A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 637 The war ends
The last year of World War I was still fierce. Although it was not as famous as the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Verdun in 1916, many soldiers died in the trenches every moment in ordinary years.

After withstanding the fierce attack of the German Emperor during the battle, the Allied forces then launched a wave of counterattacks, which was very effective and directly forced the German troops back to the Hindenburg Line. The cost was that three to four hundred thousand corpses were left behind during the offensive.

The higher-ups were pointing fingers and giving orders, and after tens of millions of soldiers died, it was still the same after four years.

I remember there is a World War I monument with a sentence from an ordinary mother: "Dedicated to my son, since your eyes closed, my eyes have never stopped crying."

However, several generals of the British and French coalition forces were definitely not ready to close their eyes and found the right moment to launch the final blow against the German army. Within a few hours, more than 100 million rounds of ammunition were tilted toward the Hindenburg Defense Line. Although it did not cause very large direct damage, the psychological defense of the German soldiers had basically collapsed.

After more than a year of training, the U.S. military was officially incorporated into combat units. Although they had little combat experience, the new recruits had an extremely critical thing that had long been lost in the British, French and German armies: morale.

The Allied officers commented on them: "The new American soldiers are brave because they know nothing about the cruelty of war."

The current commander-in-chief Foch believes that morale is the most important thing.

After fighting on the Western Front for nearly four years, the British, French and German soldiers with good morale had long been killed in the charge. Most of the remaining soldiers were lifeless and only mechanically carried out the orders of the officers.

After all, the Allies had fresh troops to supplement their forces, but the morale of the German army was extremely serious, and a naval uprising even broke out.

Even so, the number of casualties among the Allied forces in 1918 was still over one million, and the German army was not much better either.

Germany's allies, Austria-Hungary, performed completely poorly. It is hard for you to imagine that the Italian army could defeat the Austro-Hungarian army, and the Austrian army's escape speed made it impossible for the Italian army to catch up!
Of course, the Italian army was backed by British and French reinforcements.

Germany's military resources have been exhausted, with only 50 divisions left. The U.S. military alone has nearly 50 divisions on the opposite side, each with twice the number of soldiers as the German divisions. And this is only one-fifth of the U.S. troops participating in the war. Most of them have not been shipped, and various equipment is also waiting to be shipped in the United States.

The current weapons and uniforms used by U.S. soldiers are those of the British army. After winning a battle, the U.S. military even hopes that Germany will not surrender for the time being because it has not had enough fighting yet.

But Germany really couldn't hold on anymore, and the revolutionary momentum in the country could not be suppressed. Kaiser Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate and fled to the Netherlands to avoid the tragedy of his cousin Nicholas II who was exterminated a few months ago.

William II has been living in the Netherlands for more than 20 years and has never left. In the 1930s, he provided some financial support to Mustache.

In any case, Germany was completely defeated.

This news is a huge good thing for China. Duan Qirui is absolutely overjoyed. He has been under tremendous psychological pressure since he declared war on Germany and bet all his political life on participating in the war.

Duan Qirui was now very high-spirited, and by the way he had obtained a pro-army force - the combat troops training to go to Europe to participate in the war. There were three divisions in total, belonging to Duan Qirui's Anhui faction.

For the Anhui Clan, which has never had a strong family background, this army is very important.

After the news of the armistice agreement reached the country, celebrations began all over the country. The arch originally built on the north side of the Dongdan Archway to commemorate the murdered German Minister Klind was also demolished.

The Ministry of Education of the Beiyang Government gave special permission to schools to have a holiday to celebrate. Twenty to thirty thousand students from more than 60 schools in the city marched excitedly on Chang'an Street holding slogans such as "Justice Wins" and "Do Not Give in", and then held a rally in the square.

Many people, including ministers from various countries and academics such as Cai Yuanpei, gave speeches in the square to express their joy. Li Dazhao's famous "Victory of the Common People" was his speech at this time.

Cai Yuanpei stood on the podium and said excitedly:
"As a result of the world war, the Allied Powers have won. They must eliminate all unequal darkism in the world and replace it with lightism.

"Biological evolution lies in supporting each other and helping each other rather than relying on power. In this war, Germany was a representative of the power theory. The Allies negotiated with each other and resisted Germany, which was a representative of the mutual theory. Germany failed and the Allies won. From then on, everyone believed in mutual aid. Theory, rejecting the theory of power.

“The general trend of the world has reached this level, and we cannot stay outside the world.

"I hope that those in the country who believe in power, worship dogmatism, are good at conspiracy, and want to rule the country with one force, will quickly abandon this darkism and move toward the light!"

Tens of thousands of students in the audience raised their arms and shouted: "Bright! Bright!"

Cai Yuanpei stepped down from the podium and said to Li Yu: "Shucai, don't you say a few words?"

Li Yu said: "It's not necessary. Everyone's emotions are already in place anyway. I can't pour cold water on it."

"Pour cold water on it?" Cai Yuanpei adjusted his glasses, "It sounds like Brother Shucai has some different opinions?"

Li Yu said cautiously: "The higher the hope, the greater the disappointment."

Cai Yuanpei said: "As a victorious country, we have now received an invitation to attend the peace conference in Paris, which proves that Britain, France and the United States still have some conscience, otherwise they will listen to the Japanese government's claims that 'China's participation in the war was ineffective' and 'it failed to do its part in the war'. China is not allowed to participate in the peace conference based on the rhetoric of "the country's obligation to fulfill its obligations."

The little devil is really annoying and has been blocking China's participation in the peace conference from the beginning.

As for their purpose, everyone can understand it without the perspective of a time traveler like Li Yu: they want to secretly bypass the Beiyang government, negotiate with Britain, France and the United States, and take over Shandong's rights and interests.

The Japanese are so evil to the core that they resort to such shameless and despicable tactics.

The senior officials of Britain, France and the United States have been wary of Japan since they learned about the Twenty-One Articles and the loan matters. It is impossible for them to listen to the little devil. The United States, in particular, is more wary of Japan than countries such as Britain and France.

Li Yu said: "President Xu Da and Premier Duan are probably studying how to go to Paris to share the cake. But I think this is not a feast where China can share the cake. There is no so-called justice in the diplomatic field, and there is no bright side. , only power and interests.”

Cai Yuanpei said: "But we are a real victor."

Li Yu said: "It's a pity that someone made a stumbling block. We were supposed to be the second category of victorious countries, but now we have become the third category under the manipulation of the Japanese. Not only is the cake too small, but the right to speak is also small."

Britain, France, the United States, Japan, Italy and other countries that led the Paris Peace Conference divided the Allied Powers group into three categories based on each country's contribution to the war.

The first category is "belligerents that enjoy overall interests", namely the five major Allied Powers, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, and Japan, each of which has five formal seats at the peace conference;

The second category is "belligerent countries enjoying partial interests", which refers to countries that have provided effective assistance in the war, with each country having three formal seats;

The third category is the countries in the Allied camp that broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, each country has two seats.

According to this principle, China, which has provided 200,000 workers to Europe, should be included in the second category of countries, with three seats.

Britain, France, the United States and other countries did initially include China in the second category, but damn little Japan played tricks. They actively lobbied other major countries, claiming that "the dispute between the north and the south in China is still lingering. If it is designated as three, it will be extremely difficult to allocate it." If there is a dispute, it is better to have one person from each side, then the power will be even and there will be no dispute."

This proposal was supported by French Prime Minister Clemenceau, and several other countries immediately agreed.

Cai Yuanpei said: "The official seats have been reduced, but the overall number of members of the delegation will not be reduced. As long as we can put forward our opinions, it will be fine." "Of course we have to mention what should be mentioned," Li Yu stopped talking about pessimistic things and said instead , "I am also planning to go to Europe. I haven't seen him for many years, and I have already accumulated a mountain of telegrams from Einstein, Planck, Rutherford and others."

Cai Yuanpei said: "I really want to go, but I can't get away."

Li Yu smiled and said, "I'm going to Europe to meet some friends in the scientific community. If Brother Jiemin goes, he will inevitably get involved in politics and suffer a lot of anger."

Cai Yuanpei was a little worried when Li Yu said: "The domestic mood is so good now. If the victorious country cannot get the benefits it deserves, it may cause huge hidden dangers."

"It's not just hidden dangers. When dreams are about to become reality, the reality they face is often more cruel," Li Yu said leisurely, "Anyway, let's wait and see."

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The Beiyang government acted quickly and formed a luxurious delegation within ten days. There were Minister-General of Foreign Affairs Lu Zhengxiang, Minister to the United States Gu Weijun, Minister to the United Kingdom Shi Zhaoji, Minister to France Hu Weide, and Minister to Belgium Wei Chen, with Lu Zhengxiang as the chief representative.

At this time, in addition to the Paris Peace Conference abroad, the Beiyang government also had to start peace talks with the South at home. In order to ease the relationship with the southern Guangzhou military government, the delegation added the southern representative Wang Zhengting and asked Hu Weide to withdraw.

Since there are only two official seats, when participating in the peace conference, China's representatives can only participate in a rotating system.

The entire Chinese delegation consists of fifty-two people, including seventeen experts and five foreign consultants. The lineup of this delegation is very luxurious, and they are basically the best diplomats in the country.

Lu Zhengxiang once said: "Weak countries have no diplomacy, but they have diplomats."

Even if it's difficult, they still want to do something.

In addition to the delegation, Liang Qichao also wanted to fulfill his dream of traveling to Europe, and also attracted Jiang Baili and Zhang Junmai.

When boarding the train at the station, many reporters were waiting to interview Lu Zhengxiang. However, it was not until the train was about to depart that he got stuck at the station, and then quickly entered the carriage under the escort of his entourage.

The train goes to Tianjin first.

On the way, Lu Zhengxiang suddenly found Li Yu: "Mr. Academician, I heard that your airline has flights to Tokyo."

"Yes." Li Yu nodded.

Lu Zhengxiang said: "I want to take this flight secretly to Japan."

"Going to Japan?" Li Yu was a little stunned.

Lu Zhengxiang said: "It is inconvenient to say specifically."

Li Yu didn't need to ask, so he said: "There is only one plane now, which can seat four people."

"That's enough," Lu Zhengxiang said, "The others will take the ship and arrive later."

"Okay." Li Yu agreed directly.

Lu Zhengxiang went to Japan first, probably because he wanted to reach a tacit understanding with the Japanese side on certain issues.

He is a skilled diplomat, and he also maintained a little sobriety even when the whole country was rejoicing. He knew very well that the key to the success or failure of the peace talks was not China but Japan. Especially on the key issue of territory, Lu Zhengxiang decided to ask Japan's attitude as clearly as possible and avoid conflict with them at the Paris Peace Conference. After all, Qingdao had fallen into Japanese hands at this time.

Another important reason for Lu Zhengxiang's silence is that China and Japan secretly signed an exchange of notes on the Shandong issue in 1918. Many of these clauses cannot be known not only to the domestic people, but also to the European and American powers.

But the trip to Japan did not go smoothly. Lu Zhengxiang and Japanese Foreign Minister Uchida Yasuya only had some verbal communication without forming a formal exchange of letters, which laid the groundwork for disputes in the subsequent Paris peace talks. (It is 80% that the old fox Uchida Yasuya did this on purpose. made).

What is even more speechless is that during Lu Zhengxiang's stay in Tokyo, a box containing important documents (including the full text of the Sino-Japanese secret agreement) from the delegation was stolen. Later, the delegation failed at the Paris Peace Conference. The theft incident caused an uproar, and Lu Zhengxiang also shouldered a heavy burden.

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After Lu Zhengxiang left, Li Yu said to Liang Qichao: "It seems that Mr. Ren has also organized a study tour to Europe."

Liang Qichao said proudly: "There are still some people from our research department in the Beiyang government. They have allocated 60,000 yuan to me. When I get to Europe, I can do publicity for the Chinese delegation."

Li Yu smiled and said: "It became a publicly funded inspection."

"The funding provided is still too little. I want to see European tanks, aircraft, and artillery, and buy some back on the way." Jiang Baili said, he still misses these big treasures.

Li Yu said: "Don't worry, they will sell it. If the transportation capacity is enough, they can even buy Big Bertha."

"Which Krupp howitzer with a 420mm caliber can break through the Burning Sun Fortress?" Jiang Baili asked.

"That's right, but it's too heavy. If you don't use it properly, it will become a living target." Li Yu said.

"Tanks and airplanes are more fresh," Jiang Baili said.

Li Yu said: "Britain, France and Germany should have stockpiled thousands of aircraft and are looking for buyers. This is what needs to be paid attention to the most. Tanks are too heavy, so just take some photos and get some information."

Jiang Baili is also concerned about military theory: "Not only weapons and equipment, but also how Germany was defeated."

Li Yu said: "This subject is huge, I guess you will have to stay in Germany for a long time."

Jiang Baili said: "No matter how you put it, it is a war worth learning from."

Li Yu joked: "It's worth learning from everyone!"

It should be said that starting from the Battle of the Somme in World War I, modern warfare has once again returned to the principle of "fast and never broken".

It's just that until World War II, only the top generals could understand this truth. That’s why Churchill said: “Generals always prepare for the last war.”

The pitfalls experienced in World War I were repeated in a more painful way by Britain, France and other countries in World War II.