The plains of North America and Russia are our corn fields, Canada and the Baltic Sea are our forest areas, Australia is our pastures, Peru is our silver mines, South Africa and Australia are our gold mines, India and China are our tea plantations, the East Indies are our sugar cane, coffee, spice growers, and the southern part of the United States is our permanent cotton plantations...

On the territory of the British Empire, the golden sun never sets ...

"The Empire That Never Falls"

Different from the "small" British Empire in later generations, in this era, "it is said that it will not fall" is the name of Britain...

21 dreadnought-class battleships, 40 quasi-dreadnought-class battleships, 9 heavy cruisers, and 97 light cruisers...

This was the power of the British Navy on the eve of the First World War...

With such strength, in Yuan Shikai's opinion, as long as Zhu Erdian is willing to help himself in the war, even if it is just for the British fleet in China to solve the Sichuan naval army, and then cut off the Yangtze River transportation line, which is vital to Yan Guang, the Nationalist Army that is launching a fierce attack on Qianjiang will fall into a situation of self-collapse without a fight...

However, when Yuan Shikai expressed his hope that Zhu Erdian would provide assistance, Zhu Erdian's answer disappointed Yuan Shikai.

"I'm sorry, my friend, I can't help you in this matter..."

That's right, not unwillingly, but unable to ...

Despite the British Empire's naval might, the Second German Empire in the western part of the European continent presented a threat that the British Empire had not faced since its defeat of its predecessor, Spain, (the sun never sets on my territory―――――― King Carlos I of Spain). This threat was not only brought by the Dutch, but also by the French...

A naval fleet of 15 Dreadnought-class battleships, 22 quasi-Dreadnought-class battleships, 5 battle cruisers, and 44 light cruisers gave the German Empire the second most powerful navy in the world. At the same time, the tonnage of the German Navy increased from 88,000 tons in 1880 to 1149863 tons in 1912...

This may be only a little more than half the strength of the British Empire's navy, but according to the German plan, by 1920 there will be a staggering 80 of Germany's newest capital ships, a number almost equal to that of the British Empire. (In 1888 the German navy was 65 million marks, and by 1908 it was 420 million marks, more than sixfold in 20 years.) At the same time, the number of officers and men in the navy has also increased from 15,000 to more than 50,000... ）

It was for this reason that the British wanted to stop the expansion of the army by means of a treaty with Kaiser Wilhelm II (Wilhelm II was the grandson of Queen Victoria), so in 1912 the two countries entered into disarmament negotiations. In the course of the negotiations, the British insisted that the ratio of the two navies should be 2:1, but the Germans insisted on a ratio of 16:10, because the requirements were too different, and the final result of the negotiations could only be unhappy.

At this time, France, where revanchism was prevalent, had increased the number of standing naval and army troops from 769,000 in 1910 to 910,000, and Germany had also increased from 694,000 to 891,000 now.

In this case, Britain has already focused all its attention on Europe, as for Asia? Unless something is wrong with India, Britain has no leisure to care, let alone just a fight between two warlords in Chinese mainland?

And Zhu Erdian also has his own concerns, that is, is military intervention really useful?

The strength of the National Socialist Party may not be very clear to others, but Zhu Erdian and the German Minister to China, Marzan, know best (chargé d'affaires), because in Sichuan and Guizhou, thousands of British and German engineers are working for Yan Guang...

Qijiang Iron Works, Sichuan Arsenal...

As long as the Imperial Fleet in China can defeat the 15 German-made shallow gunboats of the Sichuan Navy and then cut off the Yangtze River supply lifeline of the Nationalist Army, then the Nationalist Army, which is currently fighting fiercely with the Beiyang Army in Qianjiang and occupies a certain peak, will only have the option of returning to Sichuan.

The question is, even if the empire helps Yuan Shikai to repel the Guoshe army from Qianjiang, will Yuan Shikai really be able to win this war?

In this world, there are many things that are secret to many but not to others.

How much is Yan Guang's real net worth? Not many people know about it! What is the content of his agreement with Standard Oil? Not many people know about it. In fact, not so long ago, Juerdian himself did not know what it was about.

However, after Yan Guang announced that Sichuan and Guizhou provinces were reading power, and took the initiative to defeat the defenders of Badong, as the minister to China, Zhu Erdian had to understand some things, among which Yan Guang's source of funds was naturally one of the things that Zhu Erdian had to know...

Not many people in this world know the content of the agreement signed between Yan Guang and Standard Oil about the Tampico oil field, because this is what Yan Guang agreed with Rockefeller. But for the British Empire's envoy to China, unless he did not want to know about such a thing, it was not difficult to learn the truth of the matter from it.

And then...

"$50 million, no, should it be more than $50 million..."

Whenever he thought of this value, the corners of Zhu Erdian's mouth would be filled with a wry smile.

According to the agreement signed with Rockefeller, Yan Guang can get 30% of the profit from the profits earned by Tampico oil production every year, that is to say, at least 50 million US dollars of income can be earned every year, and with the factor of oil price increases, Yan Guang's annual income from Tampico is still growing―――――― of course, this is not without a price, this can make anyone rich and rival the country, for Yan Guang can only last for 20 years, In 20 years, the field in Tampico will be owned by Standard Oil...

50 million US dollars, equivalent to 12.5 million pounds according to the exchange rate, this value is equivalent to half of Yuan Shikai's big loan for the aftermath...

Having lived in China for many years, Zhu Erdian is more or less a China expert, knowing that Shu is difficult and difficult to go to the blue sky, this sentence is not a joke, even if Zhu Erdian really helped Yuan Shikai repel the Qianjiang Guoshe Army, when the Guoshe Army retreats to Sichuan and Guizhou, can the Beiyang Army attack Sichuan and Gui and completely wipe out the Guoshe Army?

You must know that in Sichuan, with the support of Qijiang Iron Works and Sichuan Arsenal, coupled with Yan Guang's personal financial resources, even if Yuan Shikai really besieged the Nationalist Army in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, Yan Guang, who has 60 million people and 650,000 square kilometers of land, can be self-reliant, and continue to accumulate strength...

And even if Zhu Erdian can really use his own strength to help Yuan Shikai now, what should he do after the European war starts?

Today, the European continent is full of gunpowder, and a great war could break out at any time. After the outbreak of war, the naval power of the British Empire will be retracted to Europe to deal with the German High Seas Fleet, and at that time, if the Nationalist Army goes out of Sichuan again, who will be responsible for Yuan Shikai's safety?

And if Yuan Shikai fails again, because he once helped Yuan Shikai deal with Yan Guang, after defeating Yuan Shikai, will Yan Guang pose a threat to the empire's interests in China? You must know that at that time, the empire was fighting to the death with Germany in Europe, and it was unable to take into account what was happening in China.

Yes, he is indeed a good friend of Yuan Shikai, and he does have a certain affection for Yuan Shikai, but he is also an Englishman, a British minister to China, and he must give priority to the interests of his country when considering things, rather than personal feelings...

As for dispatching the army to help Yuan Shikai fight? Leaving aside the question of whether Zhu Erdian has such a right to send valuable military forces to participate in the civil war in China at any time when a major war may break out in Europe at any time? If Zhu Erdian proposed this, he promised that he would return to London the next day to retire.

You must know that the current British standing army is only 160,000, and the combat effectiveness of the colonial army, especially the Indian colonial army, is not so reliable, at least in Zhu Erdian's view, the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Army and the National Socialist Army is definitely higher than that of the Indian colonial army.

So for Yuan Shikai's request, Zhu Erdian could only say sorry with an apologetic face...

Of course, as an old friend of Yuan Shikai, Zhu Erdian can't help nothing. He also proposed that he could mediate for Yuan Shikai and Yan Guang on behalf of the British Empire, and even put pressure on Yan Guang on behalf of Yuan Shikai, but the assistance of those real surnames was really helpless...

――――――――――

Yuan Shikai watched Zhu Erdian leave with disappointment, because all his British friend could help was verbal support, but in Yuan Shikai's view, it was useless, at most it could only scare the faint of heart...

However, when Yuan Shikai looked at Zhu Erdian's back, Yang Shiqi on the side came over to comfort him.

"Miyaho-sama doesn't need to be in a hurry, maybe things haven't gotten that bad. After all, Qianjiang only lost a line of defense, and Feng Shijing still had more than 20,000 people there who had not been put into it..."

Just when Yang Shiqi kept comforting Yuan Shikai and made Yuan Shikai's brows stretch slightly, Yang Du suddenly walked out in the presidential palace with a telegram.

"Huizi, what's wrong..."Although Yang Du didn't say anything, looking at his face, Yuan Shikai and Yang Shiqi could still sense that something must have happened. Thinking of the worst news for Yuan Shikai now, Yuan Shikai and Yang Shiqi almost changed their faces. "Say, is there something wrong with Qianjiang?"

Hearing Yuan Shikai's question, Yang Du first took a few breaths, and then said hurriedly. "Gong Bao, the news just came back that the second line of defense in Qianjiang has also been lost..."

"What?"

Not only Yuan Shikai and Yang Shiqi, after hearing Yang Du's words, several accompanying officials and the Beiyang soldiers outside the gate also changed their faces...

Just when Yuan Shikai, Yang Shiqi and others were all turning pale at the news, in Yichang, Yan Guang was receiving a special guest―――――― German Minister to China Marzan...

(To be continued)