The proposal of the three countries is naturally right for Japan. In fact, Japan has always wanted to expand its influence in China. However, Japan's national strength is not strong at present, and as an Asian country, it has no sense of identity among European countries, and most European countries still look down on Japan. Because it was the incident of the three countries intervening in the Liao after the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan has taught Japan a profound lesson: With the strength of Japan alone, it is absolutely impossible to confront European and American countries, and if you want to do something, you must pull a few European countries. Now that the three countries have approached Japan, they have just given him a great opportunity to intervene in China and expand his interests in China.

As a result, the four countries soon reached an agreement, with the United States and France providing loans to the Japanese navy, and Japan sending another 20,000 army and navy to dispatch a fleet with the two battleships Fuji and Yashima as the core, while Britain transferred two battleships from the Far East Fleet, the Centurion and the Balreux, to form a joint fleet with the Japanese navy and enter the Chinese battlefield to suppress the strength of the German naval and land forces.

On the other hand, Russia could not tolerate German dominance on the Chinese battlefield.

Now that Russia has fully invaded the northeast of China, and its ambitions are further inflated, if it can go further and seize the Beijing-Tianjin area, then almost the entire northern part of China can be included in Russia's sphere of influence, and the arrival of the German fleet just gave Russia an excuse to invest troops in China, although the Russian army can increase the number of troops at this time, but still dispatched the battleship Navarin and the armored cruiser Rurik from Vladivostok, as well as 5,000 army forces, ready to enter the Chinese battlefield.

The other two members of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Italy and Austria-Hungary, basically played the role of soy sauce and maintained a neutral attitude.

However, because Britain, France, the United States, Japan, Russia and other countries had too little time to react, and it would take some time to mobilize troops and prepare for departure, they had to wait about five days later than the German fleet. But this time is just right for all countries, if the German fleet first launches an attack on Tianjin, and fights with the overseas Chinese, regardless of victory or defeat, the winning side will suffer considerable losses, then all countries can take the opportunity to pick up a big stool; if the German fleet waits to see that the armies of all countries are ready to attack before launching an attack, then everyone has a share of the credit, and there is no need to worry about the German army gaining a dominant position in China.

After leaving Shanghai, the German fleet traveled for a day and arrived at Qingdao, where the commander of the German army, Wadsey, ordered a three-day rest in Qingdao, and the crews of all ships could take turns to go ashore.

It turned out that at this time, the German fleet had been on the sea for more than two months, and the personnel were very tired, although after arriving in China, the German fleet had docked in Guangzhou and Shanghai to rest, but these were not German territory, so the German army did not dare to relax, and now Qingdao is a German colony, and the German country has been operating in Qingdao for nearly three years, and the colonial city is beginning to be large, and the soldiers of the German army can naturally relax here and prepare to meet the battle in good condition.

It was in Qingdao that Wadsey met with Ye Shike, the governor of Jiaoao, and received a telegram from China. Only then did it become clear that the other countries of the Eight-Nation Coalition intended to send additional troops to China in order to neutralize the superiority of the German fleet. Moreover, all countries also sent telegrams to Germany, asking the German fleet to wait for the arrival of the armies of other countries, and then launch an attack on Tianjin together. Finally, the German emperor also consulted Wadsey.

Wadsey immediately consulted with the staff officers of the German fleet, and finally decided to take the lead in attacking China without waiting for the arrival of the armies of other countries, and strive to gain a superior strategic position in China before the arrival of the armies of other countries.

However, Wadsey is not unaware of the plans of various countries, and after he and the overseas Chinese fight to lose, he will reap the benefits of the fishermen. However, Waldsea also has his own considerations, because Waldsea has also carefully studied the army of overseas Chinese, which is an army with both sea and land armies, and relatively speaking, the strength of the navy is stronger, after all, it can annihilate the fleet of the Eight-Nation Alliance, and this strength should not be underestimated. The main force of the Eight-Nation Coalition is in Beijing, and the military strength left behind in Tianjin is not strong, and after this group of overseas Chinese recovered Tianjin, they did not continue to attack Beijing, according to the news sent back by the German consul in Tianjin, this group of overseas Chinese actually recruited troops in Tianjin, which also shows that the army strength of overseas Chinese is not strong.

Wadsey's plan was that the German fleet would first start a war with the navy of the overseas Chinese, and as long as the navy of the overseas Chinese could be completely annihilated, even if the fleet suffered some losses, it would not hesitate, because the navy of the overseas Chinese would be annihilated, and the German army would be able to land at Dagukou, so that the battle would not have anything to do with the navy, and the rest of the siege and land seizure and expansion of the sphere of influence would mainly be completed by the army.

In this way, the German army can give full play to its strong combat effectiveness, and as long as the German army can recapture Tianjin before the arrival of the armies of other countries, then the German army can occupy a dominant position in this battle, and in the future it can not only demand a huge indemnity from the Qing state, but also force the Qing state to cede a large piece of land and expand the interests of the German state in China.

Kaiser Wilhelm II and the German General Staff agreed that Wadsey's plan was feasible and that the German fleet had already reached China, so he could not return empty-handed. At the same time, Kaiser Wilhelm II also directly ordered the governor of Jiaoao, Ye Shike, to order the Jiaoao area to fully cooperate with the actions of the German fleet and provide all the support that could be provided.

With the Kaiser's order, Wadsey immediately began negotiations with the governor of Jiaoao, Ye Shike, and decided to integrate the protective cruisers Empress Augusta, the Goddess of Peace, and Princess Wilhelm, the ironclad ships Prussia and Caesar, and four other transport ships currently stationed in Qingdao into the German fleet to strengthen the German fleet.

The Goddess of Peace and Princess Wilhelm are the first type of protective cruisers built by Germany, both of which were started in 1886 and commissioned on May 25, 1888 and November 13, 1889 respectively, and the basic performance parameters are: size, 103.7x14.2x6.74 meters, displacement, 5027 tons, twin shafts, 2 reciprocating steam engines, power 8000 horsepower, speed 19 knots, range 2490 nautical miles/ 9 knots, 365 personnel, 4 150-mm single-barreled guns, 6 37-mm rotary cannons, 3 350-mm torpedo tubes, 20-50 mm armor.

The Empress Augusta protection cruiser is the first large protective cruiser built by Germany, started construction in 1890, launched on January 15, 1892, commissioned on November 17, 1892, the basic performance parameters are: size, 123.2x15.6x6.48 meters, displacement, 6318 tons, three-shaft propulsion, 3 three-expansion steam engines, power 12000 horsepower, speed 21.5 knots, 430 personnel, armed with 4 150 mm single-barreled guns, 8 88mm single-barreled guns, 4 37-mm rotary tube guns, 5 350-mm torpedo tubes, armor 20-50 mm.

The Prussia and the Caesar are all old-fashioned ironclad ships, and they are also equipped with sail battleship-style masts and side guns, and in Germany, they have been eliminated ship types, because these two warships participated in the battle of the German occupation of Qingdao, so they have stayed in Qingdao and have not left, and it is estimated that in a few years, it will be disintegrated in Qingdao, although the combat effectiveness of these two ships is not strong, but they can also play a certain role in the German fleet, even if it is used to protect transport ships.

The four demand ships were loaded with food, ammunition and other military supplies to ensure the continuous combat effectiveness of the German army. At this time, Germany had been operating Qingdao for less than three years, and although it was initially large, it could not be compared with Shanghai and Hong Kong, and the materials were not abundant, so in order to support the German fleet, almost all the military supplies in Qingdao were exhausted.

Wadsey also ordered that the rest time of the soldiers be reduced from three days to two days, so as to buy enough time for the war to achieve as many results as possible and gain the initiative before the armies of other countries arrived.

Although the rest time was reduced, the Germans were well-trained and disciplined after all, and there were not too many complaints, of course, this was also related to Wadsey's promise that after the capture of Tianjin, the Germans would be given three days off and could move freely.

The so-called freedom of action here is actually to connive at the German army's plundering at will. After all, Qingdao is too small to provide limited services to more than 20,000 German troops, and Qingdao is now a German colony, and it can't let go of the big robbery, so it is better to set off to Tianjin a day earlier, and then indulge in a good indulgence, not only can you rest and recuperate, but also make a profit, so why not?

So after two days of rest, the German fleet set out from Qingdao, bypassed the Shandong Peninsula, and entered the Bohai Bay. However, just as the German fleet was rounding the tip of the Shandong Peninsula, its whereabouts were discovered by the British colony of Weihai, and the British large protective cruiser Endymion stationed in Weihai was dispatched to accompany the German fleet. Because Britain and Germany were allies at this time, the German fleet was helpless against the behavior of the Endymion, so it could only let the Endymion follow, but fortunately, there was only this British warship, which could not play much role.

When all countries learned that the German warships were planning to act alone, they all reacted immediately, first expressing their resistance to Germany, and at the same time ordering the Eight-Nation Coalition forces stationed in Beijing to attack Tianjin. If Tianjin can be recaptured before the German fleet, it will naturally not allow Germany to dominate the situation in China, and even if it cannot capture Tianjin, it can greatly offset the advantage of the German army, and in the Eight-Nation Alliance, the German army has only 500 people, and it cannot control the actions of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

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