(The book of empires is coming to an end, and on the question of whether to write about the First World War, Speechless has also considered it, but in the case of completing the layout of the First World War, that is, the Sino-German, Russian-Austrian alliance, the outcome of the First World War is almost no suspense, there is really no need to write it, I hope you can understand...... The speechless new book "Iron and Blood Ambition" has been updated synchronously, and every recommendation and collection of your "Iron and Blood Ambition" is extremely precious! It's not easy to get a new book, so please support it, thank you! "Iron and Blood" Novel Group: 150536833, welcome book friends to join and discuss the plot together! PS: This recommendation is for new books! Don't make a mistake! ）

In 1910, King Edward VII died and his son George V succeeded to the throne, and the coronation ceremony was scheduled for June 22, 1911, and more than 200 warships from 18 countries, including China, were invited to participate in the ceremony. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe Chinese Navy sent the battleship "Daming" to participate in this parade.

At about 11 a.m. on 24 June, King George V and Queen Mary, accompanied by Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, inspected the fleets of various countries. When the British king approached the review area by boat, 80 warships of various types were arrayed in eight rows, all flags were hoisted high, and the officers and men of the "Daming" were lined up on the deck. The spectacular viewing ceremony lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes......

On this day, at this solemn ceremony, no one noticed that the situation in the world had changed radically, and the same smiling admirals shook hands, saluted, and toasted at the banquet, not knowing that it would be the last time they would enjoy such a happy time between them.

When the band played music, when the officers and officers of the navies of various countries held the arms of the British aristocratic lady and danced, who would have thought that in just a few months, guns would replace musical instruments, tears replaced dance, hatred replaced friendship, tears replaced smiles! ”

War of the Worlds

London, 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Asquith, as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was pale, clasping his hands at this time, and his gray-blue eyes were staring at Home Secretary Winston, who had just finished his report? Winston Churchill, the Home Secretary who will soon become Secretary of the Navy, will exchange the post of Secretary of State for the Navy, McKenna, the current Secretary of the Navy, but this news has not been announced to the public for the time being.

"In other words, unless we stand on the side of the United States, our alliance with the United States will be challenged like never before?"

Faced with the Prime Minister's question, Churchill spread his hands:

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, that's exactly what happened."

Asquith fell into deep thought, and the room suddenly became deathly silent.

Half a month ago, at the coronation of King George V, when the Chinese ambassador and Chinese generals were still talking about peace, no one could have imagined that the Chinese Navy's use of aircraft carriers to bomb many Mexican cities was "not worth mentioning" to the world.

The Chinese first bombed, retaliated, and then imposed harsh compensation conditions, and the United States, which had always considered itself responsible for the Americas, intervened in the incident, and the United States chose to respond with a tough attitude - they transferred six battleships from the Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific, which undoubtedly spurred China to make further decisions, and China strengthened its Pacific Fleet.

It can be said that the situation in the Pacific Ocean is becoming increasingly tense.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister......"

Admiral McKenna carefully broke the silence,

"I believe that things have reached this point, and there is no chance of recovery, and if Britain cannot act, then the Chinese's conspiracy will undoubtedly succeed."

"Are they testing us?"

Asquith sneered:

"At least, they have this intention, and for the Chinese, this is an opportunity for them to test our alliance with the United States, and any concession we make may be misunderstood by the outside world, Your Excellency Prime Minister."

McKenna said that as Secretary of the Navy, he is actually a little powerless now, he has no way to continue the increasingly fierce naval race, and of course, more importantly, he cannot adapt to the current situation, which is why he proposed to swap positions with Churchill, the Secretary of the Interior.

Churchill shook his head:

"In my opinion, things should be understood in this way, this incident was initially an accident, no one expected, but as the events evolved, the Chinese realized that this was an opportunity, so they did not hesitate to risk causing a serious diplomatic incident, and made some tentatives, hoping to find out whether our alliance treaty with the United States was a formality or substance, and at the same time they were trying to find the bottom line of the Americans, if the Americans backed down on Mexico. Then they will inevitably extend their clutches to South America. ”

This is exactly what London has judged on the evolution of the Torreon affair, and for London's elites, they are equally aware that there is ambition behind the events.

"The military aristocracy, the political oligarchs, the industrial and commercial plutocracy, the powerful emperor, it was the German Empire of the East. What worries me most now is that the two German Reichs will join hands and attack us on both sides. ”

The worried look on Asquith's face was impossible and completely unnecessary.

"Over the past few years, we have made certain concessions to Germany and China in order to maintain the interests of the Reich, but we will never be able to satisfy each other's greedy appetites. They want everything, they are jealous of us, they are jealous of our empire, they will not give up until we are dismembered, and every step back they want to take two steps further! The German navy is advancing step by step, and it is possible that they will soon overtake the Royal Navy by virtue of their economic superiority......"

The more McKenna spoke, the more agitated he became, and he almost slapped the table.

As the Minister of the Admiralty, the reason why he felt helpless was precisely because of Germany's step-by-step pressing, which made him tired of coping, and what was even more fatal was that Britain's financial resources made Britain unable to continue this naval arms race, and it was only a matter of time before the German Navy surpassed the Royal Navy, which was obviously unacceptable to any British.

McKenna paused, then continued:

"As for the Chinese, they are even more cunning than the Germans, and ten years ago they defeated Russia with our support and help, but what did they do in the end? Not only did they take away the Russian colonies in Asia, but they also occupied Siberia, and half of Asia was under their control, but even so, their ambitions were not satisfied! ”

Churchill lit a cigar.

"The ambitions of the Chinese are obvious to all, and in the past few years, many indigenous young people from Southeast Asia have gone to study in China, and they are inciting the natives to break away from the European empires and join their so-called "Eastern civilized world," that is, into their self-dominated East Asian system. They are playing nationalist tricks, and sooner or later they will burn themselves, but before that, they will burn us first, and our Asian colonies in the near future may start a new riot, in which it is difficult to say that there is no Chinese support for it......"

"The British Empire, though strong, is powerless to confront two Germanys at the same time, and since it can no longer make concessions to the other, we need new weights to tip the scales on our side."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd? George said leisurely as he lifted his monocle.

"In other words, now, we must do everything possible to maintain the alliance with the United States!"

"Do you want to deepen your alliance with the United States?"

Secretary of War Haldane said a little indistinctly as he took his finely decorated pipe in his mouth.

In fact, the so-called Anglo-American alliance is not a real alliance treaty, in which there is not much emphasis on responsibility, but more on mutual trust, and to a large extent, it is a mutual trust treaty between the two countries that allows each other to focus on the adversary in front of them.

Lloyd's? George nodded and said:

"That's what has to be done, otherwise France alone will not be enough to fight Germany, we need to be able to suppress China, to be precise, we need to suppress the "Four Emperors Alliance", which means that we must take this opportunity to further deepen our relationship with the United States and make our alliance a real alliance. ”

Churchill looked contemptuous, put down his cigar, and said in a contemptuous tone:

"Americans? They were a hostile bunch of people trying to keep to sleep on the accomplishments of the Roosevelt era. Just last year, the U.S. Navy was the second largest navy in the world, and after this year, it will be gradually left behind by Germany and China. Roosevelt left them with valuable accomplishments and grand goals, think of that terrifying plan for the two-ocean fleet. Looking at the current U.S. Navy, what has the esteemed Mr. Taft done since he came to power? ”

As Churchill said, in fact, at the beginning of the century, the US Navy was only the sixth largest fleet in the world. By two years ago, after several years of arms race with China, it was second only to the Royal Navy, but that did not mean that they had an advantage over China – the United States had too many old warships, the Great White Fleet. And in comparison, the Chinese fleet is much more cutting-edge, but now, everything is over!

"It's not important, the important thing is that the United States can contain China's power!"

For the UK, this is all that matters and what the UK needs now.

"But one thing we have to take into account is the resistance to a true alliance in the U.S. Congress,"

In fact, when the "Anglo-American Treaty" was signed, although Roosevelt strongly advocated that Britain and the United States should become real "allies," in view of the pressure from Congress, in the end the so-called "alliance" turned into mutual trust.

In his inaugural address, President Taft, who succeeded Roosevelt, expressed concern about the situation in the Far East and suggested that the U.S. Navy was aiming to be an effective force ready to concentrate on challenges in any direction, especially in the Pacific.

However, in the actual implementation of the following policy, the Taft administration not only failed to curb the expansion of Germany and China in the Pacific by diplomatic means, but also weakened the momentum of the vigorous naval development since the Roosevelt era.

Even the Anglo-American Treaty had been downplayed – in the name of peace, of course, and now, in the face of threats from the Chinese, those Americans finally remembered it.

"Those damn Yankees, they don't even know what they're up against! What did the gentleman say at the beginning, no, we do not rely on warships, but on the universal justice and morality of mankind to solve the problem, we want peace, let the war roll away! Harilua! ”

Churchill exclaimed, not without sarcasm, in the tone of the Americans.

"In the face of real threats and interests, Americans have learned to be smart. And, personally, I'd rather give the entire Pacific Ocean to the United States than China and Germany to occupy even a single reef. ”

Lloyd's? George was clearly not joking.

"Of course, Mexico, South America! Let the Americans and the Chinese compete for all this there, we just need to focus on Europe for now! ”

Asquith narrowed his eyes:

"So, the British Empire is really to the point where it can't defend the Pacific?"

McKenna reluctantly spread his hands and said:

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, it is a pity that this seems to be the case now. In the future, we will have to choose between Europe and Asia, and it is clear that we must give priority to Europe. ”

"What's more, the European problem is already very tricky,"

War Secretary Haldane put down his pipe and added,

"The Four Emperors Alliance that we are facing can be said to be an extremely powerful alliance, and the entry of the United States will fundamentally change the balance of power between us, and that entente requires the United States."

"In other words, in this incident, we must stand firmly on the side of the United States!"

Churchill deliberately accentuated his tone, and although he despised the hostility and naivety of the Americans, it did not prevent him from attaching importance to the United States.

"From any point of view, the United States is the ally we can rely on in the war, and only the United States can contain China's power and make its power firmly restrained in Asia, instead of supporting Germany in Europe as an ally of Germany!" , Lloyd's? George's tone was firm, as if the doomed future had been repeated before his eyes repeatedly.

"So, that means we need to cooperate with the Americans, and of course, we need to pull the French to do it together!"

"It seems that we have no other choice!"

At the time of this decision, Asquith did not know what it would lead to, but he understood that for the sake of the interests of Britain, he had to make a choice, and now he made a choice that was undoubtedly in the interests of Britain.

"Alright! Then let's pull the French together and support the Americans! (To be continued.) )