Chapter 695 Mediterranean Strategy
"This is a small matter. The main thing is that you have to run this business well. I'm not too old, so I can still help you for some time." Sheffield leaned against the fence and said with a smile, "In the long run, the profit cycle of the steel industry is still quite long. Besides, now that the war has broken out, this is an industry that makes people jealous. It's easy to make money but easy to run. You can take over during this period of time, and the difficulty will be reduced. By the time the war is over, you should be familiar with the steel industry, and you won't have to worry about it then."
"As for you, Margaret, since you are marrying my son, I will make sure that little William gives you enough respect. Although I cannot control whether your relationship can remain the same, you will be adults after marriage and should accommodate each other." Sheffield said to his daughter-in-law, "In our family, due to some historical factors, we are very accommodating to the hostess of each generation. You should not be wronged."
"I feel great, Father!" Margaret Carnegie had a strong sense of involvement and had already considered herself a member of this family. At least in terms of eloquence, she was much better than William Rockefeller.
I really shouldn't have disciplined her before except for physical abuse, Sheffield couldn't help sighing, even if she looked a little like the big-breasted and brainless Edith Rockefeller? But she turned out to be even more conservative than the younger Rockefeller. If you think about it carefully, this child is simply following the style of the older Rockefeller.
"You and little William complement each other in character, which is a good thing." Sheffield praised, looking very pleased. "But this is just a small problem. My grandmother once told me that entrepreneurs of our class can withstand countless failed business ventures as long as they succeed once. This is completely different from the civilian class. These words are very true. It is rare for a family like the Vanderbilt family to always fail in transformation. I am not worried about your abilities at all. Some things can be discussed. This steel kingdom belongs to you. If the time comes, maybe you can merge with U.S. Steel. After all, you all know each other."
"Is there no problem with Aunt Louisa?" As soon as William Rockefeller opened his mouth, Sheffield's face turned from sunny to cloudy. Margaret Carnegie quickly added, "There has never been a problem with Mother Louisa."
"Well! The little guy can talk." Sheffield smiled and said, "One person cannot solve all problems. No matter how energetic one is, one cannot take care of everything. In the future, we will continue to make alliances. Only by uniting together can we avoid being eliminated by the times. When we see emerging industries, the success rate of group robbery will be much higher."
Today the slave master gave a lesson to one of his heirs. There will probably be many similar occasions in the next few years as the other children grow up. The reason for this time to give the lesson is related to the boring life in recent months.
The novelty of the war had worn off for the entire United States, and it was no surprise to the slaveholders, who were now living as dull a life as the citizens, thinking about similar things, and using the war to live a better life than before.
A few days later, Sheffield gave up the identities of two Canadian dominions. This was not a difficult thing to deal with. Although Britain still had strong control over the Canadian Dominions, the United States was a close neighbor after all, so it was easy to accomplish such a small thing.
There are many Canadian stars in Hollywood, Mary Pickford is one of them. Now this American sweetheart has got her wish. With her bulging belly, she has turned over and become the master in front of Sheffield.
"I feel like I'm wasting my precious time. Can't we do something exciting?" Sheffield couldn't help but complain in front of the female star. The battlefield in the Middle East was eerily calm.
The news in the past two months is that after the German-Austrian coalition shifted its focus to the Eastern Front, Bulgaria, after receiving the benefits promised by the Allies, officially joined the war and joined the Allied camp. Now the members of the Allied camp are Germany, Italy, Austria, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria.
The role of Bulgaria's participation in the war was also very obvious. With the addition of the Bulgarian army, the long-dead southern front changed, and it lived up to the false reputation of Little Prussia. The first thing Bulgaria did after joining the war was to help Austria-Hungary solve a tough problem, Serbia. From a geographical point of view, Bulgaria's participation in the war was fatal to Serbia. The Serbian army was attacked from all sides. Serbia, which had been entangled with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was besieged by the Allied forces and the entire territory was occupied by the Allies.
The slave owners knew that Bulgaria had the highest mobilization rate among the countries participating in World War I, and that it had not suffered any losses in the war with the Allied Powers. If it joined the war at this time, Britain, which was still accumulating troops in Egypt, would face a more difficult situation.
Bulgaria and the British army had fought in World War I, and the British army was defeated. After Sheffield learned of this, he separated a portion of the supplies shipped to the Persian Gulf for Bulgaria and sent it to this small Eastern European power through Baghdad.
After Serbia was defeated, the entire Allied Powers became one, and each of the belligerent countries reduced their defenses on one or more fronts. The Austro-Hungarian Empire benefited the most. This second-strongest country in the Allied Powers no longer had to guard the southwest because of Italy's participation in the war, and because of Bulgaria's participation in the war, the threat of Serbia on the southern front was resolved.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had freed up its huge military force, was no longer the ally that needed to be saved by Germany. In addition to putting more pressure on the Russian Empire, which was facing the Allies alone, 300,000 Austrian troops reached the Western Front through the well-developed railway network in Germany. At the same time, an Austro-Hungarian army group entered Italy and formed an Austro-Italian coalition in southeastern France.
The 300,000 Austrian troops who entered the French mainland on the Western Front through Germany directly offset the 300,000 Canadian Corps mobilized by Britain. Although the Austro-Italian coalition in southeastern France was more symbolic, it also made France, which had tasted the treatment of fighting on two fronts at the hands of Germany, feel more pressured. Only the trenches and barbed wire that had already taken shape on the Franco-Italian border and the Italian army with poor combat effectiveness could make Paris feel a little comforted.
In June, Sheffield was surprised to hear that, at the request of London, Japan would send two divisions to join the war.
"Can the Japanese Army be consumed in the European battlefield?" Sheffield muttered with a strange expression. This world war has developed in a strange direction. This change even makes the slave owners begin to doubt their own judgment.
The Allied Powers of Britain, France, Russia, Serbia and Japan are facing the Central Powers of Germany, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria and Austria. It is currently a five-to-five situation. However, in terms of land strength, the Allied Powers are connected to each other territories and can offset some of the Allied Powers' advantages in national strength and manpower by providing mutual assistance within their borders.
Sheffield wondered if Japan's decision to send the army to the main battlefield was made because of its overseas war against Germany and the British promises.
Sheffield took a blimp to Los Angeles to find out what the Japanese were thinking. Two divisions couldn't even hold out in a battle in Europe. If they had to think that the victory of the Russo-Japanese War was the result of the European imperialist powers, they should have sent more troops.
"This is truly a evenly matched match. I wonder if there is public opinion in Tokyo that regrets joining the war now, Mrs. Sato!" Sheffield asked, hugging Mrs. Sato's delicate body.
"There is no other way. The imperial government has occupied Germany's overseas colonies. Since we have joined the war, we must bear some obligations. In addition, Britain has agreed to reimburse all expenses of the Japanese expeditionary force." Mrs. Sato let the slave owner hold her, and said with some dissatisfaction in her tone, "The whole world knows that you are a pro-German in the United States."
"You are wrong. We are all acting based on our own interests. In order to prevent the United States from joining this tragic war, I must stand up and tell the citizens that the Allies and the Central Powers are the same. The citizens of the United States are not worth sacrificing for them. As for the Middle East, I am protecting Christians in my personal capacity." Sheffield flatly denied the British slander against him and said righteously, "The United States cannot join this unjust war."
It was unknown how long the war would continue for the major belligerent countries, but for Sheffield it was basically over. He had always wanted a world war with equal strength, and now his goal had been achieved.
He could stay in the United States and provide blood transfusions to both sides with peace of mind. If there was something missing, it was that the Arabs in the Middle East would quickly oppose the rule of the Ottoman Empire, and William Pasha would go on a killing spree to eliminate the rebels in these oil-producing areas for the Ottoman Empire and wait until the war was over.
Now that we know the reason why Japan sent the army, the rest is private time. The slave owner and his mother-in-law haven't seen each other for a long time, so they must catch up. "I have an obligation to take care of Mr. Sato's family!"
The last time Britain fought a large-scale naval battle in the Mediterranean was during the Napoleonic Wars. In the Battle of Aboukir in 1798, Nelson destroyed the French navy at the mouth of the Nile, forcing Napoleon to flee back to France alone and winning Egypt for Britain. After that, the British navy never had the opportunity to fire at a powerful opponent in the Mediterranean again.
Britain had the exclusive control of the Mediterranean Sea from then on until the Suez Canal War, when it withdrew from this closed sea area. The proximity of France and Britain made it difficult for the enemy to withstand the stranglehold of the navies of these two powerful countries.
The British bases in Gibraltar and Alexandria blocked the only two exits from the Mediterranean to the open ocean. Cyprus in the Mediterranean and Malta in the central Mediterranean made the British even more powerful. The French navy in Toulon, Bessiere and Oran made up for the gaps in the British navy. No navy in the whole of Europe could challenge these two.
But the Anglo-French alliance's Mediterranean advantage is not impeccable. Italy's territory is like a sharp knife inserted into the Mediterranean. Without solving the Italian problem, Britain and France will not be able to fully control the Mediterranean.
It was necessary to remove this hidden danger and resolve the threat posed by the Austrian and Italian navies to the British and French Mediterranean shipping routes. For several months, the British and French fleets had been waiting for an opportunity to move, and with the entry of Bulgaria into the war, this goal had become increasingly urgent.
(End of this chapter)
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