In March 1907, a delegation sent by the German Foreign Office signed a purchase agreement with China in Wuhan, and the foreign ministers of the two countries announced the foreign trade orders to the outside world at a press conference.

The orders worth 200 million yuan include grain, fertilizer, minerals, rubber, etc., and the most striking thing is a large amount of munitions, including weapons and equipment that can arm three armored divisions, 200 F01 combat/reconnaissance planes, 50 H-1 bombers, and related supporting parts.

According to the content of the agreement signed by the two sides, this batch of goods will be loaded onto a ship and transported to Germany in three months, at which time the Chinese Navy will form an escort fleet to escort the transport ships transporting this batch of materials, and at the same time will pay a friendly visit to Germany.

It's not surprising that the two countries hooked up together, it's strange why they didn't start hooking up until now. There is no direct conflict of interest between the two countries, and some time ago Germany also claimed that it would shrink its overseas forces, sell all its colonies in the Pacific region to China, and return Qingdao to Qingdao. After that incident, there was a consensus that the two countries would come together, but relations between the two countries have been lukewarm since then, and it was not until the success of this purchase agreement that the outside world attracted attention again.

Britain and France both expressed the strongest indignation at the purchase, with the British saying they would refuse to allow the Chinese convoy and convoy to pass through the Suez Canal, while France said it would station additional troops in French Indochina and speed up the development of its own advanced weapons.

Three days later, however, the protests in Britain and France died down, and their anger was quelled by equally large arms purchases. When the Chinese diplomats in Britain and France respectively said that the two countries could purchase arms from China, the two countries immediately submitted a list of weapons purchases, including super-battleships, which was much larger than the Germans' appetite. However, the final procurement list did not include super battleships, only tanks, armored vehicles, fighters, bombers, etc., and Britain paid fifteen million pounds of wealth for its procurement list, and the French had a lot of money. Took 50 million pounds of weapons and equipment in one go.

The pace of research and development of new weapons in China was slow, and Germany suddenly took the lead in this field, and the tremendous pressure forced Britain and France to pinch their noses and buy from China. China's initiative to show goodwill to Britain and France was interpreted by the high-level leaders of the two countries as China was preparing to surrender to Britain and France, and although China had fought an anti-China alliance, this country was basically isolated by the whole world. Tactically, China won, and strategically they lost.

In other words, in order to change the isolated diplomatic situation, China took the initiative to pay protection money to the world's boss. At the same time that their vanity was satisfied, Britain and France readily accepted the good intentions of China, after all, the two countries still have huge interests in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and it is impossible to place huge military forces there every moment to confront China. Now not only do you get the new equipment you want, but you can copy it. It also eases the situation in Southeast Asia and South Asia, and can also undermine the cooperation between China and Germany, killing three birds with one stone!

On the other hand, the Chinese and German Foreign Mintries protested to each other according to the script, this was a plan that had been prepared for a long time, and the weapons and equipment provided by China to Germany were generally more than twice as good as those obtained by Britain and France, and Germany also knew that it was impossible to prevent Britain and France from developing or acquiring new equipment, so it was better to take this opportunity to engage in strategic deception.

Manor on the outskirts of Wuhan. Lü Liang was entertaining two German guests, Tirpitz and Moltke Jr., who had secretly come with the German Foreign Office's mission. Since then, it has been kept in secrecy, going back and forth between the shipyard and Wuhan. Tirpitz's mission was to inspect the condition of the four battleships, to agree with China on the plan and route for the repatriation of the battleships, and to agree on the final handover. Moltke Jr.'s mission was to buy a batch of equipment for the German Army and bring back to China the officers who had studied armored tactics in China.

"Two, now your mission is almost over. Tomorrow is the day when the escort fleet and the transport fleet will depart, and I would like to toast you two and wish the relations between the two countries to a higher level! I wish both countries all the best for their future! I wish His Majesty William good health! ”

"I wish Your Excellency the President good health!" The two took a sip, and little Moltke looked at his companion, and said to Lu Liang as if he had made up his mind: "Your Excellency the President." The contemptible people have great admiration for your country's soldiers, who are as elite in the world as the German soldiers. Strong-willed, obedient, highly qualified, and most importantly, absolutely loyal to His Majesty the President. ”

"Thank you, General Moltke Jr., for the compliment, I gladly accept it. What others see is the advanced weapons and equipment possessed by the Chinese army, but I think that the most valuable wealth of the Chinese army is those soldiers who operate weapons, talent is the core of the army, and excellent talents are equipped with advanced weapons, and such an army will be invincible! ”

"Yes, your army has performed very well both at sea and on land. It's just that, with all due respect, both your country and our German Empire are facing a difficult situation. The Russian Empire, which is located in the north of Eurasia, puts a lot of pressure on both of us and you, and they can easily mobilize an army of millions of people, like a gray torrent, drowning everything. And the hegemony established by Britain in the world is very solid, I am afraid that the failure of the expeditionary fleet has not been broken by Britain, this country is full of colonies, naval warships all over the world, from Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, Egypt, to the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, Malacca, South Africa, almost all the nodes of the world are controlled by the British, and India, South Africa, Australia and other richest regions in the world are also in the hands of the British. In the same way, the French are robbing colonies all over the world, and their colonies in Indochina are directly on the soft belly of your country. Britain and France have heavy iron chains wrapped around our free democracies such as China and Germany, and they have shackles around our necks through naval warships, and this situation cannot continue any longer! ”

Tirpitz didn't want to continue going around in circles, and bluntly said that he and Moltke Jr. were both straightforward soldiers, which was very much in line with Lu Liang's appetite. Could it be that the Germans knew their character, so they sent these two men to talk to them?

"These are all facts, and our country is also trying to break free from the shackles of Britain and France and other powers, and several foreign wars are the embodiment of this effort, not the so-called enemy of the whole world!"

"No, Huaguo is definitely not an enemy of the world, at least, the Germans will stand on the side of the Chinese!" The meaning is obvious, Wilhelm II sent Tirpitz and Moltke the Younger to meet with him, and he must have tried to form an alliance with China. A powerful Far Eastern country will contain the huge military power of Britain, France and Russia after the start of the war, and the Russians will have to place a large number of elite troops in the Far East to prevent the Chinese army from advancing north. Britain will have to send a large number of naval warships to protect the security of Singapore, Burma and India, and France will also send a large number of troops to protect the security of Indochina.

According to China's military strength, Britain, France and Russia must at least take out more than one-third of their own military strength to block the all-out attack of the Chinese army, so that the pressure on Germany will be reduced several times, such an ally is worth paying for Germany, even if Wilhelm II kneels down and picks soap, he is willing!

"Is Germany going to form an alliance with China?" Lü Liang was more direct than Tirpitz and Moltke Jr.

"Isn't that the best option?" Moltke asked rhetorically.

"What benefits can Huaguo get from this?"

"After the victory of the war, Southeast Asia, India and Australia were all assigned to China."

"Such promises are illusory and useless. Although China has repeatedly won victories in wars, the weak national strength has cost us a lot, and the country needs time to recuperate. Once in alliance with Germany, we will again be isolated by the blockade of Britain, France and other countries, which is not good for our development. So, it's impossible to form an alliance now, but who can say for sure what will happen in the future? However, I promise that all the goods of China will be open to Germany, and we will sell what you need. ”

China has indeed entered a period of strategic contraction, as evidenced by the supply of arms to Britain and France. Lu Liang does not lack funds, technology, or resources, but only lacks time, and he has to wait for the completion of the northern industrial base, the opening of the northern transportation routes, and the initial completion of the country's industrialization, so that he can have the confidence to face larger-scale challenges.

His enemies, one is the empire on which the sun never sets, with its transcendent fleet and shipbuilding capabilities, and its colonies all over the world providing endless resources; One is the United States, the world's largest economic power, which has two oceans and can burst into a terrifying war after withstanding the pains of the early stages of the war.

This kind of enemy must be completely prepared, and Lu Liang didn't know when the war in the original world would break out, and the appearance of Hua changed too much of the original trajectory. Germany became stronger because of the support of China, and Britain became somewhat weakened because of the defeat of the expeditionary fleet, but the Americans entered the arms race because of the challenge of China. The war may be advanced or delayed, and it is unpredictable, and all Lu Liang can do is to complete the war preparations as soon as possible.

Disappointed, Tirpitz and Moltke Jr. boarded the convoy and were about to cross the ocean and return to Germany, believing that even without an alliance with China, the changing situation would push China over to Germany's side. They are not worried about this, the only thing that bothers them is the shortage of resources, and they may need to revise their battle plans after returning to Romania as a key target. In addition, the Baku oil field on the coast of the Caspian Sea is the most productive oil field in the world, and oil can also be replenished from there. (To be continued.) )