Just three days after the start of the war, Russia suddenly declared war on Austria-Hungary, which led to the bankruptcy of Austria-Hungary's Plan X, and the Hungarian Infantry Army Group on the way was forced to carry out Plan C and be transferred to deal with the Russian army.

On the Serbian battlefield, the Balkan Army Group made no progress because there was no follow-up elite reinforcements, and finally confronted the Serbian army on the boundary river.

On January 16, Germany, angered by Russia's perfidy, declared war on Russia. On the same day, Russia declared war on Germany.

On January 17, France saw that Germany had taken the bait, so it declared war on Germany and Austria-Hungary. On the same day, Germany and Austria-Hungary also declared war on France.

On January 18, Britain declared war on Germany, and on the same day, Germany declared war on Britain at the same time.

In the following two days, the British, French, and Russian Triple Entente and the German-Austrian-Turkish Triple Alliance declared war on each other, while Italy shamelessly called the Balkan War an unjust war and refused to participate in the war, but did not join the side of the Entente, but continued to maintain neutrality and see which way the wind went.

At this point, a full-scale war broke out between the Central and Entente powers, a great war broke out in Europe, and the First World War was ignited.

After the outbreak of war between the two major military blocs in Europe, the whole world was in shock and panic.

In all European countries, both the belligerents and the people of neutral countries, they felt that the end of the world had come. The resurgence of the dark hour of the European Middle Ages, which the mainstream European media called it, shows the panic of Europeans about the war.

Outside Europe was not spared, and the two major military blocs had a large number of colonies overseas, and the colonies naturally had to participate in the war, so after the war, it naturally spread out of Europe and spread to Africa and West Asia.

Although the American continent has not been affected, the United States does not dare to be careless, but is worried, because the outbreak of the European war, which makes the Chinese Empire no longer have to worry about European countries interfering in the issue of China and the United States, and whether the Chinese Empire will take action against the United States.

When the war broke out in Europe, the Chinese Empire was naturally the happiest country. On the one hand, it is possible to start exporting weapons and materials to the two major military blocs in Europe and make a lot of war profits. On the other hand, there was no time for the internal strife in Europe to intervene in the contradictions between the Chinese Empire and the United States. As long as Europe does not have time to help the United States, then the Chinese Empire will have the confidence to start a war with the United States and destroy potential enemies.

Yanjing, the Forbidden City Qianqing Palace was full of laughter.

When the Emperor of the Chinese Empire, Wang Chenhao, learned of the outbreak of World War I, he was extremely happy. Similarly, the civil and military officials were also jubilant. Because the Chinese Empire has avoided the possibility of a possible joint war between Europe and the United States against China, the Chinese Empire is still very sure of dealing with the United States alone. Therefore, when the mood is relaxed, it is natural to be jubilant.

"How's the war going in Europe?" Wang Chenhao sat on the dragon chair and asked with joy.

"Your Majesty!" Prime Minister Zhang Feng, as the first and auxiliary minister, naturally had to be the first to answer when the emperor did not ask anyone, so he said: "After the outbreak of the war in Europe, Britain, France, Russia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina were on the side of the Entente, and on the side of the Central Powers, in addition to the neutrality of Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Turkish Empire had already entered the war. Within a week, both sides have declared war on each other's countries, and a full-scale war has begun. ”

Defense Minister Wang Shizhen added: "When Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, the 2 million army was helpless against the 400,000 Serbian army, but it was beaten back to the boundary river by the Slavs, and it was embarrassed. Germany was on the defensive against Russia on the eastern front, and on the western front it was confronting France on the German-French border. The French attacked German Alsace and Lorraine, and the Germans were on the defensive. The Germans seemed to avoid a head-on confrontation with the French, adopting a roundabout strategy, capturing Luxembourg in a single day and declaring war on Belgium, with the main force reaching the Belgian fortress of Leed. Britain has completed the general mobilization of the whole country, and it is estimated that it will take about half a month for the expeditionary force to land in France. Because the main force of the British [***] team was placed on the Suez Canal, 300,000 British troops and 100,000 French troops were fighting fiercely with 300,000 German troops in the Suez Canal. The 12th Russo-Turkish War broke out between Turkey and Russia, and the million-strong armies of both sides fought fiercely in the Black Sea and Eastern Europe, and neither of them has bargained so far. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, thinking in his heart that the local details of the First World War had changed. The time was advanced, the number of participating countries increased, and Turkey and Bulgaria all joined the Central Powers to fight against the Entente for the first time, making the power of the Central Powers very strong. Turkey's early diversion of Russia was very conducive to the defense of East Prussia by the Germans, and to concentrate their forces first against France and then against Russia. The battle between Britain, France and Germany in the Suez Canal was planned by Wang Chenhao, and the original war did not have a war here at all. It is still unknown who will kill the Suez Canal now, after all, the combat effectiveness of the 300,000 German troops is still very strong, and the British and French forces may not be able to recapture the Suez Canal.

Of course, Wang Chenhao hoped that Britain and France would seize the canal, so that Germany could only be obediently slaughtered by the Chinese Empire, and could only rely on the Baghdad Railway for external support.

On the whole, the overall strategic situation of World War I has not changed much, and it is still under Wang Chenhao's control.

War Minister Duan Qirui said: "The strategic policies of the major belligerent countries are formulated in accordance with their own aggressive aims. They all have one thing in common, that is, they both emphasize strategic offense and despise defense. For example, instead of taking advantage of the roundabout tactics of the German invasion of Belgium, France directly attacked Alsace and Lorraine, France's most heart-wrenching regions, in an attempt to crush Germany in this direction. Germany, on the defensive in this direction, tried to quickly capture Belgium and detour to the northwest of France, thus attacking the French capital Paris. Both sides tried to rely on one or two decisive battles to decide the outcome of the war, and both were based on relying on pre-war material reserves to fight a short-term war, and did not tap the economic potential to meet the needs of the war and prepare for a protracted war. ”

Wang Shizhen agreed: "Russia and Turkey are so evenly matched that Russia will not be able to deploy large troops on the eastern front of Germany and Austria-Hungary in a short period of time, and will not be able to effectively contain Germany and Austria-Hungary." This created the conditions for Germany to take advantage of the well-developed railway network to quickly engage in a decisive battle with France. I fancy Germany to win. ”

Tang Shaoyi shook his head and said, "Not necessarily!" The German Army, of course, was strong. However, Austria-Hungary lost the first battle and could not take Serbia, which would affect the subsequent support for Germany and Turkey. According to our previous judgment, Italy is no longer in conflict with the Entente, but with both Austria-Hungary and the Turkish Empire, and Italy is likely to join the side of the Entente, so the balance of power will soon be reversed. ”

At this time, Li Guodong said: "Our intelligence shows that in order to avoid fighting on the eastern and western fronts at the same time, according to the Schlieffen plan, Germany is ready to conquer France first within 6-8 weeks, and then move eastward to defeat Russia within a few months and end the war. In view of France's desperate desire to recapture Alsace and Lorraine, Germany's plan for fighting against France was to contain and attract the main French army with the forces deployed on the German-French border, and at the same time to make a far-reaching detour into the French hinterland with a powerful main attack group suddenly passing through neutral Belgium and attacking the main French army from behind. In the Eastern European theater, the Russian army was pinned down with a small number of troops. At sea, concentrate the main naval force against the British navy, and at the same time contain the Russian navy in the Baltic Sea with a small number of forces. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, he still had a slight impression of Shi Lifen's plan.

According to Schlieffen's military plan, Germany took advantage of the high quality and strong mobility of the German army in wartime, and was easy to mobilize in the internal line of operations, concentrated its forces to attack France on the western front first, defeated France within 4~6 weeks, and then turned back to deal with Russia. However, the Russian [***] team has poor quality, backward training, slow mobilization and concentration, and it is difficult to launch a major offensive against Germany on the Eastern Front in 4~6 weeks. The Germans will have time to concentrate their forces to defeat the main forces of the Russian army and win the victory in the two-front battle in 3~4 months.

Therefore, the deployment of the German army was to deploy only 9 divisions on the Eastern Front to contain the Russian army; On the Western Front, a huge force of 78 divisions was deployed to storm France. On the western front, 70 divisions of German troops were deployed in the direction of the main assault on the right flank in northwestern France, and only 8 divisions were deployed in the direction of Alsace in eastern France on the left flank, in the direction of Lorraine, to contain the main force of the French army. Before the main French forces failed to attack Alsace and Lorraine, the German army on the right flank would quickly rush through the neutral countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, break through into northern France, and rush west to the English Channel, cutting off Britain from the European continent. Then it went south to bypass Paris, the capital of France, cross the Seine, and cooperate with the German left flank to encircle and annihilate the main French army in eastern France in one fell swoop, so as to win a complete victory on the Western Front.

However, after Schlieffen's death, Moltke the Younger succeeded him as Chief of Staff of the German Army. At this time, the European landscape had changed dramatically, the European population had increased by 30% in ten years, and the corresponding army had increased by 1 million, especially Russia, which had lost its territory in the Far East after being defeated by the Chinese Empire, and there was no need to garrison it. At the same time, Russia and the Chinese Empire signed a non-garrison treaty on the border and established a military buffer zone, so that Russia's standing army was concentrated in the European part, and Germany was somewhat overwhelmed by the 2 million troops.

In light of the changed situation, Moltke Jr. adjusted Schlieffen's plans. He increased the strength of the German army on the Eastern Front to 18 divisions to deal with the overly large Russian army. On the Western Front, the left flank was strengthened, from 8 to 15 divisions, otherwise it would be difficult to resist the main French force of 75 divisions. Because of the growth of the population of Germany and the corresponding increase in the number of troops, the army on the right flank of the Western Front did not decrease, but increased by 2 divisions, bringing the total to 72 divisions.

France and Russia had long known about Germany's Schlieffen plan, so in response to Germany's blitzkrieg plan, France and Russia formulated their Bovinsky combat operation, hoping to capture Berlin and end the war before Germany completed its roundabout maneuver.

It can be said that if Moltke did not revise the Schlieffen plan, Germany would have been defeated in three months. And the French generalissimo assured the media on the day of the war that the end of the war within three months would be enough to prove the correct surname of Moltke Jr.'s temporary revision of Schlieffen's plan.

Originally, without the accession of Turkey, Germany would have consumed a lot of troops in order to resist the Russian army, and the original blitzkrieg against France would have become empty talk. However, with the accession of Turkey to the Central Powers in 1912, the military cooperation treaty was implemented. Moltke's worries about the Stephen Plan became redundant, and the Stephen Plan was implemented normally.

For the Entente, Turkey's entry into the war at the first time made them very afraid. Because Turkey pinned down the main forces of the Russian army on the Eastern Front, the German blitzkrieg against France was successfully implemented. Fortunately, the weak Serbia held back the main force of Austria-Hungary, and Italy chose neutrality, which made France temporarily relieved, but in the face of the attack of the main German army, the French army was very difficult.

Wang Chenhao thought to himself that the outcome of the First World War might change dramatically, because he found that the advantages of the Allies were very obvious.

In Wang Chenhao's view, he hoped that the Allies would win, because the future enemy of the Chinese Empire was the United States, and the United States and Britain were of the same origin and would unite sooner or later, so only Britain would be defeated would be in the interests of the Chinese Empire. Of course, the Allies should not be allowed to become too strong, and if Germany is not weakened, then it will also be the next potential strong enemy of the Chinese Empire after the United States, which is also an outcome that Wang Chenhao is not happy to see.

"Your Majesty!" Hearing Wang Shizhen's voice, Wang Chenhao suddenly came back to his senses.

Wang Shizhen said: "Your Majesty, the two major military blocs in Europe have started fighting, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to end it in a year and a half. Destroying this close enemy and defeating the United States, a strong enemy, is now an opportunity, and the European powers have no energy to interfere and do not have to worry about them. ”

"Lord Wang's words are wrong!" Seeing that Wang Chenhao nodded in agreement, Zhang Feng immediately said to Wang Chenhao: "Your Majesty, now that the war has just started in Europe, the situation is unclear. After all, the potential for victory for the Allies is great, and if Europe ends the war ahead of schedule and we fall into the quagmire of war against the United States and cannot extricate ourselves, it will be a very dangerous situation. Besides, Italy is still neutral and its position is unclear. If Italy enters the war, the direction of the battlefield will certainly change drastically. Therefore, Weichen suggested that the empire wait and see for a while, it is best to influence the war situation in Europe through the export of advanced weapons and equipment, and it is best to let them fight for a long time. ”

Wang Chenhao also nodded, and also agreed with Zhang Feng's point of view, what he said was not unreasonable.

Wang Shizhen saw Zhang Feng raising the bar with him again, and immediately said unhappily: "Lord Zhang always has the concept of being careful to sail a ship for ten thousand years, which is too conservative and too arrogant. With the military strength and financial resources of the empire today, it is completely possible to defeat the United States in four to six weeks. As for what you said about earning money from European countries, it can be done at the same time, and with the industrial capacity of the empire, it is fully competent. In addition, if we defeat the United States, you must know that the war reparations alone will be enough to compensate for all the losses. If the United States is plundered once, I believe that the oil and water are far more than the plundered during the war against Britain dozens of times. Thinking about this money, it will be a huge reward for us to win the war in the United States. ”

Zhang Feng was speechless for a moment, why didn't he want to rob the United States, no more, one time was enough. But what if the war against the United States gets bogged down, it will be a serious drag on the Chinese Empire. Therefore, Zhang Feng was in a dilemma.

Wang Chenhao smiled, this Wang Shizhen always uses this to tempt people, and he has tried it repeatedly, just look at the appearance of the officials who are salivating after hearing it, you can know how tempting it is. It's just that Wang Shizhen is too good at bragging, and he can defeat the US-US alliance in four to six weeks, which is obviously unreliable.

"Four to six weeks is too unreliable!" Wang Chenhao thought for a while and said: "The European war will have to be fought for at least three and five years before it can end, and it is acceptable that we can defeat the US-US alliance within two years." ”

Wang Shizhen was overjoyed and asked, "Your Majesty agreed!" ”

Wang Chenhao nodded, and Zhang Feng hurriedly asked, "Your Majesty, think twice!" ”

Wang Chenhao smiled and said to Zhang Feng: "Your caution is commendable, but don't be too careful. It is necessary to know that wealth and wealth are sought in danger, and the same is true for the country, so we must seize the opportunity. ”

Then Wang Chenhao reassured Zhang Feng and said: "We can adjust our strategy according to the situation of the European battlefield, always keep the European war at a balance point, and delay their war time." For example, if the Allies have the upper hand, then we will limit the export of goods and weapons to them, and provide the Entente with advanced weapons to counter the Allies. Conversely, when the Entente gained the upper hand, we in turn exported more advanced weapons to the Allies to balance the war situation. In this way, the war between the Central Powers and the Entente was always at a point of equilibrium, and the forces were evenly matched. Then their war will be a long and protracted war, and it will be impossible to interfere in the war between us and the United States. In fact, as long as they fight for more than a year, their national strength will be seriously depleted, and even if there is a sudden truce, they will not have the financial resources and energy to take care of our affairs, so you don't have to worry too much. ”

"But?" Zhang Feng still has to give his opinion.

Wang Chenhao suddenly interrupted him and said, "Okay! I've made up my mind, and that's it! You will concentrate on the production of the national economy and be able to produce as many materials as possible. The matter of the war will be handed over to Wang Shizhen, if he drops the chain, I will never spare him. ”

Wang Shizhen suddenly said: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

Zhang Feng saw that Wang Chenhao had made up his mind and knew that he could not change it, so he had to pray that everything would go well in the imperial meeting, so he said respectfully: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

In this way, Wang Chenhao made the final decision, terminated the differences of opinion between the military and the government, and transferred all the energy of the imperial political axe to the wartime mechanism.

Wang Chenhao ended the dispute between the military and the government, and the matters discussed in the subsequent meeting revolved around how to make money by exporting materials to Europe, and preparing for war with the United States.

"The European powers are all enemies who have invaded our country in the past, and it is better to let them eat dog by dog!"

This sentence is the unanimous consensus of the civil and military officials.

Wang Chenhao asked: "How is our strategic material reserves?" ”

Zhang Feng replied: "Your Majesty, according to your instructions, the empire has hoarded a large number of materials in short supply in the European battlefield in Puerto Rico, Cyprus and Kuwait, waiting to be sold to the warring countries in Europe at a high price. At the same time, the second phase of the Panama Canal expansion project was completed, allowing the passage of large merchant ships of the empire, and the transportation capacity was more than doubled. The Baghdad railway has been completed, and the Empire's various exports can reach European countries within two months. ”

Then Zhang Feng said: "However, at present, the growth of materials purchased by various countries to China is not very fast, mainly because the European powers are ready to end the war within a few months, so they have reservations in procurement. In addition, European countries want to import our advanced weapons and equipment, and we are still bargaining with them. ”

Wang Chenhao nodded and said, "It's okay, it was like this in the early days of the war." We don't care about them, as long as we produce them on a large scale, we will definitely be able to sell them when the time comes. As for advanced weapons and equipment, we will not sell them for the time being, let them fight for a while, and when they cannot advance, then our advanced weapons will be sold again to break the deadlock between them, and they will be able to sell them at a good price. ”

"Your Majesty is wise!" Zhang Feng and others hurriedly praised.

At this time, Tang Shaoyi suddenly said: "Your Majesty, it is estimated that the United States will also export arms and materials to European countries, and it will be our biggest competitor." ”

Wang Chenhao said with a smile: "The big cake of Europe is too huge, and the benefits are amazing. Hundreds of years of economic accumulation in Europe will be consumed in this war. If the empire gets this wealth, then the people of the empire will have twenty years less to struggle, and it will suddenly become the economic center of the world. Therefore, we must do our best to prevent the United States from making money by exporting materials to Europe, and we have to monopolize this cake, so the most critical reason for the war against the United States is this, and everything else is secondary. ”

Zhang Feng sighed secretly in his heart, it turned out that His Majesty was out of this consideration, and he was immediately in admiration.

Subsequently, Wang Chenhao ordered Wang Shizhen to organize the navy, first of all, to blockade the United States and carry out a naval battle. Prevent Ben from obtaining the necessary materials for industrial development, and prevent American exports to Europe from robbing the merchants of the Chinese Empire.

As a result, the great war machine of the Chinese Empire was set in motion again, and this time the enemy it would face was no longer a single country, but two countries, the United States and the United States. The United States, in particular, has a huge potential for war, and although the Chinese emperor [***] swore to guarantee victory, it was not absolutely sure.

(To be continued)