Chapter 48 Changes

Indian Ocean

A huge fleet slowly sailed towards the north, at this time, anyone who witnessed this fleet could not help but admire the huge fleet of this fleet, this may be the largest fleet on Shijie, even the Great White Fleet of the year has not been able to produce such an intuitive auditorium impact.

In the middle of the fleet, the foredeck of the battleship "Pingyuan" of the Royal Guards Navy "Pingyuan" class of more than 27,000 tons, the 14-inch main gun muzzle of the black D-NGD-NG pointed forward, and the bow of the battleship cut through the sea L-NG headed straight ahead, the "Pingyuan-class" battleship was the most powerful battleship built by the Naval Administration Department of the Royal Guards Navy at the end of the "Chinese Navy Holiday", and it was put into service at the end of last year, becoming a "first-class battleship" in the Jane's Naval Yearbook, the armor and firepower of the battleship, Not inferior to the speed of the battle cruisers, it was the service of the "Pingyuan" class that enabled the Chinese Navy, which had been dormant for many years, to return to the ranks of "naval powers".

The "Pingyuan" that sailed into the Indian Ocean for the first time appeared in the Indian Ocean as the flagship of the Indian Ocean Task Force and the main force of the expeditionary force escort fleet, and at this time, the six warships, battle cruisers, and two aircraft carriers led by it were the main escort fleet was escorting 197 requisitioned merchant ships. Undoubtedly the only army with experience in large-scale landings.

With a huge fleet and as many as 120,000 landing troops, it can be said that neither the navy nor the army have any doubts about future landings.

At this time, as the commander of the fleet, Cheng Biguang was strolling in the brilliant sunshine peculiar to the Indian Ocean, accompanied by three lieutenant generals and a major general of the Air Force: Duan Qirui, commander of the Expeditionary Force, Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Force, and Major General Li Guoan of the Air Force Task Force.

Cheng Biguang raised his marshal's staff and pointed it to the north.

"It's time to put an end to the Boss Bay standoff."

Mo Ming's sigh, the flying seagulls, the mast, the hunting fluttering naval flag, something is waiting for it, yes, a tiger that has been encircled in a cage has attacked

"General Duan, how much do you know about Boswan?"

Cheng Biguang turned his head and smiled at Duan Qirui, the commander of the expeditionary force beside him, Duan is very much like a professional soldier, he doesn't like to smile, at this point, and most army officers imagine that the goal of the army is to train people to become unsmiling chess pieces.

"Uh......"

Duan Qirui suddenly fell silent, this time as the commander of the expeditionary force, it was really beyond his expectations, as a veteran of Beiyang, he will get this appointment before he is about to retire from the future, in the Guards, Beiyang has always been an obscure existence, after all......

But the marshal's words could not be answered, and after a moment of silence, Duan Qirui opened his mouth to reply.

"The name Bos Bay derives from Bos, between the Arabian Peninsula and the Iranian plateau. From the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab River in the northwest to the Strait of Hormuz in the southeast, it is about 990 kilometers long and 56~338 kilometers wide. It covers an area of 240,000 square kilometers. As early as the 20th century BC, the Gulf of Bos was a maritime trade route for the Babylonians. Since then, it has been successively controlled by the Assyrians, Bos, Arabs, and Turks. The Portuguese occupied the bay for a century from 1506. In 1622, the English and Bos captured the islands of Gershm and Hormuz. In 1625, the Netherlands entered the bay, and Britain and the Netherlands fought over it, and from the 19th century onwards, Britain gradually took control of the bay. ”

After saying these few words, he changed the conversation.

"In 1908, the British oil company drilled the first oil well in the Shushtel area north of the Bos Gulf, and subsequently, because of the ownership of the British oil company, there were many foreign disputes, and finally under the tough attitude of our country, we finally made a commitment in the form of a treaty outside our country, in the next twenty years, 70 of the output of the Chinese oil company was supplied to Britain at 10 below the market price, and then the United Kingdom made concessions and recognized the right of the Chinese oil company to exploit the oil of Bo, since then, Last year, the oil output of China BO Petroleum Company exceeded 2 million tons, all of which were exported to the United Kingdom ......"

When Duan Qirui mentioned "concessions", Cheng Biguang's brows jumped slightly, the concessions of that year, in the eyes of the navy, were almost equivalent to shame, in fact, if the navy's military strength was strong enough, the country would not make any concessions at all. …,

"The purpose of this war was to take advantage of the fact that Britain's attention was turned to Europe and to send a large number of troops to the Gulf of Bos, so as to secure our military superiority in the Gulf of Bos, so as to create a fait accompli, and to compel Britain and France to recognize our occupation of the Arab region by means of relative military superiority."

Instant accompli

In the aftermath of World War I, the angry British could only protest weakly in the face of China's occupation of the German colonies, as hundreds of thousands of their troops were bleeding on the western front, and China skillfully exploited the stalemate in Europe to achieve its goals.

And now the same is true of Bosi Bay, it is not only China that can see the oil potential of Bosi Bay, but also the British, Germans, and French are also aware of the oil potential of Bos Bay.

According to intelligence, German geologists have discovered oil in parts of Mesopotamia between Mosul and Baghdad, through which the last leg of the Berlin-Baghdad railway under construction passes through it, and it is also believed that there must have been a large amount of oil.

Not only German geologists have come to this conclusion, but also British geologists have come to the same conclusion, and it can be said that this time, in the face of the presence of British and French forces in the Near East, China's current actions are simply a tiger's mouth.

"Actually, I've always wondered why the main force of the fleet was sent over, you know, now the British in the Indian Ocean, the largest tonnage is just an old cruiser that was commissioned twenty years ago, they have less than 30,000 troops in the entire Near East, and most of them are British and Indian colonial corps, and we send such ......"

While a few people were talking, the fleet Yijing headed towards the Strait of Hormuz, and at this time, a white S-Arab spinnaker unique to the Arab region appeared on the sea, and the Arabs on those fishing boats looked at it with amazement, this was perhaps the largest fleet they had ever seen in their lives, and the sea L-NG squeezed out when the fleet sailed could even overturn an Arab sampan.

And in the distance of the fleet, an old steel cruiser, the rice flag hung weakly, on this armored cruiser, several British ** officers looked at this fleet almost like a demonstration, although the dignity of the British Empire forced them to send a signal to this Chinese fleet, but they knew that they alone were powerless to prevent the Chinese fleet from entering Bos Bay.

"Answer them, our fleet is ordered to enter the Gulf of Bos and wade with the Ottoman Empire."

"Jiāo wade?"

Facing Shi Zhaoji's answer, Gray looked at the minister of the Chinese Empire in front of him in surprise, no matter what, he didn't xiangdao, the other party would give such an explanation.

Initially, when China sent its fleet and army, London thought it was sending troops to the former German Central Africa, where there were still German armies, and although the Germans were limited, Danshi caused great trouble for the Chinese, so they sent a large number of troops to Central Africa, which was understandable, although the British remained vigilant.

Moreover, the Chinese also told them that the land destination of the fleet and a legion was the previous speculation of German Central Africa and the response of the Chinese, so that the British could settle down a little, but to the surprise of the British, after the Chinese fleet entered the Indian Ocean, they suddenly adjusted their course and headed towards Bos Bay, if it were not for the urgent telegram received by the British and Indian politicians, I am afraid that the whole of London would still be in the stock by M-NG.

"Yes, Your Excellency, the massacre of Chinese merchants in the Ottoman Empire, the loss of the property of the Chinese trading companies, as a country responsible for the safety of its citizens, the Chinese Empire must respond in the strongest possible way"

Finally, Shi Zhaoji added.

"I think that Britain, as a side of the Entente, will naturally not be biased in favor of the Ottoman Empire, the responsible party in this incident."

Shi Zhaoji's words only blocked Gray's mouth, but as a professional foreign officer trained in the United Kingdom, Gray immediately replied.

"Of course, now that the Ottoman Empire has declared war on Great Britain, it is naturally impossible for Britain to be partial to this rotten and ignorant empire, Your Excellency, Danshi, did you take into account the special interests of Great Britain in the Arabian Peninsula when your country was determined to issue an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire?"

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the displeasure in his heart, Gray continued.

"In London, there are statements that the sudden turn of your country's fleet to the Gulf of Bos is actually a deliberately planned operation, and for the deterrence of non-declared war X-NG, there is simply no need to send such a large military liliang, but ...... "...,

"Your Excellency, in 1859, didn't your country and France also go to Dagukou to engage in "foreign jiāojiāo" with the Manchu Qing Dynasty? In this regard, the Chinese Empire is very grateful for the teachings given by your country and any other great power, and in the international and foreign countries, the Chinese Empire is only a young student, and he will follow the internationally recognized basic principles of the foreign government to carry out the independent foreign jiāo."

When Shi Zhaoji replied, he used "waijiāo", "backing", and "strength" from time to time to remind Gray that now Britain has no liliang to stop China, and his so-called waijiāo principle is just a "strength waijiāo" rhetoric, but even so, he still continued.

"Please be assured that as an ally of Britain, we are more than willing to cooperate with Britain in the construction of the X-Ng at any time and in any place, and as for British interests in the Arabian Peninsula, I think that even after the Ottoman Empire refuses to intervene, we will still safeguard British interests in the Arabian Peninsula when the army has to take force to preserve the dignity of the Chinese Empire and punish the Ottoman Empire, and please rest assured that the British colonies in the Arabian Peninsula will not be affected in any way."

"Outer jiāo", "Backing", "Strength", "Basic Outer jiāo principle"

Shi Zhaoji's answer only made Gray dumbfounded for a while, as the British Foreign Minister, he clearly knew that after the outbreak of this war, "the lights of the whole of Europe were extinguished", and when European civilization was in flames, it was almost natural for a new power like China to be in a hurry to show their minions.

At first, in Gray's view, German Central Africa and the German Pacific Territories should barely satisfy the appetite of the Chinese, and if Britain made appropriate concessions, it might be able to tie China firmly to the British chariot, for which the British acquiesced in their occupation of both places.

Even when China began negotiations with Germany, Britain had indicated to China that, to a certain extent, Britain supported the independence of the Dominion of Dutch Borneo as a way to ensure that China was on the side of the Entente and not behold* by Germany's promise of "repartition".

Re-divide the Shijie sphere of influence

For any backward country, this is full of y-uhu-, especially for a country like China with a large population and tight land resources, in the past few months, for Britain, China's fall to Germany will be a nightmare, which not only means that one-sixth of the population will join the Allies, but also means that the Chinese navy, which ranks fifth in tonnage, will attack British merchant ships and colonies in the Pacific, India and even the Atlantic, and the most terrible thing is that Trapped by the German navy, it was impossible for Britain to even send a fleet to intercept the Chinese fleet.

At the same time, the Chinese Army will attack British Burma, Mayaya, India, and then, escorted by the fleet, millions of squadrons will appear in the Indian Ocean, known as the "Lake of Britain", they will appear in Africa, they will occupy LinkedIn's colonies in Africa, occupy the Suez Canal, and then they will enter the Mediterranean.

And in the end, all this will lead to another nightmare, Italy will fall to the Allies, declare war on Britain and France, and then the squadron will appear on the Italian peninsula, millions of squadrons will attack France from Italy, and eventually, the Chinese Army will join forces with the German ** team in France.

As for the Russian battlefield that Britain once held Xiwang, it will also collapse because China falls to the Allies, and millions of squadrons will attack Russia along the Central Asian Railway and the Trans-Siberian Railway, and in the face of millions or even tens of millions of squadrons, those Russian "talking cattle" will simply not be able to stop their attack, and in the end, Britain will have to face a situation of complete collapse - the entire Eurasian and African continents, only the Allies and their allies are left, At that time, the United States, as a neutral country, would have made the wise choice that they would stop lending to Great Britain, and no banker would be willing to lend to a country that could perish at any moment.

What happens next?

Perhaps the Royal Navy will have to face a combined fleet of German, Chinese, Italian, and Austro-Hungarian navies in the waters near Britain, and after the largest naval battle on Shijie, the pride of the Royal Navy will sink into the icy sea, and Britain's history will end after that naval battle. …,

Of course, this is the worst-case scenario, as Britain's foreign minister, Gray certainly understands that halfway through these events, for London, it will take the initiative to seek the possibility of peace, Britain will not hesitate to give the colony to the Chinese, Germans, and then use the colony as a weapon to provoke the Allies, and eventually contribute to the collapse of the Allies, perhaps Britain will lose its colonies, but Danshi Britain will survive.

It is precisely because of this that Britain will be patient with China in every possible way and will make concessions on many issues. Gray does not doubt that both Shi Zhaoji in front of him and the Chinese emperor and officials in Nanjing know this very well, so they will continue to challenge the British bottom line, trying to use the British bottom line to maximize their interests in this war.

Stop them, be sure to stop them

Deep down, a voice shouted in Gray's heart, constantly reminding him that Britain could no longer make concessions, but reason clearly told him that Britain must learn to compromise

Maybe......

When Gray fell into contemplation, Shi Zhaoji picked up the teacup and drank the tea easily, the tea is Darjeeling's black tea, when tasting the tea, Shi Zhaoji couldn't help but think of once in Nanjing, a friend saw that there was Darjeeling black tea for sale in Nanjing, he gritted his teeth and said, one day he must lead the troops to burn the tea plantations in Darjeeling, in the eyes of many people, tea, should only be available in China, zhende is too short-sighted, even one day, China until the point of having to break with the British, After the two countries fight, and China hits India, then it should be like the British and turn India into a supplier of China's agricultural products.

Xiangdao this question, linked to the success of the British in governing the colonies, Shi Zhaoji couldn't help but think of the current China, after the acquisition of German Central Africa and German New Guinea, China Yijing became a country with colonies, and at the same time, China also had to face the problem of defending a new decentralized empire, and at the same time set out to develop this empire in order to digest the economic "shengli fruit", Yijing has become the current China, which cannot avoid and cannot avoid strategic and administrative issues. Danshi, China, however, lacks the colonial experience and administrative capacity of the European powers, and perhaps the problem is not obvious in German New Guinea, where there are still millions of blacks.

China's only experience in "governing the colony" comes from North Korea, and in Korea, despite Yuan Shikai's very successful governance, Danshi made the mistake of using the army to enforce the same harsh military rule, North Korea is different from other countries, China's thousands of years of suzerainty over Korea make the Koreans not reject Chinese rule, and Korea is incorporated into China as a province, at least to a certain extent, the Koreans are equal to China, Only a small number of Koreans oppose Korea becoming a province of China, so the core of military rule is to use high-pressure policies to break up the opposition of the Korean Jingying class, and if Danshi extends the Korean experience to German East Africa, this kind of rule will only alienate the people from China, and even be used by other powers, and eventually the colony that created wealth may even become a source of disaster.

Colonial management, China not only needs to learn from the oldest and largest colonial country like Britain, but also needs to learn from the Germans, Germany's scientific colonialism may be the object that China should learn, thinking about this problem in his heart, Shi Zhaoji seemed a little distracted, but his distraction in Gray's eyes had other meanings.

"Why do you get distracted?"

Shi Zhaoji's absent-mindedness looked in Gray's eyes, but it made his heart rise a little vigilant, as a professional foreign official, he knew that Shi Zhaoji in front of him was not those foreign officials in the Manchu era, and most of the current Chinese foreign officials were also professional foreign officials, they would never make a mistake like a Manchu official, and it was also impossible to make such a low-level mistake on such an occasion.

But his absent-mindedness is a fact, what made him distracted, could it be that he came here today to explain, but it is just a trick

When this idea came to his mind, Gray immediately contacted the secret negotiations held between China and Germany many times, although the Chinese had repeatedly informed Britain directly of the content of the negotiations out of the need to deal with the situation, Danshi, who could guarantee that China could do it without reservation, not to mention, when China withdrew from the negotiations before, the Germans Yijing agreed to make concessions, and they agreed to "donate" German assets in China to China for free, of course, provided that China withdrew from the Entente. …,

Will the Chinese still be stepping on a tightrope?

When this thought rose in his heart, Gray's heart couldn't help but shudder, if China, which is now ostensibly joining the Entente, is still stepping on the tightrope, then it means that China is still holding the mentality of waiting for the price to sell, they are waiting for the bid of Germany and Britain, what is the final result of this mentality?

It's like an auction - the highest bidder wins

From Shi Zhaoji's absent-mindedness, Gray also linked to China's inactive attitude towards the return of Canton Bay to France, and it seems that for them they were not willing to spend too much time and effort on the Canton Bay issue, and at the same time they showed interest in the Near East, these actions undoubtedly show that to some extent, China Yijing is prepared to go to Britain and would rather choose war to solve the problem. So as to get more spoils through the war

Gray, who felt like he had a glimpse of China's most central secret, did not notice the change in his tone and attitude while he was vigilant.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, the United Kingdom is not opposed to your defence of your interests by force"

Gray didn't notice that there was no British pride and conceit in his tone, but Shi Zhaoji, who came back to his senses, noticed that the meaning of discussion in Gray's tone was revealed, and while making Shi Zhaoji feel surprised, he carefully observed Gray.

At this time, although Gray's face was not l-s-, the pride of Danshi's eyes completely disappeared, although it is not known what caused such a change in Gray, the foreign minister of the British Empire, but for Shi Zhaoji, this is a good phenomenon, which at least means that the resistance is by no means as great as Nanjing and his own imagination.

At the beginning, Nanjing even considered that if Britain repeatedly took a hard line, they didn't mind a "somewhat" small rush to create a new opportunity for a breakthrough, but Shi Zhaoji knew that it was simply stepping on a tightrope, once the gun went wrong, no one could ensure the future direction, and now the concession shown by the other party made him feel relieved in his heart.

"Danshi, British interests in the Arabian Peninsula must be preserved"

maintenance

If he hadn't had thought about it, Gray might have preferred to say that "British interests in the Arabian Peninsula must be secured" and would have spoken unceremoniously, but now, he was talking to Shi Zhaoji in a consultative tone.

"Of course, there is no problem with this, Nanjing does not want to see it, because of the Ottoman issue, and at the same time your country has differences, after all, China and Britain are allies, and we make any decision, not only based on our own interests, but also on the interests of our allies, and then consider it comprehensively"

Shi Zhaoji, who didn't expect Gray's attitude to change so much, immediately replied, this is also Nanjing's attitude.

"So how did your country decide to secure the interests of Britain after the declaration of war on the Ottoman Empire?"

Gray's smile in exchange for Shi Zhao's suspicion hu-, what's wrong today? As far as he knew, Gray was by no means an easy person to deal with, but how did he act like a ...... today?

"Hmmm......"

Shen Y-N glanced at Shi Zhaoji at Gray who had made a substantial X-Ng concession, but when he Shen Y-N, Gray took the initiative to propose.

"Perhaps, we can have direct negotiations on this issue, for example, our two countries can send foreign officials to directly divide the country geographically, so as to ensure the interests of our two countries in the Arabian Peninsula."

Although he was surprised by Gray's concession, Danshi Shi Zhaoji did not l-s-consider, and the other party's consideration made Gray breathe a sigh of relief, at least now he understands China's bottom line, China's bottom line is not to occupy the entire peninsula, they just Xiwang get a piece of the pie to get a colony in the Near East.

The reason why they did this was probably not unrelated to the fact that they did not have any real privileges in Bos, and that they did not have any garrison in the Boss Bay area, and that they needed a colony to ensure the safety of the Boss oil fields, which at least meant that they did not have much appetite.

What you get at the negotiating table is better than what you get through war. Gray, who knows this well, certainly knows how to convince Shi Zhaoji.

"At the same time, the UK can make a commitment that, in due course, we will support the implementation of an M-N account opening policy to China at BOS"...,

As soon as his eyes opened, Shi Zhaoji looked at Gray with an incredible look, this ...... Did the British eat the wrong y-o

"This ...... Well, I need to report to Nanjing"

Although he wanted to agree, Shi Zhaoji, who was only an ambassador abroad, did not have that power at all, although he knew the bottom line of Nanjing, Danshi also understood that what sphere of influence was divided was not necessarily beneficial to China, and when China and Britain held foreign negotiations, they were only afraid that the army would hit Mesopotamia, which was the most f-i fertile region in the entire Near East, and the British obviously did not want China to completely control all of Mesopotamia, and as a great power, Britain is bound to be unable to accept China's proposal to fight and draw there, and this proposal is certainly the military's bottom line, so the negotiations may not go smoothly, and in this case, he will not be able to agree.

"Of course, this is a very important matter, and it is your full responsibility to inform Nanjing, danshi I xiwang, we will be able to hold negotiations as soon as possible"

Gray responded briskly, Shi Zhaoji did not agree, so that it was in his expectation, but if Shi Zhaoji directly agreed, then Gray would probably deny the previous speculation.

Until the time he left the Foreign Ministry, Shi Zhaoji, who was in extreme shock, still couldn't react, he didn't understand why Gray would make concessions, although he knew what Gray was worried about, Danshi As the British Foreign Minister, Gray didn't need to worry about this problem at all, as a new power, it is impossible for China to bet on the gambling table against the whole country again, what he is doing now is just taking advantage of the fire, if the main owner comes out with a gun, China will make a "proper response", But Gray's performance completely reversed his view.

"Could it be that the situation on the front lines in Europe has deteriorated further?"

After thinking about it, the only answer Shi Zhaoji could get was this, unless the situation on the European battlefield deteriorated, Britain would not have to make such huge concessions at all, although he knew that the military might oppose the negotiation of the division of spheres of influence, Danshi knew that in the end, His Majesty would definitely support the determination of spheres of influence through foreign channels, so as to ensure their own interests while avoiding conflict with Britain.

"Major Chen"

The situation in the European battlefield, Shi Zhaoji hurriedly asked the officer in the co-pilot position.

"Has there been any major change in the situation on the European battlefield lately?"

"Mr. Ambassador, we have not received any information in this regard, if this happens, we will definitely get a report, as long as our colleagues on the mainland can get the corresponding information"

The intelligence officer in the co-pilot's seat replied truthfully.

"Uh, no, there must be something that has changed, in this way, can you contact your colleagues, inform them, let them increase their reconnaissance, the western front and the eastern front, something must have changed"

"Mr. Ambassador?"

"Believe me, something must have changed, otherwise ......"

Halfway through the words, Shi Zhaoji stopped talking, there are some things that even the intelligence officer can't understand.

"Let's wait for the decision to be made in Japan"