Chapter 171 Benefits

The other side of the ocean, District of Columbia, Washington.

Although it was early in the morning, there were occasionally three or five groups of people standing on the roadside on the streets of Washington. They were mostly people holding newspapers and watching the amazing news reports in the newspapers.

"The Empire declared war on the Chinese Empire!"

"The two Asian empires collided again!"

"The tears of Marshal Dongxiang: Jingyuan ship proves its power with victory!"

"The two empires collide again: where will the United States go!"

"The Awakening of the Empire: War!"

"Marshal Dongxiang: The joint fleet of the Empire can win the future naval battle!"

"Minister of the Navy Ye: Victory, from one victory to another!"

Unlike the front pages of Chinese and Japanese newspapers, in the United States, American newspapers use all kinds of extremely eye-catching words as headlines to attract the attention of readers. The sudden outbreak of war between Japan and China really excited the American media, especially the results of the South China Sea War, which fell below all People's glasses.

Before that, the media and people of the United States all believed that although China's Zhenyang Fleet had the world's most advanced Zhiyuan ship, the Japanese joint fleet had first-class officers, sailors, and the greatest naval generals since Nelson. They believed that under the leadership of Marshal Dongxiang, one or two When the country started the war, the war was nothing more than a repeat of the second naval battle of the sea.

However, after the sudden news of the naval battle in the South China Sea came, everyone was stunned. 2:7, the Chinese navy was absolutely inferior, but the result of the naval battle was 1:4, and the Chinese navy won! Such a result is beyond everyone's expectation.

Ten years ago, when the news of the defeat of the Beiyang Navy spread all over the world. In the face of the defeat of the Beiyang Navy, which the West thought had an advantage at that time, Western public opinion unanimously praised that the navy was "well-trained, played very well, and very brave", and there were also foreign comments that the Chinese navy was useless. Although many naval officers believe that "the defeat of Beiyang is not the fault of Beiyang, but the difference in technology and the defeat of the army", it is difficult to reverse the concept.

The result of this naval battle shocked the whole world. On the one hand, there are two warships, one side has seven warships, one side is to train the fleet's new members, and the other side is the long-term war elite. If the news comes before the war, the whole world may think that the Chinese navy has been defeated, but the final result is that everyone thinks it must The defeat of the winning side was really beyond people's expectations, and also fundamentally reversed the image of the Chinese navy in front of the world.

" As you can see today, you will also understand that the brave man on the sea is no more than the North Ocean..."

Ten years ago, the public speech and writings of the U.S. Navy officer who dedicated the best time of his life and his life to another flag were mentioned again, and even mentioned the unfairly distorted fleet that was also mentioned by Mahan but ignored by various countries.

Overnight, the Chinese navy used a naval battle to reverse the history of injustice and distorted history, and also used a naval battle to shock the world.

"Chinese!"

Paul? Morton, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, who vowed a month ago that "the Chinese navy can't even support it for a round, will lower its flag and surrender", still looked unbelievable and unbelievable.

"It's really beyond our expectations!"

Unexpectedly, Paul? Morton looked at the telegram in his hand again. This telegram was sent from China by the U.S. Navy Military Office in China, and there was also a telegram from the U.S. Navy Military Service Office in Japan.

Both telegrams confirmed the results of the naval battle in the South China Sea. In addition to the despicable and shameless sneak attack of the Japanese navy mentioned in the Chinese circulars, they fought back with the same words.

And at this time, looking at William, who said that he made a statement? Howard? ? Taft raised the telegram in his hand.

"Sneak attack, if the Chinese take a battlecruiser and a protective cruiser in trial to sneak up on their southern fleet, they will be too confident!"

"Sneak attack?"

Theodore? Roosevelt suddenly burst into laughter.

"The wars have long proved that the yellow monkey's original surname is easy to sneak attack. This has long been their original surname, but as Paul said, the result is too amazing!"

Theodore? Roosevelt took a closer look at the telegram and looked at the content of the telegram. When he first received the message, he even thought that the telegram was wrong. Could it be that the Chinese had lost four ships and one in Japan. But in the end, after several repeated confirmations, he did not deny the fact that the Chinese The performance is far beyond his imagination.

"Indeed, for a small country like Japan, they must rely on sneak attacks to determine their pre-war advantages. The same was the Sino-Japanese War 11 years ago, and the same was the Russian War last year!"

William? Howard? ? Taft nodded in unapprovingly, and then he pointed to the telegram in his hand.

"What we need to consider now is whether the war between China and Japan will develop into an all-out war or a truce between the two sides!"

"I don't think I will say that there will be a truce!"

Do you know my own Paul relatively well? Morton said.

"On the surface, we all believe that the war between China and Japan is due to China's armed actions to ensure neutrality, forcing Japan, which is difficult to fight with the two countries at the same time, to accept their extortion, withdraw troops from Manchuria, and even return them to Taiwan, China. Indeed, for Japan, this is unacceptable, and this is also Ito. The root cause of Bowen's assassination, but!"

He paused for a moment, and when the president's eyes turned to him, he continued.

"In fact, this is by no means the case! The reason why Japan chose to declare war on China now is that in fact, the requirements for the future development of the country are still less than a quarter of China's economy. After the restoration of China, with the encouragement of the new policy axe for industry and commerce and the reform of the tax system, the fiscal revenue of China's political axe is several times that of Japan, with sufficient capital. Gold allows China to easily build a strong army, including their weakest maritime forces, but this kind of competition is relatively poor and weak. If China builds one warship, then in less than three years, the navy will not only be left far away. After China, at the same time, the political axe will also declare bankruptcy! However, the most important point is that China will never let go of the Japanese version. You know, the Japanese-Qing War ten years ago gave the Chinese people an unforgettable slap in the face. In order to save the face, or to save its image in Asia, China is bound to declare war on the Japanese version at the right time, so for the Japanese version, in the future of China. Before preparing for war, it is the best choice to use temporary advantages to interrupt its development momentum!"

"Indeed!"

Secretary of State Elihue? Lu's head agreed.

"Since the restoration of China, its government axe-led industry has developed rapidly. From the restoration of China to October this year, China's government axe has invested more than 750 million yuan in industry, provided more than 1.15 billion yuan of industrial and commercial loans to the private sector, and invested more than 2.375 billion yuan in private industry and commerce. Yuan, which is equivalent to the sum of Japan's industrial investment in the past 20 years, China's strength is growing every day. On the contrary, they have been exhausted the last dollar by the long-lasting war between Japan and Russia. Moreover, this war is not worth the loss for Japan. They have lost all their privileges in China, and even Losing most of the Chinese market is fatal to the Japanese industry. Between the rise and the rise, the future between the two countries has actually been decided!"

Because of the reason for the Russian war, Elihu? Root also paid attention to the Chinese Empire, which took the opportunity of countries to recover in order to maintain the balance of Manchuria during the war between Japan and Russia. In his opinion, China seems to have undergone a fundamental change overnight, not only in terms of national liberation, but also in terms of thinking.

"Moreover, compared with my caution in industry, the Chinese are more willing to take risks to try. The machinery they purchase are all reading motor machinery, and the patents introduced are also emerging patents. For example, the tungsten carbide cutting tools that have just been successfully developed by German engineering and technical personnel have even been introduced during the test, and What they have in common with me is that they have continued their industrialization under the policy of "replication, improvement and innovation". Factories often buy two foreign products of the same model for testing and decomposition, and then study and improve them. This method allows it to be gradually assembled in China until it can be completely made in China. However, unlike my own slowness, the Chinese are more willing to pay a high price. While importing, they decisively introduce patents and copy them. At the same time, they hire a large number of foreign technicians, so as to hire foreign technicians. Under the guidance of the staff, localization is carried out, and at the same time, corresponding improvements are also carried out, so as to..."

"That's because Chinese people have more funds to take risks. The embassy in China sent a telegram. They can pay a tuition fee of 100 yuan first. Even if the improvement fails, they get the experience of failure, and the experience of failure also hones their technicians! Compared with the caution of other countries in adopting new technologies, China's adoption of new technologies can be called "bold" and even unscrupulous. When designing the Zhiyuan ship, they unscrupulously adopted almost all the new technologies in the world that have just been developed in recent years or even months, even if it is possible. If there is a failure, there will be no trouble!"

Paul? Morton didn't finish his words, Elihu? Root interrupted him.

"Because Chinese people believe that the first adoption of technology can ensure that they can gain certain advantages in the short term, and the technical advantages in the short term can make up for their basic disadvantages. When other countries adopt this technology, China can fully learn from it first, compared with the whole The technological progress obtained by the country, and the tuition fees paid for the use of immature technology are acceptable!"

Talk here, Elihu? Root said with emotion. "

"Unfortunately, this is not and impossible for other countries to learn. Our business owners are unwilling to waste investment on immature technology, and countries with this will are forced by financial resources to do so. Only China would rather reduce other expenses than decisively introduce them. There are many new technologies, and even many of these technologies have not been adopted in the original country of invention, at least widely adopted.

Elihu? Root's emotion made Roosevelt and Paul? Morton nodded with deep understanding. The Chinese Zhiyuan ship adopted the latest steam turbines of the United Kingdom and the United States, and it was successful. However, even in the face of the success of the Chinese navy, the U.S. Navy's shipbuilding office is still in the reliable surname of "steam turbine" and other problems. The same thing happened in the United Kingdom. New The conservative adoption of technology has made many countries lag behind China in the application of new technologies.

"Well, gentlemen, now we are not discussing what we have with China..."

When the words came to his mouth, Roosevelt quickly took the words back, the gap? Is there a gap between the United States and China? I'm afraid that the biggest gap is that China must rely on sending international students to the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom to learn the knowledge of almost all industries such as industry and technology in order to build a modern country. They can indeed be the first to adopt a certain technology than other countries, but this cannot make up for their lag on the foundation.

"What we need to discuss is the war between China and Japan, and the position that the United States should hold in this war."

"I can't help but feel that if we take advantage of this incident immediately, it can provide us with a great opportunity in the Far East."

Paul? Morton then said to Roosevelt, "This is the best time for us to get rid of Japan's threat to the interests of the United States in the Far East. If Japan's navy is hit hard, under the control of the Chinese, at least for a long time, it is impossible to threaten the interests of the United States in the Pacific Ocean, so let China and Japan go to each other like that. Let's weaken each other. Their war can at least save the United States from the current danger. But what we need to consider is that if the Chinese win a full victory, will they become the next Japanese?

"Impossible!"

Taft almost shouted this sentence, perhaps because he realized his rudeness, he turned to look at the president and said.

"Mr. President, Chinese people, they can never become Japanese. China is a huge continental country with sufficient resources and territory, which makes it impossible for them to choose to take risks to expand abroad. Moreover, as we all know, there are no expansion cells in the blood of the Chinese people, not to mention for China. As far as the country is concerned, their serious domestic problems that they have to solve themselves limit the possibility of their external expansion. It seems that they can soon have a strong industry and army, but their lack of their own foundation, domestic conservative power, and the outdated elite knowledge are all involved in the development of this country.

Taft's explanation made Roosevelt nod deeply, but he did not develop his opinion, but listened to Taft's next explanation.

"Now China, the world is willing to sell them any advanced technology, but it does not mean that they can use these technologies to surpass European and American countries. The backwardness on the basis makes everything equal to a castle built on the beach, at least in the next 20 or 30 years. Internally, it is impossible for this country to pose a real threat to the United States, but it is different. They began to solve domestic problems as early as 40 years ago, and they showed a desire to expand. It was precisely after their domestic problems were solved that they sent a large number of students to other countries to change the composition of domestic intellectual elites and introduce Foreign technology, the establishment of a modern responsible political axe, and compulsory compulsory education, without all this as support, is it possible to expand?

After a rhetorical question, Tatuf, who made a long speech, calmed down and said further when he found that the president seemed to be meditating.

"Maybe that Japan will fail in this war, but even if it fails, the threat will far exceed that of China in the next ten years. Through 40 years of development, Japan has a large number of technical personnel. They are either first-class military countries, second-rate national foundations, and third-rate industrial countries. Home, but even so, the power that Japan has shown more than a dozen years ago still far exceeds that of China. China does not have its own professors and real universities, and all this has already been owned. The defeat is only a military defeat, but it is not the defeat of the foundation of national development!"

Then Tatev further emphasized.

"The war between China and Japan will only produce benefits for the United States. A weakened Japan, a China that cannot threaten the interests of the United States in the next 30 years, and the most important thing is!"

Tatoff raised his voice with a little complament in his expression.

"In the Far East, from now on, China and Japan will become irresolved enemies."

"So your opinion is..."

After a moment of silence, Roosevelt asked in an inquiring tone.

"If Japan wins, then we must intervene to prevent China from being further weakened, so as to maintain the balance of the Far East, but the intervention is limited. We can support some conditions of Japan to ensure China's hatred of Japan. If China wins, then we must We should support China's extreme squeeze of Japan!"

Two completely different treatments made Roosevelt and others feel a little surprised. When they looked at Tatuf, they all used doubtful eyes.

"I have squeezed China twice, and squeezed China again, just to deepen hatred, but what about the original? Japan has always been friends with the strong. If China can't squeeze Japan as much as possible, then we will have to face a "China-Japanese alliance" in the Far East. At that time, the threat of the United States in the Far East will be far greater than today. Therefore, only when China's extreme pressure on Japan can the Japanese can force the Chinese not Approaching because of extreme strength will give birth to hatred. For the United States, what we need is just hatred! Only in this way can the interests of the United States in the Pacific not be damaged!"

(to be continued)