Rise of Australia

Chapter 144 Germany's Chance

On December 1902, 12, a fleet mysteriously arrived at the port of Hamburg in the German Empire, and received the attention and grand reception of the German Empire.

The leaders of the fleet were Australian Foreign Minister Andrew and Defense Minister Kent. They were greeted by a convoy of German convoys and quickly arrived at the Berlin City Palace of the German Empire.

Because of the good relations between Australia and the German Empire, the two ministers were quickly received by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Of course, the important news brought by the two ministers is also indispensable, which is the reason why William II was directly alarmed.

"His Majesty the Kaiser, on behalf of the Principality of Australia and His Majesty the Duke, I would like to extend my sincere greetings to you." Just after seeing Kaiser Wilhelm II, Minister Andrew and Minister Kent looked at William II with a little respect salute.

"You two, I heard that you have a piece of news about the major foreign policy of the German Empire to tell me. I don't know what kind of news will make the two ministers work hard to come to Germany in person?" Kaiser Wilhelm II said flatly. The two ministers nodded, and then asked with a little interest.

"His Majesty the Kaiser, I wonder if you have heard of the treaty between Australia and the island countries a month ago?" Foreign Minister Andrew asked mysteriously.

"That's natural. Generally speaking, the military and economic treaties between you have their own advantages and disadvantages, but they did have a certain impact on the situation in the Far East. But this has nothing to do with the major foreign policy of the German Empire that you said Is it related?" William II nodded and asked.

"It just happens to be related, Your Majesty. This is also a good opportunity for the German Empire, and it may be able to get rid of the troubles of the French-Russian agreement." Minister Andrew no longer kept the secret, and explained with a smile.

"Oh? Are you saying that the Tsarist Russian Empire will suffer defeat in the Far East?" William II asked with a little interest.

It is not only the situation that unites France and Russia, but also the deep-rooted interest ties between the two countries.

It is unlikely that the Tsarist Russian Empire will abandon the Franco-Russian Entente, or remain neutral in the conflict between Germany and France, unless Germany can save the Tsarist Russian Empire from some crises.

But can an island country with limited support from the British Empire and the United States really become an obstacle to the Tsarist Russian Empire in the Far East, and even put the Tsarist Russian Empire in crisis?I'm afraid it's unlikely to happen.

"Although I don't believe that the powerful Tsarist Russian Empire's army will lose in the Far East, this is indeed the case according to the information we have so far. Judging from the situation in the Far East and the region, the current comprehensive strength of the island country has surpassed that of the Tsarist Russian Empire. It can also compete with the navy of the Tsarist Russian Empire. This is bad news for the Tsarist Russian Empire, because what they are facing is a logistics supply problem that is dozens of times more severe than that of an island country. If the domestic logistics supply problem cannot be solved, then In the struggle for hegemony in the Far East, the Tsarist Empire will sooner or later fall into a disadvantage." Minister Andrew explained with a smile.

"Oh? Can you explain in detail?" This question already represented William II's attitude, and he was already curious about the chance of the German Empire to win over the Tsarist Russian Empire that Minister Andrew said.

"Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, the Tsarist Russian Empire has less than [-] troops in the Far East, and the training level of these soldiers is worrying, and the weapons and equipment are also very backward. It is not difficult for these soldiers to hold the Far East in peacetime. But if they are fighting against other powerful countries during the war, these soldiers will look a bit dwarfed." Minister Andrew said with a smile.

"At the same time, the size of the island country's army is as high as tens of thousands of people. According to their population size, after the limit of conscription, the total number of troops can even be as high as 10 million. Although the Russian Empire can also reach this number, even Far exceeds this number. But the logistics of the Tsarist Russian Empire does not support them to transport a large number of troops to the Far East. The maximum number of their troops in the Far East is about 300. Compared with 20 and 20 million, the difference in the number of people is enough decides everything."

"More importantly, the island country's army training part refers to the German Army. Although it cannot reach the level of the German Army's excellence, its training quality and weaponry will definitely not be weaker than the Far East Army of the Tsarist Russian Empire. In terms of numbers and weaponry Both have huge disadvantages, Your Majesty, who do you think will have an advantage in the Far East?" Minister Andrew asked with a smile.

"Isn't there a navy in the Far East of Tsarist Russia? Such a huge navy is enough to resist the fleet of the island country! As long as the navy of the island country cannot gain an advantage, then no matter how great the army has an advantage, the Tsarist Russian navy can also bomb the island country. Is it the coast?" William II asked slightly puzzled.

In fact, not only William II, even at the outbreak stage of the Russo-Japanese War, most countries believed that the fleet of the Tsarist Russian Empire was sufficient to resist the fleet of the island nation.

Even if you can't gain an advantage or victory, you can stick to the ocean and cut off the ocean transportation lines of the island country.

In this case, the war in the Far East will become a tug of war, and the Tsarist Russian Empire, which has a larger land area and richer mineral resources, will undoubtedly gain a greater advantage.

But who would have thought that the island nation's fleet, which does not seem to have much advantage, would actually kill the entire fleet of the Tsarist Russian Empire with slight damage, completely rewriting the situation of this war?

It's just that the current Russo-Japanese War has not yet happened, and people have not experienced this surprising naval battle.

"Your Majesty, after the island country has acquired several warships ordered from Australia, its naval strength is not weaker than the Far East Fleet of the Tsarist Empire. What's more, most of the battleships and new warships of the island country were built in the last ten years. Warships have generally been in service for more than ten years, and there are not many young warships. Coupled with the logistical problems that have been exposed before, the Far East, as the base camp of an island country, will be adequately guaranteed for logistical transportation. But look at the Tsarist Empire, Siberia The large railway has not yet been fully completed, and the transportation of materials is a great problem. What's more, the economy of the Tsarist Russian Empire largely depends on loans from France, but France does not support the Tsarist Russian Empire in the Far East situation, which also leads to Tsarist Russia The empire's finances are very bad. Under various factors, why do we not believe that the newly rising country of the island country will win the regional hegemony competition with the old powers like the Tsarist Russian Empire? What's more, the island country The warships ordered from Australia are the Brunswick-class battleships from Germany. Your Majesty must have heard about the performance of such an excellent warship. If the Tsarist Russian Empire does not want to make progress, it is only natural to lose its hegemony in the Far East. "

"Of course, if the Tsarist Russian Empire loses its hegemony in the Far East, it will not be a good thing for the German Empire. The Tsarist Russian Empire, which has the hegemony in the Far East, will devote part of its energy to the Far East, which will also reduce the impact of the French-Russian agreement. pressure from the German Empire. But if the Tsarist Russian Empire loses its hegemony in the Far East and its influence in the Far East is not so great, they will also focus more on Europe. The Tsarist Russian Empire under the French-Russian Agreement will become One of the greatest enemies of the German Empire, unless the German Empire is willing to give up fighting against the French."

So the question is, will the German Empire give up fighting against the French?

The reason why the German Empire and France each joined the opposing military blocs was the conflict between the old colonial powers and the emerging industrial powers, in addition to the long-term feud between the two countries.

Emerging industrial powers like the German Empire also need a large market to dump their industrial products and obtain sufficient profits.

But here comes the problem. The old powers have always regarded their colonies as their own taboos. The industrial products of other countries either have high tariffs or basically cannot enter.

In addition, with the increasing importance of industry and technology to the country, emerging industrial countries have surpassed the established powers in terms of comprehensive strength, such as the German Empire catching up with France and the rise of the United States.

Because its status has gradually risen to the same level, even Germany's overall strength has surpassed that of France, and it has become a relatively recognized second power.

Under such circumstances, Germany is becoming more and more dissatisfied with the old powers Britain and France's share of colonies around the world. Emerging industrial countries also need the land under the sky, not the blue sky.

The previous Franco-Prussian War caused France to pay a large amount of compensation to Germany, and trampled on the dignity of France to establish the German Empire.

Due to various factors, the contradiction between France and Germany has become deeper and deeper, and has even become irreconcilable.

But there were not so many contradictions between the German Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire, and there was even a short period of the Three Emperors Alliance between the German Empire, the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although this is a loose alliance temporarily compromised for short-term interests, the nature of the alliance determines that one day it will definitely be disbanded.

But this is also a period of good cooperation between the German Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire. It is something that Germany is looking forward to now that it can win over this country with great war potential, or remove it from the list of allies in France.

William II nodded, temporarily agreeing with Minister Andrew's point of view.

The Tsarist Russian Empire must show a certain decline in the Far East, so as to reflect the importance of the German Empire, a country that can support the Tsarist Russian Empire's Far East policy, to the Tsarist Russian Empire.

At the same time, the Tsarist Russian Empire cannot lose too many advantages in the Far East. A Tsarist Russian Empire that focuses all its attention on Europe is not a good thing for the German Empire, because at least in Europe, the Tsarist Russian Empire is more willing to cooperate with the German Empire. France is allied with Germany, not Germany.

This depends on many factors. Although France's capital is addicted to the high income generated by borrowing, it has reduced France's industrial upgrading and technological development to a certain extent.

But this also has an advantage, that is, it can narrow the distance with some countries through loans, especially countries with relatively backward economies like Tsarist Russia.

After France made a large amount of loans to the Russian Empire, the economy of the Russian Empire was full of French factors, which also brought the two countries closer.

At the same time, the German Empire, which had concluded the Triple Alliance Treaty with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, was getting further and further away from the Tsarist Russian Empire.

First of all, now the allies of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire had a lot of conflicts, the two countries had many disputes on the border, and the relationship was very poor.

As the saying goes, the enemy of a friend is an enemy, and the friend of an enemy is also an enemy.In this way, the German Empire passed by the Tsarist Russian Empire and moved towards the opposite.

The reason why William II was so interested in the news that Australia could provide was precisely because he hoped to win over Britain and the Russian Empire.

The United Kingdom has always pursued an isolation policy and a balance policy. It generally helps the weak side, but it does not make the defeated side too weak, lest the weak become stronger and become a new threat.

The current situation in Europe is relatively clear, divided into two military groups with distinct factions.Whether it is the German Empire, the Allied Powers Group formed by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, or the Allied Powers Group formed by the French Republic and the Tsarist Russian Empire, they are all trying to win over the British Empire. After all, this is the world's most well-deserved power.

But the attitude of the British Empire has always been vague and hazy. On the basis of a relatively balanced power on both sides, the British Empire adopted a wait-and-see attitude and remained neutral until the end of Queen Victoria's era.

Now it is the era of King Edward VII, because the relationship between Edward VII and William II is not good, which also alienates the relationship between the British Empire and the German Empire.

Of course, it cannot be denied that the rise of the German Empire and the development of the navy were one of the factors that alienated the British Empire from the German Empire.

The goal of the German Empire is the old powers that occupy a large number of colonies. Besides France, isn't there the British Empire?

Although the Germans did not say this clearly, the British Empire is indeed an old power, and it also has the largest colony in the world today.

"Since you have come all the way from Australia, you must have some plans and plans, right? Tell me, what good suggestions does Arthur have for the current situation in Germany?" William II asked with a smile.

The purpose of allowing Australia to send two senior officials at the ministerial level to Germany is definitely not just to inform William II of the news.

Australia's royal family, that is, Arthur also has a head of royal affairs in Europe. If it is just to pass on news, let the head of royal affairs pass it on. There is absolutely no need to go to war like this.

　Two-in-one chapters for support

　　
　
(End of this chapter)