Time passed in quarrels and calculations, and while Wilhelm II and the German General Staff threw out 50 tons of gold without frowning, they replied to Traun and contacted by all means the merchant ships that could not return to Germany in time to rush to China, ready to deliver and complete all the sulfonamide authorization contracts after the war. However, he was noncommittal about the Qingdao issue, and Wilhelm II even clamored to defend every inch of Germany's offshore territory, and would not give up even a single soldier.

At the same time, Britain, the United States, France and other countries also began to accelerate the shrinkage of troops from the Far East, and the French government could not sit still at first. After learning from Bernard that Yang Qiu had no intention of entering the French East Indies and that it could be made clear by contract, the French minister immediately went to Nanjing, but could not reach a substantive agreement because he could not make a breakthrough in the most important Gengzi year indemnity and the recovery of the tariffs in Yunnan, which was controlled by France.

But the implications of this engagement were far-reaching, and it also laid the groundwork for further negotiations later. Although it did not make a breakthrough politically, it injected a boost to the Ministry of Finance, which was racking its brains to raise more military spending, on the trade front. In view of the imminent outbreak of the European war, the French army, which had always wanted to develop weapons similar to Chinese mortars, grenadiers and long-range 105 cannons, was also ruthless and bought the manufacturing patents of 7 weapons at one time. Of course, the current price will not be so cheap, the two major companies in Hubei and Chongqing, which hold the patent, directly opened a sky-high price of about 15 million US dollars for 22 tons of gold.

In addition, the French government also placed a one-time large order worth 20 million US dollars for 17 kinds of raw materials such as tungsten concentrate, manganese ore, tung oil, tea, tobacco leaves, raw silk, etc., and also purchased morphine and hemostatic drug Baibaodan worth 3 million US dollars from Hubei Chen's Pharmaceutical Factory and Yunnan Qushi Pharmaceutical Factory respectively. At the same time, in exchange for trade, the French government allowed China to travel to the Thanh Hoa province of the French East Indies to mine a nickel ore and a laterite nickel mine for $1 million to meet domestic steel demand.

The $23 million order made the country rejoice, but in fact, since the Sarajevo incident, France has thrown $200 million in purchase orders to the market in less than a month, which surprised Yang Qiu slightly because the industry and commerce and the United States did not gain much in this round of trade, because almost all of France's trade orders were raw materials, not the manufacturing orders that he and the United States wanted most. Later, I was relieved to think about it, the reason why the first wave was raw materials, mainly because of the idea that the war would end in a short period of time, France believed that as long as there were raw materials, the domestic manufacturing industry could meet the needs of the army and the war.

Although it failed to realize industrial and commercial orders, nor did it make a breakthrough in the key retrieval of tariffs and the Xincho Treaty, this large contract also indirectly proved that France was eager to shrink its forces and did not want to spend it in the Far East, let alone to be robbed of important and huge interests in the French East Indies. Originally, Yang Qiu was also ready to take this opportunity to sell the most profitable ammunition, but after the big blood, the French government clearly refused. Again, this is not to blame, after all, all of Europe thought that the war would end in two or three months, and they had a huge reserve of ammunition at all.

In the past, this eye-catching order was enough to make a lot of waves, but now it is only a splash and is drowned by the orders thrown by Britain, France, Belgium and other countries to their respective colonies. Britain and the United States, which have the world's largest colonies and abundant resources, are not so anxious, they are more concerned about the current war in the Far East, so after learning that Yang Qiu intends to negotiate peace with the Northeast War and promised not to form an alliance with Germany again, Hangel and Bernard set foot on Japanese soil one after another, hoping to promote peace talks to ensure that the current pattern of the Far East remains unchanged before Europe turns back.

But as their warship slowly sailed into Tokyo Bay, the situation took an unpredictable direction.

In the early morning of 26 July, troop carriers of all sizes crowded Port Arthur, and after mobilizing people to sweep away dozens of mines, from fishing boats of more than 100 tons to freighters of several thousand tons, Terauchi Masashi found almost all the ships that could be used, and even asked the navy to forcibly seize several ships from Portugal and Spain in Bohai Bay.

Protest?

It has long been ineffective for the blood-red Japanese officers! The only thing they want to do now is to complete the landing as soon as possible and then launch a new offensive on land.

On the wharf, groups of soldiers of the Japanese Fifth Division began to board the boat, shouting for revenge, shouting for cutting off the supply line of Jinzhou, shouting about encircling Mukden and taking Manmeng, and so on, and their immature faces were full of restlessness and fanaticism. However, only a small number of officers knew that the target this time was not only Jinzhou, but also Longkou, which was not far from the Qingdao fortress!

"General, Longkou is not far from Yantai, do you need to say hello to your British allies first?" The staff officer just happened to make a proposal but was vetoed by Terauchi Masayi, and he said with conviction: "There is no need now, our allies have no energy to take care of Asian affairs anymore, and they will only be grateful after taking the Qingdao fortress." ”

Under the guns of the Japanese soldiers, the Spanish shipowner had no choice but to set fire to the anchor, and 2,100 infantry, 25 landing assault boats and ammunition made the 6,300-ton freighter falter. Looking at the ships leaving one after another, the remaining Japanese troops in the fortress and on the pier waved their military caps and shouted with cheers.

Looking at Shirakawa Yoshinori who was standing in front of him with a fanatical gaze, Otani Kikuzo seemed to really see a male wild boar that was restless and constantly gouging his hooves, and nodded with satisfaction. But he also knew that it was extremely risky, after all, the opponent had long been prepared for Japan to enter Shandong, but because he was afraid of Germany, he had been deployed on the periphery, which gave him the best opportunity!

"Shirakawa-kun! The rise and fall of the empire is here, no matter how difficult it is, I hope you can hold the dragon's mouth and ensure the safety of the landing ground! I will also personally lead the 21st Brigade to land in Jinzhou and cut off the connection between inside and outside the Guan! After receiving the news of the success, the senior general of the temple will report to the country as soon as possible, and I believe that the military headquarters and the elders of the county will never stand idly by, and the support will definitely arrive in three days! ”

"Rest assured, I will make the people of China understand how pale their previous victory was!" Shirakawa nodded and walked towards the destroyer, which was already full of soldiers, and Otani Kikuzo quickly boarded the cruiser.

Even the ronin, who were forced to withdraw to Lushun from all over the Northeast because of the Sino-Japanese War, climbed onto the transport ship with knives and pistols in their arms. "Let's go, for the sake of the 100-year national fortune of the Great Japanese Empire." On the Golden Mountain Fort, Teramichi Masashi untied his saber, as if he had made a pilgrimage, his face was solemn and he bent down to the sea formation at 90 degrees, and behind him were soldiers and Japanese expatriates who bent down and bowed to see off the Fifth Division, and the fanatical atmosphere climbed to the peak at this moment!

National Fortune! War! Wealth! Nothing can stop these brains controlled by chrysanthemums and sabers.

Under the frenzy and restlessness, the decisive battle of the Far East has finally begun!

Xuzhou.

Trucks slowly cut through the city, and from time to time people on both sides of the road stopped to watch with wide eyes, and daring children ran after the trucks, as if they were faster than anyone else. Although the army was equipped with a lot of trucks, they were not as convenient as mules and horses when the roads were not perfect, so most of them could only be driven around major cities.

Mr. Jang smiled and waved to the children, seeing that the notoriously conservative city had not changed much from three years ago, and that there were even braided widows on the streets. Compared with the ever-changing south, this kind of conservatism in the north is deep-rooted, and if it were not for the land reform in Henan and Shaanxi that shook them, they were afraid that they would have to do it here, so they reluctantly picked up the rent and interest reduction movement in a panic and appropriately reduced the burden on the peasants.

Therefore, in his opinion, the reforms promoted by Yang Qiu and the breaking of old ideas must and should be promoted immediately, but the reality is full of too much helplessness. It is not a good thing that the country is too big and the population is too large, and it has only been a year since the real reunification of the Republic of China. To make matters worse, the country is currently at war. The war between China and Japan has also affected national construction, and a large amount of resources have been allocated to civil affairs after being controlled by the army.

It is a little consoling that the country is naturally more consumable than Japan, and the fact that the north is in full swing has not hindered the south from receiving orders from Europe continuously. The day after the gunfire rang out in Sarajevo, Germany bought nearly 50,000 tons of concentrates and materials including 20,000 tons of refined tungsten ore from Jiangxi Dayu tungsten ore reserves, 5,000 tons of flux lime and non-metallic ore for smelting, 300 tons of phosphorus, 2,000 tons of tung oil, 5,000 tons of tea and cotton cloth, etc., and transported them to the closer Austro-Hungarian Empire overnight by taking advantage of the fleet's emergency return to China. It is better to arrive in Austria-Hungary first and then transport it back by train. Coupled with the total $30 million in raw materials and military patent orders thrown out by France in the past few days, the country has received $50 million worth of gold, silver and cash in just one month (after Sarajevo, the country strictly limited trade to hard currencies such as the Chinese dollar, the dollar and gold).

Of course, he didn't know about the 50 tons of gold brought by the sulfonamide trade and the tens of millions of dollars worth of ocean-going fleets that were about to arrive.

After the gunshots, the era of great change has finally arrived! At the beginning, Yang Qiu proposed at the secret meeting and surprised people that the strategy of "fighting from the south to the north" has already begun to emerge because of the imminent outbreak in Europe. Thinking of this, his heart also warmed up, and every time he thought of the robe that was fighting on the opposite side of the Jiaodong Peninsula, he couldn't devote himself to entering, and the troops also wrote many times to ask to go to the Northeast Pass, but for some reason there was still no order to come down.

What the hell is the commander-in-chief waiting for? Afraid of the Germans? That's a joke!

The truck soon drove into the military camp in the eastern suburbs, and as soon as he got out of the car, Zhang Xiaozhun found that the atmosphere seemed to be a little wrong, it was obviously supposed to be the time for the troops to drill, but the soldiers were moving things to the carriage one after another, as if they were about to leave.

"What's wrong?"

Zhang Xiaozhun grabbed a second lieutenant of the staff department who was running to the barracks in a hurry, and asked, "What happened?" ”

When the second lieutenant saw Zhang Xiaozhun, he saluted and shouted with a hint of nervousness and excitement: "Report to the general, it's great that you are back!" General Cai just sent people to look for you everywhere and asked you to go to the headquarters for a meeting. The 5th Division of the Japanese Army has already set off from Lushun, and about a wing of troops is rushing towards Longkou! ”

"What! The Japanese are coming? also hit the dragon's mouth! Zhang Xiaozhun almost jumped up in shock and shouted, "Tell me, how long has it been?" Aren't they afraid of the German fleet stationed in Qingdao? ”

Report. It's been about an hour since the Japanese set off! The German fleet is not in Qingdao, and intelligence says that they set sail last night and their whereabouts are unknown! ”

The German Far Eastern Fleet is gone?! Zhang Xiaozhun, who was directly shocked by another big news, stood on the spot, and a few days ago there was news that Germany would not give up Qingdao, and today the fleet was the first to leave. This can only show one point, Europe is going to do it! Austria-Hungary was about to declare war on Serbia, and Germany was ready for full-scale war! Without any hesitation, he picked up his feet and ran towards the headquarters, knocking down countless people along the way. When he rushed into the conference room out of breath, Cai Ye was already dressed in military uniform, and his eyes were patrolling the generals who had rushed to the meeting.

Seeing Zhang Xiaozhun, Cai Yi nodded slightly, and turned to everyone again: "I don't want to say more about the situation, we can't prevent the Japanese army from landing in Longkou in terms of distance and time, maybe you think why didn't you enter Shandong early, but what I want to say is!" Orders are orders, obedience and orders, brothers and brothers, this is the foundation of a strong German army, and it is also the path we need to take. Since we're late, let's use cannons and machine guns to grab time back!

We are soldiers, and since we have all put on the uniforms of the Wehrmacht, we must shoulder the responsibility of defending the country and the people! Cai is not a person who is easy to kill, but the commander-in-chief and the country have put the safety of Shandong and even North China into the hands of you and me, and I have to remind you today. Whoever avoids the war and does not slack off, kill! Whoever escapes, kill! Anyone who colludes with the Japanese invaders, kill! Whoever throws away his robe, kill! A series of killing words suddenly pushed the atmosphere to a strong intensity, and now no one thinks about why they didn't enter early, even if everyone guessed that this was to take care of Germany's face, but also to take care of the previous Sino-German alliance proposal.

Cai Yi's thin body walked back and forth in front of everyone, and his eyes swept over the faces of the officers of the 2nd Division and the 103rd Guard Division, who were the most capable of fighting, but finally stopped on the face of He Xifan, the commander of the 11th Division, and after stopping for a while, he looked at He Xi, the commander of the 2nd Division and chief of staff of the theater.

He Xifan is a veteran officer in the National Defense Force who fought in the defense of Hubei, and in addition to being a member of the National Society, he also attaches great importance to studying. Although the 11th Division was the old army of Shanghai and Zhejiang, it also supplemented a lot of Beiyang and new soldiers. In addition, after seeing Yang Qiu's methods and ways of commanding troops, he attached great importance to the daily training of the troops, and he was rewarded by the Ministry of Defense and Yang Qiu at the beginning of the year, so He Xi saw that Cai Yi intended to use him as a striker, and nodded.

"Brother Shaoyue, your troops are the closest to Jinan, and three trains have been temporarily detained over there, and if you leave now, you will be able to arrive at Longkou tomorrow morning." After getting the confirmation, Cai Yi saluted: "Those who come are not good and those who are good will not come, the Fifth Division is an elite division in the Japanese Army that is famous and good at fighting hard battles, and Shirakawa Yoshinori of the Ninth Brigade is even more ruthless, you have to be careful!" ”

"Yes! Commander and you rest assured, even if He fights for this life, he will not let them continue to go deep into the hinterland of Shandong! He Xifan rolled up his sleeves and was about to set off with the guards, but the communications officer rushed into the conference room again.

"Report, telegram from the commander-in-chief."

"Read."

The staff officer turned on the telegram and looked excited: "Commander-in-Chief telegraph!" Don't let me down, lads! ”

In just one sentence, it makes people feel as if the young man standing under the window of Beijing, staring at the Shandong Peninsula and single-handedly building up the national defense force to achieve national unification, and gradually putting chaos into the right track in his way.

"Call back!" Cai Yi's gaze swept over the audience and smiled slightly: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, don't let the country down!" ”