Nanyang Storm 1864

1912 January 8

The Crown Prince of the Great Chu Empire and a host of ministers escorted His Majesty the Emperor back to the capital. The grand procession attracted hundreds of thousands of people in the metropolis of Manila to watch along the way, with cheers that resounded through the sky. Those who missed this spectacle were filled with regret and slapped their thighs.

The news came too late; His Majesty the Emperor suddenly welcomed them back to the capital.

By this time, the Greater Manila metropolitan area had developed into a megacity with a total population of 517 million, ranking second in the world after London's 636 million.

The prosperous Metro Manila metropolitan area has expanded outwards to connect with Cavite Province in the south and Quezon City in the north.

It encompasses numerous satellite towns such as Pasay, Makati, Pasik, Long East, Hubei, and Antipolo, which have developed rapidly, like weeds that grow wildly at the slightest breeze.

These satellite towns stand side by side, countless high-rise buildings rise from the ground, and roads, as dense as a spider web, stretch into the distance, together forming the bustling Metro Manila metropolitan area.

The Hainan Islands were the most prosperous core of the Great Chu Empire. The entire island did not have a state or provincial administrative division, but was instead part of the Metro Manila Special Administrative Region.

涵盖21府及87县，整个岛屿人口总量达到4215万余人，约为帝国总人口的1/4强。

With Manila as its largest city, Batangas as its second largest city, Angela as its 15th largest city, Quezon City as its 19th largest city, and the Five Elements Prefecture as its 20th largest city, it is home to the core strengths of the empire in politics, military, economy, finance, and education, and is the most developed native region.

In the vast Manila Bay
The formidable Royal Navy Home Fleet of the Great Chu Empire is stationed there. One after another, huge warships, as large as small mountains, are neatly moored in their berths, so numerous that they cannot be counted at a glance.

All foreign merchant ships passing through Manila Bay could see this spectacular scene, and their hearts were filled with nothing but envy, jealousy and hatred.

Especially the merchant ships from the northern kingdom of Fusang, upon witnessing this magnificent scene, completely extinguished any lingering thoughts they might have had.

There's no way around it, it's just too powerful.

This is the core of the Great Chu Empire's homeland. The northern defense perimeter extends to the northern border of the Ryukyu Kingdom, a distance of over two thousand kilometers, providing ample security.

There are no rivals of sufficient size to challenge the core hegemony of the Great Chu Empire to the east, west, or south. The empire faces an unprecedentedly favorable security situation.

This also resulted in the Great Chu Empire's relatively slow military development, especially the Imperial Army, which has grown from more than 50 people more than a decade ago to only more than 57 people today.

However, the Great Chu Empire's well-developed reserve militia, after 46 years of development, has a total strength of over 1100 million, making it the largest civilian armed force in the world in terms of scale, training level, and military quality.

On the vast Patagonian plains of Australia, there are hundreds of militia cavalry regiments that roam freely on horseback, as well as an even larger number of civilian cavalry battalions and companies, totaling more than 40 people.

Across the vast lands of West Africa, in Eritrea along the Red Sea coast, and in the Central American land bridge region that separates the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, militia groups are a common sight.

This is a powerful force that has attracted the attention of the world's great powers, and its military capabilities will not be underestimated simply because the Great Chu Empire has a small number of active-duty troops.

When necessary

The Great Chu Empire was capable of mobilizing over 130 million militiamen for war within a week and over 350 million troops within a month, demonstrating its astonishing war potential.

To this end, the Great Chu Empire built as many as 372 military bases around the world, thousands of arsenals and strategic reserves over several decades, and possessed world-class long-range combat capabilities.

The Great Chu Empire possessed the world's largest ocean-going merchant fleet, which was the foundation of its strength to ensure its long-range operations.

Fortunately, the Great Chu Empire was separated from the European powers of Britain and France by tens of thousands of kilometers, greatly reducing its threat and preventing it from being regarded as a strategic rival that urgently needed to be contained.

Rather, it was an overseas ally that the great powers of Britain, France, and Germany vied to win over. In the fields of global agricultural product supply and industry, the State of Chu was a major player that could not be ignored.

In particular, the Great Chu Empire was a major supplier of products that are of great importance to military equipment, such as lubricating oil, diesel oil and heavy oil, natural rubber, saltpeter sulfur, copper, white sugar, and pig bristles. Natural rubber, which accounted for the largest share of the world market supply, made up 90% of the total supply.

The supply of lubricating oil, copper, sugar, pig bristles, and saltpeter exceeded 70%, giving them an absolute dominant position.

These European powers all relied on the Great Chu Empire for its bulk raw material supply, which was abundant, of high quality, and at competitive prices, satisfying the enormous appetites of world-class customers.

The Great Chu Empire was like a paradise on earth, with a peaceful and prosperous atmosphere throughout its territory. It was completely unaffected by the heavy shadow of war in Europe and steadily developed its economy and industry.

On October 8, 1912, Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, thus igniting the powder keg of the First Balkan War, which broke out as scheduled.

On October 14, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece jointly issued an ultimatum to the Ottoman Empire, demanding in strong terms that the Ottoman army withdraw from Thrace and Macedonia, or face war.

On October 17, the Ottoman Empire angrily declared war on Bulgaria and Serbia. This vast empire, riddled with long-standing problems, was like an old man whose limbs no longer obeyed his commands.

Although the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Balkan countries, its troop deployment was extremely slow, and it lagged behind in all aspects of the war effort, presenting a picture of a dying, fading power.

On October 18, Greece declared war on the Ottoman Empire, and the First Balkan War broke out in full force. Armies from several small Balkan states crossed the border and launched wave after wave of fierce attacks.

As with previous global events, the Great Chu Empire immediately formed a European Balkan Military Observer Group, composed of its overseas personnel in Europe, to observe the war up close.

Diplomats from the Great Chu Empire also sprang into action, shuttling between countries to visit and participate in potential international mediation, which was an important aspect of demonstrating its status as a world power.

On the Imperial Homeland

The Royal Army General Staff has established a wartime command to organize senior officers to conduct tabletop exercises based on the latest combat situation in Europe, which is one of the advanced military subjects for enhancing capabilities.

At the Royal Manila Senior Army Academy, military instructors keep pace with the Balkan Wars and add real-world simulation exercises to the training of mid- to senior-level officers.

Outside of the military sphere, the Great Chu Empire was not affected by the Balkan Wars in any way. People continued to ride horses, dance, and have fun as usual.

Newspaper coverage of the Balkan Wars was minimal and insignificant, hardly attracting the attention of the empire's populace.

In the Zichen Palace
The furnishings here are exactly the same as before, unlike during the Russo-Japanese War, when a huge real-life sand table was set up in the side hall to simulate the front-line battle situation countless times.

From this point of view

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu Empire showed little interest in the wars taking place in the Balkans and paid them little attention. He listened to reports every few days, focusing his attention on the covert movements of the Western powers rather than on the main players in the Balkan wars.

For a world-class power like the Great Chu Empire, the wars between those small Balkan states and the Ottoman Empire were nothing more than children playing house.

As expected, the war progressed smoothly. Several small, aggressive Balkan states joined forces and swiftly defeated the Ottoman Empire's garrison, advancing triumphantly.

The once mighty Ottoman Empire, which struck fear into the hearts of Europeans, has fallen to the point of being bullied by small Balkan states. Seeing this, I really can't help but cover my face in embarrassment!
A cup of tea, a cigar.

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu sat leisurely in a pavilion overlooking the water, with the expansive Taiye Pond in full view. Beneath him was a soft and comfortable couch covered with a whole white polar bear skin.

He no longer reviews daily government documents and now lives a leisurely life in semi-seclusion behind the scenes.

The development of the world situation was largely following its original historical trajectory, which put his mind at ease.

The Balkan Wars broke out as scheduled, and the course of the war coincided with the original points of memory. The historical process on the northern continent was also similar, with little change.

Before the end of the year

The Great Chu Empire systematically allocated a large number of weapons and equipment to Central America, East Africa, and West Africa, all of which were put into strategic reserves for unforeseen circumstances.

The sheer quantity of these batches of weapons and equipment is enough to equip an army of 100,000 and wage a medium-intensity local war.

In the new year of 1913
The Great Chu Empire's total defense budget was increased by 14.2%, reaching 2.33 million silver dollars, equivalent to about 46.5 million pounds. This investment was about one-third of Germany's and similar to that of the Kingdom of Italy.

The problem is that the total national economic output of the Great Chu Empire is 4.4 times that of Italy, and its fiscal revenue is as much as 6.7 times that of Italy. Their economic strength is incomparable.

Year after year, the Great Chu Empire transformed its strong economic power into military strategic reserves, which accounted for only 1/6 to 1/7 of its fiscal expenditure, enabling it to cope with any situation with ease.

Over time, the total strategic reserves have accumulated to an astonishing figure.

This is the absolute strategic and geopolitical advantage of the Great Chu Empire. In the western Pacific region, far from Europe, it has established an indisputable military and political dominance that is difficult to shake in a short period of time.

Regardless of how the situation in Europe developed, the economic development of the Great Chu Empire continued as planned, demonstrating the composure of a world-class power.

Despite Emperor Zheng Guohui's seemingly carefree and leisurely lifestyle, he has actually made significant strides in national development strategies and the economic and cultural spheres.

A skilled strategist achieves victory without ostentatious feats; through persistent effort, even water can wear away stone.

The first Balkan War in Europe lasted less than a month before the Ottoman Empire could no longer hold out and requested mediation from the European powers.

After fierce fighting, the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro occupied Macedonia and the Adriatic coast, defeating the Ottoman army so badly that they almost fled in disarray.

Don't even mention how miserable he looked.

The Bulgarian army quickly took control of the area west of Istanbul, while the Greek army occupied the Aegean islands in just six days, advancing triumphantly.

The Ottoman army retreated to Edirne, Ioannina, and Shkodër. Of the 170,000 Ottoman troops, fewer than 43,500 remained. Apart from over 10,000 dead or wounded, most of the rest fled and disappeared without a trace.

Such weak fighting power made them a laughing stock throughout Europe.

The first true Balkan War lasted less than a month, and was coming to an end in mid-December 1912, with only small-scale armed conflicts remaining between the two sides.

Battles involving more than 100 people had disappeared by the end of 1912.

Diplomatic missions, including those from the State of Chu, participated in the war mediation. Most countries were well aware of the current situation: only by feeding these Balkan upstarts could the war be ended.

But the problem is

The First Balkan War fueled the greed of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and also raised expectations among several countries in the Balkan Union, who wanted more.

"Greater Serbian nationalism" is prevalent in Serbia, "Greater Bulgarian nationalism" is popular among the people of Bulgaria, and Greece is even more enthusiastic about "Greater Hellenism." Macedonia also aspires to a "Greater Macedonia" territory. The demands of each party are different.

The most deadly thing is
These fervent demands of European nationalism largely overlap in territory; the Greater Seville movement's territorial claims even include the entire territory of the Kingdom of Bulgaria.

Conversely, the ideal territory envisioned by the Greater Bulgarians also includes Serbia, and even Algeria and Macedonia, as well as parts of Greece.

The strange thing is that these Balkan kingdoms were all once part of the Ottoman Empire. No matter how bizarre their territorial claims were, they could always come up with a reason for them, since there was never a clear division in the first place.

This has made the situation in the Balkans even more complicated.

Emperor Zheng Guohui of the Great Chu was well aware of the reasons for the conflicts in the Balkans, but being an outsider, he mostly adopted a spectator's stance and refrained from offering any opinions.

Let them make a scene, it would be better if they beat people until their brains were turned into pig brains.

During the First Balkan War, Chinese merchants were frequently seen in the Balkan countries along the Mediterranean coast, dealing in various goods and services, such as grain, weapons and ammunition, and machinery import and export products.

Chinese businessmen were an indispensable part of this sudden Balkan war.

This demonstrates the global influence of Chinese businesses, which has penetrated into Europe, North America, Africa, and other regions, wielding considerable influence over regional situations.

For example, more than a dozen private banks and hundreds or even thousands of trading companies in the Great Chu Empire had a total of 5.37 million silver dollars in claims against Germany, and encountered numerous obstacles in the process of thoroughly clearing them up.

Ultimately, it is because this segment of the population has strong confidence in the prospects of the German economy, ignores the government's risk warnings, and is reluctant to sell at a discount.

The government of the Great Chu Empire was helpless against these stubborn people. (End of Chapter)