Although Aziz Pasha returned unsuccessfully when he visited Beijing, in October 1881, the Ottoman Empire still sent troops to the Balkans. The Empire's Macedonian army drove straight into the Principality of Serbia and advanced towards the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Major European countries condemned the Ottoman Empire's military operations. When the Chinese government issued a six-point statement on the Balkan situation and showed a tendency to sympathize with the demands of all Balkan nations, the principality of Serbia declared that the Grand Duke of Serbia, Milan Obrenovic IV, took office as king of the Kingdom of Serbia.

Subsequently, the Balkan alliance formed by the Principality of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Almost at the same time, in southern Africa, the Boer people announced the establishment of the Transvaal Republic. The British team began to assemble on the border between Transvaal and Orange, and then declared war on the newly established Republic of Devaal, and the Boer War officially broke out.

The Ottoman Empire received almost no external support, and the Balkan Alliance received behind-the-scenes support from European powers. For example, Bulgaria was close to Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany, and Serbia and other countries received support from Russia. In this war, the Ottoman team lost steadily, Macedonia was occupied by the Serbian and Greek coalition forces, and the Aegean islands were blocked by the Balkan Alliance navy. In February, Albania, which was ruled by Turkey for more than 400 years, declared **.

However, the successive victory of the Balkan League is obviously not in the interests of some European powers. For example, Russia does not require Bulgarian troops to arrive in Istanbul, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany believe that Serbia and Greece have close ties with the Allies, and they do not require that they dismember Turkey's territory.

Therefore, in April 1882, with the mediation of all parties, the Ottoman Empire signed a pilgrim agreement with Bulgaria, Serbia and other Balkan alliances in Vienna.

There is no doubt that the biggest beneficiary of the treaty has recovered most of the lost territory for the former overlord of the Balkan region of Bulgaria.

The Ottoman Empire lost almost all its territory in Europe in writing. In the past two or three decades, it has been difficult for the empire to effectively control these territories.

Although the Treaty of Vienna gave the Balkan nations the highest freedom, the Balkan countries were not really satisfied with it. After losing their common enemies, the contradictions between the Balkan countries gradually surfaced.

Serbia lost its Adriatic estuary and demanded Macedonia to pay compensation. Greece also sacrificed Bulgaria's interests to expand its territory, while Romania made a territorial claim against Dobrokar to Bulgaria.

When the situation in the Balkans was unpredictable, Britain and China, the two major powers in Eurasia, both focused on southern Africa and had no time to take care of the Balkan War.

Although the Boers only have hundreds of thousands of people, they are extremely brave and good at fighting, and have won victories on various fronts several times. In the first month of the war, the British army lost more than 5,000 people, which is known as the "Dark January" in the history of the British Army.

General Coley, the commander of the British army, resigned because of his defeat and resigned from his position as commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force.

Then Lord Carpenter, the most famous general in the British army, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the South African Expeditionary Force by British Prime Minister William Eult Gladstone, and was defeated. Believer sentiment rose among the British nationals. The Gladstone cabinet's policy of "carrying the war to the end" was supported.

In March, Lord Carpenter arrived in Cape Town. He brought the elite Liverpool Corps of the local Red Army, with troops from Australia, Ceylon, Canada and cavalry detachments stationed in India. By early April, the British army's troops in southern Africa increased to 190,000. Obviously, the British would win the war at all costs.

...

In the southern suburbs of the city, Dihua Spring Palace is a palace group that integrates the Central Asian Turkic style. Every spring, Dihua welcomes a festival for the celebration of the nations in the northwest, and the emperor's residence day.

Since Ye Zhao launched the Central Asian War, he has been persisting until now. Every spring, he would bring several concubines to Dihua for a period of time. Therefore, Dihua Palace is also called the "Spring Palace".

Now Ye Zhao is preparing to move the place where spring is stationed west to the city of the empire in Central Asia, such as the city of Kokhan, which is Laining City. This has a profound impact on national integration, making the various regions of the empire gradually become an indispensable part of China based on the principles of law and customs.

Ye Zhao has proposed the idea of ​​moving the residence westward, and it is expected to be held next year.

The stationed in Dihua this year is very different from previous years, that is, the commanders of the Military Commission followed the emperor to Dihua secretly. In the past half month, Dihua has become the military center of the empire.

The "Supreme Affairs Hall" of the Summer Palace was also inaugurated for the first time. This is an oval concrete glazed tile building on the banks of the artificial lake of the Summer Palace. It is exquisitely designed and has a distinct modern style. It is blended into oriental colors. It is magnificent and modern. It was designed by Zhan Tianyou, the most outstanding young designer in the empire. This architectural designer, who is just in his early twenties, is famous all over the world for designing gardens for royalty.

Inside the Political Consultative Hall is a grand venue with wall lights as gold and Chinese paintings are magnificent.

Next to the long table, on the right, the imperial generals with silver-light shining with epaulettes were Zhao Sanbao, Zheng Zewu, Lei Chong, Pei Tianqing, Ding Qimei, Liu Mingchuan and other current emperors' powers.

On the left are prime minister Li Hongzhang, speaker of the House of Representatives Zou Kaizhi, deputy prime minister Zhang Youcun and other heavyweights in the imperial political circles.

It is naturally Ye Zhao who sits in the main seat.

Looking at the civil servants and generals of the empires on both sides, Ye Zhao felt infinite emotion in his heart. It has been nearly thirty years since the uprising. Twenty-nine years ago, when he went to Shanghai for negotiations, did he think of today?

Today's issue is the most difficult path to choose after the founding of the Empire. It is a meeting that determines the rise and fall of the Empire's fortune, and a meeting that affects the future of the entire world.

"The sixth and the 13th Army have landed in Maputo and can support the Boer military operations at any time. There are nine main battleships, eighteen cruisers, ten torpedo ships and auxiliary ships, and have entered the African Strait..." Zhao Sanbao's low and powerful voice reported the recent updates of the Imperial Army and Navy.

The two armies transferred to Southern Africa were not the most elite corps of the empire, but they were stationed in tropical areas all year round. Most of the troops of the 13th Army came from Southeast Asia and South Asia, which was more suitable for the climate of Southern Africa.

"I have already planned the general military mobilization order of the entire territory of the empire, and I will only wait for His Majesty to issue it." Li Hongzhang added from the side that with the development of the situation on the European continent, Li Hongzhang's position with the military has gradually become consistent. He can't talk about the small Hong Kong Island, and he feels angry.

Ye Zhao waved his hand: "This matter is slow." The whole country is carrying out military mobilization. That is the threat of the war. Although today's wars between powerful countries are imperial wars for interests, in future history books, we must stand at the moral commanding heights and cannot leave behind the world history. This is also the responsibility for future generations. Of course, Li Hongzhang, Zhao Sanbao and others cannot realize these things now.

Ye Zhao thought about it again and said, "If the two armies are mobilized and the deployment of the African fleet, if the news is released, it is better to resolve the problem peacefully, but it is better to stay away from war."

Everyone obeyed in unison. Although the emperor said he would stay away from war, everyone knew in his heart that conflicts with the British could break out at any time.

After two humiliation of the Opium War, now we are finally going to face the world's largest power again, the Sun-Down Empire with huge and unparalleled colonies all over the world. If a war breaks out, it will be a collision between the strongest empires in the East, the collision between the invincible Red Army in the West and the invincible Emperor Yulin in the East, and the desperate battle between the world's first naval force and the thriving emerging warship armies in the East!

In the end, who will die?

...

In April 1882, the Chinese government issued a statement on Southern Africa affairs. In the statement, the Chinese government pointed out that the war between Britain and the Transvaal Republic had seriously affected the peace in southern Africa and the security situation in China's Maputoheng Province. In view of this, a total of 100,000 military forces of the two imperial corpses had entered Maputoheng Province. The armed force entered southern Africa to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the region and to safeguard the interests of the imperial citizens of the Maputoheng Province and the peace in southern Africa.

At the same time, in order to maintain the increasingly severe security freedom of navigation on the east coast of Africa, the Second Squadron of the Imperial Royal Navy China Sea Fleet has traveled to Africa to supplement the defensive power of the African Strait Fleet.

The statement also demands that Britain stop the war of aggression against the Transvaal Republic, otherwise, as the closest friend of the Transvaal Republic, China will have to consider taking further action.

For months, the British have been accusing the Chinese government of supporting the Boers' weapons and supplies through official channels. The Times criticized the incompetence and dared not to toughly respond to China's challenges. They should intercept suspicious Chinese merchant ships and cut off the Boers' channels of contact with the outside world. Obviously, the commentator still thought twenty or thirty years ago, believing that the British Empire Navy has supreme law enforcement authority in the global waters.

The Chinese government clearly declared that the Imperial Regular Army entered Africa, which was tantamount to a bombshell bomb exploded over London. The news commentators who shouted about being tough on China suddenly fell silent because they had to start thinking rationally, what would be the consequences once a war with China begins?

Facing the largest empire in Eurasia, the rational British will realize the tragic tragedy of this possible war. Regardless of whether they can finally defeat the strongest opponent the British Empire has encountered in half a century, this war is also a disaster for Britain.

However, most British citizens, because they had just experienced a "dark January", the sense of honor of the Empire that the sun never sets, made them feel warlike. In major cities such as London and Liverpool, demonstrations against Chinese people and Chinese goods began to break out.

At the same time, Hong Kong's English newspapers exclaimed, "Chinese people can build a cruiser in 10 days?" Of course, the title is a lamenting exaggeration, which refers to the data obtained after dividing the total tonnage of ships that the Empire can produce within one year by the number of days. By 1881, the annual output of the Empire's shipyards had reached 160,000 tons.

Since February, a large number of military orders have flowed into various shipyards, arsenals, and huge industrial machines in the Empire have been on full speed for the first time. In the various shipyards on the Empire coast and river bank, the roar of machines day and night is as if Europe can be heard thousands of miles away. When the Empire first showed its unparalleled industrial military potential, how could it not surprise and lament the British in Hong Kong?
Chapter completed!