Chapter 677 Battle of Liege
"The federal government under the Democratic Party will not allow you, Don Quixote, to mess around. From the perspective of the country, as a former president, you standing on one of the two camps will have a certain symbolic significance, which is not good for the national interests of the United States." Sheffield said in a narrative tone, "For now, Mr. Roosevelt is best off enjoying his retirement life."
"William!" Alice Roosevelt grabbed Sheffield's hand with a hint of pleading in her eyes.
"I didn't hide my thoughts. I may have been a little too honest." Sheffield held Alice Roosevelt's hand with his backhand, but did not express even a trace of apology. "We have been independent for a long time. Forget those nonsense about blood being thicker than water. Among the countries that can suppress the United States now, the largest one is the British. In this war in Europe, the Germans fought for Germany and the French fought for France. How come the news spread to America and the United States had to shed blood and sacrifice for the British? Isn't this very strange?"
"Don't I even have the right to speak? Like you, you have no personal feelings and only care about money?" Roosevelt looked at Sheffield deeply, "How can someone like you live in this world?"
"Mr. Roosevelt may have forgotten that the founding fathers of the Declaration of Independence were all slave owners like me. Morality from a national perspective is ridiculous. Throughout human history, we have been through this. Let us forget about right and wrong and think about the beauty of war if it continues for many years." Sheffield lit a cigarette and said, "I believe this is a good opportunity for the United States. There is no cost and only benefits. That's great."
It's not that Roosevelt didn't have the right to speak, but Sheffield felt that after all, as a former president, he should know when to speak and when not to speak. Today he calmly talked to Roosevelt, hoping that the other party would listen. If it didn't work, the slave owners were experts in manipulating public opinion, and the former president would not be able to win at all.
"Father, sometimes it's like this. He has no bad intentions." Alice Roosevelt said softly as they walked out of Roosevelt's apartment. "He is not using this war to gain political capital. I don't believe that."
"Yes, but my idea is more beneficial to the country." Sheffield said that he had no personal emotions and was impartial. "This war is a spiritual reshaping for our country. The best result is that our country will no longer be the shadow of European countries projected on the American continent. We must act in our own interests. Your father was dissatisfied with some Irish and German immigrants and believed that these immigrants put the interests of their original motherland above the United States."
Sheffield paused and sneered, "But isn't he the same? He wants the United States to unconditionally support the Allied camp. This is simply crazy."
"Is this how you do things?" Alice Roosevelt looked around carefully and asked softly.
"Double standards? Honey, they are everywhere." Sheffield took Alice Roosevelt's hand, walked to the car, opened the door and said in a gentlemanly manner, "For the sake of interests, this is very normal. Then the subsequent public opinion is to accuse European governments of engaging in a long-planned war."
According to the definition of the Soviet system countries, the First World War was a dog-eat-dog war between imperialist countries.
The slave owners thought this definition was very accurate and would use this statement. The longer the war lasted, the longer the United States would criticize from a moral high ground. As for the day when the United States joined the war, it was of course to stop the war from continuing.
The first criticism came from Britain. The New York Daily News reported in an exclusive insider tone that British diplomats used rhetoric to deceive the German ambassador to Britain, and only revealed the inside story of personally joining the war in the end.
The anti-British public opinion led by Sheffield made a brilliant appearance, which caused a huge uproar and stripped off the British gentleman's disguise. On the same day, Britain officially declared war on Germany on the grounds that Germany violated the neutrality of Belgium.
Major newspapers immediately followed the New York Daily News' report and began to doubt Britain's so-called pre-war mediation purpose. Other influential newspapers such as the Chicago Daily Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the New Orleans Morning Post all believed that the British deliberately set a trap in order to occupy the moral high ground and declare war on Germany, and that they were essentially no different from the Germans.
Just as public opinion was fermenting, the news of Britain's declaration of war on Germany reached the United States. Combined with the anti-British public opinion led by the League of Nations, it aroused the indignation of the American citizen class.
The citizens of the United States have always loved conspiracy theories, and coupled with long-standing anti-British sentiment, Britain's image among the citizenry immediately plummeted.
"William, the British ambassador to Washington has expressed strong protest against the current public opinion environment. Yesterday it was Belgium, and today it is the British. The Secretary of State is also in a difficult situation." Attorney General George Wood contacted Sheffield and asked indirectly what the slave owner's purpose was.
"Mr. Attorney General, isn't this a good thing? Finally there comes a day when the British will protest our actions. I still remember when the Venezuelan crisis occurred, the British thought it was a bunch of drunken rednecks from America. Now that it's been so many years, I feel relieved to see my motherland is so scoundrel." Sheffield responded sarcastically, full of gloating, "This is unbearable. It's just that the British are using their public opinion against the Germans on the British themselves. What's unacceptable?"
"Having said that, will there really be no problems?" George Wood asked with some doubt.
"What's the problem? Before Britain has dealt with the Allies, even if I feed them shit, they will eat it with a smile. What's more, this is the fact. I am not slandering the British. The British government did use rhetoric to deceive the Germans. It has already been done. Are you afraid of my words?"
"I believe the president and the secretary of state will soon realize that this is a real opportunity for our country. We must cut off the illusions of some citizens about their motherland. They cannot be citizens of the United States and have ideas about their motherland. Hedging is not allowed. They have only one motherland, the United States."
"We have to take it slow. We will achieve our goal through gradual operations." George Wood, the Attorney General of the United States, understood what Sheffield meant.
A citizen cannot be loyal to two countries. Italian immigrants cannot enjoy life in the United States while supporting Italy. The same is true for British and German immigrants. George Wood strongly agrees with Sheffield's idea.
And as Sheffield said, what can the British do? Before the Allies are dealt with, no matter what the United States does, the British can only pretend not to see it.
"World overlord, haha!" Sheffield hooked the microphone with his fingers and put the phone back in place, laughing wildly.
Why did the slave owners help Germany, allowing the Germans, who were already the strongest single country, to gain as much advantage as possible in the early stages of the war? The reason was not really because they were veteran German fans. Or they had to do something to the British! Of course, these two ideas existed, but they were not the main purpose.
It was instigated for the Italians to see. Although France used its money power to make Italy's efforts in the Italo-Turkish War in North Africa come to naught, the slave owners, who knew that the poor imperialists were strong on the outside but weak on the inside, had always been skeptical of the Italians' courage to fight. The previous operations in North Africa were not enough to make the weak Italians take risks.
It is also necessary to let the most reliable Germans in the Allied camp show their advantage in destroying everything, so as to give the Italians some confidence. Otherwise, the chances of Italy backing down are still very high.
Sheffield believes that in World War I, all the participating countries showed their strongest strength. France challenged Germany on the Western Front, and the Russian Empire launched the Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front, defeating the German-Austrian coalition army of 1.45 million with 500,000 casualties, creating the greatest victory of the Allies on land.
The Ottoman Empire undoubtedly exerted the power of an agricultural country that was in danger to the extreme. In the Middle East battlefield, it resisted 700,000 British troops, 100,000 Australian and New Zealand troops, 120,000 Russian troops, and 80,000 French troops, and fought against the million-strong Allied army. As for the Arab uprising, it was defeated.
"Boss, Blair, the bank's CEO, wants to see you." Jessla opened the door and said, "He has a lot of information."
"It should be the German company information I asked him to investigate. Let him in." Sheffield exhaled lightly, stood up and said, "I may need to talk to him for a while, don't let anyone else in."
At this time, the eyes of the whole world were on the Liege Fortress in Belgium. Since Belgium rejected the ultimatum, it became the focus of everyone's attention. The Liege Fortress Group was tightly stuck in the throat of the German Schlieffen Plan. This was a nail that had to be pulled out.
The fortresses of Liege were built on both sides of the river, consisting of twelve fortresses, generally six to eight kilometers away from the city of Liege, and three to five kilometers apart from each other. The six fortresses on the east bank all faced Germany, and the six fortresses on the west bank were arranged around and behind Liege.
These fortresses seemed to be medieval castles built underground, with only a triangular top exposed above the ground, and some arched covers extending from the top to hide all the turrets. All other facilities were underground, with inclined tunnels leading to the basement and connecting the turrets with the ammunition depot and the fire control room. The fortress group had 400 large and small caliber artillery, the largest of which was a 210mm caliber howitzer.
Sheffield set off a Belgian rhythm in America, which did not undermine the courage of the Belgian army to stop the Germans.
But this time it was different. The slave owners passed the intelligence accurately to the German Emperor. Few people knew that the person who made the plan to attack the Liege Fortress was the current German Chief of General Staff Moltke the Younger. It was this man who was criticized by later generations who advocated the capture of the Liege Fortress.
The plan to attack the Liege fortress allowed the chief of general staff, who was known for his caution, to overcome his own character to some extent. It can be said that he could not afford to make any mistakes. After learning that Belgium would definitely block the German actions, Moltke the Younger quickly replenished the forces used to attack the Liege fortress.
With the well-developed railway network, the 420mm siege guns were expected to arrive the next day, but Moltke the Younger knew that the Belgians would not compromise, so he ordered the Zeppelin airship to take off and bomb the Liege Fortress.
(End of this chapter)
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