Chapter 367 Storm of the Rhine

In the tavern outside Wilhelmshafen, Xue ordered a bitter beer, chatted with Lenin without saying a word, and asked the bartender about the port from time to time, and his face was full of anxiety.

Lenin knew that Xue was a rubber dealer. Originally, his business was not very big, but somehow the price of rubber has soared in recent years, so his value has also soared. The two came here this time to collect a batch of raw rubber from Luzon, but they didn't expect to find that the whole Wilhelmshaven had been closed after arriving. Even the civilian dock has not been missed.

After asking the soldiers, he knew that Li Mo was about to come here to participate in the handover ceremony of the warship. Xue became more and more worried, because according to him, this batch of raw rubber was smuggled goods secretly shipped from Luzon and Borneo. In case it was found, it would involve his partners in China, and he had already contacted to buy it. Home, as long as you sell this batch of goods, you can make up the cash that Lenin needs, but you didn't expect it to be delayed.

This scene fell in Lenin's eyes. Not only did he not feel unhappy, but his smile was stronger.

He comforted Xue and reminded him that this is Germany, and Li Mo did not have the right to investigate smuggling here. What's more, he was really interested in the young emperor who had occupied the front pages of European newspapers in the past few days.

In desperation, Xue had no choice but to live in this tavern and wait for the port to reopen.

Lenin ignored Xue's prison. Seeing that he was nagging the bartender, he smiled and turned around and picked up a copy of today's Rhine newspaper. The full text of Li Mo's impromptu speech in front of the monument aroused his interest, especially the last sentence, "I brought an olive branch, please don't let it be discarded." It aroused his curiosity.

The sentence "We have been ignored." After exhausting the bitterness of those backward countries, when Europe is enjoying the wealth and happiness brought by colonization, who can imagine how many countries' people are suffering.

When the British gentlemen were sitting in the cafe and drinking afternoon tea, they shipped boxes of opium to all over the world. When they took their female companions on an outing, their warships were shelling the people in the world who had been tortured by opium.

Until now, they are still launching a new war for African gold and diamonds. They don't care about the life and death of the people and just want to get wealth with blood.

Although Russia is also a European power, in the eyes of mainstream countries such as Britain and France, Russia has always been on the edge of geopolitics, while the brutal Nicholas II did not notice this. He still lives in the dream of imperial hegemony, trying to destroy the newly born Xinhua with war and devour the fertile land of the Far East, in order to With this goal, he even ignored the life and death of the people in Russia.

In order to avenge Li Mo's revenge for destroying the Far East Fleet, he did not hesitate to borrow money from France, but refused to take out even one gold coin from his private treasury. Instead, he transferred these to the poor people and imposed a high war tax.

Lenin sighed. He only hoped that when he got the money and returned to China, he could contact more like-minded people to overthrow the evil Tsarist regime together, and then reach an agreement with Li Mo to end the endless war and exchange peace in Russia and Xinhua.

"Dlins, are you crazy?"

When he was just about to look at the next page to see how German critics analyzed the newly reached Sino-German friendship agreement, a voice suddenly caught his attention.

Because the other party speaks a relatively awkward little Polish, if he didn't happen to have a few Polish friends, it might be difficult to understand what they are talking about.

Looking along the voice, I saw only two young people whispering in the corner. Although the voice was very soft, because there were very few people in the pub in the afternoon, I could still hear some.

"Ole, I'm not crazy. I'm willing to sacrifice everything for our Poland, even my life." Sitting on the side, the young man who could only see one side of his face finished speaking, Lenin frowned suddenly.

The little Polish men didn't seem to notice that someone was eavesdropping on them and continued, "But Drins, even if you succeed in assassinating Li Mo, what's the use? Will the cruel Nicholas II give up the throne because of Li Mo's death? Let Poland read it!"

Before Delins replied, Lenin had already opened his mouth wide. Assassination of Li Mo?! They are going to assassinate Li Mo! Why? Lenin subconsciously glanced at Xue next to him, but found that he was still talking to the bartender and didn't notice it. Just thinking about whether he should remind him, he heard the young man named Delins continue to say, "No, Orr."

Dlins shook his head and looked around warily before saying, "Nicola will not be buried for Li Mo, but now the whole world knows that the war between Russia and Xinhua is inevitable. If I can blame Russia, then the New Chinese will definitely attack Russia to the death, so that we can win the reading power of our Poland. Opportunity!"

"But."

"No, but!" Delins seemed to be a stubborn guy who stood up without letting his partners speak at all: "For the sake of my motherland, I have to take risks, and do we have a second way to stop Poland from brutal tsaric rule, let the people breathe freely, and let the landless people enjoy life?" After saying that, he walked out of the pub by himself without waiting for his partner.

Seeing his companion leave, Lenin didn't have time to react at all. He felt that his shoulder had been pushed. After turning his head, he saw that Xue was already standing behind him and asked, "Vladimir, what are you looking at? I've called you a few times. Do you know them?

"No, I don't know, I don't know." Lenin waved his hand and didn't know whether to tell Xue what had just happened. He swallowed it back several times.

Seeing Lenin's appearance, Xue smiled from the bottom of his heart and pretended to be anxious and said, "Vladimir, the bartender said that he could help me contact the owner of the dock. I'm going to see him now to see if I can unload the ship to another dock. Wait for me here. I will bring the money as soon as possible."

"Xue, actually." As soon as Lenin opened his mouth, Xue couldn't wait to follow the bartender out of the pub. Looking at his back, he could only continue to wait.

Maybe the two young people are just joking again?

Lenin quickly denied his answer from the bottom of his heart. Soon, a sudden burst of running outside the pub woke him up. When he walked out of the pub, a bright red flag suddenly made his pupils contract. The Li Mo came!

Several chic cars came from a distance. There was a Xinhua and German flag on the front of the car. A small group of cavalry protected the motorcade, and the soldiers separated the onlookers next to them with their bodies.

Hiss, cheers accompanied by the wheels ringing from every part of the street. Looking at the young figure waving outside the window, Lenin wanted to go in like this and have a good talk with him, but he knew that if he went in so recklessly, he was afraid that he would be immediately sifted by the soldiers around him.

He is not reckless, but it does not mean that others are not reckless. When he was checking Li Mo through the window, a scream suddenly sounded next to him. He only saw a figure not far away like a frightened war horse. He suddenly pulled away the two quarantined soldiers and rushed to the convoy. The sharp-eyed Lenin immediately recognized the figure. It was The young man named Delins who just walked out of the pub!

He really came and really wanted to assassinate Li Mo!

Before Lenin's eyes stared the most, he saw that the young man had taken out a Russian pistol. Just as he was about to shoot at the car, a big hand suddenly reached in front of him and suddenly lifted the butt of the gun up!

Bang!

A harsh gunshot shattered the happy atmosphere in Wilhelmshaven. The cavalry's horses suddenly raised their hoofs, and the guards and soldiers around them were also pale with fear.

Everyone knows that if something happens to Li Mo here, I'm afraid they will all be executed!

Countless figures began to rush to the young man. Li Mo's car was suddenly covered by people in black who gushed out of nowhere. But I don't know whether it was strange or other reasons, Li Mo's guards and German soldiers actually squeezed together, messed up, and finally looked at it. The young man re-entered the crowd.

After seeing the window through the cracks, Li Mo was still intact. Lenin's clenched fists quietly loosened a lot, but somehow he was a little disappointed. After thinking about it, he quietly followed the chaotic crowd and left the scene.

But he didn't see it. When he turned around, Xue, his sponsor, also got out of Li Mo's car, and then quickly disappeared into the chaotic crowd with the bartender.

Dlins ran fast, with more and more dense footsteps behind him, but the German-style narrow street was about to drive him crazy. When he saw that the alley was getting narrower and narrower and he didn't know where to continue to run, a big hand suddenly poked out from the side and pulled him close to the wall.

Dlins was so scared that he was about to raise his gun when he saw a smiling face in front of him: "My name is Vladimir. I mean no harm."

"Vladimir? You are Russian!" Delins was even paler with a gun in his hand. It seemed that it was in the hands of the Russians, and it was better to die in the hands of Li Mo's bodyguards.

"I'm Russian, but I'm a different Russian. I love Poland." Lenin tried to keep smiling. He wanted to continue to speak, but suddenly there was another sound of footsteps outside. He quickly made a silent gesture and whispered, "Let's go. I'm here to save you. Please believe me."

Dlins held up his gun and still didn't seem to believe it, but the sound of footsteps outside forced him to make a decision. Finally, he gritted his teeth, put away his gun and followed Lenin into the small door.

But no one noticed that when he walked through the small door, he suddenly took out a white pen from his sleeve and drew it twice quickly on the small door.

After a moment, Xue took several men to the door, looking at the lines that looked like children's graffiti, and suddenly a bright smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

When Li Mo was about to arrive in Wilhelmshaven, the news of the attack began to spread rapidly around Wilhelmsharp. Although he was stopped by the guards, he really shocked the German officials at the dock, including Tirpitz. Fortunately, when the convoy drove into the dock under heavy protection, Li Mo smiled intact. They walked out and let them breathe a sigh of relief.

Although he was anxious, Tirpitz politely proposed to suppress the shock and rest for a few days before handing over. Unexpectedly, Li Mo waved his hand and said that it was okay, insisting on holding a warship handover ceremony today.

Since Li Mo himself said it was okay, it was not easy for Tirpitz and other officials to insist.

Half an hour later, when the huge figure of the Chinese ship, which had been wandering in the sea and made the German navy extremely greedy but could not get close, arrived in Wilhelmshaven, leaning on the already prepared Pier 1, the German naval officers and sailors in charge of receiving all had straight eyes. Obviously, they all had ten main guns. The heavy battleship was stunned. I didn't expect that one day the battleship would have so many main guns!

When the handover ceremony was over, the battleship was renamed the Rhine, and the German naval officers and soldiers who had been drooling for a long time rushed into the Rhine, hoping to get familiar with this powerful warship as soon as possible!

Instead, the Xinhua Navy officers who completed the handover of the ship began to move a box of gold into the cabin of the Oriental Princess at the same time. Master Li's choice of gold settlement is not only in line with the characteristics of the gold standard era, but also made everyone feel the richness brought by the sale of high-tech and high-value-added goods. Profit.

When Li Mo departed again from Wilhelmshaven with the Oriental Princess the next day, the German navy officially took over the Rhine, which caused a sensation throughout Europe. Although the Ottoman Empire also ordered the same warship, it would take at least two years to deliver it, which allowed the Rhine to cross the Atlantic for at least two years!

The German navy, which was expanding rapidly, got a qualitative leap because of the Rhine. More importantly, they not only got a capital ship that had been fully tested, but also experienced a low-intensity naval battle test, which could be immediately put into actual combat, and also got the complete drawings and all the skills of the warship. Art!

While Li Mo continued his trip to Europe, Germany immediately began a comprehensive test after receiving the drawings brought with the ship, and after discussion, the ambitious William II and Tirpitz passed the second naval bill in Parliament at the speed of lightning, paving the way for the full start of the construction of the Rhine. The road.

When these news spread to both sides of the Atlantic with the telephone line, even the assassination outside Wilhelmshaven was drowned. No one cared about who was going to kill Li Mo, and Britain was the first to react strongly, so that Li Mo arrived in the United Kingdom for a visit and even suffered the strongest in his speech in the House of Commons. Protest.

The gentlemen of the British Empire finally began to realize how big the crisis was brought by the Rhine, because they turned over the entire Imperial Navy and couldn't find a capital ship comparable to it.

Under the pressure of reality, Prime Minister Salisbury personally negotiated with Li Mo. Tang Shaoyi also timely proposed that Britain should fully withdraw its troops from the southeast of Xinhua, stop supporting the Southeast China Mutual Insurance Agreement, and support the many conditions for the reunification of Xinhua.

Of course, Britain will not agree to these demands, because that would be tantamount to giving up all the interests in the Far East, and a Rhine is not enough to subdue the British Empire!

Although the negotiations did not end immediately, no one knew when an agreement could be reached. Even Li Mo did not make a breakthrough when he arrived in New York a month later. In this case, Britain began to strengthen its technical breakthroughs, trying to solve the recoil problem of naval guns as soon as possible, while continuing to maintain the negotiations, hoping to pry away Li Mo. At the same time, it also accelerated the construction of existing battleships and strived to overwhelm the technical barriers brought by the Rhine with a numerical advantage.

Just like the fear caused by the emergence of the dreadnought in history, a Rhine has also completely messed up Europe. Every country is secretly worried, because they find that the capital ship they had spent a lot of money on has become useless in front of it!

At the moment when Europe became restless because of the Rhine, the rest of the world also quietly changed. After the United States and Cuba reached an agreement to recognize the Cuban regime, they finally began to withdraw from the pearl island country in the Caribbean.

For the Americans, this is a failed military operation. Although it got Puerto Rico, it did not fully control Cuba. Instead, it suffered countless casualties, and the gains outweigh the losses.

This war, like a fierce stick, forced the United States to re-examine its foreign policy, and when they began to reflect, they were disturbed by the appearance of the Rhine. The United States, which was not as skilled as Europe, was completely confused by the Rhine, and finally had to roar at the beginning of five Fort Virginia. The construction of the level, learning from the UK, is expected to rely on the number of potential opponents.

At the same time, the largest indigenous chaos in history broke out in Australia. Thousands of indigenous people rushed into the gathering areas, killing the white people who seized their land and wealth, and even washed the town of Darwin, which has more than 2,000 residents.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Australia did not have any troops at all, only some temporary militias. In addition, Britain was busy dealing with the crisis after the emergence of the Boer and the Rhine, and could not transfer troops. What's more, Britain was already very dissatisfied with Australia's autonomy. After learning the news, it only provided a batch of troops. Let Australia solve it by itself.

In the face of blood, Australian states can only temporarily put aside the merger and concentrate on dealing with those indigenous people first, who seem to have become more unrescreate under the stimulation of blood, killing not only hundreds of people, but also dozens of Chinese employees.

Because the mines and factories are in the east and west and are directly threatened by the natives, several large consortia, including Thomas Mining, have started negotiations with the Australian political axe and finally allowed the self-built security team to protect their property in Australia from infringement.

No one noticed that the world seemed to be disturbed by the storm after the appearance of the Rhine

(to be continued)