1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Please be merciful and sympathize with Japan's small country and small population. 10 billion is too much for Japan to bear."

"Impossible, this is the bottom line of the Chinese Empire. Japan must pay the price for its mistakes."

"General Xu, I would like to meet His Majesty the Great Emperor of the Celestial Empire. Japan is willing to pay tribute to the Celestial Empire."

"That's another matter. We are talking about the issue of war reparations. Moreover, we have no vassal states. The vassal system has been sent into history by Japan itself!"

"I beg the Chinese Empire to lift the trade blockade. Japan has already experienced famine and urgently needs to import essential supplies such as food and medicine."

"This is part of the specific battle. Unless Japan starts to disarm from now on, it can only be lifted after the treaty is officially signed. Otherwise, what if Japan uses these supplies to supply the army?"

"Japan cannot accept such a huge amount of war reparations, please..."

In the afternoon negotiations, Hioki kept smiling, pretending to be pitiful, and asking for mercy.

The language was so sad that all the mediating countries and reporters present were moved. Many Chinese reporters even felt that the imperial government was a bit too much.

After the report was sent out, many Chinese scholars also felt the same way. Under the guidance of some people, they even launched a petition to ask the government to give up the compensation.

"Commander, look at what the newspaper described you as? The whole article said that you bully others by taking advantage of your power." Chen Chunshao from the social science group smiled and handed the newspaper to Xu Sunming.

"These reporters have nothing to do all day long. They say things without evidence and rely on imagination. There is a long way to go to rectify the newspaper industry!" The staff sighed.

"If there is nothing interesting to write, how can anyone buy newspapers? As long as newspapers are still a profitable business, this matter will not be easy to handle." Xu Sunming shook his head and read the newspaper with interest.

"There must be someone behind these petitioners to organize, otherwise, with the awareness of those old scholars, they can't think of, can't do, and dare not do these things." Xu Sunming looked at Chen Chunshao.

"My colleagues in the security department said that they have arrested several Western advocates. It is not illegal to advocate, but spreading rumors, organizing crimes, and investigating secrets are crimes of espionage and treason." Chen Chunshao nodded.

"These termites..." Xu Sunming shook his head and sighed.

"The matter on the Japanese side is almost over. We can talk one or two more times at most. When they see that we are indifferent, they will make substantial concessions."

"When they make concessions, we will exert pressure to maximize our interests. We will gather the 1st and 2nd Battleships, plus the Java Island battleship, and prepare to assemble a deterrent."

"Since this matter can be resolved quickly, we will resolve it quickly. After that, we will invest our energy in domestic construction."

Xu Sunming put down the newspaper and said seriously.

The Japanese are very soft on the surface. They say everything about the Celestial Empire and vassal states, but they are determined to pay 100 million yuan in compensation.

If it is a normal negotiation, this is normal. Negotiations are not just about talking.

But this is not a normal negotiation. Japan has almost agreed to China's armistice conditions and urgently needs China to open up trade channels.

At the last meeting, Japan has agreed to the second compensation plan of the Huaxia Empire, and it can be learned through the intelligence department's news network that Japan has dispersed and it is almost impossible to restart the war.

On the whole, the think tank can determine that this is Japan's last struggle. The tough attitude at this time is a manifestation of their urgent need to win possible concessions from the Huaxia Empire.

Yes, toughness does not mean that you must be sharp in tone and arrogant in attitude to be tough. As long as you stick to your own requirements, it is also tough.

Although Japan has said everything verbally, calling it the Celestial Empire and paying tribute, its meaning is basically equivalent to chasing Huaxia and calling it daddy.

They have cried and made trouble, but the Japanese interest line has not changed at all. They have been talking about compensating 100 million, and they have said that they can add tens of millions.

This is also a tough withdrawal. If it is weak, it should be constantly increasing the stakes and cooperating with various behaviors at the same time.

So, it is not that the tone is tough, it depends on how they do it.

If Japan is not eager for success, there is no need to do this. It only needs to make a fuss, drag the negotiations after making some trouble, and then use tricks.

For example, this petition is a standard trick, using public opinion pressure to make China back down.

If both sides drag it out for a few months or even one or two years, the final result should be much smaller than 10 billion.

Unfortunately, the Japanese have no time.

…………

Three days ago, the British officially put tanks into use.

With the Chinese Empire tracked armored vehicle as a comparison, and the engine purchased from China, this Mark 1 tank is no longer the strange parallelogram with a flywheel.

Well, according to the British aesthetics of war weapons, the Mark 1 has become an inverted trapezoid, with a part of the front of the car extended like the Mark 11, forming an inclination, and the rear of the car is a large box close to a right angle, and the tracks on both sides are slightly rounded.

The track layout combines the shapes of the original Mark 1 tank and the Little Nomad tank. It can be imagined as an inverted trapezoidal box with two tracks on both sides.

The body is 2 meters high, 8 meters long at the top, 6 meters long at the bottom, 5 meters wide, weighs 36 tons, and the armor is still 6 mm.

It can be said that this data is much larger than the original Mark 1, including 3D data and weight.

As the tonnage increases, the armament naturally increases.

Equipped with 1 short-barreled 76mm cannon and two 37mm rapid-fire cannons. The 76mm cannon is above the front of the vehicle, without a turret, and the left and right firing range is 3 degrees.

The 37mm cannon is on both sides of the vehicle body, just like the original layout 1, with a cannon.

There is only 1 machine gun, at the front of the vehicle, below the left side of the 76mm cannon.

Of course, the British Empire still did not give up the involvement of male and female double evil spirits. The above is the data of the male tank. There is also a female one. The front of the vehicle is a 37mm rapid-fire cannon, carrying 5 machine guns, two on both sides and one on the front.

Influenced by the use of armored vehicles in the Huaxia Empire, the UK used tanks as infantry accompanying firepower and planned to provide close-range fire support in field battles.

The female tank is an adaptive improvement to the First World War. The 76mm cannon is not very useful in trenches, and the role of machine guns is more valued, reducing the armed forces and strengthening the front armor.

Its tactical goal is to provide sufficient machine gun fire suppression after breaking through the barbed wire to gain opportunities for infantry attacks.

It is equipped with an 8-cylinder 14-liter luxury engine used by BMW Automobile Engine Factory. BMW usually puts this engine in large luxury cars because it is very large.

This engine can provide 154 horsepower of surging power. Using the tractor transmission system, under the "abundant" power, the Mark 1 tank can reach 11 kilometers per hour on a flat road and 7 kilometers per hour off-road.

The new tank, which has better performance than the original Mark 1 tank, should be able to make a better record, but it did not.

The British just put 24 tanks into the Verdun battlefield to cooperate with two brigades to attack the German flank.

The early stage was smooth sailing. In just one hour, the British broke through an offensive position and a line of defense on the German flank, advanced a full 3 kilometers, defeated two German regiments, and only suffered about 100 casualties.

The British did not encounter much resistance in the next two hours. They advanced a full ten kilometers, and then stopped, waiting for the follow-up troops to catch up, otherwise they would be out of touch.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the tanks continued to attack after resting and replenishing maintenance, and ran into the German artillery group's covering bombardment.

The 6mm side armor could not stop the damage of shrapnel at medium and close range. After the shelling, 24 tanks lost 15, of which 11 were seriously damaged and had to be towed back for repair.

However, the British did not get angry, they still had 54 tanks in the rear.

The next morning, 63 Mark 1 tanks rushed to the German position with 3 divisions. In order to avoid being bombarded, the tanks were distributed very scattered.

Then, the British heard the familiar roar of the engine.

The Germans called it an artillery armored vehicle, but the German tanks, which were actually light tanks, also appeared on the battlefield.

It was 5 meters long, 8 meters wide and 1 meter high, equipped with a 100-horsepower Daimler water-cooled engine, 6 to 18 mm armor, equipped with a 37 mm gun, and a water-cooled machine gun. The artillery firing range was 4 degrees left and right, the road speed was 14 kilometers per hour, and the off-road speed could reach 10 kilometers per hour.

Overall, it looks like a box with a thin tube inserted in the front.

This is an infantry accompanying weapon developed by the Germans based on the data and technology obtained from the various weapons technologies, strategies and tactics and intelligence transactions with the Huaxia Empire.

The Germans saw at first glance that this armored vehicle equipped with artillery (the Germans still think it is an armored vehicle) is an excellent infantry accompanying firepower and breakthrough weapon. Before the war, the Germans started to develop it, hoping to use it in the Schlieffen-Little Moltke Offensive.

At the beginning of the war, the Germans had produced 8 prototypes and achieved a little success in the initial offensive, but then disappeared.

Because the Germans found that they could not adapt to the muddy battlefield environment, the complex mechanical structure was very easy to malfunction (German standard), and it was difficult to have a suitable repair time during the assault.

After that, Germany fought smoothly, and they didn't think about the artillery armored vehicles that were pulled back to the rear after breaking down.

Until recently, when the Germans began to anxiously seek victory, they remembered these weapons and sent them to the front line in the spirit of waste utilization.

Verdun was the main battlefield, and 16 vehicles were allocated. The German army used them as communication vehicles. After all, the 37mm gun was too small to play a role, and the weak armor could not withstand the attack of shelling fragments - these were verified by the Germans.

However, the British put the tanks into the attack, which made the German generals think that they had similar things, and there was a 37mm gun on it, so they simply sent them out.

Then, the world's first tank battle appeared like this...

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