There was a dull atmosphere filling the large conference room of the Chinese Federation.
"We must not join the Allied Powers and declare war on Germany and Austria." Chen Shaobai's impassioned speech seemed quite abrupt in this dull atmosphere, but he obviously did not care about this. "If we join the Allied Powers and declare war, then no one will
You will take fu seriously!"
As soon as Chen Shaobai finished speaking, Yuan Shikai said: "Don't worry, there will be an election soon."
Yuan Shikai's slow words really choked Chen Shaobai. These words also made the former revolutionary officials frown, because Yuan Shikai was implying that the next government will have nothing to do with you.
Yuan Shikai's words brought the already dull atmosphere to a new level, and also revealed the tip of the iceberg of the struggle that was originally hidden under the dullness.
At this time, Sun Wen spoke: "If you all continue like this, it will only make more and more people turn to Lin Youde. And..."
She paused and glanced at the leaders of the "three continental factions" sitting around the conference table one by one before continuing: "What we are going to discuss today is whether to declare war. What happens after that is not up to us.
On today’s topic.”
"Do we still need to discuss it? Of course not..."
As soon as Chen Shaobai opened his mouth, he was interrupted by Yuan Shikai in a firm tone: "Declare! Why not declare it? Neither Germany nor the Austro-Hungarian Empire has any land border with us. If they want to attack us, they must first
Lin Youde's magic needle - the navy - was defeated. Before that, we had no losses no matter what we did. We only had to fight them, so why not declare it?"
Yuan Shikai shook his head and said a lot, clearly showing the intentions of the Ministry of War. Apparently Zhu Erdian's previous lobbying was quite effective, and Yuan Shikai was thinking about wealthy Baghdad.
After Yuan Shikai finished speaking, Zhang Jian, the leader of the domestic industrial consortium, also expressed his position: "After the declaration of war, we can legitimately sell various strategic materials to Britain and France, which will make a lot of money. Moreover, after the declaration of war, Lin Youde will be forced by the pressure of Britain and France and will not obstruct it.
We transport these supplies by sea, and if we don’t declare war, it’s hard to say whether he will do harm secretly.”
It seems that the position of domestic businessmen is quite clear: Lin Youde and his gang cannot be allowed to monopolize the opportunity to make war fortunes.
At this time, the faces of the important officials of the revolutionary faction became very ugly. They neither had enough troops to launch an expedition to seize the German colonies, nor did they have enough business capabilities to make war profits. They relied on occupying the "head of Beijing".
The political power held by the "Gong" is now in turmoil. No one knows how many revolutionary factions will be left in the next government after the election.
Huang Xing frowned and sat there without saying a word for a long time. Chen Qimei smoked cigarettes one after another, ignoring the increasingly disgusted expression of Huang Xin sitting next to him, and Sun Wen's own emotions also
She was obviously very depressed - this depression was clearly conveyed to everyone present due to her ability.
Sun Wen is not suitable for this kind of intrigue. Because although she can hide her thoughts, she cannot completely hide her inner emotions.
No matter how you look at it, the outcome of this meeting has been decided.
So Sun Wen sighed, completely lacking the momentum she had when she raised her arms and shouted on the podium. She said in a tired voice: "Then, we will officially join the Allies. For Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and those who may join them in the future
A warring country declares war. The meeting is over and I want to be alone."
**
When Chen Shaobai returned to his mansion, the first thing he did was throw something.
After destroying all the porcelain near the entrance, he turned to the butler who was standing next to him as if he had something to say from the beginning: "What's going on?"
"The German special envoy Mr. Maas is waiting for you in the living room."
"Okay, I'll come right away."
He regrouped his emotions, and while thinking about how to explain the situation at the meeting to the Germans, he walked into the living room.
"Mr. Mas..." Chen Shaobai's warm smile froze on his face because he didn't see the German figure at all. Sitting on the sofa in the living room was a stranger wearing a black wide-brimmed hat and black clothes.
"Mr. Maas has handed over to us the entire agreement reached between you and Germany." The stranger said, "Therefore, we believe that you have committed treason."
Chen Shaobai turned around and ran away, but was shot three times by a man in black and knocked to the ground.
The man in black stood up from the sofa, carried a gun with a silencer and walked to Chen Shaobai, who was still alive. He looked down at him and continued: "The Gestapo will never condone any act of treason."
As soon as he finished speaking, the man in black raised his gun and fired several bullets at Chen Shaobai, then walked around his body and left calmly.
**
On October 6, 1908, the Chinese Federation announced that it would join the Allied Powers and declare war on Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Turkish Empire. At the same time, the Federation began general mobilization for war.
Because the federal side has begun general mobilization for war, Lin Youde's war mobilization that has been going on for several weeks has also become superficial. Before this, Mr. Lin and the Ministry of Navy were careful not to use "general mobilization" in public.
The words and mobilization operations were also carried out very low-key.
But after the declaration of war, these disguises became unnecessary, so on October 7, in the large square in front of the Helangyabo Naval Auditorium, the Navy Department publicly set up a thousand recruitment points to recruit soldiers.
At the same time, Lin Ji's headquarters also officially issued orders to all the companies under his name to increase the work intensity of workers, reduce vacations, and correspondingly increase the wage level to "wartime levels." At the same time, Lin Ji began to purchase grain.
Cloth and other war supplies.
Lin Youde has been consciously strengthening Lin Ji's war mobilization capabilities in the past ten years. He borrowed a lot of future experience to build a complex and efficient war mobilization machine. This machine has been tested in several wars in the past.
Now it is fully activated, starting to form and arm an army at an alarming rate.
**
Finally it was Li Desheng's turn to register, but before he could say anything, the naval officer sitting behind the desk frowned and said, "Why are you kidding? Go back to class."
"I'm not young anymore!" Li Desheng opened his mouth and retorted, "I'm fifteen years old!"
The naval officer laughed loudly, then pointed at the big words "Registration point for young people over the age of 18 to enlist in the army" on the sign behind him, and then shouted directly: "The next one."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Li Desheng grabbed the edge of the table. "My handwriting is very beautiful. I can write documents for you! And I will take the naval armament school preparatory exam next year, so I have taught myself gunnery and navigation. I can do math."
Cannon Angle, can use a sextant, and understands Morse code, so you hired me! I will definitely not let you down."
"In that case," the officer responded with a smile, "then I can't even recruit you. War kills people."
As the officer spoke, he raised his left hand and shook it. Only then did Li Desheng realize that his little finger was completely gone.
"It was a good thing that the Mexican cannonballs did it. I just lost a finger. My brothers were not so lucky. Don't look at the newspapers that report all day long about our victory and our casualties and
The enemy is insignificant in comparison, but we still have many, many good brothers who died in foreign lands. Have you visited the Navy Martyrs Cemetery in Molong (a place name)?"
Li Desheng shook his head. This was the first time he heard this name.
"Go and take a look. There is a wall there. It is engraved with the names of the officers and soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in the past ten years. If you look at the densely packed names, you will have a more intuitive feeling, kid." The officer paused. "So
, I can’t let you join the army at this time. You’d better study hard and take the naval academy preparatory course. If you can join a big ship and become an officer in the future, then the chance of dying in battle will be much smaller. Okay, next one.”
"No, I..." Li Desheng wanted to say something else, but was pushed away by a young man who looked like a farmer behind him who had been waiting impatiently.
So the young man could only leave the registration office unwillingly.
"What bad luck." He muttered, "Let's go to the next registration office and check. This time I'm going to lie about my age."
Just then, he heard a loud whistle coming from the direction of the port.
After the first whistle, other whistles responded.
The pigeons that had landed on the roof were frightened by the loud sound, and they all flapped their wings and flew high.
The sound of the whistle is still coming from the port one after another, like the noisy group of frogs in the lotus pond in midsummer, or like the endless chirping of insects in the autumn night.
At this time, someone in the crowd around Li Desheng shouted: "The main force of the navy is leaving for a long voyage today! This is when they are leaving port!"
The crowd began to move toward the seaside. Obviously, everyone wanted to see the majesty of the main force of the federal navy.
Li Desheng hesitated for a moment, then took steps to move to the seaside with the crowd. When he first came to Helang Yabo, Li Desheng was crazy and proud of those cannons and giant ships, but now he even admires those who sail alone on submarines.
The lone heroes walking in enemy-controlled areas, the silent hunters under the sea.
However, the young man still had some expectations for the scene of the mighty and majestic surface fleet setting sail.
He quickened his pace, fearing that he would be late and the beach was already crowded with people - no, it was probably too late to rush there now. So Li Desheng stopped again and began to think about where there was a higher ground near him that could overlook the whole port.
The place.
Just then, he heard someone shouting: "Look at the sky!"
The young man raised his head and saw Lin Youde's flagship, the White Trojan, passing through the sky cut into long strips by the buildings on both sides of the road. A golden flag hung from the bottom of the flagship, clearly telling everyone on the ground who was looking up to watch.
Lord Lin Youdelin is on that battleship right now.
For a moment, all of Li Desheng's thoughts were swallowed up by the surging emotions in his chest. At this time, someone in the crowd took the lead and started shouting long live. Li Desheng didn't even think about it, and he also raised his arms and shouted.dd