The sun never sets

Chapter 312 Beyond the Battlefield

"Mr. Rockhill, we need more help from our American friends."

Tang Shaoyi's attitude towards Americans was completely different from that towards Japanese. It was not only because he was a young student studying in the United States, but the more important reason was that the United States was a major donor to the People's Government. The People's Government owed a lot of money to the US government and consortium, and also wanted to borrow more money from the Americans.

Compared with the Qing government in another time and space, the People's Government only liberated half of China, but its financial situation was much better. It did not have to pay war reparations to the powers, implemented land reform, and had many new medicines and chemicals, all of which made the financial situation of the People's Government better and better in a virtuous cycle.

However, while income is growing rapidly, the government's expenditure is growing even faster. Investment in heavy industry is a bottomless pit, and no matter how much income there is, it can be spent cleanly. Another major expenditure is war expenses. Every bullet and every shell fired by the army costs money. A heavy howitzer

The price of bullets purchased from abroad is about one worker's annual salary. If the People's Government's military factories produce them themselves, it will be 40% to 50% cheaper, but it is still very expensive.

Finance Minister Yan Shutang has complained many times that there is not a penny left in the account and that he is now spending money borrowed from the Americans. After part of the war reparations from Russia arrived, the financial pressure was effectively relieved, but as long as the war continued, the money would soon be spent.

Lin Yongchang also knew that the government's financial situation was very bad and the country's situation was very bad, but he still decided to launch a war against Japan at this time. The financial situation of the People's Government was not good, and the finances of the Meiji Government of Japan were even worse. Japan's Yawata Iron and Steel Works was about to solve the problem, and Britain also gave the Japanese government more support. By the second half of next year, the strength of the Japanese would begin to grow significantly. Therefore, even if the situation of the People's Government was very bad, he had to bite the bullet and beat the Japanese.

Besides, the Japanese army is now fighting with the Russians, and more than 100,000 main forces are trapped in Vladivostok. Such good opportunities don't come often. If you don't take the gift from heaven, you will suffer the consequences. If you have the opportunity, you must seize it. The early preparations for the attack have been made. Even if the navy does not take the risk of creating an excuse for war, Marshal Lin will still lead his troops into Korea.

After defeating Tsarist Russia, the conflict between the People's Government and Britain will inevitably break out. This is inevitable, it's just a matter of time. Rather than waiting for Japan to be armed by the British, it's better to beat Japan half to death now. In order to ensure victory in this war, the People's Government needs more funds, and continuing to borrow money from the Americans is an important channel to obtain funds.

Rockhill came to China a few years ago and was said to replace Conger as the new US ambassador to China. Because the trade volume between China and the United States has increased continuously, the position of US ambassador to China has become a lucrative job, and Conger is reluctant to leave. Rockhill can only temporarily hang on to the title of counselor and shout to the people's government.

The United States was the first country to recognize the People's Government, earlier than Germany. The economic ties between China and the United States became closer and closer, but that did not mean there were no contradictions between the two sides. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out and the People's Government urgently needed American support, Rockhill once again proposed additional political conditions.

"The U.S. government supports China's efforts to rescue the North Korean people," said Rocky. He was not like Jordan who liked to talk in circles. "But you must agree to open up the financial market and allow the people to have the right to freedom of belief. Night Raid Group: 69④9, 361③⑤"

As Rockhill put forward more and more conditions, Tang Shaoyi's brows gradually frowned. Wu Tingfang was educated in the UK, so he had always had a good impression of the UK and had some unrealistic expectations. Tang Shaoyi was the same, because he grew up in the United States and received an American education, so he had a good impression of the United States.

After seeing the strong industrial strength of the United States, Tang Shaoyi, like many other Chinese students in the United States, hoped to build China into the United States. It was natural for them to not only learn about American industry, but also about American politics and culture.

Later, when Wu Tingfang was negotiating with British diplomats, he was disgusted by Jordan and other British people and changed from a pro-British faction to a staunch anti-British faction. Tang Shaoyi had not yet completed his change of position. He had previously applauded the Jianli of the "Preparatory School for Studying in the United States" and believed that the government had made the right decision. Now he had a plan for Rockhill's behavior of taking advantage of the fire.

"Mr. Rockefeller, America should not do such a thing. This is not free and democratic at all, and it is not in line with the principles of natural human rights!"

Rocky was a veteran diplomat who had seen many fools in backward countries. He was not surprised by Tang Shaoyi's silly words. He said with a smile: "No, no, Mr. Tang, the great United States of America will never take advantage of others. We are doing this for the good of China and the Chinese people."

"It's for the good of China?" Tang Shaoyi was stunned and asked, "How do you mean that?"

Rokeye patiently persuaded, "Mister Tang, if you want China to become a civilized country, it is not enough to build a few factories and manufacture some guns and cannons. You also need to have corresponding systems to support it. But your government is too stubborn and has always refused to learn American politics, economy and culture. You Chinese have a Cheng Yu, who is called "Buying the Box and Returning the Pearl". Now you are just spending a lot of money to scold a box, but you don't want the treasure inside the box."

Many foreigners engaged in various activities in China are sinologists, and Rockhill is one of them. This guy not only speaks fluent Mandarin, but can also quote classics and speak eloquently.

Tang Shaoyi felt that what Rocky said made sense. Indeed, if we want China to become a central country again, is it enough to just build factories and railways? The previous dynasty carried out the Westernization Movement for decades, but in the end, it was still a mess. It is imperative to learn advanced foreign systems. Even President Lin said that production relations must be constantly improved to match the growing productivity, so as to promote the development of productivity, rather than the opposite.

He thought for a moment and said, "Mr. Rockhill, you may be right, but these requests should not be made at this time."

Ruokeyi smiled kindly, the same kind smile as the big bad wolf looking at the little white rabbit. "There is nothing we can do about this. Because of some misunderstandings in the past, too many people in your government have ill will towards America and are unwilling to accept it.

We are grateful for your kindness. The process and means are not important, what is important is the result, right? "

Chapter 313 Changing Horses

Those who studied in England became pro-British, those who studied in Germany became pro-German, and it was natural for high-level intellectuals like Tang Shaoyi who spent their youth in the United States to become pro-American. However, unlike Tang Shaoyi and others, Premier Wang Qi never had any special feelings for any great power or other country.

Whether it was the United Kingdom or the United States, they were all members of the Eight-Nation Alliance and had committed massacres in Beijing. How many years had passed? The Boxers had killed hundreds of thousands of people in the war with the foreign devils, and almost everyone had a blood feud with the foreigners. If it weren't for President Lin's strict order not to kill people indiscriminately, the foreign devils in North China would have been killed without a single one left.

Tang Shaoyi said that Roukeyi's proposal could be considered, which immediately brought him severe criticism from the Prime Minister's Office. A circular was also issued, which was made public within the Party and the government, and he was ordered to write a self-criticism. Tang Shaoyi was already 40 years old, and his work in the People's Government had been smooth sailing. He was so ashamed and angry at being severely criticized that he could hardly face anyone.

He also had a bad temper, and immediately wrote a letter of resignation to Wu Tingfang, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Minister Lu Zhengxiang had just re-signed the Sino-Russian Treaty of Nerchinsk in St. Petersburg, winning great benefits for China, and was on his way back to Taiyuan. For the time being, Wu Tingfang was still handling the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on his behalf.

Wu Tingfang originally wanted to go to Dandong with Chairman Lin, but he had to stay in Taiyuan to deal with things at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He took a look at the resignation letter, threw it aside, closed the door of the office, and gave Tang Shaoyi a good scolding.

The comrades outside could only hear some vague voices and were not clear about what the deputy minister said to Tang Shaoyi. Half an hour later, Tang Shaoyi came out with a letter of resignation. He never said he would resign again, but honestly wrote a self-criticism and made self-criticism in front of everyone at the monthly party congress.

Perhaps he still had other ideas in his mind, but he still reflected on the surface. These things were public and not confidential. Rockhill learned about the subsequent development of the matter and said to American Ambassador Conger: "It seems that the Chinese have not reached the end of their rope."

Conger was a little unhappy about Rockhill's private actions, but he was just unhappy. He had made enough money in China, and his term was about to end. Many people were dissatisfied with his holding on to the position of ambassador to China. Conger had already planned to retire in one more year, so it didn't matter if Rockhill did something in advance, but if it didn't get done, that would be another matter.

"The People's Government received 600 million rubles in war reparations from the Russians, enough for them to fight another Sino-Russian war!"

Rockhill sighed and said, "Yes, six hundred million rubles. Who said the Russians don't have money?"

"The Russian Empire really had no money. It was the Bank of France that paid for it."

After the defeat of the Eight-Nation Alliance, the People's Government launched a severe crackdown on foreign religions under its jurisdiction, and all the efforts of missionaries in northern China for a hundred years came to naught. Although the US government and American financial groups gained more economic benefits, there are still many people and groups who are obsessed with missionary work.

Economic benefits are only temporary, and fundamentally changing the Chinese people's religious beliefs and cultural customs is the long-term benefit. But unfortunately, the people's government is very strict in this regard. Even if they need to borrow money from the Americans, they are unwilling to give in on key issues.

When the People's Army crossed the Yalu River and headed for Kusong, Taecheon, Deokchon, and Orori, a secret telegram came from Washington, in which the Secretary of State asked whether a new president could be appointed to the People's Government. After reading the telegram, Conger almost spit out his coffee.

Change the president? Those people in Washington really want to. This is China, not South America!

After the United States of America announced the "Monroe Doctrine", it regarded South America as its own backyard, often carrying out coups and assassinations there, but that approach would not work in China. The US military can directly attack South America and overturn any country, but why not try coming to China instead?

Those countries in South America can be considered regional powers if they have 5,000 or 6,000 modern troops. In East Asia, the number of troops for a war is usually 100,000. Even the Jinling government in the south has 200,000 modern troops. If you want to force the People's Party to surrender, you have to send out a million troops and fight for several years.

Regardless of whether we can win or not, Congress will definitely not agree to such a costly thing.

Washington was very dissatisfied with the People's Government's repeated rejection of good intentions from the civilized world. This time, he simply and decisively rejected the People's Party's request for a loan. President Theodore Roosevelt participated in the Spanish-American War and won the title of "Hero of San Juan Mountain". He pursued the Monroe Doctrine, implemented an expansionist policy, built a strong army, and interfered in American affairs. He was not satisfied with just interfering in American affairs, and wanted China to act according to his baton.

Although the ambassador to China claimed that it was impossible to change the government, President Roosevelt thought it was possible. How could the People's Party dominate alone? Another party should be fostered to take turns with the People's Party in power. Refusing to lend more money to the Chinese was a way to teach the Chinese who were disobedient.

Conger opposed this, but to little avail.

The United States has emerged from the economic crisis and is heading for the next period of prosperity. It is no longer as hungry for the Chinese market as it was four years ago. Now many American businessmen believe that it is the Chinese who cannot live without American goods, not that the United States needs the Chinese market.

During the economic crisis, investing in the United States meant losing money. A lot of hot money was looking for places to invest around the world. The return on investment in China was not a huge profit, but it was better than keeping it in your hands. Now that the situation has improved, investing in the United States can also get a very good return, and the importance of China has declined.

In addition, the United States has always had a tradition of excluding Chinese people, so the People's Government's latest loan application was rejected, which hurt the pro-American faction within the People's Government. Lin Yongchang was commanding the war against Japan at the Dandong front. After seeing the news from Taiyuan, he said calmly: "Without Zhang the butcher, we won't eat hairy pigs."

According to the rules of the [Heavenly Kingdom is not a tribe] system, twenty bonds can be issued without worrying about not being able to sell them. The worst that can happen is inflation. The Americans want to use this to threaten the great Chinese people, which is wishful thinking! Borrowing money from the Americans is Lin Yongchang's backup plan. Relying on the war reparations from the Russians is enough to flatten the Japanese. Preparing more backup plans is to prevent emergencies, such as floods, plagues, etc.

In the last period of time, the previous dynasty only maintained superficial unity and could no longer manage local affairs. The riverbanks of the Yellow River and other places had fallen into disrepair and problems would occur from time to time. Preparing more money was to deal with situations like the 98 flood, not to ask for loans from the powers.

But things took a new turn after the US government refused to issue the loan.

Chapter 314 Technology

The U.S. government rejected the People's Government's loan application, but the German and French governments took the initiative to come to the door and wanted to lend money to Marshal Lin. It is easy to understand that Germany wants to lend money to the Chinese. There is a secret military cooperation between China and Germany. The two sides have a lot of cooperation in the design, manufacture, and research of various subsystems of warships. The information provided by the People's Government to Germany is in tons. It is said to be lending money to the People's Government, but in fact it wants to obtain more advanced technology.

Germany's industrial strength has almost caught up with Britain, but because it is a latecomer, except for slightly surpassing Britain in chemical industry, its technological level in many aspects is still not as good as that of Britain. In the manufacture of large-caliber naval guns, the Germans are one level behind. In addition, there are armored steel, sighting equipment, fire control systems, etc., and the Germans still need to catch up.

After taking the lead in coming up with the "Dreadnought", German engineers fell into a new dilemma. They could not come up with anything new except patching up the "Dreadnought". It was normal that they could not come up with anything new. The catch-up of technology takes years, and the design of a battleship also takes a long time. However, Kaiser Wilhelm II could not tolerate such a procrastinating style of work.

The British claimed that Germany stole their design drawings. After the "Dreadnought" was exposed, they immediately launched the "Hood" battleship. From the appearance, it is almost the same as the "Dreadnought". Many countries in the world believe that what the British said is true. Germany has never been heard of being good at designing battleships. Suddenly, it came up with something as groundbreaking as the "Dreadnought". It is really suspicious.

Even some Germans thought that their own spies stole the British blueprints, but out of national pride and honor, they insisted that it was the great German nation that led the trend of "all-heavy artillery battleships". After reading the British newspapers, Kaiser Wilhelm II was furious and cursed. It was obvious that the Germans had produced the real materials, but the British were throwing dirty water over there, describing the Kaiser and the Germans as shameless thieves.

So William II put forward higher requirements to the German Navy, asking for a larger tonnage, thicker guns, faster speed and stronger protection. But how is this possible? Do you think battleships are cabbages in the field? Even if they are cabbages, you can't get bigger just because you want them.

William II was an avid battleship enthusiast, and there were several palaces in his palace dedicated to displaying battleship models. The designer submitted several proposals, but they were all clumsy and dull, without any novelty. Compared with the British "Hood", the new design had no advantages.

After the advent of the "Dreadnought", Germany had a chance to catch up with the British Navy, but if it could not win in terms of quality, the opportunity would always be just an opportunity. In terms of the number of docks and shipbuilding speed, Germany could not match Britain.

After rejecting those uninspired shipbuilding plans, William II received news that his cousin, Tsarist Russia, admitted defeat and paid war reparations to China, so he turned his attention to the Chinese. Since the German designers were not good enough, he turned to the Chinese for help.

In addition, the Chinese defeated the Russian Empire on the battlefield. Although there were various reasons, they won the war. China had proved its strength, and William II thought of the "China-Germany-US-Austria" alliance again. The Americans had no motivation or idea to establish a military alliance, but the Chinese were different.

If China and Germany establish a military alliance, they can attack Russia from both sides, and the Franco-Russian alliance will no longer be a sharp sword hanging over Germany's head. So the German ambassador came over waving a checkbook. Lin Yongchang needed the German mark.

As for the Sino-German military alliance, I would like to decline.

Last year, President Lin tactfully said that the British warships were still cruising on the Yangtze River, and the People's Government could not reach a military alliance with Germany. Moreover, China had not yet been unified, and the first task was to complete the great cause of unification before discussing other matters. This time, Wu Tingfang still said the same thing to the Germans.

The German ambassador said that the current people's government is like Prussia in the past. President Lin can first overthrow a certain great power and then ascend the throne in the other's palace. In this way, other local governments in China can naturally be merged. Well, this is the original words of German Emperor Wilhelm II. Wilhelm II has many shocking remarks. He previously published the "Yellow Peril Theory" and now urged Marshal Lin to ascend the throne in St. Petersburg, but he is just bad, not stupid.

Some people may be interested in the "good idea" offered by the Germans, but more people are wary of it. The people's government will force the Tsarist Russia to cede territory and pay compensation, but it will never choose to humiliate the other side and let the two sides resolve the hatred that has lasted for decades. Besides, China now has no strength to attack St. Petersburg.

The People's Government rejected the proposal to form an alliance with Germany and also rejected the absurd suggestion to let the ever-healthy Chairman Lin to ascend the throne in St. Petersburg. So the Germans said that it was okay to just talk about loans as long as China could provide more advanced technology.

In the eyes of those who care, China is no longer a technological desert. In recent years, Lin Yongchang has come up with many new chemical theories, written many papers on biology and dynamics, and has made achievements in almost all scientific research fields, except physics, especially nuclear physics.

Therefore, the German ambassador did not think there was anything wrong with asking the Chinese for advanced technology. Decades ago, when German industry started, it was all about "copying". The first country to be accused of only copying was Germany, followed by the United States, then Japan, and then China. In the process of development, late-developing industrial countries always have to take the path of copying first and then independent innovation.

Without the process of copying, neither enterprises nor factories can survive, and there can be no independent innovation.

Of course, it was possible to exchange technology for marks. After the German ambassador talked with Wu Tingfang, the vice minister of foreign affairs, he was soon received by Premier Wang Qi. The two sides had a friendly and enthusiastic conversation and reached consensus on many aspects. Then the consensus and the secret treaty were sent to Dandong. Premier Wang had signed it, and after President Lin also signed it, the deal was done.

After giving the Germans the blueprints for the "Dreadnought", Lin Yongchang was ready to give the Germans the blueprints for the "Super Dreadnought", and the famous "Queen Elizabeth Class", which was renamed the "Emperor Wilhelm Class" in this era. Alas, you can't blame Lin Yongchang for taking advantage of the British, because the British ships are just good.

Although many technical indicators cannot be met and many subsystems cannot be manufactured now, the super dreadnought definitely has its advantages. At worst, we can just wait and upgrade slowly. Those subsystems can also be used to trick the Germans and continue to sell them for money. The business of exchanging marks for technology can continue.

Chapter 315 Diplomacy

The reason why China and Germany are getting closer is because of the world situation and because both sides need each other. It is not surprising that the Germans came to China to ask for loans. It is a bit unexpected that the French came to China, but it is also reasonable.

France is a financial empire, with a lot of financiers looking for investment opportunities all over the world. It is understandable that they are more proactive in order to make money. But the main reason is that the Chinese defeated the Russians, which made the French see the value of China. In order to completely defeat their old enemy Germany, the French can be very proactive.

Just like the dismantling of the "Three Emperors' Alliance" in the past, the French could not tolerate the offensive and defensive alliance between China and Germany, and also wanted to disrupt the cooperation between China and Germany. The British heard a little about the secret development of battleships between China and Germany, but they did not believe it very much. The French had more evidence.

It's all about money, and France has plenty of it. And investing in China is a good business. The United States has an economic crisis every ten years, and so do Britain and France. Choosing capitalism means choosing everything about capitalism, including the economic crisis every ten years.

France, like Britain, had large colonies and could pass on the economic crisis to the colonies. But their colonies were not as large as Britain's, and they did not recover as quickly from the economic crisis as Britain. The economy of the North developed rapidly under the People's Party. After eliminating the middlemen, the vast rural areas burst into vitality, and the heavy industry of the People's Party developed even faster.

One million tons of steel a year is nothing in Europe, but it is definitely a significant number in Asia. Seeing the Germans and Americans making money in the north, the French said they wanted to do it too. The newly elected President Roosevelt of the United States rejected the Chinese loan application, and the French saw an opportunity and came to them.

The People's Government does not discriminate against the franc. They are very enthusiastic about the French who are willing to spend the currency. They also do not refuse to open the market to France. It's just that the interest rate the French want is too high, and they want to dominate the internal affairs of the People's Government, which is a bit troublesome. France is a loan shark empire, they are not philanthropists, they lend money to obtain excess profits, but Marshal Lin wants to get it for free...

Because of the progress on the Korean battlefield

The government was not so eager to obtain loans. China was not Russia, which could allow France to manipulate its domestic politics, nor could it accept paying the French most of the wealth produced by the people as interest. President Lin's instructions to the Prime Minister's Office were "negotiation is possible, but the interest rate cannot be too high."

This is a bit difficult. The French are willing to win over China and lend a large sum of francs, but they are absolutely unwilling to accept low interest rates. It is difficult, so we can talk slowly. Anyway, we don't count on the French.

When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in Korea, in addition to the fighting on the battlefield, the maneuvers outside the battlefield were also very intense. The Japanese promoted their war bonds in Europe and America, just like they did during the Sino-Japanese War ten years ago. Originally, they were promoting Russo-Japanese War bonds, and the Sino-Japanese War bonds were just a matter of printing a few more.

China also issued war bonds, which were also marketed on the London and New York stock exchanges. Since everyone was selling bonds in the same few places, they naturally knew each other and would inevitably run into each other. So the Japanese and Chinese also fought outside the battlefield.

In order to defeat the Chinese in diplomatic occasions, the Japanese organized a group of ronin, ready to physically kill their Chinese counterparts. But it was obvious that the samurai sword could not beat the pistol, and the Chinese had bombs... The Japanese ronin suffered a shameful defeat. The defeated Japanese were unwilling to accept defeat, and gritted their teeth and raised the interest rate of bonds to an exaggerated level.

But even so, few people are willing to buy Japanese bonds. Everyone is not a fool. The Japanese are now at a disadvantage. Buying Japanese bonds may lose everything. Buying high and selling low is the norm. Some people will do business that will cost them their lives, but no one will do business that will lose them money.

The Chinese formed the "United Nations Army" and crossed the Yalu River and entered North Korea. Although the Japanese captured Shuangchengzi, they failed to force the Grand Duchy of Siberia to withdraw from the war. The morale of the Grand Duchy of Siberia's army was low, but the numbers were there. Regent Nicholas Romanov and Major General Kondrachenko were both brave and good generals. Although they could not command the newly defeated army to defeat the Japanese, they could still maintain defense.

Moreover, the Outer Northeast has entered the season of freezing water, and it is difficult for the Japanese army to launch a large-scale attack. Even if the Siberian Army is defeated, what can it do? In such a vast and desolate land, occupying more land or less land will not make much difference.

The Siberian Army could keep retreating to see who could outlast the other. After taking Shuangchengzi, the Japanese army had exhausted their momentum to advance, and their retreat was in danger of being cut off, so they had no choice but to give up the idea of continuing to attack. As long as the Siberian Army was given a winter to rest, they would become strong again by next year.

The situation in Outer Manchuria was so bad, and the situation in the Korean battlefield was even worse. In order to paralyze the Chinese, the Japanese army did not deploy heavy troops to defend the Yalu River. Later, they sent some troops up, but they were planning to kill people across the river. Japan did not set up dense barbed wire along the Yalu River, nor did it lay out minefields on a large scale. After encountering large-scale artillery bombardment and infantry infiltration assaults by the People's Army, it could not hold out for long and was quickly defeated.

In the winter, the Japanese army was reluctant to go out to fight. Who knew that the Chinese would come to attack? In the past few years, the Chinese and the Russians had a truce in the winter. Who knew that this year would be different? Are the Japanese more hateful than the Russians?

Some high-ranking officials of the Japanese government actually guessed correctly. To Marshal Lin, the Japanese were more hateful than the Russians.

The Asahi Shimbun criticized the Chinese for their lack of martial ethics and their surprise attack on the Japanese army, but scolding could not solve the problem. While scolding, the Japanese government made diplomatic efforts and military adjustments. The military adjustment was to stop occupying more territory in Outer Manchuria, leave a small number of troops to defend Shuangchengzi and Vladivostok, and then rush back day and night to avoid being surrounded by the Chinese.

Diplomatic efforts included selling war bonds and asking the British to mediate. Britain is the world hegemon, and if Britain speaks, the Chinese will definitely listen... right?

Chapter 316 New Year

The British had long anticipated that a war would break out between China and Japan, and they were also happy to see a fight between China and Japan, and it would be best if Japan, China and Tsarist Russia were hostile to each other, which would make it easier for the British Empire to intervene. However, what the British did not expect was that the Chinese actually sent troops to fight in November.

In November, the northern part of Korea was as cold as the northeast. It might be an exaggeration to say that water would freeze into ice, but it was not much of an exaggeration. In his report to Downing Street, Jordan said that the war might not break out until 1904, that is, in the spring of next year, and it was very likely to start with a surprise attack by the Japanese army on the People's Army.

He only guessed half right. The war did break out, but not in the way Jordan imagined. After receiving the Japanese request for mediation, Jordan immediately sent a telegram to Taiyuan, asking the People's Army to stop its military operations in Korea. As in the past few years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Government used a delaying and evasive attitude. Jordan had been delayed too many times by the People's Government and knew what kind of situation he would encounter. He was not in Taiyuan, but in Nanjing, and could not personally reprimand the Chinese.

, could only guide the work of British diplomats in telegrams.

"We must not let the Chinese fool us this time!"

Zhu Erdian's tough attitude makes sense. The Japanese army's situation looks very bad. Hundreds of thousands of troops are still in Outer Northeast, and they seem to be in danger of being surrounded. If they lose those hundreds of thousands of troops, the Japanese will have no choice but to withdraw from the war. The Japanese say they can mobilize millions of people, which is true, but most of them are transport teams and logistics support personnel, and the front-line combat force is at most 300,000.

The People's Army and the Russian Army were the same. They mobilized more than one million people to fight in the Northeast, but only about one-third of them were real combat soldiers, including artillery and engineers. As firepower increases, more and more logistics personnel are needed. In the era of cold weapons, logistics was completely unnecessary and people could eat wherever they went. Now it is completely impossible. There is no food that can be "delivered locally", but shells and bullets must be transported from the rear. Relying on seizures can solve part of the ammunition supply problem, but it can only solve part of it.

When China and Russia were fighting in Northeast China, every large-scale offensive was kicked off by the bombardment of thousands of artillery shells. After crossing the Yalu River, the powerful howitzer group of the People's Army inflicted great damage on the Japanese army. After the Japanese army recovered, they also dragged artillery to fight against the People's Army.

The Japanese army's 280mm howitzers were all in Vladivostok, but there were also many other artillery pieces. The Japanese army had only more than heavy machine guns, but more than cannons, more than of which could be pulled up for use in a short period of time, and concentrated use was also very powerful. But in general, the Japanese army was completely at a disadvantage in heavy firepower. Kuroki Tamemasa, who was commanding the army on the Tokugawa front, sent telegrams to the Japanese army headquarters three times a day, asking for guidance.

The British strongly demanded that the People's Army stop its military operations in Korea in order to buy time for the Japanese army to gather and to make the Japanese withdraw the hundreds of thousands of troops in Outer Manchuria. Jordan used unprecedented harsh words. After sending a telegram to instruct the imperial diplomats, he rushed to Taiyuan in a carriage despite the cold weather and the tense situation in Nanjing.

When Lin Yongchang was in Dandong before, he could still give some guiding opinions on the telegrams sent from Taiyuan. As the troops entered North Korea one after another, he moved his command center forward and could no longer take care of domestic affairs. He handed over all matters to Taiyuan, and Marshal Lin just concentrated on fighting.

As long as the car overturned and the Japanese who were not living well, everything else would be easy.

In November, the northern mountainous areas of North Korea were freezing cold and the roads were difficult to travel. It was difficult for the heavy artillery troops to continue to advance, so they had to move forward lightly. In the freezing weather, there were too many casualties in the non-combat march, so the [Mongol Iron Cavalry] and [Guards] were the main forces. Raising so many elite troops was to use them where they were needed most.

Lin Yongchang is not Zhao Kuangyin. He will not be reluctant to send his elite troops to fight. When it is time to go, he will send the elite troops.