Expedition to Europe

In recent days, the attention of the Parisian news media, which was originally a little dull due to the control, has been focused on the Japanese.

One day in early September, a Japanese major touched the buttocks of a waitress while dining in a restaurant in Paris, and then the waitress put the plate in her hand on the major's face. Then the Paris police arrested the Japanese major and three Japanese soldiers suspected of "obstructing public service".

The next day, the media disclosed the identity of the major. The major named "Kiyomi" was actually a member of the royal family, which immediately caused an uproar in the French government and the public.

Look, even the Japanese royal family is like this, which shows how unbearable the Japanese character is.

The unbearable is still to come.

The next day, the patrol of the Foreign Legion arrested three French men who were plotting against the waitress outside the apartment where the waitress had a conflict with "Her Highness Kiyomi".

The three French men later confessed that they were hired to give the waitress "a little color".

Although the three French men could not prove who hired them, the direction of the spearhead was very clear. The News even bluntly stated that the mastermind was Akashi Motojiro, the commander of the Japanese 6th Division who was currently in Paris.

Some media also spoke out, pointing out that there were many doubts about this matter, proving that the Japanese could not make such a low-level mistake at this sensitive moment, but they were immediately drowned in the overwhelming curses.

The French at this moment are very sensitive, especially for soldiers. The French government and the opposition are fully vigilant, and any behavior of soldiers will be infinitely magnified.

After the news broke out, people immediately linked it to the "field hospital incident" some time ago. For a time, the term "Japanese" was associated with a series of derogatory words such as absurd, barbaric, rude, frivolous, and cruel. Japan, which had just established a pitiful reputation worldwide for a series of victories such as the "Qing-Japanese War" and the "Russo-Japanese War", was immediately devalued to worthless.

The Japanese government responded quickly and immediately protested to the French government.

In order to maintain the alliance between the Allied Powers, the French government once again implemented news control.

But it was too late. Within just two days, the overwhelming news bombardment had made the matter known to all French people. The French government's news control became more obvious than it actually was, and it made more people who originally didn't pay attention to the matter start to pay attention to it.

Well, the British also began to pay attention to it. The Times suggested on the front page that the British government immediately terminate cooperation with the Japanese and drive those Japanese troops who can't fight but can only harass women back to their own country to harm their own women, so as to prevent the reputation of Her Majesty the Queen, who has always been "great and glorious", from being dragged down by the "Emperor" who looks wretched and is said to be even taller than the Queen.

Cut, the British government will also control the news.

But again, it's too late.

What a damned freedom of the press...

While this gossip about the Japanese royal family continued to ferment, a rumor was also spreading in a small range in the upper class of Paris.

It is said that oil fields have been discovered in the Sahara Desert in Algeria. If you want to make a fortune, hurry up and go to the Black Swan Castle to find Qin, the new commander-in-chief of the Foreign Legion. No more waiting...

All those who knew the news flocked to the Bois de Boulogne, but it was too late. Qin Zhiyuan had already left Paris. If you want to find Qin Zhiyuan, please go to Algeria.

Some people really went to Algeria to find Qin Zhiyuan, but it was difficult for them to do so because Qin Zhiyuan now has enough partners, and ordinary "upper class people" have lost the qualifications to cooperate with Qin Zhiyuan.

In Oran, Qin Zhiyuan and the new Algerian Governor Maxime Weygand parted ways. Qin Zhiyuan went to the Foreign Legion headquarters in Sidi Bel Abbas, and Maxime went to Algiers to take over the post of governor.

In fact, this position is more suitable for Bastien, but France is in the midst of war at this time, and a general like Bastien who has repeatedly made military achievements on the battlefield cannot get away, so Raymond Poincaré chose Maxime Weygand.

After all, when they were in Reims, Maxime Weygand and Qin Zhiyuan cooperated very happily, and Raymond wanted to promote this cooperation model to Algeria.

Replacing a governor is not an easy task, but when French President Raymond Poincaré became Qin Zhiyuan's partner, everything became a matter of course.

Old Renault has already gone to Gabes, Tunisia, where he will set up a team of construction workers to start building an oil pipeline from Gabes to Niubaku.

Niubaku is Hasimeisoud. After being reminded by Old Renault, Qin Zhiyuan realized that Hasimeisoud is now an endless desert because oil has not been discovered yet, and there is no name at all. In this case, Old Renault called it: Niubaku.

The Baku oil field is the largest oil field known in the world. Since the oil field discovered in the Sahara Desert is a super large oil field, old Renault will build it into the second Baku - New Baku.

Since the Americans can build a new Yorkshire in the United States, it is not impossible for the French to build a new Baku in North Africa.

In another time and space, the Hashemis Oude Oil Field exported oil through the oil pipeline in the northern port of Algeria. Now that the three North African countries are French colonies, it naturally does not matter where the oil pipeline leads, so under Qin Zhiyuan's On the suggestion, the oil pipeline led to Gabes, the nearest city to Novi Baku.

Qin Zhiyuan's suggestion actually contained evil intentions.

You must know that in another world, New Baku belongs to Algeria, but Gabes belongs to Tunisia. In this way, when the national consciousness of Algeria and Tunisia awakens and they want to strive for independence, they will find that they There are huge differences in interests between them...

Of course, in this world, because there are huge and indispensable interests, it remains to be seen whether France will allow Algeria to seek independence.

Well, it should be noted that Old Renault and Qin Zhiyuan have purchased the entire 200,000 square kilometers of desert around New Baku from the French government. For this, Old Renault paid the French government nearly 20 million francs, about 100 per square kilometer. franc……

It is really that cheap. In fact, if there is no oil there, it may not even be worth a cent, because it is basically no man's land and no tax will be generated.

Even if the French government knew that there might be oil under the land here, the French government would not detect it.

Don’t think that the French are stupid. They are not stupid at all. The cost of detecting oil will feel painful even if it is borne by the state. Instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, the French government would rather not spend a penny and only collect later taxes. This It is more cost-effective for the French government.

This work is compiled and uploaded by Liujiu Book Bar~~

For Qin Zhiyuan, the cost of detection is not a problem, because there is a relatively precise geographical location. As long as you find a place to drill down, it will not incur much additional cost. Perhaps New Baku will become the lowest-cost oil field in the world. .

Currently, the entire Baku region nominally belongs to an oil company called "United Petroleum". The big bosses of this company are Qin Zhiyuan and Lao Renault. Together, they hold more than 70% of the shares, and the remaining 30% of the shares belong to dozens of large and small shareholders.

These shareholders include Raymond Poincaré, the then President of France, and the rest are currently powerful figures in France, or wealthy people with extraordinary economic strength, and they all own part of the company's shares.

Of course, these shares have been paid for, but some people paid more and some paid less. Because of the difference in investment time, these transactions can withstand the inspection of the Economic Committee. Although the price factor is eye-catching, the process is legal and no procedural loopholes can be found.

Of course, these shares are non-transferable. If they are to be transferred, they must be transferred first to Qin Zhiyuan and Lao Renault. When Qin Zhiyuan and Lao Renault do not want to buy, shareholders can sell their shares to outsiders.

The chairman of United Oil Company is naturally Qin Zhiyuan, and the executive director is Lao Renault. The entire board of directors consists of six people. Except for Qin Zhiyuan and Lao Renault, the other four are representatives elected by shareholders. Any one of them , the shares do not exceed 5%. Qin Zhiyuan and Lao Renault completely control the operation of United Oil Company. Other shareholders only have the right to dividends and have no right to interfere with the operation.

After separating from Old Renault and Maxim, Qin Zhiyuan led a group of officers to Sidi Bel Abbas in a car that arrived at Oran Port by ship.

This officer corps is Qin Zhiyuan's guard and also a reserve officer. They will stay in Sidi Bel Abbas and be responsible for training the soldiers recruited here.

Colonel Jean Marco from the Foreign Legion Headquarters in Sidi Bel Abbas went to the Port of Oran to greet Qin Zhiyuan. On the car heading to the Foreign Legion Headquarters, Colonel Marco introduced the situation in Sidi Bel Abbas to Qin Zhiyuan until At this time, Qin Zhiyuan had a general understanding of the Foreign Legion.

After the outbreak of the World War, there were three Algerian infantry regiments in the Foreign Legion, as well as an infantry regiment composed of Algerians and Tunisians. These four regiments were the main force of the Foreign Legion.

In the French army's combat sequence, the Foreign Legion has always been famous for its bravery and fearlessness in combat. Most of the soldiers of these Foreign Legions are from Algeria's indigenous people, rather than Europeans who moved to Algeria.

If you think about it, you can understand that the reason why Europeans moved to Algeria was to escape the war and not want to join the disputes on the European continent. Naturally, they were unwilling to rejoin the army and bleed and sacrifice for France across the Mediterranean.

During the spring offensive in April, the soldiers in the Foreign Legion were in Ramadan. They did not eat all day, and naturally they did not have much combat effectiveness.

It was only then that Qin Zhiyuan knew that the vast majority of the Foreign Legion were white people, with only a small number of black people. These black people were not recruited from the three North African countries, but from West Africa and Equatorial Africa.

Black people and locals from the three North African countries are very discordant with each other due to differences in traditions, religions, etc., which greatly affects the combat effectiveness of the Foreign Legion. Since France occupied Algeria, it has been adopting an assimilation policy towards Algeria in an attempt to turn Algeria into the France of Africa. However, this policy has had almost no effect due to strong resistance from the local people.

After Qin Zhiyuan learned about these situations, he immediately had his own new views on Algeria.