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Port of Dalian, China.

With the development of China's shipbuilding industry, Dalian has become the largest shipbuilding base in Asia. In the southern part of the Dalian port area, on the deep-water coast, China's second shipyard is located here. This is a large state-owned enterprise, including foreign technical and engineering personnel, with a total of 50,000 employees, mainly responsible for the manufacture of large warships.

From the air, a straight and wide main road is built along the coast, dividing the factory area of China's No. 1 shipyard into two parts: near the coast is the shipbuilding area and maintenance area, around which workers are busy around the slipway and dock; The part of the interior is a manufacturing area, and there are many kinds of factories in between. At the end of the main road is a viewing tower built on a reef. From here, you can not only overlook the entire factory, but also have a panoramic view of Dalian Port.

The sun is bright and soft, and seagulls fly and set in the sky from time to time. When Liang Shiyi, deputy chief of foreign affairs, rushed to the observation tower to report the assassination of Sarajevo to Song Xiaofei, he was inspecting China's No. 2 shipyard and stood on the observation tower, looking at the blue sea and blue sky outside the port of Dalian.

Liang Shiyi walked in a hurry, panting and said: "According to the report of the Chinese ambassador to Vienna, Zeng Guangjun, Archduke Ferdinand survived the assassination in Sarajevo. ”

Song Xiaofei frowned and said, "How can this be...... Has the specific situation been clarified? ”

Liang Shiyi didn't know why Song Xiaofei was so interested in Archduke Ferdinand's death, but Zeng Guangjun's report was very detailed, and he replied to Song Xiaofei: "At that time, the assassin fired two shots at Ferdinand's car. The windows were shattered, because the car Ferdinand chose was a joint venture between China and the United States, and the windows were made of double-layer thickened glass. The light light changes its original direction when it is refracted through two layers of glass. His pistol and long-range rifle fire had an effect, and the firearms outside the car could not be aimed at the target inside the car, and both shots did not hit the Grand Duke, but his wife was not spared. ”

"Double windows?" Song Xiaofei said with a smile: "It turned out that the double windows of the sedan saved Ferdinand's life." ”

The double-layer windows were Xi Muyan's idea, which was only to increase the safety of a high-end sedan, but she did not expect to change the outcome of the Sarajevo incident. Song Xiaofei fell into deep thought, before. In many things, he was able to have the advantage of foresight, at this time. He did not expect that the "butterfly effect" had greatly changed the "history" as he knew it, for example, the Habsburgs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had a series of dooms in a matter of years. Male members of the family were killed one after another. Either he died unexpectedly, or he couldn't afford to fall ill, and only the only remaining Archduke Ferdinand had been in the army since he was a child, and he had great ambitions and could succeed to the throne. If Ferdinand had been assassinated this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have collapsed, as has been the case in history. Now Archduke Ferdinand is not dead, and. The resourceful Chief of the German General Staff, Schlieffen, is also not dead before a world war, the outcome of the future war. What will happen?

History, in the final analysis, is not at all created by the "masses of the people" fabricated by great men, and often those great men will decide the fate of tens of millions of people with a wave of their hands. Song Xiaofei could not predict the outcome of the war at this time, and he set his sights on the shipbuilding area of the shipyard, where the skeletons of several giant warships had been laid. He asked Liu Buyun, the chief of the navy standing behind him: "How is the frigate expansion plan going?" ”

Liu Buyun said with a smile: "President, there are currently nine 15,000-ton ships completed, and three 20,000-ton ships are under construction, and it is estimated that they will be completed early next year." ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and said, "Very good." Sure enough, our country has institutional advantages and can concentrate on doing great things. ”

According to the expansion plan of the Chinese Navy, by 1909 the Chinese Navy would add 10 battleships, 10 light cruisers and 5 destroyers. Although China is now a big country, it is still necessary to tighten the belt of the pants to build so many warships at once. Since China does not plan to participate in World War I, Liu Buyun does not quite understand why China is building so many frigates. Liu Buyun said: "I have a question, I don't know whether to ask it or not? ”

Song Xiaofei said: "But it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

Liu Buyun said: "We don't participate in the war, why do we have to expand the giant ship on such a large scale? ”

Song Xiaofei said with a smile: "Don't worry, there will be a world war soon, and we in China will be forced to join the battle at that time!" China is about to have a lot of money, and with these frigates, we can make money with peace of mind. If you want to make money in the war, in addition to being able to get orders back, you must also have the ability to protect the safety of merchant ships. ”

Liang Shiyi said: "The president was right. I found out that after China established the Greater Tibet Region, Britain roped in France and the United States, lifted the arms blockade against Japan, and sold 20 warships to Japan. It seems that they want to support Japan against China. In addition, Britain, France, and the United States have exempted Tsarist Russia from war reparations. In the future, Tsarist Russia will certainly also be a great enemy of China. We have annexed so many lands in the Far East, and the Slavs, who are naturally greedy for land, will not stop there. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Tsarist Russia is now contained by Germany, and it has no ability to turn the other cheek with China. But Japan, we need to pay extra attention. Since China and Germany allied to carve up Tsarist Russia, Britain and the United States have secretly supported Japan, and Britain, the United States, and France intervened together to put pressure on China to withdraw from Japan. We had no choice but to transfer Feng Guozhang's troops to Moscow. I didn't expect to raise a tiger. How is the strength of the Japanese now? ”

Liu Buyun said: "In the past three years, the Japanese have tightened their belts, bought a lot of British and French warships, and formed the Maritime Self-Defense Force. The Army Self-Defense Forces also reached 300,000 people. Fortunately, we split Japan and divided it into three, and Japan's economy is now at the second-rate level in Asia, and I believe that we will not dare to openly confront China for the time being. To do otherwise is to bring about your own destruction. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "Emperor Taisho of Japan is sick and has an extreme personality. In addition, the Japanese soldiers are not afraid of death, so we have to guard against it. However, if Japan dares to act rashly, China will do whatever it takes to truly destroy Japan, a small country, and put it under the jurisdiction of Taiwan Province, so that there will be no future troubles! ”

In 1908, the world war broke out quickly and ahead of schedule. is faster than Song Xiaofei imagined, which is related to the vigorous planning and promotion of Archduke Ferdinand.

More than a week after the assassination in Sarajevo, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Ministry was practically silent. Although Austria-Hungary was one of the five great powers of Europe. But internally, it was a completely loose union, with three different political systems: the Hungarian government, the Austrian government, and the central government, and Hungary and Austria also had their own parliaments, and not every Austro-Hungarian political faction wanted war.

Even the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Francis. Joseph's chamberlain, the Earl of Parr, said that his monarch ignored any hint that he was counting on a war, and that the emperor himself regarded it as just another tragic event. It was a regular occurrence during the emperor's lifetime. For example, the tragedy in Myerlin in 1889, when Crown Prince Rudolph shot and killed his seventeen-year-old mistress, Baroness Feterzela, before committing suicide. He also mentions the assassination of Empress Elizabeth by an anarchist nine years later.

But Archduke Ferdinand's assassination in 1908 did not die, and he was still quite strong. At the behest of Archduke Ferdinand, many Austrian newspapers and other institutions stirred up anti-Serbian sentiment. There were even billboards on the streets of Vienna proclaiming: "All Serbs must perish".

In Vienna, except for Archduke Ferdinand. Austrian Foreign Minister Léopold. Feng. Count Belhidald was also hungry for war. For a long time, he wanted to wait for an opportunity to eliminate Serbia. and the Austrian Chief of Staff Franz. Conrad. Feng. General Baron Herzendorf. A few years earlier, Conrad had instigated Emperor Joseph to fight a preventive war against Serbia, but hit the nail on the head. Together with Archduke Ferdinand, they promoted the Austro-Hungarian war against Serbia.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and his chancellor Teobald. Feng. Bateman. Holwig assured Archduke Ferdinand that Austria-Hungary could count on Germany to be backed by an ally and friend.

Archduke Ferdinand sent General Conrad to meet with the Austrian monarch Joseph and ask him to nod him to the war. But the seventy-six-year-old emperor was still able to control his reason sufficiently, and replied: "If England, France, and Russia all pounce on us." How can we go to war? ”

General Conrad replied: "Germany will be our ally." ”

The cautious monarch looked into General Conrad's eyes with suspicion and asked, "Are you so sure about Germany?" ”

General Conrad handed the Emperor a personal letter from Wilhelm II, addressed to Archduke Ferdinand: "Even if the situation were to the extreme of war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Germany assures that it will side with Austria-Hungary out of its usual loyalty as an ally." ”

Emperor Francis. Joseph read the Kaiser's personal letter, and his sense of peace vanished, and muttered to himself: "Now we cannot turn back, there will be a terrible war." ”

Hungarian Prime Minister Eastervon. Count Tissau was also concerned that the Austro-Hungarian invasion of Serbia would lead to war with Russia. He also had good reason to suspect that, after the annexation of Serbia, Hungary would be relegated to a very small partner of Austria in the dual monarchy. Archduke Ferdinand had previously publicly stated that he advocated the reorganization of the Austro-Hungarian dual empire into a triadic system of Austria, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Belhidot solemnly pledged Serbian independence, and Tissau, deceived by Berhidot, reluctantly agreed to support Austria.

A few minutes before the forty-eight hour deadline expired, a long, dignified man with a flowing white beard appeared at the Austrian Embassy. He was Prime Minister Pacific, Serbia, and he brought his government's reply. For a prime minister, despite the small size of his country, acting as a messenger is certainly undiplomatic convention. When the time came to submit the papers, Pacificz turned to his ministers for help, but since they were all grief-stricken, he was undoubtedly the only one left with the task.

The response of the Government of Serbia was conciliatory and hopeful. Chancellor Pacifics reminded Vienna of its peace-loving attitude during the Balkan Wars. Serbia is ready to officially condemn the actions of those who oppose Austria, but it cannot accept two demands that violate its sovereignty. If Austria is not satisfied, Belgrade proposes to refer to the Hague Tribunal for arbitration.

Kaiser Wilhelm II suggested that Austria should pledge Serbia to Austria-Hungary as a "pledged territory" until it fulfilled its pledges. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov also accepted Serbia's reply and suggested that Serbia negotiate with Vienna.

But Archduke Ferdinand was already heartbroken and determined to destroy Serbia. Before the expiration of the forty-eight hours of the ultimatum, the Austrian troops were directed to mobilize on the Serbian border.

This caused panic on the European continent. Russia informed Austria that an attack on Serbia would provoke an immediate mobilization of Russia. St. Petersburg felt helpless anger. At that time, the tsarist regime was defeated by China in the Sino-Russian war. Then the revolutionary uprising of the Bolsheviks was suppressed with great difficulty, still exhausted. But Britain and France promised to forgive Tsarist Russia from war reparations and to support Russia and Germany in the war. So Tsar Nicholas II decided to take a gamble.

Because of the alliance between Russia and Great Britain and France, the crisis was exacerbated by the British Foreign Secretary. Gray joined in and proposed that Germany, France, Britain, and Italy hold a meeting to mediate the Austrian-Serbian discord, he added. Refusal to agree would lead world opinion to believe that Austria and Germany were deliberately waging a war.

In response, Austria declared war on Serbia. In order for the emperor of Austria-Hungary to sign the declaration of war. Archduke Ferdinand instructed Belhidald to forge a report to his uncle, claiming that Serbian soldiers had opened fire on Austrian troop transports on the Danube, and even worse, Serbian troops had attacked in Temes. A detachment of the Imperial Royal Forces in Kubin.

Following. Belchedore replied to the British. He regretted that he had not been able to consider Gray's suggestion because it had been "overwhelmed by events."

The battle lineup soon included other countries, including Germany, France, Great Britain, Russia, etc., as well as a number of smaller nations. Mene Negro joined the Serbian side against Austria. Turkey, which had long been alarmed by the Russian plot against Constantinople, allied itself with Germany. Italy declared neutrality, claiming that the aggression committed by Austria and Germany had rendered their treaties null and void. Bulgaria soon joined the camp of the Central European powers, and all the European powers and the Balkan countries were finally involved.

German and French fronts. It soon became the main battlefield.

Since the Franco-Prussian War, the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine have been recaptured. It has become a staunch grievance of the French nation. It was driven by this psychological desire that evolved from a strong desire that the French had concentrated all their forces on the German-French border in the south, hoping that one day they would be able to regain lost territory, even to the point of attacking Berlin.

In Schlieffen's famous Schlieffen strategic plan, it was precisely the psychology of the French who were eager to regain lost territory that was deliberately carried out in Alsace. Weaker forces were deployed on the Lorraine front, attracting heavy troops to the north, that is, on the right flank of the German army. Instead, the right flank was outflanked by the heavy forces of the right flank, and it crossed the whole of Belgium from both sides of the Maas, raked the whole territory like a terrible rake, and then followed the entire Belgian border into France, and then down the valley of the Oises River to Paris.

Because the French engineers then built a series of forts centered on four cities along the 150-mile Franco-German border. The southeast begins in the Alps, Switzerland's impregnable barrier, with strong concrete fortresses stretching out from Berfort, Urbinar, Tühl and Verdun. A wide gap was designed between Urbinar and Tur as a huge trap to prepare the enemy for entry, which was then annihilated by crossfire fired from well-covered concrete box bunkers. About twenty miles north of Verdun are Luxembourg, Belgium and the rugged Ardennes Forest.

Faced with this insurmountable bastion, the German Chief of Staff Alfred Brown. Feng. Count Schlieffen devised a strategy to invade France through the vast Belgian plains. Belgium, a small industrialized country, offers an effortless access to railways, roads, rivers and canals, and its border with France is undefended.

Schlieffen was a capable strategist and one of the most well-read men in military history. He took many lessons from the Battle of Cannae, where Hannibal defeated the stronger Romans by encircling the flanks and rearguarding. Schlieffen drew up a similar plan, focusing on Metz, the German city closest to the French border, one hundred and seventy-eight miles from Paris.

With this fortified area as the pivot, the right flank, consisting of seventy-nine divisions, was to enter France through Belgium in a blitzkrieg, followed by a second reserve such as the War Reserve. The smaller left flank, consisting of eight divisions, would remain on the Franco-German border. Like a giant revolving door, the Germans, in this pivotal motion, would sweep all the way to the French coast, encircling Paris from the north, west, and south, and then turning to the east.

It would have been better if the French soldiers had left their fortress of Lorraine. In such a situation, the Germans advancing east would attack the French from behind. The French fortress artillery could only face the Germans, and could not turn west to deal with the Germans attacking from the French side.

Schlieffen's strategy consisted of a 100,000-strong British expeditionary force "fighting in tandem with the French." Considering that the primitive railway system in Russia would cause mobilization at a snail's pace, Schlieffen placed only ten divisions on the Eastern Front to delay the advance of the tsarist forces until the French were overwhelmed.

The French were aware of the Germans' strategy of encirclement on the right flank, and there were even intelligence officers in France who had obtained copies of part of Schlieffen's plan and reported them to the French General Staff. But the French were still reluctant to transfer a single soldier to the northern front to defend, but persistently advanced to Alsace. The French General Staff believed that the more forces the Germans threw on their right flank, the greater. Their forces on the left flank and in the center would be weakened accordingly, and the French could plan a breakthrough in this area. The French strategy was to face the Rhine with its back to the Belgian border. As long as the Germans outflanked the French flanks from afar, the French planned a pincer offensive. Break through the German center and left flank on both sides of the German-fortified Metz area, and take advantage of the victory to cut off the German right flank from its bases, making it impossible to attack.

Based on this strategic concept, the French formulated Plan No. 17: the French 5th Army was all concentrated on the German-French border in the south, and the defense of the ground in the north was to be carried out by 6 Belgian divisions. Later, the French also drew the British into the plan and asked the British Army to assist in the defense of Belgium.

Germany's deployment is a good example of the Schlieffen plan. At the beginning of the war, the Germans deployed only one army group on the Eastern Front, the Eighth Army, to defend against a possible Russian attack, while the other seven armies lined up from north to south on the Western Front: the First Army at the top of the right flank of the German front, east of Liège in Belgium, and the Seventh Army at the end of the left flank in Alsace. The 6th and 7th armies formed the left flank of the German army, numbering sixteen divisions, and they were to shoulder the heavy responsibility of blocking the French attack; The Fourth and Fifth Armies formed the center, with twenty divisions, responsible for the breakthrough of Luxembourg; The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd armies formed the right flank, with a total of 34 divisions, and were planned to pass through Belgium and attack directly into the suburbs of Paris.

So, after the start of the war, the Germans began to attack Belgium, and the French began to attack Alsace. If the routes of both sides were drawn on the map at the same time, it would be like a Tai Chi pattern: the Germans detoured from east to west in the north, while the French advanced from west to east in the south. The key question is that the "Yin and Yang Pisces" at this time are not an even movement, which side will break through the opponent's defense line first, and which side will achieve a decisive victory! (To be continued......)