A few months later

On July 30, 1912, Emperor Meiji Fuso died, and Army General Nogi Noshinori and his wife committed suicide and martyrdom.

On September 3, the two sides of the Italian-Austrian War, which lasted for more than a year, were exhausted, and the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire began peace talks in Lausanne, Switzerland.

With the poor performance of the Noodle Army in West Africa and the usual appetite of the Kingdom of Italy, it was difficult to make satisfactory promises from the Ottoman Empire, but it has to be said that the luck of the Kingdom of Italy has been very good, and just a month after the start of the peace talks, the Balkan Alliance, which had been impatient, took action against the Ottoman Empire......

From October 8 to 18, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Greece declared war on the Ottomans.

Under the pressure of fighting on two fronts, the Ottoman negotiators had to make substantial concessions, allowing the Italians to bargain again.

At 16:45 on October 18, the Ottomans signed the Treaty of Lausanne with Italy, ending the Italian-Austrian War:

There were three main treaties, the first of which were 12 islands in Libya and the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, which the Ottomans had sovereignty over and whose jurisdiction belonged to Italy.

Second, Italy paid the Ottomans a jurisdictional fee based on the total tax revenue of Libya for the three years prior to 1911.

Thirdly, Italy undertakes to respect the religious beliefs of the local people and not to offend.

Italy originally estimated that the occupation of Libya would cost about 300 million lire. By the end of the armistice, at a cost of 1.7 billion lira (equivalent to 500 million taels of silver), Italy had exhausted its entire treasury and borrowed a large amount of foreign debt.

During the war, the Ottoman Empire repeatedly urged Germany to declare war on Italy, but Germany remained hesitant to break the German-Italian-Austrian alliance.

The Italians had been inviting the Ocean Empire to join the war, promising to divide up the occupied territories of West Asia in partnership, but the Ocean Empire politely refused, resolutely not to get involved in this troubled waters.

If the original history has not changed

Two years later, World War I broke out, almost all the Italian troops in Libya were transferred back to Europe, and the Ottomans reoccupied all of Libya except for the cities of Tripoli and Homs.

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire fell and Italy reoccupied Libya.

In the face of the resistance of the Arab people, after more than ten years of bloody massacres, Italy did not really occupy Libya until the end of 1931, but it was not long before the second world war, and after the war, the Italians were expelled from Libya in the wave of national liberation.

On October 11, the long-planned Chinese people officially declared war on Japan, and the 178,000 American troops gathered in Colorado (in addition to artillery units and armored units, most of the infantry divisions are militia, the same below, no further note) gathered in Colorado After more than four hours of heavy shelling, with armored units as the forefront, they were divided into three fronts in the east, middle and west to launch an unprecedented scale of attack on the Japanese army, opening the prelude to the first US-Japan war.

The smoke of the Italian-Austrian war had not yet dissipated, and the two wars in Europe and North America started almost simultaneously, which immediately attracted the attention of the whole world.

Leaving aside the first Balkan War, from the bottom of my heart, the United States has performed remarkably well in the preparations for this war, achieving the goal of launching a campaign with suddenness.

The commander-in-chief of the theater was General Fred C. Ainsworth, Chief of Staff of the Army, and he learned a lot while being severely beaten by the Ocean Empire, and he was qualified in all aspects of army deployment and transfer, combat plan formulation, strict sealing of information, crackdown on enemy spies, and pre-war detailed preparation.

After the North American War, the Army West Point Military Academy carried out a large-scale expansion of enrollment, and used its rich experience in defeat as an example to train a group of qualified army junior officers.

In addition, after several years of war, the Mi militia is not the original newcomer, and its discipline and combat effectiveness have been significantly improved, which is bad news for the Japanese army.

The war entered a white-hot battle from the very beginning, and the officers and men of the Japanese army at every level from top to bottom knew that they were shouldering the heavy task of opening up North America, and even the 4th Division, which had always been called a "soft egg", fought very bloodily, and held out on the position for two days and two nights in the face of the intensive artillery fire and heavy group attacks of the Americans.

While withstanding the enemy's large-scale siege, the fierce 6th Division brazenly launched a white-knuckle charge of 6,000 men, killing the American troops three times in a row, leaving a large number of corpses at the front of the position and retreating in disarray.

However, the Japanese army's insistence only ended there, the US armored forces once again entered the field, broke through the defense of the 4th Division on the Western Front, inflicted heavy losses on it, and with the overall casualties of more than half, the 4th Division could not hold on, and had to retreat while fighting, moving closer to the Kobayashi Independent Mixed Brigade.

The Sixth Division on the Eastern Front fought extremely ferociously, using 40-mm and 60-mm anti-aircraft guns and 76-mm howitzers to fire directly at the US armored units, and the soldiers used bundled heavy grenades and explosive packs to blast the attacking armored vehicles, repelling more than 10 attacks by the US side and destroying more than 160 armored vehicles of various types.

While the two sides were exhausted, the 6th Division of the Japanese Army organized the remaining more than 9,000 soldiers to launch a comprehensive white-knuckle counterattack, defeating tens of thousands of US troops, capturing and destroying more than 440 artillery pieces of various types, and achieving a crushing victory.

However, after all, the US army, which had been preparing for a long time, had a huge superiority in troops, and it concentrated three artillery divisions plus seven independent artillery regiments to bomb indiscriminately, cooperate with the attack of armored forces, and fought very actively.

A week later

The defeated 4th Division and the 5th Division, which had to abandon its position, moved closer to the center and joined up with the Kobayashi Independent Brigade, plus a tank battalion and the 21st Brigade supported by the 5th Division, totaling more than 39,000 people.

Among them, the 4th Division lost more than half of its soldiers, leaving only 11,700 men, while the 6th Division, which fought extremely fiercely, suffered even heavier losses, almost everyone was wounded, and only less than 6,000 officers and men were able to continue to fight, and the two divisions combined were only more than 17,000 people.

Their stubborn fighting also inflicted heavy losses on the U.S. troops, with more than 44,300 casualties, and with an artillery and armor superiority, the battle loss ratio was 2:1, and they basically lost the ability to continue the offensive and had to stop to repair and replenish.

The U.S. military was well prepared for this, arriving in a steady stream of trains from the north and east to several key cities and towns in Colorado to reinforce the front line at the size of one army division per day, demonstrating the great advantage of fighting on the ground and soon regaining offensive capabilities.

However, the U.S. military has missed one point, that is, the Japanese organized immigrants are mainly young and middle-aged men, most of whom have received short-term military training, and some of them are even retired veterans, who can quickly replenish troop losses.

After the outbreak of the First American-Japanese War, in the face of an extremely unfavorable situation ahead, the two Japanese brigades remaining in the Alexandria area were reinforcing day and night, and have now arrived at Abququaki, where the Fifth Division is stationed, and is undergoing a short-term recuperation.

And the Japanese immigrants in the colonization sites, like a trickle to the sea, have converged on Albuquiqui, and they are ready to take up arms to defend their colonization achievements and start a bloody battle with the Mi Guokees.

On the mainland of Fuso, war mobilization has already begun, and the 2nd, 9th, 13th, and 16th permanent divisions of the army have all been urgently mobilized and have left for the harbor docks to prepare to take troop carriers to fight in North America.

In accordance with the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Alliance, the Fuso government demanded that Britain intervene to stop the United States from wantonly waging war, and sought a new round of war loans, amounting to 500 million yen.

At the same time, Fuso sought a wealthy imperial syndicated loan, which could bear an annual interest rate of up to 8.8% and an emergency loan of 300 million yen, to be paid for three years with various military supplies, as long as it could be disbursed immediately.

In a word, the government of Fuso Kunitaro is anxious and ready to let go of its hands and feet.

Native Australia

Daming Palace, East Pole Palace

Li Fushou sat behind the imperial case in a good mood, looking at the several folds in front of him, a smile appeared on his face from time to time, Prime Minister Zhang Li and General Mo Rufeng, chief of staff of the War Department, sat on the left and right, waiting for the Holy Lord's inquiry.

"So, the Fuso people want an emergency loan, including weapons, tents, vehicles, food, cigarettes, and other supplies, to be paid in kind, and the place of delivery is in North America?"

"Back to Your Majesty, yes, the quantity they want is not only large, but also urgent, because most of the troops that set off from Fusang came empty-handed, at most they brought a backpack and a rifle, and nothing else, all of them had to rely on our supply."

"Do we have so much surplus in our warehouse?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we retired more than 30 divisions a few years ago, and all the equipment and materials that were transported over were stored in the warehouse, many of which have become moldy and damaged, taking up a lot of storage space.

"Well, then give it to them, you can discuss the price, anyway, you can put it away, and you won't need it in a short time."

"Wechen understands, and he will start arranging it immediately."

"Hmm"

Li Fushou replied casually, leaned back comfortably in the chair, his eyes swept over the faces of the two civil and military ministers in front of him, and finally stayed on General Mo Rufeng, and asked; "Last time, Marshal Bolt Pillar asked for the right to make a decision on the spot, when are you going to launch it?"

Admiral Mo Rufeng hurriedly stood up, and replied after bowing respectfully; "Returning to the Holy Lord, it is reported that it should be that when the U.S. military besieged Albuquerki and established a victory, it suddenly broke out, issued an ultimatum in the name of violating the arms control treaty, and deployed troops in the Rocky Mountains to continue to exert pressure on the U.S. side.

"Huh...... Marshal Bolt Pillar chose a good time at this time, President Woolrod Wilson is going to have a headache again, and he has the title of president of the worst country in history, and it seems that he can't take it off! ”

Li Fushou chuckled lightly, and the two civil and military ministers below also laughed, and the East Pole Hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere.

The referendum in the Northern Union has been in full swing, and although the exact time has not been decided, it will certainly be sometime at the end of the year, and will not be delayed until 1913.

The timing was just right, and the British were busy in the two wars that suddenly broke out, on the one hand, to control the flames of the Balkan war from spreading, and on the other hand, to calm the anger of the Fuso people, so that they could be loyal dogs at ease.

In addition, the situation in the Far East has changed dramatically, and Britain has a major interest in the region, at least the huge war reparations stipulated in the Xincho Treaty for a period of 45 years, and several large loans in between, all of which Britain is vying to take the lead in lending huge sums of money.

How happy I was when I took out the loan, how depressed I am now.

Before I could see the money back, the Qing government collapsed, and the next step was to negotiate with the government of the Republic of China, which alone was enough for the British to drink a pot.

Taking advantage of the chaos in the Balkans, the Germans extended their hands further into the Kingdom of Iran, and the British Royal Navy had sent Sahara Marine Brigade to the area, carefully co-opting the pro-British forces and guarding against the Germans, which caused a lot of trouble.

At this time, the Ocean Empire held a referendum and further expanded its power, and the British Empire couldn't cover so many things even if it had three heads and six arms, so the timing was just right.

When the wood is already in the boat, it's all, can you spit it out again?

Li Fushou shook his head and no longer paid attention to this topic, it was their business for the United States and Japan to fight to the death, and it was the most important thing for the imperial side to take advantage of the opportunity, especially the affairs of the Northern Federation, and it was not appropriate to leave the hidden danger of territorial disputes.

He thought about it for a moment, and commanded; "The people of the United States have invested a lot of money in order to win the war before the election, focusing on the next government election, although we don't want to destroy the good things of the people of the United States, but we can't let the Fuso people be completely defeated by the character of the people of the United States.

In that case, the Republic of California would have to face the military threat of the United States on its own, which would not be beneficial to stabilizing the situation in North America.

Therefore, our bottom line is that the United States can take the New Mexico region, but it must keep the Arizona region for Fuso and continue to stand in the way.

So

The growing distrust and hatred between Japan and the United States is conducive to the imperial side to take advantage of the contradictions between the two sides to obtain further benefits. ”

Admiral Mo Rufeng nodded in agreement, thought about it and replied; "Your Majesty, if the Fuso people lose the New Mexico region, then they will lose the southern part of New Mexico, which is extremely rich in oil and gas resources. I don't think the people of Fuso will give up and make a comeback one day. ”

"It's not strange, then let's fight again, anyway, we can sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight."

"Your Majesty, Shengming, living above the temple and making decisions thousands of miles away, we can only admire."

"Well, how's the Balkans doing now?"

"If you go back to the Holy Place, the Ottoman army has shown considerable tenacity in the Balkan battlefield, and the two sides have fought back and forth, and there is no way to see the victory or defeat for the time being, but in the long run, I am afraid that the Ottoman army will not be able to withstand the bite of these four little wolf cubs in the Balkans, and defeat is a high probability event."

"Alas, down-and-out countries have their own difficulties, and Osman is this water dog, but he is also rich, how can he not attract people's attention?"

"Your Majesty, the ministers have been taught."

The monarch and ministers discussed for a while about the important matters related to the national economy and the people's livelihood, and then the two important ministers retired, and began to advance in an orderly manner all kinds of matters under the orders of the emperor.