Year 1897

At a time when the world is changing, the ocean kingdom in a corner is immersed in development, the railway line is extending, the highway line is improving, the construction of large petrochemical projects is in full swing, and the social, cultural and medical undertakings are developing in an all-round way, which is a thriving scene.

Due to the interference of the Surabaya incident in the Dutch East Indies, the Luzon riots planned by the Political Intelligence Bureau had to be terminated.

Gain's presence in the South Seas is the same as the same riots, and the two completely different reactions give the outside world too much to justify themselves.

As an influential country in the western Pacific region, the Ocean Kingdom needs to create an image of a responsible major power, and there is no sufficient excuse to intervene in the affairs of Spanish Luzon.

It was originally planned by the CIA

Option A is to plan a riot, option B is piracy, option C is an attack on a ship in the port of Manila, and option D is a missing sailor.

After comprehensive consideration, King Li Fushou has already abandoned all these options.

Regardless of the fact that option B is too fortuitous and there are too many uncontrollable factors, the reasons for the two options C and D are also far-fetched, and it is inevitable that people will not be criticized.

Before the Spanish-American War

In the hostility of the Spanish colonial government, the Citigroup government drove the battleship Maine to Havana, Cuba for a goodwill visit, and then one night the battleship Maine exploded, and the violent explosion caused the front part to be completely blown off, the hull that occupied one-third of the whole ship was broken, and the warship sank rapidly, and more than 260 sailors were killed in the incident.

Even if the sacrifice was so great that it became the fuse of the Spanish-American War, the Citigroup government was inevitably criticized.

Because the battleship Maine is a cutting-edge battleship that has just been launched in 1890, with a displacement of 13,500 tons and a main armor belt thickness of 406 mm, it is one of the most powerful battleships in the world today.

Say something nasty

In the face of the wrecked ships of the Spanish Governor's Palace in the port of Havana, the battleship Maine was parked there, and no matter how much their guns bombarded, they could not break through the defense of the battleship Maine.

In order to achieve the effect of blowing up the entire bow of the ship, it is necessary to place at least a dozen tons of explosives in the hold, and at the time of the incident, all the officers and men of the Maine were on the ship, and only two officers were on land, so it was simply impossible to put more than a dozen tons of explosives in it without realizing it.

Li Fushou was reluctant to blow up the battleships Red River Valley and Brisbane, which he had just built, and these two ships were the lifeblood of the navy. He is going to dare to blow up, and Admiral He Fang can kill himself in anger in protest.

Therefore, it is very difficult to find an excuse to go to war.

For the Ocean Kingdom, the threat of Citigroup is very close at hand.

Out of geostrategic considerations, Li Fushou did not want Citi's hand to cross the vast Pacific Ocean and reach into Luzon in any case.

Historical experience shows

In later generations, no European country could match its influence in South Asia with that of Citigroup, both the natural influence of the world hegemon and the result of Citigroup's decades of operating in Luzon and radiating its influence to Southeast Asia.

Therefore, it is necessary to stop Citigroup's strategic attempt to colonize Luzon.

After entering 1897

There has been a marked increase in reports on the situation in Central America in Australia, and people of insight in the political, business, and academic circles have written articles in newspapers, and many observers have clearly pointed out Citigroup's ambitions to get involved in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and even provoked strong protests from Citigroup's legations.

In fact, similar public opinion reports are not uncommon in the United States.

Many Citi politicians and businessmen have made no secret of their ambitions for Spanish Central America, and some have even openly called for war against Spain and the seizure of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in order to gain attention or win greater popular support.

It has to be said that the Citigroup government has done a terrible job of secrecy.

On April 19, 1897, Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as Deputy Secretary of the Navy. In September, he began to consider a plan of war with Spain.

In a letter to Jo Day Lang on 20 September, he said: "Immediate pre-emptive action should be prepared...... Put our main force in Cuba, under the command of Admiral Walker, and a flying fleet under Evans or some similar figure against Spain, and the Asian fleet against the Philippines, and I believe that things will not be very difficult. ”

Citi Nation's coverage of the devastation of the Cuban masses was on the front pages of the newspapers.

In New York City, William Randolph Hirst's New York News and Joseph Pulitzer's New York World are in a newspaper battle in which reporters do not care to exaggerate what has become tragic and inhumane. Most of them are made-up sensational stories.

Citi people were interested in Central American affairs, and this kind of news coverage was biased towards anti-Spanish public opinion, which helped to sell the newspaper.

The whole year of 1897 was a year for observers of all worlds, who were not blind, to see that Citi had unquenchable expansionist ambitions for Spanish Central America and the Philippines.

Although the Citigroup Army is less than 60,000 men, it is a country with a total population of more than 74 million (population growth figures in 1897), a staggering number of militia paramilitaries, four new battleships in the navy, a dozen cruisers, and the same number of warships under construction on the slipway, strong enough to confront the European powers.

For one reason or another, the great powers of Europe have taken an indifferent attitude towards this, and have a very high posture of not caring about their own affairs.

Even in the old colonial powers such as Britain and France, Europe has always been at the core of national strategy, while in Central America and the South Seas, it is only a marginal interest.

In the eyes of the emerging powers, whether it was the decaying and rigid Qing Empire, the Ottoman Empire, which was reduced to the sick man of West Asia, or the decrepit Spanish Empire, they were all just food on a plate.

They are reluctant to make a big move when it comes to matters that do not involve the core interests of Europe, and anyway, the world is very big, and there are many colonies, so they adopt an attitude of indifference or even connivance.

End of the 19th century

Citigroup's industrial economy ranks first in the world. The exploding economy has pushed the already aggressive Citigroup to expand even more frantically, seeking new sources of raw materials, markets for selling commodities, and places for investment in order to extract more high monopoly profits.

By this time, the whole world had been carved up by the old colonial powers.

Citi wants to re-divide the world's colonies, but due to its limited strength, it is not yet able to compete with Britain and France, and only the old empire of Spain is a soft persimmon, which looks sweet and delicious.

By this time, Spain was in decline, and the only remaining vast imperial colonies of the past were Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines in Asia.

The Spanish Caribbean colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico, located at the doorstep of Citigroup, are strategically important and rich in natural resources, which Citi has coveted for a long time.

Back in 1805

Citigroup President Jefferson said nakedly that if it fought Spain, Citigroup would occupy Cuba.

By the end of the century, Citi could no longer bear it anymore and decided to take Spain first, seizing the Spanish colonies in order to control Central America and the Caribbean, and occupying the Philippines to gain a base for expansion into the Far East and Asia.

In the southern part of the Pacific Ocean Kingdom

Li Fushou calmly sat and watched the changes in the world, knowing that what should come is still coming, the British or the French can allow the Citigroup to occupy the Philippines, but the Ocean Kingdom cannot.

In the affairs of the Western Pacific region, without the nod of the Ocean Kingdom, no one wants to mess around.

From May 1897 onwards, the Ocean Kingdom continued to send heavyweight information to London through diplomatic channels, including a memorandum of conversation from Citigroup President McKinley, a private message from Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, and even a plan of operations for the Far East Fleet in Hong Kong.

But none of these caused much repercussions in London, which made Li Fushou soberly realize;

Out of fear of the Ocean Kingdom, London deliberately supported the Fusang Kingdom, not only to counter the southward strategy of Tsarist Russia, but also to curb the influence of the Ocean Kingdom in the Far East.

Otherwise, it cannot be explained that in the face of its extremely busy task of building warships, the British Empire only took two and a half years to rearm the Fuso Combined Fleet, equipping it with the latest naval guns and new steam turbine power.

Otherwise, it does not explain Britain's position on the "Canton incident".

Otherwise, it does not explain the connivance of Citigroup's expansionist ambitions in Luzon.

That being the case, the Ocean Kingdom should also have its own policy of independence that does not depend on the British.

Li Fushou was not afraid of falling out with Britain, and now the ocean kingdom is developing rapidly in industry and agriculture, with prosperous commerce and trade, and science, education, and culture, and is already an important regional force that cannot be ignored.

By the end of 1897

The ocean kingdom of Australia has completed modern industrialization and caught up with the world's most advanced industrial countries, with Borneo, Shangri-La and Mozambique as the main overseas states have started the industrialization process, and one foot has stepped on the threshold of industrialization.

From a worldwide perspective

In 1860, Citigroup accounted for 15% of the world's industrial output, ranking fourth, or $1.907 billion.

The United Kingdom is $2.808 billion, France is $2.092 billion, Germany is $1.995 billion, and the Ocean Kingdom is 0.

By 1897, the United States accounted for the first place in the world, amounting to $12.198 billion, an increase of 6 times. Britain is 5.463 billion US dollars, an increase of 1 times, Germany is 4.157 billion US dollars, an increase of 2 times, France is 3.3 billion US dollars, an increase of 1.5 times, and the Ocean Kingdom is 2.666 billion US dollars.

In the 20 years from 1876 to 1896, Citi's growth rate exceeded the world average, reaching 6.3%.

In the same period, the average growth rate of the Ocean Kingdom reached 11.3%, the highest rate among the world's industrialized countries.

Especially in recent years

Shangri-La developed an industrial system dominated by tobacco, sugar, food processing, mining, natural rubber and inland waterway shipbuilding, and quickly moved from agriculture to semi-industrialization.

Mozambique has developed cash crops based on cotton cultivation and special dried fruits, and has vigorously developed the cotton textile industry, printing and dyeing and garment industry based on this, and initially started the industrialization process.

Borneo is led by a large petroleum chemical industry, with characteristic natural rubber, sugar, and spice plantation economy as the main force, and has entered the industrialization process with a more rapid attitude than the previous two, and the future prospects are extremely bright.

All these scenes of thriving development have laid the sufficient foundation of the Ocean Kingdom.

Take Citigroup, for example;

In 1859, before the Civil War, its agricultural output accounted for 63.8% of the total value of industrial and agricultural output.

Eleven years later, in 1870, Citi's industrial output value accounted for 64.4% of the total industrial and agricultural output value, and the industrial and agricultural output value had already declined, and industry became the leading force in the national economy and entered the process of industrialization in an all-round way.

By 1889, Citigroup's industry had accounted for 77.5% of the industrial and agricultural output value, forming an industrial and agricultural country dominated by light industry, and the food industry, textile industry, iron and steel industry and wood processing industry were the four major sectors of modern Citigroup, accounting for 54% of the country's industrial output value.

In contrast, the Ocean Kingdom has almost walked out of a similar economic development process.

In 1885, the statistics of the Ocean Kingdom (excluding the southern states) showed that the industrial output value of Australia and Shangri-La, Borneo and Mozambique accounted for 39.2% of the total industrial and agricultural output value.

Twelve years later, this figure has grown sharply to 64.9 per cent, with agriculture accounting for 27.4 per cent and commercial transport accounting for 7.7 per cent.

This statistical illustration

The Ocean Kingdom has made up for the lack of the first revolutionary wave and caught up with the process of the second industrial revolution, which is second only to the United States, Britain, Germany, France and other countries among the world powers, and higher than Italy, Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia.

The national economy ranks sixth in the world after the United States, Britain, Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary, and the industrialization process has crushed France and Austria-Hungary, showing stronger strength.

In the world economic map, there is already a place for the Ocean Kingdom that cannot be ignored.

In terms of military construction

The Kingdom of Great Ocean implemented a military system similar to that of the German Empire, combining compulsory and reserve soldiers, with 163,000 personnel in the army (including 26,000 in the Imperial Guard).

In addition to the eight fully manned Class A standing divisions, the War Department also has 13 Class B divisions and a number of garrison divisions.

In the army establishment

Class B divisions can be called framework divisions, and only one full-fledged regiment retains its combat strength, while the other framework regiments are mainly composed of officers and senior sergeants, who are trained and advanced on a daily basis and take turns to lead troops.

The Admiralty's power has expanded considerably in recent years, and the much-anticipated Metropolis-class battleships have entered service with the "Red River Valley" and the "Brisbane".

The 16,000-ton Matsue, with a larger displacement and greater combat effectiveness, was launched at the end of 1897 and was expected to be fully commissioned in October 1898.

The follow-up "Melbourne" was being built on the slipway and was expected to be launched in July 1898, and the first half of 1899 was completed and officially put into service.

In addition, the "Beilun" and "Tianquan" have started construction one after another, and will be completed and put into service by the end of the century, ushering in the new century with a lineup of six powerful battleships.

Besides

The plan for the construction of a general-purpose cruiser submitted by the Admiralty was also on the agenda, and the "Humen" class cruiser named after a small and medium-sized city, the lead ship "Humen".

In order to adapt to the trend of building larger and larger naval warships around the world, the displacement of this class of ships has been enlarged to 6,200 tons to 6,500 tons, focusing on ocean-going navigation capabilities and economy.

It is with this strong support that Li Fushou can now openly say "no" to London, knowing that Britain's Far East policy needs the full support of the Ocean Kingdom, and in the case of South Africa, the Ocean Kingdom is also needed.

London was naturally well aware of the development of the Ocean Kingdom, and the seeds of distrust sprouted and grew, starting with the Battle of Mugang, the Yue Kingdom and the Canton Incident.

In the increasingly fierce dispute between the United States and Spain, London maintained a rather ambiguous attitude, turning a blind eye to and listening to important information transmitted through diplomatic channels, which is a very good illustration of London's complex attitude.

By the end of 1897

The aged Queen Victoria was already in her eighties, deaf and dizzy, and her memory was severely deteriorated, having been in power for more than a month since she came to power in June 1837.

Crown Prince Edward, who has always been unaccustomed to Li Fushou, has said many times in public; Australia, which belonged to the United Kingdom, was stolen.

Such extremely irresponsible words that seriously hurt the feelings of the two countries, which were unimaginable before, are now openly appearing in the upper circles of London, showing the uncertainty of the upper circles of London at the end of the century.

Li Fushou disdained this stupid argument.

When a stupid dog barks, you can't do the same, that is undoubtedly self-deprecating.