Chapter 144

"The strong military man fulfilled his promise, and the democratic republic came to the ancient Eastern country"

"The Most Solid Small Step Toward Democracy - Elections in the Real Sense"

"Fifty-three percent, the Republican Party narrowly wins, Sun Baoqi wins the presidency"

"The Reality of the Republic of China……………………"

The above headlines filled the newspapers of the Republic of China in March. Although this was not a universal national election, people who saw hope were still willing to believe that this was a democratic election.

The Republican Party, which won with 53% of the votes, made this election look full of suspense. The Democratic Party did not continue the glory of the previous election in this election, with 30% of the votes lost to Sun Yat-sen University.

Wen's ambitions fell from the clouds into dust. The worst thing was that the Progressive Party only received 17% of the votes.

With Sun Baoqi officially taking office, Tang Hualong's temporary cabinet turned into a formal cabinet. After Sun Wen failed in the election, he convened a Democratic Party plenary meeting. After summing up the experience and lessons of the election failure, he traveled east to Japan in the name of inspection. Li Yuanhong

However, he continued to serve as his vice president smoothly. After the Progressive Party failed in the election, it unexpectedly collapsed. A group of influential party members announced their withdrawal from the Progressive Party. The same thing also happened to the Democratic Party, but that was when Sun Wendong

After crossing.

This phenomenon shows that there are too many speculators among political party members in this era. In fact, there is no shortage of such speculators in any era, but they only exploded during this time period.

In the one-sided democracy and applause, the losers did not resist. Many reports were published in newspapers about the Republican Party's manipulation of the election. However, these reports did not produce much effect, and were more often regarded as losers.

Not to mention Zhang's years of accumulation and control of a large amount of press resources, the Republican Party quickly overwhelmed its opponents with massive counterattacks.

The newly-appointed President Sun Baoqi delivered a speech immediately, which focused on diplomacy. He reiterated his respect for the interests of the great powers in China, and claimed to fully accept various unequal treaties and loans since the late Qing Dynasty. This speech

. It is considered that the newly established government of the Republic of China has always adopted a flattering attitude towards the great powers. Of course, some people have made different voices, such as Japan's Asahi Shimbun. They commented on this, believing that the government of the Republic of China is constantly increasing its efforts to cooperate with the great powers.

The cooperation between Germany and the United States is comprehensive. While reminding all countries to pay attention to this issue, it once again emphasized Japan's interests in China.

The British media basically adopted a positive attitude towards Sun Baoqi's speech. The increasingly tense military competition in Europe has made it difficult for the British Empire to distract from the Far East. The policy of the Whitehall dialogue is to pursue stability. This is consistent with Japan's sparing no effort to support various countries in China.

The policy of the Lu warlord is contrary to that.

Germany and the United States have both adopted a positive attitude towards China's new government, and are the first countries to recognize the government. The Russians do have ideas, but due to the ambiguous attitude of Britain, the leader in the world today, and the attitudes of Germany and the United States

Obviously, the Russians just sourly expressed the inviolability of their interests in China. As for the French, they just meant, "I'm here to make soy sauce."

The attitudes of the great powers had a lot to do with the world structure during this period. The naval competition between Britain and Germany made the British Empire unwilling to create extraneous branches. Japan, the younger brother, could not withstand the thunderous wrath of the boss, so it could only do it privately.

Some small actions. Germany and the United States are the biggest beneficiaries. Naturally, they have to sing praises for the new Republic of China government.

When the election was settled, Fang Jianxiong did not go to Beijing to join in the excitement, but went south to Shanghai.

In Wusongkou, the busy construction of the fortress battery group is still in progress. Fang Jianxiong, who is inspecting the project, is accompanied by several famous generals in history, Jiang Fangzhen, Cai E, Zhang Xiaohuai. There are also German envoy Andreas and German engineers.

Grant.

The construction of Wusongkou Fortress once caused a strong reaction from Japan. Even the United Kingdom expressed deep concern. In response to this, the National Defense Force held a press conference and gave an interesting response. "China has a long coastline, and a Wusongkou Fortress.

How many problems can be solved? Unless the Wusongkou Fortress can move freely and quickly, the only role it can play is to guard the mouth of the Yangtze River." The Japanese reaction did not stir up much trouble, especially after the Chinese government compromised on moving the capital.

After that, the British boss's attitude was very clear, warning the younger brother not to cause trouble in Japan.

"The Yangtze River Basin will be the core of China's economic development in the future, and the construction speed of Wusongkou Fort is still slow." Fang Jianxiong looked at the solid forts and expressed such emotion. The German engineer Grant's reaction was a helpless shrug.

: "Your Majesty General, I understand your feelings, but I also hope you can respect science. German technology is the best, bar none, and the best technology means a rigorous attitude."

Fang Jianxiong was very unhappy with this reaction, but there was nothing he could do about it. The Germans were not the later Chinese government officials. Although they were not merciless in asking for money, the things they built were reliable.

"According to your requirements, every fort here must be able to withstand a direct hit from a 300mm heavy artillery. This is a very high standard, so..." German engineer Grant continued his scientific discussion, Fang Jianxiong

I had no choice but to continue listening patiently. In fact, Fang Jianxiong was very happy to see the attitude of the Germans, and he would never tolerate a shoddy project.

Cai E followed him silently without saying a word. After leaving Yunnan, Cai E fell ill when he arrived in Wuhan. After several days of treatment and rest, before continuing on the road, he received a telegram asking him to come directly to Shanghai. Arrival

After Shanghai, Cai E did not see Fang Jianxiong, but was led to the hospital by the reception staff for a more thorough body examination.

Fang Jianxiong arrived in Shanghai last night. Early this morning, Cai E was taken to Wusongkou and met Fang Jianxiong. Without much nonsense, he followed to Wusongkou. After leaving the construction site of Wusongkou Fortress, he has been observing the whole process silently.

Cai E was invited to get into Fang Jianxiong's car.

Sitting in the car, Cai E couldn't wait to ask: "Fuguo, is the role of Wusongkou Fortress only to protect the Yangtze River estuary?" Fang Jianxiong smiled with satisfaction at this question, and after laughing a few times,

He showed a hint of pride and said: "Along the Yangtze River, not only Wusongkou is building fortresses, but similar fortresses are being built in Jiangyin, Madang, and Qingshan in Wuhan. Brother Songpo, why do you think this is?"

Cai E answered without thinking: "From a geographical point of view, these fortresses are aimed at Japan, and they can only be Japan."

This answer made Fang Jianxiong sigh with emotion. After all, Cai E was one of the most outstanding soldiers of this era.

"Brother Songpo, if I say that there will be a war between China and Japan, what do you think will be the outcome?" Fang Jianxiong unexpectedly asked another question. Cai E inevitably showed a shocked expression and looked at it in disbelief.

Fang Jianxiong was pondering the authenticity of this statement. But combined with the question just now, the answer seemed to be ready to come out.

Cai E couldn't help but fell into deep thought for a long time without saying anything. Fang Jianxiong was not in a hurry and patiently lit a cigarette, took a puff and threw it away. This was because he was thinking of Cai E's body.

Cai E didn't pay attention to this detail, but Jiang Fangzhen, who was sitting in the back, noticed it, frowned slightly, and said nothing. In fact, Jiang Fangzhen at this time was also waiting for Cai E's answer, which attracted him even more.

Regarding the relationship between China and Japan, Jiang Fangzhen and Fang Jianxiong had already reached an agreement, and even Zhang Xiaohuai was influenced by their views. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the construction of the National Defense Force was completely aimed at the Japanese Army.

Generally speaking, Fang Jianxiong and Jiang Fangzhen's strategies against Japan are consistent, which is to lure the enemy deep into the enemy's territory, concentrate superior forces to attack the protruding parts, make full use of the home field advantage, and make full use of sufficient strategic depth to make a fuss. This strategy is destined to be successful before the war begins.

At the beginning, in the face of Japan's powerful naval power, the eastern coast had to be sacrificed. Of course, the comparison of forces between China and Japan in this time and space was very different from the historical Anti-Japanese War period. In terms of the comparison of military forces between China and Japan,

The only one with an obvious gap is the navy. The gap with the army is not too big. Fang Jianxiong is even confident that he can surpass Japan in technical equipment within two years. Now it seems that, at least in terms of team equipment, China has surpassed Japan. At the same time,

Compared with China, Japan is still too small. Once the front line is extended, its weakness of insufficient military strength will be exposed. Fighting within China's vast territory, if Japan is smart, it can only adopt a steady attack and gradually

Cannibalization strategy.

There is a phenomenon that Jiang Fangzhen has always found difficult to understand. Every time Fang Jianxiong mentions Japan, he always uses a contemptuous tone. That kind of contempt for Japan seems to penetrate deep into his bones.

"If China and Japan go to war, it will be a protracted war. Of course, this is based on the current strength comparison between China and Japan. Japan has a mature military mobilization mechanism, and its existing military combat effectiveness is much higher than that of our army.

.Japan has developed small industries, while China is very large and has a mainly small-scale peasant economy. These objective facts determine that Japan will definitely pursue speed.

The war will be decided quickly, and as long as China drags the war into a protracted war, its special small-scale peasant economy has no economic concentration points and will not cause economic collapse due to the capture of large cities. It can be inferred that as a result of the long-term war, Japan will fall into war.

It is difficult to extricate ourselves from the quagmire. In the end, we have to make compromises, otherwise the only thing that awaits the Japanese economy is bankruptcy."

Cai E's meaning gradually became clear in his rigorous and slow tone. As a listener, Fang Jianxiong was secretly amazed. Although the meaning of this passage can only be regarded as a vague concept, he was able to achieve it in a short period of time.
Chapter completed!