Leaving aside Wilhelm II's hostility to the yellow race, the Germans were actually quite simple.

As has been said, if there was even the slightest chance that this war would not have broken out in the past, the probability that it would not have happened in Sarajevo has been reduced to less than one percent.

Especially not so long ago, when Austria-Hungary had come to ask for help, war was almost certain to break out.

To be honest, although the Germans had been preparing for this war for many years and were confident that they could win it. However, at the same time, in the face of the British Empire, known as the empire on which the sun never sets, the French Republic, which is the second largest army in the world, and Tsarist Russia, which is known as the steam steamroller of Europe, it is absolutely a lie to say that the pressure on the Germans is not great, especially at this time Germany only has Austria-Hungary and Italy as two pig teammates, and of course, there is a Bulgaria that is not very reliable.

(The Allies were a coalition of nations established during the First World War, so it goes without saying.) The main countries participating in the alliance were Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy and several other countries. ）

Seriously, Germany is definitely the one that stands out, both economically and militarily, but when it comes to picking teammates...

The Germans really can't compare with the British...

Look at the British teammates, France, Russia, and the United States in the back, each of them is definitely the kind that can fight, not to mention the whole bunch of support countries all over the world.

Look at the ally that the Germans picked, Austria-Hungary. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire at this time seemed to be very large (it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire at that time, and the third most populous after the Russian Empire and the German Empire). ）。 But it is a multi-ethnic State, and its internal affairs are largely determined by deliberations among the eleven principal peoples that make it up. And the whole country is already rotten to the bone. And what about Italy? In later generations, it was called Silly.,Basically, anything.,Especially in terms of enjoying life, I'm afraid there are few who are better than Silly.,But is there a war...

I guess if you find a few African natives, you can disarm a whole team of Italian soldiers...

Of course, in this regard, we can also say that the Silly Liren is peace-loving. That's why it's so.

But choosing these two goods to help is really some...

Moreover, after 1915, Italy withdrew from the Central Powers. Running into the camp of the Entente is really too cheating.

And apart from these two countries, Bulgaria is really not worth mentioning.

Except, of course, for these countries. Among the Allies there was also the Ottoman Turkey, which we all know.

The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman I. Initially settled in Central Asia, it later expanded its territory to Asia Minor, where it flourished day by day. In 1453, the Eastern Roman Empire was destroyed and the capital was Istanbul. At its peak, it spanned three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, including the entire Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor Peninsula in Southeastern Europe, the entire Middle East and most of the North African coast, reaching Morocco in the west, the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf in the east, and the Austrian Empire and Romania in the north. South and Sudan. Controlled the entire passage from Western Europe to the East, and was a veritable great empire. It gradually declined after 1683. The territory was constantly encroached upon by countries such as Tsarist Russia, Britain and France. After the First World War, only Turkey retained its territory, and it can be said that hundreds of years of efforts were wiped out by this war.

We all know the reasons why Turkey entered the war, first of all, Turkey itself was very inclined to Germany, especially its army was almost established with the help of the Germans. And after the outbreak of the war, the British also seized their dreadnoughts built by the British, which made the Turks extremely annoyed, in order to retaliate for this move of the British, and finally the Turks chose the Allies after the outbreak of the war—————— if the Turks knew that because of this war, they lost almost all their territory, I wonder if they would make this choice, or swallow their anger? I guess I'll choose the latter...

In a way, the Ottoman Empire was also a pig teammate.

However, during the Battle of Dardanelles, the Ottoman Empire performed well, and has been blocking Russia's connection with other Entente countries on the waterway, so that the Entente has never been able to transfuse Russia through the Black Sea, so on the whole it is a good pig teammate.

However, the war had not yet broken out, and although the British seized the Turkish dreadnoughts, they did not let them know. So at this moment, the Germans only have teammates like Italy, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, and use such teammates against Britain, France and Russia...

It's surprisingly stressful...

And if you add a Japan...

Although Wilhelm II had always looked down on the yellow race, the Japanese had defeated the Russians after all, and the Japanese navy had always been brilliant. If Japan were to be drawn into the war, the pressure on Germany would be even greater.

At this time, if a war broke out between China and Japan in the Far East, then at least for a year or two, the Japanese would not be able to take care of Europe, and the pressure on Germany could be greatly reduced—————— most of the Europeans and others who did not know the outcome of the war at this time thought that even if the war broke out, it would only take a year or two at most to end, and they did not know that the whole war actually lasted for four years, and it was because of a large-scale flu, so it ended early.

In the same way, the Germans had already learned from Malzan about the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army, although they did not feel that the Chinese army could match the European armies, and most likely not even be an opponent of the Japanese, but...

It is always no problem to hold them back, and it is even very likely that the Japanese will suffer a big loss in Shandong.

However, they did not believe that the Japanese would lose, after all, even if the army could not compare, there would always be a navy...

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Just when the Germans, out of their own interests, chose to delay the delivery of the Qingdao fortress. In the Far East, the Japanese government also sent a message to the British, claiming that it was willing to help the British settle the German fortress of Tsingtao in Shandong and those islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The British hesitated slightly. The Japanese sent troops to solve the problem of Qingdao, which the British naturally welcomed very much. At the same time, however, the Nationalist government had sent a note to Britain and France, claiming that if war did break out, the Nationalist government would settle the Qingdao question on its own and recover all the territories occupied by Germany in China...

In fact, the British themselves knew very well that the Japanese would make such a request entirely because they had a crush on that part of Shandong? Take Qingdao? After that, I'm afraid it will be used to radiate the whole of Shandong...

If the Commune had not been formed, the British would have been willing to do so. After all, war in Europe is about to break out right now. The British really didn't want to expend too much effort for a colony in the Far East, and if the Japanese were willing to help, then it was not impossible to pay for Shandong...

Not to mention in addition to Shandong. Elsewhere, the British needed the support of the Japanese as well.

But...

At present, the government of the Nationalist Society also has a high value for Britain, and if Shandong is promised to the Japanese, it is difficult to say whether the Chinese will fight the Japanese in Shandong.

If it were the Qing government in the past, the British still had the confidence that they could acquiesce in the Japanese behavior in Shandong through various means—————— anyway, it was not unhappened in the past. Wasn't that the case with the Russo-Japanese War? If it is still the original Qing government. In the case of those cowards, even if the Japanese really fought with the Germans in Shandong, I am afraid that they would pretend that they could not see anything.

But judging from the news that Zhu Erdian sent back from the Chinese, it seems that the ruler of China today is not a very weak person, plus China's superfluous use value...

The British hesitated.

In fact, it is not only the British, but even the French.

Although relations between China and France have always been good, there has always been no so-called friendship between countries. For the French, although relations with China are very good. Therefore, it has received a lot of benefits from China, and China can be regarded as having a more important position in terms of utilization value...

But now for the French. The war in front of them is the only thing they need to think about.

And in the war, the Japanese were far more important than the Chinese.

After all, the Japanese had defeated the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War, and had a large battlefleet, as well as two quasi-dreadnoughts and a battle cruiser that was no different in combat power from dreadnoughts...

At this time, although China was already much stronger than China in the past, after all, the time was too short, and the Wehrmacht did not have the opportunity to prove itself through war. The navy is even more immature, and in this case, it is obviously impossible for Britain and France to regard China as more important than Japan...

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"I didn't expect it to be like this..."Sitting opposite Yan Shao, Lu Zhengxiang smiled bitterly. I thought that after the Sarajevo incident, the Germans would definitely return Qingdao, but who would have thought that those Germans would have to wait until after the war really broke out..."

"It's not surprising..."Gu Weijun shook his head, a pen in his hand kept turning. After all, the war has not yet broken out at the moment, and besides, they may not have the idea of using us to contain the Japanese in their hearts. If we had a big fight with the Japanese in Shandong, maybe they would have been more satisfied..."

"That's right." Fu Xiuming, who was talking to Feng Guozhang in a low voice over there, heard Gu Weijun's words and said in agreement. "I talked to Vice Minister Feng just now, and I also think that the Germans probably have such an intention in their hearts, and now Germany is already under great pressure in Europe, if there is one more Japan......... Therefore, if we can fight the Japanese in Shandong, it will be in their interests..."

"So, war is inevitable?" Li Liang asked softly.

He is only good at internal affairs, and he doesn't know much about this kind of thing.

"Almost..."Duan Qirui shook his head, and then looked at Liang Shiyi. If you really do it with the Japanese in Shandong......... The treasury is fine, right? ”

Fighting a war is burning money, and if you really want to do it, Duan Qirui must first confirm the problem of the treasury.

"This can be assured." Liang Shiyi said without thinking. "The £100 million I borrowed from the bank has been used up, but a lot is still in the national treasury. Originally, the money was intended to be used in other places such as railways, but now......... If it's just a war of limited scale, there's absolutely no problem..."

"And now the government is doing very well. The local finance and taxes have basically been recovered, the revenue of the customs has also increased a lot, plus the banknotes printed in gold, and most importantly..."Speaking of this, Liang Shiyi's face showed a strange smile. "Even if you don't have enough money, you can just go to the president, anyway, you already owe so much. I don't care about owing more..."

Obviously, after messing with Li Liang and them for a long time, Liang Shiyi has also learned how to use Yan Shao.

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"This is a good idea..."Hearing Liang Shiyi say this, Li Liang also showed a smile on his face.

"That's right. If you don't have any money, you can ask the president..."

Speaking of this, there was a lot of laughter in the conference room, and the originally heavy atmosphere was also suppressed a lot.

At the same time, Yan Shao was not aware of what those people behind him were talking about. At this time, he was a guest in a courtyard in Beijing. The purpose is also very simple, that is, to ask someone to go out of the mountain to help.

“……… Brother Songpo, you should already understand the current situation, now is not the time for you to continue to stay here and live a retirement life..."Sitting in a pavilion in the courtyard, Yan Shao said to Cai Yi, who was sitting opposite. "The Germans played this trick clearly because they wanted us to fight with the Japanese first, and if the Japanese really sent troops to Shandong......... Although it cannot be said that it is a national disaster, it is definitely a big trouble..."

Sitting opposite Yan Shao, Cai Yi nodded slightly. Obviously, he also agreed with Yan Shao's words.

"Yes, but I didn't expect it either. The government actually signed such a secret agreement with the Germans......... You're really hiding it tightly enough...", a smile appeared on Cai Yi's face.

"You have to hide it tightly..."Yan Shao also showed a smile on his face. Otherwise, if the Japanese know the Tao, although they will not be afraid of them, but after all, it will be a trouble, so, Brother Matsupa, what do you mean? ”

Hearing Yan Shao's inquiry, Cai Ye's expression also became serious. "Since that's the case......... Naturally, Songpa is obliged..."

"That's good..."Yan Shao nodded. With your and Baili's help, my confidence will be more abundant this time..."

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Yan Shao knows very well that the Japanese absolutely do not have the strength to eat China in one bite, and they will not have it in a few decades, and it is even less likely that they will have it now.

But if you don't handle it well, it's a nuisance after all.

For Yan Shao, the impending war was an opportunity to prove China's strength and use it as a bargaining chip to demand more benefits from the Entente. But if the war lasts too long and the scope of destruction is too large, even the opportunities will outweigh the losses.

After all, compared with these, taking the opportunity of the outbreak of war in Europe to develop the country is obviously more important to Yan Shao.

So don't win this war, and it's better to win it easily.

In order to achieve this goal, Yan Shao not only sent Jiang Baili, who had been promoted to army commander, to Shandong, but even came here to invite Cai Ye out of the mountain—————— since Cai Ye was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he has been in a state of seclusion.

There is no way, in this era, tuberculosis is an incurable disease, although the mortality rate is not comparable with some diseases in later generations, but it is very troublesome to cure, the only way is to relax and recuperate slowly.

Fortunately, at this time, Cai Ye had not been misdiagnosed by the German quack doctor later, and treated tuberculosis with syphilis, so Cai Ye's body was still very healthy. And after more than half a year of rehabilitation, although I dare not say that the tuberculosis has been cured, it is still no problem to carry out some general work or command one or two battles...

And in order to ensure the smooth operation of the war in Shandong, Yan Shao plans to use Jiang Baili and Cai Yi at the same time...

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Naturally, taking into account the superiority of the Japanese at sea, Yan Shao would not have considered only the issue of Shandong.

Yes, in many ways, if war does break out between China and Japan, it is likely that it will only take place in Shandong. But if it is said that the Japanese suffered a loss in Shandong, then it is difficult to say whether Japan will act in other directions in the case of hot heads.

There shouldn't be much of a problem in Shanghai, after all, there are dragons and snakes mixed there, and Japan at this time is not the Japan of later generations, so I don't dare to be too presumptuous.

But places like Northeast China, Tianjin...

But it's a little hard to say...

At present, although there are many generals in Yan Shao's hands, there are not many that can reassure him.

He was not afraid of Tianjin, although he sent a lot of troops to Shandong, but Yan Shao also had a lot of troops in the Beijing-Tianjin area, if the Japanese really attacked, Yan Shao had a great deal of confidence that the Japanese would be able to break their heads.

But the Northeast side...

Japan has been operating in Tohoku for many years, and if it does, the situation in Tohoku will be a little embarrassing.

At the beginning, in order to appease the situation in the Northeast, Yan Shao, a person like Zhang Zuolin, almost never moved, and even gave him a high position as in the past. Naturally, he was not worried that Zhang Zuolin would defect to Japan, if this was the case, the bearded man would not be killed by the Japanese in a few decades.

But if he really did it, he was worried about whether Zhang Zuolin would be able to hold it.

So, he sent another person to the northeast... (To be continued......)