In October 1897, Lin Youde was preparing to go to Northern Luzon for inspection.
Before heading to Northern Luzon, he and Roosevelt went through lengthy negotiations and finally reached an agreement on the next step - in fact, it is more accurate to say that it was a secret agreement.
According to this secret agreement, the Americans will lease the Asian fleet to the Nanyang Army. The American sailors and officers on the warships will be transferred to the reserve and then continue to serve on the ships as mercenaries. The warships will also be transferred to the Nanyang Army.
Eighteen-star flag. In this way, when it comes to fighting with the Dutch Navy, the U.S. government will be able to get out of the way.
The so-called international affairs have always paid more attention to form than substance. Almost the same people and ships have completely different meanings in international relations if they change their skins. International affairs is a game of interests, as long as there are common interests between both parties.
Partially, then it is possible to compromise, and the method of compromise is often this "skin change".
That’s why the so-called Volunteer Army was staged repeatedly in the last time and space. In the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, the German and Italian troops intervened in the name of the Volunteer Army. In fact, they were regular intervention forces, but they were replaced by the British and French forces in the name of the Volunteer Army.
Even the Soviet Union shut up. Quite simply, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union were unwilling to conflict head-on with Germany and Italy. It was in the interest of Britain, France, and the Soviet Union to allow Spain to properly satisfy Germany and Italy's desire for expansion. Therefore, when the German army changed its skin as a volunteer army, other countries
I simply walked down the steps provided by the Germans.
Later, China and the United States went to war in Korea, but neither China nor the United States was willing to formally declare war on the other side and bear the risk of triggering three wars. Therefore, the United States raised the banner of the United Nations Army and brought in a lot of cannon fodder to train with them, while China changed its body into a volunteer army.
So the two sides started a real war on the land of Bangzi, but "peace" was maintained between the two countries. Pretending to be stupid is actually the practice of the international community.
This time Lin Youde had the same plan with the Americans.
European royal families are basically related to each other, but in the current situation, many European countries are advocating the "American Threat Theory". There are probably fewer Europeans who are wary of the United States than those who support the "Yellow Peril Theory". Fight Spain
This settlement is not a big problem. Attacking the Netherlands may make Britain and France, whose military strength is still stronger than the United States, restless.
Now the U.S. Navy has changed its skin, flying the eighteen-star flag to defeat the Dutch Navy, and then uses the Chinese to attack the Dutch East Indies. In this way, all the hatred points will fall on the Chinese, and the Americans will naturally be happy. Not to mention this lease, American soldiers
All military pay and supplies were provided by Lin Youde, and the U.S. Navy Department also received a lease fee for free. After the war, the fleet will be returned to the United States, and all soldiers and officers will be reinstated. Looking at it this way, the Yankees have made a lot of money.
Lin Youde's request was: let Chinese sailors board the ship to learn how to operate the ship, and let Chinese students train with U.S. naval officers. When the old Roosevelt heard this, he generously said that not only would the Chinese people be allowed to board the ship to learn, but you would also be allowed to
Send someone to Indianapolis to receive a complete officer education.
Lin Youde said that in this case, you might as well ask us to send people to learn shipbuilding. We don’t want your scholarship and we will pay for the tuition ourselves. We just want no reservations. At this time, the foundation of the United States is not as strong as it would be a century later, and there are a lot of black technologies.
, there really was nothing to reserve, so the matter was settled.
When planning these things, Lin Youde vaguely felt a twisted pleasure. It turned out that deciding the fate of others was such a pleasant thing. Lin Youde and the Americans drank tea and chatted with each other to coordinate the profit distribution. The Dutch colonists and hundreds of thousands of East Asians
The fate of the Indian natives was decided in this way - although both sides were unsure whether the European powers would join the war, they were both convinced that the direct opponent of the Netherlands would not be able to defeat the Nanyang Army.
By the time the war is scheduled to begin, the Nanyang Army has undergone a year of training and expansion in the Philippines, and its strength will be greatly improved. More importantly, the densely populated Guangdong and Fujian provinces are the rear area of the Nanyang Army. As long as Lin Youde still has in his hands
With money and the supply source of the United States, a steady stream of armed Chinese can be sent to the East Indies to participate in the war. With the support of the Chinese workers who have been sent there for more than a year and almost two years, the Nanyang Army is basically equivalent to half of the army.
Home game.
In comparison, the Dutch can mobilize far fewer troops. Moreover, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. It is doubtful to what extent the soldiers' combat effectiveness can be maintained after traveling all the way to send the expeditionary force.
Therefore, generally speaking, both the Nanyang Army and the Americans are optimistic about the prospects.
What needs to be explained here is that a very important reason why the Americans were determined to support Lin Youde in occupying the East Indies was that at Lin Youde's request, Jiu Jinji performed a divination. This kind of divination actually has a poor accuracy.
However, this time is an exception because the divination result was not provided by Jiu Jinji, but the information of future generations provided by Lin Youde.
Before time travel, one of Lin Youde's major hobbies was to watch the strong men from all walks of life in the major military circles. He would also kick someone when he encountered a cute one. At that time, he saw a debate about the rights and interests in Southeast Asia on the Dingsheng Forum, and accidentally saw someone
Da Neng presented specific data on oil in Southeast Asia, but Lin Youde had a characteristic: he was well-informed but did not remember things hard. He could remember the general outline of everything he had seen, but he could not tell the specific details.
This time Lin Youde came up with this "approximate", and then Jiujinji used divination to "calibrate" on this basis, and at once marked out the locations of several self-effluent wells with large reserves in the Dutch East Indies.
The development of science and technology in this world is usually slower than that of the previous time and space, and the demand for oil is also half a beat slower than that of the previous time and space. Therefore, several oil wells that originally produced oil in the last time and space in 189 have not been dug out yet.
, and the detailed oil well coordinates given by Jiujinji's divination naturally made the Americans full of interest.
Capitalists do not care about taking risks for the sake of profit, and the same goes for capitalist governments.
However, the two sides disagreed on the timetable for starting the war. The Americans felt that they could take their time, and the Philippines had not yet fully digested it, so they were not in a hurry to fight the Dutch East Indies. Since the British and French fought miserably in China, so
All have strengthened their control and plunder of Central Asia. Britain and Russia have not reached a ceasefire in Afghanistan. Russia, Prussia, and Austria are also in a state of possible conflict at any time in the Balkans. The relationship between Prussia and France is also due to the previous war.
They were in a state of confrontation. The Americans advocated taking action only after a conflict occurred in Europe, but Lin Youde disagreed.
Lin Youde's focus is more on the country.
The Boxer Rebellion in the last time and space was actually an outburst of accumulated domestic dissatisfaction with foreign colonial forces. Such an outburst will always come when it should come, but the form may be different. This is similar to an earthquake. When the earth's crust
When the energy accumulates to a certain level, it will definitely explode, but the location of the outbreak is sporadic. In short, the big storm may not be called the Boxer Rebellion, and the location of the outbreak may not be in Shandong, but it will definitely come.
This is called historical inevitability.
When an anti-colonial storm broke out in the country, whether the Manchus launched an encirclement and suppression campaign or directed trouble toward foreigners as they did in the previous time and space, the reaction of the great powers was definitely to take the opportunity to further carve up China. Putting aside those appearances, there is also history behind the Eight-Nation Alliance.
It is inevitable, but the coalition may be composed of eight countries, or it may only be three or four countries.
Before things get to that point, occupy the Dutch East Indies, block Malacca, and make the coalition forces afraid when they invade China. This is Lin Youde's current plan. He will definitely not be able to defeat the coalition forces now, but he can make foreigners afraid.
Isn't it a good thing to be more fearful when invading?
Of course, these thoughts must not be told to the Americans, so Lin Youde came up with another more high-sounding reason: European countries have no determination to break the deadlock in Central Asia for the time being. Although there are no signs of easing now, they are bound to temporarily ease the conflict in the future.
Turning our attention to East Asia. Of course we have to pick the weakest persimmons. It is obviously easier and more pleasant to fight against a decadent and weak ancient Eastern country than it is for the European powers to go to war with each other.
The implication is that by then it will be difficult for you, the United States, to get another bite of porridge in Southeast Asia.
After arguing with Lin Youde for more than a week and sending many confidential telegrams to China through the Asia Fleet, Roosevelt finally agreed with Lin Youde. So a timetable was drawn up to drive away the Dutch and annihilate the natives of the Dutch East Indies.
According to this timetable, the Nanyang Army will begin wartime mobilization at the end of 1897. In the spring of 1898, after the rainy season has passed, the Chinese in the Dutch East Indies will look for opportunities to launch an uprising under Tangkou's organization. The Nanyang Fleet -
In fact, it is the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, which will annihilate the Dutch's Far East Fleet, and the Nanyang Army will then set foot on Indonesian soil.
Lin Youde went south this time to supervise this matter.
Starting a war with the Netherlands is not careless, and after the war begins, he must compete with the Second Nanyang Town to seize as many strategic points as possible. This also requires Lin Youde to be fully prepared. Furthermore, the Americans are so obvious
He left Xiang Qiyi to contact Lin Youde. Although there were factors in Xiang Qiyi's many unjust acts, Lin Youde had to meet Xiang Qiyi in person to explain the details of the war to him in order to maintain the overseas Chinese alliance as much as possible.
Due to Lin Youde's limited strength during the implementation of the blood transfusion operation, in many places in the Dutch East Indies, Chinese workers' organizations were established to support Hong Kong's rebellious Hongmen. It would be difficult to handle a temporary split.
At the end of October 1897, Lin Youde and his increasingly large entourage boarded the ocean liner of his trading company and left Guangzhou under the escort of the main force of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, which had changed the flag of the Nanyang Army but had not yet had time to change its uniforms.
When the fleet left Guangzhou, many dignitaries from Guangzhou came to see them off, including Yuan Weiting, the commander of Shenji Camp.
On the pier, the shaky-eyed enchantress even squeezed out a few tears from her only remaining eye, looking like an infatuated mother sending her husband off to Beijing to take the exam.
However, only Lin Youde saw the gloomy smile under Yuan Weiting's tears. She said to him with her mouth: "Come, show me the victory you promised."