Maoshan World: The young marshal starts!

Chapter 305 The Outbreak of World War I

March.

After successfully finding the treasure of the Ming Dynasty.

Guan Shaoqing took Yu Ji and the child back to their home in the provincial capital of eastern Guangdong from Hunan.

The Ming Dynasty treasures were also transported back by a caravan from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce under the protection of the Jingwu Guard led by Yan Zhendong.

After this vast treasure trove from the Ming Dynasty was brought back, Guan Shaoqing, who was already wealthy, became even richer.

Guan Shaoqing then divided the acquired Ming Dynasty treasure into two equal parts. He kept one part for himself and notified his master, Uncle Jiu, to contact the Maoshan sect and have several grandmasters send people to collect the treasure, since it was agreed that the treasure would be divided equally with the sect after it was acquired.

After receiving Guan Shaoqing's message, people from Maoshan, the sect's leader, arrived quickly, led by their grandmaster, Master Taixuan.

However, when Master Tai Xuan arrived and saw the treasures that Guan Shaoqing had divided up, he did not choose to take them all. He simply picked out a few boxes of gold and left them all to Guan Shaoqing.

These few chests of gold probably account for less than one percent of the total treasure that has been divided up.

"Grandmaster Uncle, what is this?"

Guan Shaoqing looked at Tai Xuan Zhenren with a puzzled expression.

"Shaoqing, you are not moved by the treasure. You can give away so much treasure so easily, keeping your word. Your grandmaster is very pleased. This shows that you are of noble character. However, there is no use for your grandmaster to keep so much treasure. Just take some back to repair the mountain gate and palace. It is more meaningful to leave the rest to you."

Upon hearing this, Master Tai Xuan smiled and looked at Guan Shaoqing, saying that he was very pleased that Guan Shaoqing had kept his word and shared so much treasure with the sect, which showed that Guan Shaoqing's character was absolutely trustworthy.

However, even with so much treasure, they couldn't possibly use it all back at Maoshan. Instead, Guan Shaoqing is now in charge of developing the people's livelihood in eastern Guangdong and bringing benefits to the local population.

Under such circumstances.

Master Tai Xuan felt that it would be more meaningful to simply take some treasure back to repair the mountain gate and palace, and leave the rest for Guan Shaoqing to use to benefit the people.

"Alright, Grandmaster Treasure, take what you want. The rest is up to you to handle."

Finally, after saying "Tai Xuan Zhenren" again, he didn't linger any longer and took the selected boxes of gold, drifting away into the sky.

"Respectfully seeing off our Grandmaster Uncle."

Upon seeing this, Guan Shaoqing couldn't help but bow in respect.

In the days that followed.

Guan Shaoqing's life also settled down. The entire Guangdong East and his forces were developing in an orderly manner. He didn't have much to do. Every day, besides cultivating, he would spend time with his wife. Occasionally, when he felt bored, he would go out for a walk to Renjia Town to see his master, Uncle Jiu, or fly around to see if he could encounter any unlucky demons or ghosts.

And so, without even realizing it.

Several more months have passed.

It's the height of summer in July.

At this moment, shocking news suddenly came from the European continent: on June 28th of last month, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Sofia were assassinated by Serbian nationalists while on an inspection tour in Sarajevo.

Once this incident broke out, the political situation across the entire European continent instantly became tense.

Austria-Hungary subsequently responded by issuing an ultimatum to Serbia. The Serbian government accepted all the terms except for Articles 5 and 6, which violated its own constitution and undermined its sovereignty, and simultaneously began general mobilization for war.

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28 because Serbia had not accepted all the terms.

Immediately following, on July 30, Great Russia and Austria-Hungary began war mobilization; on July 31, the German and Italian Empires issued a "double ultimatum" to France and Great Russia; on August 1, France and the German and Italian Empires began war mobilization, and the German and Italian Empires declared war on Great Russia; on August 2, the German and Italian Empires entered the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; on August 3, the German and Italian Empires declared war on France; Great Britain began war mobilization; on August 4, the Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Belgium, and Great Britain declared war on the German and Italian Empires; on August 5, Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.

Since then.

The first and largest war in human history broke out.

This is historically known as World War I.
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September.

The Young Marshal's Mansion in the provincial capital of eastern Guangdong.

Guan Shaoqing gathered his core subordinates, including Huang Feihong, Yacha Su, Ren Fa, Guan Wen, Guan Hao, Wu Chenglong, Wu Chenghu, Lu Wenyuan, and Bai Xiongqi.

"Greetings, Young Marshal!"

When everyone saw Guan Shaoqing bowing respectfully, their faces were filled with barely suppressed excitement. They had already guessed the purpose of Guan Shaoqing's summons.

Guan Shaoqing didn't beat around the bush and looked directly at everyone.

"No need for formalities. I'm sure you all already know the purpose of my gathering here today. The great war on the European continent has now completely broken out, and many powerful countries on the European continent, such as Great Britain, Great Russia, France, Germany and Italy, and Austria-Hungary, have been drawn into the war."

"Therefore, the time has come for our Southeast Asian plan."

Upon hearing this, everyone could no longer contain their excitement and spoke up one after another.

"I will obey the young marshal's orders."

"The Guangdong naval forces are already prepared."

"Young Marshal, give the order. We'll do exactly what you say."

"."

Seeing everyone's reaction, Guan Shaoqing nodded in satisfaction and then began to make arrangements and give orders.

“Mr. Lu, Chun Jun, you have joined forces to speak out in the name of our Guangdong government through the China Press, strongly condemning the long-standing acts of oppression and even massacre of our Chinese people by the governments of Malaysia, Luzon and other Southeast Asian countries. Our Guangdong government will definitely take action to defend the dignity of China with guns and cannons. The international discussion will depend on you.”

Guan Shaoqing first looked at Lu Wenyuan and Thirteenth Aunt and gave them his orders.

Throughout history, military campaigns have always required a just cause. Now that Guan Shaoqing is going to send troops to Southeast Asia, he naturally needs a just cause.

Moreover, the fact that local governments in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Luzon, have long oppressed and even massacred Chinese people provides Guan Shaoqing with the best pretext for sending troops.

"Yes."

The two responded with a sound of agreement.

"As the saying goes, 'An army marches on its stomach.' Since we are going to wage a major war, we must prepare our logistics first. Uncle, please immediately transfer a fleet from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to assist Mr. Bai in handling the logistics."

Guan Shaoqing then looked at Ren Fa and Bai Xiongqi and gave them instructions.

"Yes."

The two immediately accepted the order.

"Director Li, I now have the Guangdong East Military Factory set to operate at full capacity to produce guns and ammunition to support the front-line operations at any time, and there must be no mistakes."

Guan Shaoqing then looked at Li Shoucheng, the factory director of the Guangdong East Military Factory.

As the saying goes, "When the cannons roar, gold flows like water." Once a major war begins, guns and ammunition will certainly need to be prepared in a continuous stream.

"Yes."

Li Shoucheng immediately responded.

"Guan Wen and Guan Hao, listen to my order. I want you to mobilize the entire army immediately and prepare for the expedition to Southeast Asia in three days. In this battle, I, the young marshal, will take Singapore and the Malay Peninsula in one fell swoop."

"Yes."

"Wu Chenglong and Wu Chenghu, listen to my order. I want you to mobilize the entire army immediately and prepare to set out with the navy in three days to take over Singapore and the Malay Peninsula together."

Finally, Guan Shaoqing looked at Wu Chenglong and Wu Chenghu and said.

The brothers Wu Chenglong and Wu Chenghu commanded the Fifth Division of the Eastern Guangdong Army.

Although the main force of this operation in the South China Sea is the navy, once they reach Sing Tao and the Malay Peninsula and break through the Dai Ying sea defense line to land, the landing operation will definitely depend on the army.

Just now, the Fifth Division also formed a field artillery regiment, equipped entirely with advanced field guns produced by the Guangdong East Military Factory, totaling one hundred guns. It's just a pity that they haven't had a chance to test their power yet.

Guan Shaoqing was very much looking forward to the performance of the field artillery regiment in this battle.

Soon after the meeting ended, everyone quickly got to work as Guan Shaoqing had instructed.

(End of this chapter)