The sun never sets

Chapter 572: Fierce Battle

The ideas of the German rulers were not groundless, but had their reasons.

In the Battle of the Marne, although the German army was repelled, it had a great advantage in the exchange ratio. The British and French coalition forces lost more than 25 people, while the German casualties were less than . The Allies only won a tragic victory.

The "infantry infiltration" tactics learned from the People's Army played a great role. The German General Staff decided to launch a larger-scale offensive to completely crush the resistance of the British and French forces.

The new wave of German attacks was extremely fierce. Under the bombardment of thousands of artillery pieces, the British and French coalition forces suffered heavy losses. Before the outbreak of the war, the French army focused on the development of rapid-fire artillery and produced the "Miss 75", a ground-breaking field artillery. In the nearly one-month battle, the Miss 75 caused great casualties to the German army. Under the operation of skilled gunners, this rapid-fire artillery can reach a maximum rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute, which is simply outrageous. This is 1911, not 2011.

In the Battle of the Marne, the French army relied on hundreds of rapid-fire guns to block the German attack and forced the Germans to abandon the attack after reinforcements arrived. Then, the war entered another stage.

When the density of troops on both sides was too high to penetrate, rapid-fire guns lost their dominance on the battlefield. Germany's rapid-fire guns were not as abnormal as those of the French, but Germany had more large-caliber heavy artillery. The 280mm caliber howitzer manufactured by Krupp Arsenal did not fire fast enough, but its range was far greater than that of field artillery, and its power was amazing.

Later, the Germans also brought in 305mm caliber super-heavy howitzers, which further enhanced their power and range. The German heavy artillery bombed the French army to pieces, and the mortars organized into companies were as fast as the rapid-fire artillery in terms of firing rate. The Germans drove the British and French forces back to the Marne River in one breath.

However, the mobility of German heavy artillery was a problem and it could not follow the rapid advance of infantry divisions. In mobile warfare, the power and range of mortars were not as good as those of the Miss 75. Both the British and French forces and the German army wanted to outflank the other side, but neither of them could achieve this goal.

The Germans, however, showed their power of "infantry infiltration" in the chaos and reached the outskirts of Paris. It is said that the Germans' vanguards could already see the Eiffel Tower, but this was the closest the Germans had ever been to Paris. The Germans were equipped with many machine guns, mortars and grenades, and the British and French allied forces also had the same equipment.

The French were beaten twice in Southeast Asia, paid the price of blood, and learned a lot. In addition, many French volunteers went to the Far East and fought bloody battles with the US military for a year under the command of the People's Party. After those volunteers came back, they also brought back the tactics of the People's Army. When the German army advanced to the outskirts of Paris, these volunteers stood up and formed combat units to fight the German army to the death.

The more than 4,000 people who were hastily assembled soon suffered casualties, but they bought time for France.

When the Germans arrived at the gates of Paris, many people in the city were excited and wanted to fight the Germans to the death, but many people were panicked and afraid of fighting. At this time, Chief of the General Staff Joseph Joffre played a stabilizing role.

"France will never succumb to the Germans' military force!"

While the city's upper class fled south, Joffre organized the army with almost cruel indifference. He broadcast an order to the whole of Paris, "The country needs every adult, whether man or woman, whether parliamentarian or worker, everyone must join the war."

"Any adult who flees Paris will be charged with treason!"

In wartime, treason can be punished by execution without trial. Joseph Joffre killed hundreds of top brass. At this time, he was one of the biggest top brass. He threw troops into the path of the German advance and let them be crushed by the German offensive. All the casualties were worth it. When the French army suffered heavy casualties, Joffre collected all the carriages and cars in Paris and transported troops and supplies to the front.

The French soon outnumbered the Germans on the front, and lacking heavy artillery, they dragged old antiques out of museums, which helped France survive the most difficult days. Then, the Germans, exhausted their offensive potential and in danger of being surrounded, had to retreat to level the front.

Facts have proved that the tactics of [infantry infiltration] are not so effective when the density of troops and heavy firepower are too fierce. At this point, the German army's strategy of quick victory was completely bankrupt. The British, French and German forces took more than a month to complete the achievement of "running to the sea". Mobile warfare has ended, and the war has entered the stage of trench warfare.

Britain and France converted a large number of civilian factories into military factories to arm more and more troops. The density of troops and the number of machine guns and artillery on the front line reached an unprecedented level, and countless ammunition was consumed every day. Only two months after the war began, France had used up the shells in dozens of arsenals. France started all the machines to manufacture munitions, but it was still not enough. Moreover, heavy artillery could not be manufactured so quickly, and the front line was in great need.

In order to deal with the German heavy artillery, France decided to buy it from abroad. The US military had a lot of heavy artillery, but the quality of the American artillery was not good enough and the quantity was not enough. In addition, General Pershing was attacking Mexico City and also needed heavy artillery. At this stage, the only one who could sell heavy artillery in batches was the East Asian Alliance.

Britain and France want to buy 150mm heavy howitzers, alliance

Of course they would agree. The price of selling one cannon was enough to build three, and the used cannons could be sold at the price of a brand new one, which was a huge profit.

The Alliance not only collected nearly 150 280mm howitzers from the troops and stocks, but also sold mm caliber howitzers to the Allies. Other things, such as shells, explosives, and bristles for cleaning the barrels, were sold to the Allies as long as they wanted them.

In addition, China also recommended 20mm anti-aircraft guns to the Allies. Germany's Zeppelin airships dominated the sky, causing huge casualties and endless panic to the Allies. Whenever they could be deployed, the Zeppelins would appear and drop bombs on the heads of the British and French coalition forces.

The British and French armies sent out biplane propeller planes to fight against the German airships, but the effect was very poor. Before the "fire coordinator" was invented, the combat capability of wooden planes was very poor and they could only be used for reconnaissance and calibration.

The 20mm anti-aircraft guns produced by China actually do not have much technical content, but the advantage is that there are a large number of stocks and they can be used immediately. The British paid for more than anti-aircraft guns. Even if they are not used to shoot down airplanes and airships, they are also good for shooting down infantry.

On the Western Front, every battle was fought with tens of thousands of artillery shells, and no matter how much ammunition there was, it would be completely consumed.

Chapter 573 Salon

After learning that China had begun to sell arms and other strategic materials to the Allies, the German ambassador to China urgently met with Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi. During the meeting, the ambassador waved his fist in protest, "....... This will greatly damage the traditional friendship between China and Germany!"

"It's just business. We can also sell it to Germany as long as they pay us."

"Can you deliver it to a German port?"

Tang Shaoyi smiled and said, "China only sells goods, not transports them."

The British Royal Navy is not easy to deal with. The British are so angry that they have begun to intercept all ships heading to the Allies. They don't even let American ships go, let alone Chinese ships. Diplomacy is nothing more than coercion and inducement, but how can Germany threaten China now? Send millions of troops across the world island to attack Asia, or send the German fleet to the South China Sea?

There is a way to bribe. China owed the German Empire more than 200 million gold marks. The German government could do something with this, but China would never join a world war for 200 million marks. Doing business is much more profitable than fighting a war.

Not only Britain and France were buying all kinds of supplies from East Asia, but Russia was also the same. Russia's industrial strength was even weaker than France's, and it could not afford to fight a world war. At the beginning of the war, the Russian Army Minister thought that their ammunition reserves could support a year, but it did not. In fact, the front-line artillery shells were used up within a month. Only two months into the war, the Russian army had already used up 2/3 of its artillery shell reserves.

The reason why they were not all consumed was because Russia's transportation system was so bad. Russia mobilized very quickly, but only in the parts close to Europe. In other areas, the Russian army could not transport the assembled troops to the front in time. The artillery shells on the front were exhausted, and the weapons, ammunition, food and medicine were still piled up in the warehouses in the rear, or simply piled up in the open air.

Britain and Germany were not without corruption, but at least they were able to maintain normal operation. Russia was corrupt to the point where the country could no longer function normally and had to rely on loans from Britain and France to survive.

After Germany began the general mobilization, the Tsar also signed a general mobilization order and mobilized a large number of troops. There were 30 armies in the western region of Russia, with a total of 96 infantry divisions and 37 cavalry divisions, with a total of about 270 million people, plus 90 special reserve troops and fortress troops. On the 13th day of the mobilization, the troops originally stationed in Asia joined the sequence, so the total number of Russian troops increased to 1830 battalions, 1250 cavalry squadrons and 6720 artillery pieces, a total of about 500 million people, about 2/3 of this number were combat personnel.

It looked very good and powerful, but the limit of the Russian army's initial strength was the 25 troops mobilized in the first wave, and of them were basically new recruits with little training. Half of the troops were used to attack East Prussia, and the other half was used to attack Galicia. It was not until a month later that the second batch of Russian troops arrived at the front. At this time, the war in East Prussia had ended, and the Russian army had lost people and was forced to retreat to the other side of the border.

The corruption of the Russian Empire was comparable to that of the previous dynasty. The politics, military and economy were all in a mess, but the Romanov family was very rich, and the great nobles of Russia were also very rich. As far as Lin Yongchang knew, Kolchak ran away with 500 tons of gold, and some said it was 1600 tons. Although that was a matter of another world, it can also be used as a reference.

Russia wanted to buy weapons, ammunition and medicine from China, and Lin Yongchang thought it was okay. For the sake of Olga and Alexander, he could give the Russians a 10% discount after the price doubled. This was a real discount, as the military supplies sold to Britain and France were doubled and then marked up by several percent.

China's offer was too high, and the Russians thought it was too insincere, so they refused and were ripped off. Lin Yongchang was not in a hurry, thinking that once the German army entered the heart of Russia, the officials of the Tsarist government would know what was good for them.

Because the Russian Empire suffered a tragic defeat in East Prussia, Grand Duke Nicholas and Kondrachenko left West Prussia.

The Grand Duchy of Siberia returned to Russia to join the war. They brought with them thousands of elite soldiers, as well as most of the generals and officers of the Grand Duchy of Siberia. These soldiers and officers were trained according to the drill manual of the People's Army, and their combat effectiveness was very good, but their numbers were too small, and they could not play any role in a world war involving hundreds of thousands of people.

As a large number of Russians left for Europe, the population ratio of Siberia changed significantly again. The Russian population has dropped below 20%. The Chinese and Japanese were not interested in defending Tsarist Russia, and the only people who responded to Grand Duke Nicholas' call were Russians.

In addition to providing volunteers, Princess Olga also launched a fundraising campaign in Siberia. Chekov and Andrei set an example by donating 1 million rubles and 800,000 rubles respectively. Russians living in Vladivostok (Vladivostok) and other places donated enthusiastically, and soon received more than 30 million rubles.

Then Chekov and Andrei bought a large amount of flour, clothes and so on, and shipped them to Russia via the Trans-Siberian Railway. But later, these materials mysteriously disappeared, and no one knew where they ended up. The railway system of the Tsarist Russia was a mess, and trains were often late, and sometimes stopped halfway. Not only did the donated materials from the Grand Duchy of Siberia disappear for no reason, but the Tsarist Russia's own materials were also the same.

The strong front line lacked weapons and ammunition and had to fight on an empty stomach, while the food and cloth in the rear were piled up randomly in the wild. After a heavy rain, a lot of supplies would be damaged.

After the donation to the Russian Empire, Mr. Chekov bought two new cars, and Mr. Andrei bought a new villa outside Vladivostok. Both gentlemen were prominent figures in Vladivostok, and they often expressed their love for Mother Russia in salons, and sometimes, when they were drunk, they would recite Pushkin's poems in public.

However, Lin Yongchang was not very interested in Pushkin. He sent someone to tell Chekov and Andrei, "You can do whatever you want, but you can't target Grandpa Olga."

Things like "the gentry return the full amount, and the rest is split 30-70" are all tricks the Chinese have played. There are also "fire dragons burning warehouses" and "ghost soldiers borrowing food", which have happened countless times in Chinese history.

After reading the letter, Chekov broke out in a cold sweat and his drunkenness disappeared immediately. He cancelled his plan to have lunch with the ballerina and hurried to transfer the two properties to Grandmother Olga for free. Andrei and several other gentlemen did the same thing, donating their shops and estates to Grandmother Olga or Prince Alexander.

"Our love for Grand Duke Olga is unmatched!"

Mr. Andre said this at another salon.

Chapter 574 Freedom

The war in Europe has shown a tendency to be prolonged, with the two giant beasts, the Allies and the Alliance, fighting each other, with each winning and losing. The Standing Committee members of the Central Committee were relieved and determined to focus their work in the next few years on foreign trade (mainly with the Allies), and to pay off all foreign debts, if nothing else.

Since we want to develop foreign trade, we must focus on investing in coastal cities. Shanghai and Guangzhou both hope to take on this responsibility. The leaders of both places expressed their determination to the central government, believing that they are the most suitable. Shanghai used to be a foreign land, and Guangzhou had the "Thirteen Factories", which did have a tradition of foreign trade, but Lin Yongchang decided to go to the south first, take a look, and then make a decision.

"Chairman Lin said he wanted to take a look?"

"Chairman Lin is on a southern tour!"

"Then we must also prepare ourselves and let the Chairman see our best side!"

Lin Yongchang is no longer the president of the country, but he has not handed over the positions of party chairman and military commission chairman, which makes things in China no different from before. Many people still habitually regard Chairman Lin as the supreme leader. Wang Qi doesn't care much about this, but thinks it is normal.

After leaving Chang'an, Lin Yongchang visited the rural areas and towns in the south along the way. It was October, the golden autumn, the harvest season, and the rice in the fields was heavy, which made people happy. This year was a good year for the harvest.

"How many kilograms can be produced per mu on average here?"

"If there were enough fertilizers and pesticides, it could reach... 1500 kilograms!"

"1500 kilograms?" Lin Yongchang frowned when he heard this. "The average yield per mu can reach 1500 kilograms?"

"Um... this is the highest yield, the average yield per mu is 1000 kilograms!"

Lin Yongchang sighed, "One thousand kilograms per mu? Why don't you say 10,000 kilograms per mu? Find someone to stand on the rice and take a photo, and it can be used as evidence."

The People's Party is still in its thriving stage, and all comrades in the party agree with the rule that "the capable are promoted and the incapable are demoted." But what is "capable" and what is "incapable"?

That depends on the political achievements. Grain production is part of the political achievements. If the grain production is increased by 50% or 60% during the term of office, such a striking political achievement can make people continue to make progress. Chairman Lin is not very satisfied with the current achievements and believes that China still has a lot of room for growth. This is a well-known fact. In this case, many people want to make more achievements.

If the superior likes something, the subordinates will like it even more. This is still the case even in the new China. Some people say that being able to deal with people is a sign of high emotional intelligence, but

If every country is filled with such high EQ guys, who will be responsible for its development?

"Chairman, you............"

Lin Yongchang crushed the soil in his hand and let it fall through his fingers. Then he clapped his hands and said, "Let the Discipline Inspection Commission... forget it, let's ask the comrades from the Security Bureau to come and check it out. If we can really achieve an output of 1000 kilograms per mu, we will commend them nationwide."

Can rice yield 1200 kilograms per mu? It is possible. According to the experiments of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, if it is planted in the best fields and taken care of, the maximum yield can reach kilograms. But that is the most ideal state, and the average yield per mu will definitely not reach this yield.

Lin Yongchang proposed the theory of "three-line hybrid rice" many years ago. Under the guidance of this theory, the comrades of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences have made some achievements, which has greatly increased the rice yield, but there is still a gap to the real high-yield rice. Lin Yongchang does not believe that the average per mu yield of a county can reach 1000 kilograms.

He glanced at the county head and agricultural officials who were beside him, and saw that they all looked pale, so he shook his head. The main person in charge of fraud and false reporting of achievements should probably start packing up.

Maybe the person who just said "1000 kilograms per mu" was deceived by those below, or maybe not. Regardless of whether it is true or not, since he dared to say so, he must be responsible for what he said.

Lin Yongchang went south, first to Shanghai, then to Guangzhou, and finally to a small fishing village by the sea. Waves splashed on the seashore, and rocks pierced the sky. Looking far away, the island was looming in the mist. Lin Yongchang drew a circle on the ground with his foot and said, "This is it."

Shanghai and Guangzhou are not bad, but they are too good. Bureaucracy is rampant. It is better to choose this small fishing village, which is a blank piece of paper to paint on. Of course, for a long time, this place cannot be compared with Shanghai and Guangzhou. But as long as there is a policy bias, it will not be difficult to develop.

The real difficulty was that after the war, the international environment would change again. While most people were still rejoicing over the war in Europe, or trembling with fear and shock, Lin Yongchang was already thinking about what would happen after the war.

Those who do not plan for eternity are not good enough for a single moment. Wars always have to end. Modern wars are too expensive, and no country can keep fighting them with all its might. Now the people of all countries support the war, and the atmosphere is full of enthusiasm, but this is only temporary. When the number of casualties continues to rise, war-weariness will spread.

In the autumn of 1911, Lin Yongchang drew a circle on the edge of the South China Sea, and the matter was settled.

The leaders of Shanghai and Guangzhou were very disappointed. Generally speaking, the leaders and cadres of Shanghai were more disappointed. Shanghai is a municipality directly under the central government, and it can only manage Shanghai and its surrounding areas. Guangzhou is not a municipality directly under the central government. Although the final key investment location was not in Guangzhou, the small fishing village is within the scope of Guangdong Province, which is good news for the leaders of Guangdong Province.

China was working hard to produce all kinds of materials to fill the insatiable appetite of Britain, France and other countries. In America, the US military led by General Pershing finally entered Mexico City. After two months of fierce fighting, the Mexicans and volunteers who stayed in the city suffered heavy casualties. They inflicted heavy casualties on the US military, and after running out of ammunition and food, they still failed to defend the city.

The U.S. military seized several commanding heights outside Mexico City, set up artillery on the hills, and then fired fiercely at the city, turning Mexico City into ruins. By this time, the fall of Mexico City was a foregone conclusion, and continuing to fight would only result in additional casualties.

Wang Hu decided to withdraw his troops to fight guerrilla warfare, but some Mexicans and volunteers disagreed, insisting that they would live and die with Mexico City. Then, they were burned in flames along with Mexico City.

After entering the city, the U.S. troops launched a bloody massacre, and after looting, they burned Mexico to the ground. Wang's army has always liked to kill and burn people, and they are doing it again in Mexico. They have made a lot of progress and no longer use Mexican skin to make boots like they did decades ago.

Even if there were, there were not many, at least that's what the American newspapers said. Many articles were published in newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Times, claiming that the U.S. military went to liberate the Mexicans and that Wang's army brought freedom to the Mexicans.

The Mexicans were free, free to die.

Chapter 575: Big Profit

After burning Mexico City, the U.S. military did not march all the way to Panama as Wang Hu had expected. Instead, they withdrew most of their troops, leaving less than 100,000 troops to guard various parts of Mexico. At the same time, the U.S. government also announced a temporary halt to the construction of new battleships, which was the result of negotiations between the United States, Britain and China.

After three or four months of arduous negotiations, the three parties finally reached a result that was acceptable to them: the British government returned the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government, the United States suspended the Second Naval Expansion Act, and China would abandon its plan to build a super-dreadnought battleship.

The intensity of the European war exceeded most people's imagination. The Allies were now short of everything. As long as the United States could produce it, the British and French would buy it with real money.

Just like that, half the world opened up to the US market. So why fight to the death in Mexico? The real thing is to make money quickly.

The United States is the world's largest consumer market and the largest industrial country. Compared with ASEAN, the United States is more important to the Allies. Therefore, the British government had no choice but to give up control of the Panama Canal, but the British government never does anything to change its personnel. Even if it wants to withdraw, it will leave many tricks. The Panama Canal was not given directly to the United States, but returned to the Panamanian government. So if the United States wants to reopen the canal, it must first negotiate with the Panamanian government.

This is not good for Britain, but as long as it can make the United States uncomfortable, the British government will be happy. If Britain wants to maintain its position as the world's hegemon, it must maintain its world's number one strength. It is too difficult to reform the vested interests, so it is better to drag other countries into the mud.

After the U.S. military withdrew its main force from Mexico, the local situation became turbulent. When the number of U.S. soldiers reached 600,000, they could barely suppress the resistance in Mexico. When there were only 100,000 left, the U.S. military could only control some large cities and railways, while other places were occupied by guerrillas and various powerful people.

This situation is so bad that it reminds many people of the Philippines eight years ago. The situation then is not exactly the same as now, but it is not much different. Pershing was very dissatisfied with the order from Washington. He either did not withdraw his troops or withdrew them completely. Although he captured Mexico City, he did not completely eliminate the resistance forces in Mexico. Now he is withdrawing his troops halfway through the battle. Is he trying to turn Mexico into the second Philippines?

After Pershing took the train back to Washington, he made an impassioned speech in the Capitol, asking Congress to give him another three months to deal with the Mexican issue. But the masters of Congress had other ideas. They planned to split Mexico in two, annexing the western half to the United States and letting the Mexicans deal with the remaining half themselves. The rebels could be sent to eastern Mexico, so that only tens of thousands of people would be left on the border.

In a word, spend less and do more. The United States is now the world's first industrial country, but it is not the richest country in the world. At this time, the United States is the world's largest debtor country, and it still owes a lot of money to countries such as Britain and France, with a total debt of up to 50 billion US dollars. It is also a skill to be the country that owes the most money. For example, China and Japan cannot borrow so much money from other countries.

The main reason why the US government ordered Pershing to withdraw his troops was because it had no money.

When the war first broke out, the United States did not make excess profits, but suffered a heavy blow. After the war broke out in Europe, global stock markets plummeted, gold prices soared, and the selling of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange increased sharply, with trading volume directly increasing by more than 3 times. Selling risky assets and hoarding hard currency is always the best choice for survival in troubled times. The day after the outbreak of the war, the trading volume of the New York Stock Exchange set a record. The huge selling caused many US stocks to fall by more than 30% in a single day. General Motors' stock price fell directly from $54 to $34.

After the London Stock Exchange announced the suspension of trading, the New York Stock Exchange also closed soon. If the New York Stock Exchange continued trading, it would become the only exchange in the world that was not closed, and the pouring sell orders from Europe would directly bring down the US stock market.

But closing the stock exchange did not mean that the United States would be immune, because American banks had to operate normally, so European depositors flocked to withdraw their deposits and exchange them for gold. Major American banks suffered severe bank runs, and a large amount of U.S. gold reserves flowed overseas. Some banks even went bankrupt because they could not withstand the bank runs.

The war not only hit the U.S. financial industry hard, causing exchanges to close and banks to go bankrupt, but it also hit U.S. agriculture hard. One month before the war, Germany imported 260 million bushels of wheat from the United States, but after the war, Germany did not import a single grain of American wheat. American cotton was also unsellable. In order to prevent the bankruptcy of cotton farmers in the South, the newly elected U.S. President Wilson took the lead in buying a large bag of cotton and called on every family to buy one bag.

The war has isolated America. American agricultural products cannot be exported, and they have to watch the stock market collapse and a large amount of gold flow out. Pessimism is spreading in the United States, and the economy seems to be doomed soon. What happened to the promised war profits?

The economic situation was so bad that the United States could not continue fighting. Washington ordered the withdrawal of troops from Mexico several times in a row. In the end, only less than 100,000 troops were left in Mexico.

If the economic situation continued to deteriorate, the US government planned to withdraw all troops. However, the situation soon took a turn for the better, starting with the British Royal Navy's complete control of the North Atlantic. With the British Navy's control of the Atlantic shipping lanes, trade between Europe and America finally became smooth again. Even in war, people still need to eat, and they will eat more. Europe began to import large quantities of American agricultural products.

As more and more young and middle-aged Europeans were drafted into the army, a poor harvest in European agriculture during the war was inevitable.

In addition, Germany controlled the Baltic Sea and the Ottoman Turks controlled the Dardanelles, a key route to the Black Sea. Agricultural products from Tsarist Russia, another major agricultural country, could not flow into Europe. During the war, the export volume of American agricultural products increased by more than five times. Cotton farmers counted money until their hands cramped, and the president no longer had to help sell cotton.

In addition to the prosperity of agriculture, the large-scale war in Europe also brought another great gift to the United States. The war created the demand for steel, vehicles, and communications.

Due to the huge demand for tools, railway facilities and ships, American industry ushered in great development.

Before the outbreak of the European War, the industrial product markets in Latin America and Asia were controlled by European powers. During the war, European countries were preoccupied with their own affairs, and the colonial markets were wide open. American products swept across Asia and Latin America, making a fortune again.