president, a lifetime president, a temporary replacement of the constitution by the constitution, and a urging to formulate a constitution. The average promulgation of a system is less than half a year, and then there is opposition to the new system and it is destroyed, so that the people of the whole country are confused, do not know what to do, and the prestige of the political axe is completely swept away. Today, it is said that the internal and external maps are not known for those who can be listed. If the public wants to fulfill the duty of salvation, what is not enough to be self-effective? Why bother without wind and waves, stir up demons, confuse the people in vain, and slander the country with infinite relatives! ……”

Although he has only finished reading this short paragraph, he can already make Yang Du sweat like a pulp.

"This Liang Zhuoru, you don't want to be the Minister of Justice and Education, but you just wrote such an article, isn't it clear that you want to break off your friendship with the cutting of robes?" Yuan Shikai sighed with regret.

"This person has a great humanistic pen, he is good at demagoguery, and now he is against the party and ready to move, if he is classified as a first-class anti-party, it will be a great harm to the country." Xu Shuzheng said, "This person must not be let go." ”

Yang Du heard the killing intent in Xu Shuzheng's words, and couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.

"Forget it, everyone has their own ambitions, let him go." Yuan Shikai waved his hand indifferently, "Zhuo Ru has followed me for many years, I can have today, Zhuo Ru has contributed a lot, even if it is not, I can't fight each other." ”

Listening to Yuan Shikai's sad words, Yang Du couldn't help but be very moved.

Of course, he understood why Liang Qichao, who had followed Yuan Shikai for many years, chose to break with the old master in such a way.

"As long as we do what we need to do, Zhuo Ru will still come back." Yang Du said.

Yuan Shikai nodded, and did not say anything more about Liang Qichao, but turned the topic to the suggestion of the United States that Yang Du said just now.

"The British and French have recruited a lot of laborers to go to Europe, and some of these people have been used as cannon fodder." Yuan Shikai wiped the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, "Our Chinese people are also flesh and blood, this matter still needs to be carefully considered, if it is really to be implemented, there must be detailed rules to protect the rights of our military and civilians, otherwise, it is better not to talk about it." ”

Yang Du and Liang Shiyi and others even claimed that they were, and began to discuss some details again.

Zomoto, Tokyo.

"After receiving the proposal from the US side, Yuan Shikai and his cabinet members discussed for several days, and finally decided to accept the Americans' proposal, and Yuan Shikai betrayed the country's political axe and expressed his willingness to provide 500,000 fighters to the United States in advance."

"In addition to the fighters, Yuan Shikai is also not stingy in providing labor to foreign countries, and negotiations on the specific export of labor are still ongoing, but it can be expected that the number will never be less than the number of combatants."

After listening to his subordinates, the leader of the Democratic Party, dressed in a kimono, nodded.

"Where did those fighters come from, you know?" The leader asked.

"I heard that they are all local town guards and reserve troops in various provinces." One revolutionary replied, "Mainly from Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Guangdong and other provinces and the Hunan and Chu regions. ”

Listening to his subordinates' reports, the leader sneered, and his eyes fell on the map on the table.

"If he does this, he is not afraid that the provincial generals will rebel against him."

"Guangdong has been drawn a lot of troops to participate in the European war this time, and now the local defense is very empty, which is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us! Mr! A revolutionary wearing a student hat said excitedly.

"Yes! It's time for us to fight for the personality of 40,000,000 Chinese. The leader said in a deep voice, dotting his hand on the map.

"By the way, sir, look at this." A young revolutionary handed a copy of the newspaper to the leader, who noticed the photo of Liang Qichao's portrait and the article next to it, and his eyes flashed with excitement.

"This article gave Yuan Shikai a slap in the face." "In this way, the Progressive Party will be our helper." ”

"General Cai Ye is the teacher of Mr. Liang Qichao, and General Cai is the chief of staff, and he has a great influence on the Yunnan army. Zhu Zhixin, a member of the old alliance, said.

"There are also many people in the navy who sympathize with the revolution and are dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai's restoration of the imperial system, so we can also win their participation." Another member of the League suggested.

"Yes, there are actually a lot of people in the navy who are dissatisfied with Lao Yuan." Someone said, "However, if we want to get the navy to participate, we must hurry, I heard that Lao Yuan is going to send the navy to Europe to escort the shipping routes and merchant ships with the British navy, it seems to be the most recent thing." ”

Hearing this, the leader's thick eyebrows couldn't help but raise.

"If the Navy does go to England, it will be a good opportunity for us." Zhu Zhixin said, "If the sea route is unimpeded, there will be no problem with the backup we get from Taiwan." ”

(To be continued)