Cultural relics such as the "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" are still somewhat attractive in the eyes of the public, especially when the country is stable and prosperous, and a considerable part of the people have some spare money in their hands so that they can have some other hobbies.

What's more, after being admitted to the National Museum, the museum is free to enter for the first month, and only after one month will a fee be charged. And the cost is quite low, the price of the ticket is only 1 dime.

So when the museum opened and the news spread that there were many precious cultural relics on display, a large number of local people soon visited the museum, and even cultural relics lovers from some distant areas took a train or ship to Yanjing to visit.

After all, there are a lot of artifacts on display in museums, and the average collector and enthusiast, even if they collect more artifacts, will certainly not be able to compare with a large museum, so it is not very strange to attract these people, especially when the average collector is relatively wealthy... Of course, it's not just these people who are attracted, the so-called prosperous antiques, troubled gold... Now China has some seedlings of prosperity, so the antiques that originally fell sharply in value have also appreciated. Even with them, there are more people who sell antiques to eat.

It's just that the source of antiques is limited after all, so tomb robbers or thieves in general are also active. And now, there is a gang of thieves who have come to the front of the National Museum, ready to step on the spot to see if there is a chance of success.

After all, the so-called National Museum is just a museum, and even if it is well guarded, it is much safer than going to the presidential palace or something. What's more, the so-called strict guards in this era are just more guards at most.

Some of the top thieves are more confident in avoiding these guards.

It's just..."Ding..."

Just as ordinary people were happily lining up to enter the National Museum, a few thieves who had come to step on the spot looked at the Makqin heavy machine gun that shimmered with metallic luster in the bright light, and cold sweat flowed down their foreheads. Around the hundreds of Makqin heavy machine guns, at least one regiment of soldiers surrounded the museum, and inside the museum, officers in black uniforms and pistols on their waists could be seen..."uh..."

Guards of this magnitude were able to reach even the attack of a division.

And looking at the guards in front of him, who were different from ordinary guards, a few thieves who could be regarded as top thieves in the country, could only shake their heads and give up in the end. After all, even the most top-notch thieves can't compete with so many armies.

If you are accidentally discovered during the operation, I am afraid that you can turn yourself into a hornet's nest in a moment or three, especially after discovering that all the glass around the cultural relics is bulletproof..."

―――――――――― the troops of the assistants outside the museum were very deterrent to a group of thieves, this was Yan Guang's original intention, if Yan Guang knew about it, maybe he would be happy.

But the most important thing at the moment is what happened in Russia.

Perhaps the Bolsheviks were very capable of intelligence, so the Bolshevik political axe had just sold a batch of weapons to Kolchak, and the Bolshevik political axe in Moscow already knew about it.

Although many Russian Bolsheviks are very hostile to China because of the occupation of a lot of former Russian land, the relationship between China and Russia has eased a lot now because of the fact that the Entente intervention forces have entered Russian territory, and at the same time, there are also many white troops in the country, and Yan Guang has also sent a lot of second-hand weapons to Moscow's Bolshevik political axe.

Or rather, it's [temporarily] eased a lot... After all, the Russians don't want to fall out with China in the current situation.

Of course, it is difficult to say what will happen when the matter is over, after all, the Russians are also very vindictive.

It's just that Yan Guang won't be afraid of them at that time, after all, after the European War and the Soviet and Russian Civil War, Russia was quite miserable, and its industrial strength only returned to the pre-war level after 29 years.

After learning that the Kokusha Axe had sold a large number of weapons to Kolchak's Temporary Axe, the secret liaison between the two countries once questioned why the Kolchak Temporary Axe was selling weapons to Kolchak's Temporary Axe.

But the answer from the diplomats in charge of contacting Moscow at the time was simple.

"We are the Entente, and supplying weapons to the allies is just a common thing, isn't it? What's more, we have also provided you with a lot of weapons, and it is normal to provide some temporary political axes to General Kolchak now..."Afterwards, the diplomat also proposed that as long as Moscow paid a starting price, the national political axe could also be sold to Moscow, but unfortunately, the current Moscow Bolshevik political axe is poor, plus almost all the gold left by the tsar was left to Kolchak, and not even a little soup was left to Lenin and other Bolsheviks, so Moscow could not afford to buy weapons for the national political axe.

You know, none of the weapons of the national social axe are cheap, and even the cheapest Mauser G98 rifle is a well-known high-quality weapon.

As for credit? Come on, you're not kidding... Faced with the disdainful gaze of the diplomat, the liaison in Moscow quickly retreated in shame.

But..."Actually, I also considered giving the Bolsheviks in Moscow some weapons for free...", the secretary No. 4 peeled the oranges, and then put them into his mouth one by one, Yan Guang said. "After all, that Kolchak is a Kaizi, a weapon can be sold for several times the normal price, as long as Kolchak can continue to buy our weapons, even if it is given away for free in Moscow, it will make a lot of money..."

Sell weapons to two hostile parties, and then make them have to buy their own weapons in order to overwhelm the other... In later generations, those who were engaged in the arms business generally did so.

Although Yan Guang has never been an arms dealer, he has been exposed to some books in later generations.

Although the Bolsheviks in Moscow were a bunch of poor people who didn't even have a dime in their trouser pockets, the problem was that Kolchak was rich. Even if the weapons supplied to Lenin were free, they would still be able to earn several times as much from Kolchak as they would from the arms deal.

What's more, the profit of rifles at this stage is too small, and if you provide the Bolsheviks in Moscow with some planes, tanks and heavy artillery, you don't have to worry about Kolchak not taking a ticket to beg for yourself.

It's just a pity..."Alas, who called us the Entente? Even if you help anyone, you can't help the Bolsheviks in Moscow..."

After eating a whole orange, Yan Guang lamented.

And the secretary No. 4 behind him was overjoyed, after all, the secretary No. 4 was also from a Russian aristocratic family, and the aristocracy was born to be the sworn enemy of the Bolsheviks. So although No. 4 has fallen to the point of being a slave, her natural class antagonism still makes her very hostile to the Bolsheviks, especially since her current appearance is somewhat because she was harmed by those Bolsheviks, so after hearing that Yan Guang would not help those Bolsheviks, No. 4 was really happy.

However, the fact that No. 4 is happy does not mean that Yan Guang is also happy.

Because Yan Guang really wanted to make a fortune on Kolchak, but unfortunately, if the original supply of captured Turkish weapons to the Bolsheviks in Moscow was at least relatively hidden, or still within the bottom line of Britain and the United States, then the large-scale supply of weapons to Lenin was definitely not tolerated by Britain and the United States.

In other words, it is the wrath of the people.

After all, in addition to the Mauser G98 rifle, the 12.7mm caliber Maxim and the 8mm caliber Madsen are almost all standard equipment of the Wehrmacht, such as 40mm grenade launchers and Type 18 submachine guns, which are only equipped by the Wehrmacht.

If it was really to be offered to Lenin on a large scale, it would have been not conspicuous, but blatant.

So in the end, Yan Guang could only dispel the idea of supplying weapons to Kolchak.

"What a pity..."

"yes..."

Hearing Yan Guang say this, Song Dinghan on the side also nodded.

Since the beginning of the European war, in the past four years, in addition to the military expenditure of at least or as high as 50% per year, the annual consumption of materials by the expeditionary force in the Caucasus and other regions is also a large amount.

In the past four years, it has been supported by the 20 million pounds provided by the British, Yan Guang's private funding, and the national bonds issued to the country. So as the Minister of Finance, Song Dinghan really wants to increase his income.

But it's a pity... At the moment, it seems unlikely... Moreover, although China now pursues National Socialism and is not capitalist like Britain and the United States, many National Socialists are as hostile to the Bolsheviks as Britain and the United States. Although the matter of supporting Russia is only known to the top level, many high-level officials actually have an attitude of opposition, after all, they have no good impression of the Bolsheks, like the other elites in the world...―――――――――― since they cannot openly support the Russian Bolsheviks, then the arms exports to Kolchak can only be as small as possible, so as not to destroy Moscow's advantage over the Provisional Political Axe.

After all, what Yan Guang needed was a Bolshevik Russia to attract the firepower of Britain and the United States for himself, not a capitalist Russia. If Russia, led by Kolchak, had taken power, it would not have attracted firepower for itself, but would have gathered fire on itself with Britain and the United States.

Therefore, although he wanted to cry without tears about the lost arms business, Yan Guang could only vent this sadness on the four secretaries.

And it was also during this time, with the help of the officer corps, that Kolchak began to reorganize and train the newly recruited troops.

Because the national government axe provided enough rifles and other weapons, in addition to the more than 50,000 Czech regiments, Kolchak recruited a total of 150,000 soldiers to form a new army.

And because Kolchak had enough gold in his hands, he couldn't afford to raise so many troops.

In fact, although he was fortunate not to be able to export more weapons to Kolchak, Yan Guang found a place where he could continue to make money elsewhere, that is, supplies... Because of the four-year war, the entire Russian industry and agriculture have been damaged in different ways, and now Russia's industrial capacity has seriously declined, such as the annual output of steel, which has dropped from 4.7 million tons in 1914 to 402,000 tons in 1918, in fact, in 19 years, because of the outbreak of the civil war, this figure will drop to 199,000 tons, even less than the level in 1910.

As for agriculture? Due to the loss of a large number of young and middle-aged male surnames in the whole of the European war, the results speak for themselves.

Therefore, although Kolchak raised more than 200,000 troops, it was not an easy task to collect enough food, ammunition, medicine, and winter clothing in the Urals, a place on the periphery of Russia.

Obviously, in the case that Vladivostok has been taken by the national social and political axe, if you want to get these resources, you can only buy them from the hands of Yan Guang―――――― in history, there is a direct Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok for Kolchak to use.

So not long after buying a large number of weapons, Kolchak bought a large number of supplies from China with gold wielding gold, and made a small profit from the national social and political axe, which was a little tight on funds.

At this time, because they learned that Kolchak already had more than 200,000 troops and was training and reorganizing these troops, Lenin and others in Moscow also considered a preemptive strike against Kolchak, after all, only 50,000 Czech regiments composed of Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war under Kolchak were relatively combat-effective, and the remaining 150,000 newly recruited White Army soldiers had almost no combat effectiveness.

However, if you wait a few months, it may not be possible to wait until the training of these White Army recruits is over.

It's just that now in southern Russia and Ukraine and other regions, there are a large number of Allied intervention forces and German intervention forces, and Lenin and others simply cannot spare the strength to deal with Kolchak, so they can only take a defensive position in Moscow and other places.

It was also taking advantage of this opportunity that Kolchak silently accumulated this power.

―――――――――― was when Kolchak was procuring equipment and supplies from China while training the troops he had. On May 27, 1918, the Germans launched their third offensive.

Following the second offensive launched by Ludendorff on 9 April, Ludendorff launched an attack along the "Avenue of the Nobles", which was in fact a diversion attack on the French army, in preparation for the final attack on the British army in Flanders. The forces of the German offensive were the 1st Corps of B. von Mudra and the 7th Corps of Both, with a total of 17 divisions. The Germans led the assault with tanks.

The defence of the sector was the French Sixth Army Corps at Duchena, which included 3 British divisions for a total of 12 divisions. These divisions formed a thin defense in shallow depth along a front of about 40 km. The German offensive reached a sudden break through the French defenses in one fell swoop. By noon, the Germans had crossed the Aisne. By night, the Germans had begun to cross the Weiler River west of Fiem, and by 30 May, the Germans had reached the Marne.

On May 28, Pershing hurriedly dispatched the 2nd Division of the US Army under the command of Major General O. Bundy and the 3rd Division of the US Army under the command of Major General J. T. Dickman to reinforce the French troops. At the same time, the U.S. forces in Cantagany, about 80 kilometers to the southwest, carried out the first offensive of the war. Robert Lieblad commanded the U.S. 1st Division to attack the heavily fortified German observation position of Cantagny, which the U.S. captured on May 28 and 29 and repeatedly repelled fierce German counter-attacks. Although the battle was only a partial combat operation, the experienced troops of the 18th Army Corps, which defeated Huttier, still boosted the morale of the Entente[***].

From May 30 to June 17, the U.S. 2nd and 3rd Divisions overtook the retreating units of the French Sixth Army and attacked the vanguard of the German attack along the Marne. The 3rd Division held the bridge at Chatotieri and resisted the German attack. A counterattack was then launched with the assistance of the assembled French troops, and the Germans were pushed back across the Marne in the area of Jogon.

The 2nd Division took over the defensive position of the French 21st Army between Civo and Bello, west of Chatotierieri. Subsequently, the 2nd Division launched a counterattack with the Marine Brigade as the vanguard. Through six successive attacks, the Germans in the defensive positions of Vau, Brechet and Belolingen were driven out, and the Germans suffered 9,500 casualties and 1,600 prisoners.

The immediate result of the third German attack was an extremely serious depression in the Entente [***] line, with the German salient 48 km wide and more than 32 km deep. Ludendorff decided to take full advantage of the victory he had already achieved to carry out another diversion attack before the planned offensive against Flanders. He chose to carry out a two-pronged siege at Compiègne, with the Eighteenth Army attacking in a southwesterly direction and the Seventh Army attacking in a westerly direction.

From 9 to 13 June, Foch and Petain were ready through the information provided by the German deserters. The French defense was arranged in echelons of depth. French artillery counter-preparations disrupted the offensive of the German XVIII Corps. After making some progress, the Germans were finally stopped by a counterattack by the French and Americans on 11 June. The Seventh Army's attack was soon halted on 12 June. By this time, 25 American divisions had arrived in France, seven of which had been put into battle. The leaders of France and Britain both tried to integrate American troops into their respective armies for a long time, but Pershing resisted.

On 15 and 19 July, Ludendorff reversed his plan to strike an all-out blow at the British in Flanders, and attempted to launch another reserve attack at Champagne to eliminate the strong French defenses in Reims. Bern's 7th Corps was to cross Epernay and go up the Marne and join Mudra's 1st Corps. The 3rd Corps of K. von Emne was to attack Chalons to the south. Foch learned of the German attack through deserters, aerial reconnaissance, and prisoners of war, and was already preparing for a large-scale counterattack. On the night of 14-15 July, the German assault forces were dealt a heavy blow by the anti-preparations of the Entente [***] artillery. The German offensive east of Reims was stopped within hours by the French Fourth Army under the command of H. Guro.

Since the defense west of Reims was neither strong nor deep enough. The German Seventh Army was able to break through and reach the Marne, where about 14 divisions were crossed. Here, the 3rd Division of the US Army implemented a stubborn defense and again stopped the advance of the German troops. Subsequently, the aircraft and artillery of the Entente [***] destroyed the German bridges over the Marne, disrupted the logistics supply of the German army, and thus forced the German army to stop the offensive. Ludendorff admitted that he had been defeated, and he began to prepare for a general retreat from the Suissons, Chatotierieri, and Reims salient in order to shorten the line and facilitate the defense of his greatly weakened forces. In the space of five months, he lost 500,000 people. The losses of the Entente [***] were a little more, but the American [***] team was arriving in France at a rate of 300,000 men per month.

After this battle, the Entente began a counteroffensive.

The Entente offensive was fierce, but more importantly, Germany was gradually beginning to crumble.

By October 6, when the German army was beginning to collapse on the front, Germany's new prime minister, Prince Max of Baden, sent a note to President Wilson. An armistice was called upon on the basis of Wilson's Fourteen Points of Peace. On October 23, the United States expressed President Wilson's firm position in an exchange of notes with Germany that the United States (and the Entente) would not negotiate an armistice agreement with the existing military scholars.

On October 27, 1918, just before his official dismissal, Ludendorff himself submitted his resignation so that the desperate German political axe could meet Wilson's demands. Then Hindenburg remained commander-in-chief of the German army, and the post of Quartermaster General (Chief of the General Staff) of Ludendorff was succeeded by General W. Grener.

From 29 October to 10 November, a revolution broke out in Germany as a result of the activities of the Bolsheviks and triggered by the mutiny of the High Seas Fleet. Germany was full of chaos, riots, and mutinies, and on November 9 a Socialist party took over power and proclaimed the German Republic. On November 10, Kaiser Wilhelm II fled to the Netherlands.

On November 7, the German delegation, led by a civilian, M. Erzberg, began negotiations with Foch on an armistice at Foch's railway car headquarters near Compiègne. The agreement was finally reached at 5 a.m. on November 11, 1918. The terms stipulated that Germany effectively surrendered to the Entente and that German troops must immediately withdraw from the occupied territories and the Alsace-Lorraine region. immediately surrender a large amount of armament (including 5000 artillery pieces and 25000 machine guns) and withdraw from German territory west of the Rhine, where the three bridgeheads on the Rhine were to be occupied by the Entente [***]; All submarines were surrendered, and all surface warships were seized and placed in the custody of the Entente.

By the 11th, the European War, which had been going on for more than four years, that is, the First World War, finally stopped. In this war, the number of victims is in the tens of millions. It was precisely because of the tragedy of this war that Britain and the United States later adopted a policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany, because they no longer wanted to encounter such a tragic war.

And in Yanjing, at a banquet to celebrate victory, diplomats from various countries also celebrated.

Perhaps because the news of the victory was so gratifying, even some countries that originally did not like each other talked to each other with smiles on their faces at the banquet.

"The next step is the formal peace talks, and there is the request to the allies..."At Yan Guang's side, Xu Shichang said slowly. Just don't know what kind of requirements it will be? ”

"It should be based on the Wilson Fourteen in the United States, right?"

On the side, Zhan Tianyou, who had just rushed back not long ago, was a little naïve.

However, hearing his words, Song Dinghan shook his head.

"Not necessarily, this time France is advocating severe punishment of Germany, so the final treaty may be quite severe..."

Hearing Song Dinghan say this, some of the surrounding political axe leaders also nodded, after all, France has suffered heavy losses this time, so it has been demanding severe punishment for Germany. As for the UK? Although Britain itself was not exposed to the war, many British soldiers were killed in the war, so widespread public opinion in Britain still wanted Germany to be punished severely.

British Prime Minister Lloyd's? George supported the punishment of Germany, but the specific measures were lighter than those of France, because Lloyd's? George argued that France, once all the conditions were met, would become a continental superpower and upset the balance of power on the continent, contrary to Britain's traditional policy of maintaining a balanced Europe.

You know, in Europe, the British have played a balancing act for hundreds of years.

And Lloyd's? George vs. U.S. President Woodrow? Wilson's policy of "national self-determination" was apprehensive because Britain had a large overseas colony, and if all the nations were self-determined, Britain would not need to play any further, but he was in favor of a secret treaty to blockade the German coastline.

On this point, China's position is completely different from that of Britain, France, and the United States.

Because in the past, relations between China and Germany were quite good, and the expeditionary force had only encountered a few regiments of German troops on the battlefield in Armenia. In addition, the losses of this expeditionary force were quite small, and the benefits that China gained in this war were unimaginably large, so both the people and the political axe still had a deep affection for Germany in China.

Within the political axe, many high-ranking people even felt that it was a good idea to agree with Wilson's Fourteen Points of Peace, after all, even now, there are quite a few Germans who are serving the national political axe.

Just when Xu Shichang, Song Dinghan and others opened their mouths to discuss the treaty that Britain and the United States might propose to Germany, Yan Guang, who had not spoken, suddenly sneered, and then said softly in an imperceptible voice.

"Peace Fourteen? In the end, the conditions proposed by Britain and the United States will definitely surprise you..."

Territorial and military punishment aside, the British and American reparations for Germany's defeat Yan Guang remembers very clearly, because it was 226 billion marks, 11.3 billion pounds, equivalent to 113 billion silver dollars... With such a huge reparation for defeat, it is not enough for China to pay compensation for 100 years, so how can the Germans give up?

"But if it weren't for that, how could Hitler have come to power..."

―――――――――― PS: At the Versailles Peace Conference, the Entente proposed a defeat indemnity of 226 billion marks, about 11.3 billion pounds, equivalent to 113 billion silver dollars. However, by 1921, the indemnity had been reduced to 132 billion marks, equivalent to 4.99 billion pounds, almost more than 50 billion silver dollars.

After counting the interest, Germany did not pay until 2010, which everyone should have seen about the news about the reparations.

These reparations are counted in a series of disciplinary provisions. While Britain and the United States felt that it was too harsh, France felt that it was too light. And then what? As the so-called cutting the grass and eradicating the roots, while inflicting great humiliation on Germany, it does not completely weaken Germany, and it is no wonder that such an ending will trigger World War II.

(To be continued)