The sun never sets.

"Tell him. As long as we have a foothold in Australia, this matter can no longer be concealed."

"And what about Russia?"

"Let's not talk about Russia for now. It won't be too late to talk about it when things reach that point."

Yang Du then understood that Chairman Lin was still wary of the Japanese. One should be sincere to the Japanese, but one should also conceal things when necessary.

"Oh, by the way, when you go to Japan, go and discuss the chemical plant with Kotoku Shusui. Theoretically, we can help Japan build its own fertilizer production plant, but the central bank can only provide them with half of the loan, and Japan needs to find the rest of the funds on its own."

Fertilizers are never enough. China alone needs nearly 2000 million tons of fertilizers every year, but China's current production is less than million tons, and some quotas have to be allocated to Japan, Mongolia, North Korea and Siberia. However, a chemical plant cannot be built in a day or two, nor can it be built with just money. Transportation, resources and location issues need to be considered.

Chemical plants produce a lot of harmful gases and toxic substances during operation, so they must be built far away from residential areas and have to treat tail gas and sewage. In the past, no one cared about environmental pollution, but China's industry has now reached a certain scale and needs to pay attention to this issue.

Building synthetic ammonia and other chemical plants in Japan can reduce the pressure on the people's government, which is a good thing. The chemical industry is not only of great help to agricultural production, but also of great use in industry and life. Therefore, the central bank is willing to issue an interest-free loan of 10 million yuan to Japan.

The Japanese government also made a lot of money because of the European war. Not only did it pay off its previous debts, but it also received a lot of hard currency. However, the more interest-free loans, the better. Kotoku Shusui had long wanted to build fertilizer and pesticide plants in Japan, but the high initial investment prevented the Taisho government from approving the project. Japan's income increased, but its expenditure also rose.

After ASEAN and the United States reached an agreement, China abandoned the plan to build super dreadnoughts, the United States cut the number of battleships in the naval expansion plan, and Japan no longer had such an urgent need to build a large navy. However, the super dreadnoughts and ships already on the slipway cannot be stopped, and the money that should be spent must continue to be spent.

Therefore, the Japanese government has been hovering on the edge of deficit. It is only now that it can come up with a large sum of money to build the chemical industry.

In addition, synthetic ammonia technology is also of great use in the military. Both the Army and the Navy want to take control of this project. The involvement of several powerful departments did not make things happen faster, but instead had the opposite effect.

"Then I need to take a few people to Japan."

Yang Du thought for a moment and said, "We can take Wang Zhaoming with us. He speaks good Japanese. Yang Hao..." Wang Zhaoming is very talented and elegant. He has become more stable over the years. Yang Du's impression of him has also changed. Young people will grow up and have unlimited possibilities.

Lin Yongchang waved his hand and said, "Go discuss it with Premier Xu. He is in charge of all administrative affairs."

Xu Shichang was an old-school man who had been a Jinshi in the previous dynasty. Coincidentally, Yang Du was also full of knowledge from the old times, and the two had a good relationship and could chat with each other when they met. But what Yang Du didn't expect was that he would meet the second son of the Yuan family at Prime Minister Xu's residence.

Yuan Kewen is somewhat similar to Yuan Shikai when he was young, but he does not look very energetic, with faint dark circles under his eyes, as if he did not sleep well.

"Xizi, you should know this person, Yuan Kewen, the second son of the Weiting family."

Yang Du knew Yuan Kewen. No, it cannot be said that he knew him, but he had met him. More than a decade ago, Yang Du learned the "dragon-slaying technique" from his teacher Wang Kaiyun, and he searched the world for a warrior to help him slay the dragon. At that time, China was full of silence. After looking around, only Yuan Shikai looked like a king.

When visiting Marshal Yuan, Yang Du had met Yuan Kewen once. But Yuan Kewen was still a child at that time, but now he is a young man. The handsome young man in front of him has some similarities with Yuan Shikai, but they are completely different.

"Oh, it's Kevin. You've grown so big."

Yuan Kewen stood up and saluted Yang Du with a smile, "Uncle Yang."

Xu Shichang took Yang Du's hand and sat down, saying, "Kevin has been working on making movies in Shanghai recently, and Chairman Lin has praised him many times."

"Is there such a thing? I am ignorant of it."

Xu Shichang had a ruddy complexion and a resonant voice, not looking like a 60-year-old at all. He said with a smile, "Kewen is talented, he is very good at singing operas and making movies, but he has one flaw, he likes to visit brothels too much."

"what?"

Yang Du looked Yuan Kewen up and down, and looked at the faint black under his eyes for a few more times. So it wasn't that he didn't sleep well, but that he indulged himself too much? He frowned and asked, "Where are the brothels? The Ministry of Public Security has issued an order to ban..."

"Hey, hey, it's in Hong Kong, Xizi, don't think too much about it."

"That's not a good thing either." Yang Du glanced at Yuan Kewen, "But it's not a bad thing for young people to be lustful... Does Wei Ting want to come back?"

Xu Shichang clapped his hands and laughed

"Xizi is really smart."

Yuan Kewen said respectfully: "My father asked me to deliver a letter to Uncle Xu, and I don't know the content of it."

"That's it."

Yuan Kewen: "Uncle Yang must have something to do here, so I won't bother you two uncles."

Xu Shichang stood up and walked Yuan Kewen to the door. "Come over for dinner this Saturday night... What kind of food do you like? I'll have someone prepare it."

"Something lighter, please."

"Then it's Su Cai."

After Yuan Kewen left, Xu Shichang turned to ask Yang Du, "How is it?"

"The son is not like the father!"

Although Yuan Shikai failed and fled to Hong Kong, he was still a hero. Yuan Kewen did not inherit his father's ambition and arrogance, and seemed much more pure and kind.

Chapter 597: Bloodshed

"Is Yuan Shikai really planning to come back? Is he going to give up his plan to counterattack the mainland?"

Xu Shichang laughed dumbly, "How can we counterattack? He used to count on the British, but now the British are too busy to take care of themselves. Besides, the British produced less than half of our steel this year. We are not afraid even if the British army attacks us, let alone Yuan Weiting."

Actually, the steel output of the UK so far this year is more than half of that of China, but it is only a few hundred thousand tons. China is still developing rapidly, while the UK is deeply involved in the vortex of war. Even if the steel output this year cannot reach twice that of the UK, it will reach it next year.

In Internal Reference, Chairman Lin analyzed the situation in Britain very clearly. Because Britain had economic hegemony and vast colonies, it had less internal pressure and was not so concerned about using new technologies and developing heavy industry. As a result, it was first surpassed by the United States, then by Germany, and now by China.

If this continues, Britain’s economic hegemony will soon be lost.

The two chatted about Yuan Shikai for a while, and then Yang Du told them his purpose.

"Why bother going there in person when I can just make a phone call?" Xu Shichang calculated the date. "If I go to Japan now, won't I be too late to come back for the New Year?"

"If you can't come back, then don't come back. Work is more important."

The Chinese New Year is a top priority for the Chinese people. It is not only a day for family reunion, but also a day for worshipping ancestors and sweeping tombs. In addition to feasting, every household should offer wine to their ancestors. At the table, they should also prepare rice and food for their ancestors. In the north, they may replace it with noodles.

For Chinese people, the New Year and Spring Festival are the most relaxing and enjoyable days of the year. Europeans, however, do not have the tradition of celebrating the New Year. They are still fighting desperately in the ice and snow. Compared with the battlefields in summer with corpses everywhere and diseases rampant, the coldness of winter seems so lovely.

German Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn organized an unprecedented offensive, declaring that he would bleed the French to death at Verdun. He chose to continue fighting on the Western Front, and he had his reasons.

Although the large-scale offensive launched on the Eastern Front last year achieved a campaign victory and inflicted heavy damage on the Russian army, Russia did not withdraw from the war. The front line merely extended a little eastward. Germany must once again choose between the Eastern and Western Fronts.

Since the German High Command had only 25 strategic reserve divisions, it was obviously not enough to continue launching a large-scale offensive on the vast Eastern Front. Continuing to fight deep into Russian territory would put the German army in danger of losing mobility. Russia's railways were too backward. The German High Command was worried that once the strategic reserve was deployed to the Eastern Front, if a crisis broke out on the Western Front, it would not be possible to withdraw troops from the Eastern Front in time to provide support. Therefore, Falkenhayn had to - Ludendorff did not agree with this - turn his attention to the Western Front again.

After the accumulation in 1912, the Allies had assembled a huge army on the Western Front. The total strength of the Allies on the Western Front reached more than 150 divisions, of which 50 divisions were used as reserves (twice as many as the German army). This meant that the Allies could deploy 50 divisions to launch an offensive. Obviously, the Allied army would definitely launch a decisive offensive this year.

The German General Staff was determined to launch an offensive before the Allied forces in order to gain the initiative on the battlefield. However, the limited reserve forces were not enough to support a large-scale comprehensive offensive. The German army could only maintain the offensive in local areas. Therefore, the choice of offensive direction became a critical issue.

Falkenhayn finally chose the Verdun fortification area. He believed that only by launching an attack at Verdun could the French army be forced to devote all its reserves to defend it. After the battle of 1911, Verdun had already become a symbol of the French people's strong resistance. The French High Command would never give up Verdun easily.

The German army will fight a real decisive battle with the French army at Verdun, which will exhaust the French army's strength, and then their morale will collapse, and they will choose to make peace. Without France as an ally, Britain will not be able to gain a foothold in Europe. As Falkenhayn said: "The French command will have to sacrifice the last man to defend it."

Verdun is a strategic stronghold on the northeastern border of France and the eastern gateway to Paris. It is the support point of the entire French front. The French High Command also attaches great importance to defending this strategic location. The front of the Verdun fortification area is 112 kilometers wide and is defended by the French Third Army (with 11 divisions and 632 artillery pieces). The fortification area consists of four defensive positions with a total depth of 15-18 kilometers. Three of them are field defense positions. The fourth defense position is composed of the permanent fortifications of the Verdun Fortress and

It consists of two fortress areas.

The battles of 1911 showed that heavily garrisoned fortresses could no longer hold out for as long as before. The Liege fortress in Belgium was the most modern fortress, but it was still quickly captured by the Germans. The same was true on the Eastern Front, where the Russian fortress group failed to stop the German offensive. Once such a fortress was breached, it would lead to a significant loss of manpower and weapons, especially the precious heavy artillery, which was urgently needed by the field troops.

Therefore, the French army decided to abandon a series of fortress areas including Verdun, dismantled most of the fortress artillery and assigned them to the field troops. The fortress garrison troops were also transferred to the field troops. The main defense zone was set up in the trench defense positions several kilometers in front of the fortress. The fortress area became a solid barracks for garrisoned troops rather than a battlefield.

The German High Command first gave up the idea of implementing mobile warfare at the campaign level. In previous campaigns, the ultimate goal of the German army was to win the campaign and then win a decisive victory with an encirclement and annihilation battle. This time, the German army no longer mentioned the importance of winning the campaign, and tactically breaking through the French defense system became the most important task. In Falkenhayn's view, even if the German army won the campaign, it would not be able to continue a mobile warfare, which would require a large number of troops to be deployed in flank cover operations. He did not have enough reserves, and all goals were based on a decisive battle on the front.

The German General Staff believed that the key to success was whether the surprise attack could be achieved. Therefore, the German army tried every means to conceal the assembly and deployment of troops and artillery, and gave up digging trenches for the "offensive launch line" near the enemy's defense line (110-150 meters) to prevent the exposure of the offensive attempt. The German army concentrated 1200 artillery pieces and more than 2000 mortars on the entire front, most of which were deployed in the main breakthrough direction. Each infantry army could get support from 320 to 380 artillery pieces. On each kilometer of the breakthrough front, an average of 120 artillery pieces and mortars were deployed. In the most important 18th zone, the density of artillery reached 180 pieces per kilometer. In this way, in the breakthrough direction, the German army achieved an absolute advantage of more than three times the manpower and artillery.

When everything was ready, the German army launched the most violent offensive in history. On the day when the meat grinder of Verdun started, a plane took off from Ottoman Turkey, crossed the Balkan Peninsula, and landed on Hungarian soil. New news came from the distant East. The Chinese gave another weapon of war - the tank.

Chapter 598 Tanks

As early as ten years ago, China imported a complete factory for producing tractors from the United States, which was the starting point of China's tractor industry. In the following ten years, China built a complete industrial system from scratch, and its steel production reached the third place in the world, and its tractor industry also strengthened a lot.

Before the Battle of Verdun, the Lanzhou Machinery Factory had assembled three tanks. Many people gave various names to the steel behemoths, but Chairman Lin decided to call them tanks, so they were called tanks.

The "Tank No. 37" uses a large oil extraction machine as its power source, Christie suspension, and independent large road wheels. The large road wheels are combined with springs to achieve good shock absorption. It is equipped with two water-cooled Maxim machine guns and one air-cooled machine gun, and the main gun is a mm infantry gun.

The front armor of this tank reaches 20mm, which is enough to withstand all current infantry guns and mortars. It can also continue to pile armor on the front and sides, and the 37mm infantry gun is also enough on land. However, the "Type Tank" has no turret, so it is better to call it an assault gun than a tank.

The reason for not having a turret is mainly to save money. Without a turret, the price can be saved by at least one-third, and the body can be made shorter, which can reduce the probability of being hit. Without the limitation of the turret ring, a larger gun can be installed. If there is a need to increase firepower in the future, a thicker and larger tube can be replaced anytime and anywhere.

Of course, this has its shortcomings, such as the slow muzzle turning speed, but in this era, it is not a problem at all. There has never been such a steel chariot in the world, let alone the "Type 1 Tank", even a three-piece steel shell can make people shine.

The German ambassador flew from Chang'an to Lanzhou, and then took a truck to the 404 State Farm after leaving the airport. The ambassador had been in China for several years and was about to return to Germany, but the war delayed his return.

The ambassador had received a lot of military technology and related technology drawings from the People's Government before, but this was the first time he had to travel to faraway Lanzhou. When he saw the four big characters "State Farm", he guessed that the Chinese might have prepared something to increase grain production for him this time, perhaps new fertilizers or agricultural machinery?

Germany had fallen into widespread hunger. Although the newspapers repeated reports such as "victory is imminent" and "victory is only one step away" day after day, hunger was an unchangeable fact. The ambassador learned about the food shortage in Germany through various clues and gossips, and there was no reason why the Chinese did not know.

"Oh, God!"

Half an hour later, the ambassador began to exclaim. He was half right. It was indeed a machine and had something to do with agriculture. However, anyone who saw the appearance of the "Tank No. 1" would not think that it was used in agriculture.

The short gun barrel and the thick smoke coming out of the tail, everything shows a ferocious beauty.

A twenty-ton steel monster roared towards them. The ambassador was terrified and his face turned pale. He wondered if the monster in front of him was going to crush him.

But no, the three "Type 1 Tanks" turned at a distance of more than 20 meters from the wooden platform, demonstrated their ability to cross the trenches, crush barbed wire and deer horns, and then stopped and used artillery to smash the firing points built with sandbags and bricks.

Wang Changhao introduced in fluent German: "This is our latest developed tank, equipped with a 37mm infantry gun and three machine guns........."

"Water cabinet? Why is it called that? Is it to keep it secret?"

"Tank" means water tank. Wang Changhao shrugged and said, "Maybe. You see, this weapon can break the trench warfare system."

After the tanks turned to the training ground, the ambassador looked better. He stared at the three tanks, watching those steel monsters rushing forward. Neither barbed wire nor trenches could stop them. In response to Wang Changhao's words, he just made a "hmmmm" sound. The ambassador's brain was almost losing the ability to think.

An hour later, the three tanks finally stopped. The ambassador finally came to his senses. He suppressed his impulse and asked, "How much do these water tanks cost?"

"This is the result of our country's latest scientific and technological achievements..."

"how much is it?"

"...5000 million marks!"

"Ah?" The ambassador was surprised again, "So expensive?"

"Expensive? We are only transferring the technology so cheaply because of our traditional friendship. If you were to research it yourself, it would cost at least hundreds of millions of marks! Considering that this is a war time, even double the price wouldn't be enough!"

"This......" the ambassador reluctantly withdrew his gaze from the tank, "I personally think 5000 million marks is a suitable price, but we need to report it to the country first. Can we send the information to Germany first and then pay the bill, just like the previous times?"

"Sorry, this time is different from before. You have to pay first and then receive the goods."

Germany is in a bad situation now. Although the German army still has an advantage on the battlefield, Germany is running out of manpower. The German High Command has only 25 divisions in reserve, while the British and French forces have 50 divisions. Although the Russian Empire has been defeated repeatedly, it has the most manpower. The total number of troops that the Russian Empire can mobilize is twice that of Germany.

The Russian Empire had lost more than one million men on the battlefield, but it quickly recovered nearly two million men. This hydra-like recovery ability gave the German Supreme Commander a headache.

The German ambassador was well aware of the dilemma of the German army being attacked from both sides. After asking about the performance parameters of the "Tank No. 1", he immediately returned to Lanzhou City and borrowed a Chinese radio station to send a telegram to Germany.

In the telegram, the ambassador described the "tank" as a weapon that could end the war. The German government had lost confidence in the "decisive weapon". First, it was the Zeppelin airship, then the poison gas bomb and the fighter plane. Each of them was highly expected. Those weapons did show extraordinary effectiveness on the battlefield, but the German army still failed to break the predicament. Instead, it seemed more and more exhausted because of the continuous expansion of the battlefield.

The German army not only had to fight Britain, France and Russia, but also had to send troops to help Austria-Hungary fight Russia and Italy. Previously, it had also sent troops to help the Turks fight against the British and French coalition forces. Sending people was not enough, Germany also had to bear the cost of weapons and ammunition for its allies.

Now that there was another "decisive weapon", the General Staff and the Supreme Command were not as confident as before. However, after learning what a "tank" was, both William II and Chief of the General Staff Falkenhayn were very excited.

“This is exactly what we wanted!”

"Tank? No, it's a Land Cruiser!"

Chapter 599 Casualties

The German High Command happily paid for the "tank". The most important thing now was to win the war, and nothing else mattered. It was a good deal to exchange a bunch of numbers on the books for the design drawings of the tank.

An air route was opened between China and Germany. The transport plane departed from Jiayuguan, transferred to Urumqi, Karamay, Kazakhstan and Mashhad, flew over the Caspian Sea and landed in Ottoman Turkey, and then flew to Budapest, Hungary. After such a long journey, the pilots were exhausted, and several batches of pilots had to be prepared to be replaced during the journey.

Moreover, long-distance flights are very dangerous. It is hard to predict what problems may arise along the way. Except for important matters, they are rarely used. The "No. 1 tank" is obviously a very important matter.

The Battle of Verdun was in full swing. Falkenhayn said that he would make the French bleed to death in Verdun, and he did it. However, the Germans also shed blood in Verdun. The German army once saw hope of capturing Verdun, but as Pétain rushed to the front, the German hope turned into a bubble. The main problem was that there was a problem with the German army's combat guidance. The General Staff wanted to attract the French army to continuously support Verdun. At the beginning, when there was a clear opportunity to capture Verdun, they actually hesitated.

The Germans successfully solved the problem of breaking through the trench defense system by using new infantry and artillery offensive tactics, but they had difficulty breaking through the ordinary

The only way for the German army to capture the Verdun fortress was to hope for a quick assault and seize these positions before the French reserve arrived to strengthen the fortress defense.

However, the German army failed to maintain the continuity of the offensive. When the second echelon took over the attack from the first echelon, the battle inevitably paused, and the casualties in the offensive were greater than expected. The [Infantry Infiltration] tactic requires grassroots soldiers and officers to exert subjective initiative and also requires them to make sacrifices. The number of casualties was so high that the General Staff had to improve the tactics again and again.

The troops for the assault mission were still insufficient. German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn did not put all the reserves into the initial attack, but retained 6 divisions for emergency response. In addition, the offensive front was too narrow, so the French army only needed to put in a small number of reserves to plug the gap.

The combination of subjective and objective factors led to the German army's failure to capture Verdun. The German army had some advantages in the exchange ratio, but that advantage in the exchange ratio did not allow the German army to win the war.

By the time the Germans realized that something was wrong and wanted to adjust their combat objectives, France had already regained its organization and morale. Pétain was not as obsessed with "offensive tactics" as other French generals, and the morale of the French army could no longer support the continued attack. In the face of machine guns and artillery, infantry charges were just suicide.

Pétain promised the soldiers that he would not take the initiative to attack, and declared that he would try his best to improve the soldiers' diet and hygiene. In order to prevent low morale, Pétain also persuaded Joffre to let the soldiers take turns to rest. Before Pétain's arrival, the French generals had never thought of asking the soldiers to go to the rear to rest. They thought it was a waste of time to go back and forth, so it would be better to let them hold on for a few more days at the front line and replace them with a new batch of soldiers when they were all gone.

This terrible mentality caused many meaningless deaths in the French army. The officers and soldiers on the front line were full of resentment, and the French high-ranking officers forced the troops with more veterans to launch an attack. The supervision team set up machine guns in the rear and slaughtered all the French troops who refused to die.

With the cooperation of the French high-ranking officials and the German army, a large number of French veterans were massacred. This led to a large-scale mutiny. When Pétain arrived, he first had to solve the mutiny problem. He gave a speech to stabilize people's hearts, and at the same time, he took ruthless measures and shot more than 300 officers and soldiers who led the riot, which stabilized the situation in Verdun.

In mid-March, two transport planes from the Far East arrived in Budapest, and the tons of technical data they carried were immediately sent to Berlin by the German intelligence department. After getting the technical data of the tanks, German engineers immediately sorted and studied them, but it was impossible to send the tanks to the battlefield in a short time. Even if they could quickly produce samples, it would not work. Even tanks must be formed in a certain number to be combat-effective. Not to mention a hundred or eighty tanks, at least thirty or fifty are needed to launch a round of attack.

On the Verdun front, the German offensive continued. In the first wave of the attack on Verdun, the Germans fired one million artillery shells in eight hours, not including mortar shells. It was the most powerful offensive in history and almost broke the French army.