Expedition to Europe

When the time entered 1918, the world war had reached its end.

The Allies launched several offensives in 1917, although it seemed to have wins and losses, at least they maintained an offensive posture. Moreover, because of the two victories won by Qin Zhiyuan's Foreign Legion, it seemed that the situation was advantageous.

However, Nivelle and Haig's rash offensive caused great casualties to the British and French armies. Coupled with the collapse and reorganization of the Italian front, the Allies did not swallow up Germany's strength in one bite.

Although the Germans felt tired, they were not completely desperate. Ludendorff continued to brainwash the country. The Germans generally believed that as long as they made a little more effort, Germany would occupy Paris.

The key to all problems lies in the Americans. According to Ludendorff's prediction, the US military forces in France will have 250,000 by the middle of the year, and they will become the force that determines the outcome. If Germany wants to win, it must defeat the Allies before June.

In fact, it is indeed the case.

In 1918, Britain and France finally faced the reality. Without more fresh blood joining, the Allies could not completely defeat the Germans.

Qin Zhiyuan is indeed a good fighter, but he can't do everything by himself.

In the Battle of Reims, Qin Zhiyuan's Foreign Legion once reached the Aisne River, but eventually retreated to Supege. Because the position was too prominent, it was besieged on three sides by the Germans. In order to maintain balance with other positions, Foch ordered the 10th Army, which replaced the Foreign Legion's defense, to retreat 20 kilometers.

At the Allied Summit at the end of last year, the Allied leaders unanimously decided not to launch a large-scale offensive in 1918. They wanted to defeat the Germans in a more cost-effective way - to wear them out alive.

Ludendorff understood the situation Germany was facing, so he would not give the Allies a chance to consume Germany.

Then where Ludendorff would choose to launch the attack became the top priority of the Allies.

The current Western Front is still a winding front. Haig has 57 divisions from Britain, India, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Portugal. These troops defend the long front from Flanders to 25 kilometers south of the Somme River; Foch has 104 divisions including the Foreign Legion, 60 of which are deployed on the front line, and the rest are distributed in the deep front and the rotation after the "mutiny".

Relatively speaking, Foch has more troops, but the front line he is responsible for defending is also longer, so the pressure faced by Britain and France on the Western Front is similar.

Although he knew that the Germans would definitely launch an attack in 1918, Haig, the commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, made mistakes in his layout.

Hubert Gough, commander-in-chief of the British Fifth Army, was ordered to defend the junction of the British and French armies. The Fifth Army had only 14 divisions and was responsible for defending a 52-mile-long front line, while the other two armies to the north of the Fifth Army had a total of 32 divisions and were only responsible for a 61-mile-long defense line.

In this way, if the five divisions that supported the Italian front last year were removed, Haig would only have six divisions of mobile forces left.

Therefore, Haig contacted the French General Staff and wanted to establish a support mechanism. When either side's defense line encountered Vicky, the other side must unconditionally support it. However, Haig only had six divisions of mobile forces, and the French Chief of Staff Pétain, who was in charge of the negotiations, also promised to send six French divisions to support the British army in an emergency.

So when Gough complained to Haig and asked for more troops, Haig told Gough that if there was a problem with his defense line, the French army would send troops to support it. At this time, the combat order issued by Pétain to the French army was that if the war situation was unfavorable, the French army would retreat to Paris to ensure the safety of Paris, rather than rescue the British army.

The reason why there were so many changes was due to personnel changes within the British army.

Haig's disrespect for British Prime Minister Lloyd George was well known. Lloyd George also disliked Haig and wanted to deal with him at any time. The two also had many different opinions on command. Various reasons accumulated together and finally broke out in early 1918.

1 George forced Haig to replace his chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, head of intelligence department, head of engineers, and head of medical department. It seems that except for Haig, Lloyd George changed the expeditionary force headquarters.

At the same time, Lloyd George appointed Henry Wilson as the military representative of the Supreme War Council decided to be established last year, which was another offense to Haig. Henry Wilson and Haig had a bad relationship. He often criticized Haig and was Haig's competitor.

Haig certainly would not show weakness, so he won over William Robert Robertson, the Chief of the General Staff of the British Army, to fight against Lloyd George.

Because Wilson was selected by Lloyd George and was also Robertson's subordinate, a question arose: should Wilson report to Lloyd George or Robertson?

Wilson chose Lloyd George, which caused Robertson's dissatisfaction. Robertson proved to Lloyd George that he was loyal to principles rather than rights, and proposed to Lloyd George that if Wilson did not obey the orders of the General Staff in accordance with regulations, then Robertson would resign.

Lloyd George wanted it, so Robertson resigned.

Robertson also got what he wanted.

Robertson's nickname was "Merry Man", and he was the only person in the British Army who was promoted from a soldier to a marshal. After resigning, Robertson wrote in a letter to Haig, "I am tired of this life full of death."

Tired of this life full of death...

Yes, the war has entered its fourth year, and many people are tired of it, but only Robertson dares to say it out loud. He is indeed a "happy man".

After Robertson resigned, Lloyd George wanted to appoint Plumer, the commander-in-chief of the Second Group, as the chief of staff, but Plumer thought of Robertson's fate and decisively rejected Lloyd George's appointment, so Wilson became the chief of the British general staff.

Considering the bad relationship between Wilson and Haig, the reason for Haig's mistake is self-evident.

The British were busy with their own affairs and naturally had no intention of giving enough support to the Dutch. So when the negotiations resumed, the Dutch found that neither the British nor the French stood on their side.

The attitude of the British and French was very clear. Seeing that the Germans were about to launch an unprecedented attack, the British and French were in no mood to "preside over justice" for the Dutch. The British and French must ensure that Qin Zhiyuan focused all his energy on the European battlefield to increase their chances of winning.

So the triumphant Huang Fugui proposed a seemingly impossible request: the Dutch can retain the tax rights in Borneo, but the Netherlands will no longer directly manage Borneo, and the management of Borneo will be the responsibility of the "Lan Fang Company".

When the Dutch representative Villardum heard Huang Fugui's request, he was stunned. This request was too shameless. Not to mention that the territories on Sumatra and Papua are now under the control of the colonial government, even Sulawea and Kalimantan are not completely occupied by the "Lan Fang Company". The Lan Fang Company was greedy and made territorial claims for the entire Dutch East Indies, which was unacceptable to the Dutch.

Although the "Lan Fang Company" proposed that the Dutch could retain their tax rights in Borneo, everyone knew what was going on. If the Dutch could not directly manage Borneo, the specific amount of tax revenue would be entirely up to the "Lan Fang Company". It would give 100 million Dutch guilders a year, or 10 million.

If we consider the shamelessness of the Lan Fang Company, it is more likely to be 10,000 per year...

Even this 10,000, it is estimated that it will not be given for a few years.

What Villardum could not accept was still to come. After listening to Huang Fugui's request, the representatives of Britain and France actually said that it was very reasonable and readily supported Huang Fugui's request!

Support your sister?

The original text can be read in Liu # 9 @Book/Bar!

If India is independent, will the British support it?

If Algeria wants independence, will the French support it?

Villardum lost his temper and cursed on the spot, and was then kicked out of the venue.

The next step was a closed-door meeting...

A closed-door meeting that locked the Dutch representative Villardum out!

When the door was opened again, the agreement had been signed, and Villardum was waiting for his signature.

"I will never sign this, and the Netherlands will never agree to such unreasonable demands. You are really too much!" Villardum was extremely angry.

Too much?

This is the consistent style of Britain and France. Think about the Republic of China at the Paris Peace Conference and Poland during World War II. There is no shamelessness, only more shamelessness.

Unlike the original history, Qin Zhiyuan is now also among the shameless, and the most shameless one.

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether Villardum signs this word or not. Since Britain and France have signed this word, it means that Britain and France have recognized the legal existence of the "Lan Fang Company". In the future, Britain and France will not refuse to "trade" with the "Lan Fang Company".

Because of the existence of Qin Zhiyuan, this kind of "trade" is no different from actual support, and it is also open support.

The Dutch are now at an absolute disadvantage in the confrontation with the "Lan Fang Company". If there is support from Britain and France...

The Dutch finally feel the full malice of the world!

The Dutch are angry, lamenting, and even crying, but they don’t know who to vent.

This kind of malice has been felt by the Chinese from the Dutch for hundreds of years, or it can be said that the Chinese have felt it from the whole world for hundreds of years, and now it is finally returned intact.

Did the British ask the Chinese how they felt when they smuggled opium into China?

Did the Eight-Nation Alliance ask the Chinese how they felt when they invaded the Qing Empire?

Did the great powers ask the Chinese how they felt when they forced the Qing government to sign unequal treaties again and again?

When the Chinese wailed in the "Red River Massacre", the Dutch did not care about the Chinese's feelings; when the natives of Borneo invaded Chinese families, plundered Chinese property, and massacred Chinese members, the Dutch could pretend to turn a blind eye, so now, why should the Chinese care about the Dutch's feelings?

Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, nothing more than this.