Chapter 144 Germany’s Opportunity

On December 16, 1902, a fleet mysteriously arrived at the Hamburg port of the German Empire, and was valued and grandly received by the German Empire.

The leaders of the fleet were Australian Foreign Minister Andrew and Defense Minister Kent. Under the welcome of a group of German convoys, they quickly arrived at the Berlin City Palace of the German Empire.

Because of the good relationship between Australia and the German Empire, the two ministers were soon received by German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Of course, the important news brought by the two ministers was indispensable, which was the reason why Wilhelm II was directly alarmed.

"Your Majesty, on behalf of the Principality of Australia and His Majesty the Duke, I would like to express my sincere greetings to you." As soon as he met German Emperor Wilhelm II, Minister Andrew and Minister Kent saluted Wilhelm II with a little respect.

"You two, I heard that you have a piece of news about the German Empire's major foreign policy to tell me. I wonder what news can make the two ministers take the trouble to come to Germany in person?" German Emperor Wilhelm II nodded calmly to the two ministers, and then asked with a little interest.

"Your Majesty, have you ever heard about the agreement between Australia and the island countries a month ago?" Foreign Minister Andrew asked mysteriously.

"Of course. The military and economic treaties between you have their own advantages and disadvantages in general, but they have indeed had a certain impact on the situation in the Far East. But this has nothing to do with the major foreign policy of the German Empire that you mentioned, right?" William II nodded and asked back.

"It is exactly related, Your Majesty. This is also a good opportunity for the German Empire, and it may be able to get rid of the troubles of the Franco-Russian Agreement." Minister Andrew no longer kept it a secret and explained with a smile.

"Oh? Do you mean that the Russian Empire will suffer a defeat in the Far East?" William II asked with a little interest.

What unites France and Russia is not only the situation, but also the deep-rooted interests of the two countries.

It is unlikely that the Russian Empire will abandon the Franco-Russian Agreement, or remain neutral in the conflict between Germany and France, unless Germany can save the Russian Empire from some crisis.

But can an island country that is supported by the British Empire and the United States to a limited extent really become an obstacle to the Russian Empire in the Far East, or even put the Russian Empire in crisis? I'm afraid it's unlikely to happen.

"Although I don't believe that the powerful Russian Empire army will fail in the Far East, the intelligence we have now shows that this is indeed the case. In terms of the Far East situation and regional conditions, the comprehensive strength of the island country has surpassed that of the Russian Empire, and the navy can also compete with the navy of the Russian Empire. This is bad news for the Russian Empire, because they are facing a logistics supply problem that is dozens of times more severe than that of the island country. If the domestic logistics supply problem cannot be solved, then the Russian Empire will sooner or later fall behind in the struggle for hegemony in the Far East." Minister Andrew explained with a smile.

"Oh? Can you explain it in detail?" This question already represents the attitude of William II, and he is already curious about the opportunity that Minister Andrew mentioned for the German Empire to win over the Russian Empire.

"Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, the Russian Empire has less than 100,000 troops in the Far East, and the training level of these soldiers is worrying, and their weapons and equipment are also very backward. It is not difficult for these soldiers to defend the Far East in peacetime, but if they are fighting against other powerful countries in wartime, these soldiers will seem a little inferior." Minister Andrew said with a smile.

"At the same time, the army of the island country is as large as hundreds of thousands of people. According to their population size, after the extreme conscription, the total number of troops can even reach three million. Although the Russian Empire can also reach this number, or even far exceed this number. However, the logistics of the Russian Empire do not support them to transport a large number of troops to the Far East. The maximum number of their troops in the Far East is about 200,000. Compared with 200,000 and 3 million, the difference in numbers is enough to decide everything."

"More importantly, the army training of the island country refers to the German Army. Although it cannot reach the level of excellence of the German Army, the training quality and weapons and equipment are definitely not weaker than the Far East Army of the Russian Empire. With huge disadvantages in numbers and weapons and equipment, who do you think will have an advantage in the Far East?" Minister Andrew asked with a smile.

"Doesn't the Russian Empire still have a navy in the Far East? Such a large navy is enough to resist the fleet of the island country! As long as the navy of the island country cannot gain an advantage, then even if the army has a greater advantage, can't the Russian Navy also bomb the coast of the island country?" William II asked with a little puzzlement.

In fact, it was not just William II. Even at the stage when the Russo-Japanese War broke out, most countries believed that the Russian Empire's fleet was enough to resist the fleet of the island country.

Even if they could not gain an advantage or victory, they could hold on to the ocean and cut off the island country's ocean transportation lines.

In this way, the war in the Far East would become a tug-of-war, and the Russian Empire, with a larger land area and richer mineral resources, would undoubtedly gain a greater advantage.

But who would have thought that the island country fleet, which seemed to have little advantage, would kill the entire fleet of the Russian Empire with only slight damage, completely rewriting the situation of this war?

It's just that the current Russo-Japanese War has not yet occurred, and people have not experienced this surprising naval battle.

"Your Majesty, after the island country obtained several warships ordered from Australia, its naval strength is no longer weaker than the Far East Fleet of the Russian Empire. What's more, most of the battleships and new warships of the island country were built in the past ten years. The Russian Empire's Warships have generally been in service for more than ten years, and there are not many young warships. Coupled with the logistics problems that have been exposed before, the Far East, as the base camp of the island country, will have sufficient support for logistics and transportation. But look at the Tsarist Empire and Siberia. The large railway has not yet been fully completed, and material transportation is a huge problem. What's more, the economy of the Tsarist Russian Empire relies largely on French loans, but France does not support the Tsarist Russian Empire in the situation in the Far East, which also leads to Tsarist Russia. The empire's finances are in very bad shape. Given all these factors, what reason do we have not to believe that the newly rising country of the island country will win the competition for regional hegemony with the established powers like the Russian Empire? What's more, the island country? The warship ordered from Australia is the Braunschweig-class battleship from Germany. Your Majesty must have heard about the performance of such an excellent warship. If the Tsarist Empire does not want to make progress, it is natural for it to lose its hegemony in the Far East. "

"Of course, if the Tsarist Empire loses its hegemony in the Far East, it will not be a good thing for the German Empire. The Tsarist Russian Empire, which has hegemony in the Far East, will put part of its energy into the Far East, which will also reduce the impact of the Franco-Russian Entente. The pressure from the German Empire. But if the Tsarist Empire lost its hegemony in the Far East and its influence in the Far East was not that great, they would also focus more on Europe under the Franco-Russian Entente. One of the greatest enemies of the German Empire, unless the German Empire is willing to give up fighting the French."

So the question is, will the German Empire give up going against the French?

In addition to the long-standing feud between the two countries, the reason why the German Empire and France each joined opposing military blocs was also the conflict between the old colonial powers and the emerging industrial powers.

Emerging industrial powers like the German Empire also needed a large number of markets to dump their industrial products and obtain sufficient profits.

But here comes the problem. The old powers have always regarded their colonies as their own forbidden areas. Industrial products from other countries either have high tariffs or are basically inaccessible.

In addition, as industry and technology become more and more important to the country, emerging industrial countries have caught up with the established powers in terms of comprehensive strength, such as the German Empire catching up with France and the rise of the United States.

Because its status has gradually been raised to the same level, Germany's overall strength has even surpassed France and has become a relatively recognized second power.

Under such circumstances, Germany became increasingly dissatisfied with the shares of the old powers, Britain and France, in colonies around the world. Emerging industrial countries also needed land under the sky, not blue skies.

The previous Franco-Prussian War caused France to pay a large amount of reparations to Germany, and trampled on France's dignity before establishing the German Empire.

Due to various factors, the contradiction between France and Germany has become deeper and deeper, and has even become irreconcilable.

But there were not that many conflicts between the German Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire. There was even a brief period of the Three Emperors Alliance between the German Empire, the Tsarist Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although this is a loose alliance temporarily compromised for short-term interests, the nature of the alliance determines that it will be disbanded one day.

But this is also a period of good cooperation between the German Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire. Being able to win over this country with huge war potential, or removing it from France's list of allies, is what Germany is looking forward to now.

William II nodded, temporarily agreeing with Minister Andrew's point of view.

The Tsarist Russian Empire must show a certain decline in the Far East, so as to reflect the importance of the German Empire to the Tsarist Russian Empire as a country that can support the Tsarist Russian Empire's Far East policy.

At the same time, the Tsarist Russian Empire cannot lose too many advantages in the Far East. A Tsarist Russian Empire that focuses entirely on Europe is not a good thing for the German Empire, because at least in Europe, the Tsarist Russian Empire is more willing to cooperate with France formed an alliance, not with Germany.

This depends on many factors. Although French capital is obsessed with the high income generated by borrowing, it has reduced France's industrial improvement and technological development to a certain extent.

But this also has an advantage, that is, it can shorten the distance with some countries through loans, especially economically backward countries like Tsarist Russia.

After France made a large amount of loans to the Tsarist Russian Empire, the economy of the Tsarist Russian Empire was full of French factors, which also brought the two countries closer and closer.

At the same time, the German Empire, which had concluded the Triple Alliance Treaty with Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy, was moving further and further away from the Tsarist Empire.

First of all, there are now a lot of conflicts between the Austria-Hungary Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire, the allies of the German Empire. The two countries have many disputes on the borders and have very poor relations.

As the saying goes, the enemy of a friend is an enemy, and the friend of an enemy is also an enemy. In this way, the German Empire passed by the Tsarist Empire and became the opposite.

The reason why William II was so interested in the information Australia could provide was because he hoped to win over Britain and the Russian Empire.

Britain has always pursued a policy of isolation and balance. Generally, it will help the weaker party, but it will not let the defeated party become too weak, so as not to make the weak stronger and become a new threat.

The current situation in Europe is relatively clear, divided into two military groups with distinct factions. Whether it is the Allied Powers composed of the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, or the Allied Powers composed of the French Republic and the Russian Empire, they all tried to win over the British Empire. After all, it is currently the world's first power.

But the attitude of the British Empire has always been vague and hazy. On the basis of a relatively balanced power on both sides, the British Empire adopted a wait-and-see attitude and remained neutral until the end of Queen Victoria's era.

Now it is the era of King Edward VII. Because Edward VII and William II did not have a good relationship, the relationship between the British Empire and the German Empire became somewhat alienated.

Of course, it cannot be denied that the rise of the German Empire and the development of the navy are one of the factors that alienated the British Empire and the German Empire.

The German Empire's goal is to occupy a large number of colonies of the old powers. In addition to France, isn't there the British Empire?

Although the Germans did not say it explicitly, the British Empire is indeed an old power and has the largest colony in the world today.

"Since you have come all the way from Australia, you must have some plans and intentions, right? Tell me, Arthur, what good suggestions do you have for the current situation in Germany?" William II asked with a smile.

The purpose of Australia sending two ministerial-level officials to Germany is definitely not just to inform William II of this news.

The Australian royal family, that is, Arthur, also has a royal steward in Europe. If it is just a simple message, let the royal steward pass it on, there is absolutely no need to make such a big fuss.

Two-in-one chapter, please support