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"Your Majesty, the French are in a hurry. They have drawn in Britain, the United States, and Russia, and have jointly put pressure on us, and even issued a threat of war against our country. I've sent them away, though! In Xinhua Palace, in Wang Yuze's study, Wu Tingfang, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire, was telling Wang Yuze.

"Humph! It's just a paper tiger, thinking that if you threaten us with war and intimidate, we will be afraid? Wang Yuze said disdainfully. Now China is capable of facing their threats. Even if they do want to fight, they don't want to take advantage of China.

Wu Tingfang nodded, and then said: "Your Majesty, but it can be seen that they also seem to be determined to get oil in the Middle East." At least that's the attitude of France and England. If we resolutely do not back down, the flames of war will surely ignite in the Middle East! ”

"The geographical conditions of the Middle East determine that it is impossible for a large-scale war to break out there. A war of tens of thousands of people at most. At this point, we are not at a disadvantage! Wang Yuze said. The first thing we have to overcome in order to fight in the Middle East is the harsh natural environment. Drought and lack of water can cause great problems for the troops to march and fight. If it is a large-scale operation, the supply of fresh water alone can drag down the transportation line, let alone the operation. Now that China has gained a firm foothold in the Kingdom, the Kingdom's military may not be as effective as Britain and France, but they are more familiar with the environment, whether it is to act as a guide for the squadron or to transport supplies, they can play a great role. In addition, on the naval side, the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy. It has an absolute advantage in the Middle East. As long as the British and French navies do not go to the Middle East to compete with the Chinese navy for sea supremacy, then they will not be able to cut off China's maritime supply to the Middle East. In such a situation, it is even more impossible for them to defeat China.

Regarding Wang Yuze's analysis, Wu Tingfang agrees. Until the Bugeig field was discovered, the world would not know that such a treasure was buried beneath that desert. Britain and France, while fighting for the Middle East, don't take it too seriously. It's just that the location is very important. The discovery of oil suddenly turned it into a key area for various countries to compete for. In addition, if China wants to establish its superiority in the Middle East, it will have to pay a greater price.

In the following days, the situation in the Middle East became even more tense. China categorically rejected France's demands. This means that China has completely closed the door to resolving the Middle East conflict through diplomatic means. The French government even clamored that since the Chinese want war, then France will give the Chinese war, knock them out of the Middle East, and regain the interests that belong to France. At the same time, in order to increase the odds of winning. France strongly invited other Entente powers to join it, even at the expense of stating that if China were defeated, the Middle East's oil interests. France will divide in half. It's just that the other Entente countries are not stupid. Don't talk about the United States, they are too far from the Middle East. It is too difficult to send a large number of troops on an expedition to the Middle East. At the same time, the people of the United States will not agree. You know, the United States has a lot of oil, and there is no need to grab it with the Chinese. As for Russia, it is also powerless. Russia has just put out the rebellion of the Democratic Labor Party and is now licking its wounds. In addition, China has deployed heavy troops around Russia, and if Russia dares to join it, its territory will inevitably be attacked by China. Russia is also not short of oil, and the oil extracted from the Baku oil field is enough to meet Russia's needs, and it has exchanged a lot of foreign exchange for Russia. Of course, no one will have a lot of oil to spare, but Tsar Nicholas II has learned to be obedient and will not risk such a little profit this time.

The only thing France can win over on this issue is Britain. Britain is also a big consumer of oil, and it also does not produce oil. Britain is also salivating over the oil in the Middle East. However, the UK also has more options. Their vast colonies in the Middle East are not necessarily free of oil. If it is not necessary, they do not have to go to war with China.

Although France was one of the important signatories to the Entente, the treaty did not stipulate the obligations of other countries in the event of an attack on the colonies. Therefore, it is impossible to rely on treaties to bind Britain. France has no choice but to move to its advantage.

The French government proposed to Britain that as long as China was expelled, France would share oil rights and interests in the Middle East with Britain, and the profits obtained by both sides could be divided equally after deducting the war expenses. The French government's mention of yì made Britain very excited. Although, they were sure that there would be a lot of oil fields in their colonies. However, exploring an oil field requires a lot of money, and more importantly, it takes a lot of time. The Chinese have already discovered a ready-made super large oil field, and it will undoubtedly save much trouble if they take it directly. In addition, Britain also needs to win over France, so the two countries officially hooked up together.

On August 3, 1902, Britain and France jointly issued a statement that China's actions in the Middle East had constituted a serious threat and damage to the interests of Britain and France, and that Britain and France would use a single means to safeguard the interests of the two countries, and that they would not rule out the use of means of war. At the same time, the two countries called on China to withdraw from the Middle East for the sake of world peace.

However, China later issued a-for-tat statement that China's actions in the Middle East were demanded by the Arab people and were legitimate. China's interests in the Middle East are also what China deserves after paying a huge price, and no matter which country it is, we should not expect China to give up its legitimate interests. If China is drawn into a war because of this, China will not hesitate to fight.

The two completely different statements once again put China and Britain and France into a strict confrontation. Almost all of the domestic people on both sides have expressed support for their countries.

The British and French armies began to move, and the French Navy's four most advanced 'Lone class' battleships were to escort 30,000 troops to Egypt, where they would enter the Kingdom. Britain will also send two Dreadnought-class battleships into the Mediterranean, while the British Army will also send an expeditionary force of 20,000 men to join forces with the French to fight in the Kingdom. Moreover, this is only the first expeditionary force, if the Chinese continue to increase their troops, or if the war does not go well, Britain and France will send more troops into the Middle East to fight. Before that, France had 10,000 troops in the Middle East, and Britain had 30,000 troops in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Kuwait, and Persia. In India in the East, there were more than 200,000 Anglo-Indian troops, but these troops could not be mobilized.

The squadron also launched a-for-tat movement, with the main force of the Indian Ocean Fleet of the Chinese Navy cruising in the Arabian Sea, and deliberately blockading the Gulf of Aden and even entering the Red Sea. The 8th and 9th Divisions of the Marine Corps also began to board ships one after another and headed for the Middle East. The Army's Fifth Army has also begun to infiltrate the Middle East, and the Ninth Army has also stepped up its activities in the Indian border areas. For a time, the entire Indian Ocean coast became a rumor, and a war was about to break out!

On the evening of August 4, Xinhua Palace welcomed a guest, and Emperor Wang Yuze personally greeted him. The person who came was none other than the German ambassador to China, Lucas. Although Lucas was only the German ambassador to China, he had a very close relationship with Wang Yuze's family, and in private Wang Yuze even called him uncle. During the period of Wang Yuze's father, Wang Xiao, Lucas, as the German consul in Chengdu, gave great help to western Sichuan at that time, providing a lot of financial and technical support for western Sichuan, otherwise, western Sichuan would never have been able to develop rapidly. After the establishment of the empire, Lucas also provided a lot of help to China on behalf of the German government. Of course, the help that came later was often mutually beneficial. However, Ambassador Lucas's status in China is also well known, and ambassadors from other countries are also very envious of this.

"陛xià! I took the liberty to visit and disturbed me! Although the personal relationship is deep, Lucas is still polite.

"Uncle Lucas, be polite, please be seated!" Wang Yuze said with a smile. At the same time, I also secretly guessed Lucas's intention. As for Lucas's intention, he had already guessed the points. Like China, Germany is also a big consumer of oil, in addition to the German Navy began to replace a large number of oil-fired boilers to improve combat effectiveness, Germany, which has always attached importance to the army, has also begun to purchase trucks on a large scale. This has increased the consumption of oil for Germany, which does not produce oil in the first place. China has discovered super oil fields in the Middle East, and Germany will certainly not be able to sit still. Wang Yuze knew that Germany would definitely offer to share a piece of the benefits on this cake, although this approach was a bit like taking advantage of the fire to rob, but it was in line with Germany's interests. It's just that Germany has been able to drag on until now, which is also greatly beyond his expectations.

"Your Majesty, this time I came, mainly because of the situation in the Middle East. China's confrontation with Britain and France in the Middle East has once again made the world very tense. China and Germany signed a secret agreement, and if a large-scale war broke out between China and Britain and France, Germany would be obliged to enter the war. It's just that now Germany is not ready for war, and the German government hopes that China will be able to restrain a little! German Ambassador to China Lucas said.

"Uncle Lucas, please rest assured, even if a war breaks out in the Middle East, it will only be a low-intensity small-scale war, and there will be no large-scale war!" Wang Yuze replied confidently!