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Chapter 374: The smoke of gunfire is rising

"Don't worry, Helmut, leave the matter of introducing airship technology to me, I believe that the friendship of the German Empire is still needed by the Chinese!" Bismarck said indifferently. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Strength determines attitude, and the pride and affirmation in Bismarck's tone did not surprise Moltke and von Rohn. Although the strength of the Chinese people's army in Nanyang has become stronger day by day, the industry and economy have developed rapidly, and it has become the most powerful military force in the Far East only five years after its establishment, these are too weak compared with the powerful German Empire! And the international status cannot be compared with Germany, which has faintly become the largest power on the European continent.

Therefore, they do not think that it is very difficult to obtain airship manufacturing technology from the Chinese! After all, compared with Huo Jiajun, Germany has too much capital in its hands!

"Okay, two, let's take a look at the next intelligence! The movement of the Americans is not small! Tsk, two million people, the Chinese People's Army is in trouble now!" von Ron picked up another telegram and said with a smile.

"It's nothing to look at, a rabble, if we were to fight it ourselves, 500,000 Wehrmacht would be enough to defeat these American recruits with little experience in war!" said Old Moltke with a look of disdain. As the founder of the Wehrmacht, Moltke Sr. had absolute confidence in the troops under his leadership. Advanced military system. Well-equipped, well-trained and disciplined soldiers were the fundamental guarantee of the German Imperial Army's world dominance.

Hear the words. Bismarck smiled faintly, he and the German government were not too concerned about the outcome of this war. Because of the obstruction of Britain and France, it was impossible for German power to penetrate into the American continent, although relying on the arms trade of the Americans, the German military industrial enterprises obtained a lot of orders, alleviating the grim economic situation in Germany, but this is a pure economic benefit. But it didn't attract the attention of Bismarck, von Rohn, the real bigwigs of the German government.

Therefore, Bismarck only picked up the telegram about the official declaration of war between China and the United States, and the imminent war of more than three million people, and then threw it aside!

"Ron, where has the French fleet gone?" asked Bismarck.

"They had arrived in Djibouti three days earlier, but with the laziness of the French. They are probably still enjoying the warm sunshine of the Red Sea, and they are not setting off at all!" von Rohn said with a disdainful expression. Compared with the rigorous, rigid, and very strong sense of time of the German nation, the free and romantic French are indeed too lazy in their eyes! Although he said that, he still attaches great importance to the actions of the French ** team, after all, they still bear the name of the world's second strongest army. And it is now the most formidable enemy of the German Empire!

After listening to his words, Bismarck nodded and said, "This time the French sent the ironclad ship "Tyrenne", as well as three La Perus-class cruisers "Destint", "La Perutz" and "Nielli", to escort eight thousand French troops to the Vietnamese colonies in the Far East. Plus the 30,000 colonial troops they have already deployed in the Far East, as well as 25 warships of all ranks. I'm afraid that there is no one in the entire French Indochina Peninsula who can stop them!"

Hear the words. Von Rohn and Moltke Sr. also showed a look of recognition on their faces, whether it was Vietnam, Thailand and other indigenous kingdoms, or the suzerainty of the Qing Dynasty behind them, they could not resist the attack of the world's second army, and now Britain, the only one who could contain the French, was mired in the Egyptian war, coupled with the serious economic crisis at home, and had no ability to wage war against Indochina again. It can be said that the French picked a good time.

Of course, they also thought of the Chinese People's Army occupying Nanyang, but not to mention whether this Nanyang force, which had only been established for five years, had the courage to challenge the powerful French Republic, and the United States alone was enough to involve all their energy, so the three of them almost did not take into account this new force that dominated the Nanyang Islands.

"It's a pity that the empire lacks bases in the Far East, otherwise this fat meat would not have been monopolized by the French in any way!" said old Moltke angrily. As Germany's most powerful and hostile country, the French did not feel too comfortable with any benefit. After all, no one likes their enemies to become stronger.

"The time for the Empire to rise is too short!" von Rohn said with a slightly bitter expression. The German Empire, founded only in 1871, had clearly missed the opportunity to carve up the world, especially the Indian Ocean and the Far East, where they had no foothold, and a weak navy allowed them to maintain influence only on the European continent and Africa, and not on the distant Asia and the Pacific.

However, this is also a helpless thing, Germany is not like the United Kingdom, which is isolated overseas, with an outstanding geographical location, located in the center of Europe in the land of the four wars, Germany first needs to ensure the security of the country, which requires the maintenance of a strong army, and the army and the navy are like a pair of contradictory sides, choose one of the two, with the army, of course, the navy will become the weak side. In addition, the divided German nation really did not have the opportunity to think about the expansion of overseas colonies before reunification!

"The French occupation of Indochina is a foregone conclusion, and since we don't have a chance to participate now, let's intervene where we have the chance! The empire has waited too long, and it's time to expand our own colonies!" said Bismarck domineeringly.

Hearing this, the eyes of old Moltke and von Rohn lit up, and they raised their heads in unison. Now that Britain is embroiled in the Egyptian War and France wants to expand their Indochina colony, the two most powerful blocking forces for the expansion of the German colony have no time to take care of it! Although Germany is unable to intervene in the Far East, it has ushered in a golden opportunity on the vast African continent, which is known as the 'backyard of Europe'.

Just five days after the New Year of 1885, the British Expeditionary Force, which had surrounded Cairo, the capital of Egypt, for more than a week, with nearly 500,000 troops, officially launched a tidal offensive against the 200,000 troops led by Muhammad al-Arabi's fatherland party who were stubbornly defending the city of Cairo!

Shortly after the Battle of Cairo, the lone fleet, which had been grinding in Djibouti for a week, finally left port and headed for the Far East.

On 8 January, Kaiser Wilhelm I signed the Defence Expansion Act, signed by Bismarck, Moltke the Elder, and von Rohn. The bill stipulates that within three years, that is, before 1888, the current 18 divisions and nine independent regiments of the Wehrmacht will be expanded to 25 divisions and 500,000 men! On this very day, two Saxony-class ironclads and four second-class cruisers, protecting 15,000 Wehrmacht, sailed from Wilhelmshaven to the Atlantic!

The first thing that was strongly shaken by the expansion of the German army was their sworn enemy, France. Thus, less than a day after Germany announced its military expansion, French President Jules Grevi also signed the same expansion bill as Germany's. The situation in Europe has affected the whole body, France and Germany, the two land powers, Spain, Italy, Austria-Hungary and Russia, which are also feeling a strong threat, and they have all started their own military expansion operations. For a time, the whole of Europe was surging, and the arms race between the great powers began unconsciously!

However, all this has no effect on the Huo Jiajun and the United States, because their own military power has long been expanded to their limits because of the war between them.

On January 15, 1885, the U.S. Army on the Northern Front, which had been preparing for more than half a month and had gathered nearly 800,000 troops, launched an offensive like a tide from nearly 500 kilometers of Pittsburgh, Kane, Midville, and Erie under the command of Commander Joseph Johnston!

At the same time, in order to cooperate with the offensive of the Northern Army, William Cousset Sherman also commanded more than 700,000 troops of the Central Line Army, and also launched several attacks on the Ohio River and the Mississippi River, firmly holding back the pace of the Huojia Army's Central Line Corps to reinforce the north.

The war between the central front and the north began, and the southern front was also not calm, since the southern front corps of the Huo family army took the initiative to attack, the war here has never stopped.

"Boom ......!" The violent explosion kicked up flames and dust in the sky, and standing in the headquarters, Pierre Beauregard could clearly see even without a telescope that a five-story, more than 10-meter-high reinforced concrete building collapsed in the explosion.

"Bastard!" looked at the incomparably familiar scene in front of him, and Boregard couldn't help but curse in his heart. Although he has thought of countless ways during this time, he still has no way to deal with the Chinese airship in the sky, which poses a huge threat to the US military. I can only watch them drop huge bombs one after another, and then destroy the firepower and defense line set up by the US army in Memphis little by little, causing them to pay heavy casualties.

"Report, General! The 56th Division of the Ninth Army has lost more than half of its ranks, and it is asking for reinforcements!" said the communications staff officer, who walked in with a young soldier covered in gunpowder smoke and with a dusty and bloody gauze wrapped around his left arm.

"Commander, you must save our division commander!" said him, facing a room full of senior generals, the young soldier burst into tears. It can be seen that the fierce war in the past ten days has brought heavy pressure to this young man who joined the army for the first time.

"What's your name, how long have you been in the army?" asked Boregard.

Hearing his words, the young soldier's mind stabilized a little, "Report to the commander! My name is Karl Heinz Rummenigge, a native of Catskill, New York, and I have been in the army for two years!" )