Through repeated confirmation with Durban by cable telegram, it was confirmed that more than 30 warships of the Combined Fleet went straight south through the port of Durban, and Hood knew that the Combined Fleet was indeed completely annihilated, although it was not clear how the Qing army did this, but he was sure that his judgment would not be wrong!

"Call ...... London." After Hu Deqiang calmed down, he recounted the telegram with Durban, hesitated for a moment before adding his judgment, "Although it is unbelievable, judging by the subordinates, the combined fleet has been completely wiped out!" ”

Later, he cheered up and said: "Call East London and Elizabeth that the Qing fleet has moved south and has crossed the port of Durban, and all ships in the two ports will be transferred to Cape Town at once. Call Cape Town, the Qing fleet is about to arrive in ........ ”

After the telegram was issued, Hood felt a deep sense of fear and powerlessness, long before he sent troops to Maputo, he had a premonition that Maputo must be heavily defended, but he only thought that it would be difficult to capture Maputo, and he never thought in his heart that the entire combined fleet of such an unprecedented size would be completely destroyed!

He didn't know how the Qing army did it, but he believed that his judgment would not be wrong, and before there was definite information to prove it, it was obvious that he needed to take a lot of risk by calling directly to East London, Elizabeth, and Cape Town, but he didn't care, he didn't want the huge number of supply ships to fall into the hands of the Qing army.

The huge ports along the coast of South Africa were in a huge panic for a while, and the merchant ships in Durban, East London, Elizabeth and other ports left the port as quickly as possible to rush to Cape Town.

It's just that no one would have thought that the combined fleet entered Maputo Bay and only lasted for half a day before it ended up completely annihilated, and the more than 30 warships that crossed Durban and went straight south were not the vanguard of the Qing army, but the follow-up force, as early as a day earlier, the Qing army's advance fleet had already taken advantage of the night to go south and go straight to Cape Town.

Prime Minister's Residence, 10 Downing Street, Westminster Borough, London, England.

After reading the telegram sent by Hood from Simon's military port, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli's face was covered with frost, "Is it possible that the Combined Fleet has been wiped out in Maputo?" ”

Admiral Battenberg said cautiously: "This is just speculation, the combined fleet is huge, there are many large fast cruisers, even if it is defeated, it is impossible to destroy all of them." ”

Disraeli said in a deep voice: "Then as soon as the combined fleet entered Maputo Bay, there was no news, what is going on?" ”

God knows what happened, Battenberg was speechless for a while, the eighty ironclad ships of the five-nation combined fleet, after entering Maputo Bay, they were like mud cows entering the sea without any news, and he also wanted to know what was going on!

This thing is really weird! If he said that the combined fleet was completely annihilated, he would not believe it if he was killed, but if it was not completely annihilated, how could there be no news? The Port of Durban is a one-day flight from Maputo, which is unconscionable!

He was hesitating as to explain when there was a soft knock on the door, and then an attendant came in and reported: "Your Excellency, the cable telegram with the Qing State has resumed communication, and this is the telegram ...... from Shanghai. ”

Qing took the initiative to restore cable telegraph communications with Europe? Disraeli's heart sank, he took the telegram and only glanced at it a few times, his right hand trembled uncontrollably slightly, and his face became extremely ugly in an instant.

The telegram was sent by the Qing envoy to the Qing Dynasty, Wei Tuma, reporting the Qing newspaper's report on the great victory in the naval battle of Maputo, when he saw the words "total annihilation, the capture of 60 warships, submarines, new mines, etc.", Battenberg's mind was blank, and he pinched the telegram in a daze.

Disraeli took a few sips of the black tea on the table, his face looked a little better, the two were combined, and there was no doubt that the combined fleet was completely destroyed, and the coalition fleet was defeated, he didn't care very much, what he cared about was that the Qing army captured sixty ironclad ships in one fell swoop, and what he cared about was that the Qing army had developed a submarine that could launch torpedoes under the surface of the water, and a new type of torpedo that could be laid under the surface.

What does this mean? It means that the scale of the Qing Navy can be rapidly expanded, it means that the naval strength of the Qing State surpasses the Royal Navy of the British Empire, replacing the position of the British Empire's maritime hegemon, and it means that the vast overseas colonies of the British Empire will be threatened by the Qing State from now on!

South Africa is afraid that it will not be able to keep it, and what worries him even more is whether India can keep it!

After a long silence, he spoke: "Negotiation, let Wei Toma negotiate with Yi Zhicontent immediately, the war between India and South Africa must be ended immediately, and it cannot be fought again." ”

Coming back to his senses, Battenberg reminded softly: "It was the Qing State that declared war first....... ”

"It's nothing more than interests, and the Qing State will not refuse to negotiate" Disraeli said in a deep voice: "You can pay reparations, but you must try to keep India and South Africa." ”

Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin, Germany.

Kaiser Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck sat opposite each other, neither of them spoke, the atmosphere was dull and depressing, neither of them expected that the Qing navy would be so deeply hidden, and they could not imagine that the combined fleet would take the initiative to fall into the trap laid by the Qing army a long time ago, and end up with the annihilation of the whole army.

Originally, it was thought that this war could be fought for at least one or two years or even two or three years, but now this situation can only end early, without the containment of the navy, this war can not continue to be fought at all, and all illusions are shattered with this war.

After a long time, Bismarck spoke: "The ...... that Mu Mo proposed to buy the warships captured by the Qing State?" ”

"Stupid!" William I said angrily: "If you really want to buy these sixty warships, you are forcing Britain and France to wage war against our country!" Qing people are uneasy and kind! ”

This is not proposed by the Qing people at all, right? Bismarck was a little depressed and hesitated before he said: "Mu Mo made it clear that the Qing State intends to sell these warships to the outside world, if we don't buy ......." ”

"No one will buy it!" William I interrupted him, "The French also dare not buy, no matter which country buys those warships, they will face the wrath of the British, which is tantamount to challenging the British supremacy in the European sea and threatening the security of the British Isles!" ”

"What if our country buys jointly with Austria-Hungary and Italy?" Bismarck was very unwilling to say: "Or, ask the Qing State to sell torpedoes, torpedo boats, submarines, new mines, ....... at the same time." ”

Wilhelm I gently raised his right hand and put it on his heart, clearly feeling that his heart that had already begun to weaken beat violently, if the Qing State sold torpedoes, torpedo boats, submarines, and new mines to Germany, the German Navy would become the strongest navy in Europe, and Britain and France would no longer be able to stop Germany from dominating Europe.

He didn't notice that his voice had become a little low and hoarse for a moment, "Is it possible that the Qing Kingdom will sell these latest naval weapons to our country?" ”

Bismarck glanced at him and leaned forward slightly, "If the Qing State intends to break the equilibrium in Europe and provoke a melee in Europe, it is absolutely possible!" ”

With a slight groan, William I shook his head, "The outbreak of a large-scale war in Europe is only temporarily beneficial to the Qing State, and in the long run, the Qing State will not hope that a big empire can unify Europe appear." ”

"I think the Qing Kingdom urgently needs time to improve its industrial strength now." Bismarck said slowly: "Qing industry's industry started late, the foundation is weak, in terms of industrial strength, it can't be compared with England, Qing Guo should be very aware of this, so in the case of a significant increase in naval combat power, it has been withholding it all these years." ”

Speaking of this, he paused, "I think, whatever Qing Guo thinks, we should try it." ”

"That's right, you should test it." William I bowed his head and said: "Let Murmo talk, South Africa will cease the war." ”

With the resumption of cable telegraph communication between the East and the West, the news of the naval battle of Maputo also spread quickly, and newspapers in various European countries reported one after another, and for a time, the whole of Europe was shaken.

The ancient empires of the East, tens of thousands of miles away, were once again the focus of discussion in European countries, such as porcelain, silk, tea, watches, bicycles, and miraculous cures, crazy cotton during the Civil War, and crazy Yuanqi during the Franco-Prussian War.

Of course, far more than that, the ancient Eastern empire has been the focus of European public opinion in recent years, such as Shanghai, known as the 'city that never sleeps', the purchase of territory in large quantities, the world's largest gold mine, the absence of an economic crisis, a rare drought, an unusual economic stimulus plan, and so on.

This time, however, the focus is on weapons, wars, and threats! The English newspaper even used the eye-catching headline 'Yellow Peril is coming' to warn European countries of the threat from the East.

Shanghai, Zhennan Palace.

With the outbreak of the South African War, Yi Zhizhi closed the door, and after the news of the victory in the Maputo naval battle spread, the palace gate became lively again.

But only three days, with the resumption of cable telegraph communication between the Qing Dynasty and Europe, the gate was deserted again, this time it was not closed, but the owner of the king of Zhennan was not in the house, it is said that he went to Hangzhou to participate in the opening ceremony of the Shanghai-Hangzhou highway.

Hurriedly came to the palace, eager to negotiate a truce with Yi Zhicontent, the ministers of the five countries all rushed into the air without exception, although they were clearly aware of the whereabouts of the other party, and Hangzhou was not far away, but the ministers of the five countries all consciously stayed in Shanghai and waited, and it was clear that the other party did not want to see them, otherwise a highway opening ceremony could invite the other party.

Under the bright spring light, a convoy of more than 10 cars is speeding on the newly built kilometer, the speed is not fast, just 60 yards per hour, in the center of a small car, Yi Zhifen, who is sitting in the back seat, opens the window and looks at the newly built highway with interest.

As one of the model roads, this highway has a very high specification, not to mention comparable to the expressway, the level of the secondary road is sufficient, and the driving is very smooth on the smooth oil road.

There were no other cars on the road except for their convoy, not even horse-drawn carriages, nor pedestrians, not because the road was closed for warning reasons, but because horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians were forbidden to use the road, and both sides of the road were separated by barbed wire fences more than one person high.

The reason for this is not to improve the speed of the car, but for safety, the speed of 60 yards per hour is already high speed for the car of this era, the engine, tires, steering, brakes and other aspects of the technology are still very backward, to be gradually improved, he does not want frequent traffic accidents to affect the popularization of the car.

This time he took a car to Hangzhou, he also used his celebrity effect to advertise the car, and by the way, he also took a group of family members in the house to play and relax, of course, the most important thing is to avoid meeting the ministers of the belligerent countries, at this time, it is not the time to negotiate.

Although I brought a group of family members with me, however, all the women chose to take a convertible car, one is afraid of motion sickness, and then the wide field of vision is more suitable for enjoying the scenery all the way, easy to be content but want to accompany, but the guards are not accommodating at all, the assassination of the king, the president, the prime minister, the minister is really countless, a group of guards do not dare to be careless.

Accompanying him were Yan Kexin and Yan Shikuan, feeling the comfort brought by the car, Yan Kexin, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, turned around and smiled: "This feels more comfortable than it seems to be than the train." ”

"Of course." Yi Zhifen smiled: "More freedom, you can stop at will, in addition, there is the fun of driving, in the future, with the continuous development of the automobile manufacturing industry, the car will replace the train as the main means of land transportation." ”

"How many years will it take to develop?"

"It depends on the speed of industry and economic development." Yi Zhizhi said with a smile: "It will take at least ten or twenty years, and if it is really popularized, it may take thirty, fifty, or even a hundred years." ”

Yan Kexin secretly said to himself, "Doesn't that mean that this highway has been useless for a decade or two?" ”

Yan Shikuan said with a smile: "If you want to develop cars, you must naturally build roads first, otherwise how can cars be sold?" ”

was robbed, Yan Kexin glanced at him, turned around angrily, Yan Shikuan smiled, changed the topic, and said: "The third brother is distracted, it's true, I don't want to see the ministers of the five countries, right?" ”

"If you want to fight, you can fight, if you can't win, you want to talk, how can there be such a cheap thing in the world." Yi Zhizhi said and glanced at him, "Did they go your way?" ”

"How dare I get involved in this kind of thing." Yan Shikuan hurriedly waved his hand and said: "I didn't understand it, since I don't want to see it, why rush to open a cable telegraph with Europe?" ”

"The opening of the cable telegraph is to show their attitude, to clearly tell them that they can talk." Yi Zhizu said slowly: "Avoiding it, it is also an attitude to show your attitude, when to talk, I am in charge." ”