Selling the latest warships to Germany, Austria and Italy? Battenberg couldn't help but be stunned, is the other party old confused? It's not that England hasn't sold warships to the outside world, but it has never sold the latest warships, and the secrecy system has become stricter and stricter over the years, in order to leak the secrets of new warships?

What's more, Germany, Austria and Italy are now the targets of the British Empire's great defense, because these three countries have signs of destroying the equilibrium of the European continent, and it is only to reduce the losses of the Qing war to sell the latest warships to the three countries, will it not be worth the loss?

"The torpedo is very powerful, and its lethality far exceeds that of large-caliber naval guns, I don't think that the Qing Dynasty's research on torpedoes will stop in recent years, and the appearance of torpedo boats should be deliberately misleading or paralyzing us by the Qing Dynasty." Disraeli said slowly: "If the Qing State did not have absolute certainty about the naval war, it would not be so reckless to declare war on the five countries, and even did not hesitate to provoke our country and force our country to declare war.

The key to this battle in South Africa is the naval battle, if the guess is right, the Qing State wants to take this opportunity to once again hit our naval fleet, so as to replace our maritime hegemon, our country can not take risks, we must be cautious, and then cautious! ”

Eight years ago, in the Battle of Mozambique, the Qing State sank the ironclad ship of the Royal Navy fleet in one fell swoop with torpedoes, and the study of torpedoes has become the top priority of all countries in the world, and the Qing State has no reason not to pay attention to the improvement of torpedoes.

Battenberg hesitated for a moment before he said, "In that case, why don't you just avoid the war?" The sale of warships to Germany, Austria and Italy could shake the ...... of the empire's position in Europe. ”

"Avoiding war? No! Disraeli shook his head, "It is not a good thing for our country to be able to weaken the strength of Germany, Austria and Italy with the help of the Qing State. ”

After a pause, he continued: "As for the possibility that the sale of warships may shake our country's position in Europe, this possibility is not very likely, the technology of Germany, Austria and Italy to develop and build ironclad ships is not weak, once the war starts, the three countries have the ability to imitate new corvettes, China's advantage is not in the research and development, but in the strong industrial strength." ”

Battenberg said: "If China proposes to sell warships, will Germany, Austria and Italy be suspicious? ”

"Yes." Disraeli said: "However, they will not easily give up the gold mines of the Transvaal, they will not easily give up the opportunity to infect the Transvaal, of course, we must also give a reason that they cannot refuse to sell the warship, we can join forces with France." ”

After pondering for a while, Battenberg said: "Torpedo boats are a good idea, although the white-headed torpedoes developed by our country cannot be directed to direct navigation, but if they are used with torpedo boats, they still have a strong deterrent effect in large-scale naval battles, especially in melees." ”

"Deterrence?" Disraeli rolled his eyes and said angrily, "You're not afraid of sinking your own warship?" A torpedo orientation problem, which could not make a breakthrough for eight years, is not a disgrace, but a disgrace, a disgrace to the British Empire! ”

Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin, Germany.

Kaiser Wilhelm I shook the telegram in his hand, "It seems that the British are not stupid, knowing that the Qing Kingdom is mainly targeting them this time." ”

"For the Qing Kingdom, the only thing that can threaten them at the moment is Yingli." Bismarck said unhurriedly: "The Qing State sent troops from Bengal to force England to enter the war, with the aim of inflicting heavy damage on the English navy. And England offered to sell warships in order to tie us up, and if we refused, England would most likely choose to back down. ”

After a pause, he continued: "The reasons given by the British are very strong, according to the agreement, the Transvaal gold mine is only 20% owned by the British and the ...... of the Qing army from Bengal to India. ”

This reason is indeed very good, and William muffled: "If England chooses to back down, what will be the result?" ”

"If England retreats, France will certainly have great scruples, and the Qing State only needs to add twenty or thirty more torpedo boats to control the sea surface of South Africa." Bismarck said in a deep voice: "If this is the case, there is no need to fight this battle at all." ”

It doesn't matter whether there are so many torpedo boats in the Qing State, with the industrial strength of the Qing State, it is completely possible to manufacture that kind of small-tonnage torpedo boats in batches in just a few months, William has a gloomy face and is silent, withdrawing troops from South Africa? Not just more than 30,000 German troops lost in South Africa? And the Transvaal gold mine in hand will also be spit out? Moreover, Germany couldn't afford to lose this face, let alone swallow this bad breath, and was silent for a long time before he said: "Is there any hope of winning this battle?" ”

"Yes!" Bismarck said simply: "The industrial strength of the Qing State is not strong, the number of large and medium-sized ironclad ships should not exceed forty, the naval strength of our five countries far exceeds that of the Qing State, and the biggest threat is the torpedo, even if the Qing country's torpedoes are improved, its range and speed increase must be limited, as long as long-range artillery fire is adopted, whether it is a torpedo or a torpedo boat, it is useless."

In addition, the Qing had only one port in South Africa, Maputo, and as long as Maputo was captured, the Qing fleet would lose its supply base. ”

Speaking of this, he paused, "Even if we lose this battle, the biggest loss will inevitably be England, and if we retreat now, the biggest loss will be our country." ”

William nodded, "What about the price?" ”

"Britain and France sold a total of ten battleships at a very fair price, between £250,000 and £350,000, and if they were bought, our country should buy five ......."

"Buy!" William said decisively, even if it is worth spending more than one million pounds in exchange for the Qing Kingdom to severely damage the British Navy, if this war is won, with forty percent of the shares of the Transvaal gold mine, more than one million pounds is nothing at all, it is worth betting! It is also necessary to gamble, otherwise it will make Britain and France see the German joke.

Bismarck breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, in his opinion, this war must be fought persistently, whether it is won or lost, it will seriously weaken the strength of England, not only the naval strength, he is more concerned about British India, standing on the position of Germany, he hopes that the Qing Kingdom will weaken England, after all, this close neighbor is a greater threat to Germany.

"Aren't the British willing to sell their latest warships?" William squinted his eyes slightly and said, "Ask them, if they sell the battleship 'Inverai' that they newly launched three years ago, if it is sold, we will buy it together!" Let's just say that my German Navy still lacks a flagship. ”

Launched in April 1876 at the Portsmouth shipyard in England, the battleship Inverlasia was not yet officially commissioned, with a displacement of 10,880 tons, a maximum speed of 15 knots, two twin 315mm main guns, eight 102mm secondary guns, 12 machine guns, and four 356mm torpedo tubes, armed with white-headed torpedoes.

The ship's main guns are arranged diagonally in the middle of the hull between two chimneys, and the turret can be driven by hydraulic devices and rotate freely.

Wilhelm I proposed the purchase of the battleship "Inverlement" at this time, not only to embarrass the British, but also to show that Germany was confident in this battle.

London, the Prime Minister's official residence.

Disraeli put down the telegram and said simply: "Agree to the request of the Germans to sell the 'Inverai' to them, however, the ship must participate in the war." ”

Agree? Battenberg was stunned, "Germany is just showing its attitude by making this request, and it is not necessary to ......buy it." ”

Disraeli said lightly: "If the Qing people hide their strength, they will definitely not let this warship return to Europe." ”

"But what if you misestimate the strength of the Qing navy?"

"So what? It's not that our country can't be built. Disraeli said disapprerovingly: "Don't be reluctant, the Italians are not inferior to our country in terms of ironclad ship design, so it is better to be generous and gag their mouths." ”

Generous? It's weird to be generous! Battenberg knew that the other party was not optimistic about this battle at all, and believed that once the 'Inverai' went into battle, it must be gone and never returned, and he groaned for a while, and then he said: "Germany, Austria and Italy have already discussed properly, Austria and Italy have each increased their troops by 50,000 and sent 35 ironclad ships to fight, and now it should be 36, with a total tonnage of 150,000 tons, which is almost all the ironclad ships that Germany, Austria and Italy can carry out ocean-going operations." ”

"It's forcing us......." Disraeli sighed lightly and groaned slightly, before he said: "Our country is equivalent to fighting on two fronts, and we must send troops to India, discuss with France, and gather twenty-four warships." ”

Shanghai, Zhennan Palace.

Four black cars slowly stopped at the door of Changle Library, as soon as the door opened, Yi Li, who was in a robe and a horse coat, got out of the car with a smile on his face, Yi Zhishu took a few steps forward, and said with a smile: "The drought in the north has been greatly alleviated, and the sixth master is here, but he cares about the war in South Africa?" ”

Yi Yi said with a smile while returning the salute: "Brother Guocheng never fights uncertain battles, and this time my country took the initiative to declare war, how can you worry about being inferior?" ”

"Those who know me, the sixth master also!" Yi Zhishu laughed loudly, and when he saw Su Shun, he bowed his hand, and then waved his hand, "The two prime ministers, please——。 ”

"Brother Guocheng, this is killing us and others." Su Shun smiled and stretched out his hand to salute: "Brother Guocheng, please——。 ”

Entering the room and sitting down, Yi Yi said with emotion: "A great drought has lasted for five years, and now it has finally survived." As he spoke, he arched his hand and said: "Such a miracle disaster, thanks to the multi-faceted planning of the Guocheng brothers and the support of Yuan Qi, otherwise it would be unimaginable ......." ”

"The sixth master is not exhausted, let's not praise each other." Yi Zhifen said in a relaxed tone: "The merits and demerits are left for future generations to comment." ”

Su Shun hurriedly said: "This is a brilliant achievement, how can it be wrong." ”

"Time has changed, and it is difficult to argue with the merits." Yi Zhizu waved his hand, "In the Qing Dynasty, my generation is naturally a hero, and if the Qing Dynasty dies in the future, my generation will be a sinner in the eyes of future generations." ”