On the morning of June 30, 4608 (10) of the Yellow Emperor Era, Wu Haoxuan, the imperial crown prince, summoned Rou Keyi, the American minister to China, in the imperial palace. Although, Wu Haoxuan and the top brass of the empire knew that it was inevitable that the United States would support Japan to confront China. The Chinese Empire was not afraid of this either. However, the Chinese Empire could not say nothing at all.

"Your Highness the Prince, good morning." Rou Keyi was very humble in front of Wu Haoxuan. In fact, he himself knew the purpose of Wu Haoxuan's summoning him. The United States began to support Japan and turned against the Chinese Empire. This means that the honeymoon between China and the United States is over, and it may be replaced by the beginning of a full-scale confrontation between the two countries.

As the US minister to China, Rou Keyi cannot change the US government's decision-making, and he can only safeguard US interests to the greatest extent possible. In addition, Rou Keyi does not believe that the US government's decision is wrong. In fact, he has been in China for many years, and he knows the horror of the Chinese Empire even better. Although the country is still very poor and backward, the process of industrialization has only just begun. However, no one dares to underestimate this country. They have abundant resources and have the largest population in the world. At the same time, they have one of the most powerful land forces in the world, as well as a navy that can be called a regional power. Such strength, and enough to ensure the unshakable position of the Chinese Empire in the Far East. If this country is allowed to develop any longer, once they complete industrialization, I am afraid that there will be no opportunity for other powers to intervene in the entire Far East and the Western Pacific. Even if the United States hid on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean, it would be threatened by the Chinese Empire. Therefore, it is undoubtedly a very wise choice for the United States to contain the Chinese Empire from now on and establish a strong opponent for the Chinese Empire.

"Your Excellency, I am not at all good. Unexpectedly. The United States would actually do this. The Chinese Empire and the United States of America are friends, and I will not forget that it is precisely because of the support of the United States that the Chinese Empire has achieved what it is today. Now, however, the United States has turned around and supported Japan to confront the Chinese Empire. This is clearly a betrayal! It was unacceptable to the Chinese Empire. Wu Haoxuan looked very angry.

"Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the United States of America has always regarded the Chinese Empire as our most important friend. We also attach great importance to our relationship with the Chinese Empire. However, this does not mean that Japan and Japan cannot engage in normal inter-state interactions. Minister Rou Keyi said.

"Your Excellency, don't forget, Japan is an enemy of the Chinese Empire. We are mortal enemies, and there will be no possibility of reconciliation between the two countries. The United States has not only fully liberalized its steel and oil exports to Japan, but has also provided Japan with low-cost loans worth $50 million, which will further strengthen Japan's military strength. To some extent, the United States is financing the enemies of the Chinese Empire, that is, it is making enemies of the Chinese Empire. Wu Haoxuan warned unceremoniously.

"His Royal Highness the Prince. You seem to have forgotten that the United States is more supportive of the Chinese Empire. We have already provided hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to the Chinese Empire. In addition, the investment of American businessmen in the Chinese Empire is also as high as hundreds of millions of dollars. We think that the Chinese Empire has provided various resources and machinery and equipment, so that the process of industrialization of the Chinese Empire can be further accelerated. Now, we're just selling some goods to Japan and providing a small loan. If the Chinese Empire could not accept it. That's incomprehensible. Rou Keyi said.

"Your Excellency, we are all understanding. There's no need to go around in circles. We are very grateful for the support of the United States for the Chinese Empire. However, this does not mean that we should ignore U.S. support for Japan. I deeply regret what the United States has done this time. By doing so, the United States is abandoning its friendship with the Chinese Empire. Wu Haoxuan said coldly.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, the United States of America is an independent country. Our foreign policy. Not affected by any other country. If the Chinese Empire wants to go its own way, then we can't do it. However, I would like to remind you that the mighty United States of America is not afraid of threats. We are strong enough to meet all threats and challenges. "Minister Roukeyi's attitude is also very tough.

This meeting ended in an unhappy end. Words are not speculative for more than half a sentence. Minister Rou Keyi quickly got up to say goodbye, and Wu Haoxuan did not send him out of the palace as usual. Both men knew very well that from now on, the relationship between the Chinese Empire and the United States would begin to decline. The original close allies will become strangers, and there will even be a danger of tearing their faces.

Minister Rou Keyi left the Imperial Palace, and when he walked down the steps, he couldn't help but look back. Although, this palace that has just been built not long ago, the area is not large, and the building is not grand, and it cannot be compared with other famous buildings in the world. But, I don't know how, he always had a feeling of palpitations. He vaguely felt that this time the United States chose to support Japan and abandon friendly relations with the Chinese Empire, which seemed to be a complete mistake. It's just that even so, the United States has no other way. Once the Chinese empire becomes strong, it will always pose a threat to the United States. Supporting Japan and containing China has become the only choice for the United States.

At the beginning of July 4608 of the Yellow Emperor Era, Wu Haoxuan, the crown prince of the empire, convened a meeting of the imperial army and navy at the General Staff. The senior generals of the Imperial Army and Navy attended the meeting. The main agenda of this meeting was twofold, one was to promote and confer titles on the generals of the Imperial Army and Navy who had made meritorious contributions in this war. The other is the military reform that Wu Haoxuan has promoted for a long time.

Although the Imperial Army and Navy are already very strong, there are still many loopholes in the system. This was mainly due to the fact that the time for the development of the Imperial Army and Navy was too short.

At this meeting, the imperial crown prince Wu Haoxuan announced the promotion of Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Operations to General Shi Tianhan, the commander of the Korean Operations, General Shi Deoksan, to the rank of Field Marshal, and the commander of the Baikal Line, General Cho Seok-bok. In the navy, Admiral Sa Zhenbing, commander of the Navy, and Admiral Cheng Biguang, deputy commander of the Navy, are marshals of the Navy.

The five of them became the first marshals of the empire. Of course, this is only the marshal of the service, not the supreme marshal of the empire.

In the ranks of the Empire, the rank of general and above is the marshal. Marshals are divided into two classes, namely the Marshal of the Service and the Marshal of the Reich.

In the warm applause of the participating generals, Wu Haoxuan awarded the scepter to the five marshals. The Marshal's Scepter, a symbol of their identity. The Imperial Marshal's Scepter, 75 cm long, is carved with a dragon motif, in addition to the words "Loyal to the Monarch and Serving the Country". However, the surface of the marshal's scepter is wrapped in a layer of silver skin, which appears to be white. The Marshal's Scepter, on the other hand, is wrapped in a gold skin and is golden in color.

From the eyes of the other generals, Wu Haoxuan saw eagerness. The so-called soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier. And these generals, none of them want to be marshals. This will be the goal of their fight for their country.

After the award ceremony, Wu Haoxuan announced the reform of the army and navy. The empire will set up the War Department and the Navy Department, which will be under the leadership of the cabinet and will be directly responsible to Wu Haoxuan. The War Department and the Admiralty Department are mainly responsible for the construction of the two services. As for operations, the General Staff is primarily responsible. However, the Navy will have a separate naval command.

The candidate for the Minister of War has been confirmed to be Marshal Zhao Xifu. The Minister of the Navy was Marshal Sa Zhenbing. In addition, Wu Haoxuan will step down as chief of the General Staff and be replaced by Marshal Shi Tianhan. The commander of the navy was succeeded by Marshal Cheng Biguang. As for Marshal Shi Deshan, he was assigned a different position. Wu Haoxuan will appoint him as the commander of the landing operation in Japan. Of course, this appointment will not be made public. But the Imperial Army and Navy will use this to start preparing for the war.

In addition to this, further reforms will be carried out in the Imperial Army and Navy. At present, the units of the Imperial Army are divisional brigades, and the army has a total of 70 infantry divisions, several artillery brigades, and 15 cavalry brigades.

This time, the Reich was to create army groups on the basis of infantry divisions. Each group army has five infantry divisions, in addition to heavy artillery brigades, cavalry brigades, engineer brigades, baggage brigades and the army headquarters of the group army. The total strength of each group army is about 120,000. It has been preliminarily determined that the troops of the whole country will be organized into 14 group armies. In addition, the instructor will also be expanded into an army group, called the Imperial Janissaries, which will be responsible for the defense of the Gyeonggi region. In this way, the backbone of the Imperial Army is 15 army groups. In the future, each army group will cooperate with other units, such as armored brigades, rocket artillery brigades, and so on.

In addition, the Imperial General Staff will also establish a number of direct units, such as heavy artillery brigades, train artillery units, mountain infantry units, and so on. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army, further improve.

In addition to the staffing, the Imperial Army began to replace mules and horses with trucks, which led to the beginning of the Imperial Army's move towards motorization. Of course, the investment in this area is too large, and at present, it is only a Praetorian Guard as a pilot, and then we will consider promoting it step by step.

The Imperial Navy will be reorganized into the Pacific Fleet and the South Sea Fleet. Among them, the Pacific Fleet is the main force, and the current four capital ships of the Imperial Navy will all belong to the Pacific Fleet. The Nanyang Fleet was built with the two 'Satsuma-class' battleships that Japan was about to hand over to the empire as the backbone, together with some destroyers. (To be continued.) )

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