At this time, Xia Bohai said: "In principle, I agree to stick to the Shanghai New Area, although this will consume some manpower and materials, but it can avoid our political losses, and this account can still be calculated." But our demand is foolproof, and we must not allow the Shanghai New Area to be damaged. ”

However, I would like to mention one point: from the situation and response to the Shanghai New Area introduced by the Ministry of Security just now, it is mainly focused on dealing with the attack of dangerous personnel on the Shanghai New Area, and I believe that if it is attacked from the outside, the threat to the Shanghai New Area will be very limited. The real scary is on the inside. If Prince Su was planning this operation, he might not have realized it, but if it was a Japanese, he would never let go of the action from within the Shanghai New Area. If I were in charge of this operation, I would definitely adopt the tactics of attacking inside and outside.

Moreover, the location of the Shanghai New Area is special, it hangs outside our territory, and the surrounding area can be said to be hostile forces, and the environment is complicated, although our public security management is much stricter than that of the Qing court, but the Shanghai New Area has a large number of people entering and leaving every day and is very frequent, so it is difficult to avoid some people mixing into the Shanghai New Area. Maybe just when we are only focusing on the dangerous people in the old city of Shanghai, there are dangerous people who have infiltrated the new area of Shanghai and lurked.

Shang Qisong said: "In principle, the actions of the Shanghai Office are aimed at the old city of Shanghai and the Shanghai Concession, and do not interfere in the internal affairs of the Shanghai New Area, and try not to operate in the Shanghai New Area, so if there are dangerous people mixed into the Shanghai New Area, for the time being, we are powerless, which requires the Shanghai New Area Government and the Shanghai Office to work closely and cooperate with each other, and it is best to form a unified action department to be responsible." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Yes, the Executive Yuan will immediately organize the work, and the Shanghai New Area Government and the Shanghai Office will jointly set up a working group, with Yang Yuxin and Liu Lantao jointly responsible for the security operations in the Shanghai New Area. ”

Shang Qisong nodded, and said: "At the same time, it is necessary to send additional troops to the government of the Shanghai New Area, and the Ministry of Security will send a group of people to support the Shanghai Office, but the personnel of the Ministry of Security can only carry out some special operations, and to defend the Shanghai New Area, a formal army is needed, so at least one more battalion of troops must be added." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Okay, the Military Commission will immediately make arrangements and organization, and after three days, we must send a battalion of troops to the Shanghai New Area, and we must make every effort to match the new district government to protect the safety of the Shanghai New Area." ”

Shang Qisong nodded and said, "At present, there is only this one requirement, and the detailed plan, I will go back and negotiate with the people in the department, and I will come up with a comprehensive plan tomorrow." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Remember, our requirement is foolproof, and there must be no accidents in the Shanghai New Area. ”

At this time, Shang Qisong said goodbye and left, while the Big Five still continued to meet.

Xia Bokai said: "Now where is the Russian Second Pacific Fleet?"

Xiao Jianjun said: "On April 3, the Russian Second Pacific Fleet was stationed in Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, preparing to wait for the Third Pacific Fleet in Cam Ranh Bay, and then sail to Vladivostok after the convergence. ”

Xia Bokaidao: "And the Third Pacific Fleet?"

Qin Zheng said: "In fact, the Third Pacific Fleet only has 4 main warships, namely the battleship Nicholas I, and the coastal defense ships Admiral Apraksin, Admiral Xeniavin, and Admiral Ushakov. The reason is that after the loss of Arthur, all of Russia's hopes for reversing the war situation were placed on the Second Pacific Fleet, and in order to enhance the strength of the Second Pacific Fleet, four warships were drawn from the Baltic Fleet as the core to form the Third Pacific Fleet, led by Rear Admiral Nebogatov, and also rushed to the Far East. ”

Xiao Jianjun said with a smile: "Oh! How is the combat effectiveness of these four warships? Hearing the name of the ship, it is a cowhide coaxing, either the emperor or the admiral." ”

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "To be honest, the combat effectiveness of these warships is not very good, the battleship Nicholas I was ordered in 1886 and commissioned in 1888, with a displacement of 9,748 tons, a speed of 14 knots, and a twin-mounted 305 mm main gun. ”

Xiao Jianjun said: "It has been in service for 18 8 8 years, and it has been 1 7 years, and the Zhenyuan ship is a warship of the same era, and the speed is only 1 4 knots, which is too slow." What about the other 3 warships?"

Qin Zheng said: "These three warships are of the same class, the service time is 1892~1899, the displacement is 5051 tons, the speed is 16 knots, and the weapon is 2 twin-mounted 254 mm main guns. However, the three warships were designed for inshore shelling, with a low freeboard shape and a shallow draft, and were not intended to be used for long-distance voyages. ”

Xiao Jianjun couldn't help but say, "Then what are you sending these four warships to the Far East for?"

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "Because as long as there is a ship with cannons, it will have combat effectiveness, this is what the Russian Empress said." ”

Xia Bohai said: "Vietnam is now a French colony, so the signal that France has allowed the Russian fleet to be stationed in Cam Ranh Bay has a special significance, which means that France is still supporting Russia, which is obviously inconsistent with their purpose of mediating the Russo-Japanese War." ”

Xiao Jianjun said: "The mediation between Britain and France is inherently unreliable. ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "So Britain's attitude has also changed, yesterday the British consul like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted a proclamation, clearly asking our actions to be limited to the scope of Liaoxi, not to expand to Liaodong, that is, not to want us to participate in the war, because the British consul is still verbally warning us, as soon as we enter the war, Britain will send troops to the war in accordance with the provisions of the [Anglo-Japanese Alliance Treaty]. ”

Xia Bohai said: "According to this, Britain and France have already given up mediation in the Russo-Japanese War, and something must have happened to make these two countries give up mediation." ”

Qin Zheng said: "The answer should be found in the news from Germany the day before yesterday." ”

Xia Bohai listened, and he was also a little confused, the German office of the East China government is the only base in Europe, so he will send back a lot of information every day to report the situation in Europe to the East China government, of course Xia Bohai has to see it, but I don't know what news Qin Zheng refers to.

Qin Zheng didn't plan to sell more guanzi, and said: "On March 31, Kaiser Wilhelm II, accompanied by Prime Minister Billow, visited the Moroccan city of Tangier, declaring that Germany wants to maintain the independent status of Morocco, and the status of all countries in Morocco should be equal, and oppose France's special rights and interests in Morocco. ”

Several other people glanced at each other, and Wang Yunpeng said: "I have also seen this news, but what does this have to do with Britain and France giving up mediation in the Russo-Japanese War?"

Xia Bohai said thoughtfully: "Is Morocco a French colony?"

Qin Zheng said: "To be precise, it is a protectorate. ”

Xia Bohai nodded and said: "Then it is easy to understand, Germany is going to compete with France for Morocco, and at this time France needs the support of Russia, and can only continue to support Russia on the battlefield in the Far East, so it can only give up mediation, but what does this have to do with Britain?"

Qin Zheng said: "This is a long story, in fact, this incident is the famous Moroccan crisis in the history of the old time and space, and it is the first step towards the intensification of contradictions in European countries, which once reached the brink of war, and has a great impact on the First World War that occurred later. Morocco is a North African country bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its important port Tangier chokes the Strait of Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, has an important strategic position, and has become an important place for European powers to compete for, by which it is France, because of its geographical advantages, so since entering the 20th century, France has rapidly expanded its influence to Morocco, carried out economic infiltration, controlled Morocco's finances, and tried to turn Morocco into its own protectorate, and through diplomatic efforts, in 1900 and 1904 respectively, and Italy, Spain, Britain signed an agreement for countries to recognize France's special interests in Morocco. ”

In fact, Germany did not have any interests in Morocco, and it did not interfere much with French expansion in Morocco before, but France and Britain agreed on the interests of Morocco, which means that there is one less difference between the two countries, and the two countries are one step closer to unity, so Wilhelm II's statement in Tangier is ostensibly aimed at France, but in fact it is aimed at the union of Britain and France, that is, through pressure and intimidation on France, to test the extent of the relationship between Britain and France. ”

"In addition, the Moroccan crisis has another significance, which is often overlooked in the history of the old time, that is, it marks that Germany has truly become an international power, capable enough to intervene in international politics, even if it is an event that has nothing to do with itself, and to show great influence. Although Germany is now the world's first industrial country and the second economic country, it is still a regional country in nature, but in the Moroccan crisis, there was nothing to do with Germany, but Germany with its strong national strength, so that all countries dare not despise it, think about it, if the Qing court made this speech, France would be a matter for a while? Later, Britain, France, Russia, the United States, Spain and Italy jointly put pressure on Germany to force Germany to make concessions on the Moroccan issue, but it also made the whole world, Britain see Germany's strong national strength, which no country can underestimate, and no country can contain it, so later Britain made every effort to promote the formation of the Triple Entente, which was also stimulated by this event. ”

Of course, now the Moroccan crisis has just begun, it remains to be seen whether it will develop like the old time and space, but it is certain, then this crisis will not end so easily, there will be a fierce game between European countries, and even the war cannot be ruled out, and Britain and France obviously feel the pressure brought by Germany, so they shrink in the Far East, and concentrate their forces in Europe, and make every effort to contain Germany, in this situation, Britain and France can only give up mediation, and continue to support their allies, France needs Russia's support in the Moroccan crisis, and Britain is to shrink its forces in the Far East, and to maintain their interests in the Far East, they can only rely on their ally Japan. ”

After the others listened, they all understood what was going on, and Wang Yunpeng couldn't help but ask: "So is the Moroccan crisis beneficial or not beneficial to us?"