There has never been any friendship between countries.
Only benefits are eternal.
"The French want to buy Gatling guns?"
Zhu Xianhai, who was sitting behind his desk, glanced at the official documents on the table without raising his head. Almost subconsciously, what was on his mind was rejection.
After all, even he didn't expect that machine guns would be so powerful in this era.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zuo Zongtang replied.
"The French side claimed that the relationship between them and Prussia is becoming increasingly tense. Out of security needs, they have made a request to purchase 300 Gatling cannons and 3 million rounds of artillery shells. They are willing to pay a 60% deposit!"
The French are quite generous!
Zhu Xianhai thought this in his heart, but he did not answer immediately. Instead, he thought for a while before speaking.
"Ji Gao, what do you think?"
Different from being arbitrary in the past, now he hopes to seek the opinions of his subordinates when making some decisions.
After all, this is also the role of the think tank and subordinates. The three stooges are the same as Zhuge Liang, not to mention Zuo Zongtang himself has the reputation of Jin Liang. There is absolutely no problem in asking for his opinion.
"Well, because of our friendship with France, I think there is no obstacle to selling artillery and artillery shells to France. The key issue is that there is a conflict between France and Prussia. If France is defeated, it may not be a problem for us.
A good thing!”
Not only did Zuo Zongtang not think it was a big deal for France to sell such a military weapon, he even worried about France's safety.
"Oh? So you think France can't win?"
Zhu Xianhai asked curiously.
Not only now, but also in the past few years, no one in the world would doubt that a war would break out between France and Prussia. Starting in 1866, France and Prussia began to provoke each other repeatedly, and the succession to the Spanish throne was just a further intensification of the contradiction.
That's all.
But at the moment, no one seems to have doubted that the French can win. After all, France has been the second most powerful country in the world for many years. Prussia or the North German Union is just a "small country" that has just emerged. Its industrial economy is far from being comparable to that of France.
compared to.
Almost no country thought that France might lose to Prussia, at least for the time being. All countries held the same view.
"Your Majesty, don't you also have a corresponding judgment? The North German Confederation, led by Prussia, has far greater mobilization capabilities than France. In comparison, France not only lags behind in military equipment and mobilization capabilities, but even the domestic political situation is extremely unstable. Last year
During the French parliamentary election, demonstrators sang the Marseillaise and shouted slogans "Long Live the Republic" everywhere in the streets of Paris. In the end, out of a total of 283 seats, the liberals won 120, becoming the largest party in the parliament, and the Republicans also won
30 seats - you know, this is the result of the various pressures exerted by the imperial government on voters. If there is internal instability and the top and bottom cannot be united, how can it be possible to defeat foreign enemies?"
Nodding slightly, Zhu Xianhai motioned for Zuo Zongtang to continue.
"Even if France can divert its internal attention through war and needs a war, France can never be Prussia's opponent. France has a standing army of 400,000 people, while its opponent Prussia has 300,000 people. It seems that France has more troops.
Advantages However, the French army is highly professional. The seven-year service period and the continuous re-employment system left France with almost no reservists. When the war came, half of the soldiers in the French army were returning soldiers-the service period was up to seven years.
Twenty-one years."
Before Zuo Zongtang's experience in Europe, he did not just go around and watch the news. He not only went deep into parliaments to watch the decisions of various parliaments, but also went into cities, residential areas, factories, schools and other places to gain an understanding of all aspects.
"His opponent, Prussia, put all men over the age of twenty into the army through a three-year military service system. After they retired, they served four years as reserves and another five years as reservists. This made Prussia
It can mobilize 400,000 reservists and 500,000 reservists in wartime, reaching a huge scale of 1.2 million people. This does not include the army of the North German Alliance!"
Reserve!
This is the most successful part of Prussia's military reform, and Nanhua implemented the same system, even further than Prussia - all men must receive military training, basically all men are soldiers, even women, among new immigrants
Education camps require live-fire training.
"Your Majesty, the reason why we were able to defeat Argentina was not because of how advanced our weapons were. The most important thing is that from the beginning to the end, Nanhua maintained an absolute advantage in military strength. Even until Argentina's demise, we still had 200,000 troops.
There is no rush to enter the battlefield, and we can mobilize more than one million troops at any time if necessary."
Zuo Zongtang looked at His Majesty. Nanhua's mobilization system was created by His Majesty. It was even better than the Prussian-style mobilization system. If Nanhua were to be in Southeast Asia, not as far away as South America, with millions of troops marching north,
That must be...China will be restored!
"Prussia could mobilize millions of troops, but France could not. Although Neal's military reforms in 1868 tried to establish a Prussian-style mobilization mechanism in France. However, because some people were worried about the strengthening of communist politics, the Mobile Guard was eventually established.
It is forbidden to be transferred away from the source of troops, and the number is now scarce. There are only 90,000 people at most. France can only rely on the standing army. Once the war breaks out, or France can win in the early stage, France will definitely collapse against Prussia and Prussia.
Under the crushing force of millions of troops from the North German Alliance! Because Prussia’s reserves will defeat them!”
Due to France's fatal strategic mistakes, they did not even survive the initial stage! They were simply thrown into the French trap. But this was only the first time. Decades later, the French would be honored to extract the "milk method" again.
Of course, by that time, they have become numb and have become accustomed to it.
It's just a failure. No big deal.
After thinking for a while, Zhu Xianhai said,
"Your judgment is that France's failure is not good for us, right?"
"Your Majesty, by carving up Paraguay and Uruguay with Brazil, we won about ten years of development. However, the peace of South America depends on the old European empires. Once France is defeated, the balance of power in Europe will be broken. Without France,
Will the UK set its sights on us and break the balance and peace between us and Brazil? These are all unknowns, and as far as national development is concerned, the unknown is the most terrifying!"
He glanced at Zuo Zongtang with admiration. At this moment, Zhu Xianhai knew that he had not chosen the wrong person. The purpose of sending him abroad for inspection was to let him understand the world. Facts have proved that Zuo Zongtang did it. Now
Zuo Zongtang is no longer the Zuo Zongtang in history. He has a clear understanding of the current world and can make relatively accurate judgments in a chaotic world.
"But, based on your analysis, the French cannot win! Their only hope is that the revenge-hungry Denmark and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will attack Prussia from behind. However, it seems that the French have not taken any action in this regard."
"Your Majesty, no matter Denmark or Austria-Hungary, no matter how deep their hatred is between them and Prussia, they will not help the French until the French have gained the advantage. They will only stand on the side of the winner. We must do
Yes, we must do everything possible to help France before they fail!"
Taking a deep breath, Zuo Zongtang said,
"I have read a report from the staff. The staff is also worried that France will fail at the beginning of the war. In this case, not only will the empire collapse, but we will also lose a strong ally."
Zhu Xianhai was stunned by Zuo Zongtang's words, and then said.
"Report from the General Staff?"
Zhu Xianhai said.
"Yes, this is a report written by several young officers after returning from an inspection tour in France. Your Majesty, if we want to keep France, we must consider aiding France to fight against Prussia!"
Zuo Zongtang answered bluntly, without the reports of those young officers as a basis, he would not be able to give such a firm answer as now.
"The reports of several young officers? Are you saying that they also believe that France will definitely fail?"
"Yes, they not only thought France would be defeated, but that it would be defeated very quickly."
Zhu Xianhai raised his eyebrows and said.
"Call them over. I want to see these officers."
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
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