Germany has never lacked ambitions. As the founding monarch of the German Empire, William Frederick Ludwig, who was called the "Prince of Butcher Shotball" before being crowned the first emperor of the German Empire, was even more lacking in ambitions. Although he was old, his ambitions in his heart expanded with the improvement of Germany's industrial strength and military strength.

He was not satisfied that Germany was just a "giant medium power". His goal was to make Germany a first-class world empire like England and establish a vast overseas colony.

For national security and severe external situations, he had to suppress his inner ambitions over the years, agree with Bismarck's proposals, develop a defensive navy in a low-key manner and agree to the "honest broker" foreign policy.

He always believed that he would not see Germany develop into the first-class world empire in his lifetime. For this reason, he expressed regret and unwillingness on various occasions. When Britain and Giriya instigated troops to invade Transvaal, although he was unwilling to destroy his relations with the Qing Dynasty, he still agreed to send troops in order to disrupt the stagnant pool and find opportunities.

The Maputo Bay Combined Fleet was wiped out, and he was completely disappointed. He didn't want God to send the opportunity to him again. However, the pusher behind this time was not England but the Qing Dynasty far away in the East.

Although he understood that the Qing Dynasty was not as kind as England, he could not curb his ambitions and was risky, but it was even more of an opportunity! If he missed this opportunity, he could not forgive himself!

What's more, even Bismarck, who has always been steadily and steadfast, is moved by it, so what reason does he have not been moved?

Despite his heartbeat, he remained calm on the surface and said: "The Qing Dynasty may help us win the friendship of Russia, but the Qing Dynasty's warships and torpedo submarines were not for free, and it would require at least hundreds of millions of gold marks."

Bismarck said without hesitation: "It is possible to issue national debts, reduce army military expenses, and negotiate with the Qing Dynasty to reduce the price as much as possible."

Nodding slightly, William then said, "What's going on in Betsonner?"

"Bezina is located in the Karahadi Basin in the middle of the South African Plateau, mainly deserts and tropical savanna, bordering Transvaal. In order to prevent it from being annexed by the Boers, the local blacks took the initiative to seek protection from the English. The British designated Bezina as a protected area, called the Bezina Reserve. Strictly speaking, it is not an English colony."

Bismarck did his homework before coming and said happily: "The Maphutin of Betzone is not far from Pretoria and Johannesburg. As the winner of this war, the Qing Dynasty asked the British to hand over Betzone to our country for the sake of Johannesburg's security. There was no difficulty."

After a pause, he continued: "As for Betuna has a diamond mine with a richer reserve than Kimberley, he should not lie with a contentment identity, and there is no need for him to lie!"

After a little silence, William said, "Where is the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy?"

Bismarck was stunned and would soon feel it, "Does His Majesty hope Austro-Hungary and Italy will also participate in the division of British colonies in South Africa?"

William laughed, "We can't let the British hatred be concentrated on us."

"The Qing people may not object." Bismarck said carefully: "However, it is hard to say whether Austro-Hungary and Italy have this courage. Of course, we can appropriately disclose some news."

Maputo, Qing army camp, headquarters, war room.

In front of the huge sand table, Feng Zicai used his hand pole to point and said slowly: "The railway repair progress is not very ideal. According to the current progress, it will take at least one month to recover Johannesburg and Pretoria..."

Speaking of this, he hesitated for a while before continuing: "The Maputo Naval Battle was a great victory, the coalition forces were disintegrated and the morale was low. In fact, there was no need to rely on the railway anymore."

Yi Zhengxing glanced at Li Hongzhang without saying a word. In fact, he also agreed with Feng Zicai's idea. In this case, there was no need to follow the railway line step by step and steadily advance, so that he could advance quickly and quickly recover Johannesburg.

Although Li Hongzhang was not clear about Yi Zhizu's overall plan for South Africa, he knew that Yi Zhizu had been delaying calling instructions for a long time, so he must have another reason. After pondering for a moment, he said slowly: "For the South African strategy, the shopkeeper will definitely consider it comprehensively. Since there is no call instructions, we don't need to be greedy for merit and make progress. According to the established plan, we should move forward steadily."

Feng Zicai felt a little anxious when he heard the words of greed for merit and arrogance. He was indeed a little anxious when he won a great victory in the naval battle. In addition, news came from Shanghai that the envoys of the five European countries seemed to have begun negotiations with the Zhennan Prince's Mansion. He was worried that the war would end and 100,000 troops would go to South Africa. If he had not fought in a battle and had not made any achievements, he would be really frustrated.

Yi Zhengxing was very clear about Feng Zicai's thoughts. After pondering for a while, he said: "The situation is changing now, so why not ask for instructions on whether it is necessary to change the established strategy."

"Okay." Li Hongzhang nodded.

Yi Zhengxing said loudly: "Just say that the naval battle is great, the morale is high, and the enemy's morale is low, so it is a good opportunity to recover Johannesburg and Pretoria. Please tell me if you can march quickly?"

Johannesburg, coalition command.

In the combat room, the commander of the coalition army and French Lieutenant General Louis Leon Sezar Federb sat alone in front of a large South Africa map with his pipe in his mouth and was silent. After the news of the annihilation of the Combined Fleet of the Maputo Bay Naval Battle came, he, the commander of the coalition army, was already in name only, and the only one who could still obey his orders was the French army.

He was not surprised at all about this situation. In South Africa, land war was not the key. The key was naval war. No matter which side controls the sea power, it means that the final victory was achieved.

The combined fleet was so large that it was wiped out in the Battle of Maputo Bay, which was equivalent to ruining all hope. How can this battle be fought? It is reasonable to fall apart in the five-nation coalition forces. In the face of a war without hope, can we still expect the five countries to be united and work closely together?

The Qing navy had such strong strength and it was sooner or later that it would be defeated. The question was what the Qing Dynasty was? Will it allow them to withdraw their troops decently through negotiations? If the Qing Dynasty had a tough attitude and the negotiations broke down, the war would be likely to continue.

It is certainly a joy to be able to withdraw the troops with a decent withdrawal, but if we continue to fight, how should we deal with it? Should we retreat? Or fight to the death? With the coalition forces and existing supplies, if we can work together, we still have the power to fight, unless the Qing army continues to increase its troops. Of course, according to his opinion, it is better to retreat. Even if we fight to the death, it will be meaningless.

Nowadays, this situation of not advancing or retreating is the most difficult, but there is no way to do it, it can only be a passive wait and wait for the outcome of the negotiation.

Shanghai, British Consulate General in Shanghai.

In the office, Witoma sipped a cup of bitter and astringent coffee in small sips. Compared to coffee, he felt even more bitter. Yuanqi was not opposed to negotiating a truce, but the conditions proposed were unacceptable. The 50 million pounds of war reparations were not included, and Durban and the occupied Indian territory were also required to be ceded. All prisoners of war also needed high redemption.

The British Empire could not accept such humiliating conditions. He was lazy to report to London. It was impossible for the country to agree at all. Instead, he might be angry. He could not imagine what the consequences would be if he continued to fight?

In his opinion, Yuan Qi had no sincerity to cease the war, or it was said that the Qing Dynasty did not want to stop in South Africa. If this were the case, it would be a big problem.

Consul Mai Huatuo whispered: "Yuan Qi seems to be trying to win over Germany?"

"There will be no result." Weituma shook her head slowly.

"Tu tuk tuk" a light knock on the door, and Witoma turned his head and said, "Please come in."

A counselor pushed the door open and reported: "The French minister came to visit."

"Please go to the small reception room." Witoma said and stood up. Yuanqi made the same condition for France to pay 50 million pounds of war reparations, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy had 30 million pounds of war reparations. The other party must have come to discuss countermeasures.

After entering the small living room, I greeted him politely for a few greetings. The French minister Baohai said directly: "The ministers of Austro-Hungary and Italy have both gone to the German consulate. The Qing people should have intended to differentiate us. I think that the Qing people do not intend to stop easily this time..."

After pondering for a moment, Vitoma said, "I think we might as well think from a different perspective, why did the Qing Dynasty separate and alienate us?"

After listening to the translation, Baohai frowned slightly. Indeed, when he completely controlled the sea power, the Qing army could be said to have established an absolute advantage. In this case, why should they be divided and alienated? He said carefully: "Your Excellency, the Qing Dynasty does not want the war in South Africa to continue?"

"It should be said that the Qing Dynasty wanted to expand its interests in South Africa, but did not want to continue to expand the war." Weituma said slowly: "That was the Qing Dynasty who won over Germany and then divided our five-nation coalition forces. This was to obtain the greatest benefits at the lowest cost."

Baohai said with a worried look: "Is there a way to stop the three countries of Germany, Austria and Italy from turning to the Qing Dynasty?"

"Then you have to find out how much benefit the Qing Dynasty promised to the Three Kingdoms." Weitoma said with a gloomy face.

"I think there is another key." Baohai said quietly: "Can the Qing fleet be stopped from entering Europe and burn the war to the localities of various countries."

Coercion and temptation are two aspects. Compared with temptation, temptation is the main one. Now that the elite troops of the five countries have been lost, the Qing fleet can be said to be invincible in the world. Once the Qing fleet comes to the door, it will definitely be a catastrophic consequence. Even without temptation, Germany, Austria and Italy will not be willing to deteriorate to this extent.

"The Qing fleet cannot go on an expedition to Europe!" Weituoma said firmly: "The Qing fleet is all pure steam-powered ironclad ships. When expeditioning to Europe, coal supply is required along the way, but the farthest naval base in the Qing Dynasty is Maputo. If you want to go on an expedition to Europe, you must carry a huge fleet of transport ships, which is unrealistic.

In addition, the large-scale severe drought in the northern part of the Qing Dynasty has lasted for five years, greatly consuming the manpower, material resources and financial resources of the Qing Dynasty. Although there are signs of ease this year's drought, with the current situation of the Qing Dynasty, it is absolutely impossible to support a large-scale expedition!"

This is the truth. Although the Qing naval fleet has strong combat power, it lacks the necessary supply bases along the way to expedition to Europe. Under such circumstances, it is absolutely not daring to make a large-scale expedition.

Baohai nodded slightly and felt relieved. What the Qing Dynasty could threaten them was nothing more than two aspects. One was that the fleet was expeditioning to Europe and harassing the local coastal ports of various countries, and the other was the army of various countries in South Africa.

The five-nation coalition forces had a force of more than 300,000 in South Africa. After losing the power to control the sea, it would be equivalent to cutting off supplies. However, if the five countries could work together, they could deal with the Qing Dynasty for a long time. It can be said that it would be easy for the Qing army to recover Transvaal, but it would definitely not be an easy task to eliminate more than 300,000 coalition forces. Even if they could, they would have to pay a huge price and a long time.

German Consulate, Hongkou, Huangpu Road, Shanghai.

German Momo in China smiled and made a somewhat stiff gesture to the ministers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy sitting opposite him, "This is the very famous Fujian Dahongpao, which is in the Qing Dynasty. Let's try it."

Italian Minister Lu Jiade said with disrespect: "I'm not used to drinking tea and I'm not in the mood."

Mumo smiled, picked up the blue and white tea cup and took a sip of tea with a faint fragrance like amber, and said slowly: "In my opinion, this South African war is actually just a war between the Qing Dynasty and England. We were only brought in because of our greed for the Transvaal gold mine."

Rostoon, the Minister of Austro-Hungarian Empire to China, said straight away: "The conditions for the ceasefire proposed by the Qing Dynasty are too harsh, and we cannot accept the war reparations of 30 million pounds."

Lu Jiade continued: "I wonder if your country needs to pay war reparations?"

"The war reparations should be, but they have not been mentioned yet." Mumo said truthfully: "The Qing Dynasty needs to make a deal with our country." After a pause, he said: "The Qing Dynasty needs to weaken Britain's power in South Africa and hopes that our country will cooperate to take over the Beginner District."

After listening to the translation, Lu Jiade and Rostoon couldn't help but look at each other, and their eyes were full of surprise. Deal? This is simply a pie that fell from the sky! Lu Jiade asked anxiously: "What are the conditions?"

"There is no conditions." The smile on Mumo's face did not hide his complacent, "In the battle of Maputo, our country was the first to make the right choice."

Lu Jiade said dissatisfiedly: "It should be that our three countries have made the right choice!"

Mumo smiled, "If you dare to participate in dividing the British colonies in South Africa, the Qing Dynasty would definitely not refuse."

"Why don't you dare?" Lu Jiade said without hesitation: "Now English is no longer the maritime overlord hesitation!"
Chapter completed!