So say the loyalists. Its intention is very clear, that is, to urge Zhao Bei to make up his mind and join the Allied bloc. Share some of the military pressure for the Allied bloc.

If the main purpose of Germany's courting of China a few years ago was to eventually win over the United States, then now, as far as the German government is concerned, whether the United States is willing to form an alliance with Germany or not, as long as China is willing to form an alliance with Germany, then Germany's strategic goal has been achieved, at least partially. Because the current China is no longer the China of the past. Now this. The populous countries of the Far East have at least the qualities of a "client state" and can be directly exploited by the same small states as the Balkans.

As long as China joins the Allied bloc, the strategic pattern in the Far East will change, and Germany will gain a relatively stable strategic foothold in the Far East. Moreover, due to the strong strength of China's current 6th Army, this strategic foothold can be supported for a long time, which is enough to contain the Far Eastern forces of the Entente bloc.

According to the relevant strategic plan previously drawn up by the German Ministry of Affairs, in the event of a war between Germany and the Entente powers, Germany would have to carry out a "policy of withdrawal" in view of the fact that Germany's strength in the Far East was too weak. "Withdraw its Far East 6 naval forces to Europe or Africa, try to avoid unnecessary losses, and wait for Germany to defeat the Entente and regain its Far Eastern interests.

But this strategic plan was formulated on the premise that Germany had no strategic allies in the Far East, but now. With the growing relationship between China and Germany, especially the admiration for Germany shown by this "mad president", German strategists have seen hope that the previous "conservative strategy" will be changed.

If China were to join the Allied bloc, Germany would no longer have to worry about the weakness of the Allies in the Far East. China's 6 will be an important piece on the strategic chessboard of the Allies, and although this army may not be able to defeat Britain's Far East ally, Japan, as long as this large army exists in the vast territory of the Far East, then Germany will have ample strategic space to implement its global strategy.

Imagine that. After China formally signed the Treaty of Alliance with Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary. What kind of changes will take place in the strategic landscape of the Far East?

With the protection of China's 6th Army, the German Navy will further strengthen its ability to operate in the Far East, the strength of the German Navy is far inferior to the British Navy, and the purpose of the German Navy is not to have a face-to-face fleet decisive battle with the British Navy, because that strategy is not realistic, and the German Navy cannot rely on the current strength to protect Germany's sea transportation lines, so once the war with Britain begins. The German Navy's best strategy was not to seek an opportunity to engage in a one-on-one confrontation with the British Royal Fleet. Instead, they will find a way to eat the main force of the British Navy by fighting more and fighting less, but the implementation of this strategy must have a premise, that is, the British Navy must disperse its forces.

The best strategy to force the British Navy to disperse its forces was to take the initiative and cut off the British sea transport lines, which was an important part of the German Navy's maritime strategy, in order to implement this strategy. The German Navy not only built assault ships, but also made a bold fumbling with submarine tactics.

Britain was a colonial power with colonies all over the world, and because of this, the British fleet had too many transport lines to protect if a detachment of the German Navy could be based in the Far East and Africa. Then, the Indian Ocean and Pacific routes will be completely exposed to the guns of the German fleet, and if the British Navy does not want to lose the transportation lines connecting Asia and even the United States, it must separate more warships in the Far East to monitor the German fleet, and in this way, in fact, it will change the naval military power of Europe, and only in this way will the German Navy find an opportunity to eat the British home fleet one bite at a time.

The best naval base in the Far East is only China, a country whose long coastline is full of harbors and estuaries where warships can hide, and which is a natural hideaway for German naval raiders.

If China and Germany form a military alliance, then Germany will send more attack ships to China, hide in those large and small ports under the protection of China's Sixth Army, and use China's rich coal resources to ensure the logistical supply of attack ships, and then make frequent sorties and be active in the Pacific, so that it will be active. Malaya, Singapore, Australia, and even India, Burma, and Ceylon in the Indian Ocean were the prey of the Germans' guns, and, with the right tactical arrangements, the German detachments in Asia could also join forces with the German detachments in Africa to blockade the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, which was vital to Britain.

Considering the weak combat effectiveness of the local black servant troops in the African colonies, the staff of the German Sixth Army even put forward a bold strategic idea, that is, to transfer 200,000 squadrons to the German East African colonies in Africa. If necessary. Germany intended to use this force to sweep through the British colonies in East Africa, all the way north. Across British Uganda and British Sudan, an expedition directly from 6 places to Egypt! The Germans even gave the imaginary Eastern army the name "Far Eastern Afrika Korps." ”

If this strategy is implemented, it is conceivable that the pro-German ruling clique of the Ottoman Empire, encouraged by the brilliant military victory of the Central Powers, will make what choice the pro-German ruling group of the Ottoman Empire will make, and at that time, the victory of the League in the Middle East may not only be a dream of the German Chief of General Staff.

What a beautiful strategic picture, but to draw this picture. It is not enough to have a good painter, you also need a paintbrush and a blank sheet of paper, for German strategists, China is that blank paper, and now, the Germans can't help but jump out and take this blank paper, and. The Germans also offered a price for this, and that was two battleships.

For two battleships. Moreover, it was the former Dan who was outdated at the time of the verbal criticism and joined the bloc of fellow countries, risking the risk of gathering worries with the Entente for the adventures of the German strategists, this, this, the joke is not so open, and the speculation is not so speculative.

As a time-traveler through history. Zhao Bei was well aware of the contrast between the forces of the Allies and the Entente. The overall strength of the Central Powers was inferior to that of the Entente, and that Italy was a traitor to the Allied bloc, so, in his opinion, in the coming all-out military conflict between Europe and the North, the Allies would still be defeated as they were historically. After all. At present, China's strength is still very weak, not enough to fundamentally affect the world pattern, even if it joins the German side, it is impossible to change the fate of the defeat of the Allies, although Zhao Bei has always been willing to engage in risky speculation in international politics, but this kind of speculation to gamble on the fortunes of the country must still think twice.

There are lessons to be learned from the past. Of course, for people of this era, this. "A lesson from the past. Not yet raw. In the plane of time and space that Zhao Bei is familiar with, the Ottoman Empire is on the wrong thief ship, was pulled into the water by Germany, and finally completely disintegrated the empire in the First World War, if it were not for the drastic changes in the world situation, and the dedication of a group of patriots, the Ottoman Empire would probably be divided by Britain, France and Greece. Then, the later modern Turkish state would not have been established.

What makes people feel is that the incense bait that Germany used to pull the Ottoman Empire into the water in World War I was also a warship, a German ** ship, a group of German ** officers and sailors put on the Ottoman ** uniform, and turned into the Ottoman Empire's navy, and then carried the Ottoman flag to attack the Allied ships on the high seas. Eventually, the Ottoman Empire became an enemy of the Entente, and the ancient empire collapsed after the war and disappeared into history.

Now, the Germans are actually repeating their "old plan" and want to use two old battleships to lure China into the bait, and this abacus is indeed fine, but it is a pity that Zhao Bei came over and would not be so easily fooled. Unless Germany is willing to pack up its "existence fleet" and send it to China in one go, China will not be carried away by just two warships.

Of course, the German Emperor would certainly not agree to give up the German High Seas Fleet, which he had worked so hard to build, to a country with only cruisers. For Zhao Bei, the German fleet has been proven by history to be an ornament, but the German emperor does not understand this truth now, this. The reason is this: if an ocean-going fleet cannot be used to compete for sea supremacy. Then it is the "existence fleet", which is the ornament. It can be used for strategic deterrence, but once a war really breaks out, it will ultimately rely on national strength, not an ocean-going fleet that can only hide in military ports.

The Germans don't understand this. But Zhao Bei understood, so when Colonel Hannagan finished saying that, Zhao Bei just froze his smile on his face and did not reply immediately, on the one hand. He was thinking about how to repay the Germans' "generosity." On the other hand, he was pondering the consequences of rejecting the Germans.

The one now. "Four industrial exhibition plans to scrape. It is not yet done, German technical experts and German funds are still indispensable, although at present, American investment in China is also growing rapidly, but compared with Germany, the United States is still too cautious in dealing with the Entente countries, and the United States cannot go all out to support China's industrialization like Germany, after all, Chinese factories are more like competitors for American businessmen, and for German strategists, the more Chinese factories, the greater China's war potential. As soon as China joins the Allied bloc, then. German power in the Far East will also be stronger.

Knowing this, I also understand Zhao Bei's current mood, on the one hand, he is reluctant to get on the German pirate ship, on the other hand, he is indeed inseparable from the German pirate ship now, now, he is like a person floating on the sea, holding the German pirate ship with one hand, but the other hand is still paddling hard, his eyes are constantly sweeping around the sea, looking at the distant Allied pirate ships, eager for them to sail closer, so that he has more choices, instead of only being on this German pirate ship.

This kind of mood can be understood as hesitation, or it can be understood as hesitation, but on the whole. Zhao Bei's current position is still very clear. That is, at least for the time being, Germany must not be offended, but Germany must not be "disappointed" either. ”

Zhao Bei restrained his smile, boarded the bridge with everyone, and visited absentmindedly, but his mind was still on Hannagan's talent, and he noticed two details:

First, this passage was spoken by Hannagan, not the German governor of Jiaozhou, which may be explained by the fact that the Germans were also cautious and did not intend to directly inquire about Zhao Bei's position through official channels, so it was Hannagan, a retired military officer, because he had a close relationship with the president and was a guest at the presidential palace.

Second, Hannagan's words were not spoken out loud, but whispered in the president's ear, which also seems to indicate the caution of the Germans, who may not have been willing to let the Entente know that Germany was now stepping up its efforts to woo China, because the British were also testing China's position.

Considering these two details, Zhao Bei decided not to reply to the Germans' suggestion for the time being, and remained silent for now, waiting for the Germans to take further action before talking about the matter, dealing with the Germans in a more ingenious way, and at the same time continuing to bargain with the British and French governments through special channels to see if the European powers were willing to give up Japan.

Due to the participation in military exercises, "Wittesbach. Zhao Gu's visit did not last long, and when the battleship sounded its whistle, he went to the officers' conference room with the German governor of Jiaozhou to observe the military exercises.