In the living room, Yan Guangzheng was holding an invitation card and pondering silently. On the side, Xu Shichang, Song Dinghan and others also looked at him quietly.

There is no other reason, it is just that this invitation can only be decided by Yan Guang.

Of course, this invitation is not a flood of beasts, but it is also important.

Because this invitation was to invite Yan Guang to attend the Paris Peace Conference to be held two months later, that is, in January, to participate in the study of special issues related to it. For example, the issue of reparations, the territorial question and the issue of disarmament, and the containment of Soviet Russia. However, in Yan Guang's view, this is nothing more than a meeting to divide up the interests after the war.

Still, Yan Guang was ready to leave for Paris.

After all, it was the first time that China had participated in the peace conference as a victorious country, and it was a great boost to the Chinese people who had suffered humiliation. This can be seen from the excited expressions of Xu Shichang and others, and the high-level political axe is still like this, let alone the people?

Moreover, at this meeting, Yan Guang also needs to thoroughly determine his interests in Central Asia and the Caucasus, and the 11.3 billion pounds of reparations after Germany's defeat, Yan Guang feels that China is also eligible to take a share. Although a total of 38 countries participated in the Paris Peace Conference, and Britain and France will definitely take the lion's share, it is good to drink some soup and water because of China's current strength.

After all, even if the 4.99 billion indemnity determined in 21 years is almost more than 50 billion silver dollars, although the final indemnity that China can share is estimated to be in double digits, but it is not bad for China now.

As for the other interests?

"Well, this time I shouldn't be sharing other benefits to China..."

Thinking so, Yan Guang touched his chin.

It's not that Yan Guang is not modest, but the least loss in this war may not be China, but the biggest gain must be China. Especially in terms of territory, it is the place where China has gained the most.

So even if this peace will not give China any additional benefits, Yan Guang will not have any complaints in his heart, after all, compared with Britain and France, which have paid a huge amount, China's efforts and gains are really too disproportionate..."But then again, when is Kolchak's side going to launch an attack on Moscow? ”

"This..."Wang Yaowu thought for a moment. It seems that at the end of winter early next year..."

"So, by the time Kolchak started attacking Moscow, I was already in Paris...", scratching his head. When I was in France, you could be flexible with the Russian problem, but you must remember that Kolchak must not win this civil war..."

Looking at Yan Guang's rare serious expression, Xu Shichang, Song Dinghan and the others all nodded.

For Yan Guang's idea that he needed a fire-gathering target, Xu Shichang still recognized it. After all, after many years in politics and dealing with foreigners, they are also very aware of the hostility of Western countries towards China. Especially during the Sakhalin conflict, the British and American support for Yuben was the conflict that made Xu Shichang and others see everything clearly.

What's more, China has gained so many benefits in this war, and it is easy to pose a threat to Western countries if it is not contained... China is indeed very strong now, only below Britain and the United States in terms of strength, and even inferior to Britain and Germany in terms of industrial strength. (The US steel production in 18 years reached 45 million tons, while Germany's steel production was 14.98 million tons, more than one million less than 16 million tons in 17 years, reduced to 7.8 million in 19 years, 8.5 million in 20 years, 9.997 million in 21 years, and reached 11.71 million in 22 years, returning to the standard of 10 million) It's just that although the Chinese are strong, the world is dominated by Western countries.

Yes, China's sphere of influence has now expanded into parts of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, but this expansion is not stable and will take some time to digest. And don't forget that the world is not only Europe, but also Africa, the Americas and Oceania, as well as parts of Asia, which are the spheres of influence of Western countries such as Europe and the United States.

Coupled with a plan that is bent on breaking away from Asia and joining Europe, if we don't find a target for Britain and the United States to gather fire, even if China is strong, it will not be able to fight the whole world alone... Therefore, in this Russian civil war, Lenin and other Bolsheviks, entrenched in Moscow, had to win. Otherwise, when Britain and the United States and other countries recover from this war, I am afraid that China will face the encirclement of the whole world... It's the same as the Soviet Union in history, but maybe it's worse than the Soviet Union, after all, the Soviets are composed of Caucasians, and Caucasians make up the majority of them, so after the collapse of the Soviet Union, almost all the small countries that split up were absorbed by NATO, and only one Russia was left... But China? At least 95% of the population is yellow... The collapse of such a country would be even more tragic than that of the Soviet Union...―――――――――― although the Paris Peace Conference will not be held until January, it will not be a short time to travel from Yenching to Paris. Especially in this day and age, flying to France by plane is not a very realistic thing, and the railway cannot go directly to Paris... So, in the end, it's the most realistic way..."Is it really still a boat..."

Although Yan Guang has not been on a boat for a long time since the rubber stock incident. However, as long as he remembered the experience of the last time he took the boat, Yan Guang felt dizzy and disgusting.

It can't be helped, the experience of being confined to one range for a long time is really uncomfortable. Besides, this is an ocean voyage, and it can be very bumpy when sailing, especially if there is a storm or something along the way..."Alas..."

Yan Guang let out a long sigh.

It's just that even if you don't like to take a boat, Paris is a must.

After all, the political leaders and foreign ministers of Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and the five countries had already decided to attend the Paris Peace Conference, and Yan Guang had no reason not to go, after all, even Wilson had gone.

(At that time, there was a lot of opposition in the United States to Wilson going to Paris to attend the peace conference, because there was no precedent for a sitting president in the United States to visit Europe.) Wilson's opponents accused him of violating the Constitution, and even his supporters dismissed it as unwise, but Wilson went anyway. Due to the tight schedule, after explaining some things to Xu Shichang and others, Yan Guang began to prepare to go to Paris to attend the peace conference.

As an escort force, the Navy will also send two [Xingyuema]-class battleships, a [Kui Muwolf]-class battle cruiser, and ten [Chaofeng]-class first-class cruisers to protect Yan Guang's journey to France.

Hawkers, after the Paris Peace Conference, it will be the [Washington Naval Treaty] in a few years, and before that, Yan Guang must show his strength and at least strive for a good position second only to Britain and the United States, so although this compilation is exaggerated, it is also necessary.

Not to mention that Yan Guang was not the only one who went to France with battleships, at least the United States sent an escort fleet of battleships and destroyers to escort the ships on George. Wilson of the USS Washington went to the United States.

As the main force of the escort fleet, there are the first ship of the [Nedahua] class and the second ship of the [Pennsylvania] class [Arizona].

So although Yan Guang's lineup is a bit exaggerated, it's not too much... In addition to the team composed of Yan Guang and Foreign Minister Gu Weijun, he was accompanied by experts and professors sent by various universities, as well as boxes and boxes of required materials. Of course, there are also the ambassadors of the five countries to China, and as the highest-ranking diplomats of the five countries in China, Zhu Erdian and others will also accompany them to France.

These diplomats have been in China for a long time and have a good understanding of the situation in China, and their opinions are of great reference value to the heads of state, which is why they went to France together.

When Yan Guang boarded the ship at Tianjin Port, as he expected, the mood of the people was really excited. Even at the port where Yan Guang boarded the ship, many people were shouting excitedly, and almost everyone had a smaller national flag in their hands, and it could be seen that the vendors selling the national flag outside the port had indeed made a lot of money this time.

"Forget it, let's just think of it as stimulating domestic demand..."

Looking at the sea of national flags, Yan Guang smiled bitterly, then turned around and waved his hand to the people on the dock, and only boarded the [Fushun] after causing a cheer.

Behind Yan Guang, Zhu Erdian and the others, along with many foreigners, stared at the two [Star Horse]-class battleships moored in the distance with a frightened gaze.

As the strongest battleship in China and the strongest battleship in the world, Zhu Erdian, as the ambassador to China, has been famous for the [Xingyuema]-class battleships for a long time, but he has never had the opportunity to see the true face of the [Xingyuema].

But now..."If this class of battleships can really reach the rumored surname Neng, and not just look good, then I'm afraid that none of the battleships in the Empire's current service will be the opponent of the [Star Horse]-class..."

After glancing at the 12 406mm L/55 main guns on the [Star Horse] class with the small telescope in his hand, Zhu Erdian said silently in his heart.

In addition to Zhu Erdian, the ambassadors of other countries, especially Ambassador Yuben, were also constantly using binoculars to observe the [Star Horse] and [Kui Wood Wolf] classes moored in the distance.

The [Xingyuema] class and the [Kui Wood Wolf] class are actually not a secret, so almost all countries such as Britain and the United States know that there are such two levels of capital ships under construction in batches, but the news is limited to this, because the secrecy of the national social and political axe is extremely strict, so even if all countries know that there are such two levels of capital ships, but no one knows what these two levels of capital ships look like.

It was also because of this that when the [Star Horse] and [Kui Wood Wolf] levels were first unveiled, everyone present was so excited, after all, investigating the military strength of the country where they were located was also a task for diplomats.

"But then again, the Chinese are really fast in building ships, and they actually commissioned 3 capital ships so quickly..."

After using a 135 camera to photograph the two [Star Horse] class and one [Kui Wood Wolf] class moored in the distance, the French ambassador said in disbelief. Like him, there are ambassadors of several other countries, especially Ambassador Yoshizawa Kenkichi is even more jealous.

After stepping onto the deck, several people pointed to the three capital ships and kept talking, and in the end, even Juerdian himself participated.

But... For the 10 [Chaokaze]-class first-class cruisers that were also moored in the distance, everyone did not look interested at all. However, it is no wonder that although the [Chaofeng] class also has a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, there will be no shortage of large ships of this level, so naturally there is nothing new.

However, the [Star Horse] and the [Kui Wood Wolf], these two large capital ships with a full load displacement of more than 40,000 tons, are really eye-catching.

―――――――――― the fleet of Tianjin Port did not stay for long, and gradually sailed away from the port amid the cheers of the port crowd.

On this trip, the entire fleet will depart from Tianjin Port and arrive in Iraq through the Strait of Malacca and Xi'an in the Indian Ocean to pay a visit to the representatives of the expeditionary force in Iraq. Then it departed from Iraq, passed through the Suez Canal, and arrived in the port of Brest in France... If you're lucky, you might even run into Wilson in the port of Brest.

It's just that in terms of range, Yan Guang's range is much farther than Wilson's, so it is estimated that it is unlikely... The speed of the [Fushun] that Yan Guang was riding was not fast, but there were two supply ships following the fleet, so he was not afraid of slowing down the speed of the entire fleet.

That is, when the fleet arrived in Singapore, which is located in the Strait of Malacca, the Fushun's ties with the country finally became closer, because at this time, Kolchak, which had been entrenched in the Ural region, finally decided to attack the Volga valley in March next year, that is, when the weather warmed.

At this time, the temporary political axe established by Kolchak was very different from the temporary political axe half a year ago.

The Ural and Siberian regions occupied by Kolchak not only gathered many former Russians who hated the Bolsheviks, but Kolchak's army also expanded from the original 200,000 to the current 600,000.

Of course, this is also related to the strong support of the national social and political axe.

After all, if it weren't for the continuous delivery of supplies to the temporary political axe through the Central Asian Railway, Kolchak would not have been able to support these 600,000 troops.

But then again, if it weren't for Kolchak's 1,600 tons of gold, I'm afraid Yan Guang wouldn't have made such a big support. After all, whether it is weapons, food, clothing and ammunition, they all need to be traded in [cash].

It's just that according to the report of the officer corps in the Urals, although Kolchak has many troops, it is very worrying in terms of combat effectiveness, and Kolchak has no capable generals, so even if there are already 600,000 troops, it is not yet known who Kolchak and Soviet Russia will die in the end... (In March 1919, Kolchak commanded 400,000 White troops to attack the Volga River Valley, in other words, his troops would not be less than 400,000, and at that time Kolchak needed to be supplied through the Trans-Siberian Railway, and now he only needs to be supplied near Central Asia, so it is set that Kolchak's troops are more than 100,000 more than Kolchak in history...) Although Kolchak really made a lot of money, Yan Guang still sent a telegram to Xu Shichang and them on the [Fushun], re-emphasizing that Kolchak must not be allowed to win, and when necessary..."Even sell some heavy weapons directly to Soviet Russia..."

Of course, these things can only be done after receiving orders from Yan Guang.

After arriving in Singapore, Yan Guang did not get off the ship, nor did he meet with the local Chinese and overseas Chinese, or even with the President of Singapore, Sir Atjan, which was also a helpless thing, because the Spanish flu was still spreading at this time.

In this regard, Sir Atyang is also very understanding, or in this special period, Atyang may not be willing to see Yan Guang. So after a two-day stay in Singapore, the fleet set off here.

Although Yan Guang didn't see anyone when he was in Singapore, he didn't even get off the boat because of safety issues. However, compared to India, it is quite good in Singapore.

At least when they were in Singapore, the navy sailors dared to disembark with masks or gas masks to resupply, but when passing through India, the fleet did not even dare to stop, and went straight to Iraq.

After all, what happened in India was terrible... Between 1918 and 1919, almost 12.5 million people died in India due to the Spanish flu, and this figure is not necessarily accurate for many reasons.

12.5 million people, which is not much worse than the death toll in a normal European war.

Therefore, when Yan Guang decided to go directly to Iraq instead of staying in India, not to mention the ambassadors of other countries, even Zhu Erdian, who is the British ambassador to China, had no opinion, after all, life is still very precious.

Moreover, during this period in China, although there was no 3 million in China, which is second only to India, as in history, due to proper prevention, there were still at least 500,000 deaths due to influenza in many remote areas―――――― which is about the same as that of the United States, which has almost 550,000 deaths.

At that time, Yanjing was also one of the outbreak areas of the Spanish flu, about hundreds of thousands of people were infected, and the tragic scene of the mountain of patients in the hospital at that time was exactly what Zhu Erdian had seen with his own eyes. In addition, the news that came out of China at that time was that more than 200,000 people had died in the United Kingdom, which also made the elderly Juordian have a great fear of the Spanish flu.

Of course, as the city with the most medical resources in the country, only a few thousand people died in the end, but other places were obviously not lucky.

―――――――― when passing over the coast of India, the [Fushun] jumped from the original cruising speed of more than 10 knots to the maximum speed of more than 10 knots. And the other ships in the fleet also used this speed to escort the [Fushun], and afterwards Yan Guang described this incident as follows..."It's like a strategic shift [***]..."

After Yan Guang's words spread, they quickly caused a stirring within the Wehrmacht. Because the Wehrmacht itself can also be called [***], there will soon be [***] within the Wehrmacht, and the Wehrmacht will actually be the Wehrmacht.

It's just that no matter what the Wehrmacht thinks, I can't remember when the Wehrmacht has fled in such a mess, so that Yan Guang will say this.

In the end, it still came into Yan Guang's ears, and Yan Guang explained with a smile.

"When I say [***], I actually mean the Kuomintang army..."

Although the Kuomintang troops in this era were not like those of later generations, they were indeed beaten and fled in embarrassment during the Second Revolution, and the Kuomintang army could also be referred to as [***], so the people below accepted this point of view.

In any case, the entire fleet was relieved when they left Indian waters, after all, no one wanted to let the whole ship be infected with the Spanish flu or something.

In fact, when you are on board, it is when the Spanish flu is at its most powerful.

Such as in the summer, American Major Blanche? Ricky sat on the deck of a troop carrier, ready to leave New York. Before leaving, he was still thinking about what to do with the three coffins lined up on the deck, but he soon found a purpose. Soon after the ship set sail, soldiers began to die, and each of the three coffins was filled with a corpse and sunk into the sea. However, corpses kept appearing, and nothing heavy on the ship could be found that could sink them. Fourteen days later, when the ship arrived in the French port of Saint-Lazzère, the bodies on deck were piled up in a terrible condition.

The Spanish flu was responsible for this tragic death, with data showing that the pandemic killed more people in a year than the Black Death in the Middle Ages killed in a century. It kills more people in 24 weeks than AIDS kills in 24 years.

Of course, the 1918 flu brought not only death, but also family breakdown, psychological panic, economic recession, and at the same time, it had a major impact on the end of World War I and the aftermath of the war.

Most importantly, the flu doesn't make a difference based on who they are.

At the time of the Paris Peace Conference, the heads of the three giants in history, namely Britain, France and the United States, were all infected with the Spanish flu to varying degrees, with Wilson being the most serious.

In the face of the pandemic, high-level infections are no longer uncommon, Wilson's daughter Margaret is bedridden because of the infection, and the first lady of the White House, the secretary of the first lady, and Wilson's White House doctor, Grayson, have all fallen ill one after another.

Fortunately for Wilson, Freery, a 25-year-old young assistant to the U.S. Peace Corps, who fell ill on the same day, died four days later.

(To be continued)