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The outbreak of a large-scale war between China and the United States was a sight that the British government was happy to see, and it was also the scenario that Gladstone and his cabinet most wanted to see. Pen ~ fun ~ Cabinet www.biquge.info no matter who wins or loses in the final war, the strength of both sides of the war will eventually be greatly reduced, whether it is the rapid development of economy and industry, the United States, which has become an economy second only to Britain, or the Chinese people's army, which occupies the South Seas and is becoming stronger and stronger, and threatens the interests of the British Empire in the Far East, I am afraid that they will not be able to recover their original strength in ten or twenty years!

Thinking of this, Gladstone's face couldn't help but show sincere joy, this scene in the Americas was the result of his efforts!" "Viscount Haldane, the Chinese have taken the lead in launching an attack in Memphis, apart from declaring war, is there any movement of the American army?" asked Gladstone.

Although Richard Haldane was somewhat unhappy to see the telegram declaring war that he had personally sent aside, he also understood that this telegram was indeed worthless.

"Yes, Prime Minister! According to the reports of our intelligence officers in the United States, three days ago, on December 31, the US General Staff had mobilized 320,000 troops to continue to strengthen the ...... of the Northern Army!"

"Wait, what are you talking about, Northern Legion? Why not the Southern Legion, they weren't attacked by the Southern Legion stationed in Memphis, why did they move their forces to the North?" interrupted Haldan. Gladstone asked, frowning.

"The Americans have not forgotten their south, they have also mobilized 120,000 cavalry, 90,000 infantry to reinforce the Southern Army!" said Haldane with a wry smile on his face. At the time of the first receipt of this news. He also did not believe that the officers of the European countries were flooding the US Army, and after they believed that the US military secrets had been completely transparent to them, Chester Allen Arthur and his generals had unwittingly hidden nearly half a million troops. If it weren't for the sudden attack of the squadron that disrupted the rhythm of their war, I'm afraid that until now, the intelligence services of various European countries have not noticed it in the slightest.

"Shhh

"The intelligence services determined that the extra troops were their regular army. And not those National Guards?" Gladstone then asked.

"No, our intelligence officers have confirmed that the Americans have thirty-five divisions of the National Guard. There is no sign of movement of the 300,000 regular troops responsible for defending the coast, and these newly added US ** units are fully equipped, and according to the observation of our military personnel in the United States, they have been training for at least two years. So. We judged that they were the biggest cards that the Americans hid in order to win this war. Haldane said in a deep voice.

"Say so. The number of military personnel that the Americans have used to fight this war has already reached two million?"

"Yes, Prime Minister!"

"Seeing that the Americans are doing their best to win the Chinese People's Army and regain their lost land! It's a pity! It would be great if there was no damn economic crisis and the war in Egypt!" A hint of exclamation flashed on Gladstone's face.

Haldane can naturally understand the meaning of Gladstone's words, if the strength of the British Empire is not damaged, then they can take advantage of the fact that the Americans and the Chinese are inseparable and their strength is greatly damaged, and return to the Americas, although it is impossible to turn the entire United States back into a North American colony of the British Empire. But there is no problem in obtaining large amounts of land and benefits.

Shaking his head, he threw away his unrealistic associations. Gladstone frowned and asked, "What is the reaction of the Chinese People's Army to this?"

"No! Our intelligence agencies have not detected the movement of the Nanyang Chinese People's Army!" Haldane said with a hint of uncertainty in his tone. Compared with the United States, Europe, the Middle East and India, which have been operated by the British Empire for a long time, it was originally a wild South Sea, and the British intelligence system here is very weak, and because of the surprise of the skin color and appearance of the East and the West, it is also very difficult for the British intelligence department to detect the Huo Jiajun. Therefore, although intelligence agencies have repeatedly confirmed that there has been no large-scale movement of the troops deployed by the Chinese People's Army in Nanyang, Haldane is still not very reassured.

After listening to his words, Gladstone couldn't help frowning, although he didn't know where the Chinese People's Army got so much confidence, he actually thought that relying only on a million troops, nearly half of which were black servant troops with low combat effectiveness, could block two million American ** teams that had been trained for two years and were fully equipped!

But he knew that if the Americans, with their strong military strength, quickly defeated the Chinese People's Army of the Americas, regained lost territory, and ended the war in a short time, it would not be what he and the British government hoped to see.

Looking at the change in the expression on Gladstone's face, Haldane naturally understood what he was thinking now! As the Secretary of War, he naturally knew that most of the people in the cabinet hoped to re-realize the continental balance policy on the American continent, so that the United States and the Chinese People's Army would confront each other and fight each other, constantly consume their strength, slow down their development, and ensure the world hegemony of the British Empire.

However, as Secretary of War, Haldane did not agree with such a strategy, not because he sympathized with the United States, which is of British descent, but because he knew that Britain's continental balance policy had succeeded on the European continent, suppressing Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, France, and many other countries that had challenged the maritime hegemony of the British Empire.

Among them, in addition to Britain's territory hanging overseas and occupying geographical advantages, there are many countries with similar strength on the rich and vast European continent, just like France during the Napoleonic period, as long as Britain takes the lead, Russia, Italy, Spain, Germany's predecessor Holy Roman Empire and Austria, which do not want France to dominate Europe, will attack in groups, and finally return the European continent to the balance of power after the Battle of Waterloo. At the same time, it also laid the foundation for the glory of the British Empire today.

But on the American continent, there are no such conditions. Because neither Mexico, nor Canada, which is already autonomous but still under British control, is too different from the strength of the United States and the Chinese People's Army. At the critical moment, apart from going into battle shirtless themselves, the British did not have any strong and reliable allies on the American continent. Even if the British government's balancing plan was finally realized, the United States and the Chinese People's Army would be defeated, divide the original American land equally, and begin a long confrontation and attrition. But Haldane believes that wars and confrontations will end one day, and no matter who wins in the end, then the remaining one must be strong and powerful. And there is a serious threat to the Atlantic interests of Great Britain.

"Alas!" Haldane sighed secretly in his heart, "Britain has been strong for too long, so long that the children and grandchildren of the Anglo-Saxons have lost the pioneering spirit of hundreds of years ago, and now they are only relying on the navy and some conspiracies that cannot be put on the table, relying on suppressing other countries, instead of thinking about developing their own economy and industry to ensure the world hegemony of the empire!"

Although at the beginning of the nineteenth century, Britain took the lead in completing the industrial revolution and became the most powerful country in the world, but in the second half of the nineteenth century, Britain's development speed slowed down significantly, while the United States and Germany, as rising stars, developed rapidly with technological innovation, economy and industry, and quickly surpassed France to become the world's second and third industrial and economic powers, and even in the 1880s, the United States surpassed Britain to become the world's most economically developed country.

If it were not for the sudden appearance of the Chinese People's Army, which interrupted the economic and industrial development of the United States, Haldane believed that in less than ten years, Britain, which had taken the lead in completing the industrial revolution, would eventually be surpassed by the United States in terms of industrial scale.

These are things that Haldane can think of, and of course the British people of insight know in their hearts, even Prime Minister Gladstone and most of the cabinet members, but compared with the huge colonial revenues, the risks and investments to invest in factories and industries are too great. Guided by the nature of profit, even the prime minister and cabinet who controlled the entire vast British Empire could not reverse the situation. Because in the capitalist era, it is no longer the emperor who controls the country, but the huge capitalists, and it is too difficult for them to give up the huge interests of the colonies and invest in industry!

"Unexpectedly, the colonies that once prompted the empire to become powerful have become the main culprits that have restrained the industrial and economic development of the empire today. Haldane smiled bitterly in his heart.

Tapping his head slightly, Gladstone's face showed distress and thought, he didn't know that while he was thinking, so many thoughts had already turned in the mind of the British War Secretary at his desk.

Now for Gladstone, the most important thing is how to support the Chinese People's Army, so that they will not collapse quickly under the offensive of the American army. But after thinking about it, Gladstone didn't come up with a more mature idea. After all, under the pressure of the economic crisis and the war in Egypt, it was impossible for Britain to come up with funds. At the same time, for the sake of the nearly billion pound loan, it is impossible to send troops.

"That's the only way to do it, it seems!" thought to Gladstone.