Across the ocean, District of Columbia, Washington.

Although it was early in the morning, on the streets of Washington, D.C., there were occasional groups of people standing on the side of the road, most of them around people with newspapers in hand, watching the amazing news reports in the newspapers.

"The Japanese Empire declared war on the Chinese Empire!"

"The two great empires of Asia are colliding again!"

"Marshal Dongxiang's tears: The Jingyuan ship proves its power with victory testimony to the world!"

"The two empires collide again: where should the United States go?"

"Empire Awakening: War!"

"Marshal Togo: The Combined Fleet of the Japanese Empire can win a naval battle in the future!"

"Admiral Ye: Victory, from one victory to another!"

Unlike the front pages of Chinese and Japanese newspapers, in the United States, American newspapers use all kinds of extremely eye-catching words as headlines to attract readers' attention, and the sudden outbreak of war between Japan and China really excites American media people, especially the results of the South China Sea naval battle, which broke everyone's glasses.

Prior to this, the media and the public in the United States all believed that although China's Zhenyang Fleet had the world's most advanced Zhiyuan ships, Japan's Combined Fleet had first-class officers, sailors, and the greatest admiral since Nelson, and they believed that under the leadership of Marshal Togo, once the two countries went to war, the war would be nothing more than a repeat of the Second Battle of the Sea of Japan.

But suddenly after the news of the South China Sea naval battle came, everyone was stunned, 2:7, the Chinese Navy was absolutely inferior, but the result of the naval battle was 1:4, the Chinese Navy won a big victory! The result was beyond anyone's expectations.

Ten years ago, when the news of the defeat of the Beiyang Navy spread all over the world. In the face of the defeat of the Beiyang Navy, which the West thought had the advantage at that time, Western public opinion unanimously praised the Japanese Navy for being "well-trained, very good at fighting, and very brave." Similarly, there were foreign commentators who held that the Chinese Navy was useless. Although many naval officers believed that "the defeat of Beiyang was by no means the fault of Beiyang, but the failure of technology and the army," it was very difficult to reverse the concept of Yicheng.

And the result of this naval battle shocked the whole world, one side, two warships, one side seven warships, one side for the training fleet new replenishment of crews, one side for the long-term war elite, if the news came before the war, perhaps, the whole world would think that the Chinese Navy was defeated, but the final result was a big defeat for the side that everyone thought would win, which was really unexpected by people, and also fundamentally reversed the image of the Chinese Navy in front of the world.

"As you can see now, you will also understand that no brave man at sea has crossed the Beiyang......"

Ten years ago, the public speeches and writings of the American Navy officer, who had dedicated the best years of his life and his life to another flag, were once again recalled, and even the same mention of the unjustly distorted fleet that Mahan had brought up but had been ignored by the nations.

Overnight, the Chinese Navy reversed the unjustly distorted history with a naval battle, and likewise shocked the world with a naval battle.

"Chinese!"

Paul? Morton, the US Secretary of the Navy, who swore a month ago that "the Chinese Navy will surrender if it can't support even a single round," still has an unbelievable and unbelievable look on his face.

"It was beyond our expectations!"

Unexpected, Paul? Morton looked at the telegram in his hand again, this telegram was sent from China by the US Navy Attaché in China, and there was also a telegram from the US Navy Attaché in Japan.

Both cables confirmed the outcome of the naval battle in the South China Sea, except for the Chinese briefings referring to the despicable sneak attack by the Japanese navy, and Japan responded with the same words.

And William, who was watching the Japanese make a statement at this time? Howard? Taft raised the telegram in his hand.

"Sneak attack, if the Chinese take a battle cruiser and a protective cruiser that are on trial voyage to sneak attack the Japanese southern fleet, they will inevitably be too confident!"

"Sneak attack?"

Theodore? Roosevelt burst out laughing.

"War after war has long proved that the Japanese yellow monkeys are naturally good at sneak attacks, which has long been their nature, but as Paul said, the result is really amazing!"

Theodore? Roosevelt took a closer look at the telegram, looking at the contents of the telegram, when he first received the news, he even thought that the telegram had been sent by mistake, could it be that the Chinese had lost four ships and the Japanese had lost one, but in the end, after repeated confirmations several times, he did not deny the fact that the Chinese behaved far beyond his imagination. ,

"Indeed, for a small country like Japan, they had to rely on sneak attacks to determine their pre-war advantage, as was the case in the Sino-Japanese War 11 years ago, and the same was true in the Russo-Japanese War last year!"

William? Howard? Taft nodded approvingly, then pointed to the telegram in his hand.

"Now we need to consider whether the war between China and Japan will develop into a full-scale war, or whether the two sides will cease fighting!"

"I don't think the Japanese will stop fighting!"

Paul, who knows the Japanese relatively well? Morton continued.

"On the surface, we all believe that the war between China and Japan is due to China's armed actions to ensure neutrality, forcing Japan, which is difficult to fight with both countries at the same time, to accept their blackmail, withdraw its troops from Manchuria, and even return Taiwan, China, indeed, this is unacceptable to Japan, and this is also the root cause of Ito's assassination, but!"

After a pause, he continued, as the president's eyes turned to himself.

"In fact, it is not at all! The reason why Japan chose to declare war on China now, in fact, the requirements of its country's future development, economically, Japan is less than a quarter of China, and after China's liberation, with the new government's encouragement of industry and commerce and the reform of the tax system, the Chinese government's fiscal revenue is several times that of Japan, and sufficient funds make it easy for China to build a strong army, including their weakest maritime power, and this kind of competition is relatively weak Japan can not afford, If Japan builds one warship for every one warship China builds, then within three years, the Japanese Navy will not only be far behind China, but at the same time, the Japanese government will also declare bankruptcy! And, the most important point is that China will never let Japan go, you must know that the Sino-Japanese War ten years ago gave the Chinese an unforgettable slap in the face, and in order to save face, or rather, to save its image in Asia, China is bound to declare war on Japan at the right time, so for Japan, before China is ready for war in the future, using temporary advantages to interrupt its development momentum is the best choice! ”

"Indeed!"

Secretary Elihue? Lu nodded in agreement.

"Since the recovery of China, its government-led industry has developed rapidly, from China's recovery to October this year, The Chinese government has invested more than 750 million yuan in industry, provided more than 1.15 billion yuan in industrial and commercial loans to the private sector, and invested more than 2.375 billion yuan in private industrial and commercial investment, which is equivalent to the total industrial investment in Japan in the past 20 years, China's strength is growing every day, while Japan, on the other hand, they were exhausted by the protracted Russo-Japanese War, and this war is more than worth the loss for Japan, they have lost all their privileges in China, and even lost most of the Chinese market, which is fatal for the Japanese industry. ”

For reasons of concern about the Russo-Japanese War, Elihu? Rutter was also concerned about the Chinese Empire, which had been regained in the intervening period of the Russo-Japanese War, taking advantage of the fact that the countries could not intervene in order to maintain the balance in Manchuria, and in his view, China seemed to have undergone radical upheaval overnight, not only in national liberation, but also in thinking.

Moreover, compared with the Japanese in industrial caution, the Chinese are more willing to take risks, the machinery they purchase are all independent motor machinery, and the patents introduced are also emerging patents, such as the tungsten carbide tool just developed by German engineers and technicians, and even during the experiment, it was introduced, and they have the same thing as the Japanese is that they continue their own industrialization path under the policy of "copy, improve, and innovate". Factories often buy two foreign products of the same model for testing and disassembly, and then research and improve them. However, unlike the slowness of the Japanese, Chinese was more willing to pay a high price to import patents and copy them, and at the same time employ a large number of foreign technicians, so that they can be localized under the guidance of foreign technicians, and at the same time, they will also make corresponding improvements, so as to ...... them."

"That's because the Chinese have more money to take risks, and the embassy in China once sent a telegram that they could pay 100 yuan for tuition first, even if the improvement failed, but the experience of failure was a failure, and the experience of failure also honed their technicians!" Compared with the caution of other countries in adopting new technologies, China's adoption of new technologies can be called "bold" and even to the point of having no scruples, and when designing the Zhiyuan ship, they have no scruples about adopting almost all the new technologies that have just been developed in the world in recent years or even months, even if they may fail, even if they may fail, they do not hesitate! ”,

Paul? Morton didn't finish his sentence, Elihu? Rout interrupted him.

"Because the Chinese believe that the first adoption of technology can ensure that they can obtain certain advantages in the short term, and the technological advantages in the short term can make up for their basic disadvantages, when other countries adopt this technology, but China can fully learn from it because it is mastered first, compared to the technological progress obtained by the whole country, the tuition paid for the use of immature technology is acceptable!"

And so far, Elihu? Root said with emotion.

"It's a pity that other countries are unwilling to learn this, and it is impossible for them to learn, our business owners are not willing to waste investment for immature technology, and countries that have this will, but are forced to do so due to financial resources, only China, they would rather reduce expenses in other aspects, but also decisively introduce as many new technologies as possible, and these technologies, even many, have not been adopted in the original country of origin, at least widely adopted."

Elihu? Root's emotion made Roosevelt and Paul? Morton nodded thoughtfully, the Chinese Zhiyuan ship used the latest steam turbines from Britain and the United States, and achieved success, but even in the face of the success of the Chinese Navy, the United States Navy shipbuilding department is still in the reliability of the "steam turbine" and other problems, the same thing also happened in the United Kingdom, the conservative adoption of new technologies, so that many countries have now lagged behind China in the application of new technologies.

"Well, gentlemen, now we are not discussing what ...... we have with the Chinese side."

When the words came to his lips, Roosevelt hurriedly took the words back, the gap? Is there a gap between the United States and China? Perhaps the biggest gap is that China must rely on sending students to the United States, Germany, and Britain to learn knowledge of almost all industries, such as industry, science and technology, in order to build a modern country, and they can indeed adopt a certain technology first than other countries, but this cannot make up for the backwardness of their foundation.

"What we need to discuss is the war between China and Japan, and the position that the United States should take in this war."

"I can't help but feel that if we take advantage of this event immediately, it will give us a great opportunity in the Far East."

Paul? Morton then said to Roosevelt,

"This is the best time for us to get rid of Japan's threat to American interests in the Far East, and if the Japanese Navy suffers heavy losses, under the clamping of the Chinese, Japan will not be able to threaten American interests in the Pacific for at least a long time, so let China and Japan weaken each other like that, and their war will at least save the United States from the current danger." But what we need to consider is that if the Chinese win a total victory, will they become the next Japan? ”

"Impossible!"

Taft almost shouted the words, perhaps realizing his faux pas, and he turned his face to look at the president and said.

"Mr. President, Chinese, they can never become Japan, China is a huge continental country, sufficient resources and territory, so that they simply cannot choose to risk external expansion, and, as we all know, there is no expansion cell in the blood of the Chinese, not to mention that for China, their serious domestic problems that have to be solved, itself limits the possibility of their external expansion, it seems that they can soon have a strong industry, army, but their own lack of foundation, The backwardness of domestic conservative forces and elite knowledge all interfere with the development of this country. ”

Taft's explanation made Roosevelt nod his head in agreement, but he did not develop his own opinion, but listened to Taft's next explanation.

"Now China, the whole world is willing to sell them any advanced technology, but it does not mean that they can use these technologies to surpass European and American countries, the backwardness of the foundation, so that everything about them is equivalent to a castle built on the sand, at least in the next twenty or thirty years, this country is unlikely to pose a substantial threat to the United States, but Japan is different, they have already begun to solve domestic problems as early as forty years ago, and Japan has shown a desire to expand, precisely after its domestic problems have been solved, Without the support of a large number of students sent to other countries, a change in the composition of the domestic intellectual elite, the introduction of foreign technology, the establishment of a modern responsible government, and compulsory education, would it be possible for Japan to expand? ”,

After a rhetorical question, Tadev, who had made a tirade, calmed down, and when he noticed that the president seemed to be deep in thought, he went further.

"Perhaps, Japan will lose in this war, but even if it loses Japan, the threat in the next ten years will far exceed that of China, through forty years of development, Japan already has a large number of technical personnel, they are either first-class military countries, second-rate national bases, third-rate industrial countries, but even so, Japan in the next ten years ago to show strength, still far more than China, China does not have its own professors and real universities, and all this, Japan has long had, defeated, It's just a military defeat, but it's not a defeat on the basis of the country's development! ”

Then Tadev further emphasized.

"A war between China and Japan will only benefit the United States, a weakened Japan, a China that will not be able to threaten American interests for the next thirty years, and the most important thing is!"

Tadev raised his voice, and his expression showed a hint of smugness.

"In the Far East, China and Japan will henceforth become inextricable enemies."

"Then your opinion is ......"

After a moment of silence, Roosevelt asked in an inquiring tone.

"If Japan wins, then we have to intervene to prevent China from being further weakened, so as to maintain the balance in the Far East, but the intervention is limited, we can support Japan on some conditions, so as to ensure China's hatred of Japan, and if China wins, then we must support China's extreme oppression of Japan!"

The two completely different treatments made Roosevelt and the others feel a little surprised, and when they looked at Tatof, they all used puzzled eyes.

"The Japanese have already squeezed China twice, and squeezed China again, only to deepen the hatred, but what about Japan? Japan has always been friends with the strong, if we can't let China do everything possible to squeeze Japan, then we will have to face a "Sino-Japanese alliance" in the Far East, by that time, the threat of the United States in the Far East will be far greater than today, so only China's extreme squeeze of Japan can force Japan to not approach the Chinese because of the extreme strength, but will give birth to hatred, for the United States, what we need is just hatred! Only in this way can the interests of the United States in the Pacific not be damaged! ”