August 26, 1870

The imperial capital is Chang'an

It's the hottest time of the year in Chang'an, and the sun hangs high in the sky during the day, pouring abundant light and heat onto the earth.

Fortunately, it has a typical temperate maritime climate, and in the evening, the cool sea breeze from the Pacific Ocean sweeps through the bustling metropolis, taking away all the heat of the day, leaving only a cool and pleasant night.

Inside the Tai Chi Palace

Several brass fans were added to the palace, which were elaborate steam engine structures, powered by steam-powered kerosene lamps that burned and heated, and operated with only a faint sound.

In front of each brass fan, a gluttonous four-legged gold basin containing a large piece of ice is placed, exuding a cold wind carrying cold water vapor.

In this way, the summer cooling equipment has been widely promoted in the East Palace and the West Palace, the Imperial Palace and the Duke's Palace, and has become a favorite cooling equipment for the royal and imperial nobles.

Emperor Richard sat on the couch in a cool and thin wide-sleeved coat, looked at the military situation report from Europe for a moment in his hand, shook his head with a smile on his lips, and casually threw this confidential document on the small square table.

His heart was thinking;

The Franco-Prussian War followed the same trend as in its original history.

It seems that the rise of the Tang Empire in North America did not affect most of the historical process in Europe and Asia, and history followed a strong trajectory by inertia, as evidenced by the Franco-Prussian War.

The rapid change in the situation of the Franco-Prussian War was beyond everyone's expectations, but this did not include the Tang Emperor Richard, who knew later generations.

On 2 August 1870, the headquarters of General Félix Douai of the Seventh Army, which belonged to the French Charon Corps, crossed the border between the two countries and launched a tentative attack on the Prussian defending army, which withdrew after a slight contact.

Just two days later

The 240,000 troops of the Prussian army with the 3rd Corps as the main force counterattacked comprehensively, and through the Battle of Wissanburg and the Battle of Walth, the French Charon Corps, which fought with absolute superiority, was caught off guard and retreated again and again, which caused the shock of Paris.

The weakened reign of Napoleon III was as thin as paper and could be broken with a single stab.

When news of the defeat reached Paris, the French government of Emily Olivier collapsed and was replaced by the aging Charles Kuzan Montauban to form a new transitional cabinet to preside over the imminent war.

From the Prussian counteroffensive on August 4 to the collapse of the French Empire government on August 12, the sharp upheaval that occurred in more than a week put the French Empire under the control of Emperor Napoleon III into a precarious situation and revealed its weak nature.

At this critical juncture, Emperor Napoleon III, who knew that he had caused a catastrophe, once again made a stupid move.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, on August 12, Napoleon III handed over the command of the Rhine Corps to Marshal Bazin under the pretext of being seriously ill, and he actually slipped with oil on the soles of his feet.

This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the confidence of the French army in the storm, and the emperor actually left hundreds of thousands of French troops and slipped away, the bizarre degree of this thing is simply jaw-dropping!

Less than a month earlier, Napoleon III had personally taken command of the expedition, which had boosted the morale of the French army, and now this blatant betrayal of the entire French nation had doubly destroyed the confidence of the French army to fight to the end.

Fortunately, due to the news blockade, the officers and soldiers of the French army at the bottom did not know that the great French emperor and commander had slipped away for the time being.

Under the pressure of the Prussian army, two bloody battles broke out between the two sides on 16 August in Maslatul and on 18 August in Gravolote-St. Priva.

The French army showed great valor in the battle, holding their positions and fighting the Prussian army to the end, successfully repelling the Prussian attack and inflicting heavy losses on the Prussian First Army and the Prussian Royal Guard.

After the war, the French army of Bazin retreated to the fortress of Metz, and with the strong defense of the fortress, it was surrounded by 160,000 troops of 7 corps and 3 cavalry divisions of the 1st and 2nd Corps of the Prussian army.

If this is the case

The French Bazin Corps was able to resolutely break through the encirclement and retreat back to join up with the Charon Corps led by Marshal McMahon to form a heavy group, and the situation was much better.

With the support of a steady stream of troops from Paris, it should be able to withstand the stormy Prussian attack and turn the war into a tug-of-war.

At this time, Paris had mobilized nearly 500,000 troops, which could give strong support to the peripheral field corps and reverse the difficult situation of the French army fighting more with less.

However, the regent Empress Eugenie and the Imperial Prime Minister, Charles Kuzan Montauban, Count of Baliqiao, fearing that continuing the retreat would cause unrest or revolution in Paris, ordered Bazin's legions to hold on to the fortress of Metz and not to retreat.

Such a decision, based on political rather than military considerations, completely buried the last vestiges of life for the French Bazin legion.

Only a few days later

The Prussian army besieging the fortress of Metz grew from 160,000 to 247,000, almost besieging the fortress of Metz, and the news of the escape of the French Emperor Napoleon III spread among the middle and lower ranks of officers and soldiers, and the morale of the French officers and soldiers who fought to the end was fatal.

meanwhile

The French government made a fool of himself and ordered the Charon Corps under Marshal McMahon to go to the Metz Fortress to rescue, which was equivalent to sending the Chalond Corps to death.

You must know that after several bloody battles, the Xia Long Legion only had less than 120,000 troops and 393 artillery pieces left, and food and ammunition were quite lacking.

In the entire Sedan region, the third army of the main force of the Kingdom of Prussia plus the newly formed Fourth Army had a total strength of more than 300,000 people, with more than 1,270 new artillery pieces.

Moreover, the Prussian army can dispatch the army besieging the Metz fortress at any time, concentrate several times the strength of the French army, and join the annihilation of the Xia Long Corps.

The wisest thing to do

It was the French Charon Corps that retreated to Reims to continue to retreat, and after approaching the outskirts of Paris, on the one hand, it participated in the defense of Paris, and on the other hand, it replenished and reorganized the new forces on a large scale, forming a heavy group that could compete with the Prussian army, with a total strength of more than 600,000 troops.

So

The Prussian army will either go toe-to-toe with the Chalond Corps and fight a war of attrition with great losses on both sides, and it is not yet known who will win and who will lose in a short time.

Either concentrate their forces on the Metz fortress, which is undoubtedly a hard bone, and even if it is gnawed, it will break half of the Prussian army's teeth and pay the price of heavy casualties.

Relying on strong reinforcements from Paris and the southwestern provinces, the French were not afraid to fight a protracted war of attrition with the Prussian army until one side could no longer hold on.

Unfortunately, these are hypothetical......

On August 22, 1870, a delegation led by Speaker Raul to the headquarters of the French Emperor Napoleon III and advised the Emperor Napoleon III not to return to Paris, which would easily provoke a popular uprising in Paris and endanger the rule of the French Empire.

At the same time, McMahon should be ordered to march towards Metz in order to relieve the Bazin army trapped in the fortress of Metz and reverse the current passive battle.

Immediately afterwards, the Regency Council in Paris sent another telegram to Emperor Napoleon III:

"If Bazin is not supported, the consequences will be very bad for Paris. Faced with this situation, it is doubtful that the capital will be able to defend itself. ”

The greatest tragedy of the French Empire arose from this......

At first, the emperor who did not understand military affairs rashly declared war out of anger, and personally took command of the expedition, and then saw that the momentum was not good, and he ran away with oil on the soles of his feet.

Immediately after that, a woman and an old man took over the regency council, and began to take it for granted that dozens of French troops were sent to death.

At this time, Napoleon III, who was dazed, also had no idea, so he gave a death order to Reims's Chalond corps;

Marshal McMahon was ordered to lead his army to Metz and sent this field corps to the point of no return.

In the main hall

Richard clearly realized that the fate of the fall of France was inevitable, and even the British Empire could not bear it!

Fortunately, the British Isles are separated from the European continent by a strait, and as long as the British Royal Navy does not fail, no country in the world can threaten the security of the British Empire.

Compared with the United Kingdom, the geostrategic environment around France is much harsher.

Located on the European continent, France is surrounded by the rising Kingdom of Prussia, the Tsarist Empire, the traditional Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Italy that comes out to make trouble from time to time, and the Kingdom of Spain, a traditional powerhouse in the Mediterranean, will cause trouble to France.

Richard didn't sympathize with the French in the slightest, just as he didn't like the British.

Get to the bottom of it

Both Britain and France are the same thing, and they are both bloodthirsty wolves at heart.

After France recovers a little bit of strength, it will colonize the world more frantically, compensating for its own losses by plundering the flesh and blood of the colonies, in order to recover its strength faster.

The franc colonies, led by France, had high trade barriers, and just like the native France, imposed high customs tariffs on agricultural and industrial products of the Tang Empire, which greatly hindered the process of expanding European and global markets.

Therefore, the Tang Empire has been committed to establishing its own circle of friends in the Tang and Yuan dynasties, including the United States of America, the Confederate States of America and a series of countries in South America, as well as Fuso, Ryukyu, Lanfang and other Western Pacific countries.

Although the situation in Europe is now turbulent, the Tang Empire has no intention of intervening.

Richard was very well informed, and he knew that European countries, including Britain, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Denmark, were more or less jealous and wary of the Tang Kingdom, and their resistance was quite serious.

At such times, it is even more important not to add fuel to the fire.

The Tang Empire should reflect a diplomatic tendency based on trade, playing the role of a harmless white rabbit rather than using aggressive military methods.

After all, Europe is the Europe of white Europeans, the traditional Christian world, and any attempt to infiltrate or colonize Europe is an extremely stupid delusion, which will be smashed in the face of cold reality.

It is neither realistic nor possible for any country in this world to colonize Europe with a population of 350 million.

It turns out that the historical United States of America was so powerful that it did not have an inch of territory in Europe (Note; is a territory, not a military base), which is very telling.

The resistance of the Europeans to the East Slavs has been fully demonstrated in the history of modern European warfare, forcing the Tsarist Empire to abandon its westward expansion policy for more than 200 years and turn to the East......

Europeans were equally wary of the United States of America, which in 1867 was met with unanimous ridicule when it revealed its intention to buy Greenland.

Robert Walker, then former Secretary of the Treasury, suggested to Secretary of State William Seward; By buying Iceland and Greenland, the power of the United States of America can cross the North Atlantic Ocean and reach Europe, and to a certain extent, get rid of the clamps of the Tang Empire.

This idea was rejected without hesitation by the Kingdom of Denmark, which ridiculed; "Europe is crowded enough to accommodate a rude American cowboy, and he's not a good neighbor, just a debt-ridden pauper."

In this day and age

Richard could clearly feel the vigilant and alienated gaze on the other side of the Atlantic, so in the long-term strategy of the Tang Empire, there was no attempt to get involved in Europe at all.

The Cuban Civil War is now in its third year, and the Spaniards are frantically suppressing the rebels on the island. The rebels, with steady military assistance, became more aggressive than they had ever been, and both sides fought incessantly.

As a result of years of war and brutal repression by the Spaniards, the number of Cuban residents on the island has dropped dramatically from more than 1.5 million to less than 1.2 million, of which more than 200,000 Cuban women and children have been put into concentration camps and live in extremely harsh conditions.

The Spanish colonizers have always acted brutally, and when they suppressed the local uprising in Cuba, they did not show mercy in killing the native white villages and towns, and destroyed the villages and towns at every turn, leaving no one alive.

That's great!

The civil war in this Central American island country continues, and if it is fought for another five or six years, there will be no one left, and naturally the ripe melons will fall into the hands of the empire.

At that time, the Spanish colonizers in Cuba and Puerto Rico in Central America and the Luzon Islands in Asia will be incorporated into the empire.

The 8,600-ton "Zhenyang" series of steam-ironclad battleships being developed by the Tang Empire was a large capital ship built to enhance its ocean-going combat capabilities, and it was also a preparation for colonial expansion and harvesting of Spanish territories a few years later.

These places have a warm climate and fertile land, and it is relatively easy to take over colonial rule, so why bother fighting for those barren and cold places in Europe?

Richard really didn't think that the European neighbors were good?

The best piece should be the territory occupied by the French, Italians and Spaniards, with more plains and sunshine, and the land is more fertile and suitable for farming.

Others, such as the Kingdom of Prussia and the German states, which are mountainous and flat, and whose land is generally poor, have always been areas where there is not enough food to grow, and now the food shortage is getting bigger and bigger.

Belgium, the Netherlands and the three Nordic countries near the sea, the environment is worse than the other, as for Switzerland, a country of mountains, poor birds don't, I really can't see what's good?

Switzerland, a poor and remote place, starves to death every year.

An ordinary farmer couple in the mountains will starve to death half of their seven or eight children. So Switzerland, like the German nation, has been the birthplace of traditional mercenaries since the Middle Ages.

When the child grows up, he will go out to work hard, and he can't afford to stay at home.

How good the tropical areas of Cuba, Puerto Rico and Luzon are, and how good they are to develop after they are occupied and developed, they are all dishes of the Tang Empire.

Sit on a couch

Richard was eating melons and fruits leisurely, and his mind shifted from thinking about the Spanish colonies to the Nicaragua Canal project, which was in the construction boom in Central America......

With an abundance of labor, the Nicaragua Canal project is now in full swing and progressing quite quickly, and it is possible that it will be completed earlier than expected.

The meandering canyon stretch from the Pacific Ocean to Lake Nicaragua has been largely outlined by a massive blasting operation.

During the construction of the canal project

Inevitably, some of the labor camp workers were killed or injured because of rockfalls, collapses or drowning, some because of the epidemic, because of overwork, and some because of a myriad of accidents on the construction site......

In order to make achievements, the Canal Company inevitably used some excessive hard labor, and tens of thousands of hard laborers have disappeared from the list after more than three years of construction.

The Empire's attitude towards the Canal Company was somewhat unfortunate, but it was a price that had to be paid.

Today, when mechanization is not popularized on a large scale, many dangerous jobs have to be completed by manpower, and high-intensity labor in a simple construction environment is inevitable.

Fortunately, after the South American War, a considerable part of the black slave slave labor was supplemented, and the labor force was quite sufficient.

The construction of the Nicaragua Canal coincides with the completion of the railway project around Lake Nicaragua by the end of the year, adding an additional land rail link connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, which is of great significance for the local economy.

The plantations and ranches run by Chinese immigrants along the railway lines could easily transport agricultural products to North America, South America, and Europe.

The region was dominated by the development of cane sugar, fruit tree plantations and farms, and the fruit grown could be made into canned fruit, which was popular both in the empire itself and in Europe.

Needless to say, cane sugar was originally a bulk export material from the tropics, and it was in great demand in Europe and the empire itself, and it was sold as much as it could.

Taking full advantage of the abundant water resources of the local area, the Central American farms are concentrated in the area where rice is cultivated, and the rice produced here is full of grains, soft and sweet in the mouth, and is very popular among the native Chinese residents of the empire, and the sales have been very good.

Taking stock of the situation in Central America, Richard had a satisfied look on his face.

At that time, due to years of war, the population of Central America was relatively completely cleaned up.

Nowadays, it has been basically Chinese, and some Indian and native Caucasian women are mostly family members of local Chinese families, and the children born enter Chinese schools to study, and the sinicization is quite thorough.

This is inseparable from the government's efforts to promote universal Chinese language education for many years, and the Ministry of Education has always allocated the majority of government funding, accounting for more than 10% of government expenditure.

The Imperial Household Office has always broadcast a large amount of money every year to support charity education, and it has been persevering for more than 20 years to achieve today's good situation.

We must not relax our investment in education in the coming decades!

(End of chapter)