Chapter 324 Waiting

In January 1915, although Beijing was not as cold as some areas in the Northeast, it was almost filled with snow (Mohe Town in Heilongjiang, the coldest area in China, more than minus 50 degrees below zero). However, it is still appropriate to add the word "snow" to the four words "snow".

However, although the weather is very cold, the government has renovated a small part of the urban area in the past few months, and now a very small part of the urban area has used heating. Therefore, it is naturally very cold outside, but the indoor room is very warm.

Of course, since a very small part of the heating is used, the "extreme" part outside will definitely not be used. However, because the "agricultural tax", "lijin" and various miscellaneous taxes are all exempted, and many factories have been built in the areas around Beijing, including Tianjin. Many people around Beijing have also gone to factories to work, so they can buy some charcoal fires that they can't afford in the past, so that their families can't be hot and warm in winter.

As for those bannermen who have always been lazy, even at this time, and those people who are really difficult to live, the government has also sent some of them.

Of course, the one who gave was not charcoal. After all, the government's finances have been a little nervous recently. But it was just a few bundles of firewood, so this is still affordable...

It’s just winter? Although the winter in Beijing is not as cold as in the Northeast, it can still have a temperature of minus ten or twenty degrees.

On one side is the warm and peaceful house, and on the other side is the outside of the snow and ice. As long as you are an individual, you can probably choose.

What's more, cold weather can make people lazy.

However, when the people in Beijing were hiding in the house, they found that there were many people outside the house busy. Especially those people living near Guoshe Avenue, those black cars affiliated with the government were in and out in a constant stream.

Many people held their wives and children, and sat curiously by the window looking at the car that had to enter and exit almost every two or three minutes. Those who felt a little more sensitive understood that something must have happened.

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In the Presidential Palace, all kinds of people, all kinds of people, are busy entering and leaving.

There are both government officials and middle and low-level military officers. Not only are they different identities, but they even wear different clothes. The only thing that is the same between the two is probably the busy expression on their faces.

"Old Zhang, what do you think they are so busy?" Outside the gate of the Presidential Palace, several guards looked at the officials of all sizes who were even rushing to walk. One of the guards said curiously. "Look at it, those who are wearing military uniforms and the smallest ranks are all colonels."

What the guards saw, his companions naturally saw it.

However, the declaration of war on Turkey has so far been a very confidential matter. Within the government, only military and political officials who are related to it and have a high enough status know it. So no matter how curious these guards are, they cannot know the truth.

What's more, now it's not just them who are curious, but even the Japanese are curious. After the war in Shandong ended, what did the Chinese make such a big fanfare? Could it be that they want to drive away the Japanese's forces in the Northeast?

Just when the Japanese were shocked by the result they had come up with, and even secretly decided that as long as China did this, they would fight against China to the end, officials of all sizes in the Presidential Palace were still preparing for the Caucasus.

"Juncheng, when will the Dilan Railway be opened to traffic at the earliest?"

Standing in front of the world map on the table, Yan Guang looked at the map that belonged to Xinjiang and Central Asia, while asking Zhan Tianyou standing beside him.

And beside Yan Guang, although Zhan Tianyou was a little reluctant, he still answered.

"For the Dilan Railway, more than 20% of the construction has been built. If the government can increase its support, it will not give a definite time, but it will definitely speed up the current construction speed..."

"Okay." Yan Guang ignored Zhan Tianyou's reluctance and nodded directly. "Since that's the case, you can go back to the Ministry of Railways to count it later. Let me tell me how many resources you need..."

"But the President, now not only needs to prepare for the preparations for participating in the European War, but also needs to quell the losses caused by the Shandong Battle. Now he needs to increase investment in the Dilan Railway..." At this point, although Xu Shichang was also a cunning person, his eyes were somewhat flashing. "Now, if he wants to increase investment in the Dilan Railway, the government really can't afford to pay..."

"is that so?"

After hearing what Xu Shichang said, Yan Guang looked at Song Dinghan with some confusion.

Although things are definitely not as Xu Shichang said, Song Dinghan still cooperates very well.

"Yes, there is not much money left in the treasury now, and the remaining little money should not be easily moved..."

The truth is that the government has done too much recently, so there is indeed not much surplus grain in the treasury. However, although there is not much left, it is relative to the government's annual fiscal revenue of more than 700 million yuan. Therefore, although there is not much surplus grain in the treasury, it is enough to build one or two Dilan railways...

It’s just that poor Song Dinghan, a person who rarely lies in his life, has to lie once in order to cooperate with Zhan Tianyou and Xu Shichang...

"That's how..."

Xu Shichang, a cunning figure who has passed by in the officialdom, will not even change his expression when he lies. Such a person lies in front of Yan Guang, although his eyes are a little flashing, he cannot tell at Yan Guang's level.

But in the end, Yan Guang still noticed it a little, not because of Xu Shichang, but because of Song Dinghan...

That's right, Xu Shichang is indeed an old man who has been in the officialdom for a long time. He didn't know how many lies he had told in the past. Now even if he lies in front of Yan Guang, it is not easy to be exposed.

But Song Dinghan...

Compared with Xu Shichang, Song Dinghan has just entered the officialdom for a while. Moreover, Song Dinghan's personality is a bit old-fashioned, and there will naturally be many unnatural places when lying. And even Yan Guang can see these unnatural places.

But although he saw it, Yan Guang didn't care at all, nor did he think about pursuing anything, but said casually.

"Since that's the case, I will pay for all the investment in Dylan Railway. Just talk to me about how much it will cost..."

Hearing Yan Guang say this, Xu Shichang and Song Dinghan closed their eyes in annoyance. Zhan Tianyou even slapped his forehead hard. The sound made attracted the attention of countless people around him.

After all, they calculated it, but they forgot to count Yan Guang's "big dog" character. They also forgot that although the money for building the Dilan Railway was a lot, it was nothing to Yan Guang...

"Isn't it just tens of millions of dollars? As long as the railway can be repaired, I won't feel sorry for throwing out hundreds of millions of dollars!"

When Xu Shichang saw that "crying poor" was useless, he had to do something practical...

"This, President, will the Dylan Railway really be connected to the Central Asia Railway in the end?"

"In the final stage, the Dylan Railway must be connected to the Central Asia Railway."

"this…"

After hearing Yan Guang say this, Xu Shichang and the others looked at each other, but in the end they had nothing to say...

Seeing Xu Shichang and the others' appearance, Yan Guang also shook his head.

He is not a fool, so he naturally knows what Xu Shichang and the others are worried about.

When Jiang Baili, Song Dinghan and others announced that they would choose the Turks as their European rivals, Jiang Baili, Song Dinghan and others had no objection.

Although the information of the Ottoman Empire was a bit off, it was not without it. According to the information of the Military Intelligence Bureau, although the military strength of the Ottoman Empire was good, it had almost no industrial capacity. Overall, it was the weakest among the allies.

Without industrial capabilities, the Ottoman Empire's ability to last war will be greatly weakened.

Especially in recent times, the Russians have just annihilated the Seventh Army of the Ottoman Empire on the Caucasus battlefield, causing the Turks to lose more than 70,000 people in the battle.

At present, the elite Russians are all on the Eastern Front battlefield, fighting against the German and Austrian coalition forces on the Eastern Front battlefield. On the Caucasus battlefield, they are only second-level "gray animals". It can be seen that although the Turks have certain strength, they are not very strong.

In fact, during this period, a large part of the ammunition supply required by the Ottoman Empire was sent to Turkey through neutral Romania. Until Romania closed the canal in June 1915, the Allies and Allied Powers put pressure on Bulgaria to join the war. On August 15, 1915, when the British and French coalition forces failed in the Dardanelles, Germany won Bulgaria...

If Bulgaria had not joined the Allies' camp, the Ottoman Empire in history would have been in a desperate situation of running out of ammunition and food. After all, during the European War, not only did the Russians launch an attack in the Caucasus region, but even the British landed in Iraq.

Cai E and Jiang Baili were still very satisfied with such an opponent.

Moreover, at the beginning, only three A-type infantry divisions were sent to the Caucasus region. The mission was only to cooperate with the local Russian army to reduce the pressure on the Russian army, and at the same time understand and adapt to the situation on the Caucasus battlefield.

After these three infantry divisions gained a foothold in the Caucasus battlefield and also understood the actual combat effectiveness of the Turkish army, they sent a large number of national defense forces to the Caucasus battlefield.

In this way, things will naturally be foolproof.

After all, the Caucasus region is thousands of miles apart from China, and the Ministry of Defense does not understand the situation there at all, and it is impossible to get the same supply support as in China. Fortunately, the Turkish army is not as difficult as the Japanese, so it doesn’t matter even if there is some lack of supply.

What's more, it was a year or two to send troops to the Caucasus region. When a large number of troops were sent to the Caucasus battlefield, they would fully undertake the Russian army's mission in the Caucasus region. I'm afraid that the Dylan Railway has been almost completed.

At that time, as long as the Dilan Railway and Russia's Central Asia Railway were opened to traffic, the logistics problems would basically be solved.

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As for the matter of the Dilan Railway, Xu Shichang and Song Dinghan did not object. After all, if the Dilan Railway can be built, it can also strengthen the government's rule over the Xinjiang region, and there will be no need for the former Xinjiang governor. The current Xinjiang Governor Yang Zengxin is alone there to face the pressure from the Russians.

Therefore, what Xu Shichang and the others opposed was not the construction of the railway. In fact, if it was just the construction of the Dilan Railway, Xu Shichang and the others still supported it. After all, the construction of the railway is also a good thing. For this matter, Xu Shichang and Song Dinghan were even willing to save money between their teeth.

What they opposed was simply connecting the Dylan Railway to Russia's Central Asia Railway...

"The Central Asia Railway is connected to the Dilan Railway..."

If the construction of the Dilan Railway was to strengthen the government's rule over Xinjiang and to prevent the erosion of the Russians, then what is the difference between connecting the built Dilan Railway and the Central Asia Railway and attracting wolves into the house?

When it really comes to that time, when the European War is over, the Russians can even take the train directly into Xinjiang. Wouldn’t that be a stone shot in the foot?

Because of this incident, almost all the military and political officials who supported Yan Guang's declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire shook their heads against each other. Some officials even suggested that even the Dilan Railway should not be built, so as not to be able to directly invade Gansu through the Dilan Railway. It can be seen that the experience of the past few decades has indeed made the government officials understand the greed of the "polar bear" for the land.

The officials who made such opinions were naturally scolded. After all, it would be fine if you were afraid of Russians, but you wouldn't be afraid of not even building a railway, right?

However, what they said was the truth, and it was the voice of many officials in the government and even many generals in the army.

Although at this time, the National Defense Force defeated the Japanese army in Shandong, the Shandong Defense Force not only had the advantage of military strength, logistics, but also firepower. Especially in terms of equipment, it was simply bullying the poor Japanese Army.

But the Russians are different from the Japanese. Although Russia lost to Japan during the Russo-Japanese War, it was because the Russians were restrained by the British at that time. Moreover, Siberia is indeed too far from Moscow.

As for Xinjiang now, it is not far from Russia, especially once the Dylan Railway and the Central Asia Railway are opened, it will be much more convenient for the Russians to act in the future.

"It's so distressing..."

Although Yan Guang knew what would happen in the future, Yan Guang could not explain it to his subordinates. He could not say, "Actually, I am a person a hundred years later. I have traveled back in time, so I know many things in the future, such as the First World War and World War II, the collapse of Tsarist Russia and the founding of the Soviet Union..."

Even if Yan Guang said that it was his own personal prediction, it would not work. After all, the content of the prediction will happen in the next few years, and now it is unreliable no matter how you look at it.

In the end, when there was no choice, Yan Guang had to use his own order to suppress the matter directly.

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"It's so unlucky..."

Yan Guang himself was also very upset when he looked at those subordinates who had to execute because of his orders but did not support his own subordinates at all.

But there was no way, because he could not explain the truth to his subordinates at all. But he had to do so, because if the plan was successful, the benefits that could be obtained would be too huge...

"Iraq…"

“Kuwait…”

And the entire Central Asia...

No matter which of the above three regions can be put into the hands, it will be enough to benefit China in the next hundred years.
To be continued...