Beijing, July 28, 1914. ※※※※※ I ※ I ※ ※

The meeting room of the General Staff of the Ministry of National Defense was crowded with people, and the smell of smoke in the air was so thick that the orderly soldiers had to turn off the air conditioner and open the window to ventilate.

Except for His Majesty the Emperor, almost all other high-ranking Chinese officials came here, and the military and government officials never forgot to look up at the clock on the wall when chatting softly.

At twelve o'clock, Vienna should be five o'clock in the morning, and there are still three hours before the Austro-Hungarian 48-hour ultimatum, and while everyone is anxiously waiting, scenes like this scene appear in many countries, and the whole world holds its breath and waits for Serbia's reply.

Is it yielding? Or war!

It was a mystery to all, but for Limer, who was not present at the meeting, it was an answer that had long gone down in history, when Ambassador Guisle speculated on the contents: "Some of your demands we accepted ......, and as for the rest, we hope in your loyalty and chivalry as Austrian generals." At that time, everything was frozen.

Few people will understand why China is so concerned about this war in Europe and is fully committed to it, but only in this day and age will you understand that this war is about the continued strength of Britain, or the rise of the United States in troubled waters, or the birth of another superpower!

No matter which one it is, it is not the Chinese who have fully accepted Li Mo's substitution of offense for defense, and the positive deep blue ideas have begun to seep into the bone marrow, because that represents the future of China will be difficult to walk!

This is not some kind of reckless militarism, nor is it militarism, this is the special idea of this era, Mahan's theory of sea power tore through the camouflage of the great powers, but also told the world a truth, with bullets and cannons, it is always more stable than the negotiation table.

Looking at the big map, Long Guozhang was smoking a cigar with an anxious face, he didn't care whether Europe would start fighting, but whether Shi Pei would take the bait!

Because he and his Far Eastern Fleet were the key to this great war, the emperor did not hesitate to take the risk and confined him to China at the cost of sending 10,000 troops to West Africa.

Looking at Long Guozhang who looked like a fire at home, Chen Ping smiled slightly, turned his head to look at Tang Shaoyi and asked, "Prime Minister, what do you think of the troop increase plan?" ”

Tang Shaoyi didn't speak first, but glanced at Rong Kui, and after getting the latter's nod, he said: "We have already discussed, if you want to increase the number of troops in the country without entering a state of emergency, there can be a reason, similar to border conflicts and guarding against Russian invasion, so that you can quickly recruit fifteen divisions, a total of 300,000 reserve soldiers." ※※※※※I ※ I ※ ※

"That's not easy." The impatient Long Guozhang shouted: "Zhao Long, don't be idle, send a telegram to the north, ask them to cross the Yenisei River to catch a few Russian Mao, and force them to tell reporters that Russia is preparing an invasion plan, or it will be over." ”

"Fuck off." Zhao Long kicked in the void and scolded with a smile: "You navy often do this, right?" Or how could you be so experienced? ”

Long Guozhang's words made the conference room relax for a moment, this navy veteran ruffian really made Tang Shaoyi and other civilian officials cry and laugh, but then again, although it is indeed a bit shameless to do this, but the so-called excuse in the international community is not premeditated? Just like the assassination incident not long ago, under the intentional or unintentional impetus of Germany, Britain, France and other countries, didn't it gradually fall into the abyss? Take 10,000 steps back and say that if Russia wins, then the threat to China will definitely be countless times greater, and with Britain, France, the United States, and other countries, the Eurasian war may be instigated.

Of course, this is everyone's speculation, after all, they did not know that Lenin would make a revolution like Emperor Li, and from the current point of view, the rule of the Tsar is still relatively stable, and a stable and powerful neighbor will never be allowed to exist in geopolitics.

Everyone's laughter was not over, Jiang Tianxiu, who had just returned from Great Kuwait and returned to his staff post, knocked on the door and said excitedly: "Report, the destroyer Qin Qiong sent a telegram that thirty minutes ago the German Far East Fleet Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Emden and Nuremberg left Sasebo, in addition, the Aimei Island listening station detected frequent radio contact, and it is estimated that Spee is contacting four cruisers scattered in other places. ”

"Routes?" Long Guozhang pinched his cigarette butt, and his anxious expression was beyond words.

"To the west!"

"Great." Hearing this, Duan Qirui and Xue Muhua high-fived each other, although they don't know much about the navy, they always know the direction, which means that Shi Pei is really going to enter the western Pacific, and even the Indian Ocean next to it will suffer doom!

"Guozhang, from now on, your Admiralty will continue to monitor Shi Pei's movements, and you can provide him with all support without exposing us!"

"All support?" Zhao Long was stunned for a moment and asked, "Chief of Staff, don't Germany want to contain it?" ”

"It's not that you don't want to curb it, but you can't contain it now!" Tang Shaoyi took over the words, and his eyes were bright in the smoke: "If we want to win the posterior victory, we can't do without allies!" Even if we put it on Britain and France, they won't want us to help, so the emperor said that Germany is our only choice, so no matter how arrogant Germany was before and what conflicts there were, at least now we must fully support it! ”

"Since we are ready to fight, then we must give Germany a signal now, as long as Spee is in his hands, be careful not to be caught by the British, then the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean will not be safe for a day!" Duan Qirui said.

"Don't worry, I'll arrange it." Long Guozhang was just about to leave with a smile, but Zhang Zuolin had already rushed into the conference room head-on, and only said three words.

"It's war!"

-----

-----

Sitting in the headquarters of the German General Staff, Wang Shizhen couldn't help but be surprised by Germany's mobilization ability, Russia had just announced a national mobilization, and Germany had already begun to increase troops to the border, and the speed of the train was calculated in minutes.

Every senior officer knew what he was going to do, and the junior officers were speeding around to organize their soldiers, the phones ringing one after another, and the radio waves were constantly flying over the country.

Shouts and shouts hovered over every city, all the previously well-guarded military warehouses were opened, and hundreds of thousands of rifles and ammunition were distributed to the soldiers!

All the shouts were only one sentence.

"To the west!"

This is war!

A huge war that ordinary people cannot imagine!

A war that decides the country, the nation and the future!

To the west! Germany must continue to move westward, and only by opening the Western Front can Germany have any hope of winning!

Looking at the busy but chaotic General Staff of the German Army at this moment, he couldn't help but sigh that if it weren't for the emperor's clear combing, if it weren't for his eyes that transcended everything in the world, if it weren't for the fact that he invented the construction corps and used millions of coolies to be the pioneer, maybe Hua would not be qualified to participate at all.

Sitting here, he even felt the urge to throw himself in.

However, reason still suppressed him, Germany is not China, although this country has a strong military capability, its ambitions are not small, and the danger of making it strong will not be less than that of Britain and the United States, so it is better for the emperor to solve Europe by themselves, and let every inch of land here be stained with blood.

So Wang Shizhen just sat quietly, with the help of the translator assigned to him, listening to the German ** officers constantly issuing orders, but he didn't interject, but it didn't mean that no one paid attention to the deputy chief of general staff from the Far East.

When Spee's telegram arrived in Berlin, not only the officers of the German General Staff, but even Wilhelm II could not help but be moved, and half a million Chinese troops went north, which meant that the pressure on the Eastern Front would be greatly reduced.

Although this is not a war entry, it unmistakably sends a signal that Hua is on the side of Germany!

Therefore, Wilhelm II specially approved that Wang Shizhen could act with the German General Staff as an observer, and as for the more than 30 young Chinese officers brought by Wang Shizhen, they were also promised to act with the army and serve as military observers.

Not far away, in front of the sand table, the senior German generals were discussing the details, and all their focus was on the fortress of Liège that stood in front of them.

Although both Germany and Belgium have very developed railways, but the four railway lines to Belgium are all concentrated in Liège, it is not so simple to let the 1.2 million army complete the roundabout, as long as Germany is delayed for two more days in the territory, the French army can quickly establish a defensive line, layer by layer ambush to resist the footsteps of the German army.

Wang Shizhen has always believed that when it comes to fighting, these white Europeans do have spears and cannons, and the quality and technology of their soldiers are very good, but compared with their ancestors who have fought land wars for thousands of years, they are not enough.

Although the Schlieffen plan, which the emperor had specially cared for before departure, seemed to avoid the French defense line, he always thought that it was not so simple, unless Germany had an armored division like China that was still in strict secrecy, otherwise it would not be possible to complete it with infantry alone, because the fortress of Liège, with its 400 machine guns and cannons, was like a mountain in front of it, and the Belgians' vow not to surrender would make the German army encounter resistance here.

Whether it is troops or equipment, Belgium cannot hold off more than a million troops, but as long as they block for a few days, the French team can quickly block the defense line on the border between France and Belgium.

As long as the first flood is blocked, the French plain behind can continue to send troops up, so that Germany's power will be completely contained.

And to change this situation, the only way to change this situation is to have a large-scale and fast assault force, but Moltke Jr. did not even listen to the emperor's kind warning not to reduce the number of right-wing troops, will he push the tanks sold to him to the front?

Thinking of this, Wang Shizhen raised his head, and it happened that little Moltke was also looking at him, and the moment the four eyes met in the air, the latter seemed to have made up his mind.

"Let the Fifth Cavalry Regiment go at once!"

"To the west!"