Since the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, Japan has been going very smoothly, especially in the First Sino-Japanese War, after defeating the Qing Dynasty and obtaining 230 million compensation, Japan has bought an industrial base, 20 years, it is a country that has gone to an industrial country, and it has not been completely completed, but in terms of mobilization capacity, it is far from being comparable to the Qing Dynasty, which is also the root cause of the Qing Dynasty's defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War.

The news of Taiwan surprised Japan, but after careful investigation, it was found that it was only a small force, and it was impossible for the Northwest and China to give up Taiwan, and Japan was very clear about this, but unfortunately unless the Guards Division was sent over, Japan now did not have any mobile forces, and the troops that entered Shandong were already ready to be sent and had no choice but to send them, but Japan would not be delayed in taking this opportunity to ask Britain, France, and the United States for benefits.

Now, although the Japanese are pouring their strength into the country, but at home, Japan is still vigorously expanding its troops, the original reserves, the second-line troops, have been recruited, at most 6 months, now it is almost 3 months, Japan will be able to restore 18 permanent divisions, and even expand the army to 1 million, the expanded troops are recruiting, but the weapons are still being imported, to the Japanese arsenal, the United States, Italy and other arsenals have placed orders, it is expected that after 6 months, it can be completed.

The Japanese Foreign Minister urgently met with the ambassadors of Britain, France and the United States stationed in Japan, the current pattern of the world, the important place is in Europe, the chaotic Europe, the battle of Paris after the beginning of the spring, determined the development direction of the whole Europe in 2 to 3 years, Britain and France here blocked the footsteps of Germany, which proved that the German attack could not work, Britain and France will continue to rely on the power of the colonies, near Paris. Destroy the Germans and even carry out a strategic counteroffensive.

Once the Germans captured Paris, the impact on the whole situation of the war was huge, which meant that even if the United States entered the war, it would be a year or two. The entire Entente will be suppressed and in a complete collapse, and it may even determine the situation of the Entente, and the battlefield that would have been won may have twists and turns, or even defeat.

The war, which could have ended in a short time, may drag on for a long time, which is definitely not what Britain and France want to see, at present. The United States has indeed been tempted by the conditions they have made to win over the United States and strive for the United States to join the Entente, and they have even begun to make real preparations, but unfortunately because of its geographical relations, the United States does not have any powerful countries around it, and the US Army, which is the national strength of the United States. It's less than 150,000 people, even with the National Guard. There are not many, and if you want to go from the era of peace to the course of war, you need a lot of preparation, and it will take at least one year.

The objective law is not transferred by manpower. Therefore, Britain and France did not pay much attention to the affairs of Asia, besides, the recent events. That is, Germany returned the interests of Qingdao and Shandong to the northwest, so there was friction with Japan, Japan is concentrating its forces, a war against Shandong, on this matter, the British, French and American views are unified, the northwest is terrible enough, the unification of the entire northwest of China will be even more terrible, directly threatening Russia's Far East security and the interests of Britain, France and the United States in Southeast Asia, so the Japanese war bonds have been sealed and listed on the London Stock Exchange, and in just 2 months, 22 million pounds were underwritten.

In this era when the pound is called the golden pound, the pound can be directly exchanged with gold, 22 million pounds relative to eight or nine capital ships, it is this huge amount of money, Japan in the mobilization of all the permanent army on the premise, and in the country on a large scale, and even the construction plan of three Kongo-class is also accelerating.

The three ambassadors, for granted, believed that the Japanese foreign minister urgently met with them in order to underwrite the war bonds, although they could suggest to their respective foreign ministries of foreign affairs, but it is unlikely, London sold 22 million pounds of war bonds, Britain supported the most, half of the purchase, France 30%, the United States 20%, the powers are not philanthropists, any support must be rewarded, although Japan used a large army, but it is difficult to say whether it can defeat the northwest, If the treasure is completely pressed on Japan's body, in case Japan is defeated in Shandong, some of the current investment can be recovered, and if the investment can be increased, I am afraid that it will be lost. 、

But when they really arrived, as soon as the Japanese diplomatic Dacheng told the story, everyone frowned, they didn't expect that Japan did not mean Shandong, nor did it add funds, but ran to Taiwan.

Although, Japan did not provide large-caliber artillery shells, but brought the battle of Nantou, the collected bullets and mortars, especially the latter, mortars were first proposed and manufactured in the northwest, and their appearance in the world was in 1911 when they fought against Russia, and the export was on the Turkish battlefield last year.

Such a simple and lightweight, against trenches and fixed fronts, with a very good role of weapons, all of a sudden, popularized among the entire powers, know his efficacy, know his approximate data, the technical reserves of the major countries are already in place, mortars are just a combination of seamless steel pipes and shells, the main technical content is artillery shells, and it is not very difficult to solve the question, that is, the demonstration and research for a month or two, the entire world powers, have entered the era of mortars.

No matter how you say it, the northwest is the creator of mortars, the quality of steel pipes, the quality of shells and many other aspects, the northwest still has an absolute advantage, and the shells in the northwest are a grade higher than other countries in many fields such as power and range.

Although they did not have this vision, they could see at once that this shell was from the northwest, but since Japan took it out, it must have pointed out, and at this time, the only thing that can interfere in Taiwan is the northwest, and it is impossible for them to interfere in Taiwan, even France, which once might have taken Taiwan.

Taiwan is a very important place, if France can get it, echoing with the Indochina Peninsula, the entire section from the South China Sea to the Taiwan Strait is basically under the control of France, the reason why it is not want to do it is more to consider the balance with Britain, France occupies the Indochina Peninsula, Malacca in the United Kingdom, and the Philippines in the United States, if France gets Taiwan, the contradiction with the United States will increase. Besides, now that France is in a comprehensive backwardness on the European battlefield, the focus of the entire government is on the Battle of Paris, and the work of the entire colony is also tilted towards that place, and it does not take care of the Asian side at all.

Because of the secession in 1895, Japan tacitly agreed to take it, Japan's power is weak, no matter against any country, it is not an opponent at all, which is also the fundamental reason why Britain, France and the United States are at ease, just like the Netherlands and Indonesia, if Japan really turns against the water, they may take it at any time.

The rise of the Northwest has always made Britain, France and the United States and other countries very vigilant, China is a big country, in the past history, has always occupied the mainstream of the world, even Britain in the Opium War, is also thinking twice, China at that time was too strong, technology and specific fields of leadership, so that the results of European geographical discoveries, Spain in South America got most of the gold and silver, have been replaced by silk, porcelain and other oriental products, a large amount of silver into China.

Even if the first and second Opium Wars and the Sino-French War were won, exposing China's foreign strength and middle strength, China was still not completely occupied as a colony by Britain like India.

Whether it is the race or the heritage, the great powers have maintained a foundation for China, which from before 1908, all countries have controlled the delivery of various technologies to China, whether it is production, or machinery, which has caused in China, even if it is a machine factory, but all the workers, are the operators of the machine, those so-called technicians, but the ability to manipulate is slightly better, really if the machine has a big problem that is difficult to reverse, can only rely on foreign experts.

Even the steam engine and the machines of light industry are like this, not to mention heavy industry, the reason why the Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant is not enough to do it is that on the one hand, Zhang Nanpi's subordinates are all bureaucrats who deceive the superiors and subordinates, and on the other hand, it is not that the technology is not up to par, and the powers are trying to control it, Yang Yuanzhao's success is not comparable, he just seized an opportunity to go directly to the United States and get a scientist who cannot realize his wishes, which is not universal.

Because of this, the great powers have no support for Japan's entry into Shandong, and they have been mediating to restrain both sides, but secretly, the support for Japan is not small, and the 22 million pounds of bonds that Japan has just come up with have been successfully sold in Britain, France and the United States, and these governments have taken out special funds to buy this debt that may fall on paper, the purpose is to support Japan, and it is this money that makes Japan, which is almost bankrupt, stabilize and have the ability to expand its strength. When the time is right, open up a second battlefield in China.

Now, the northwest actually touched Taiwan, which has caused a huge threat to Southeast Asia, to the shipping safety of Britain, France and the United States, itself, a large number of Chinese in Borneo in the northwest has not been solved, and there is more Taiwan, what does he want to do, is it to go from the mainland to the ocean? (To be continued......)