Crimson Dawn

In the era when there was no nuclear weapon, the ultimate killer, the navy's capital ship was the nuclear weapon at that time.When the Washington Conference took place, countries still genuinely wanted to end wars, at least between the major powers.The World War I just ended has left too tragic memories for the world.In just four or five years, the war and the pandemic killed nearly [-] million people in Europe and the United States.As long as it is not the guy who is working hard to prepare to destroy the world, no one wants to let this situation happen again.

So the United Kingdom and Japan broke the news that China has 550 million active-duty soldiers. This terrifying number scared other countries enough.The combined population of men, women and children in Belgium is less than 550 million, and the population of the Netherlands and Portugal is also very limited.As for Britain, France, and Japan, 550 million people is equal to one-tenth of their population.China's population is five times that of the United States, and the United States sounds apprehensive about China's 550 million troops.

For China, per capita is always a big killer.With a population of 4000 million, China's military expenditure and even the ratio of soldiers to the total population are much lower than Britain, France and Japan.Taking France as an example, France has a population of 80 million and an army of 2.The proportion of military service is as high as 1%.China is less than 120%.And according to Wang Bin, the actual number of field troops in China is less than 0.2 million, accounting for 10% of China's population.The proportion of France's military is [-] times that of China.

The proportion of all major industrial military forces to the population of the country, and the proportion of military expenditure to national income are much higher than those of China.Wang Bin used this data to ask other countries who are engaging in militarism.This group of ridicule is so large that countries simply refuse to discuss this issue with Wang Bin.

However, Wang Bin did not come to disturb the situation. He concluded with a gentle attitude: "Our country's army is not so much an army, but more like a professional industrial worker. The level of Chinese culture and education is low, and production can only be organized through the army model. Therefore, the armies of various countries are professional armies, while our Chinese army is a militia with conscripts as the main body. Most of the work in the army is labor and study. After retiring, after employment counseling, soldiers can become good ordinary workers. This An army exists to defend peace, not to wage war."

What Wang Bin said was justified, because this is the reality in China.The representatives of various countries did not take it seriously. In their view, whether the squadron of 550 million people is to defend peace or start a war is not the order of the People's Party.However, the People's Party's formation model of the army explains a foreign question, how does China support so many troops.Use the army like a "slave", engage in production to support yourself when not fighting, and send it to the battlefield as cannon fodder when fighting.This can indeed greatly save military expenses.As for why the Chinese are so obedient, the representatives of various countries simply attribute it to the "slavery" that the Chinese dare not resist.

In any case, the 550 million Chinese are the 550 million Chinese after all.It is the Chinese government that feeds this army, and it is the Chinese government that supplies equipment to this army.Unless they declare war on China, countries really have no way to stop the self-construction of the Chinese Army.

As with all so-called peace conferences of this era, a few major countries determined the direction and agenda of the conference.The three navies in the Pacific, the United States, Britain, and Japan, held a secret meeting.A squadron of this size made Britain and Japan more demanding to maintain the Anglo-Japanese alliance.On the dissolution of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, the positions of the two countries have not wavered.The United States has no way to persuade Britain and Japan, and can only finally accept the continued existence of the Anglo-Japanese alliance.

After all, the figure of 550 million Chinese army is too impactful, and the United States is unwilling to stand on the opposite side of China with a broader multinational security guarantee.Everyone is mixed internationally. Once they face a squadron of this size in a war, all countries hope that other countries will die.Hide behind and pick peaches by yourself.

Japan not only relies on the "China Threat Theory" to demand the retention of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, but also requires a 10:10:7 ratio of the British, American, and Japanese navies.At the same time, it is required that the tonnage of the Chinese navy should not exceed one third of that of Japan.

The representative of the United States determined that it is absolutely impossible for China to accept this ratio.In fact, as the United States expected, China requires to maintain at least the same tonnage of main naval warships as Japan.This time, it's not just China that raised objections. France and Italy are also extremely dissatisfied with their 2.5 ratio.They also claim to have the same ratio as Japan.

At this time, Britain and the United States had to make suppressing China their top priority.Wang Bin answered very clearly, "In recent decades, we have been invaded so many times, and the enemies all came from the sea. We in China must be able to defend China's security."

The United Kingdom and the United States are countries that participated in the Eight-Power Allied Forces 20 years ago. They feel very embarrassing about China's request.The representative of the United States asked, "So what level of security does China pursue?"

"The safety of free trade at sea is the minimum bottom line." Wang Bin took out the world system advocated by Wilson.

No matter what kind of armaments China has, the benefits China is asking for are actually normal commercial trade, which is right for the appetite of the US representative.

Wang Bin looked at the US representative who had calmed down, and continued: "The naval issue is ultimately an issue of trade route protection. China hopes to resolve conflicts among countries within the framework of a Pacific trade agreement. I can tell you clearly that even the We want to get the same share as Japan, and China does not have so much military spending to build so many warships. If a peaceful trading system can be established, we can give up the same naval ratio as Japan originally requested.”

This is not Wang Bin's nonsense. The People's Party is indeed consistent in its attitude on trade.China is committed to integrating into the world system and the globalized market.On this point, even the British don't think that Wang Bin, the Chinese representative, is just making a fuss.

With Wang Bin's hard lobbying, the naval restriction treaty turned into a Pacific trade issue among Britain, the United States, and China.This is also the real essential problem.

Of course, the UK dared to brag about anything. After making a bunch of meaningless promises to China, Wang Bin finally showed China's bottom line, and China accepted a ratio of 4.

"This is absolutely impossible! At most 2!" The British representative immediately vetoed China's request as if he had never said any good attitude towards China.

More than a month was spent in various quarrels. In the end, China made huge concessions in terms of capital ships and aircraft carriers.China accepts the condition that all warships have a gross tonnage of no more than 30 tons.But Wang Bin said, "China cannot accept the limitation of ship types. Because China has no experience in building various types of warships. The same warship may only take three years to build in other major naval powers, but we may have to build it for ten years. .Even after the ship is built, our use efficiency of these warships and our combat level of these warships are far lower than the world's major naval countries. So the above requirements are already the bottom line that China can accept. If the above If the request cannot be accepted, we will not sign this agreement."

"China must accept the agreement." The British representative was very firm.

Wang Bin continued with a gloomy face: "As far as our country's current technological level is concerned, it will take at least 15 years to build ships from now on. Our country does not believe that other countries will transfer battleship technology to our country. The words are not right. All countries are naval powers, and they must be more aware of technological development than we are. Therefore, technological restrictions have already strangled our necks, and we cannot accept other restrictions."

Of course, the British and Japanese representatives refused to relax their suppression of China. The Sino-Japanese War and the Sino-German military cooperation have proved that if the 550 million squadrons were killed, Britain and Japan would have to kneel at the border with China.If China has a powerful navy, no one in the Western Pacific is China's opponent.

The United States thinks it is a good thing to add trouble to Britain and Japan. Anyway, the United States has no plan to cross the Pacific Ocean to fight with China's 550 million army.Since the Anglo-Japanese alliance cannot be dismantled, the United States of course chose to cause trouble for the Anglo-Japanese alliance.The United States has expressed support for China's demands.China's shipbuilding level is very clear to all countries, and the huge investment in research and development and construction costs in the navy is enough to consume China's national defense funds.All countries are exhausted in the shipbuilding competition, and the United States knows very well how much it will cost to build a ship.

Britain also feels helpless in the face of China's threat to withdraw from the Washington conference.Containing China has now proven to be unrealistic, at least the United States, a shit-stirring stick, will definitely find ways to collude with China.The British are not afraid of China's almost self-made navy. It will take at least 20 years for this navy to defend China's own long coastline, and the naval contract period is 15 years.In the past 15 years, Britain has not worried about encountering challenges from the Chinese navy.In addition, enclosing China will inevitably lead to the interruption of Sino-British trade, and Britain still cares about the benefits brought to Britain by Western Pacific trade.

Finally, under the mediation of the United States, the British side finally agreed to China's request.

Naturally, Japan resolutely does not accept China's request. If possible, Japan does not want China to have any warships at all.Japan's overly explicit performance has aroused the resentment of other countries. The purpose of the Washington meeting is to limit the navy. Even if China, a country with no navy, withdraws from the meeting, the real impact will be very limited.On the contrary, if Japan, a powerful naval power in the Western Pacific, is in trouble, it will damage the world situation.Japan soon discovered that "public opinion" was against it, and all countries asked Japan to face the problem from a rational perspective.

The United Kingdom cannot completely ignore Japan's feelings. It took the lead in assuring Japan that it would not provide China with warship construction technology.Instead, France and other countries waited for Japan to mess around. The more Japan messed around, the more excuses France and other countries would have to blackmail Britain.The United States is the host responsible for convening the meeting. If the venue is broken up, it will lose face.

In the end, the United States proposed to prohibit the proliferation of warship construction technology, which is tantamount to agreeing with the attitude of the British.Japan had no choice but to agree with this resolution.

In the end, the Washington Naval Convention stipulated that Britain, the United States, Japan, France, and Italy should build capital ships at a ratio of 10:10:7:3.5:3.5.Britain and the United States each have a quota of 50 tons.In addition, in the construction of aircraft carriers, the United States and Britain received a quota of 13.5 tons.Japan got a quota of 9.1 tons.

China gets a quota of 30 tons gross tonnage for all warships.If China wants to build large warships, it must abide by the Washington Convention's restrictions on capital ships.But China can choose the type of ships it needs to build according to its own needs.Not limited by the number of specific ships.

The treaty lasted 15 years until 1936.

As soon as the capital ship problem was solved, the submarine problem was brought to the table.The British suffered from the German submarines, so they insisted on restricting the development of submarines.The French immediately objected.In the middle of this, even without China's contribution to the flames, the British and French sides started a fierce quarrel.

The British representative said aggressively: "Britain must not allow France, which has an army of 80, to have a first-class submarine fleet!"

The British representative immediately hit back: "France, which has bases all over the country, if it has a large number of submarines, the threat to the UK may be many times greater than the threat to the UK from Germany."

The representative of France retorted: "British capital ships must be built to salvage sardines? Then, why not let poor France also build a few submarines to study seabed plants?"

The Americans wanted to smooth things over, but the British and the French didn't buy it at all. After a lot of quarrels, the matter was simply put on hold.

After the naval treaty was signed, the Chinese representative immediately raised the issue of Port Arthur.Japan is required to withdraw from Lushun Port immediately.Now the Japanese representative was almost lying on the ground and rolling.

Looking at the bear of the Japanese representative, Gu Weijun just wanted to tell the Japanese representative, "Go as far as you can!" This was what Zhang Yu said jokingly before the departure of the Chinese delegation.Gu Weijun has always felt that he is a very passionate person, especially on diplomatic occasions, he always has a kind of tragic generosity.Now this young man is more and more aware that his elegance seems to be shrinking, and the urge to scold his mother is getting stronger day by day.

As a doctor of law, Gu Weijun intensively studied various international laws.However, after working with the "old revolutionaries" of the People's Party who are from science and engineering for such a period of time, Gu Weijun realized that the essence of international law is strength. With strength, one can formulate laws and make laws favorable to one's own side. explain.In an era when China's strength is simply not enough to protect itself, China has nothing to rely on except lip service.

On the Lushun issue, the United States immediately began to fan the flames, "This is China's internal affairs, and we will not interfere."

The Japanese representative immediately expressed strong protest against the United States' gloating expression, "This is an international agreement, and China will never be allowed to unilaterally destroy it!"

Gu Weijun immediately said, "China's sovereignty cannot be violated. As a member of the Allied Powers, Japan has no reason to station troops in China. This is the essence of international agreements. If this is the case, what is the point of fighting in the same trench? Japan On the one hand, this is breaking international practice, and China has no reason to accept such an agreement."

The quarrel lasted for several days. Japan refused to budge, and China was equally firm.The Washington Peace Conference had been held for four months, and it was March 1922 at this time.Looking at the posture of China and Japan, this is a sign that they are declaring war on each other at the Washington Peace Conference.At any rate, the United States cannot concede such a result.In the end, before the matter got too serious, the United States wisely announced that the meeting was over, and any issues between the two countries could be resolved through consultation between the two countries themselves.

The Washington Peace Conference essentially limited the arms race around the world.Presumably establishing the dominance of the Versailles system over the entire world.The United States has leapt to become a big country capable of competing with the United Kingdom, but China has also risen to become a force that cannot be ignored in the world.

Several other events also happened in 1922. After the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army marched into Tibet and approached Lhasa, the local "government" finally clearly expressed its obedience to the central government.Then the People's Republic of China was formally established and a new map of China was provided to the world.North Vladivostok and the Kuril Islands, which were occupied by Japan, officially appeared in China's territory.

Under the command of Trotsky, the Russian Red Army completely eliminated Kolchak's troops, and finally recaptured about 270 tons of gold.In addition to a part of the gold that was hidden and could not be found for the time being, about 160 tons of gold flowed into China's pockets.But Trotsky is not a small-bellied guy after all. If China has not curbed its greed, God knows how much 500 tons of gold will be left.

On December 1922, 12, the Soviet Union was officially established.The eastern end of the world island is entirely composed of countries with a socialist system.Such a variable has left many "international observers" at a loss.No one knows where this change will lead the world.