"I don't agree!" Nie Xueqiu pouted and told Lin Youde, "Come on vacation at this juncture? It's Helangyabo. I don't remember that we have any mountains and rivers to visit here."
"Don't say that," Lin Youde really wanted to reach out and touch Nie Xueqiu's head. The girl's petulant look reminded him of many girls in girl-control cartoons, "The beach at Subic Bay is still great.
.Besides, we don’t have a rule that goddesses from other countries who are on vacation can’t travel to us.”
Boss Nie Xueqiu was not happy, Lin Youde shook his head and ignored her, and walked directly in the direction of the reception room. The Nanyang Army's first town headquarters in Helangyabo was not located in Subic Bay. In Lin Youde's plan, Subic
Bay will be the fleet headquarters of the navy in the future. From now on, he will set up the naval shore service and put the army on the outskirts of Horanggabo. Lin Ji spent several months to build the first town on a small highland.
The headquarters barracks has now simply become Lin Youde's camp.
Josephine was naturally "picked up" here.
After seeing Josephine, Lin Youde hugged her directly. Anyway, this girl's bloodline means Spanish passion and French romance. She probably wouldn't care about this level of physical contact. Let's eat the tofu naturally, oh
Oh, this slim waist, this firm feeling on my chest, and the faint scent of lavender, it’s so great.
After the hug, Lin Youde's first words seemed very boring: "Oh, Miss Xiafei, it's been a long time since I last saw you, you are still so beautiful."
This is not polite, Josephine's appearance in ordinary home clothes is no less beautiful than her in a formal dress.
"Mr. Lin, you are more personable than the last time we met."
Josephine's politeness made Lin Youde grin. It was not a bad feeling to be praised by a beautiful girl. For the next few seconds, the guest and host looked at each other silently and looked at each other in a tacit understanding.
"Excuse me," Lin Youde finally took the lead to break the silence. He said simply, "I think pure white is not very suitable for you. It would be better to add some sky blue appropriately."
"Thank you very much for your insightful advice."
Lin Youde made a gesture to sit down, and then sat down on the sofa in the reception room first.
After Josephine sat down, Ba sent up the handicap.
"We didn't prepare black tea, only high-quality Longjing, and the refreshments were Cantonese dim sum," Lin Youde said.
"It doesn't matter, I like Chinese dim sum and tea."
"It would be nice to give some of this love to Chinese men."
"If it's you, you already have it."
Although it was just a joke, Lin Youde still felt happy. The expression on Josephine's face was as steady as before, and it was impossible to tell what she had in mind. She picked up the tea bowl and small plate in a dignified manner, but there was no handle.
The Chinese tea bowl design caught her off guard.
Josephine frowned, staring at the blue and white porcelain that not only had no handle but also had a cover as if looking at an enemy. For a moment, she was helpless and stood there.
In fact, you can drink this thing however you want, and Lin Youde won't mind, but it seems that the French knight lady has an unusual persistence in the matter of "being in line with etiquette".
Seeing Josephine frozen there, Lin Youde suppressed a smile, but the girl saw this move. She angrily put down the tea bowl she had placed beside her, and said in a angry tone that was completely opposite to the impression she had given people:
"Is it such fun to laugh at a lady's gaffes? I misjudged you."
"No, no," Lin Youde quickly denied, "I didn't mean any disrespect. Rather, your little mistake just now made me think you are cute."
Josephine was once again caught off guard by the "cute" comment that suddenly popped out of Lin Youde's mouth. After a brief daze, the girl's shoulders relaxed and she sighed: "Mr. Lin, you are really a wonderful person.
If I remember correctly, the last time someone said I was cute was ten years ago on my tenth birthday, and since then they have used more flashy words to praise me."
In other words, after the age of ten, this girl will be a beauty that brings disaster to the country and the people. And this passage also reveals an important piece of information.
"I thought that women in the West were very taboo about talking about their age."
"That's a taboo for old women."
I don't know if it was because of the jokes and banter that had narrowed the distance between the two, but Josephine would actually say such disrespectful words to many people, which surprised Lin Youde.
Every girl has many sides. The closer you get to her, the more different sides you can see of her.
After learning the correct use of a Chinese teacup from Lin Youde, Josephine tasted Longjing without leaving any comments. The moment she put down the teacup, the girl's face became serious.
"Mr. Lin, will your army's next target be the Dutch East Indies or Indochina where I am stationed?"
Lin Youde liked this way of speaking that went straight to the core without going around any detours. What he was least good at dealing with was the polite and tactful part of interpersonal relationships. He felt that in this regard, he and Josephine might have something in common.
Lin Youde thought about it and decided to get straight to the point. From the beginning of the 19th century to World War I, there was no such thing as suddenness in large-scale evenly matched wars. This was because the military technology at this time determined that after the war started, no matter whether it was an attack
Both the attacking side and the defensive side will experience considerable consumption. Even the attacking side that is progressing smoothly must prepare multiple waves of attacking troops and constantly replace the exhausted front-line troops. Therefore, large-scale wars during this period
Basically, it starts with general mobilization. Once mobilization begins, it is difficult to hide the intention of war. The American Civil War is probably an exception. The North, full of illusions about peace, turned a blind eye to the South's obvious preparations for war, and became an ostrich.
Therefore, in this era, instead of considering the concealment and suddenness of launching a war, it is better to speed up your own mobilization. As long as you can mobilize forces faster than the enemy and gather them in the theater, you can take the initiative in the war. The Franco-Prussian War is a typical example in this regard.
, it is said that after reviewing the mobilization and assembly of the Prussian army, Moltke reported to the King of Prussia: Your Majesty, we have won the war. In fact, this is indeed the case. When France mobilized and assembled about 250,000 troops on the battlefield, Prussia
The number of troops in the war zone is close to half a million. This is a textbook modern war, which confirms an important theory in Sun Tzu's Art of War: the outcome of the war has been determined in the "temple calculation" before the war.
.
Therefore, Lin Youde was not prepared to hide his intentions at all. Lin Ji had already begun mobilizing in the Guangdong area. The poor areas controlled by Lin Ji such as Hailufeng and Qingyuan Meizhou had already begun to draw cadres after the autumn harvest and concentrated on simple military training. At the same time, Lin Youde was not prepared to hide his intentions.
The reporter began to sell accumulated goods in Guangzhou and other cities in exchange for cash, which was used to purchase war supplies. Josephine may not have received this information now, but soon these trends will not only reach her ears, but also be written into a report
, sent to the desks of the heads of countries with interests in Southeast Asia.
As for the target of the war, Lin Youde also felt that there was no need to hide it, because he actually had no choice, so anyone could guess where it was.
"I'm not arrogant enough to think that I can go to war with the powerful France." France is already in decline now, so Lin Youde's polite words did not have the intended effect at all. Instead, Josephine frowned, which made Lin Youde
Regret endlessly.
I should already know enough about this girl's character. Such polite words are asking for death.
But Lin Youde did not mean the slightest compliment in that he would not go to war with France. France was still in a strong position towards Lin Youde, and he would not take the initiative to provoke Lin Youde until he was ready.
Perhaps because of this, Josephine did not comment on Lin Youde's politeness, but continued to advance the topic of the conversation: "In other words, you - I mean, Mr. Lin, you and your American allies
——The target is the East Indies. I don’t understand what there is in that place that is worth your risk. Both France and England have assessed the value of that place. The people there are uncivilized and sparsely populated. There is no obvious market for selling products.
As a production place, it has excellent natural conditions and can produce many profitable natural products, but there is a lack of labor in those places. Mr. Lin, I know that you are connected with the Chinese labor trade, and I think you can definitely
Use your genius economic means to get the benefits you want from here."
"Then," Lin Youde took advantage of Josephine's words and said calmly, "the Dutch soldiers will rush into my manor, steal my wealth, and kill my employees. Dutch, Spanish, and British
Even you French have done the same thing in Africa and America, and I don’t think you would mind doing it again in Asia. In fact, you are already doing it.”
Josephine didn't speak, but Lin Youde could clearly see her lips trembling slightly. As for whether the trembling came from the anger of being offended or from shame, Lin Youde believed that it was the latter.
"Miss Xiafei, you should understand. Only when my motherland regains the power that makes the great powers fearful, can I use economic means to compete fairly with white people like you in the world."
Josephine pursed her lips tightly, her thin lips turning white from her teeth. Finally she shook her head.
"You are right. It seems that as long as I am not transferred back to the country, the day will come when we become enemies sooner or later."
Lin Youde smiled and accepted it as acquiescence.
Then he changed his tone to a relaxed tone: "We won't discuss such serious matters anymore. Miss Joffre is here for vacation. Please allow me to invite you to enjoy the sunshine and beach of Subic Bay."
"I have already admired the scenery of the bay, but I still..."
"No, no, no," Lin Youde stopped Josephine's excuse, "Just admiring the scenery does not mean enjoying the sun and beach. Miss Xiafei, you are such a beautiful person, please be sure to try my new invention."
"New invention?" Josephine looked confused.
"Yes, a new invention. It is a swimsuit specially designed to get close to the sun, beach and sea. I call it bikini."
The confusion on Josephine's face still did not dissipate, and her subconscious tilt of her head stunned Lin Youde once again.