The British-Japanese Alliance was one of the most important international alliance agreements in the early 20th century, before World War I, and one of the main reasons for the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. It had a profound impact on the world situation at that time, including China.

As soon as the agreement was signed, France and Russia felt obvious pressure. After all, this treaty was first targeted at Russia, followed by France. Although the relationship between France and Britain has improved a lot in recent years and their attitudes in some international affairs have remained consistent, after all, there were too many grudges in the past that could not be eliminated in a short time. Therefore, France and Russia immediately issued a joint statement: If the aggression of other powerful powers or the resurgence of China's domestic unrest and posed a threat to the interests of the Russian and French governments, the two countries will consult on means to defend such interests and will use all possible means.

Britain's methods were not only here. Before the signing of the British-Japanese alliance, Britain negotiated and signed a commercial treaty with the Qing court, which would expand the jurisdiction of Chinese customs controlled by the British Heard to Northeast China after Russia withdrew. The British Jiangfeng Bank, which was responsible for storing Chinese customs income, would inevitably carry out business with the entry into Northeast China, and encouraged the United States to negotiate with the Qing court, and obtained the right to lease industrial and railways in Northeast China, and demanded the Qing court to open Fengtian and Dagushan into a commercial port.

This series of combined punches made Russia quite overwhelmed because Russia had long regarded the Northeast China as its ban. Although it agreed to withdraw its troops from the Northeast, it was only under pressure from all parties and was forced to do it. Moreover, the withdrawal did not mean that Russia had given up on the Northeast China. It only changed military means to economic and cultural infiltration means, and took advantage of Russia's geographical advantages to still maintain a huge influence in Northeast China and excluded Japan's power. Once the time is ripe, it would not be too late to annex the Northeast China. Of course, it would also take down the Korean Peninsula.

But now that Japan and Britain have signed an alliance. With the support of Britain, Japan's attitude towards Russia has become significantly tougher. Britain and the United States have also extended their hands to Northeast China, which is naturally a taboo in Russia. Of course, Russia knows that if it wants to fight for the economy, it will definitely not be able to fight against Britain and the United States, so it can only regain military means, refuse the second group of withdrawals from the Northeast, and clearly state to the Qing court that it prohibits other powerful forces from entering Northeast China, and that Russia participates in administrative management in Northeast China and other unreasonable demands.

Therefore, the domino effect caused by the signing of the British-Japanese alliance began to occur immediately. The East China government also needs to evaluate the pros and cons of it and formulate its own response strategies. Of course, it is only a small-scale discussion and not a formal decision. Therefore, only Xia Bohai, Qin Zheng, Xiao Jianjun, Wang Yunpeng, and Xu Jichao participated, and they are still the five-man group at the time.

Xia Bohai first said: "The British-Japanese Alliance Treaty has been signed, so will the Russo-Japanese War happen as scheduled?"

Qin Zheng said: "If the British-Japanese alliance was not signed, Japan and Russia still had the possibility of negotiating and resolving the dispute, but if the British-Japanese alliance was signed, Japan and Russia had basically no possibility of reconciliation. Because according to the principle of Murphy's law, if things are likely to go bad, then no matter how small the possibility is, it will always happen. And there is also a proverb in Europe that if a person is regarded as an enemy, then he will be the enemy. According to historical experience, this kind of alliance with a common imaginary enemy can only end up going to war. This is the case with the British-Japanese alliance, and the subsequent Allies and allies, with the exception of the Cold War, but everyone knows the reason, it is not that both sides do not want to fight, but that they really cannot afford it. In the case of nuclear war, once the war starts, they will die together."

Xia Bohai said: "Then the plan we made before will be really implemented?"

When the East China government was established, such a plan was formulated. Once the Russo-Japanese War really broke out, time travelers would take full advantage of this opportunity and suddenly joined the war when both Japan and Russia were exhausted, which would severely damage Japan and Russia, and take the opportunity to occupy Northeast China and expand their development space. At the same time, they would ask for compensation from Japan and Russia as funds for the next development of the East China government.

However, since it was not certain whether the Russo-Japanese War would happen at that time, this was just an ordinary preliminary plan, but no detailed plan was made, nor was it determined as the formal plan of the East China government. However, it can be basically determined now that the Russo-Japanese War will definitely happen, so the plans made before must be further refined and formally determined as the plan.

At this time, Wang Yunpeng said: "The British-Japanese alliance has just been signed. We now believe that the Russo-Japanese War will definitely happen. Is it too early? I think it will take another year or half a year to see if the situation is developed. Moreover, this year's plan and fiscal budget have been determined. If we determine to prepare for the Russo-Japanese War at this time, we will inevitably make a major adjustment to this year's plan, which will cause great chaos in our government's work."

Xiao Jianjun immediately said: "I think there is no need to wait any longer. First of all, after the Sino-Japanese War, Japan took Russia as an imaginary enemy and prepared for the war. The plan of the '66 Fleet' was decided in the second year after the Sino-Japanese War, and the number of troops would be doubled. Although Russia's preparations were a little late, it has begun now. After the signing of the British-Japanese alliance, Britain will definitely incite Japan to launch a war against Russia. Japan will be tougher against Russia on the South Korean-Manchuria issue, and Russia will not retreat. Therefore, the two sides will definitely expand their arms and prepare for war and constantly escalate conflicts. In this arms race, no one has room to retreat until one of them falls. Therefore, this battle will inevitably happen, and there is no doubt about this."

Qin Zheng also said: "According to the time of the old time and space, the Russo-Japanese War broke out in February 1904, less than two years from now. Of course, the history of this era has changed. Therefore, the time when the Russo-Japanese War broke out may change, but no matter how it changes, this war will definitely break out before 1905. This is because the Russian Siberian Railway is expected to be built in 1905. Once the Siberian Railway is completed and opened to traffic, theoretically, the time for transporting personnel from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok will not exceed one month. Russia's military delivery capacity will be greatly enhanced. In this way, even with the support of Britain, Japan will definitely not be able to win this war. Therefore, Japan must start the war before 1905, and this leaves us with not much preparation time, so we can't wait."

Xia Bohai said: "In fact, this is not a contradiction. We must carry out comprehensive rectification and organization of the army. The navy also has a shipbuilding plan, which is equivalent to preparing for the Russo-Japanese War. I think this year's plan can be not changed for the time being, but a comprehensive preparation plan must be formulated. Next year and the year after, the corresponding arrangements must be made."

After hearing this, no one had any objections. Xiao Jianjun said: "During this period, I have some more detailed ideas on how to use the Russo-Japanese War and preparations. You can discuss it together. First of all, the opportunity to participate in the war. In the old time and space, the Russo-Japanese War broke out in February 1904 and ended in September 1905. Of course, we don't have to participate in the war at the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, but wait until both sides are almost exhausted before taking action. I think the most

Jia's battle should be in May 1905. During the Battle of Tsuma, the battle between Japan and Russia on land had almost been fought, and the front line was pushed to Fengtian and Liaoyang, and both Japan and Russia were basically unable to fight again. The Battle of Tsuma would be the Russo-Japanese War, which was a decisive battle. We can first annihilate the fleets of both sides in the naval battle, control the maritime power, cut off Japan's support, and then land in Lushun and Jinzhou, sweep the northeastern region all the way."

Qin Zheng nodded and said, "The Battle of Tsuma is indeed a good time, but the Russo-Japanese War in this time and space may not develop according to the old process of time and space."

Xiao Jianjun said: "I have carefully studied the Russo-Japanese War. As long as it starts, the process of land war will not be much different. At most, there will be changes in time. The war at sea must have started with the attack on Lushun. Of course, the battle against Ma is the biggest variable. Guan Jian lies in whether Russia will send a fleet from Europe. I personally think this possibility is still very high. And no matter when we participate in the war, we first use our advantages in the navy and gain control of the sea. This idea is not wrong."

Xia Bohai said: "Let's just set this for now. Let's decide the time for all the people to participate in the war. Then we will hold a military meeting together."

Xiao Jianjun also said: "As our current naval scale, as long as we maintain five modern warships, it is certainly no problem to annihilate the navy of Japan and Russia, but to control the maritime power, it is a little too powerful. Our warships are less, and they lack fast protective cruisers. Therefore, the navy's shipbuilding plan must be completed. Only in this way can we ensure that after participating in the war, there are enough warships to fully control the maritime power."

Xia Bohai said: "There is no objection to this. Although this shipbuilding plan has not been approved at one time, we just have to do our best to complete it. It is just a year after year. Of course, now we have to complete the shipbuilding plan at all costs."

Xiao Jianjun said again: "This is only the navy. In terms of the army, both Japan and Russia have invested more than 400,000 troops. Although we took advantage of their exhaustion when they fought, the troops must not be too small. I estimate that at least 30 troops will be needed, only 20-25 divisions."
Chapter completed!