Years of the Republic of China 1913

The resettlement work is temporarily on track after the arrival of these students and instructors, but the language problem still needs to be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise these Germans will not be able to live normally in this strange country. Equally urgent.

If things go on for a long time, these Germans will have a feeling of being rejected. They came to the strange East from Europe thousands of miles away. It is obvious that the unfamiliar environment makes people feel lonely. It’s okay if the time is short After a long time, the Germans and the Chinese will naturally be divided into two distinct factions. Fang Zida absolutely does not want to see this result.

He needs these Germans, whether they are skilled workers or engineers, or military officers and scientists, to mingle with their Chinese colleagues in a short period of time, remove the influence of skin color and race, and become a driving force for the development of the country.Therefore, solving this problem as soon as possible is the top priority. Fang Zida even hopes that in the near future, most of these high-quality Germans will become Chinese citizens and thus become members of the Chinese nation.

For this reason, Fang Zida put this matter at the top of the list when the resettlement work was in progress. Taking advantage of the transition period of more than half a month for these personnel, he set up intensive Chinese training courses at each resettlement site, and called from various places to understand The German teacher taught these Germans. Among other things, at least during this time, the Germans should learn some daily expressions so that they can communicate easily.

In addition, apart from research institutions and the military, other companies have also set up German training courses, so that Chinese workers and technicians who will work with these Germans in the future can also learn part of German.With a two-pronged approach, I think that with these foundations in time, the integration of the two parties will become much easier.

With the arrival of batch after batch of Germans, this procedure gradually became a formal rule.until the end of the year.The government devoted almost all of its energy to this, and the intensity of the work slowly diminished until the first Germans took to their posts and started working alongside their Chinese colleagues.

December 1919, 12, was the last day of the year, and happened to be the day when the last batch of people from Europe arrived in China.Since then.A large number of German personnel recruited by China were all in place, and with the arrival of the personnel, a large number of disassembled factories, equipment and other materials were also shipped from Europe.

Several major industrial cities planned by Fang Zida also started construction a few months ago. If all goes well, some of them will be put into operation around May next year.Such a fast speed is also thanks to some skilled and serious German personnel. With their help and the efforts of the Chinese, whenever the materials arrive at the port, they are transported to their destinations according to the long-established plan.Then install, maintain, maintain, debug...Among them, the Chinese technicians have also learned a lot. You must know that although some people have worked in foreign or other factories before, they always hide the foreign technicians hired by the factory in terms of technology. If you want to learn something, you have to steal There is no other way than learning or groping on your own.But now these German technicians are all superb in craftsmanship, and they are willing to teach them all, which makes the Chinese workers ecstatic.

In addition to personnel and materials (including factories and equipment), negotiations on Germany's High Seas Fleet have also yielded results.Because Western countries are worried about China's naval strength, the balance of the Far East's maritime forces will be broken after the purchase of warships from the High Seas Fleet.Moreover, Japan was acting as a hindrance, and in the end China acquired fewer ships than expected.

and.Under the suppression of various countries, none of the battleships of the German High Seas Fleet were given to China. You must know that in the Battle of Jutland, the British Navy, known as the world's number one navy, lost to the German High Seas Fleet in this sea battle that shocked the world. The ratio of losses on both sides reached the level of Germany 1 to Britain 2.Although the German High Seas Fleet was blocked at the port by the British in the later period, this was caused by Kaiser Wilhelm's wrong command.It does not represent the strength of the German High Seas Fleet and the gap between the fleet.Therefore, the ships of the German High Seas Fleet are no less than the most advanced British Royal Navy in terms of design and firepower.

In this case, once the Chinese receive all of the German High Seas Fleet, or even only part of the elite warships of the High Seas Fleet.The threat to the Japanese navy is extremely great.Where would the Japanese want to see a more threatening navy in China than the Beiyang Navy back then?So obstruction is certain, and the western countries also have their own plans, and they also don't want to see a powerful navy appear in the Far East, because this will also damage their interests in the Far East.

After arduous negotiations, the Chinese government finally obtained only one battlecruiser Moltke, three light cruisers, three destroyers and five torpedo boats.Among them, the Moltke was compensated for the reason of restricting China's purchase of battleships. According to the decision of the Allied Powers, it was originally planned to give several iron-clad ships to China, but Fang Zida refused. Some of these iron-clad ships have already reached the retirement time. Some ships are far behind the requirements of today's ships. After they are built, they can only be used as scrap products for steel training, and they will not be of much use at all.

Although the Chinese Ministry of the Navy was very dissatisfied with this result, Fang Zida felt that it was just right.These ships are more suitable for the current situation of the Chinese navy, and the military force formed by them just happens to form a fleet, which will not arouse the worries of the Japanese too much.Furthermore, Fang Zida, who is familiar with the development history of the navy in the future, clearly knows that battleships will gradually withdraw from the ocean stage in the future, and aircraft carriers, submarines, etc. will dominate the ocean, and the era of big gun ships will soon be gone forever.

After receiving these ships, the Chinese government set off to return to China in the shortest possible time. Along with them were not only the Chinese navy, but also some German naval officers and even non-commissioned officers and technicians who came to China.For the remaining essence of the High Seas Fleet, especially those advanced Kaiser-class, King-class, and Bavarian-class battleships, all countries are salivating, wishing to take them all for their own use.After several days of quarreling, the countries of the Allied Powers finally came up with a carve-up plan, and everyone was happy.

But the turning point after the incident left the Allied countries dumbfounded. Just when the Allied countries were planning to carve up the high seas fleet, the German high seas fleet sank in Scapa Flow, England. This operation was called "Rainbow Operation" in the German Navy. Except for a few ships that have been accepted by the Chinese government and left Europe, the remaining nearly 40 battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers, and destroyers all sank in Scapa Flow.

Stealing chickens is not enough to lose rice. After receiving the news of the sinking of the German High Seas Fleet, the faces of all countries are so ugly that they are almost crying without tears, especially the unlucky Japanese. They finally got promises from the British. Two battleships will be allocated from the High Seas Fleet, but all this will come to naught.

These have nothing to do with the Chinese. The Chinese government returned with a full harvest. When the news reached China, Fang Zida was so happy that he couldn’t help but laugh, and those naval executives who regretted not getting the battleship because they were suppressed by the treaty countries were also happy. Feeling pregnant, sweeping away the previous sorrow and anger.

Since the work in Europe was almost done, the European Expeditionary Force also began to return to China one after another.After Feng Guozhang received the order to return to the country, he returned with the second batch of personnel. Except for the garrison of one division, as of the end of 1919, the expeditionary force basically returned to the country.

After Feng Guozhang returned to China, he stepped down as commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, and at the same time took over the posts of deputy chief of staff of the general staff headquarters and commander of the Guangzhou Military Region.At the same time, several other major military regions were also formally established. Among them, Wu Peifu became the commander of the Zhili Military Region without hesitation, and also assumed the post of deputy chief of staff. Together with the reserve service, the second reorganization of the National Defense Forces and the reconstruction of local troops.

Most of the expeditionary force returned home, and negotiations in Europe continued.But Fang Zida had long been prepared for the breakdown of the negotiations. Even Cao Rulin was called back to China early by him, and only some middle-level personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice remained in Europe to grind their mouths with other countries.

In mid-December, the final results of the negotiations came out. France worked out the "Contract of Versailles" with harsh conditions. The content of the contract not only divided up part of Germany's territory, restricted its military development, but also required the German government to pay 12 billion pounds for war reparations. And it is clearly stipulated that payment must be made in gold, and there are also requirements for the trial of war criminals.This contract almost pushed Germany into the abyss. Although the German Provisional Government temporarily refused to sign the contract under domestic pressure, the pressure from the Allied Powers and the ultimatum also made them unable to make a choice.If there is no accident, it is only a matter of time before the Germans sign the contract. From then on, the mighty Germany will be forced to wear heavy shackles and bear incomparable humiliation.

In Paris, in response to the post-war situation, the Allied Powers convened a conference of countries known as the Paris Peace Conference in order to solve the problems caused by the war and establish post-war peace.Fang Zida was not interested in this meeting at all, because no country would give China too much benefit and status. As a weak country, it would not be of much use in this kind of soy sauce situation. It is necessary to try our best to fight for the interests of the Chinese government, and not to think too much about other things. If the peace meeting is harmful to China's interests, the government authorizes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs not to sign the peace meeting, or to withdraw directly from the peace meeting.

Fang Zida didn't care about the Laoshizi Peace Conference, and it didn't make much difference to China whether he signed it or not.Whether a country has status in the world and whether it has the right to speak is not something that can be achieved by individuals or through diplomatic efforts. It is a manifestation of the country's overall strength in the world. Although China's current situation is much better than in history, But in the eyes of Western countries, it is still a weak country, and a weak country has no diplomacy. This is what they are talking about. (To be continued..)