With the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia, it was as if the whole of Europe was in a state of war, with several major powers declaring war on each other, and in less than half a month, only a handful of countries had not yet entered a state of war.

Under these circumstances, the Kuomintang Government, which had already assembled 150,000 troops in Shandong, suddenly sent two infantry divisions of nearly 40,000 troops to Qingdao, which naturally aroused great curiosity among the Japanese and British.

Unlike the Japanese mentality of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, the British people still have some complicated feelings at this time. After all, just like the Japanese, the Communist government could have been a British aid in this war, but now they could only stand by and watch a war between allies and quasi-allies...

It's just that...

They have no choice, because Japan is significantly more valuable than China.

After all, Japan has a stronger, more specialized navy, and an army that defeated Russia a few years ago. And China? Leaving aside the navy, which is still very immature, even the army, which is highly evaluated by the military attaché in China, has not received much attention from London, after all, compared with the Japanese army, which has already proven itself on the battlefield, the Chinese army still lacks a chance to prove itself.

The most important thing is...

The Japanese wanted to use this war to interrupt the development process of China, and the British did the same...

For those white supremacists, one of the world's powerhouses of color is enough, and there is no need for a second.

And for those without racial prejudice, a strong China would threaten British interests in places like Tibet, India, and Burma. Again, there is no need to show up.

Originally, the British did not pay much attention to the changes in China and the emergence of the Nationalist government, in their opinion, it was just a new regime in a country of color, at most it was stronger than the original Beiyang government.

But. A strong government is also in the interests of the UK in China, after all, the UK's business exports also need to have a safe environment.

However, after the 'Seventh Five-Year Plan' and the 'First Five-Year Plan', the British also felt a deeper threat.

Shell out 100 million pounds to develop the country? Even Britain can't make such a big move, after all, Britain's fiscal revenue at this time is only more than 100 million pounds, but even so, it is already nearly five times the fiscal revenue of the previous Qing Dynasty.

And compared to Japan. China's potential is obviously much greater, and judging from the reports of Zhu Erdian and other personnel stationed in China, China's rulers at this time are not bad. At least not much worse than the average white man—————— white superiority theorists.

If China is allowed to develop, Britain will need to worry about its own interests in places like Tibet, India and Burma. So let Japan do it and hit China's development speed, which will also have a lot of benefits for Britain.

Of course. This blow also needs to be moderate. After all, Britain has always adopted a policy of equilibrium, that is, to ensure balance between the two countries, and not to allow either China or Japan to have the power to overpower the other.

The war that worries all Europeans at the moment has already taken place, but it has only just happened, and the British, the French, the Germans and the Russians have underestimated the intensity of this war, so they still have some leisure to take care of Asian affairs.

But after some time, the British may not have the time to take care of Asia...

For example...

The Battle of the Marne, which took place almost a month later, the first Battle of the Marne...

But anyway. The British were still happy to see the Chinese's plan to seize Qingdao, after all, the Qingdao fortress fell. On the other side of the globe, the Germans were left with islands in the Pacific Ocean, which posed no threat to the British.

Moreover, with the strength of the Qingdao fortress, even if the Chinese have 150,000 people, they will have to suffer some hardships if they want to take it, whether it is casualties, ammunition wear or morale. When the Japanese come back to the game, they can defeat the Chinese at the lowest cost.

Although the British had a certain mixed mentality about the occurrence of this war, since they had decided to choose Japan, they naturally only hoped that Japan would win this conflict, so that the Japanese could also help the Entente in the shortest possible time.

Naturally, in order to prevent this war from developing to an outrageous level, Britain, France, and Russia also jointly made representations to Japan, demanding that the entire war only take place in Shandong, and not spread to other regions, such as Northeast China...

As I once said, the British hope that China will suffer some hardship, but they do not want the two colored countries to divide the winners and losers, for the British two countries have always been in a hostile and evenly matched state, which is in the best interests of the British...

But it is precisely because of this that when they see what happened in Qingdao, the British will be so dumbfounded, almost like the Japanese...

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When the two infantry divisions of nearly 40,000 men marched towards Qingdao Fortress at the same time, not to mention Britain and Japan, even those ordinary Wehrmacht officers and soldiers were a little nervous, because at this time they did not know that China and Germany had already signed a secret treaty on the return of Qingdao and Jiaozhou Bay.

Almost every Wehrmacht soldier on the way to the march clutched his weapon tightly and wondered how he would survive the ensuing fortress battle.

It is precisely because of this that when Cai Yi and Jiang Baili, who had just arrived in Qingdao, asked the troops to continue to advance, many ordinary officers hesitated, and some low-ranking officers even reported to Lu Shang that if they were going forward, they would enter the range of German firepower.

However, Cai Yi, Jiang Baili, and the division commanders and brigade commanders of these two infantry divisions responded to their subordinates.

"Go ahead..."

That's all.

The Wehrmacht attached great importance to military orders, so despite their apprehensions, they continued to move forward according to the orders. Then, something surprising happened.

After entering the strike range of the Germans. There were no shells falling from their heads, as if the Germans in the fortress did not even know that they were coming.

By the time they entered the range of machine guns and other weapons in the German position, the Germans in the position still did not react. If you don't look through a telescope. In the distance, you can see some German troops moving on the positions, and I am afraid that they will think that the fortresses are empty.

"What the hell is going on!"

"Who knows..."

In the team, whispers gradually sounded, and almost everyone couldn't figure out what was going on, only Cai Ye and others knew it, but they didn't say anything.

By the time they were about to reach the entrance to the fortress, a German unit appeared in front of them. It's just that no matter how you look at it, this German army doesn't seem to come out to meet the enemy, but more like it came out to meet the enemy.

Because this German army only had a small number of two or three hundred people. And a considerable number of them were officers, and they had no weapons in their hands.

At this time, there were nearly 40,000 Wehrmacht troops heading for Qingdao Fortress, and although there was only one infantry brigade in front, there were more than 6,700 people (including the heavy machine gun battalion directly under the brigade and the brigade headquarters guard company). I want to defeat an infantry brigade of more than 6,700 people with two or three hundred men. Unless they can all be matchless.

But just when the ordinary officers and soldiers were still strange there, and at the same time they were ready to come forward to capture these guys (such a good opportunity, it was too unreasonable not to go up). Jiang Baili, Cai Yi, and some other high-ranking officers, surrounded by guards, rode their horses in front of the German army, turned over and dismounted, and then talked with the Germans in a very cordial manner.

Then again. If you can't fool them, how can you fool the British and Japanese...

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"It's been a long time. Governor of Melva..."

Turning over and getting off the horse, Cai Ye headed towards Melva? Dirk laughed.

On Cai Yi's side, Jiang Baili and the other officers also headed towards Melva? Dirk and the officers around him nodded in acknowledgment.

"It won't be long, General Cai, the last time I met you and General Jiang Baili was just over a week ago..." Dirk said with a smile, obviously not knowing that Cai Ye was just polite.

Although China and Germany have signed a secret treaty, it is impossible for the two sides to really wait until the handover is in place. So long before the outbreak of the war, Cai Ye, Jiang Baili and Melva? Dirk had already had a secret meeting in a place outside the Qingdao Fortress, and had arranged everything for the day.

It is precisely because of this that Cai Ye and Jiang Baili seem so relaxed.

"Anyway, let's go in first..."

Make a gesture of please, Melva? Dirk said with a smile.

At first, Melva did feel humiliated about giving up the fortress, but then he figured it out. If the fortress was given to the Chinese now, at least he and his men would have a good place to go, but if he didn't, then he and his men would have to stay in the prisoner of war camp.

As a German officer, Melva had no interest in going to a prisoner of war camp.

Jiang Baili and Cai Yi were not worried that these Germans would do anything unfavorable to them, so they followed them into the fortress with great confidence. As for the Wehrmacht officers and soldiers behind them, they were led by some Chinese interpreters and German officers to the forts, defensive positions and other places in various parts of the fortress to take charge of the reception work.

And, of course, the arsenal.

This is also one of the agreements reached between the Germans and Yan Shao, that is, when the fortress is handed over, the Germans will not directly hand over the weapons to the receiving troops, but will first store the weapons in the arsenal, and the handover troops will be directly responsible for receiving them.

After all, if the weapons were to be given directly to the receiving troops, it would look somewhat as if the Germans had surrendered, and if they did so, the Germans would at least have some face.

Yan Shao and Cai Ye don't care about this, anyway, the most important thing is the handover of Qingdao Fortress, as for such a small detail, it should be regarded as giving the Germans some face.

Anyway, the outcome of the European side is still undecided. There is no need for Yan Shao to make enemies with the Germans in this matter.

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The officers in the fortress also seemed to know what their future would be, so they were very polite when leading the various troops to receive the batteries and positions.

The other side. Melva? Dirk led Jiang Baili and Cai Yi to the governor's palace, and after a very polite greeting with each other, Melva? Dirk laughed and told the two that he was going to give them a gift.

"Gifts?"

Hearing this, the two looked at each other a little strangely.

But Melva? Dirk didn't say anything at this time, but led them out of the governor's palace and to the port of the fortress.

Over there. There was an old-looking warship moored.

"What is this?"

Looking at the warship in front of them, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili asked a little strangely.

According to the information conveyed by the Special Affairs Bureau, it was originally stationed at the Qingdao Fortress at this time. The German Far East Fleet, including the armored cruiser Scharnhorst, the armored cruiser Gneisenau, and the light cruiser Emden, had already left the fortress of Tsingtao and was now attacking the merchant ships and some warships of the Allies everywhere in the ocean.

At the same time, although not professionals in the navy. But the two can be more or less distinguished. The warship also has a displacement of at least more than 4000 tons.

There was such a big warship in the Qingdao Fortress, and it was not sent out.

"It's not like it's broken, or maybe something is wrong..."

Although it is somewhat rude to think so, the two of them did think so at this time.

I don't know what the two of them are thinking, pointing to the warship in front of them, Melva? Dirk said with a smile.

"This is Catherine from Austria-Hungary? The Queen Elizabeth, that is, my gift to you..."

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In 1866, Austria was attacked by a combined Prussian and the newly formed Italian army. The Austrians lost the war on land, but the war at sea ended in the victory of the Austrians. Austria at that time reoccupied part of the territory of Italy. Still the ruler there. After that, the Austrian government began a large-scale military rearmament and expansion of the navy.

On September 25, 1890, a ship was named 'Catherine? Queen Elizabeth's armored cruiser was built and launched in Pula, which was named after the Austrian Emperor Franz? It was named after the wife of Joseph I, Princess Sisi of Bavaria. The basic data of the ship are as follows: displacement of 4030 tons, coal-fired boiler installation, speed of 20 knots, 424 officers and men on board, equipped with 8 150 mm naval guns, 2 70 mm secondary guns, 14 50 mm rapid-fire guns and 1 47 mm salute, etc., according to the above data, the ship can be said to be a very advanced warship at that time, of course, it is difficult to say now.

The displacement of more than 4,000 tons cannot be considered small in this era, but it is definitely not large, but in general it can be regarded as a fighting force. However, this cruiser is still too old after all, more than 20 years have passed from 1890 to now, and the speed of 20 knots obviously cannot keep up with the rhythm of the German Far East Fleet, so the warship was left in the fortress ...

Originally, this cruiser, like some Austro-Hungarian soldiers in the fortress, came to the Qingdao fortress under the orders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to assist the Germans in defending the fortress (Austria-Hungary did not know about the secret treaty), but since the war would not break out, then this warship would naturally not be useful.

By the way, along with this cruiser, there were also a number of gunboats and torpedo boats moored in the fortress...

If it's just that cruiser, it's obviously not a gift, after all, the Chinese Navy at this time has changed completely differently from the past, and the most important thing is ...

This ship is inevitably too old, eight years older than the Navy's Haiqi ship, but if you count the other ships in the harbor, the word gift can barely be called.

For this gift from the Germans, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili expressed their gratitude insincerely.

Ahem, how to say it, they are the army and not the navy, although they are very happy to receive this gift, but after all, they cannot be as happy as the navy.

In the meantime, Melva? Dirk nodded in satisfaction.

Until the end of the war, he was afraid that he would have to accept the care of the Chinese government, so he did not feel any shame.

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Just when Jiang Baili and Cai Ye took Melva? At the time of Dirk's gift, the various units had also completed the work of receiving it. Soon the red dragon flag of the Kuomintang government was flying over the Qingdao fortress, and after noticing this scene, the others who were still looking forward to the bloody battle of Germany in China were taken aback.

Tokyo, Japan, in the mansion of Aritomo Yamagu.

Sitting in a room covered with tatami mats, Yama Prefecture Youpeng is sitting there drinking weak tea with a leisurely expression.

Not long ago, news came that China had sent troops to the Qingdao fortress, and that it was carrying a variety of technical equipment, including 240mm heavy artillery. For Youpeng in Shanxian County, I am afraid there is no better news than this, because it means that his long-awaited Sino-German bloody war is about to begin, and then he only needs to wait until there is a bloody battle between China and Germany, and then come forward to make a profit.

However, just when Youpeng in Shan County was still there to make a leisurely gesture, the news that reached his ears made him almost crush the wine glass in his hand—————— if he still had the ability.

"What did you say?!" The leisurely posture no longer exists, and Shan County Youpeng asked with a hideous look on his face. (To be continued......)