Seven Seas Beacon Fire

He was still considering how to appease public opinion at home. If Russia is the most abstract country in the world, then the people of the Federation are the most diode-like people in the world.

Don't be fooled by the many people who are currently demonstrating and demanding that the federal government do everything possible to save the soldiers of the expeditionary force. If you were to actually raise the Gallic flag like the Gauls, you would see familiar faces among those who oppose you.

They seem to object to everything; this won't work, that won't work.

So it would be wonderful if someone could step forward and share the majority of the firepower in the country.

Clearly, General Pershing was just that kind of person—fit in every way, tall and short, fat and thin—and his position was perfect for scapegoating, so...

The Colombian federal government's decisions were all correct;

The soldiers of the Colombian Federation are all brave;

So why has the Colombian federal government continued to suffer setbacks over the past year?

That's all because... there are bad guys in the army!

Chapter 235 Naval Treaties of "Bundled Sales"

Pershing's prestige within the military was indeed arguably that of the number one figure in the Federal Army. However, this was 920 years ago, and the current Federation had been away from establishing a large-scale, legitimate army for less than 10 years. In another world, Pershing's unparalleled status was built upon the illustrious reputation of the Federal Army after winning World War II in the mid-20th century, and was an honor bestowed upon the founder of this Colombian army.

These are things that Pershing currently lacks. So, although many in the military sympathize with him and even feel dissatisfied with his plight, given the current situation, he is the one who has to pay the price.

Now, for the federal government, the scapegoat has been found, which can give an explanation to the people at home. The three parties, the United States, China and the United Kingdom, have also reached a conclusion in Anchorage. It seems that all that is left is to let things take their course.

However, at this point, in the final stage of negotiations, the Victorians stated that such precious peace was hard-won, and therefore, in order to demonstrate the sincerity of all nations in their commitment to peace, all nations should pledge to jointly participate in the relevant conferences on postwar naval arms limitation treaties after the cessation of war.

This marks the first time that Victorians have advocated on the international stage their previously internally discussed idea of ​​postwar naval arms control treaties among nations.

Furthermore, the fact that the Victorians raised this claim in the final stages of the Anchorage Conference carries far more weight than a simple post-credits scene in a movie.

However, this move first provoked strong dissatisfaction from the Federal Navy.

Upon learning of this news, Federal Navy Secretary Sims immediately went to the White House and blocked the president's way to Congress: "Your Excellency, please allow me to take a few minutes of your time. The ceasefire agreement between us and the Tang Empire is not necessarily related to the naval arms control treaty. We absolutely cannot easily agree to the Victorians signing such an arms control treaty!"

During this world war, Sims had a lot of dealings with Victorians. To put it bluntly, Sims could tell what a Victorian was going to do just by looking at them.

Although the Victorians did indeed stand on the moral high ground this time, after experiencing this devastating world war, many countries were now somewhat weary of war. This brutal world war refreshed everyone's understanding of war and also led to the rise of conservative forces in various countries.

World politics is not about fighting and killing; the world political arena is about human relationships and social interactions.

At least in people's most intuitive understanding, one of the fundamental causes of the outbreak of this world war was the naval arms race between Britain and Germany. It can be said that without the competition between Britain and Germany in naval arms, given the close friendly relations between the two countries in the 9th century, the situation in Europe and even the world would certainly not have reached this point—this is the common view of many Europeans.

Regardless of whether this view is simplistic or one-sided, it is in fact a consensus in Europe at present.

Sims was well aware that if the Colombians objected, it would certainly have a negative impact, at least in terms of international perception.

But in Sims's view, this negative impact was a tolerable cost. Was international reputation really that important? Was the international reputation of the Victorian Empire, currently the most powerful empire in the world, really good? Did people really like the Victorians? How badly did the Victorians behave in the Boercanese back then? Who doesn't know about the "great favors" the Victorians bestowed upon the Irish and Baratians?

However, these international perceptions have never shaken the Victorian Empire's status as a world hegemon. The Victorians are now gradually losing their fundamental ability to dominate the world situation on their own, not because of the Victorians' bad reputation, but because the Victorian pound sterling has lost its international weight, and the Royal Navy's strength on a global scale is not as strong as it used to be.

The Royal Navy used to dare to call itself a two-power or even three-power standard. Does the current Royal Navy of Victoria still dare to call itself a two-power standard?

Therefore, Sims was well aware that what would determine the future of the Federation and its international standing was not just its international image, but rather the Federation's robust manufacturing industry, abundant resources, powerful military... especially a powerful ocean-going navy.

"Your Excellency, the Victorian shipyard currently has only a few Admiral-class battlecruisers under construction, while our shipyard already has more than a dozen Lexington-class and South Dakota-class battlecruisers in the first batch. If we include the second batch that has been ordered and whose keels have been laid, we are building the most capital ships in the world!"

These warships under construction are not merely a burden; they are also a valuable asset, Your Excellency! Even if these warships cannot immediately prove their worth on the battlefield after we sign a ceasefire agreement with the Tang Empire, once we complete this fleet, we will be the world's number one navy, and the Royal Victoria Navy's privilege of dominating the oceans will become history!

The Europeans are exhausted from this war; they can't play this game anymore. But we can, even without war, simply maintain the pace of our fleet's modernization and use non-military means to seize benefits for the Colombian Federation! We don't need to accept the Victorian 'bundled deal'!

President Wilson, seeing Sims's somewhat agitated expression, interrupted him and then said to him with a complicated look, "William, let me put it this way: the Victorians hope to link the formal armistice agreement of this world war with the naval arms treaty. The conditions they have offered us are very sincere. Although the specific tonnage to be allocated by each country in the treaty has not yet been determined, the British Prime Minister has sent someone to inform me that Britain is willing to accept the same tonnage share as us."

I know this may still seem somewhat unsatisfactory to you, William, but if I may be frank, in the process of diplomacy, we should always consider the issue from the other party's perspective. Since their victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 805, the Victorians have been the world's most powerful naval force without a doubt. They have always been number one. For the number one, their willingness to share the top spot with us is already quite remarkable.

For the Victorians, whether to maintain domestic public opinion or for their own needs, it was impossible for them to accept any country with a larger tonnage than theirs. Furthermore, the Victorians promised us that they would persuade the Tang Empire to join the treaty.

“If the Victorians can’t accept it, then let the Victorians build it themselves.” Sims grabbed the president’s hand: “Your Excellency, after this world war, the situation our navy faces is completely different from before. Although we gained the continent in this war, the hatred between our United States in this war is too deep!”

We are now facing the Royal Navy of the Tang Empire, which has inherited the mantle and most of the strength of the former Ming Empire's Royal Navy. The number of warships they are building on their slipways is second only to ours worldwide. If we were to sign a treaty, how many tonnage do you think they would require? Would it be equivalent to 60%? 70%? 80%? Or even the same tonnage as us?”

President Wilson was slightly taken aback by the question, but after a moment's thought, he said, "The Tang Empire inherited the status of the Ming Empire and belongs to the Allied camp. I think it's impossible to allow the Tang Empire to have the same tonnage of capital ships as us. I think they might eventually maintain a share equivalent to 70% to 80% of ours?"

"Your Excellency, do you think that while they maintain a 70-80% share, we still have a significant advantage in troop strength? You must understand that the Tang Empire's Royal Navy has lost its Old Port Pacification Commission, which is now Victoria's Singapore. So they don't need to worry about the Bala Sea anymore. In the future, they will only face one ocean, while our navy will be deployed in two oceans!"

Do you still think it's safe for us to receive such a share? Your Excellency, we cannot entrust the future defense and security of the Colombian Federation to a treaty. The Colombian Federation possesses formidable strength, and we should not bind ourselves!

President Wilson remained silent for a longer time this time, and finally shook his head: "William, you know, my term is coming to an end, and I'm not sure who will be the next to walk into the White House. But after the war, the vast majority of members of Congress will certainly not be willing to continue to bear such high naval costs. I admit that what you said makes some sense, but on the one hand, I'm not sure if this is repeating the mistakes of the Kingdom of Letania. On the other hand... you can't expect everyone in this country to have such a forward-looking strategic vision. Considering some of our United States' traditions, I think obtaining a naval treaty is actually a talisman to protect the navy."

President Wilson's words were also a reminder and warning to Sims: what he said was true, but this is the Union.

The United States has a history of dismantling its powerful navy in just a few years, to the point where it is smaller than Chile's. While the Qing Dynasty at most didn't allocate much money to the Beiyang Fleet, the United States has a history of drastically reducing its navy.

Nobody knows what the future holds for the Federation. Signing the treaty at least guarantees that the navy will have a size comparable to the world's number one navy. However, if the treaty is not signed, although the possibility of directly cutting off the navy's lifeline is unlikely in this day and age, who can guarantee that nothing will happen?

"Bundling" does limit the upper limit, but it also ensures the lower limit for the Federal Navy.

Chapter 236 After Pershing's Death

Sims's insistence on the naval treaty didn't even last 24 hours.

He knew that it wasn't President Wilson's advice that had such an immediate effect.

The situation on the front lines has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, to the point where the federal government has had to compromise to save face.

This dramatic turn of events occurred when, on the Borneo front, Colombian divisions laid down their weapons and surrendered to the Tang army that had besieged them.

Although this surrendered "division-level unit" did not refer to the entire division surrendering, the situation of this unit is somewhat similar to the Polar Bear Regiment in the Korean War in another world. The debate about whether the Polar Bear Regiment was completely annihilated has been ongoing on the internet. The fact is that not all of the Polar Bear Regiment's troops were wiped out within the encirclement, but the Polar Bear Regiment was reinforced by other units at the time, making it an indisputable regimental combat team (RCT), and this combat group was indeed destroyed.

The situation of this surrendered Colombian division-level unit is somewhat similar. After years of fighting on the battlefield, the Colombian army's organization is no longer as rigid and inflexible as it was at the beginning of the war. Especially in Borneo, Colombian troops have to fight regular troops on the front lines and outwit and outmaneuver guerrillas in the rear. As a result, the Colombian army has also explored some new unit organization in actual combat.

This naturally includes some of the division-level combat groups that the Colombian army is currently piloting. This sounds a bit strange because, under normal circumstances, battalion-level or regimental-level combat groups are not fully capable of combat. Due to the organizational structure of the forces, some battalion-level and regimental-level units may lack supporting artillery, their own independent logistics units, their own engineering units, etc., which limits the independent combat capability of normal battalion-level and regimental-level units.

Therefore, those battalion-level and regimental-level combat groups are actually filling in the gaps in these small-scale units, making these smaller units small but complete, and able to perform a variety of different tasks more flexibly.

However, division-level units are already quite comprehensive large units in the armies of various countries. I have never heard of any country's regular division-level units without artillery or logistics. The reason why the previous regimental and battalion-level combat groups were organized was to avoid the situation where the entire division had to be mobilized to carry out a certain mission. Therefore, under normal circumstances, there will be no "division-level combat groups" at the division level.

But Colombians always manage to come up with something new and exciting.

The divisional battle groups that the Colombians are now developing are different from the smaller battalion and regimental battle groups they used to develop. The purpose of those smaller battle groups was to give smaller units more comprehensive combat capabilities, while the Federation's divisional battle groups are only meant to give a divisional unit more specialized combat capabilities.

The Colombian troops on the Borneo front are there to hold the line and defend. I don't need to consider mobility or breakthroughs because I'm stationary here. I don't even need to worry too much about logistics.

Logistics is something the bigwigs in the rear need to worry about. If they can get supplies to Borneo, then we will naturally have supplies. If they can't get them, then there's no point in us worrying.

Therefore, the Colombians began to decentralize some of their army-level units to these division-level units. Since the front lines did not need as many infantry during the trench warfare phase, these division-level battle groups were essentially weakened infantry units, while the Colombian army directly reinforced the front lines with the heavy artillery units that were currently lacking.

The current situation is that such a division-level combat group, including the infantry company and the heavy artillery units reinforced to them, has surrendered in its entirety.

This was unprecedented in the history of the Colombian army. Although the federal army was not known for its extremely firm fighting will, and in fact, during the Spanish-American War, the federal army was hit hard by the Iberian army after landing and was severely punished by the corrupt and decadent Iberians, the Colombians said that although they lost men, they did not lose points.

This complete surrender is truly shameful and terrifying!

Across the ocean, these bigwigs in Washington had no way to accurately assess the situation of the troops on the front lines. They could only rely on reports sent back from the front, and these reports, aside from whether they were embellished or not, contained many things that could not be reflected in the data.

As for why this entire unit surrendered, even without an investigation, Washington could probably guess the gist of it.

First and foremost, the current flu outbreak has a significant impact. Everyone knows that the situation on the front lines is dire. With a prolonged lack of medical supplies and aid, the soldiers on the front lines watch their comrades fall ill one after another, relying solely on their own immunity to hold on. A comrade who slept with someone the day before is found dead the next morning. The invisible and intangible virus spreading through the air is even more terrifying.

This panic even surpassed that of guns and explosives. After all, death in the face of guns and explosives is firstly quick and painful, and secondly, these things are visible and tangible. Soldiers can use their shovels to dig trenches and bunkers, which can give them a sense of security and indeed protect them.

But what about the virus?

If the officers and soldiers of these expeditionary forces had a spiritual leader before, then with the death of General Pershing, even though news of numerous accusations against Pershing and his scapegoating had not yet reached the front lines, the death of their highest-ranking officer alone was enough to further shake morale and fighting spirit.

Under such circumstances, the complete surrender of the entire organization does not seem surprising.

but!

While I can understand, this kind of thing is still absolutely unacceptable!

President Wilson could not accept the complete surrender of hundreds of thousands of Union Expeditionary Force troops.

-------------------------------------

"So the Colombians wanted Anchorage to sign the document so quickly just to save face?"

Zhu Miaoyun stood behind Li Che, her gaze passing over his shoulder to look at the documents Li Che had just taken from his father on his desk.

"It seems about time now. President Wilson probably doesn't want such a big scandal to happen during his term. Anyway, we've already reached a pretty good agreement, so it's best to end everything as soon as possible. It looks like the war will be over in a few days. Fortunately, it's about to end, otherwise..." Li Che leaned back with a sense of relief, his slightly sore back resting on the chair back, while his stiff neck found a soft touch behind him.

With a smile on her face, Zhu Miaoyun slightly puffed out her chest and wrapped her chest around Li Che's neck, her soft hands skillfully pressing on Li Che's temples.

"Otherwise what?"

“Otherwise it would be terrible.” Li Che closed his eyes and gently shook his head: “To be honest, when Grandpa learned that a whole division of the Colombians had surrendered, there was no joy on his face.”

"Hey?"

"Surprised, isn't it? In fact, I think what Grandpa was most worried about was probably this: that a chain reaction would occur, with large numbers of Federation troops surrendering to us in a short period of time, and even causing the total collapse of the entire Federation Expeditionary Force."

"Wouldn't a total collapse be a good thing?" Zhu Miaoyun asked curiously. "After the Colombians lost so many troops, wouldn't they be even less able to fight? And if we had that many federal prisoners of war, wouldn't we have more leverage when negotiating with the Colombians?"

“There is a marginal effect everywhere, my dear,” Li Che said. “We have already captured 10 prisoners in Silla. These 10 captured Colombian soldiers are quite shocking to the Colombians. If we are just playing the prisoner-of-war card with the Colombians, the difference between 10 and 50 is not that big.”

"Even if the difference isn't huge, it can't be bad news, can it?" Zhu Miaoyun asked.

Li Che sighed: "If so many Colombians really surrender, the war might not end so quickly. On the one hand, it might lead to a rise in the idea of ​​a quick victory within our country. On the other hand, even if the Colombians want to save face, they might choose to continue fighting us. After all, even if the Colombians choose to continue fighting, the possibility of a large-scale ground war is not very high. If the war continues, it will return to a naval confrontation between our two countries."

And this is clearly something Colombians can afford.

Although the Tang Empire is not afraid of war, if the war continues as a result, it will damage the interests of the entire country, and those who sacrifice their lives on the battlefield are unknown sons, husbands, or fathers.

Grandpa probably saw this point, which is why he was worried about the potential impact of the entire Colombian population surrendering.

"In short, the war is really about to end..." Li Che turned around and looked at Zhu Miaoyun seriously: "Let's get married after the war is over."

Chapter 237 Internal Discussions on the Naval Treaty (1)

Li Che's sincere expression of emotion only earned him a chop to the neck.

"what are you doing?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you what you're up to? You dare to make such an obvious promise?" Zhu Miaoyun's eyebrows shot up: How many people who said something like that didn't come back alive? Are you trying to make me a widow?

"I'm not going to the front lines again, and the war is about to..."

"Don't harbor any illusions." Zhu Miaoyun adopted a husky-like demeanor: "Have you forgotten how that blue-clad lancer died?"

"Fate was practically obsolete before we time-traveled, and you're still bringing this up......" Li Che muttered, then saw Zhu Miaoyun's dangerous gaze. Our Crown Prince quickly gave a Gallic salute: "Alright, alright, I take that back. I was just thinking about how we didn't have any protection that day. What if..."

"It's alright, I should be in a safe period," Zhu Miaoyun said casually, running her hand through her long hair. Then, she deliberately spoke in a Fenghua accent, "You're busy with your own affairs right now, so you should focus your main energy on military matters."

Li Che's lips twitched. Sometimes, it was really hard to keep up with his partner's every joke.

“However, Ah Zhi… if we stop the war as it is now, I’m afraid many people will be unwilling to accept it, right?” After a moment of joy, Zhu Miaoyun thought of Tokugawa Akiko, who had been by her side all this time.

When the Tokugawa family sent Tokugawa Akiko to the Prince of Jin's residence, they were hoping that the Prince of Jin's residence and the current Tang Dynasty could help them return to the Yingzhou Islands one day. Moreover, if they were able to return to Yingzhou this time, the Tokugawa family would definitely set about completely resolving the centuries-old conflict between the Prince and the General of the Wu.

However, during the Anchorage talks, both sides avoided mentioning Yingzhou, as if the Tang Dynasty and the Federation had inadvertently forgotten about it during their negotiations.

But that's obviously impossible. It's like you might forget your girlfriend's birthday, but you can't possibly forget her name, right? Surely you wouldn't be unable to recognize her, would you? (You probably wouldn't forget, would you?)

Having already considered the possibility of conflict between the two countries over Yingzhou in the foreseeable future, how could this place have been "accidentally" overlooked?

“We and the Colombians have a fairly good understanding on this matter. Both sides have put the issue of Yingzhou aside. We do not recognize the current government of Yingzhou, and the Colombians do not recognize the Tokugawa Shogunate under our control.” Li Che said, “The Tokugawa Shogunate will still receive the respect it deserves in our country, but it is foreseeable that they will have to maintain the status quo for quite some time to come.”

Upon hearing this, Zhu Miaoyun sighed softly: "This news is probably quite difficult for Mingzi and the others to accept..."

"Father is preparing to go back and meet with the Tokugawa Shogun alone. I believe that Father should be able to appease the Tokugawa Shogunate."

"So, what method does Your Highness intend to use to appease the Tokugawa Shogunate?" Zhu Miaoyun narrowed her eyes at Li Che, staring at the expression on his face: "I guess it should be to give the Tokugawa Shogunate a position as a concubine of the Crown Prince. After all, verbally promising the Tokugawa Shogunate to wait 20 years is not as practical as directly arranging a marriage to reassure them."

Li Che's expression became even more strained than before. He looked up at Zhu Miaoyun and licked his lips: "Yunyun, if I said I'm actually a pure love warrior, you should believe me, right? Tokugawa Akiko, this is actually..."

Zhu Miaoyun put on a "life is tough, Miaoyun sighs" look: "What else can I do? Who told me to fall for such a womanizer?"

Before Li Che could even marvel at and praise Zhu Miaoyun's "broad-mindedness," he heard the princess's hurtful words: "After all, some philandering bastard was planning to use the naval treaty to make a splash, but the Victorians beat him to it and showed their faces to the whole world... I should at least consider how this philandering bastard feels right now, right? I won't hold it against Tokugawa Akiko; just consider her an extra maid in the house."

Li Che was both amused and exasperated. Although he had started his harem under duress, he was relieved that Yunyun hadn't gotten angry. After all, Yunyun came from a world where polygamy was no longer allowed. The fact that he was sharing his lover with other women was probably due to her love for him, as well as her own identity in this world.

After all, she was a princess of a fallen kingdom. If the Ming Dynasty were still in existence, the possibility of Li Che establishing a harem after marrying Zhu Miaoyun and becoming her consort would be very small.

As for Zhu Miaoyun's hurtful words, Li Che could only sigh helplessly. After all, in his memory, the Washington Naval Treaty in another world was signed in Washington, the federal capital, at the end of 21 or the beginning of 22. It had only just entered its 20th year, so there should still be plenty of time to prepare. However, who could have predicted that the Victorians would "get there first" like this?

"This was somewhat due to my carelessness, or perhaps I was being too rigid in my understanding of the history that occurred in the other world," Li Che shook his head and said. "In both worlds, the European powers suffered heavy losses in the World War. The losers were left with almost no place to stand, and the victors were also Pyrrhic victories. None of these countries had the intention to promote an arms race. The ones directly promoting the arms race in both worlds were on the other side of the earth."

In your world, the most direct reason for the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty was actually the arms race between Japan and the United States. Both countries, which were not deeply involved in World War I and did not lose much strength in the war, but at the same time made a fortune from it, put forward huge shipbuilding plans after the war.

In our world, the most direct reason is probably the enormous investment we and the Colombians made in shipbuilding for the war. Although the causes of the naval treaty are the same, in your world, the shipbuilding program between Japan and the United States was ultimately driven by an arms race during peacetime, and the situation was relatively less urgent. But here, both sides' shipbuilding programs were driven by the raging hot war. Therefore, it is reasonable to implement the naval treaty earlier than in the other world. I had not considered this carefully before.”

"You don't need to blame yourself too much. After all, you were planning to make a fuss about public opinion, while we need more time to prepare if we want to make a fuss about Western public opinion. That's just how different races are," Zhu Miaoyun said, worried that Li Che was really having an emotional breakdown. She comforted him and took the opportunity to change the subject slightly: "Moreover, compared to the gains and losses in public opinion, how to gain an advantage in the treaty is the most important thing, right? I seem to have heard that this naval treaty limits the tonnage of battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and aircraft carriers that each country can build. Should we start working on this now?"