The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 837 Hindenburg: Adolf, we are going to send troops to the United States!

In the rose garden of the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, the yew hedges were trimmed with sharp edges, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the treetops, casting mottled light and shadows on the gravel path. German Emperor Wilhelm I stood in front of a Brandenburg black rose, with a pair of silver scissors hanging in the air, not falling for a long time.

His eyes fell on a copy of a telegram he had just received in his hand - this was Lincoln's letter for help. The President of the United States of America not only asked for help from the British Empire, but also from the German Empire and the Russian Empire.

Emperor William whispered: "The United States of America requests the German Empire to send troops to the United States in accordance with the North Atlantic Treaty to help the American people resist the invasion of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

Send troops to the United States
Emperor William frowned even more tightly. He looked up at Bismarck and Marshal Moltke standing beside him.

"Your Majesty," Bismarck said in a low and steady voice, "The British have sent out an expeditionary fleet with great fanfare, but the fleet only has eight main ironclad ships, which is less than 8% of the total number of British Navy ironclad ships. I think they would like the United States to be split in two, so that they can permanently confront the Chinese regime supported by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom on the North American continent."

William's scissors finally fell, and with a click, the rose branch broke.

"But we only have eight ironclad ships in total." The Kaiser's voice was filled with helplessness, "and we have to take charge of the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. We simply can't spare the energy to go to the Pacific Ocean."

Bismarck sneered, pulled out a map of North America from his bosom, and spread it on the stone table in the garden. His fingers poked hard on the Rocky Mountains, leaving a shallow dent on the paper.

"Why should we send our navy to fight the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Pacific?" He raised his eyes, his gaze full of shrewdness and calculation, "Your Majesty, we have the most powerful army in the world, and the main battlefield of the struggle between the United States and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not the Pacific, but the western United States, on the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains!"

Emperor William suddenly realized: "We are going to send the army to help the Americans drive all the yellow monkeys occupying the western part of their country into the sea?"

Bismarck shook his head: "We certainly can't do such a stupid thing. Your Majesty, think about it, if the United States is unified, what will it be like in thirty years?"

William's breathing hitched slightly.

Bismarck went on to say, "The United States is a giant country that occupies half of the continent and stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Its territory is almost eight times that of the unified German Empire! What's more terrifying is that the United States has rich coal and iron resources, as well as endless vast and fertile plains that can feed hundreds of millions or even more people. The wealth of the United States has a fatal attraction to the poor throughout Europe - even during the Civil War, countless Europeans were attracted by the Homestead Act and crossed the ocean to help the Northern Federation of the United States as cannon fodder. If the United States is unified, within thirty years, it will grow into an industrial power comparable to Britain and my country because of its rich natural resources and a steady stream of European immigrants!"

Marshal Moltke stepped forward at the right time, and the Iron Cross on his chest gleamed brightly in the setting sun, showing his great military achievements.

"Your Majesty, the opinion of the General Staff is consistent with that of the Prime Minister," he said in a calm and confident voice. "We should send troops to the United States and stay there to protect the rich eastern and central regions of the United States from invasion by the Chinese regime in the west and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

"forever."

William's eyes moved between the two men, finally landing on Bismarck's face.

"The British...will they really just sit there and do nothing?"

"Of course they won't care." Bismarck's mouth curled up with a hint of sarcasm, "They also hope that the United States will always rely on Europe's bayonets. Only in this way will the United States become Britain and our cows!"

William was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, and his laughter startled the nightingale in the treetops.

"Good!" He slapped the stone table, "Tell Lincoln that the bayonets of the German Empire will help him plow the western wilderness!"

The "New Great Wall" at the entrance of the Fergana Basin stands tall in the sandstorms of Central Asia. This giant fortification stretching across the Syr Darya Gorge is soaked with the blood and sweat of Central Asian laborers in every piece of rammed earth. The six-meter-high wall is covered with firing holes, and the 12-pound cannons on the bastions point their black muzzles directly at the entrance of the gorge, as if ready to devour the invading enemy at any time.

Li Hongzhang stood on the city wall of Xintongguan, his fingers unconsciously stroking the patches on his dragon robe, his face full of a gratified smile - his "New Tang Dynasty" finally secured the precious land which he called "New Guanzhong".

Although his "nation" is an absolute minority in the entire Central Asian region and is a "hateful outsider", his "nation" is the majority in the fertile valley behind him, and the Confucian school is the "symbol of truth". With the protection of the "New Great Wall", his Tang nation will be able to grow and develop in the "New Guanzhong". According to his experience, population growth is directly proportional to the amount of land that can produce food. The "New Guanzhong" has more than 1800 million acres of fertile land - all of which are covered by irrigation networks. The melted snow water from the surrounding mountains will pass through these irrigation networks to bring bumper harvests year after year to the people of the "New Guanzhong".
He glanced at the soldiers who were training under the city wall. These troops, a mixture of Han, Kazakh and Mongolian people, were shouting slogans in stiff Chinese. "Your Majesty!" A scout rushed up to the city wall, "The foreign delegation is ten miles away!"

Li Hongzhang's heart suddenly sank. He turned to look at Mathilde beside him. The former French princess was now dressed like a Tang Dynasty noblewoman. When she heard that the "foreign delegation" had arrived, she frowned slightly.

The news from the "New Guanzhong" was very isolated. There were no telegraphs or trains, and even the 600-mile express train was interrupted because of the harassment of the "barbarians outside the Guanzhong" - the rule of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions of Hezhong was quite unstable. Apart from the "New Guanzhong", there were ten fortresses belonging to the "Ten Towns Jiedushi" and the oases where the fortresses were located, and the rest of the place was full of lawless barbarians.

So Li Hongzhang and his wife only knew that the Bonaparte dynasty in France was over, and they didn't know that the European powers were preparing to make Mathilde the Queen of France.

"What treaty are we going to sign?" Li Hongzhang murmured in a low voice, his thick Anhui accent becoming more obvious in his anxiety. "It's still about the teaching case in Tashkent and Samarkand."

Mathilde did not answer, her eyes fixed on the smoke rising in the distance. Soon, the carriage team of Russian Foreign Minister Gorchakov appeared in sight, escorted by a large group of Cossack cavalry. What was even more disturbing was that representatives from Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries followed closely behind, and even French Orleans and Bourbon orthodox nobles.

Li Hongzhang's fingers began to tremble uncontrollably. "What are they doing?" His voice trembled, "The Eight-Nation Alliance?"

Mathilde remained silent, but Li Hongzhang noticed that her big chest was also rising and falling rapidly. Without the support of the Bonaparte dynasty, what else could she do?
The delegation lined up in the square inside the bastion. Gorchakov walked slowly forward with a roll of parchment with a gold border in his hand, stopped ten steps away from Li Hongzhang and his wife, and performed a standard European court ceremony.

"Your Majesty," he said, although he was a Russian, he spoke fluent French, "The North Atlantic Alliance meeting unanimously resolved."

Li Hongzhang was a little confused, and Mathilde's body suddenly stiffened. The Belgian representative stepped forward and held out a gold-stamped "London Conference Declaration" with both hands. The clause was clearly written in French: "All countries unanimously support the coronation of Her Majesty Mathilde de Bonaparte-Li as the Empress of the French Empire."

Gorchakov continued to speak, but Li Hongzhang could no longer listen. His eyes fell on a simple-looking crown held by a French royalist. He could not believe his ears and eyes!
Mathilde suddenly reached out and grabbed the crown, which startled Li Hongzhang. He looked at his wife and saw Mathilde holding the crown high, then said a sentence in Latin, "God gave it to me, who else dares to covet it?", and then put the crown on her head. Li Hongzhang heard distant cheers in a trance - it came from the back of the delegation, and those French royalists were shouting "Long live the Queen".

"What is this?" Li Hongzhang asked stutteringly.

Mathilde turned around, and the setting sun stretched her shadow so long that it covered Li Hongzhang's entire body. "They want me to go back," she said in a voice so soft that it sounded like she was dreaming, "to inherit the French throne."

Li Hongzhang stood there in a daze.

"Long live the Emperor!"

Sergeant Adolf's shout exploded in Captain Hindenburg's small office. The artillery sergeant stood at attention, put his heels together, raised his right arm to his chest, palm down - this was the standard Prussian gun salute, his movements were as precise as a carefully adjusted machine by a Viennese watchmaker.

"Very good, Sergeant." Hindenburg smiled and nodded, picked up a document from the desk and handed it to him. "We will set off tomorrow and transport the artillery company to the port of Hamburg by rail first."

Adolf took the document and looked at it, then he became excited: "Germany is going to send troops to America?"

Hindenburg's mouth curled up slightly. Through the narrow window of his office, he saw the soldiers lining up on the playground. The sun shone on their pointed helmets, reflecting a dazzling white light. He nodded: "This time we are going to the United States on a British ship. We must let the British sailors see the best spirit of our German soldiers!"

"As you command, Captain!" Adolf's voice suddenly became louder, and he saluted with his right hand again. This time, there was something different in his action - some kind of fiery emotion that was about to burst out.

That night, when Adolf was packing his luggage in the barracks, he found a booklet that Hindenburg had quietly stuffed into his backpack - "German Living Space". There was a line of scribbled notes on the first page: "America will be our new frontier."

(End of this chapter)