On January 20, Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Bulgaria, France declared war on the Triple Alliance on the 21st, and Britain declared war on the Triple Alliance on the same day. They chose the most direct way to resolve their differences - violence, the great war that had stirred up the brains of Europeans had finally broken out, diplomats of various countries finally had no trouble intriguing, and the rest could be left to the military, the art of language was useless, and the two sides relied on bullets and cannons to speak.

In Europe, the bayonets of German and French soldiers were about to collide, and in the Asia-Pacific the situation seemed to be calm. Since 1906, the economic and trade relations between China and the United States, which had been tense since 1906, were not affected by the European war, and a large number of transport ships continued to travel back and forth between the two sides of the Pacific, and the two countries seemed to have completely incarnated into businessmen, although the United States had the world's largest economic output and China had the world's de facto largest military power.

The leaders of the two countries have not forgotten their mission, and the contradictions will eventually be stimulated one day, and war is inevitable, but once a war breaks out between the two countries, it will be like a landslide, and the scale is not much smaller than that of the European war.

For China, it would be more advantageous to start a war when its military strength was superior than to wait until the day when America's industrial power was fully transformed into military power. Moreover, although the United States was the world's largest industrial country at this time, its status was not high, it was a debtor country of European countries, and financially it was also controlled by the European bloc represented by the Jewish consortium.

Therefore, the intention of the United States is to dump goods on both sides of the war through the European war, pay off debts, and finally get rid of the shadow of the European bloc. Only in 1909 was the case that the 27th President of the United States, William Howard Taft, came to power, and the Republicans remained in charge of the White House.

President Taft, who served as the first governor of the Philippines, resented the loss of the Philippines by the United States, but he also knew that the United States could not easily enter a state of war with China at this time. In a report submitted by the US Army to Taft in 1909, the US Army's existing strength was less than 100,000 troops, and its equipment was backward and outdated, with mortars, high-powered artillery, tanks, and armored vehicles almost invisible in the Army, a lack of training in soldiers, and a small number of officers. The National Guard and the militia, the main components of the reserves, had not received military training for a few days at all, the population lacked interest in participating in the war, and most of the population was still intoxicated by the superior geographical environment and developed economy of the homeland.

The fundamental reason why China could not go to war was that the benefits gained by China from going to war were not proportional to the costs paid. The center of gravity of the United States has always been in the Atlantic, and the center of gravity of the world is also in the Atlantic, and there are only countless barren islands in the Pacific region. War would mean severing economic ties with China, which would not be tolerated by American businessmen, conglomerates, workers, and some politicians. In terms of cost, the United States will pay more, and it will need more warships and a larger army to deal with China, and the cost of arming these troops can drive Congress crazy. As president of the United States, Taft will also bear the passivity caused by the defeat in the war, and the parliament and the people will vent their resentment at the defeat.

Therefore, when Taft's aides offered to ease tensions with China and concentrate on supplying the consumption of the Great War in Europe, Taft immediately agreed and sent diplomats to test China's reaction.

Fortunately, Huaguo's response was very satisfactory, according to Huaguo's ambassador to the United States, Huaguo also needs to recuperate, and needs to provide cigarettes, bread and artillery to Russia and the whole of Europe, and the opportunity to make money cannot be missed. Rather than having a tense relationship with the United States, it is better to join forces to carve up the European market, and Chinese businessmen are not willing to give up the opportunity to make a fortune.

The difference in political system and cultural differences led Taft to easily believe the Chinese people's claims, and the Congress also rejected the US military's application to expand the size and number of equipment in the United States, and the United States was a scene of cheering for peace and making money, and some lawmakers even proposed to conclude a peace treaty with China to divide the market share of the two countries in Europe.

On January 25, 1910, in Zhoushan, the home port of the East China Sea Fleet, Navy Commander Lu Hai was reviewing a document, which was signed by the General Staff and transferred to Lu Hai after being reviewed and approved by the Presidential Office. After reading it, Lu Hai ordered the archivist to seal the documents, and then looked up at the battleship moored in the distance, and couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts. As a genetic person, he also seems to be sentimental, the Chinese Navy has finally been perfected, and the mature combat formation coupled with uninterrupted training has made the Chinese Navy extremely powerful. Just like a computer, countless data flowed from Lu Hai's mind.

After eight years of continuous expansion and improvement, Zhoushan Military Port has become one of the largest military ports in the world, which can accommodate hundreds of 10,000-ton warships at the same time. At this moment, there are also nearly 40 warships moored in the military port, and they are densely arranged on the dock, if these warships are destroyed at the same time, it means that the Chinese navy will lose more than half of its strength.

Of course, the Zhoushan Military Port is also one of the ports with the highest level of defense in the world, and the islands outside the port are dotted with as many as 150 coastal defense batteries composed of heavy reinforced concrete, and 21 large coastal defense guns with a caliber of more than 200 millimeters are enough to destroy any enemy warship that tries to cross the route.

On the two military airfields to the left of the military port are a reconnaissance aircraft group, two fighter squadrons and a bomber squadron of naval aviation, which, together with coastal radars, provide long-range early warning and air cover for the military port. The Marines provided two regiments of troops to provide land defense of the port and in extreme situations to fight against the landing of enemy soldiers.

The proximity to the economically developed areas allows the military port to be adequately supplied, the oil pipelines on the wharf are crisscrossed and crisscrossed, a railway branch line leads directly to the wharf area, and the convenient road network also allows the goods to be transported to the port in a timely manner by truck. The advanced material handling facilities on the dock can greatly improve the efficiency of the warship receiving supplies, and the living and entertainment areas near the port can give the navy officers and men the greatest relaxation. There are also six large dockyards in the harbor that can be used to refurbish ships returning from long voyages, and can also provide some repair work when wartime ships are damaged.

At the same time, it is also the largest submarine base in China, and unlike surface warships, the submarine force is not divided into sub-fleets in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, but has set up a special submarine combat command under its unified command, and has set up sub-bases for submarine forces in Zhanjiang, Manila, Okinawa, Dalian, Kagoshima, and other places along the coast.

The warships of the East China Sea Fleet are worthy of the military investing so many resources in the port, and the East China Sea Fleet, with two aircraft carriers as the core of the operation, has two "general-class" aircraft carriers, namely the Bai Qi and Huo Quai; 1 Wuyue-class battleship Huashan; two "Imperial-class" battle cruisers, namely Daqin and Dahan; 10 cruisers of the "Nanhai class" and 21 destroyers of the "Guangzhou class". In addition, there are six large supply ships, two 10,000-ton hospital ships, and a communications ship.

The East China Sea Fleet is divided into two attack detachments with aircraft carriers as the core and the Huashan battleship as the core, and the attack detachments also include two extremely fast Imperial-class battlecruisers, seven Nanhai-class cruisers, and 15 Guangzhou-class destroyers; The strike detachment is mainly responsible for ground attack after gaining sea supremacy, and protecting the attack detachment from enemy battleships.

The gradual maturity and rapid expansion of the shipbuilding industry in China led to the high tide of the launch of new warships in 1908, and for Lu Liang, his absolute control over the army and his understanding of the historical development made it possible for him to determine the direction of the development of the navy without being hindered by human factors.

From the Nanhai-class and Canton-class, which were not suitable for naval warfare at the beginning, to the four general-class aircraft carriers launched in late 1907 and 1908, the military and shipyards had to obey orders. Therefore, on December 10, 1907, the first aircraft carrier Bai Qi was launched, and soon after it was known to the outside world, this kind of battleship became a joke in the world navy, and the world generally believed that the Chinese Navy had no more ability to threaten itself except for two super battleships, and perhaps the two super battleships and the four battleships sold to Germany were the prehistoric relics they fished out of the seabed, and they did not have the ability to build battleships at all, and the clues can be seen from this "aircraft carrier".

General-class aircraft carriers have a strange appearance: wide deck, huge displacement, powerful power system, and ultra-high speed, but they do not have the heavy armor and large-caliber naval guns that a capital ship should have, and even the largest caliber guns are only 12 127mm guns, which are difficult to use to fight destroyers.

Of course, through the photos taken by the spy gate, naval technical experts can see the purpose of this warship, it seems to be a platform used to take off and land aircraft on the sea? Perhaps, airplanes have a relatively important role on the land battlefield, but in the face of battleships sailing on the sea, in the face of heavy armor, such a small toy as an airplane is simply a joke!

After receiving the information, the British Navy, out of the importance of China, ordered someone to use a freighter to convert a warship that could take off and land aircraft according to the photo, and finally came to the conclusion that this type of warship could not play any role in naval warfare, and could at most be used as a maritime reconnaissance platform. (To be continued.) )