February 15, 1898

The explosion of the USS Maine, a warship sent by Citi to Cuba to protect overseas Chinese, was used as an excuse to demand punishment from Spain, making unacceptably excessive demands.

On April 24, the Kingdom of Spain first declared war on the Citigroup, and the next day, the Citigroup declared war on Spain.

April 27th

Luzon

The long-planned occupation forces of the Ocean Kingdom launched at the same time in Manila and the surrounding important towns such as Dagupan, Quezon City, and Pasig to brutally suppress the local indigenous rebels.

At that time, the high-level leaders, including Aguinaldo, the leader of the rebel army, were discussing the intention of national autonomy thrown out by the Ocean Kingdom, and the debate was very fierce, but who knew that this was just a bait.

The political intelligence bureau already had the exact information about it, and the top echelons of the rebels were wiped out, and then they were brutally tortured and interrogated, and many important information was revealed, including a secret base of the rebels in the jungle.

During the two-and-a-half-month occupation of Luzon, the occupying forces quickly armed and trained up to 30,000 Chinese servants, and mounted on reconnaissance to know all the major transportation routes and densely populated towns.

None of these anomalies attracted the attention of the indigenous rebels, who were still immersed in the olive branch fantasies extended by the occupying forces, and in order to avoid misunderstandings, they tried their best to restrain the rebels' movements, which eventually led to this bitter wine.

I have to say that Aguinaldo is still too naïve.

He really thought that the Ocean Kingdom was a liberator, and he came all the way to defeat the Spaniards just to be a good man.

The tragedy that had occurred in the previous history was repeated again, only this time the occupation forces planned far-reaching and acted extremely suddenly, and the top of the rebel army was completely annihilated, and the entire indigenous uprising in Luzon suffered a great blow.

The grand plan, dubbed Operation Dawn, was personally directed by the commander of the Royal Praetorian Guard, Lieutenant General Lee Bolt-ju, and for five and a half months, at least three migrant boats left the port of Manila every day with young women ranging from 12 to 27 years old, or an estimated 6,000 people, to unknown distances.

All traffic in important towns was cut off, bridges, road passes, and mountain access roads were guarded, and thousands of pillboxes were built, separated by barbed wire and wooden fences, and people were not allowed to circulate.

The indigenous people who were involved in the rebels were forced to leave their original places of residence, their wives, sons and daughters were separated, and the remaining men lived and worked in a concentrated manner, and the slightest resistance was mercilessly suppressed.

meanwhile

A steady stream of Chinese immigrants arrived at the port of Manila, and after half a month of simple training, they were purposefully transported to various towns, which were often empty.

Similar operations are taking place all over the Luzon Islands, where no one knows how many people have been killed in the crackdown, and no one knows how many women have left the Luzon Islands, where they have lived for generations, because of the islands, and no one knows how many women have left the Luzon Islands, where they have lived for generations.

According to official figures, 7,261 rioters were eliminated, a total of about 100,000 people, and the transformation lasted about three years.

According to the estimates of foreign scholars, the official data is less than a fraction of the actual amount, because in the population statistics of the Ocean Kingdom in the next two years, the total population is about 4600~46.8 million, the growth rate is not large, until the beginning of the 20th century, there is a significant population growth.

So where is the number of immigrants in the past two years, and the number of new students who have been?

But that's for later.

In May, the Qing government and Tsarist Russia signed the six-clause "Treaty on the Renewal of the Luda Land Lease" in St. Petersburg, which further determined the exclusive right of Russian construction and in the vicinity of the leased land, and Northeast China became Russia's sphere of influence.

On 9 June, the "Extension of Hong Kong Boundary Clause" was signed in Peiping, under which the British forcibly leased the northern part of the Kowloon Peninsula and 235 nearby islands (later collectively referred to as the "New Territories") north of Boundary Street and south of Shenzhen River for a period of 99 years.

On June 11, Emperor Guangxu promulgated the "Ming Dingguo is Edict", indicating his determination to change the system, which was also the beginning of the Hundred Days Restoration.

On July 18, Pierre Curie and Marie Curie, professors of the Imperial University of the Ocean Kingdom, announced the discovery of a new radioactive element polonium, which was a major discovery in the field of fundamental physics and immediately attracted the attention of the academic community.

In 1898, a major event occurred that shocked the world, with the strong support of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the German Reichstag publicly passed the first long-awaited naval bill, which planned to invest heavily in building a powerful "high seas fleet".

In the naval bill, it was planned to build 19 battleships, 8 coastal armored ships, 12 large cruisers, and 30 light cruisers.

Once a large number of ships dump dumplings, it will have a serious impact on the entire European continental situation.

This meant that Germany openly challenged the world maritime supremacy of the Royal Navy of the British Empire and shook the foundations of the British Empire, which was absolutely devastating news for the existing world order, which provoked a strong reaction from London, followed by the famous "Two Powers Act" in response.

The clouds of the arms race over the European continent are getting thicker and thicker, and high-ranking figures in London's political and military circles have successively released tough words, which have made the already bad Anglo-German relations even worse.

For a time, Europe shook.

World public opinion is focused on the sharp deterioration of Anglo-German relations, and is full of all sorts of worries.

At this time, no one cared about the Spanish-American War in Central America, let alone what happened in the Luzon Islands in Southeast Asia.

As early as 1897, Germany had surpassed Britain to become Europe's first industrial power.

In that year, the total tonnage of German merchant ships surpassed that of the Netherlands, making it the second largest merchant fleet in the world. (Note: The first is the British merchant fleet, which is larger than the rest of the world combined, accounting for more than 60% of the world's merchant ships, and the statistics include the merchant fleet of the Ocean Kingdom.) ）

In the same year, Germany's total import and export trade surpassed Citigroup to become the world's second largest international trade country after the United Kingdom.

In 1897, the total tonnage of the German navy was similar to that of Italy, ranking fifth in the world, sixth in Italy, and seventh in the ocean kingdom.

The German fleet was less than half the size of France and a quarter less than that of Great Britain.

This was absolutely unacceptable to the ambitious Kaiser Wilhelm II, who very much hoped that in his lifetime Germany would evolve from a regional power in Europe to a world power.

The biggest risk to achieving this ideal is the attitude of the United Kingdom.

If Germany's influence is to spread all over the world, it will inevitably collide head-on with the empire on which the sun never sets, which is an inevitable fate.

The emergence of the High Seas Fleet has its historical inevitability.

On June 15, 1897, Tirpitz submitted the Memorandum on the Construction of the High Seas Fleet to Wilhelm II, which was approved by a parliamentary vote in 1898, which finally led Germany to the point of no return in challenging the world hegemony;

1. Germany must build a strong navy to defend its overseas colonies, protect the interests of German merchants, protect the safety of the German merchant fleet, and ensure the supply of industrial raw materials.

2. The only country in the world that can threaten Germany and prevent Germany from becoming a world power is Britain.

3. It is impossible for Germany to have naval bases all over the world like Britain, and Germany should establish a powerful high seas fleet in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to directly attack the British mainland in wartime.

4. The total tonnage of the High Seas Fleet should reach 2/3 of the total tonnage of the British Navy, so that even if Britain transfers all the world's navies back to Great Britain to form an advantage in total strength, even if the German Navy is completely wiped out, the British Navy after the victory will lose its combat effectiveness; The naval forces of Italy and Austria-Hungary could annihilate the remnants of the British navy.

5. The establishment of the High Seas Fleet was not to prepare for a decisive battle with Britain, but because of the existence of the High Seas Fleet, Britain no longer dared to claim to be the world's sole maritime hegemon, and did not dare to make moves that would harm or provoke Germany's interests.

Reading between the lines, it can be seen that the naval proposal to build the German High Seas Fleet was aimed at the Royal Navy of the British Empire at every turn, showing obvious hostility as the greatest potential enemy.

Just ask, how could the Royal Navy of the British Empire, which has always been so proud that its nose is facing the sky, endure it?

In order to maintain maritime supremacy, a-for-tat large-scale shipbuilding plan was introduced, and the British Isles set off a shipbuilding frenzy, planning to build more than 170 ships of various types, including battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, to respond to Germany's challenge with strength.

September 2nd

In the Battle of Omdurman in Africa, Major General Kitchener, who led the combined forces of LinkedIn and Egypt, repelled the attack of the Mahdi leader Abdullah's army and won a complete victory.

September 12th

The Kingdom of Spain asked for an armistice after losing ground on the battlefield, and Citi agreed to it, and the war that pervaded Central America ceased ever since.

On September 21, the Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup d'état and imprisoned Emperor Guangxu to Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, and the reform failed. On September 28, the six gentlemen of Wuxu, Tan Sitong, Yang Rui, Lin Xu, Liu Guangdi, Kang Guangren, Yang Shenxiu, Kang Youwei, and Liang Qichao fled to France and Japan respectively.

On October 6, 1898, the Qing court signed the Treaty of Mutual Concession of Guangzhou Bay between China and the Ocean Kingdom.

In early October, representatives of both sides of the Spanish-American War met in Paris to discuss post-war arrangements.

On December 10, the United States and Spain signed a peace treaty in Paris, in which Spain renounced Cuba and recognized Cuba's independence, ceding Puerto Rico to the Citigroup, and since then almost all of its overseas colonies have been lost.

On December 26, the Curies, professors at Imperial University, discovered the chemical element radium, and the Curies made two major physical discoveries this year, which made the Curies famous, and their physics laboratory already has a worldwide influence.

December 28th

The Ocean Kingdom held a grand victory parade in the capital city of the Red River Valley, and the soldiers of the Royal Praetorian Guard returning from the expedition to the Luzon Islands marched through the majestic Imperial Triumphal Arch in orderly steps under the watchful eyes of hundreds of thousands of fanatical citizens.

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