"Dada-da-da..."

On the stone streets of Yanjing City, the carriage of the German Legation was speeding in the direction of the Presidential Palace, and in the carriage of the carriage, the German Minister Marzan was frowning.

Just half an hour earlier, an official from the presidential palace had just made a phone call to the legation, claiming that Yan Guang had asked for an urgent meeting with Marzan.

What was it that made Yan Guang so anxious to see him? Marzan would know if he didn't guess.

"The Sarajevo Affair..."

It was a sunny day on the morning of June 28, and it happened to be a Sunday.

On this day, the Crown Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz. Archduke Fernandi brought his wife Sofia to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, for a special visit, where he wanted to give his wife royal honors that she did not get in Vienna and to provoke neighboring Serbia.

But Franz. Fernandi seems to have forgotten that Sarajevo was captured from Serbia by Austria-Hungary many years ago, and hatred of Austria-Hungary was rife in the city.

Not to mention that Austria-Hungary, with the support of Kaiser Wilhelm II, is also preparing to hold large-scale military exercises in Sarajevo, Bosnia, near the Serbian border. The date was chosen on June 28, the day to commemorate the Turkish conquest of Serbia (June 28, 1386). The exercise took Serbia as an imaginary enemy, and two corps were dispatched. Fernandi would bring his wife here because of the exercises.

This provocative action by Austria-Hungary greatly angered the Serbian patriots, and the "Black Hand" and the local Bosnian secret nationalist group "Young Bosnia" drew up a plan to assassinate Ferdinand.

The Serbian political axe had already discovered the assassination of Ferdinand and opposed it, fearing that the incident might lead to terrible consequences, because Serbia could not resist the Austro-Hungarian attack, and Russia had not yet completed the reorganization of the army, and it was impossible to give Serbia strong assistance. The Serbian political axe tried to prevent the Black Hand members from leaving the country, but the border guards linked to the Black Hand allowed them to cross the border into Bosnia without any problems. The Serbian political axe warned Austria-Hungary through its own minister to Austria-Hungary that Ferdinand's life would be in danger if he went to Bosnia, but the Austro-Hungarian political axe ignored this warning.

And then...

In the early morning of June 28, when Franz. By the time Fernandi and his wife drove into Sarajevo in an open-top car, the Young Bosnian group and the Black Hand had already set up three groups of men in ambush in the city.

The first group of men did not start when the convoy crossed the Chumurya Bridge over the Milyatska River in the city center and entered the Appel pier, because a policeman happened to be standing in front of him.

Fortunately, a second assassin was launched a short time later, named Zabrinovich, who suddenly burst out of the crowd and threw a bomb at Franz. Fernandi was riding in the convertible, but unfortunately the bomb was bounced back by the canopy of the convertible, and the explosion only injured the entourage of the third car.

This one was stupid enough to assassinate Franz with a bomb instead of a grenade. Fernandi's guy, of course, was arrested by the police around him later.

And the object of assassination, Franz. Archduke Fernandi got out of the car, pretended to be calm, inspected the scene, glanced at Chabrinovich, who was caught by the guards, and then boarded the car and waved his hand: "Gentlemen, this man is crazy, let's go as planned." ”

Although the assassination had just taken place, Franz . . . Fernandi didn't end his trip.

After the assassination, the convoy quickly drove into the town hall, where the Ferdinands attended the welcoming ceremony and then took a short break and drove to the hospital to see the wounded entourage.

It turns out that this horn Franz. Fernandi's guy is indeed a two-hundred-and-five.

After so much had happened, he still dared to go to the hospital in his unprotected convertible.

Then, on the way to the hospital, the one called Gavriroh? The Serbian youth of Princip completely detonated the First World War, which killed tens of millions of people, with one bullet, and sent another bullet to Franz. Fernandi's wife, Sophia, accompanied him on the road...

Something like this happened, the crown prince of Austria-Hungary was actually assassinated by a Serb, and the matter was not so easy to solve. What's more, Austria-Hungary has always been eyeing Serbia, and Kaiser Wilhelm II is a little impatient for this war that has been preparing for decades...

――――――――――

"I thought it wouldn't start until at least 1920, but I didn't expect the war to come so quickly." Sitting in the carriage, Marzan smiled wryly, but then he thought about the secret agreement he had signed with Yan Guang only a few months ago. "It seems that this young man earned it this time, not only the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay has to be repaid, but even the five million pounds loan..."

According to the agreement between Yan Guang and the Germans, ten million pounds of German equipment, of which five million pounds were paid in cash, and the other five million pounds were loans from Deutsch-Hua Bank. Of course, the cash does not need to be explained, and the loan is repaid little by little over the years.

But since war is likely to break out now, the matter of repayment will naturally be...

If Yan Guang is more ruthless, it will not only be a matter of loans, but even the compensation that needs to be repaid...

You must know that of the 450 million taels in Gengzi's indemnity, the Russians accounted for 28.97% of them because they contributed the most, equivalent to more than 130.37 million taels. But the Germans contributed a lot of money, accounting for 20.02% of the total reparations, which is the second largest, almost 90 million taels, and Italy's 5.91%, which is also more than 26 million...

However, Marzan was not worried about Yan Guang's ruthlessness, because the German Empire was a very powerful empire, and Marzan was very confident in his country, and did not think that the Confederates would lose the war with the Entente.

Obviously, in this war, no matter which one China offends, if he presses the wrong target, he will get the other party's "autumn reckoning." ”

He thinks that Yan Guang is a smart person and will not do such an unwise thing.

Unless...

He knew the outcome before the war even began...

――――――――――

Although the distance between the presidential palace and the legation is not close, it is definitely not far, so it didn't take long for Marzan's carriage to enter the National Community Avenue.

"Mr. Minister, the President is already waiting for you in his office."

At the entrance of the presidential palace, Yue Chang, who was dressed in a straight black military palace, said softly.

Malzan nodded.

"Okay, please take me in."

When Malzan walked into the presidential palace, he found that the people in this building, whether civilian or military, were in a panic, which had to make Malzan smile bitterly in his heart.

"I didn't expect that an assassination incident in Europe would affect the Far East."

Despite thinking so, Marzan still followed Yue Chang to Yan Guang's presidential office.

When Malzan walked into the office, Yan Guang was holding an English newspaper there looking at the latest news, and when he saw Malzan coming in, Yan Guang hurriedly put the newspaper aside and said.

"Mr. Minister, here you are."

Malzan nodded.

"As soon as I got your call, I rushed over."

After Marzan was seated, Yan Guang pointed to the English newspaper on the table.

"Mr. Minister, you should know why I'm looking for you, right?"

Malzan didn't pretend to be stupid, and directly tapped the English newspaper with his finger.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's probably for this."

Where Malzan points out is the front-page headline of today's newspaper about the Austro-Constitutional Crown Prince Franz. News of Fernandi's killing.

It's not just the newspaper Yan Guang is holding in his hand, but today, I'm afraid the front page headline of all slightly influential newspapers will be this news.

Because, it was the crown prince and grand duke of Austria-Hungary who were assassinated, and behind Austria-Hungary, stood the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the entire Central Powers. Again, behind Serbia stood Tsarist Russia and the Entente as a whole ...

As long as one of these things is not handled well, the glory that Europe has worked hard for hundreds of years will be ruined.

"Now that Mr. Minister knows what I'm going to say, the treaty we signed should be valid, right?"

Marzan nodded helplessly.

"Of course it works," Malzan said. But, Mr. President, how can you be sure that war will break out? ”

Hearing Malzan's words, Yan Guang was also stunned, because he didn't know how to explain this problem? It can't be said that it's because the polio patient in Germany wants to fight, right?

In the end, I had to reluctantly say.

"Because of the ambition of His Majesty the Kaiser of your country..."

The dragon god was above, and when he said this, Yan Guang already had a disgusting feeling.

Malzan seemed to see something from Grimlight's face, but he didn't seem to see anything, so after just staring at it for a moment, Malzan diverted the subject.

"Speaking of which, Mr. President has arranged a good move, in Shandong..."

Although Marzan believed that Yan Guang would not use force against the Germans in Shandong, it was impossible for the Germans not to investigate the squadron in Shandong. So under Yan Guang's deliberate exposure, the Germans soon learned some of the information.

Both of them are smart people, and naturally they all know how much they covet the rights and interests of the Germans on the Shandong Peninsula, and at this time, Yan Guang's army in Shandong seems to be...

In Yan Guang's office, the two of them talked about some details, and finally spent a few hours finally finalizing most of the things.

But just as Marzan turned around and was about to leave, Yan Guang said to him.

"Mr. Minister, if war breaks out and your troops in Tsingtao are unable to return to Germany, I am willing to guarantee the safety of your [***] and the expatriates as long as the soldiers of your country are willing to lay down their arms..."

Hearing Yan Guang say this, Marzan's figure paused, but in the end, he still said.

"For the honor of His Majesty the Kaiser, I believe that our soldiers are willing to fight to the death..."

This sentence officially said that before the start of the Qingdao War, Kaiser Wilhelm II attacked the commander of the Qingdao fortress, Meyer. What Valdike said...

"Be sure to defend the Qingdao Fortress and fight to the last man!"

――――――――――

Just when Yan Guang urgently met with Marzan, representatives of Britain, France, Russia, and other countries also gathered together to discuss the war against the Central Powers.

The crown prince of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by the Serbs ...

None of the delegates here are stupid, and of course they know what this means. Since peace can no longer be maintained, war is the only issue at the moment.

Of course, in addition to the assignment of tasks among the Entente countries, the division of post-war interests was also within the scope of the negotiations between the countries.

Among them, the partition of Britain, France, Russia, and other countries is not mentioned for the time being, but the focus is on those German islands in the Taiping and all the rights and interests in Shandong, China.

For the former, representatives of Britain, France and other countries naturally agreed without hesitation, but for the latter ...

"Although Jiaozhou Bay is now a German colony, if it is accepted by the Ben, I am afraid it will cause a backlash from the Chinese..."

If China were still the same China as it was, perhaps the representatives of Britain, France, and other countries would not have hesitated so much. However, in the war against Yuan, the performance of the then National Socialist Army and the current National Defense Force has been reflected through the observers of various countries in the Beiyang Army.

With regard to the strength of the Wehrmacht, observers from all countries, including observers, believe that it will not be easy to take down the squadron without a full-scale war.

However, at this time, the representative of Yue Ben has always insisted, for himself, although the German colonies in the Pacific Ocean cannot be said to be tasteless and a pity to abandon, but if compared with the Shandong Peninsula, it is really chicken ribs...

The representatives of various countries were also a little impatient with the entangled by the representative of Yue, and after asking each other for instructions at home, the representatives of the various countries finally told Yue that as long as they could take Jiaozhou Bay from the Germans and hold him in the hands of the Chinese, then the great powers would naturally stand up and support him, but if he could neither take it nor defend it...

The imperialist countries have always stood only on the side of the strong.

At present, although China is stronger, it is impossible to defeat China without the power to fight back.

Seeing that the representatives of various countries nodded, the representatives of this country only had joy in their hearts, where did they care about what they said later?

At present, although the power of the military is not as great as that of later generations, the momentum of its rise has skyrocketed, especially the power of those fanatical soldiers...

In such a situation, although the observers in China have already made a more rational analysis, how can the fanatical soldiers in China listen to it?

Soon, the countries of the Entente have already completed the preliminary division of the most post-war interests, as for more detailed? It's going to be a war.

――――――――――

Out of consideration for their allies and to avoid a backlash from China, several countries of the Entente did not inform China of the contents of the agreement.

However, China quickly obtained the information from the Germans―――――― although even without it, Yan Guang knew the details.

Yan Guang, of course, understood why the Germans sent this information to him, which was nothing more than to lower his sense of the Entente.

However, after receiving the information, although Yan Guang expressed his gratitude to the Germans, he did not make any other moves, which also made the Germans feel a little disappointed.

While the Germans were still disappointed there, Yan Guang was still preparing for war.

Three months of ammunition reserves and one month's artillery reserves were enough for the Wehrmacht to fight a high-intensity war on the Shandong Peninsula.

In addition to the Army, there are ...

"Be careful, be careful!!"

In a large purpose-built airport on the outskirts of Jinan, an air force officer with the rank of captain shouted loudly. Next to him, ground staff at more than 30 airports were carefully carrying several aerial bombs marked as "highly dangerous" and even painted with a black skull burning in flames on the body of the bomb.

They were so careless, because in the past test, because of the negligence of the ground staff, the result was an unbearable high price...

At that time, although it was blocked because of a confidential relationship, there were not a few people who had seen it with their own eyes, and two of the more than 30 people had experienced it personally.

Therefore, when carrying this kind of bomb, they must not be careless.

"No, I remember that this kind of bomb has always been placed in Sichuan? Why was it suddenly transported to Jinan? ”

After tense nerves and sending these aerial bombs, which are dozens of times more dangerous than ordinary aerial bombs, into the ammunition depot, a ground crew member who looked like a squad leader asked the superior beside him.

The platoon commander first leaned against the wall to take a breath, and then said to his subordinates beside him.

"We're done with work, let's go outside and smoke a cigarette first, and talk while smoking..."

The subordinates warmly embraced his decision, so after closing the door of the ammunition depot, the group came to the specially opened smoking area of the airport―――――― in the airport, not only the organic depot and ammunition depot, but also the fuel depot.

So in the end, the Air Force people opened up a special smoking area at the airport.

After arriving at the smoking area, the platoon leader had just sat in a seat, and a young man on the side had already taken out a cigarette and lit it for the platoon leader.

The platoon commander was naturally quite satisfied with his subordinates' actions, so after just pretending for a while, the platoon commander said to his subordinates on the side.

"Actually, it's easy to figure it out. If you think about it, there is no National Social Army, Beiyang Army or the like in China now, only the National Defense Force is left in such an establishment sequence, so what is the purpose of the president transferring so many troops to Shandong, and even bringing all that thing to Shandong? ”

As he spoke, the platoon commander glanced meaningfully in the direction of Qingdao.

Those ground crews didn't understand what he meant, but after thinking about it for a while, their faces changed drastically.

"Head, what are you talking about?"

The platoon commander looked at the faces of his subordinates and said with satisfaction.

"That's right, that's what you think..."

"But—" A ground attendant shuddered. That's the Germans..."

After experiencing the two Opium Wars, the First Sino-Japanese War, Gengzi and other incidents, in China, whether it is the common people, the soldiers, and even the upper echelons of the political axe, there are many people who talk about the change of "sheep", but this cannot be changed in a short period of time.

However, looking at the appearance of his subordinates, the platoon commander's face changed and patted his head with his hand.

"Look at your unproductive appearance."

With that, the platoon commander pointed to the west again.

"Haven't you heard what just happened in the west?"

After listening to the platoon commander's words, the vast majority of people looked very dazed, and occasionally a few people reacted quickly, and they couldn't figure out what happened in Europe and our China.

Looking at their appearance, the platoon commander was simply heartbroken.

"You pig heads, don't you want to think about it? When the foreigners are at war with each other, they will definitely not have the time to take care of us, and by that time, it will not be easy for us to take the German leased land in Shandong? ”

However, seeing the platoon commander's excited look, a ground crew hesitated.

"But what if the foreigners are done and they come back to us to settle accounts?"

Hearing him say this, the other ground crews also nodded.

"Yes, what if people finish the war and we do so many things while they are fighting, what if we settle accounts with us when the time comes?"

However, hearing them say this, the platoon commander patted his chest and said.

"Don't worry, this battle of foreigners will definitely not be finished in three or five years, and after three or five years, even if the foreigners come back to settle accounts with us, what can we do?"

"This ......... Head, how did you know that the battle of foreigners would take three or five years? ”

Everyone else looked at the platoon commander in unison.

Looking at them like this, the platoon commander was embarrassed to say that he actually heard from a colonel above, and finally knew that he was annoyed and angry.

"I'll ask you, if the president also decides to fight, do you dare to go up?"

"If that's what the president meant, don't say it's with the Germans, it's with the British?!"

"That's right!"

Gathered around the table, these ground crews all patted their chests and said loudly.

Some of the ground crews here are from the original National Social Army, some were recruited later, and even a few are from Beiyang. However, since Yan Guang came to power, he has not treated anyone badly.

In particular, the policy of reducing or reducing agricultural taxes, although because of the reduction or exemption of agricultural taxes, the financial revenue of the political axe has been reduced by almost more than 80 million yuan, which has made the political axe nervous and tense in terms of finance, and now almost all of them are relying on Yan Guang's personal income to subsidize.

However, there will be gains and losses, and although the political axe has lost more than 80 million yuan in finance and taxes, most of the people in the country have survived because of these more than 80 million yuan. Although Yan Guang lost more than 80 million, he finally won the hearts of the people...

These, but not money can measure...

(To be continued)