The news of the loss of Qingdao reached the public concession in Shanghai in the afternoon of the same day, and the envoys of various countries had not yet fully digested the shock caused by the loss of Weihaiwei, and suffered another huge impact, and the intensity of this impact was far greater than that of Weihaiwei.

Because Weihaiwei's troops were insufficient and the garrison was empty, but it was suddenly attacked by overseas Chinese, it was completely lost in one day, which is also reasonable.

On the one hand, with the lessons of Weihaiwei, the German state began to strengthen the defense of Qingdao a few days in advance, and the German army guarding Qingdao actually exceeded 3,000 people, and the German army has always been known for its toughness, so the garrison of Qingdao is far stronger than Weihaiwei's.

The consuls of various countries in Shanghai all knew that overseas Chinese recruited troops in Tianjin to form a people's army. Although at this time, the consuls of various countries have admitted that the army of overseas Chinese is indeed a well-trained and brave army, but the number is not much, and it is only about 1,000 people in the army, while the people's army is composed of the people of the Qing Dynasty, since the Opium War 60 years ago, although the Qing court has trained the new army several times, but the combat effectiveness of the Qing army is not enough in the eyes of all countries, especially the Wuwu War five years ago, it has removed the fig leaf of the Qing army's external strength and cadres, so the people's army composed of the people of the Qing country can be strong there。

At that time, the military attachés of the consulates in Shanghai generally believed that the German army should be able to hold out in Qingdao for one to two weeks, but the German consul general in Shanghai even claimed that Qingdao could hold out for at least a month.

In fact, it is also the end of the battle in one day, but the content process of the two wars is completely different. In the battle of Weihaiwei, the army of the traverser basically took Weihaiwei without much effort, and also achieved zero casualties, but the battle of Qingdao caused the traverser to suffer the largest casualties in history, so the two wars were not on the same level at all.

However, the consuls of various countries in Shanghai and the military attaches stationed in the consulates could not see this, and all they saw was that Weihaiwei and Qingdao were lost in one day, but the strength of the People's Army, which was formed by overseas Chinese, may have to be reassessed. Although it is the same people, the Qing army composed of the Qing State is vulnerable, but the people's army composed of traversers should not be underestimated, the truth of this is indeed to make countries rethink, a group of sheep led by a lion is more powerful than a group of lions led by a sheep, overseas Chinese are obviously a lion, and the people of the Qing State are not a group of sheep, it is really hard to say.

And the next day, I don't know where the news came from, saying that after the overseas Chinese captured Weihaiwei and Qingdao, their next goal was to attack Shanghai, and the ultimate goal was to drive all foreigners out of China. Weihaiwei and Qingdao are both foreign colonies, and since overseas Chinese dare to occupy Weihaiwei and Qingdao, why should they not dare to attack Shanghai?

The Shanghai Concession is the earliest foreign concession in China in this era, the largest geographical scope, the most well-developed concession area, now divided into two parts: the Shanghai Public Concession and the Shanghai French Concession, there are thousands of foreigners settled in the concession, plus the foreigners who have lived in the Shanghai Concession for a long time, the total can exceed 10,000 people, in fact, most of them are businessmen and business representatives from various countries, and after decades of development, the Shanghai Concession has been closely related to the social and economic life of Shanghai.

Therefore, with the spread of rumors, a period of panic suddenly spread in the Shanghai Public Concession and the Shanghai French Concession, and many foreign businessmen and business representatives bought their own properties and houses, withdrew cash from the bank, and prepared to leave Shanghai. Only two or three days later, the order of the Shanghai concession was in chaos, a large number of shops were closed, factories were closed, prices soared, people were panicked, and at the same time, long queues for withdrawals were formed at the gates of banks in various countries, which quickly triggered a chain effect, and many foreigners who did not plan to leave Shanghai, and some Chinese who kept their money in the bank also joined the withdrawal team, resulting in a vicious run on the wind.

In this round of runs, there are several banks whose cash supply is not available, resulting in the rupture of funds and forced to close the door, but those who have not withdrawn the money will not do it, so they block the door of the bank, angrily hit the bank gate with stones and bricks, as a result, the door of a bank was knocked open, the angry crowd rushed into the bank, snatched everything that could be robbed, and waited for the police in the concession to arrive, dispersed the angry crowd, and arrested more than 20 people, but the bank was already a mess, and the general manager of the bank stood in this ruin, wanting to cry without tears。

Banks were run out, and tickets back to Europe became a sought-after commodity, and long queues formed in front of the ticket offices of the various steamship companies in the concession, and the tickets for each passenger and freighter were snapped up as soon as they came out, and the reserved tickets were even queued up for 10 days later. The ticket sellers took the opportunity to make a big deal of tickets, and the price of a ferry ticket was up to 20 times the original price. Fortunately, the concession learned the lessons of the banks and strengthened the vigilance of the ticket offices of the steamship companies, and put down several unrest in their original origins.

The panic in the Shanghai Concession soon spread beyond the Concession and affected other parts of Shanghai, so that the whole of Shanghai was soon plunged into chaos.

The consuls of various countries are also very nervous, on the one hand, they are also afraid that the overseas Chinese will really attack Shanghai, and on the other hand, the chaos in Shanghai also makes the consuls worried. In addition, Yu Lianyuan, the Qing court's Shanghai Daotai, also urgently summoned the consuls of various countries and demanded that the consuls of various countries take effective measures as soon as possible to stabilize the situation in the concession.

On the third day of the fall of Qingdao, the consuls of various countries in Shanghai met with the board members of the Shanghai Public Concession Bureau and the Shanghai French Concession Public Bureau to discuss how to deal with the current situation.

After some discussion, several agreements were reached.

First, the consuls of various countries in Shanghai jointly issued a statement, declaring that all countries would go all out to defend Shanghai's security, and at the same time demanding that the troops of various countries in Shanghai immediately start moving, set up a coalition army headquarters, and arrange a defensive line in the Shanghai Concession to protect the Shanghai Concession.

The second is to impose martial law in the concession, order all patrol houses in the concession, strengthen the police force, maintain order in the concession, and require the residents in the concession to remain calm, not to panic, and to respect the legal system of the concession.

Third, it is necessary to severely crack down on speculation and ticket dealers, and all banks must not suspend business at will, and they should do everything possible to mobilize funds and ensure the payment of borrowers, so as to maintain financial stability in the concessions.

Fourth, the consuls of various countries immediately sent electricity to the country, informed them of the situation in Shanghai, and asked the country to urgently negotiate and formulate countermeasures.

At this time, there were about 8,000 troops stationed in Shanghai, of which the British army was the largest, about 2,500 people, while France, the United States, Japan, and Russia each had about 1,000 people, and other countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, and Portugal had only more than 100 or dozens of people. It was originally to guard against the Boxers, but now it really comes in handy.

In fact, for the tide of bank runs, some consuls have set up a simple stop to bank business, or restrict bank withdrawals, such as only allowing foreigners to withdraw money, not allowing Chinese to withdraw money, but this proposal was opposed by the Shanghai Public Concession Bureau and the Shanghai French Concession Public Understanding Bureau, because the bank is a financial that survives on credit, once the credit is gone, it is not far from bankruptcy, and no one will deposit money in a bank without credit. Therefore, banks would rather be run out and go bankrupt, but they must not stop operating or restrict the people who can withdraw money.

The consuls of various countries in Shanghai jointly issued a statement, and the army also set up a defensive line outside the concession, no matter what the actual effect is, but at least it looks reassuring, and the patrol houses in the concession have also strengthened police patrols, so the order in the Shanghai concession has also stabilized a lot.

The countries also reacted quickly, and Britain first announced at the first time that it would transfer the two two battleships anchored in Hong Kong, the Centurion and the Baller, to Shanghai to garrison. The Centurion and the Balreux were second-class battleships in the British Navy, with a displacement of more than 10,000 and four 10-inch (254mm) guns. The British Far East Fleet was originally stationed in Singapore, but during the Boxer Rebellion, the two battleships participated in the British troop transport and escort to Tianjin.

Subsequently, Russia also announced that it would transfer eight warships, including the battleship Navarin, the armored cruisers Rurik and Grombowie, the large protective cruisers Varyag and Zhuangshi, the destroyer Razbernik, and the shallow-water gunboats Manchurian and Urals, from the Far Eastern Fleet stationed in Vladivostok, to station in Port Arthur to fight against overseas Chinese and defend Russia's leased land.

Lushun is across the sea from Tianjin and Weihaiwei, so although this Russian fleet is not stationed in Shanghai, it can also contain the strength of overseas Chinese by being stationed in Port Arthur. Moreover, the military discipline of the Russian army has always been extremely poor, and if it really drove to Shanghai, it would not necessarily be a good thing, and it would be better to be stationed in Lushun. Seeing that the situation had eased, some businessmen were not in a hurry to withdraw money and flee, and the run gradually calmed down.