The sun never sets

Many people want to know what Prime Minister Ito talked about with the Alliance envoy. It must not be a trivial matter, otherwise they would not send troops to drive everyone out and talk for a whole day.

But until Wu Tingfang left Japan, no one could find out.

On the day Wu Tingfang left Japan, Ito did not go to see him off. His position was enough to exempt him from many unnecessary things, and his age also made him powerless to do many things. Ito Hirobumi only sent someone to see him off at the dock, as he had something more important to do.

It was on this night that before Ito Hirobumi was about to go to sleep, his secretary sent him an urgent call.

The text was delivered to him.

"...Grand Duke Nicholas launched a mutiny, defeated the main force of the rebels, imprisoned Kornilov and other generals, and surrendered to the Alliance..."

Kornilov and others launched a rebellion under the banner of supporting Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov as Tsar. Now Grand Duke Nicholas has turned around and killed Mrs. Kornilov and others?

It took Ito Hirobumi a long time to figure out the reason, which made him very frustrated. Ten years ago, he decided to continue to work hard for Japan, and five years ago, he could handle his official duties normally, but now he has to think for several minutes even for simple things.

"I'm old, I'm really old."

In his old age, Ito Hirobumi sighed deeply. He thought of his old companions, most of whom had turned into dust. Of those patriots who had fought together in the war to overthrow the shogunate, how many were still alive?

Ito Hirobumi raised his fingers and wanted to count them one by one, but his fingers stopped in the air, as if frozen.

After a long while, he let out a long sigh, "So, I am the only one left?"

In June 1915, Japanese Prime Minister Hirobumi Ito wrote to the People's Revolutionary League, requesting that the league unify the command of Japan's army, navy, and air force, and take over the diplomacy of the Japanese archipelago.

The telegram shocked the whole country. Many Japanese people cheered, especially young people and those in the business community. The benefits brought to them after the integration process was completed were self-evident. However, some people were dissatisfied with this, thinking that in this way, Japan would change from an independent country to a vassal state under the Zhou emperor. Isn't this not good?

However, such opposition voices and some other dissenting voices belong to the minority, and most people support the government's actions.

Ten days later, the Human Innovation Alliance began to take over the Japanese army and navy, set up the Japanese military district headquarters, and transferred more than a dozen naval officers to the Alliance Navy Headquarters in Chang'an. In addition, Takahashi Korekiyo was appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Alliance Finance Department. Some Japanese cadres were transferred to Chang'an and Moscow. Some Chinese and Russian cadres were also transferred to Japan.

The takeover of Japan's army and navy cannot be completed in a short period of time. Although Japan has maintained consistency with the alliance in terms of weapons and equipment and various specifications, this kind of thing will take several months or even a year and a half.

Even before the military exchange was completed, the Japanese had already felt the difference brought about by integration. All the inspections and approval procedures that were required in the past were no longer required, and as long as they had a Japanese ID card, they could go anywhere in the alliance.

The Japanese government has announced that all Japanese can take the college entrance examination this year. As long as they can pass the college entrance examination score, they can take the entrance examination for the corresponding college. If they pass both exams, they can receive higher education, free of charge. They will also receive some living expenses every month. It's not much, but it's more than enough to support themselves.

Food and accommodation are free at school, and even if you get sick, 80% of your medical expenses are reimbursed. Among the Japanese youths studying at universities in China, some can remit hundreds of yuan home every year.

Chapter 662: Bloody Butcher

What was happening in the Far East was very important to Japan and the Allies, but in Europe, everyone's focus was still on the tragic war. As the German army transferred a large number of troops to the Western Front and the US army arrived in large numbers, the war on the Western Front became more bloody and brutal.

In 1915, the German infantry was no longer equipped with rifles and bayonets as they had been a few years before, but with modern infantry weapons such as light machine guns, submachine guns, flamethrowers, mortars, light infantry guns, and a large number of grenades, which greatly improved the German infantry's ability to attack strong trench positions, so that they did not have to rely too much on artillery support.

After the armistice on the Eastern Front, Germany was not only able to use the huge force it had used to fight Russia on the Western Front, but also received a large number of new weapons, including aircraft, tanks, submachine guns, and light machine guns. Germany's military production capacity had been expanded to its limit, and even if it received the blueprints of new weapons, it would take several months to adjust them before large-scale production could be carried out.

Importing weapons from the People's Revolutionary League is not subject to this restriction. The People's Revolutionary League does not have much food to sell to the Allies, but it has plenty of weapons and equipment.

The Type 14 light machine gun (Czech style) sold to Germany by the Human Innovation Alliance has a firing rate of 500 rounds per minute and uses 7.92X57mm bullets, which will not cause too much pressure on logistics. However, the magazine capacity is limited, with only 20 rounds of bullets, which is often not enough on the battlefield.

Germany used gold and silver to purchase a large number of Type 14 light machine guns, with the first batch purchasing 10000. After receiving the design drawings, German engineers modified it so that it could use a belt. However, in actual combat, it was found that whether it was a 50-round belt or a 100-round belt, it was easy to cause the barrel to overheat, which was another problem.

In addition to the 14 light machine gun, the weapons sold by the People's Revolutionary League to Germany were also very useful, but the price was a bit expensive. However, the Germans had no other choice. They were previously blockaded by the Allies and could not spend their money. They had a lot of hard currency in their hands, but they could not buy anything.

Now that they can use money to buy things, the Allies are buying as much as they can, and they are willing to spend all their gold and silver. The German army has seized a lot of things in France, Poland, Ukraine, Romania and other places.

Among them were large amounts of gold, silver and jewelry, which were now used to buy weapons and equipment.

Because the trade route to the east was opened, Ludendorff restored nearly 300,000 military workers who were too young or too old, and asked them to go back to farming and work in agriculture-related jobs. Germany did not lack rifles and cannons, but it was very short of food.

The High Command also had the wild idea of importing workers and farmers from China to help the Germans cultivate the land and produce arms. China had already sent a large number of workers to Britain and France, so sending more to Germany wouldn't be a big deal, right?

This out-of-the-box idea is surprising, but if you think about it carefully, it is understandable. Germany's manpower has been used to its limit. The people Ludendorff sent back home to farm were all old men and women or half-grown boys. Many people said that it was because the German government could not support so many people that they released them.

If workers and farmers could be brought in from China, Germany's lack of manpower would be effectively alleviated. In terms of manpower, China is the only country with more manpower than the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Germany.

However, this request was rejected by Chairman Lin, firstly because he was worried about the safety, and secondly because he was worried that the Germans did not have enough money to pay the bills. The German army looted a lot of gold and silver treasures, but those things were nothing in the world war. The hard currency of Britain and France was almost used up in less than a year. Now the Allies were open to buying equipment, and it was estimated that they could only support it for about a year.

If Britain and France ran out of money, they could still use their colonies to pay off their debts. What did Germany have? Was it going to cede East Prussia to the Alliance? The Human Innovation Alliance had enough land, so there was no need to seek more land, at least not for the time being.

Through Xu Wuji's relationship, Ludendorff told Chairman Lin that Germany was now in extreme difficulties and hoped that China would consider the traditional friendship between China and Germany and lend a helping hand to the hungry German people.

He also revealed some war intelligence that the Allies were planning the biggest offensive since the war began, and given the Allies' advantage in military strength, Germany needed more assistance.

At this time, Grand Duke Nicholas had put down the Kornilov Rebellion, killed and captured the rebels in the army, and then returned to Moscow with a small number of soldiers.

The Alliance was able to disband more troops, and with Germany giving more gold, Chairman Lin waved his hand and transferred 40 tons of grain from the strategic grain reserves to sell to the Allies.

Before the grain arrived at its destination, the Allies launched a fierce attack on the Western Front. The key was not the grain, but the fact that the Allies freed up a large amount of active equipment and sold it to the German government.

The German government has no money? That's easy, just approve a loan for them.

In this world, there is no Battle of the Somme, but there is the Battle of Paris. However, the price must be paid. At the end of July, the British, French and American allied forces launched the largest-scale offensive on the Western Front.

Because the French suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of Paris, the Allied offensive this time was mainly British and American forces, with 30 American divisions, 25 British divisions, and 14 French divisions, a total of 69 divisions, and a frontal offensive width of 60 kilometers, which could almost be called a full-scale offensive.

The Allies deployed a total of 400 tanks and more than 1100 aircraft, and adopted a strategy of attacking limited targets one after another, attempting to achieve a breakthrough by consuming the German army's strength. In order to coordinate the actions of the two armies, it was stipulated that the attack line could not be exceeded on its own.

Starting from August 8, the Allies launched a fierce artillery bombardment on the German army from Verdun to Laon. The fierce bombardment lasted for seven days, and the shells on the Allied artillery positions piled up like mountains.

The Allies bombarded for seven days, almost completely destroying the first German position and partially destroying the second position, but they lost the tactical initiative that should be maintained in offensive operations. After such a long bombardment, anyone who is not a fool knows where the Allies will launch an attack.

Subsequently, British, French and American soldiers, under the cover of aircraft and tanks, crossed the German first line of defense and occupied the German second line of defense in most areas. The German army took advantage of the intervals between the enemy's attacks to quickly mobilize troops, strengthen defense in depth, and launch counterattacks in some areas.

Because the German army was equipped with a large number of light and heavy machine guns and submachine guns, they had some advantages in the battle. The group charge of the British and American troops turned into a bloody massacre. A large number of soldiers were harvested by heavy machine guns and rapid-fire cannons and fell on the road of charge. Even if they rushed to the distance of light weapons fighting, they were defeated by the German light machine guns and submachine guns.

In one day, the Allies suffered nearly 100,000 casualties. The Allied commander-in-chief Haig became famous in one battle, and the name "Bloody Butcher" spread like wildfire. However, this butcher did not kill the enemy, but the people on the Allied side.

Haig believed that with the advent of tanks, machine guns would not be as effective on the battlefield, but the German army also deployed a large number of tanks, including more than 200 Type 1 tanks and more than 80 Type 2 tanks, as well as a small number of heavy tanks weighing 50 to 60 tons.

At the same time, the German army also dispatched more fighters for air cover. Without the advantage of aircraft and tanks, the Allied forces suffered heavy casualties. The Allied General Headquarters had to invest more troops and technical weapons to the front line to avoid being pushed back by the German army.

Chapter 663: Bloody Battle

The Allied casualties exceeded 100,000 in one day.

But this was only the beginning, and it was far from the end. No matter how many casualties there were on the front line, or how much ammunition was consumed, Britain, the United States, and France were determined to continue fighting.

Germany had tried to make peace with the Allies before, but the other side's demands were too high and the German government could not accept it. The Supreme Command and the General Staff were very worried about the consumption on the front line and believed that if the war continued like this, the German army would probably not be able to hold on.

The British, American and French coalition forces suffered heavy casualties, and the German army also suffered heavy casualties. The loss of manpower made the German high-ranking officials anxious, and the loss of technical weapons made them heartbroken.

The Allies relied on their greater manpower and technical weapons to launch wave after wave of attacks. Even when they were beaten to a pulp by the German positions, they had no intention of stopping the battle. This further increased the losses of the Allies. Similarly, the losses of the German army were also increasing every day.

Germany's military production capacity has been expanded to the limit, and the use of manpower has also reached its limit. The troops lost on the front line need to be replaced, but the replacements are all old men, or too young to have reached the age of service in the past.

The lost aircraft, tanks and other technical weapons are slowly being replenished. If you want to spend money to buy them from China, they won’t arrive in a short time. Even if China produces aircraft and tanks, they have to be transported from the other side of the world island, which takes a long time. Unless the active equipment of the First Armored Division and the Yulin Army is sold to the Germans, it will be possible to make up for the current losses of the German army.

But why?

"We can pay in gold!"

Seeing that Xu Wuji still showed no interest, Major William gritted his teeth and said, "We are willing to pay twice the price!"

The price of arms is already several times higher than usual. Will it double again?

Major William gnashed his teeth and said, "Great! Double the current price and settle in gold!"

Xu Wuji said seriously: "I will report to the country."

"Please finalize this matter as soon as possible. This is very important to Germany!"

On August 8, the British and French Allied Forces on the left wing of the Western Front completely occupied the second line of defense of the German Army opposite. The British and French tanks once reached the third line of defense. In the following days, due to the German Army's deployment of reserve forces and the serious shortcomings of the British and French Allied Forces themselves in breakthrough tactics and command and dispatch (the regulations on assaults in various regions were cumbersome, limiting the initiative of the army, etc.), the advancement was slow.

The German command deployed a new wave of reserve troops, increased the depth of defense, and built a supplementary defense area.

In mid-August, the British and French forces only advanced a few kilometers and failed to achieve the expected goal of the operation. From the end of August to mid-September, the British, French and American forces increased their forces by 8 divisions and 8 aircraft, while the German army dispatched ten divisions of reserves and 9 aircraft. Due to too many troops and too much firepower, the battle rhythm became increasingly slow and stalemate. The Allies failed to achieve a breakthrough and the war turned back into a war of attrition.

Even so, the Allies did not give up and continued to attack. In the bloody war of attrition, the Allies advanced step by step. Ludendorff ordered the engineers to dig trenches in the rear, gradually resisting and retreating, losing a large area of land and inflicting great casualties on the Allies.

The battlefield on the Western Front was covered in blood. The US and Italian armies also launched an offensive on the Southern Front, but the effect was not very good. After a month of fierce fighting and consuming millions of artillery shells, the US-Italian coalition forces only advanced less than ten miles.

On August 8, Lin Yongchang received news that the German army wanted to buy the Alliance's active equipment. He did not agree immediately. Instead, he spent a few days connecting a telephone line to Berlin, and then communicated with Ludendorff on the phone for more than an hour.

It is not impossible to sell weapons to Germany, but if the German army cannot survive this year - which is very likely - then the Alliance will have to consider the possibility of dealing with the Allied siege after the war, and will not be able to sell precious heavy equipment to the Germans.

Making money is good, but you must also ensure your own safety first.

Ludendorff revealed a little bit of his battle plan on the phone, it was very obscure, but Lin Yongchang understood it immediately. It was the same strategy of retreating and fighting a decisive battle, which the People's Army had used during the Sino-Russian War.

Gradually retreat to consume the enemy's strength and morale, and when the enemy is exhausted, send in heavy troops to counterattack. This plan sounds feasible, and the German army, which has purchased a large amount of military equipment from the alliance, still has the strength to fight one last time.

In this case, they would sell the current equipment to the Germans. The 1st Armored Division instantly became an infantry division, and those majestic tanks and assault guns were loaded onto trains and transported to Berlin.

The alliance not only sold tanks and assault guns, but also trucks, tricycles and other equipment. In order to allow the German army to launch a counterattack on the Western Front with confidence, the Supreme Military Committee of the Alliance withdrew the troops on the Polish and Russian borders by 50 miles, leaving only some armed police and militia to garrison.

In addition, the Alliance also transported 4.5 tons of food and a large amount of medicine from military rations. It was originally estimated that the hard currency of the Allies could support it for a year, but it did not. In order to make a last-ditch effort, Germany put all its capital on the line.

Carriageloads of gold were sent to Moscow, and hundreds of tanks and 4.5 tons of food were shipped to Germany.

The Alliance took a big risk by selling active equipment to Germany, and it also worsened relations with the Allies. Therefore, while collecting the money and shipping the equipment, the People's Revolutionary League made a small request to Germany.

It was really just a small request: transfer the Polish army to the Western Front. It would be best if no Polish troops were left in Poland.

"If you are worried about the public security in Poland, you can send more German military and police officers over."

The German High Command agreed to the alliance's proposal and transferred Piłsudski, Vilnius and other Polish troops to the Western Front. This caused some trouble. The Polish army did not want to go to the Western Front, which was like purgatory, but they could not defy the will of the German army. After hundreds of people were shot, Piłsudski and others boarded the train with various thoughts in their minds.

Subsequently, the German army arrested Piłsudski, Vilnius and others and tortured them. Under torture, some Poles confessed. As early as 1911, Piłsudski had colluded with Britain and France. In the autumn of that year, he secretly told the British and French that his army would not fight the British or French armies, but only the Russians.

However, the German government did not execute Piłsudski and others for this, but put them in prison. The League's intention to transfer the Polish Legion to the Western Front is obvious. Germany now needs the League, so Piłsudski and others were arrested. However, these Polish nationalists may be useful in the future, so they were spared from being shot.

Chapter 664: Retreat

Although Germany and the Allies were doing business happily in private, they were still on guard against each other. The Germans knew very well what the Allies wanted to do, wasn't it to use Germany to weaken Britain, France, and the United States? As for the other members of the Allies, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Poland, they were just extras.

Not only the Germans saw the intention of the League, but also the Allies. After the League withdrew from the World War and began to supply food and arms to Germany, the Allied media began to vigorously slander China, mainly a certain evil dictator.

In China, some newspapers also began to discuss whether it was a bad idea to sell arms to warring parties. Other media outlets were fine, but the ones headquartered in Hong Kong were the most aggressive, presenting facts and reasoning, almost shouting themselves hoarse and shedding tears.

However, these performances did not have much effect. It was by selling arms to both sides that China developed rapidly in recent years. What does it have to do with us whether Europeans die or not? Chairman Lin called on the warring parties to stop the war several times and solve the problem through negotiation instead of killing, but the British and Americans did not listen.

Whenever there are too many "reflection monsters" in society, the government-controlled media will bring up the Opium War and the Eight-Nation Alliance, and all kinds of bloody photos of killings are chilling.

When the Eight-Nation Alliance was creating massacres in China, they took a lot of photos, especially in Beijing. The People's Government - now the Human Innovation Alliance - can talk to the powers in a friendly manner and do business fairly, but it has never forgotten those bloody massacres.

Large-scale demonstrations against imperialism soon broke out in Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and other places. Many people had experienced the era when the great powers acted recklessly in China. Less than twenty years had passed, and people had not forgotten the suffering they had once endured.

Sympathize with the foreign devils? Why?

Hong Kong journalists stationed in Guangzhou once again fled back to Hong Kong Island in a panic. They had to run away as the protesting crowd smashed the doors and windows of the newspaper office. If they had not run fast, they would have been beaten up.

Public opinion is very useful when it is useful, but it is also really useless when it is useless. Britain and the United States are both good at manipulating public opinion, but so what? The People's Revolutionary League is already a world power and does not need to act according to the wishes of Britain and the United States.

The US government has thought further than the British government. While mobilizing public opinion, it has also increased its efforts to cultivate pro-American people in China, Russia, Japan and other countries. The British will not do this. At least for now, the British Empire is still the world hegemon. Although the means are sophisticated, it still has the pride of being a world hegemon.

While criticizing China and the so-called "People's Revolutionary League", the Allies still focused their main energy on Europe. The endless war made everyone exhausted and miserable. Britain, the United States and France increased their offensive efforts while sending people to negotiate with the German government, hoping that the other side would surrender.

Not only were the Allies negotiating with Germany, they were also negotiating with other Central Powers. Bulgaria and Türkiye could barely hold on, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire was already on the verge of collapse.

Among the member states of the Allied Powers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered the heaviest losses. Coupled with the natural centrifugal force brought about by its multi-ethnicity, the situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the worst among the remaining warring countries, and the degree of difficulty was even greater than that of Bulgaria.

From all aspects, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not a weakling. It was one of the Eight-Nation Alliance. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was founded in 1867. Its territory included parts of today's Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Belgium and other countries. Its territory was very large, second only to Russia in Europe, with an area of 67 square kilometers and a population of over 5000 million, second only to Russia and Germany.

In 1911, Austria-Hungary's industrial output accounted for 3.4% of the world's total, equivalent to one-eighth of the United States, one-third of the United Kingdom, and twice that of Italy.

The country is truly the fifth most powerful country in Europe and the seventh most powerful country in the world.

However, the financial capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was relatively underdeveloped. Before the outbreak of the World War, foreign capital invested more than 120 billion crowns, of which German capital accounted for nearly half. Moreover, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was composed of many small countries and regions, with sharp class and ethnic contradictions, lack of centripetal force, and different languages and customs, which laid hidden dangers for the outbreak of the war later.

After the outbreak of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was responsible for the war on the Eastern Front and was involved in a long tug-of-war and war of attrition with Russia. It was once driven out of Galicia by Tsarist Russia and later occupied it with the help of Germany, but the industrial capacity of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was greatly damaged.

Over the past four years, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's military performance was mediocre, and it suffered heavy losses, with 500 million dead, wounded, captured, and missing. In the first half of 1915 alone, 40 soldiers deserted, and uprisings and independence incidents occurred frequently in various places. At this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on the verge of collapse.

The Crown Prince Archduke Ferdinand privately negotiated with the Allies, hoping to learn from Russia and withdraw from the world war. The news was learned by the German government, and Kaiser Wilhelm II called Budapest overnight, complaining bitterly, using both coercion and inducement, which temporarily stabilized the situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Germany did not pursue Austria-Hungary's private negotiations with the enemy, because the German government was doing the same thing. William II only asked Austria-Hungary and Germany to advance and retreat together. He claimed on the phone that the strategic dilemma of the Allies had been broken, and that the German army was brewing an unprecedented offensive that would completely solve the problems on the Western Front.

Archduke Ferdinand did not believe what William II said. The Germans had said the same thing many times, and each time they made solemn promises, but in the end more blood was shed, and nothing else was gained.

"This time is different!"

"Russia has withdrawn from the war, and we have the support of China," Kaiser Wilhelm II said on the phone.

"But the United States has joined the Allies... Your Majesty, we can no longer support it." Archduke Ferdinand's voice was full of bitterness. "We have failed, and we should accept this fact."

"No, not yet. Grand Duke, you will see a turning point soon."