With this batch of munitions as a greeting gift, the attitude of Zhang Zuolin's Northeast Army was completely different!
Although they did not know why the German munitions were delivered using American transport ships, they were not concerned with this issue. They were more focused on what the Germans could provide them with in addition to these weapons.
"Our country has a large population, but grain production is relatively limited, and all overseas colonies have been lost, so it is necessary to purchase grain and minerals from abroad. The iron ore reserves in the northeast region are very rich, and our country is willing to provide equipment to develop the iron ore in the northeast region with your army!"
After hearing Colonel Mainz's request, everyone in the Northeast Army breathed a sigh of relief.
To tell the truth, this gift from the Germans was extremely valuable: 50 fighter planes, 50 Renault tanks, 1,000 Maxim heavy machine guns, 500 MP14 submachine guns, 100 Krupp cannons, 20,000 Mauser rifles plus 5 million rounds of ammunition and 10,000 shells.
According to the market price, this batch of arms was estimated to be worth at least 50 million silver dollars!
In 1918, Zhang Zuolin had sent troops to seize a batch of weapons purchased by Feng Guozhang from Japan. That batch included only 27,000 rifles and cost 18 million silver dollars. It was with that batch of arms that Zhang Zuolin's Northeast Army could quickly recruit troops, expanding from tens of thousands to 200,000 soldiers, and become a force capable of contending with the central and Anhui warlords!
This time, Mainz not only gave 20,000 Mauser rifles, but also a large number of submachine guns and heavy machine guns, plus planes and tanks, making the value of this batch far greater than the previous one.
Zhang Zuolin and his generals were not naive; they understood there was no free lunch. Naturally, the Germans wanted some return for this generosity.
Before, they had speculated about German intentions, but now, after Mainz's explanation, the generals of the Northeast Army were reassured.
The Northeast Plain covers 350,000 square kilometers, a vast area capable of feeding hundreds of millions of people, while the population of Northeast China at this time was less than 20 million.
It was precisely because of the abundance of land in the Northeast that a wave of migration eastward had begun in recent years.
Since the conditions proposed by the Germans were not excessive, the Northeast Army had no objection to cooperating with Germany.
The two sides soon secretly signed an agreement. After settling the matter, Colonel Mainz did not continue his stay in China and immediately sailed to North America.
In this trip, North America was the most important stop, as it would determine the source of funds for Germany's future activities.
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Just as Mainz arrived in North America, the Versailles Peace Conference, which had taken more than half a year, finally came to an end.
There were huge differences in the positions of the three main members of the Entente regarding Germany:
France wanted to punish and weaken Germany as much as possible.
The United Kingdom, following its traditional balance-of-power policy, hoped to maintain a relatively strong and economically self-reliant Germany to prevent France from gaining a monopoly.
The United States, meanwhile, wanted to establish a system that would guarantee lasting peace while benefiting itself. The U.S. aimed to gain as much advantage as possible without direct involvement in Europe and sought to appease Germany to prevent future revenge.
If the European problem was not properly resolved, the Americans believed that war in Europe was only postponed and would inevitably return.
Despite their divergent interests, the three countries agreed that Germany should pay reparations for the war.
After discussions, they decided that the Weimar Republic should pay a total of 226 billion marks in compensation to the Entente countries, according to the Entente Reparations Commission. Due to the continuous depreciation of German currency, the reparations were to be paid in gold—an astronomical amount.
The Weimar Republic was required to compensate the Allies with 96,000 tons of gold within 99 years!
At that time, the total amount of gold in the world was only about 80,000 tons, meaning that even if all the gold in the world belonged to Germany, it would not be enough to pay the Entente.
The Entente's demand for reparations was outrageous. Britain and France even privately decided to send troops to block Germany's access to the sea to control foreign trade. If the Weimar Republic failed to repay its debts, the Allies could seize German goods and ships as compensation!
This action was strongly opposed by the United States, which wanted a piece of Germany's postwar reconstruction. Britain and France's attempt to exclude the U.S. from German trade was unacceptable to the Americans.
As a result, after the Peace Conference concluded and the Treaty of Versailles was issued, President Woodrow Wilson refused to sign the treaty and signed a separate contract with Germany.
This caused heated discussions worldwide. Some dismissed it, others watched the U.S. with suspicion, and some feared Britain and France might retaliate. Few sympathized with Germany, the defeated nation burdened with massive reparations.
Like the U.S., China, as another country refusing to sign the treaty, sent representatives to Germany and signed a separate treaty for the Jiaodong Peninsula.
Under this treaty, the Weimar Republic recognized China's sovereignty over the Jiaodong Peninsula and agreed to compensate for past wrongs. Given Germany's financial situation, the compensation was modest—only about 1 million pounds, essentially symbolic.
When news of this reached China, public sentiment shifted significantly. Since the Opium War, this was the first time that foreign powers had compensated China, rather than China being forced to pay others.