The sun never sets.

But this is definitely not possible. Japan can leave first, but in the end, ASEAN must be the one to finish the job. This is the way to do things. Without ASEAN's support, Japan would not dare to go against the European and American powers. Even though Europe is enjoying the war now, when the war is over, Europeans will definitely return to the Asia-Pacific region.

The British government is very reluctant to see ASEAN continue to expand in the South China Sea, but now the situation is critical and they can't care so much. The German army is about to reach Paris, and France has almost lost its fighting spirit. Now it depends on the British to support the war.

At this critical moment, the only thing left was to use the Netherlands to fill the stomachs of the Chinese. Britain could not only not manage the affairs of Southeast Asia, but also South America. ASEAN expanded in Southeast Asia, and the US Navy fleet rampaged in South America, expelling the British and French forces. Downing Street was also helpless.

But what the British government didn't expect was that the Chinese wanted more than just Southeast Asia. They also wanted Australia, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and other places. Australia was once a colony where British exiled prisoners, so that was fine. Sri Lanka was next to India, and Saudi Arabia was related to the Suez Canal, which were sensitive points for the British Empire. Although they didn't want to cede it to ASEAN, but just wanted to rent the port, that was not allowed either.

These tricks are left over from the British. First they want a place to store goods, then they build a military base, and then they expand outward step by step. The colonists have played these tricks countless times, thinking that the British are dead. Can't they see what China is thinking?

Damn Chinese!

The gentlemen in Downing Street silently made another note for the Chinese in their little notebooks, and then said that those places could not be rented out to China and Japan. Besides, Saudi Arabia was not a British colony.

"Am I to understand that the UK will not hinder the coalition's commercial operations in Saudi Arabia?"

"If it's just a business operation, we have no objection. But there are many barbaric tribes in the desert, and they are not easy to talk to." The British ambassador suppressed his anger and said slowly: "Besides, there is only sand there, and I'm afraid we will lose money if we do business there."

"That's OK. At most we can just raise more camels. China doesn't care how much money is transferred, as long as we don't lose money."

The British ambassador cursed inwardly, then asked, "What about the loan?"

"Oh, the first loan is for 600 million RMB, with an annual interest rate of 10%, and the ports of Sri Lanka and Mumbai are used as collateral..."

The British ambassador was immediately defeated. He shouted excitedly: "No, this is absolutely not possible!"

"Oh, if you think it's not feasible, we can renegotiate the interest rate. If you can provide more collateral, such as ports, railways and mines, the interest rate can be lowered."

The British ambassador was no longer excited, but angry. He stood up suddenly and waved his arms vigorously. "Am I talking about the interest rate? This is not an interest rate issue at all. You are taking advantage of the situation! This is a shameless threat!"

"No, no, Mr. Ambassador, you misunderstood. This is just business, a normal business behavior, and it is definitely not a threat. Is renting a piece of land to do business considered taking advantage of someone's misfortune? Then what about Hong Kong?"

"That's another matter," said Jordan, the British ambassador to China, grimly. "If we don't agree to your request to lease the port, will we not issue the loan?"

"This is a normal business activity. Loans always have to be secured. Isn't this a common practice? If your country is willing to use salt taxes and tariffs as collateral, that would be better than ports and mines."

"The US government has already issued a loan to the Empire!" Jordan laughed in anger. "The victory of the Allied Powers

It’s already within reach!”

"Really? I heard that the German army has already reached the gates of Paris? Oh, by the way, the Russian army has suffered another great defeat, right?"

"........General Brusilov defeated the Austrian army and won a great victory!"

After joining the Allied Powers, Italy was beaten up by the German-Austrian coalition forces. Seeing that the Central Powers were about to attack, the Italian government urgently asked Russia for help. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers also put pressure on Russia, which prompted another large-scale offensive by the Russian army, and achieved very good results. It can even be said that this was the most successful battle of the Russian army since the war began.

"Then let's not talk about these things. In this way, we can give up the ports of Bombay and Sri Lanka, and just have the prospecting and mining rights in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Africa and other places. Is that okay?"

"No longer leasing the port?"

"We don't need a 99-year lease, how about a 50-year lease?"

Britain now desperately needs more funds to continue the war. France is on the verge of surrender. If Paris is lost, the French will most likely surrender. At the beginning of the war, the French army was in high spirits. But those fanatical patriots had been killed or wounded in the war. The bizarre operation of the French high-level officials ruined the last bit of morale. If Pétain had not stood up in time, the French mutiny would not have been so easy to quell.

The Allies are now counting on the British Empire. A loan of 6 million RMB will definitely tip the scales of victory in the Allies' favor. And million RMB is just the beginning. Once it's started, are they still worried that China won't continue to lend money?

It's just the desert of Saudi Arabia and the wilderness of western Australia, just throw it out as bones. There will always be a time to take it back, Jordan thought viciously in his heart: The British Empire has plenty of bones!

"So, the interest rate can be lowered, right?"

Chapter 604 Division of Labor

After several rounds of intense negotiations, China and Britain signed a treaty, exchanging exploration and mining rights in Western Australia and New Zealand, as well as the right to do business in Saudi Arabia and South Africa, for a loan of 5 million RMB at an annual interest rate of %. It was not a th return on investment, nor was it compound interest. After ten years, the interest was only half of the principal.

Considering inflation and rising prices, this was a very conscientious loan, much more conscientious than the loan the British government gave to Yuan Shikai. The treaty did not mention the Netherlands, and it was obvious that the Dutch had been betrayed.

The Dutch government expressed indignation that they would never surrender to the barbarians from the East. Their warships had reached the South Seas, and they thought they could resist for a few more days. As long as they could hold out until the end of the war in Europe, there was still hope. The British did not say it explicitly, but they hinted at it.

So what about treaties? Treaties are meant to be broken. The old imperialists tore up treaties as easily as eating and drinking. But Nicholas II launched rounds of attacks on the Eastern Front to help Britain and France out of siege, which is really hard to understand.

Is it really necessary to work so hard?

It was not the first time that Britain had turned its back on its enemies. Didn't the Russian high-ranking officials have any concerns? In fact, they did. Most generals, including Grand Duke Nicholas, opposed continuing the attack. Russia had a large population, but its industrial strength was only one-fifth of Germany's. Defense was already difficult enough, and taking the initiative to attack would only consume its limited vitality.

Instead of investing so many resources in the offensive, it would be better to build more railways to improve Russia's poor transportation conditions. This is the best support for the front line. When Grand Duke Nicholas was the supreme commander, he did a lot of work. Russia's logistical supply situation improved a lot, and the morale and combat effectiveness improved significantly.

But Tsar Nicholas II had his own considerations. Most of the senior generals were unwilling to take the initiative to attack, only Brusilov stood up and expressed his willingness to share the Tsar's worries. So Nicholas II gave Brusilov considerable power and let him launch a new round of attacks on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Even a stubborn man like Nicholas II knew that he could not defeat the German army led by Ludendorff and Hoffmann, so he could only target the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Archduke Nicholas and others believed that Brusilov was a man who disregarded the lives of his soldiers and the safety of the country for his own future, but they had to admit that Brusilov was very capable in military affairs.

In the early stage of the "Brusilov Offensive", 57 Russian troops were deployed to launch a full-scale offensive on a front of more than 300 kilometers. With overwhelming momentum, the German-Austrian coalition forces were defeated step by step, and they even almost captured the Austrian commander on the Eastern Front. Brusilov made careful arrangements for the offensive route and was very attentive to logistics support. Although his character was not very good, his command ability was first-class in the Russian army and even in the entire Allied Powers.

Pétain was good at defense, Joffre was good at sending soldiers to their deaths, and the British generals were not much better. Russia's military and political order was a mess, and corruption was rampant in the army, but because of the Continental Army tradition, there were quite a few good generals.

But a world war cannot be won with just one or two outstanding generals.

Seeing the hope of victory for the Allies, the Dutch government wanted to delay the war. As long as the war was over, the British fleet would make the barbaric Orientals afraid to act recklessly.

But it is obvious

, China and ASEAN would not give the Dutch that much time. When Brusilov led his troops into Galicia, volunteers from the East Asian Alliance landed in Kalimantan.

The Volunteer Army, which consisted of less than 10,000 soldiers, broke the balance on the island. The Dutch colonial army was not strong in combat and had poor weapons and equipment. If it were in Europe, it would not even be able to defeat the Italian army. The Volunteer Army was equipped with airplanes, tanks, machine guns and artillery, and it took only two weeks to liberate the entire Kalimantan.

During these two weeks, most of the time was spent on marching, and only four days were spent on actual fighting. The Dutch colonial army was weak in combat, and after seeing the tanks (assault guns), they surrendered without much resistance.

Kalimantan was the first, followed by Indonesia and Sunda, and the entire South Seas was soon dyed bright red. This military action was not like a war, but more like an armed parade. After the Dutch warships came from Europe, they did not play any role. The Japanese Navy only dispatched two dreadnoughts and several destroyers, and the Dutch Navy retreated obediently.

For ASEAN, fighting was the easiest thing. After the war, the real trouble began. The Lanfang People's Republic was established in Kalimantan, and Indonesia and the Sunda Islands also established people's republics. China was the first to recognize these republics, followed by Japan, North Korea and other Asian countries.

These countries then, as expected, joined the East Asian alliance family.

Then ASEAN came forward to negotiate with the Netherlands. The battle was over, but there were still a lot of problems left. The Dutch colonial rule in Southeast Asia lasted for hundreds of years, and it would take time to completely eliminate their influence. For a long time to come, Southeast Asia will involve a lot of China's energy.

The central government held a heated discussion on whether to provide comprehensive support to the three Southeast Asian countries. After completing the first five-year plan, China's national strength has been greatly improved. Comrades are ready to make persistent efforts and use the second five-year plan to help China cross the threshold of primary industrialization.

If we help the Lan Fang Republic, Java and Sunda to build, it will inevitably affect the construction of the country. Whether it is industry, agriculture, education or national defense, it requires a lot of manpower and material resources. But if we don't help the people of Nanyang to build, and don't implement the policy of "same writing, same track", then what is the difference between China and the Netherlands?

If more investment is made in the South Pacific, a stronger navy will be needed. The existing few battleships of the ASEAN Joint Fleet alone may not guarantee the independence of the South Pacific. There is also the iron ore in Australia. After the Sino-British treaty was signed, the Japanese cabinet has regarded Australia as a land of blessing for Japan. Ito Hirobumi revealed the news of the world's largest iron ore at the cabinet meeting, and the cabinet leaders all agreed to make every effort to build Western Australia.

Now Britain is deeply involved in the European battlefield and cannot extricate itself. It can only watch China and Japan stir up trouble in Southeast Asia and Australia. However, the war will end one day. If it waits until the war is over, what will Britain do with its large fleet?

China and Japan have a division of labor, China is responsible for land, Japan is in charge of the sea, the problem is that Japan's national strength is not enough to build a large fleet that can compete with the British Royal Navy. If China wants to develop Southeast Asia and Australia, shouldn't it also increase its naval construction?

Of course, we don't have to start building now. Now is the time of war and prosperity. No matter what we produce, we can sell it. The European battlefield is a bottomless pit that swallows up all resources and wealth. After the French army was defeated in Verdun, the demand for food, munitions and other supplies became even greater.

Chapter 605: The Future

The reason why the British government agreed to ASEAN's expansion in Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the Middle East - the Chinese said it was doing business, but the British saw it as expansion - was not only because China agreed to lend 600 million yuan to the Allies, but also because of the military exercises held by the Chinese government in the Annan Protectorate.

China dispatched 400,000 troops to conduct exercises in Annan, saying that it was to maintain regional peace and was not targeting any country. But who believes this?

Next to the Annan Protectorate are British Burma and French Vietnam. Passing through these two places you will reach Singapore and India. The former is a fortress for Britain to control the Strait of Malacca, and the latter is the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Both are more important than Australia and New Zealand.

China may not declare war on the Allies, but it is very likely to send volunteers to Burma and other places in Southeast Asia. The gentlemen in Downing Street will never admit that they compromised out of fear. They think they have completed a very cost-effective deal. Whether others believe it or not, the British believe it.

In the second half of 1913, the liberation of Southeast Asia became the most discussed topic in Asia, whether in China, Japan, the Philippines, etc. Many people discussed this issue. For those who were interested, the liberation of Southeast Asia not only added a huge market, but also provided access to oil and spices, as well as a lot of copper, iron, and coal mines, which were new opportunities.

After the liberation of the Philippines, many people made fortunes in the reconstruction and development of the Philippines. Now that the entire Southeast Asia has been liberated, Kalimantan, Indonesia, and the Sunda Islands, the land area is three times that of the Philippines, and the opportunities to make a fortune have also increased three times.

In China's coastal cities and Japan, there was a trend of going to Southeast Asia.

But for the Japanese government, the most important thing is the iron ore in western Australia. Australia's iron ore reserves are not only the largest in the world, but also of very good quality. It can be shipped without processing, and smelting is much simpler and cheaper. And the most iron ore in Australia is in its west.

I don’t know why the British and Australians didn’t discover this, but in any case, the Japanese have established a foothold in Australia and have no intention of giving up this great treasure.

Ito Hirobumi and the Japanese cabinet saw clearly that the astonishing iron ore reserves in western Australia were both a huge fortune and a source of trouble. When the war was over, there would definitely be problems there.

But, so what? Is there any reason not to eat the fat meat that is delivered to your mouth? Even if the British want to make trouble in the future, that is a matter for the future. In order to deal with the difficulties of the British in the future, the Japanese government planned to build a military fortress in Western Australia from the beginning, and also ensure that the country can produce food and arms on its own, and can survive for one to two years under the blockade.

If a war really broke out with Britain, the navy might not be able to be relied upon for a while, so they could only rely on the local people in Australia. In order to achieve the planned goals, large-scale investment was needed. The People's Bank of China issued an interest-free loan of 2 million yuan to the Japanese government, and the Japanese government raised 10 billion yen by selling everything it had and began to build settlements in places such as Pidamala and Carnarvon.

This is just the first investment, and subsequent investments may exceed 60 billion yen. At this time, the yen is not the parallel import that keeps falling in another world, but is linked to gold, which is equivalent to 30 billion yuan, or 15 billion US dollars.

A large number of Japanese came to Australia by ship. They built roads, mines and dormitories. While transporting iron ore to China and Japan, they also leveled the land, built water towers, built reservoirs, and built farms around the mines. This puzzled the Australians because places like Carnarvon were short of water and could only be used for grazing, not for growing crops.

But that's what the Japanese did. They not only sent a large number of workers and engineers to open mines in Australia, but also sent agricultural experts and farmers to build a series of supporting facilities around the mines.

Australians first laughed at the Japanese for not understanding Australia, and then were shocked when the Japanese actually found iron ore. Australians and British people have always been mocking ASEAN. If Australia really had iron ore, why would the Chinese and Japanese be the ones to develop it?

But the facts are right in front of us, and we can't pretend not to see them. When the Australians saw that the Japanese had really dug up iron ore, they became jealous. The descendants of these criminals never had any sense of contract, and their first choice was always to rob.

However, the Australians have not taken action yet. It will take some time for things to ferment. The Japanese did not come with bare hands, but also brought a lot of light weapons. There are many wild animals in Australia, so it is reasonable to bring some light weapons.

The Japanese also had doubts at first about whether Australia had so much iron ore. When high-quality iron ore was actually dug out, the Japanese government immediately made additional investments. Water towers and artillery towers were built around the mining site. The so-called artillery tower is a bunker with holes carved around it for observation and shooting. It is a cylindrical or square building that can play a certain role in combat.

There were trenches and barbed wire around the turrets, and the Japanese had brought large wolfhounds with them, which looked like they were not easy to mess with. The Australians were jealous of the profits from the iron ore, but they were afraid of the Japanese military armament and did not dare to take action for a while.

In fact, there are iron ore in other parts of Australia, not just in Western Australia. The quality of iron ore in other places is also very high. As long as it is mined, it can be sold at a good price... Well, considering that China's annual steel output is less than 2000 million tons these days, the mined iron ore may not be able to be sold.

In addition to iron ore, Australia also has lead, zinc, manganese, copper, nickel, gold, uranium and other minerals, which cannot be smelted by Australia alone. Heavy industry consumes a lot of water resources, and Australia is short of water. Even if they know there are rich minerals underground, they have no motivation to dig.

The Japanese are stepping up the construction of Western Australia, which they see as Japan's future. As long as they can hold on to this land, Japan's economy will surely take off, and China will also benefit greatly from it.

In addition to building Western Australia, Japan also worked hard to produce transport ships, merchant ships and cargo ships. It is possible to build a few steel mills in Australia, but due to the lack of water resources, it is impossible to make them bigger, and the iron ore dug out can only be shipped back.

In addition, the Allies also needed more transport ships. Since the German Navy lost six battleships in the Battle of Jutland, it did not dare to send out the main fleet for a decisive battle, but instead used submarines on a large scale to hunt down British ships. The tonnage lost by Britain continued to rise, and now it not only needed more escort warships, but also more transport ships.

Chapter 606 Iteration

The European war caused an overall economic boom, and after providing the Allies with a loan of 600 million yuan, the war boom continued. A large number of industrial and agricultural products flowed into Europe from the sea and were also transported to the European part of Russia along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

In order to meet the endless demand for arms in the European battlefield, in more than two years

Meanwhile, China's military production capacity increased sixfold, with the increase mainly concentrated in mortars, heavy artillery, aircraft and tanks. The GDP of all the warring countries, including Britain, decreased to varying degrees. Britain and Russia decreased by about 5% in two years, Germany decreased by about 20%, and surprisingly, France, despite the devastating blow to the northeast, only decreased by 9.4%.

Of course, this is the total output value. Both the Allies and the Central Powers shifted a large amount of production capacity to military production, and the output of civilian goods was drastically reduced. By 1913, the soldiers on the front lines of both camps began to starve.

Russia was not short of food, but it lacked the ability to transport millions of tons of food to the front. In addition, Russia was extremely short of weapons and ammunition. Half of the 600 million RMB loan was used to purchase equipment to arm Russia. The German Navy blockaded the Baltic Sea, and the British and French coalition forces failed to defeat the Ottoman Turks. There was no way to open up land transportation lines, so Russia could only rely on China to provide weapons and equipment.

This led to a very strange phenomenon on the Eastern Front. Many of the light weapons used by the Russian army and the German-Austrian coalition forces were the same, all of which were Mauser rifles, which actually alleviated some logistical pressure.

After the Germans defeated the Russians, they could use the Russians' bullets. After the Russians overturned the German-Austrian coalition, they could also directly replenish the troops with the captured Mauser rifles.

After the outbreak of the war, China also built a railway from Kulun to the north, connecting China's railway network with Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway. However, because the two countries used different track gauges, they had to transfer trains at the intersection of the railways, which greatly reduced the efficiency of the railway operation.

The Russian government was reluctant to connect to the Chinese subway line, but the fighting on the front was too brutal and the ammunition consumption was too high. When the war first broke out, the Tsar's Army Minister thought that Russia's artillery shells would last for a year, and later thought that they would last for half a year. In fact, all the artillery shells on the front line were used up in less than a month.

When Grand Duke Nicholas took over the Russian army, one-third of the front-line troops did not even have rifles, and each cannon could only receive no more than five shells a day. The Chinese extended the railway northward and connected it to the Trans-Siberian Railway, solving the problem of the Russian army's lack of light weapons.

Although the front line still lacked food and weapons, it was no longer a tragic situation where one-third of the people were left empty-handed. Even if they were using Mauser rifles, they could still kill people. However, the Russian government had protested to China and asked the people's government to provide Mosin-Nagant rifles.

This is a bit difficult. It is not impossible to re-establish several production lines, but it is not necessary. Mosin-Nagant is a classic bolt-action rifle, but Mauser is not bad either. After some discussion in the Military Commission, China expressed its willingness to open three separate production lines for Russia. As long as the money is paid, let alone Mosin-Nagant rifles, even Lee Enfield is fine.

In addition to rifles, the Russians needed a lot of things, including mortars, grenades, field guns, howitzers, machine guns, and mines. They needed almost everything. Even the engineer shovels and barbed wire they needed to buy from China. The corruption in Russia penetrated into every aspect of the country. After the war, the situation got better. When Grand Duke Nicholas was the supreme commander of the Russian army, the situation got better again, but it was still not optimistic.

The output of Russian military factories was far from meeting the consumption of the front line. Every time the Russian army lost a battle, it had to throw away hundreds of thousands of rifles and other corresponding equipment. Most of the light weapons produced by China, Japan, North Korea and other countries working overtime were shipped to Russia, and the military supplies sold to Britain and France were mostly explosives, mortars and heavy artillery shells.

Later, Britain and France bought hundreds of planes. After the German tanks killed many enemies in Verdun, Britain and France wanted to buy tanks from China. It was no secret that China and Germany had secret military cooperation. At this time, the Allies had no time to accuse China of shameless behavior, and more importantly, they did not dare to do so.

China is a country with a large population, with a population of 500 million, so it is also a country with a large army. The active army alone has more than 1.5 million people, plus militia and armed police, the armed forces exceed 3 million. This is without mobilization for war. If mobilization is carried out, China can easily arm more than 10 million soldiers.

Previously, China's Southwest Military Region held a military exercise in the Annan Protectorate, assembling 400,000 troops without mobilization. The total number of British and French troops in Southeast Asia, including colonial troops, was less than 10,000.

However, China did not sell tanks to the Allies. Now the Allies seemed to have too much advantage. In order to be fair, China only sold some technical patents to Britain and France, such as Christie suspension and large diesel engine technology. Although it did not sell tanks to the Allies, China sold them a lot of metal monoplanes.

The brutal war promoted the rapid development of military technology in the two camps. At first, the planes of both sides could not attack each other unless the pilots shot each other with pistols or dropped bombs with their bare hands. Half a year later, the planes were equipped with "machine gun firing coordinators", which greatly enhanced their attack capabilities both in the air and on the ground.

When monoplanes with aluminum alloy frames came out, the Zeppelin lost its position as the hegemon of the sky. The new aircraft was faster, more powerful, and the closed cockpit allowed the aircraft to fly very high. The new aircraft used white phosphorus machine gun bullets to attack.

It's easy to ignite the airbag of the airship.

Aircrafts evolved several times in just two years, and air force tactics also changed a lot. The Allies and the Central Powers initially used large formations, and most of the pilots were from aristocratic families, and they would practice chivalry. Later, small formations and three-plane formations were used. In the era of metal monoplanes, two-plane formations became the best way to maximize the combat effectiveness of aircraft.

Because of the mysterious country in the far east, Germany was always ahead of the Allies in air force tactics. The pilots of the German Air Force used the "air circus" tactics to shoot down many Allied aircraft, and some ace pilots had a very high record. For example, Hermann Goering, who had just turned 7, had already shot down fighters and two bombers, becoming a well-known war hero in Germany.

Chapter 607 Tank Battle

The war had lasted for more than two years. The Russian Empire had been caught in internal and external troubles. The country was in ruins, the foreign war was a mess, 150 million soldiers were lost, and the Tsarist regime was crumbling.

Among the armies of all the major countries participating in the war, Russia was, to some extent, the "roughest" one, because many of the Russian soldiers were originally serfs with poor professional military qualities. In addition, Russia's industrial capacity was not strong, so the Russian army's equipment was relatively backward. The limited domestic railway transportation capacity also led to the poor mobility of the Russian army. However, Russia had a very large population, so the Russian army had a large number of troops and did not feel bad about the consumption.

However, the Russian army is not completely incompetent after all. If they can give some support on the Eastern Front, it will provide quite strong support to Britain and France on the Western Front. So as early as the beginning of the Battle of Verdun, France called on Russia to launch an offensive against Germany on the Eastern Front to relieve the pressure on the Western Front.

At this time, France was almost exhausted from resisting at Verdun; Britain was preparing to launch the Battle of the Somme, while the Italians and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were fighting at Isonzo, and the Western Front was in chaos.

Russian General Brusilov presented his plan to the Russian Supreme Command: to launch an unprecedented offensive against the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Galicia in the southwest, with the aim of relieving some of the pressure on the British, French and Italian forces, and preferably to defeat the Austro-Hungarian Empire in one blow.

Tsar Nicholas II agreed to Brusilov's plan, and then the Russian army achieved the most brilliant victory since the beginning of the war, annihilating more than 70 enemy troops, capturing more than 40 people, and seizing nearly 4 square kilometers of land. This victory was unprecedented not only in the Russian army, but also in the Allies and the Central Powers. Compared with Brusilov's achievements, other famous generals pale in comparison.