The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 908 The First World War Officially Begins

In Shuntian Prefecture, Beijing, Mo Zibu held the battle report sent back from Europe, feeling slightly worried.

Because the power that the Great Yu could project to Europe was too limited, even with the difference in weaponry, the overall risk was still considerable.

Across from Mo Zibu, Cao Zhenyong, who had served as the plenipotentiary ambassador of the Great Yu to Europe for fifteen years, finally became a minister of the Great Yu Dynasty, holding the official position of Assistant Minister, which was equivalent to the second-ranking minister in the Ming Dynasty.

"Europe is an industrialized continent and is the second largest country in the world after our Great Yu. Therefore, as long as there are officers, Napoleon can conscript a large number of soldiers."

The soldiers of the European countries are completely different from those of my Great Yu. They are conscripted from the streets, alleys, and fields and trained for three months. After learning what it means to advance, retreat, turn left, and turn right, they can immediately form an army.

This is also why gun control in Europe is practically ineffective, and why militia organizations are as numerous as hairs on a cow.

Cao Zhenyong was explaining the military systems of various European countries to Mo Zibu. Having spent fifteen years in Europe without interruption, Cao Zhenyong was thoroughly familiar with Europe. Among the high-ranking officials of the Great Yu Dynasty, no one knew more about it than him.

What Cao Zhenyong pointed out was the biggest difference between the military systems of the Great Yu and those of Europe.

The Great Yu Empire followed a path of elite troops. For such a large empire, the standing army consisted of only 280,000 Imperial Guards and the Capital Garrison, and more than 400,000 provincial garrison troops, totaling no more than 700,000, all of whom were supported by high salaries.

The colonies were mainly maintained by the vassal state army and the local militia, while the local security and mobilization were ensured by the patrol and inspection troops (rotating militia) which were similar to the armed police.

Those small European countries have really gone mad. Some countries with only three to five million people dare to field hundreds of thousands of troops. After losing 80,000 to 100,000 regular troops with a population of twenty to thirty million, they can raise another army every few years.

"What fine cattle and horses!" Mo Zibu suddenly exclaimed, leaving Cao Zhenyong completely bewildered.

"I've now realized that every great power in the world that has risen to prominence, or has risen to prominence in the past, has a group of ancestors who were hardworking, dedicated, and willing to make sacrifices, to the point that later generations can't understand them at all and feel that they were worthless."

So that's what they were talking about. Cao Zhenyong had to admit that those Europeans were much more capable of enduring hardship than the Chinese people.

Well, or rather, it's not about being able to endure hardship, but rather having an exceptionally strong ability to accept adversity.

"These emperors and kings treat their people like dirt, waging war year after year, with hundreds of thousands dying in each battle. With such a small population, the common people must be in mourning every household. How can they tolerate this?"

"Your Majesty, in this age of great strife, the strong survive and the weak perish. Look at the French, the English, and the Russians today; they may feel bitter, but at least they still have a homeland."

Even if the father is not kind and the mother is not loving, they can still offer some protection.

Those Poles, Dutch, Lithuanians, and others who had no homeland or parents suffered endless humiliation and were often treated worse than livestock.

The people of Europe saw these things clearly, which is why nationalism followed the French Enlightenment.

Because they knew that having a home was better than having no home, having a country was better than having no country, and even a ruler who was unkind and unloving was better than having no ruler at all.

Mo Zibu nodded. Cao Zhenyong was quite insightful. Although his vision was limited by the times, he could still see the essence of the problem.

The situation in Europe in later generations fully corroborated Cao Zhenyong's viewpoint.

Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia, which formed nationalist alliances early on, all fared relatively well.

Poland, the three smaller Polish nations, the Balkans, and the western Black Sea coast—all of which emerged later or failed to form strong nationalist groups—have almost all come out on top.

Cao Zhenyong, fearing that the emperor might not understand, continued to persuade him, "Since Your Majesty has mentioned the Second Warring States Period, you should look at Europe from the perspective of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods."

Back in our ancestors' time, there weren't many truly benevolent rulers.

So-called powerful rulers are mostly known for their military prowess. Confucius traveled to various states but no one employed him, which shows the situation.

But during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the common people could endure various injustices and persevere in fighting for their country, because they had witnessed the tragic plight of those whose states were destroyed.

That makes it very clear.

Mo Zibu sighed deeply, "Then according to Cao Qing's estimation, given how tolerant the people of Europe are, I'm afraid even if we wipe out Napoleon's hundreds of thousands of troops this time, it will be difficult to dismantle his empire."

Mozibu couldn't remember anything else, but he did remember that Napoleon lost 600,000 troops in Russia in history.

While this figure includes a large number of troops and civilians from vassal states, France's losses were at least around 200,000.

After the defeat at the Battle of Leipzig, Napoleon was forced into exile, but soon the Hundred Days began. Even so, he only extinguished France's ambition to become the world's hegemon, and was far from destroying the country.

The problem with Dayu now is that it is very likely that it will not be able to inflict the total casualties of Napoleon's 600,000-strong army, so the battle can still be fought.

"Your Majesty, I truly believe that France cannot be defeated in one fell swoop, let alone be destroyed. It is also obvious that the war will drag on for a long time."

But it's not without its benefits for our Great Yu. War can stimulate industrial production, test new weapons, give Great Yu soldiers and generals real combat experience, and allow us to seize many things that we couldn't have before.

For example, the Duke of Shen became the King of Sweden; the Prince of Guoa was very likely to become the King of Portugal or the King of Brazil; and His Highness the Prince of Liao was able to move his fief to Istanbul.

These are all valuable things that we definitely wouldn't have been able to obtain without this war.

Compared to that, what is the imperial court's annual expenditure of twenty to thirty million silver dollars?

Grain grows in the ground, and ore is mined from the mountains. The silver dollars they represent, or more precisely, the currency they represent, are things that can be produced.

Land and legal rights are things that cannot be obtained simply by farming or spending money.

"Hahaha, that makes sense! You, Cao Lisheng, are indeed a prime minister!" Mo Zibu was moved by Cao Zhenyong's words and no longer cared about the losses of soldiers and the consumption of money and food.

"However, the three vassal states of Xia, Liao, and Liang are all in dire need of food, and we are too far away to supply them. Meanwhile, the Americans, who have food, are at odds with the English."

The Anglo-American War broke out in 1812, caused by the population boom in North America. England's vast and sparsely populated Canada was coveted by the Americans.

Furthermore, England's ban on trade between the United States and France resulted in a lack of sales channels for large quantities of American-produced grain, cotton, and cloth.

The true rulers of America, the large ranchers of the thirteen states, not only had accumulated a large amount of unsold goods, but also had nowhere to use their gold and silver.

England refused to sell them assets, and their desire to invest in the French Empire was also blocked, resulting in a significant conflict between the two sides.

However, this timeline is slightly different from history. Historically, during the Napoleonic Wars, Europe was in chaos, prompting a large number of French, Belgians, Dutch, Portuguese, and Germans to migrate to the New World.

This caused the population of the United States to surge from 430 million in 1800 to 840 million in 1815, almost doubling in fifteen years.

With their large population, mostly Irish and French, they brought with them intense anti-British sentiment, indirectly contributing to the Anglo-American War of 1812.

However, in this timeline, of the 1.55 million Irish who went to the New World, 300,000 were sold by the English to the South Seas and Oceania of Dayu.

Three to four hundred thousand French people have mostly come to Dayu, after all, Princess Charlotte is there.

Of these, more than 20,000 went to local governance, while the rest went to the west coast of Kitagazu.

As a result, the number of French people in the Protectorate General's directly administered areas on the west coast of Beihezhou, as well as the Yan, Chen, and Zhongshan vassal states, has surged from 28,000 ten years ago to 370,000 today.

They account for more than 7% of the total population of 5.2 million in Northern Hezhou, making them the second largest ethnic group after the Chinese, and even larger than the population of the various tribes (Indians) in Northern Hezhou who have come to join them.

Therefore, although the Anglo-American war has not yet started, it is already on the verge of breaking out. As they were speaking, the Privy Councilor, Army General, Marquis of Changle Song Jun, the Privy Councilor, Minister of the Navy of the Privy Council, Navy Admiral, and Cai Qian, the Earl of Tongle, arrived.

Mozibu then posed this question to the two professionals: "After years of war, the Kingdom of Great Hungary, to which Xia Fan belongs, has become barren and unable to provide enough food."

The food supply in the four provinces of Anxi was already extremely tight, and even with trains, transporting food from the inland areas would be far from sufficient.

As for the Liao vassal state of Gaoliang Prefecture (in the Caucasus region), it wasn't a grain-producing area to begin with, and if more local people were transferred there, they would surely cause trouble.

Currently, the Russian expeditionary force is performing very well, achieving an exchange ratio of more than 1:3 against the Russian regular army. If the other side deploys a large number of militia, the ratio is basically 1:8, or even 1:10.

In addition, the military supplies were also very complete, after all, they had been prepared for eight years and these things had long been transferred to Anxi for reserves.

The only problem was food. It was plentiful but difficult to store. Before the war, preparations were basically only made for the invasion of Russia. Mo Gongze's side was originally relying on self-financing.

However, as the battle progressed, Mo Gongze's side became the main battlefield, or at least one of the main battlefields.

In order to mobilize the French army, Mo Gongze retreated to the lower Danube River in a scorched-earth policy, losing a large area for requisitioning grain, which led to a severe shortage of food for the three feudatories led by Xia Fan.

Before Privy Councilor Song Jun could answer, Deputy Privy Councilor Cai Qian stepped forward and preemptively spoke.

This conflict between the army and the navy is almost unsolvable at the national level because the national budget for military spending is limited. If the army spends more, the navy will spend less, and vice versa.

Therefore, even though the Da Yu army and navy did not reach the level of the Japanese army and navy in history, competition still existed extensively.

Of course, the conflict between the army and navy, and the rivalry between the two Grand Councilors representing the army and navy, allowed Emperor Mo Zibu to feel at ease.

"Your Majesty, the Admiralty has proposed three plans to the Kingdom of England for a direct attack on the French mainland, but all of them have been rejected without a trace. The Kingdom of England has only offered excuses and perfunctory responses."

Furthermore, General Qin's volunteer expeditionary force was to be transferred to the Kingdom of Sweden for preliminary preparations, making it impossible for them to remain in Portugal for an extended period. Therefore, Lisbon could not serve as their home port. Under these circumstances, sending the naval fleet on a European expedition was not a good option.

Mo Zibu glared at Cai Qian. Who the hell said that this time the navy was going to attack mainland France!

"I told you long ago not to place too much hope on the cooperation of the English; they will not want our fleet to appear in the waters near Europe."

Especially now that the Liangwang Cannon has been exposed, who knows if you're going to attack France or just storm into the Thames and cause trouble? How could they possibly dare to agree!
Moreover, I summoned you not to listen to the Navy Ministry's complaints, but to have you present a feasible plan.

Then, Mo Zibu turned his gaze to Privy Councilor Song Jun and handed him a memorial.

"Take another look at this. Humph, even cats and dogs are jumping out now. I'm going to punish them severely."

"Mahmud II has gone mad! Your Majesty, I request permission to personally lead the army to bury this damned Ottoman Empire to the ground!"

Privy Councilor Song Jun was a veteran. This Hakka from Meizhou had followed Mo Zibu since he started out. Upon hearing the emperor's tone, he immediately adopted an expression of righteous indignation.

The memorial that Mo Zibu showed to Song Jun was a secret intelligence report sent by Da Yu's informants in France, stating that Napoleon had secretly received an envoy from the Ottoman Empire during his wedding at the end of 1812.

Napoleon lured Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II into sending troops north to attack Mogunze by offering to reclaim Serbia, Moldavia, and Wallachia.

Unlike in the past when the Ottoman sultans refused to form an alliance with France, this time they accepted the invitation because the Xia and Liao vassal states of Dayu posed too great a threat to the Ottoman Empire.

"According to reliable sources, the Ottoman Empire and France will formally sign a secret treaty in July of this year, and by next spring at the latest, the Ottoman army will march north, with no fewer than 150,000 troops."

Because the Ottoman Empire had a relatively low mobilization capacity and had just experienced a coup d'état caused by the reforms of Alemdar Pasha, Mahmud II also needed time to stabilize the country, so it was impossible for him to send troops too quickly.

Upon hearing this, Song Jun stroked his chin and began to ponder deeply. "Your Majesty, the navy can be deployed at any time, but the elite troops of the provincial garrisons have basically all been selected."

Currently, only the three provinces of Taiping, Xinglong, and Jinan under the jurisdiction of the Southern Seas Envoy are operational, and the garrison troops in these three provinces are not particularly elite.

The Da Yu army in Southeast Asia was not large. For example, the entire province of Thai Binh (Siam) only had two garrison troops of 9,000 men, which was basically only enough to maintain local order.

The garrison troops are mostly stationed in Upper Sumatra Province (Lower Myanmar) and South Sumatra Province (Java and East Sumatra), where there is a significant indigenous population. If too many indigenous people are drawn from these garrisons, they are likely to cause trouble.

The reason for all this was that the imperial court was not at ease. The South Seas were too far from the mainland, and the court was afraid that if the army was built up too much, it would be controlled by the local powerful families and become de facto warlords.

Therefore, in Southeast Asia, the central government of the Da Yu dynasty mostly used its navy, which could not establish a foothold in the local area, to control various places.

"You don't need to worry about the army. I'm preparing to deploy the Imperial Guards and the Beijing Garrison. There are also quite a few Marines in the navy, who can temporarily take over the work of the army."

In addition, I have written to Prince Regent George of England, requesting that 30,000 troops from the British Indian Army be used as auxiliary troops, and that half of the military provisions and mules for transportation be drawn from India.

What you and Cai Qian need to consider is how many men to send, and how to attack the Ottoman Empire so that they can't spare enough troops to attack the Xia Kingdom.

Upon hearing Mo Zibu's words, Song Jun and Cai Qian stepped forward, staring intently at the map of the Imperial Study. Suddenly, almost simultaneously, they both pointed in the same direction.

"Attack Egypt!"

"Instigate Ali Pasha of Egypt to turn against them!"

At this time, Muhammad Ali, known as Ali Pasha, had been the governor of Egypt for seven years.

He completely defeated the Mamluks who actually controlled Egypt, and began to disobey orders and proclamations, becoming a de facto separatist force within the Ottoman Empire.

"Your Majesty, Egypt has enough grain and is very close to the Black Sea, so it can be quickly transported to the Xia Kingdom."

"And we don't need to pay too high a price to get Ali Pasha involved; we just need to support him in taking Syria."

Mo Zibu's eyes lit up. Song Jun and Cai Qian had similar thoughts to him. It seemed that this move would be a good one!

The key point is that the Ottoman Empire at this time simply could not afford the cost of losing Egypt and Syria.

Contrary to later perceptions that these two places were extremely poor, Egypt and Syria at this time were the breadbaskets of the Ottoman Empire.

In an era with limited fertilizer, remote and desolate places like Asia Minor and the Greek peninsula could not produce much food.

If Egypt and Syria were lost, Istanbul would face food shortages, and the entire Ottoman Empire would go hungry.

This is called attacking where the enemy must come to their aid. Moreover, as long as the Yu fleet reaches the Mediterranean, if the Ottomans dare not come to Egypt's aid, then they can directly bombard Istanbul.

"Song Jun, quickly summon the officials of the Privy Council to calculate the scale of troop deployment and issue the order to mobilize troops."

“Cai Qian, you must go to Shangchuan Daguang (Yangon) immediately and prepare for the operation.”

After issuing orders to the army and navy, Mo Zibu instructed Cao Zhenyong: "Tomorrow, you shall summon the ambassador of the United States of America."

Tell him that I don't care what conflicts exist between Britain and the United States; that's their business.

However, if President Madison, due to his conflict with England, dared to sign any treaty with France that constituted an alliance, or dared to sell strategic materials such as grain and gunpowder to the French Empire...

"Then the army and navy of the Seres Empire will not mind operating alongside the English army and navy!"

(End of this chapter)