Chapter 655 - Wooing (II)

It was not only the British minister in China who sent back to Europe the newspapers that carried photographs of the battlefield in Artun. The envoys of France, Russia, Germany, Italy, and other countries in China also took similar actions, and the foreign affairs officials of various countries took the Siberian Railway to return to Europe one after another by means of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and they were all eager to show their own governments the "new mode of combat" that appeared in Lushun, and Zhu Erdian was fully convinced that it would not be long before the aviation industry of the European countries would be further strengthened.

Of course, in Zhu Erdian's view, the reason why the Chinese Air Force was able to achieve such a brilliant tactical victory was closely related to the suddenness of the war, and as far as he knew, only two hours after handing over the 'handover' of the declaration of war to the Japanese side, China launched a military attack on Japan, and everything was too sudden, and even if Japan was replaced by Britain, the British Navy might not be able to do a better job than the Japanese Navy.

In fact, after learning of the success of the Chinese Air Force's raid on Arthur, all naval bases on the British mainland were immediately put on higher alert, and the Minister of the Navy even ordered that if an unidentified aircraft appeared over the military port, the navy could shoot them down without warning. At the same time, almost all the planes that could fly in Britain were transferred to the vicinity of the military port to protect the skies of the military port.

Similarly, the German navy made the same alert posture, and France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and other countries also raised the alert level of their naval bases, and the whole of Europe was in turmoil, simply because of an air raid in the Far East.

For Europe, which is in the midst of the Balkan crisis, this new model of war in the Far East is very likely to be imitated by hostile countries or hostile military blocs, and it is not clear whether this will be a good or bad thing for Europe, which is getting closer and closer to the pace of war, but one thing is clear: the great powers are sure that if China can attack the navy with its air force and achieve a brilliant victory, then the European countries with stronger military technology will be able to do better.

It must be admitted that this time, the image of the Chinese military has been completely changed, and in the eyes of the great powers, this army is no longer a simple imitator of the European military powers, and the Chinese military personnel have created a new mode of warfare, and they have used facts to tell the European military powers that the air force can play an important role in modern warfare.

Whether or not China can defeat Japan depends not only on the performance of the Air Force, but also on the performance of the Army, and whether the Chinese Army can behave as enterprisingly and energetically as the Chinese Air Force. It depends on the development of the war.

Looking at the fanatical Chinese youths passing by the carriage, Zhu Erdian sighed at the awakening of this nation, but he also knew that fanatical nationalism and nationalism were also a double-edged sword, and if it was not controlled well, it might kill and injure the person holding the sword, which had been reflected in the Russo-Japanese War that year.

Because there were so many people on the street, Zhu Erdian had to wait on the side of the street for about half an hour before he could continue on his way, and when his carriage arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he happened to meet with the American Minister to China Stade, who had rushed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Stade had also come to inquire about the inside information on the return of the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay by the German government, and he had already received an answer from Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang half an hour earlier than Zhu Erdian, and was about to rush back to the US Legation to report the matter by telegram to China.

Knowing that Zhu Erdian had also come to inquire about this matter, Stade did not feel strange.

"Mr. Minister, the matter concerning the 'handover' of the leased land by Germany is true, and it seems to me that Mr. Foreign Minister has just told me personally that he has been authorized by Mr. President to 'deal' with the German Minister in China on this matter. The German side is very determined to 'handover' Qingdao back, and it does not seem to be just talk. Stade said.

Zhu Erdian furrowed his brows, was silent for a moment, and then came up with his opinion.

"I think Germany may want to take this opportunity to make further overtures to China."

"Yes, Mr. Minister, I think so too. If China can successfully take over Qingdao, I think that the enthusiasm of the Chinese for Germany will further increase, and if China joins the Allied bloc because of this, it will have a serious impact on the situation in the Far East. Of course, I also think that the German government also did this because of the tensions in Europe, and that Germany needed to shrink its naval forces in order to fully protect the interests of the European mainland and its African colonies. ”

Stade's words made Jurdian seem to grasp something, but he was not quite sure what the position of the American government was.

"Mr. Minister, in my personal opinion, this decision of the German government is not only hasty but also reckless, it undermines the norms of international 'exchange', and is obviously unfavorable to the interests of the great powers in China. Today, Germany can 'hand' over the leased land to China, and tomorrow, Germany may even 'hand' over the management of the concession to China, which will obviously undermine the extraterritoriality of various countries. Zhu Erdian said a few words tentatively.

Stade did not immediately follow this line of thought, and as a foreign affairs officer, his words and deeds must be in line with the policies of the United States. However, Germany's decision to "handover" Qingdao was too sudden, and the US government had not yet 'figured' the details, so it was impossible to give Stade any clear instructions, and he could not make his position clear to Zhu Erdian.

"Mr. Minister, I will convey this situation to the US government as soon as possible, and if the US government has any instructions, I will definitely get in touch with Mr. Minister as soon as possible. However, in my personal opinion, if China finally wins this war, then the great powers may have to reconsider the positioning of the Far Eastern country's foreign 'relations', just like the changes in Japan's international status after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, and the international status will ultimately depend on national strength. ”

After thinking about it for a moment, Stade decided to convey the relevant details to the US government as soon as possible, and he also decided to remind Zhu Erdian not to hold on to his previous views, China is no longer the China of the past.

Stade said goodbye and left, Zhu Erdian hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to meet with Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang.

Wu Tingfang met Zhu Erdian in the office, and as soon as he met and learned of the other party's intentions, the old man with a red face showed the British minister a memorandum of foreign "handover," which was a letter of opinion on Germany's "handover" to Qingdao, and the content of which surprised Zhu Erdian very much. He originally thought that Germany must have put forward some conditions, such as that Germany would 'hand' Qingdao back to China after joining the Central Powers, but in fact, this memorandum of foreign 'handover' did not mention any conditions at all, obviously, the Germans are very smart, they know how to win the favor of the Chinese.

Wu Tingfang sat behind his desk, smiling, staring intently at the British minister who was frozen on the sofa, and he was very satisfied with the current reaction of the minister.

Since the end of the Qing Dynasty. Jiaozhou Bay and Qingdao were "leased" to Germany in 1898, and Germany also took Qingdao as a base to include the whole of Shandong in the German sphere of influence.

But now, the situation is different, and the German government has actually offered to lease Jiaozhou Bay. If this matter can be carried out smoothly, not only can the entire sovereignty of Shandong be immediately recovered, but also the opportunity to lobby other countries to abolish the unequal treaties between China and foreign countries as soon as possible.

As a politician who had already had the heart to "agitate" and bravely retreated, Wu Tingfang was glad that the German minister had put forward the proposal of "handing over" Qingdao before he went to the wilderness, and he decided to strike while the iron was hot and let himself personally preside over the matter.

Therefore, when the German Minister to China, Rex, handed over the memorandum of "handover" to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Jiaozhou Bay and Qingdao, Wu Tingfang personally presented this memorandum of "handover" to the president as soon as possible.

The reaction of the British minister was not as unexpected as Wu Tingfang expected, and it was true that the decision of the German government was sudden. This will obviously further complicate the situation in the Far East, and if Germany 'handes' the Jiaozhou Bay lease back to China, what will other countries do? Weihaiwei is now a British leased land, and the existence of the Weihaiwei leased land is to monitor the German leased land of Jiaozhou Bay, if the German military power of the Jiaozhou Bay leased area disappears, then what excuse does the British government have to rely on Weihaiwei? Since the German government can 'hand' over Jiaozhou Bay in advance, why can't the British government 'hand' over Weihaiwei in advance? Isn't Britain a civilized country?

"Mr. Wu, do you know why the German government suddenly made the decision to 'hand' over Jiaozhou Bay?"

Zhu Erdian stood up and asked Wu Tingfang.

"This may have something to do with the policy adjustment of the German government, the current situation in Europe is tense, the German naval forces are too scattered, maybe the German government wants to 'pump' the naval forces in the Far East back to Germany."

Wu Tingfang did not hide it clumsily, and made a serious analysis, but this truth was not said by the German minister, but analyzed by Mr. President, and the German excuse was to "strengthen the friendship between the two countries", but for the president, any change in international relations is because of the change of interests, and Wu Tingfang deeply agreed with this, so at this time he quoted the president's point of view.

Listening to Wu Tingfang's words, Zhu Erdian was a little surprised, he was surprised by the calmness of the Chinese, obviously, the Chinese will not believe that the German government fǔ 'handed over' Jiaozhou Bay for what "international friendship", this overly realistic view is obviously an important condition for the rise of a nation and a country, and now, the Chinese obviously have such conditions.

"If it is convenient, I would like to ask Mr. Wu to take me to meet with the President of your country, and I would like to express my British views on the current international issues." Jurdian quickly made a decision.

"I'm afraid not today. Because at noon, Mr. President had already decided to entertain the student representatives from the Beijing-Tianjin area at the Presidential Palace, and he told me clearly that he would not meet any foreign guests before today. I hope that Mr. Minister will be considerate. Wu Tingfang politely refused the British minister's request.

"Entertaining student representatives?"

Zhu Erdian immediately remembered the young students he had seen on the road, and considering the consistent style of the president, Zhu Erdian believed that this was not just a carnival, and as for what the president wanted to do, it was not something he could guess.