Master Yuan, start!

966七910?2?5妃Luci Hedgehogo(=??=)mTiqu County

The telegraph office just received a telegram from the Far East yesterday, and the news was published in the newspaper today.

The citizens of Paris, who had enjoyed peace for a long time, perhaps had not yet reacted, or perhaps had not yet fully awakened from their sleep. When they heard the voice of the newsboy hawking, they instinctively froze.

Declaration of war on Indochina What happened to China?

Some Parisians who had come to their senses hurriedly took out 10 centimes from their pockets and shouted to the newsboy:

"What on earth is going on in the Far East? Quick, give me a newspaper!"

"Okay, sir, here you go." The newsboy took the coin, handed over a newspaper, turned around and walked to the next intersection.

The Parisian citizens who received the newspapers stopped and looked at today's newspapers curiously, wanting to know what had happened in the Far East.

...

At the same time, curses were heard from the Elysee Palace on the other side of Paris.

"The Chinese are a bunch of yellow monkeys, a bunch of barbarians with pig tails!"

François Faure, President of the French Third Republic, held the telegram in his hand and said with gritted teeth: "The Chinese, even if they establish a republic, will never be worthy of joining the ranks of civilized nations!

No, their republican system is just a distorted republic born on the corpses of the Tatars. It is a poor imitation of the French republican system. The Chinese will never understand what a republic is in their lifetime! "

The French president was so angry because he had no idea what had happened in the Indochina colony.

After Emperor Thanh Thai disappeared, the Governor-General of Indochina did not choose to report to Paris immediately, but chose to cover it up.

It was not until Li Hongzhang's death and Yuan Shikai's entry into Guangzhou that the truth seemed to be hidden forever. The Governor-General of Indochina sent a telegram to Paris with the news of the National Revolutionary Army's southward advance and Emperor Thanh Thai's disappearance.

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Therefore, President François Faure did not have any buffer time, but suddenly received so much bad news at once, which is why he was so angry.

Historically, when François was in office, France expanded its colonies in Africa and annexed the huge Madagascar.

However, because of this, France and Britain developed a feud.

In the original time and space, when François was president, France had frequent diplomatic conflicts with Britain and reconciled with Russia.

In this time and space, under the influence of François, the relationship between France and Britain is still not good.

However, due to the rise of Yuan Shikai, the relationship between France and Russia took a step further. Not only did they reconcile, but they also signed a secret Russo-French treaty against Britain.

Foreign Minister Delcasser, who was standing beside "Mr. President," looked at the telegram from the Far East and said worriedly:

"The first priority now is to ensure the security of the Indochina colony. Many newspapers are now reporting that the Chinese want to rely on the Vietnamese emperor to stir up a larger rebellion in Indochina.

This time, with the help of the Chinese, the momentum may far exceed the spontaneous Vietnamese movement to support the king ten years ago. A rebellion concerning France's Far East colonies is just around the corner!

"Robbery of the monarchs of French colonies is a naked insult to France." President François Faure stood up from his chair and said angrily:

"France will never allow the Chinese to trample on the face of a great European power like this!"

“Help me contact the British and Russian ambassadors in Paris and tell them that a rebellion against European countries has broken out in the Far East and we must unite.

Just like they united to force the Tatars to make concessions more than 30 years ago, this will teach the Chinese a lesson they will never forget.

"But now, it's not 30 years ago. The Russians are fine, but the British may not agree to such a proposal." Foreign Minister Delcas said:

"The Chinese dared to so blatantly infringe on French colonial interests in Indochina. It is hard to say that the British were not involved."

"Could it be that the interests of the entire China are not enough to satisfy those greedy British?" President François Faure said angrily:

"Are they eyeing French Indochina?"

"No, Mr. President, that may not be the case." Delcasai shook his head and said slowly:

"Based on my understanding of the British, they probably didn't intend to rule Vietnam. In fact, the British had already expanded to the limit in the world, and Vietnam was beyond their reach.

However, during this period, the British had been sending a large number of troops and weapons to the Cape Colony in South Africa. The atmosphere in South Africa was tense, and almost every European who read the newspaper knew that Britain was going to go to war with the Boers.

I think the British probably didn’t want France to focus too much on South Africa and wanted to reduce the pressure in Africa, so they joined forces with the Chinese in the Far East to lead a conspiracy against Indochina.

"A conspiracy?"

Delcassé is a veteran diplomat, with more experience than President François Faure.

After this reminder, President François also realized that what Delcassé said did make some sense.

The situation in South Africa is extremely tense, and all European countries and sectors are paying close attention. As soon as the British start fighting, they will surely be condemned by the European public opinion.

This is indeed the case, even though Britain was the undisputed global hegemon in the late 19th century.

However, this is limited to financial and military power.

In terms of public opinion, the British Empire was not able to control everything like the American Empire in later generations.

Historically, the war between the British and the Boers was seen as an invasion by European civilians.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the working class was rising and various socialist ideas were popular, Britain's actions were unanimously criticized by people from all over Europe.

In addition, the British fought badly in South Africa, and in the end they had to sign a peace treaty with the Boers under pressure from international public opinion.

Seeing that François Faure was lost in thought, Delcassé spoke again.

"In fact, Mr. President, although the British are unreliable, we still have Russia as our ally." Delcassé recalled his previous visit to St. Petersburg and smiled.

"That Tsar must be very interested in revenge against the Chinese!"

Chapter 420: Smooth Road

While the French president and foreign minister were racking their brains to find allies, the People's Republic of China on the other side of the Eurasian continent was also in turmoil.

At Yuan Shikai's suggestion, the French consul's blunt remarks were leaked verbatim to the Republic's press.

Starting from the next day, the news that the French Republic was going to declare war on the Chinese Republic caused nationwide chaos from south to north.

"Declare war!"

You know, whether it was the contact with the French in front of Beijing 13 years ago, or the battle with the Russians in Northeast China two years ago.

Although they actually fought, these countries never declared war on China.

According to later generations, it was at best just a "special military operation"

Shrinking group [66+79102

But declaring war means all-out war, a fight to the death, and the fight will continue until one side refuses to admit defeat.

Even though the National Revolutionary Army swept through the Hunan and Huai factions, and defeated the French Expeditionary Force and the Russian Army in Beijing and the Northeast respectively, the shock brought to the people by this declaration of war was still considerable.

Even the most confident person would be shaken when thinking of the French ironclad warships crisscrossing the South China Sea and the tens of thousands of well-equipped soldiers stationed in Vietnam.

After all, this time is different from the previous times.

Before, we fought on our own land, with the advantage of terrain and people.

This time, we have to fight on someone else's territory.

Can the National Revolutionary Army still be as invincible and victorious as it was at home?

Not only were the people confused, but even within the National Revolutionary Army, voices of doubt were heard.

...

Sheng Fei, Feng Guozhang, and Duan Qirui were respectively the Vice Chairman of the Military Commission of the Central Plains Military Region of the National Revolutionary Army, the Jiangnan Military Region, and the Chinese Social Revolutionary Party, and the Commander of the North China Military Region. Today, they had just arrived in Guangzhou.

Since the establishment of the Republic, it has been extremely rare to see the chiefs of the three major military regions gather together. However, although they meet each other now, they have no intention of reminiscing about the past.

In the war room, Duan Qirui was fidgeting in his chair, Feng Guozhang was holding his teacup tightly and remained silent, and Sheng Fei was walking back and forth in the room. All three of them had uneasy expressions on their faces.

When Yuan Xiangcheng walked in, Sheng Fei, the most straightforward of the three, asked bluntly, "Chief Instructor, why are you so anxious?

Wasn't the original plan at the Central Executive Committee meeting to take a few years off after defeating Li Hongzhang, first to wipe out the domestic forces, and then to advance overseas?

Yuan Xiangcheng walked into the room and sat down directly. He did not answer Sheng Fei's question, but asked Duan Qirui:

"Comrade Juren, how is Ding Ruchang?"

Duan Qirui was stunned when he heard this. He originally wanted to listen to Yuan Xiangcheng's explanation, but he didn't expect Yuan Xiangcheng to ask first. Seeing this, he could only shake his head and said helplessly:

"Chief Instructor, you really have so much free time. With the national war at hand, you're actually concerned about the remnants of the Huai Army."

Despite this, Duan Qirui explained the situation in detail: "Deng Shichang is sailing south from Yantai. Before leaving, he sent a telegram to Ding Ruchang, urging him to preserve the South China Sea Fleet's manpower.

If nothing unexpected happens, once the market reaches Huangpu, Ding Ruchang will be able to raise his flag and submit to the Republic."

"That's good. Being able to unite the northern and southern navies into one is also a great achievement."

Yuan Shikai had no intention of killing all the Huai Army generals except Li Hongzhang.

Whether they rebelled, surrendered or were captured, as long as their identities were verified and whether they had any blood debts, they could stay or go as they pleased.

However, as for the navy, Yuan Shikai still adhered to the idea of ​​not leaving if possible, and he would leave as many as he could.

After all, the navy was a scarce branch of the military in that era, and the South China Sea Fleet was inherited from the Beiyang Fleet. It can be said that two-thirds of China's elite navy in the 30 years of the Westernization Movement were in it.

If these people were allowed to die in civil strife or return to their hometowns to live in seclusion, it would be irresponsible to the country.

"Chief Instructor, it is indeed a good thing that the South China Sea Fleet is willing to surrender." Sheng Fei saw that Yuan Xiangcheng did not respond and continued to ask:

"But what about the army, the National Revolutionary Army? Why is it so eager to get involved in the French colony of Vietnam?"

Before Yuan Xiangcheng could explain, Feng Guozhang could no longer hold back and said:

"General Instructor, the National Revolutionary Army is indeed invincible across the country, but what we are facing this time is different after all.

In the Heilongjiang Anti-Russian War, 16 National Revolutionary Army troops were deployed in the battle. Relying on the geographical advantages, river gunboats, and the support of the people of Heilongjiang, they paid the price of more than 3 casualties before defeating the Russian army.

Moreover, such losses were incurred even though our navy won a great victory and the Russian navy was almost completely destroyed.

The French Far East Fleet is now intact and twice as large as the Russian Navy. Even if our northern and southern fleets were to unite, what chances would we have of victory?"

"That's right, Commander-in-Chief." Duan Qirui nodded and agreed, "We were able to drive out the Russians thanks to the British controlling the strait and blocking Russia's Far Eastern supply lines, preventing Vladivostok from receiving supplies.

But now the French navy is far superior to the Russian navy, and Britain may not help us blockade the supply lines. "

"You won't help? We're British, so we have to help!"

Yuan Xiangcheng grinned, glanced at Duan Qirui, stood up, walked forward to the map of world colonies on the wall of the war room, pointed his right finger at the southernmost tip of the African continent, and asked:

"If I say that within half a year, Britain will go to war with a small country called Swaziland here, and hundreds of thousands of troops will fight for a long time without achieving any results.

It just so happens that the French colony here is right next to Britain. Tell me, if you were French, what would you do then? "

Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang and Sheng Fei widened their eyes upon hearing this, with deep suspicion in their eyes.