On the highway leading away from the Spanish capital of Madrid, several thousand defeated Spanish soldiers were fleeing in the direction opposite the capital. Although this defeated army still crookedly held up a few flags of the Kingdom of Spain, their morale had been completely destroyed. Even if some officers wanted to regroup the defeated soldiers, no matter how they shouted or even pulled at them, the soldiers, devoid of any will to fight, simply shook off the officers' hands and continued to flee into the distance.

Behind the defeated troops, the rumble of hooves sounded. The Republican cavalry, having retaken Madrid, held the flag of the Spanish Republic high as they gave chase. On the semi-arid lands of Spain, the horses' hooves kicked up vast amounts of dust. Although the cavalrymen had no love for the dust clouding their vision, from the perspective of the pursued, the dust and the fierce cavalrymen galloping within it looked even more formidable and ferocious.

Soon, the overtaken soldiers immediately laid down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. Even those officers who had tried to restore order to counterattack reluctantly raised their hands. As all the soldiers who had fled Madrid were captured, the cavalry commander reined in his mount. The Iberian horse reared up, its front hooves hanging in the air for a moment before the two massive hooves slammed back onto the ground. The commander shouted to his communications officer, "Send someone to contact Madrid immediately! The rebel army has been routed. The coup has completely failed!"

The news was sent back to the Spanish capital, Madrid, and then spread at extreme speed throughout Spain and to all of Europe. At this time, the London Naval Armament Conference had entered its final stage. Upon hearing this news, the heads of the various foreign ministries were no longer as surprised as they might have been before. They unanimously decided to solve the immediate problems first.

Regardless of how they had quarreled before the conference began or what probing moves they had made, all nations believed that the current international naval treaty at least maintained a bottom line to avoid war as much as possible. Originally, there might have been various probing actions, but influenced by the news of the Spanish coup, everyone decided to cut the Gordian knot to maintain peace, freeing up energy to deal with the increasingly chaotic world order.

In the current consensus of the Great Powers, navies were offensive forces. By limiting the naval power of each country, even if war broke out, large-scale naval battles dragging in every nation would not occur. China's decision to join the naval treaty eliminated the threat of China becoming a disruptor of the order. The UK, France, the US, and Italy all considered this a very good development.

Just as the signing concluded, the French Foreign Minister invited the Chinese Foreign Minister to visit France. Li Shiguang agreed on the spot. Staying in London for only half a day more, the foreign ministers of China and France successively appeared in the French port of Calais.

On the train to Paris, the French Foreign Minister tentatively asked, "Minister Li, have you heard of a naval lease?"

Li Shiguang felt that France was being too impatient and demurred, " The Chinese Parliament has not yet proposed a review of this year's military budget, nor does it have any plans to enact a Naval Act."

The French Foreign Minister shook his head slightly. "Minister Li, you misunderstand. France does not intend to lease French warships to China."

Hearing this, Li Shiguang felt a significant reduction in pressure. In discussions before attending the London Naval Armament Conference, the Chinese Foreign Ministry believed that Europe and America would agree to China obtaining the same naval tonnage as France. The UK, US, and France would then all attempt to have China build a fleet using their respective shipbuilding technologies. For the sake of China's interests, China absolutely could not agree to the proposals of any of the three nations. Even if they offered old warships for free along with free naval training, China had to refuse.

Li Shiguang hurriedly added, "Minister, China also has no intention of leasing old warships."

The French Foreign Minister nodded in deep agreement. Minister Li Shiguang's answer was similar to the analysis of the French Foreign Ministry. China's energy was currently focused entirely on domestic construction, with no intention of external expansion. Given the East Asian relations, Sino-Soviet relations, and Sino-French relations meticulously constructed by the He Rui administration, China faced no risk of foreign maritime invasion in the coming years. Therefore, while China's shipbuilding would certainly increase, the speed would inevitably be very slow. More importantly, the He Rui administration was highly unified internally; even France could not persuade China to accept French naval technology and equipment by lobbying a few individuals.

"Minister Li, have you considered another possibility? That the French Navy practically leases the hulls of the Chinese Navy." After speaking, the French Foreign Minister revealed a friendly smile.

Li Shiguang was stunned. He hadn't expected this, and neither had the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Li Shiguang composed himself and answered cautiously, "The Chinese Foreign Ministry can only convey France's view to my government but cannot make any decisions."

The French Foreign Minister nodded repeatedly. "I fully understand the scope of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's authority, so I will explain our country's proposal to you in detail on behalf of the French government."

***

When the Civilisation Party's Central Military Commission convened a plenary meeting, even Xu Chengfeng, who was serving as the President of the Army War College in Japan, was called back. Xu Chengfeng did not know what major event had occurred. Seeing He Rui enter, he observed He Rui's expression. Only after confirming that He Rui did not seem to be under any pressure did Xu Chengfeng relax. Immediately, Xu Chengfeng guessed to himself: *Is He Rui preparing to expand the scale of the navy?*

At this time, Cheng Ruofan, Zhong Yifu, Chief of General Staff Hu Xiushan, and Zheng Silang had all arrived. He Rui spoke directly, "France has made a request to us. They want to effectively lease the capital ships we are to build in the future."

Xu Chengfeng couldn't figure out what was going on for a moment, so he listened attentively. France's plan was not complicated. Since China had obtained the same shipbuilding tonnage as France, the French government wanted to sign an order with the Chinese government for France to build four battleships for China. Although in name, these four 35,000-ton battleships would belong to China, in reality, they would be funded, designed, and built by France. The contract would naturally state clearly that if China did not pay, the four battleships would temporarily belong to the French government. Only after the Chinese government paid would the battleships be transferred to the Chinese government.

With Xu Chengfeng's intelligence, understanding this description was effortless, but because of that, he dared not make an immediate judgment. Looking at the members of the Central Military Commission, He Rui looked calm, as if he had no emotions about it. This made Xu Chengfeng feel that such a comical request had no impact on China. Chief of General Staff Hu Xiushan maintained his serious, thoughtful expression. Cheng Ruofan, Zhong Yifu, and Zheng Silang were all pondering the matter, and the expressions on their faces were not very friendly. Zheng Silang, who had a fiery temperament, was already frowning.

Sure enough, Zheng Silang was the first to raise a question. His tone was very unhappy. "Chairman, by pulling a stunt like this, France is essentially using our name to get naval quota for themselves. Is that right?"

He Rui nodded. France was indeed calculating exactly that. Seeing He Rui nod in agreement, Zhong Yifu couldn't help but say mockingly, "If France comes under pressure, they will dump the blame on us. Chairman, I think the French would do that."

He Rui continued to nod. "That possibility is very high."

Xu Chengfeng confirmed he hadn't misunderstood, and then said, "According to the previous international naval treaty regulations, France's capital ship tonnage is 175,000 tons. The request France put forward is for four 35,000-ton battleships. If we agree, it equals allocating 140,000 tons of tonnage to France internationally. The naval tonnage we can build ourselves would only be left at 35,000 tons. Does France really think the Chairman would agree?"

He Rui nodded again. "Although our judgment of the future is completely different from France's, at present, France's request does not affect our strategic arrangements at all."

Xu Chengfeng was somewhat surprised. "Chairman, please be more clear."

"First, the parameters of the treaty ships do not meet our war requirements. And since we joined the international naval treaty, we must abide by it. Letting the French build these warships actually provides cover for our future war preparations.

"Secondly, the world situation is becoming turbulent as most countries fall deep into economic crisis. To solve their own domestic problems, given the current level of civilization of various countries, war is inevitable. In a future where the willingness of countries to use war to solve their economic problems becomes stronger and stronger, the international trend towards disarmament will be completely reversed. I believe the international naval agreement will last until 1936 at most before existing in name only.

"Third, comrades have all seen the technical route we are taking. Because we are adopting the block construction method, rather than the shipbuilding route currently universal internationally, our country's current shipbuilding technology can only build ships under 5,000 tons using this method. It is estimated that by 1937, our shipbuilding industry's technological iteration will achieve the ability to build 30,000-ton ships. Building aircraft carriers and battleships of 35,000 tons or more will not be achievable until 1938.

"Therefore, I judge that the request made by France has absolutely no conflict with our country's naval equipment development. Thus, this can be viewed as a diplomatic issue, not a military one. I wonder what views comrades have on my judgment?"

Xu Chengfeng followed He Rui's train of thought and felt he could understand it, but he felt He Rui's view was perhaps too idealistic. However, Xu Chengfeng did not speak, because he knew Zheng Silang and Zhong Yifu would definitely raise objections. Just as he expected, Zheng Silang's brow was furrowed tight. Before he could speak, Zhong Yifu spoke up. "Chairman, do you completely trust that Japan will sincerely cooperate with our strategy?"

Once this question was raised, Xu Chengfeng saw that apart from Chief of General Staff Hu Xiushan, who remained in that calm, contemplative state, Zheng Silang nodded slightly. Xu Chengfeng was the President of the Army War College in Japan and had much contact with promising young Japanese officers. He felt that Defense Minister Zhong Yifu's view of Japan was somewhat superficial.

Although Japan had now changed its policy of military expansion in Asia to promoting economic cooperative development in East Asia as a key East Asian nation, and although Japan had expanded university enrollment so that large numbers of excellent young people no longer saw military academies as their only path, precisely because of this, the young Japanese officers who were genuinely interested in the military were generally filled with enthusiasm for external expansion. Very many young Japanese officers sought Xu Chengfeng's advice on East Asian world strategy. In conversations, Japan's elite young officers all believed that East Asia needed to at least completely liberate all of Asia first, so they had to be prepared to go to war with the European and American powers.

Seeing that only Zheng Silang seemed to support him, Zhong Yifu asked in some confusion, "Could it be that my judgment is wrong?"

Cheng Ruofan was the first to break the silence. "According to the news I've received, the Japanese teaching staff headed by Yamamoto Isoroku focus heavily on propagating their naval strategy to our academy's teachers and students. My personal feeling is that they are not simply wanting to use China's resources. Or rather, they believe that if Chinese and Japanese resources are utilized effectively, there is a complete opportunity to defeat the world powers."

Zheng Silang did not trust Japan and said immediately, "Although Japan cannot control the Allied Navy, in reality, we still have to bear the vast majority of the heavy lifting."

Xu Chengfeng felt that these words made Zheng Silang seem narrow-minded. The Japanese were shrewd; if one wanted Japan to do more work for less benefit, Japan would definitely quit, or at least obey publicly while opposing in private. Since He Rui had long proposed the strategy of liberating the globe, there was no need for China to play petty tricks on these matters.

Zhong Yifu found that his view was surprisingly not supported by the majority of the CMC members and was quite astonished. In past experience, Zhong Yifu's views had been highly aligned with everyone else's. As the leader, He Rui would propose strategic arrangements that exceeded everyone's scope and which they couldn't accept in the short term, and then, as the meeting progressed, He Rui would stand against the majority and gradually persuade the comrades.

*How did I suddenly become the minority?* Zhong Yifu felt very surprised, and an inexplicable unease rose in his heart.

Chief of General Staff Hu Xiushan, who had been silent all along, finally spoke at this point. "At this stage, our navy is using Japanese naval equipment for training and has achieved the planned results. According to the data collected, our naval shipbuilding route cannot import technology from foreign countries. On the shipbuilding route we have adopted, our relevant technology is already number one in the world. What we need at this stage is to establish a naval liaison group. Chairman, do we need to propose this to Japan now?"

Hearing this, Zhong Yifu initially failed to accurately judge Hu Xiushan's view. Facing such a large divergence from his old comrade-in-arms, Zhong Yifu decisively chose to communicate. "Chairman, can I state my views point by point?"

He Rui nodded. "You may."

Zhong Yifu straightened out his thoughts and spoke slowly, "In terms of the Army, we are completely the main force. Does everyone agree?"

Including He Rui, everyone expressed agreement.

Zhong Yifu continued to ask, "In terms of the Navy, we want to use the experience accumulated by the Japanese Navy to accelerate our naval construction, and to research and perfect future methods of naval warfare together with Japan's Carrier Faction. Does everyone agree?"

Without waiting for others to answer, Chief of General Staff Hu Xiushan said calmly, "It is cooperation with Japan's Carrier Faction and Battleship Faction *on the basis of the shipbuilding industry pointed out by the Chairman*."

Zhong Yifu's eyes widened. A moment later, he completely understood the problem with his line of thinking. Zhong Yifu, as Defense Minister, and Zheng Silang, as Minister of Logistics, were responsible for domestic military construction. Cooperation with Japan was handled by Xu Chengfeng, Chief of General Staff Hu Xiushan, and Cheng Ruofan, who was in charge of military academies.

The Republic of China Defense Force was currently strongest in the Army and Air Force, both of which were built completely according to Chinese industrial standards. Therefore, Zhong Yifu subconsciously assumed that in naval construction, Japanese standards would become the relatively mainstream construction standard. He hadn't expected that in He Rui's vision, the Japanese Navy, which had developed earlier than China's, would only play an auxiliary role in the construction of the East Asian Allied Navy. To put it more bluntly, Zhong Yifu had 'overestimated' Japan. That was why he had become a minority among his comrades.

After understanding this point, Zhong Yifu felt somewhat ashamed, but mostly relieved. Since the naval equipment development was a path proposed by He Rui, Zhong Yifu decided to support it unconditionally as before. Zhong Yifu didn't even notice that he had absolutely no impulse to oppose He Rui on the strategic level. If he had a divergence with He Rui on the strategic level, Zhong Yifu would instinctively assume that he himself must be wrong.

As the Minister of Logistics, Zheng Silang was very clear about the R&D progress of the shipbuilding industry. He just strongly disliked the Japanese military, so he was unwilling to trust them too much. Seeing that Zhong Yifu was no longer objecting, he did not raise any other views.

He Rui then brought the topic back to the initial matter. "So, we will view the French request as a diplomatic issue rather than a military issue. Do comrades agree?"

Hearing the French request again now, Xu Chengfeng suddenly found it inexplicably funny. In Xu Chengfeng's view just moments ago, and one could even say in the eyes of the other world powers, the matter of France wanting to borrow 140,000 tons of China's capital ship tonnage should have been a very major event. But when placed into the world strategy He Rui was constructing for China, it naturally turned into a moderately sized matter that could be handled by the Foreign Minister. Viewed extremely, it was even a trivial matter in China's grand global strategy. The importance of a true strategist to a nation was fully embodied by this matter.

Of course, if one held a mindset of opposing He Rui, there were too many reasons to nitpick, criticize, and even inevitably oppose He Rui's views. But over the past seventeen years, Xu Chengfeng had long since gone through the stages of shock, surprise, opposition, suggestion, to trying hard to comprehend and fully executing.

At this stage, the only thing Xu Chengfeng cared about was whether the technological iteration speed of China's shipbuilding industry could keep up with demand. Xu Chengfeng felt that it was only 1932 now; there were still a full five years until 1937, plenty of time to complete China's warship designs and weapon parameters. Even though Xu Chengfeng was not from a naval background, he could imagine various methods of building full-scale land models to conduct shipborne weapon tests. As they said in the army, as long as one's thinking didn't slide, there were always more solutions than difficulties.

The only two problems were whether China would have the ability to start building the first 30,000-ton warship that met design standards in 1937, and how many required capital ships China could build each year.

But He Rui was not merely a military leader; the country's economic development strategy was also led by He Rui. So Xu Chengfeng had absolutely no doubts. He only hoped that the leaders in the industrial sector had the ability to execute He Rui's plan. If those guys couldn't complete it, Xu Chengfeng felt he would definitely make the responsible leaders pay the price for their incompetence.

Seeing that the comrades of the CMC all agreed with his view, He Rui had his secretary send a document to Premier Wu Youping: "Agree in principle to France's request, and commence negotiations revolving around France's request."