"Stop, we must end that boring war immediately!"

In the gloomy Whitehall of London, the loud voice of the energetic and passionate Admiral Winston Churchill rang from morning to night. The navy needed enthusiasm and energy, but the English generals and knights were still very uncomfortable with this hysterical shouting, and although they all agreed that it was time to put an end to the farce in the Far East, so that the madman of Nicholas II could devote himself to fighting back and forth in Europe, the question was whether China and Japan were willing to negotiate peace.

And the Royal Navy is also in trouble at the moment, the news that Chinese submarines swept the Japanese Second Fleet off the coast of Qingdao can not encourage the Germans who are racking their brains to break the blockade of the North Sea, dozens of ships have been sunk in just a few weeks, even the Royal Navy has not dodged, three 10,000-ton armored cruisers were sent into the sea by German submarines in one day, and the stuffy sticks of thousands of officers and soldiers sleeping at the bottom of the sea gave the generals a headache at the same time, they also began to hate the bastards who invented this war machine.

"Send the fleet! Let them sit down at the negotiating table. ”

Even His Excellency Churchill, who advocated cannon diplomacy, politely rejected the proposal, not to mention that the most important thing for the Royal Navy in the Pacific is to find the Spee fleet and kill him, and the warships in the Atlantic Ocean cannot draw any strength, and the only possibility is France. But when the Germans approached the city, it was obvious that the proud French rooster could not be involved in another quagmire, not to mention that the French navy had to keep an eye on the Italians and Ottomans, who had so far wavered.

Headache!

His Excellency Churchill cleared his throat and was about to deliver an impassioned speech to boost morale, when footsteps rang out from outside.

Walked in was the Third Admiral Fairbanks, a veteran officer in the Royal Navy, who was still fresh in the memory of the British Empire's Boer War, commanding the navy to completely block the coastline thousands of miles away, and finally allowing the army to extinguish the Boers who were not supported. He walked in and looked at Churchill, who was sitting in the middle, and to be honest, no one in the navy liked this guy who had a cigar in his mouth every day, more like a politician than a naval secretary, but who made the family gain the trust of the prime minister.

He walked among the generals, and behind him was an oil painting commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar, in which the legendary naval commander Sir Nelson stood silently watching the juniors. Fairbanks raised the telegram in his hand, and a little joy appeared on his wrinkled face: "Gentlemen, I have two pieces of good news. The first was a riot in Korea, where millions of people went out of their homes to participate in the independence movement that expelled Japan, and Japanese government envoys who could not sit still were already on ships bound for China. ”

"Finally there is hope."

Before the sound of relief subsided, Old Phil raised his hand again: "There is a second piece of good news. Through the efforts of Jardine Matheson, the Chinese have promised to consider secretly selling a submarine purchased from Germany to us for study, but only if they need 20 steam turbines for destroyers, and also depending on whether a peace agreement in the Far East can be reached. ”

"Is this true?"

"Old Phil, now is not the time to joke!" Got a German submarine? The news behind Old Phil instantly detonated the conference room, and almost all the generals stood up. The humiliation of being pierced by a German submarine some time ago and the telegrams of attacks on merchant ships that were received every day have already made the proud Royal Navy anxious, so it goes without saying what it means to get a German submarine and it is clear.

His Excellency Churchill was also very happy, but he was particularly worried: "England needs submarines and peace in the Far East, but it needs to plan for the post-war world." We must unequivocally tell the Chinese where our bottom line is, not allow them to weaken our allies. In the past, the generals might have nodded their heads and sat down to discuss sending the detachment to an emergency "visit" to show the might of the British Empire, but now although everyone knew that it was right, they felt that the great trouble of Germany should be solved first.

There is no doubt that Britain did not want Japan to be weakened too badly. So Churchill's words, which did not resonate in the Navy, were accepted in Downing Street, and the Prime Minister's telegram to the Far East really encouraged the impulsive Lord of the Admiralty.

"Sell submarines?"

On the train back to Nanjing, Jiang Baili also didn't understand why Yang Qiu made this choice. Although he understood that a German submarine would be enough to make the British government make some tilt at the negotiating table, now that the submarine was regarded as a killer weapon at home, wouldn't it be bad if the technology fell into the hands of Japan?

Yang Qiu continued to look at the briefing, as if he didn't see Jiang Baili's worries, and only after a long time did he put down the thick stack of telegrams and said, "Brother Baili, don't worry too much, I have already discussed this matter with the Admiralty." We can already protect against submarines on our own, so selling one is not a big problem. Of course, the snorkel must be dismantled, and as for other things, the technology of various countries has actually reached it, so it is not a big problem whether to sell it or not. On the contrary, Britain has promised to exchange 20 much-needed steam turbines, and Jardine Matheson will place an order for two 10,000-ton merchant ships in Jiangnan as trade compensation. ”

From the point of view of the conditions, it is indeed tempting, not to mention the steam turbine. Jiangnan Shipyard put its own boilers and steam turbines in the first place after changing banners, but it has not made a breakthrough because of processing problems for two years, and now the Navy destroyer program has become difficult to import power equipment due to the European war, so 20 steam turbines have become particularly important. What's more, there are two orders for 10,000-ton ships, which has created a precedent for China to export large-scale industrial complete sets of equipment, and if it can take the opportunity of the war to make a name for itself, it will play a very positive role in the development of the shipbuilding industry in the future.

Moreover, at this time, the sudden agreement to sell, and the binding of the sale to the Asian peace talks, Britain, an important mediator, is bound to be even more anxious to make Japan accept the conditions. But he was still a little worried, after all, the Anglo-American alliance had not yet been dissolved. Yang Qiu was not very worried, and said with a smile: "In fact, several weapons against submarines have been tested last month, and they can be equipped in two or three months at most, not to mention that the effectiveness of the submarine will be seriously reduced after the snorkel is gone." As for your concern that Japan will acquire technology, in fact, even if we cover them, we won't be able to get it? Both Britain and France had submarines. He said that he was indeed telling the truth, that seaplanes and depth charges had already been tested to meet the equipment standards, and that with these two sharp weapons, a submarine without a snorkel was not a big threat, not to mention that he wished that the Japanese Navy would completely take the detour of a large submarine.

In the final analysis, many things have been put to the end of the door or even developed, such as the imitation of the classic Gotha bomber of the First World War has also been tested in Chongqing for a long time, and has even entered the small batch construction, but some things are not good to come out too early, at least before their own small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery is mass-produced, exposing the bomber to the world will only attract greed and ambition, Britain and France do not want to get involved in this quagmire now, but it does not mean that they do not have the strength to get involved, and it is not impossible to force themselves to hand over their technology desperately.

His main concern now is whether Japan will continue the war. To be honest, he doesn't want to continue to consume, and finally looks forward to the time when the world war officially goes all out to make money and reap benefits, and if he continues to entangle, even if he makes money, he will fill this bottomless pit. On the surface, the two-month war did not cost much, but if we add in the materials and weapons purchases that have been prepared to be hoarded since last year, in fact, more than 200 million yuan has been spent. According to the current annual income of the state, it is equivalent to taking out one-third of the annual income, and if it were not for the European order, I am afraid that it would have gone bankrupt long ago.

Thinking of this, he closed the document, turned his head and asked, "Gongshi, who is the special envoy sent by Japan?" ”

"It's Japanese Foreign Minister Takaaki Kato." Cai Gongshi quickly pulled out the information he had compiled in the past few days: "This person is the son-in-law of the Mitsui chaebol and the largest provider of political funds for the Japanese Constitutional Council. He has a deep grudge with the Shan County faction and has always hoped to break the dominance of the feudal lords. The Mitsui chaebol behind him also lost a lot this time, and the 30 million invested in Baofen Coal and Iron Mine has all been lost. The raw silk and textile industries under its name have recently risen slightly, but due to the lack of raw materials, there is a shortage of work, and the two projects of shipbuilding and machinery manufacturing are supported by military orders. However, the steel supplier's Hachiman Iron and Steel stocks are about to bottom out, and the United States has recently issued a bill to ban the sale of steel raw materials and steelmaking equipment to overseas markets, so in recent days, it has been reported that they are preparing to persuade the Japanese government to stop the war as a condition for asking Britain to help Japan continue to purchase iron ore and coke for steelmaking from the United States. ”

Jiang Baili also relaxed when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Vice President, your chess piece is too timely. Shigenobu Okuma's government now has little choice but to continue to fight and watch the military become more and more powerful and there is a possibility of losing North Korea, or it can only take advantage of the opportunity of a truce between the two sides in Europe to get some benefits to recover in order to come back. ”

"Again? If you miss this store, you won't be able to do it. Yang Qiu smiled coldly: "What is his bottom line, can you know?" ”

"It's not clear, but judging from the information sent back from Japan, the Okuma Shigenobu government should want to continue to keep Lushun, Taiwan, or at least one of them, and maintain the interests of the concession in China."

"Is this a peace talk?" Jiang Baili snorted coldly in his nose. Of course, Yang Qiu would not accept this condition, and after thinking about it, he said: "Send a telegram to the president and the prime minister, promising that the draft that Britain and France would grasp be shelved, and it is suggested that Wu Tingfang and Yang Du should be the negotiators, and Gu Weijun should be the secretary." In addition, they immediately contacted Wang Zhengting and said that the negotiations with Russia should be accelerated, and now they are in a period of anxiety after Tannenberg, and they may not agree to the harsh conditions. Then send a telegram to the General Staff, asking the Northwest Army to suspend its advance, and count us as a favor to Britain, France and Russia, as for Jinzhou. ”

"Pull out this nail for me now!"