Seven Seas Beacon Fire

I'm tired. Let it all end. I surrender.

It was precisely because of his thorough understanding of Pétain that Li Che was confident enough to thoroughly subdue these foolish Leitanian Germanic barbarians.

"Should we use the Gauls as a hardline approach? But wouldn't that allow the Gauls to gain too much?"

Zhu Miaoyun frowned. This was indeed a very divergent line of thinking. There were so many right-wing elements jumping around so much in Letania. To put it bluntly, they were bullying honest people, good people, and having guns pointed at them. These right-wing elements wouldn't dare to bare their teeth under the bayonets of the Gauls.

The problem is that, while Pétain's experience is indeed worthy of sympathy, from the perspective of the Tang Dynasty's interests, if it does not want to become the first country to challenge the existing international order, there are only two countries most suitable to launch an attack on the existing international order in the future.

That is the future Ursus Federation and the rearmed Letania.

Both countries will have industry, population, and technology in the future. If either of them launches an attack, it will mean the total failure of the colonial system of the two colonial powers, Victoria and Gaul.

This is what the Tang Dynasty hoped to see.

If we were to actually make a deal with Gaul now, and Gaul were to completely extinguish the flame of Letania's resurgence—no matter how unlikely that possibility is, since it exists, who can guarantee it won't happen?

"The Gauls may indeed profit from this, but it is unlikely that they will profit too much."

"Your nonsense literature..."

"This is not nonsense, because even Pétain himself, Victoria and Gaul, two countries severely weakened by World War I, simply did not realize... or rather, the politicians of the two countries refused to realize that the world order was very different from what it was before the outbreak of the World War."

They were not the victors of World War I; in fact, they were merely survivors of World War I. However, the political circles of both countries have long refused to acknowledge this reality.

When we visited Gaul and Vitória before, I believe you also realized that these two countries still cling to the old aristocratic mentality of "we can still control the world." Now, various countries are discussing the formation of a League of Nations, but this organization will ultimately be turned into a playground manipulated by Vitória and Gaul behind the scenes. Not only will they exclude Letania and Ursus, but they will also exclude us and Colombia.

“I know that. In our world, the Americans were so disgusted by Britain and France that they even withdrew from the League of Nations, which they had initiated,” Zhu Miaoyun said quickly.

"Well said, everyone's already answering first."

"Are you using Zhao Benshan's skit to make sarcastic remarks about me?" Zhu Miaoyun immediately made a husky pointing gesture.

“How could I dare?” Li Che said with a smile. “I am sincerely praising you. All the misfortunes that the two largest colonial countries in the world will encounter in the future actually stem from their failure to recognize the current situation.”

"I've heard it said that a declining nation, like an elderly person, should avoid unnecessary trouble if it wants to live longer. The more trouble it causes, the more mistakes it makes, and the faster it dies. Isn't this the case with Victoria and Gaul?"

"They thought this would strengthen their control over Europe and even the world, and on the surface it did. For example, after World War I, Gaul even increased the territory it controlled by annexing former colonies of Letania. But in reality, it was equivalent to draining the forces that maintain the existing international order."

If you want to be the mastermind behind the scenes, that's fine if you can actually do it. But when it comes to actually having a mastermind behind the scenes "maintain" order, the so-called "mastermind" will immediately reveal their true colors.

In your original world, after the Little Days launched the September 918 Incident, the League of Nations formed the "Lytton Commission." What did they ultimately investigate? They just let it slide.

Subsequently, whether it was the Spanish Civil War or the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Britain and France remained mere spectators. As a result, the so-called "international deterrence" became worthless. The fundamental reason for Hitler's early success lay in his realization, from the moment he came to power, that no matter how much he violated the Treaty of Versailles, Britain and France were incapable (and dared not) of making any real response.

"The more you talk about it, the less I think these two countries resemble rulers. It seems we don't need to worry about Gaul?"

"In theory, there is indeed no need to worry too much. Soon, in order to protect their colonial interests in North Africa, the Gauls, led by General Besso, sent 30 troops to Morocco to fight the Rif War, a war to suppress their colonies! The Gauls' expenses in this war were even enough for them to build another Maginot Line."

"Unable to intervene in the international order, yet constantly depleting its remaining strength to maintain the facade of its empire, I dared to bring them in precisely because I knew the Gauls were incapable of great things." After a scathing rebuke, Li Che continued, "However, even so, this is ultimately our last resort. It's best to prevent the Gauls from interfering, even if they seem like a weak nation. Who can guarantee that a great leader won't suddenly emerge from that country?"

"Yes, after all, the princess of this country is named Jeanne."

"It seems that this is just because the Gallic royal family liked to give their princesses this name. Because of Joan of Arc, many girls in Gaul had this name."

"Is that the point? Isn't it? Since you've said this is the last resort, do you have any other methods?"

“I’ve said before that I have nine ways to deal with the Letanians.” Li Che held up nine again. “Now that you’ve almost recovered, I think we can hold a ball at Sanssouci Palace, taking advantage of your recovery.”

"Huh?" Zhu Miaoyun didn't get excited when she heard the word "ball party." Instead, she became a little scared: "I can't dance at all. After all, I'm not a real princess. If you hold a ball party, aren't you going to put me on the hot seat?"

"We don't need you to dance, we just need to drink."

"drink wine?"

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Traun, the former ambassador of Letania to the Ming Dynasty, emerged slightly tipsy from the dance floor. Tonight's party, hosted by the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty at Sanssouci Palace, was an unforgettable experience for all attendees.

Especially for these old Junkers who used to live a life of pleasure and debauchery, such an opportunity was truly rare. After all, many of them had already done their best to maintain a facade of civility in front of outsiders after the war, and only they knew what they were really like behind closed doors.

Not having enough to eat is commonplace, let alone tonight's fine wine, which is said to have been brought from Gaul.

This naturally caused Traun, who is usually quite strict with himself, to drink a bit too much tonight. Now Traun is trying to find a restroom. On the way, he asked a Tang Dynasty military officer who was on security duty outside the ball tonight. The man then casually pointed him in a direction, and Traun, feeling a little dizzy, went upstairs in the direction he was pointed.

But after walking around halfway upstairs, he realized that there wasn't a toilet around at all; all he could find was...

Traun arrived at a half-open house. Finally, Traun peeked inside. Although he didn't see a restroom sign, the things inside still made Traun's eyes widen in surprise.

Because this is a study, and it seems that the Crown Prince chose this room as his study while he was staying at Sanssouci Palace these past few days.

At least Traun could see that the table in the room not only had books on it, but also some documents and telegrams.

This made Traun subconsciously look around.

There was no one there, and no alarm was triggered.

If Traun is a true Easterner, then at this point, according to the only designated military treatise in East Asia, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," you should be worried about whether you are seen as Jiang Gan by the other side.

But obviously you can't expect a Leitanian to be familiar with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the East. So after making sure no one was on the floor, Traun slipped into the room. He felt that he was mostly sober now, and his strong curiosity made him search the room. Soon, Traun's eyes were drawn to a telegram on the table.

Kron, who had also sent telegrams before, could tell that the original telegram was handwritten. It seemed that the official telegram was a modified version of that. After glancing at the contents of the telegram, the former diplomat, fluent in Eastern languages, immediately had his pupils constrict. The lingering smell of alcohol seemed to be expelled from his body through his pores, and even his already strained bladder almost gave way.

Was the Tang Empire preparing to have the Gauls send troops?

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Chapter 400 Persecution Complex

President Ludwig of the Republic of Letania was awakened from his sleep.

The Grand Commander, whose mind was like that of Li Yuanhong from another world, had not yet fully recovered from his sleep. When he saw a group of officials rushing around outside his door, he paused for a moment, then asked in a joking tone, "Why are you in such a panic? Have the Gauls attacked again?"

The worst thing about telling jokes is when no one laughs after you finish telling your joke.

Ludwig quickly realized that after he told his joke... no one laughed!

Can't you?

Didn't the Gauls just demolish our industrial zone to pay off our debts last time? After the Victorian Empire mediated, the problem was temporarily resolved, and we are now making proper preparations to repay the indemnity. Why are these Gauls in such a hurry?

"Your Excellency, Mr. Traun attended a party organized by the Crown Prince of the Tang Empire today. Midway through the party, he coincidentally came down to the second floor and found the Crown Prince's room unlocked. So he sneaked in..."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"

Grand President Ludwig interrupted the man: "What are you talking about? Who is Traun? This fellow attended the Crown Prince's banquet?"

"Mr. Traun served as our ambassador to the Ming Empire before the outbreak of the World War. When the Ming Empire finally chose to join the Central Powers, Mr. Traun did a lot of work in the process. He was invited to join the Central Powers because he was one of the most familiar Chinese officials to people in the East."

"So he's a former diplomat. I know our diplomats also served as intelligence agents during the war, but he's no longer a diplomat, right? He attended this party with personal connections, and then went to the second floor to steal intelligence?"

Ludwig didn't see Traun's behavior as "voluntary overtime" and was pleased about it; he was now feeling extremely overwhelmed.

The Tang Empire's visiting delegation was so busy treating their own people like royalty that it was evident from the accommodations arranged for the Crown Prince and his entourage. They even specially cleaned the Wuyou Palace to receive distinguished guests, but when they invited you to a party, this is what you do?

What intelligence does the Tang Empire currently possess that we need to worry about?

Let alone the fact that Letania is now a third-rate republic, even if the Second Empire of Letania were still in existence, it would never need to resort to such means to spy on its allies.

"Could he have been caught red-handed by some Easterner?"

Ludwig immediately thought of the worst possible outcome—yes, the worst outcome he could imagine.

"Mr. Traun was not discovered by the Easterners."

"That's good, that's good..."

"But Mr. Traun discovered that the Orientals were preparing to cooperate with the Gauls and take coercive measures against us."

Ludwig: ???

Will they use coercive measures against us?

So, my joke just now actually turned out to be a lucky hit?

"Are you serious? Or are you joking?"

At this moment, Traun, who was standing a little further back, stepped forward and said, "Commander-in-Chief, I have personally confirmed the contents of the telegram. The Crown Prince is indeed contacting the Kingdom of Gaul, or at least he is preparing to do so now."

"What exactly is going on? Why is that Crown Prince visiting our country and trying to contact the Gauls?" Grand President Ludwig felt his eyelids twitching violently. In reality, he already knew the answer. Although it was Ludendorff's right-wing forces in parliament who were obstructing the Tang Empire's recruitment of talent and procurement of technology patents in Letania, other political factions had also been contributing to the situation.

Even those political forces that support and engage in such trade of technical talent, while outwardly arguing fiercely with Ludendorff's far-right in Congress, are not entirely without their own performances.

After all, the more heated the arguments in parliament, the more they can demonstrate the value of these items when they sell them—it wasn't easy for us to sell these to you, and we also have to take responsibility, so it's only right that you pay a little more...

Now that you've annoyed them, they're about to flip the table. What should we do next?

After a series of careful questioning, Ludwig was now able to confirm that the Eastern crown prince was indeed planning to use the Gauls' bayonets to achieve his goals. Such a tactic was unheard of among Easterners.

Ludwig had met quite a few people from the East, and the most striking characteristic he observed about them was that these people were very disciplined when they were out in public, sometimes to the point of being rigid and inflexible, and they were generally very concerned about saving face.

If it were an Easterner in the past facing this situation, as long as they maintained a sufficiently humble attitude, those Easterners, even if they were angry, would not vent their anger on them, much less on the Leitanians indiscriminately, as the Crown Prince is doing now.

"What should we do now?" someone asked, looking at the clock on the wall with considerable worry. "If nothing unexpected happens, that telegram should be sent out tomorrow during the day... We may only have a few hours left. If we want to avoid all of this, we probably need to fulfill the Crown Prince's request within these few hours."

“It’s simply impossible.” Traun shook his head. “Let alone whether we can persuade those right-wingers to stop causing trouble in such a short time, even if we could, when will the next parliamentary session be held?”

These words struck a chord with everyone present. Yes, even if all the obstacles in the council were resolved, there still wouldn't be enough time!

If we were to wait until the next parliamentary session to vote on the matter, the likely outcome would be that the Gallic army would march through the Brandenburg Gate before the decision was even made.

“Our only option now is to go find that Crown Prince immediately,” Traun said.

"Are you going to detain the Crown Prince and his entourage as hostages?"

"A hostage?" Traun looked at the man with astonishing wisdom in astonishment. "Fool! Of course, we should try to get that person's forgiveness. How could you think of holding him hostage?"

Traun's words deeply moved Ludwig. He was right; no matter what, they should meet in person first. The chances of turning the situation around in person were definitely better than not being able to get through on the phone at all.

However, at that moment, someone rushed in, waving a telegram in his hand. He almost ran into the office and quickly handed it to Ludwig. After reading the telegram, Ludwig's face visibly darkened.

"What happened?"

"Those two cruisers of the Tang Dynasty Royal Navy... left port not long ago."

"Departure?"

Those below were equally shocked upon hearing the news. Those two cruisers were escorting the royal cruise ship carrying the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince from the East was currently at Sanssouci Palace…

"Is that Crown Prince still at Sanssouci Palace?" The sudden departure of two cruisers on a visit caused many people in Letania to overthink things.

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After leaving Hamburg, the two cruisers did not leave the north, but maintained a distance of nearly 3 meters from the port.

Any experienced naval commander could see that this was a clear indication of preparations to conduct a near-shore blockade at any time.

Due to the difficulty of carrying out a decisive battle, blockading ports often becomes the main means of seizing sea control, and can be regarded as the primary task of the navy in combat.

When a strong navy confronts a weaker navy, in order to ensure that its sea lanes are not affected or are minimally affected, blockade tactics emerged in the Age of Sail, including close-range blockade and long-range blockade.

The former involves stationing the battle fleet directly outside the enemy's port, leaving the enemy either trapped in the port with nothing to do or forced to leave the port to face the decisive battle.

The latter involves maintaining a small number of ships outside the port for reconnaissance, while the battle fleet maintains this intelligence-search chain at a greater distance using cruisers (cruiser ships), and actively intercepts the enemy once they leave port.

Theoretically, the two methods are parallel, but in the age of sail, a fleet that stayed at sea had almost no combat capability. To maintain its formation, it had to accept extremely low speed. Therefore, close-range blockade was always the mainstream, at most it was just to keep the battle fleet hidden in the near sea a little further from the port.

In fact, even when they knew about the Crimean War, Britain and France still used the tactic of blockading the Russians near the coast.

With the advent of the ironclad era, the steam-powered construction of warships finally made long-range blockades possible, but advancements in artillery and armor technology were even more rapid. The predicament of high-freeboard ironclads (high freeboard meant greater structural weight, larger protected area, and a higher center of gravity; in an era when shipbuilding technology was not advanced, obtaining sufficient protection was almost impossible) meant that people still had little interest in long-range blockades.

A powerful, well-protected, low-freeboard, high-speed (13-15 knots, surpassing most cruisers at the time, and relatively easy to maintain at such speeds in coastal waters) ironclad warship would undoubtedly be a powerful tool for carrying out close-range blockades, and even go further, directly storming into enemy ports.

While the low-hulled ironclad warships, incorporating new technologies, may seem revolutionary, they are in fact a continuation of the age of sail.

However, with the advancement of technology, even during the last world war, coastal blockade was abandoned by countries including the Royal Navy due to its excessive risks.

Why is it that even the world's most powerful Royal Navy is unable to maintain a near-shore blockade? It's because of the advancements in submarines, mines, and torpedo boats, especially the ever-increasing range of various torpedo weapons. This makes it far too risky for large warships to conduct near-shore blockades against those small, daring attacks.

The Leitanian navy was completely bewildered by the sudden turn of events. The remaining Leitanian naval forces were practically oblivious to the series of incidents occurring within the country. So when the two cruisers suddenly started breathing heavily like Hajimy and forcibly left port, the Leitanian navy did not make any effective response.

Even if they were truly aware of the current situation, they couldn't forcibly intercept these people. After all, according to the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, the Leitanian Navy currently has no submarines, no torpedo boats, and not even any mines outside the port.

The massive minefields from the war have been cleared, leaving the Leitanian navy with few effective, low-cost methods to counter them. A brief overview of the naval forces attempting to blockade them upon approach is needed.

So when Berlin called to inquire about the situation, the port of Hamburg hadn't taken any action. Berlin hadn't told them the whole story, only emphasizing that negotiations had broken down and that the Tang Empire might attract Gallic mercenaries into the country.

Although Berlin requested the navy to exercise restraint, during the subsequent private call, Berlin also subtly inquired about what would happen if an armed conflict were to occur.

Although Berlin asked the question rather subtly, their real purpose was quite clear: to find out what role the Leitanian Navy could still play under the current treaty restrictions.

In Hamburg, how could the navy not understand Berlin's subtext after receiving the telegram from Berlin?

The telegram from the President in Berlin was actually concerned about whether the naval forces involved by the Republic of Letania could drive the enemy away if things really came to a worst.

Of course not.