"One step at a time, right? That's fine, then you mean that we will take sides with Japan in the next actions to ensure that Japan will not fall to the British, right? Frederick III asked.

"No, father, I think we just need to be neutral. Now Britain, France, and Russia do not think that Japan will win, so they will favor the Qing country, and if Japan loses, we have nothing to lose. If Japan wins, we will obviously look friendlier than the attitude of Britain, France, and Russia, which has always been on no sides, not to mention that we have just sold them a warship that helped them win their first naval battle. ”

"Your Highness, since the war has begun, then both sides will definitely need to buy weapons, so what should we do?" Caprivi asked.

"It's simple, depending on what the British do, no one will refuse the arms business, and the British will definitely sell weapons, the only problem is delivery. If they insist that they can't deliver weapons during the fighting, then we don't deliver either, and if the British say they can, then we just follow suit. ”

Jochen thought for a moment, then added with a smile: "In addition, if the belligerents do not ask for the purchase, then as long as they can afford it, we don't mind who the buyer is, oh yes, if there is difficulty in making a one-time payment, we can lend it to them." ”

"It's a really good idea." Frederick III also laughed.

The elves present all showed a knowing evil smile.

At this time, the situation in the Far East soon began to develop rapidly in a direction that Europe had not anticipated.

On the day of the Battle of Toshima, Oshima Yoshimasa led about 4,000 men from the 1st Mixed Brigade from Seoul to Asan with the mission of driving Ye Zhichao's troops stationed in Asan with the task of driving Ye Zhichao's troops stationed in Asan .

Arrived on the 28th, found that the Qing army was stationed in Chenghuan, so on the 29th to attack Chenghuan, because the Japanese army was equipped with 8 field guns, and the Qing army did not have any heavy firepower, so it was quickly broken through the defense line by the Japanese army, Ye Zhichao then led the troops to withdraw from Chenghuan without any resistance.

Although Ye Zhichao was afraid of the enemy like a tiger, the defeat of the Qing army was inevitable, but if the more than 1,400 Qing troops and 14 artillery pieces on the Gaosheng could reach Asan, I am afraid that they would not be so vulnerable and would collapse at the touch of a button.

However, history has no ifs, the retreat of the Qing army, and the extremely slight losses of the Japanese army, once again surprised all those who paid attention.

Asan and Toshima, two victories on one sea and one land greatly alleviated all fears of war with the Qing State, and also made the Japanese realize the weakness of the Qing State.

On August 1, Emperor Meiji issued an edict declaring war. The last stanza says: "Although I have begun at the end of peace and proclaimed the glory of the empire at home and abroad, I am compelled to openly declare war, relying on the loyalty and courage of the people, and hoping to be peaceful forever, with the glory of the whole empire." ”

The Sino-Japanese War officially broke out.

On August 2, the day after the war began, the Qing government showed unprecedented efficiency.

On the same day, Li Hongzhang sent a telegram to Prime Minister Yamen to report that Gong Zhaoyu, the minister stationed in Britain, had found a new-type protective cruiser similar to the Yoshino that had just been completed and built at the Armstrong shipyard, which was the Blanco Encadara, which had been purchased by the Chilean Navy in history.

Originally called the "Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, who wins", the protective cruiser that was not sold to the Qing by Chile is still a ship of the Chilean Navy.

Originally, the Chilean Navy ordered two protective cruisers from the Armstrong shipyard, one was the Blanco Encadara, and the other was cut because the Chilean Navy sold the Esmeralda (third generation) to Japan during the Sino-Japanese War, so it had the money to buy stronger warships.

The one that was cut down was captured by the Argentine Navy and became the Buenos Aires.

However, now Chile and Argentina have bought warships in Germany, and Chile, in order to maintain its relations with Britain, has also ordered a protective cruiser from the Armstrong shipyard, but it is required to be equipped with the same weapons as the Blanco Engcadara, which was purchased in Germany.

The battleship was planned to be named Minister Zantno, and the ship, along with the Branken Kadara, also completed in Germany, became the two best warships available on the world arms market at this time.

On the same day, Li Hongzhang received a reply from the premier yamen, and after consulting with the navy's yamen and the household department, he agreed to jointly allocate 2 million taels of silver to Beiyang to purchase warships, but asked Beiyang to make a detailed report on the price of the new warships and the date of delivery in China. After receiving a rare funding permit, Li Hongzhang immediately telegraphed Gong Zhaoyu to inquire about the exact price and delivery time of the warship.

Just as Li Hongzhang's telegram to Britain had just been sent, the Yamen, the governor of Tianjin, received another telegram from the premier's yamen, clearly stating that "four clippers should be planned, and the maritime and household departments should allocate a total of 2 million taels." And changed the order of the seal, "The ship, the gun position and the date of the release of the foreign bank shall be determined by the honorable department", and the power will be completely handed over to the Beiyang to be seized, as long as the warship is bought back as much as possible.

At this time, the British had not yet changed their attitude of favoring the Qing Kingdom, and on the next day, August 3, they sent a note to the Japanese minister Aoki Shuzo: "The Japanese government should be prepared to take full responsibility for the sinking of the Gaosheng. ”

Gong Zhaoyi immediately began to buy the ship, but the Chilean side refused to relent, and by August 6, Gong Zhaoyi and Guò middlemen had purchased the destroyer test ship Sea Snake from the Armstrong shipyard, named the Feiting, and would soon return to Qingguo.

On 11 August, Li Hongzhang submitted an application to Germany for the purchase of ships, and at this time, Minister Xu Jingcheng to Germany, Russia, and the Netherlands was in charge of negotiations in Russia on the Pamir Plateau issue, so Minister Gong Zhaoyu was in charge of it.

However, the German side said that we don't have a new ship, and that ship is also Chilean, so you have to talk to the Chileans yourself. To buy our boat, the list is for you, choose for yourself.

This list naturally has Jochen's participation, 4 Saxony-class, 2 Oldenburg-class, 4 Erin-class, and 6 Corolla-class are all listed, although they are all old ships, but at least all of them are equipped with rapid-fire guns, and the asking price is fair.

On the British side, there was no agreement with the Chileans, let alone this, so although the Chileans were asked to buy it, Gong Zhaoyuan's main idea was to put it on the list given by the Germans.

The 4 Saxony-class ships were too old, and the speed at this time could not reach 14 knots, so they were directly excluded by Gong Zhaoming, and the remaining 12 ships were very interested in the Qing Kingdom.

At this time, Japan, which had only reacted, discovered that the Qing had begun to buy ships in Europe, and on the one hand, Aoki Shuzo began to obstruct it in an attempt to sabotage the trade between the Qing and Chile, and on the other hand, it began to bid with the Qing State.

The main attention of the Japanese was on the two Oldenburgs, and they absolutely could not allow the Qing to have two ironclad ships that were stronger than the Dingzhen 2.

"Sell, why not sell, as long as the British can transport the warships to the Qing State regardless of neutrality, we can also transport the warships to Japan, and negotiate with the Japanese, even if we have to deliver the warships after the war because we are neutral, it is better than these two warships falling into the hands of the Qing people, right?"

It's not that Yoheng is intending to strengthen Japan, in fact, when everyone negotiates a deal, even if the warship can return to China, it is estimated that neither Japan nor the Qing Kingdom will be able to get it before the start of the Dadonggou battle.

Historically, Li Hongzhang had a special fondness for Chilean warships, not only because the Chileans promised to deliver warships to the warring Qing State, but also because they could arrive in Lushun within 16 days from Chile. But now that the Panama Canal has not been opened, it is obviously too late to start from Europe.

So no matter whether it is delivered or not, it basically has no impact on the war situation, after the battle of Dadonggou, even if the completely blockaded Beiyang Naval Division can get the purchased warships, will it have the courage to come out and fight with the Japanese?

However, no one has a hard time with money, and Jochen's side also asked the Navy to strongly recommend 4 Erin-class, and the saying is that the Corolla-class does not have the ability to compete with the latest cruisers of the Japanese Navy, and the 4 Erin-class can still be considered to have the strength to fight.

Gong Zhaoyu accepted this statement, especially on the British side, after the 420,000 pounds for the Minister Zantenau, the Chilean side still refused to relent, so it immediately began to negotiate with the German side to buy the Erin class.

Knowing that things would soon change, Jochen urged the navy to reduce the price and reach a deal as quickly as possible, and Jochen, who knew the bottom line of the Qing Kingdom, instructed Muntz to sell it for 250,000 pounds a ship, and attached a condition that all the weapons and equipment purchased by the Qing State from Germany during the war would be counted as loans to Germany at an annual interest rate of 6%, and if the Qing Kingdom needed a loan in the future, Germany must also be given priority.

Knowing that the Germans offered a fair price and did not ask for cash, although the annual interest rate of 6% was slightly higher, but because the total value was not high, it was believed that it could be paid off immediately after defeating Japan, so the Qing court ordered Gong Zhaoyu to order 2 Erin-class.

On the other hand, Japan offered 400,000 pounds per ship for the Oldenburg class, and there were also the same additional conditions for the Qing Kingdom, which was also appealing to the Japanese people, after all, Japan was not like the Qing Kingdom, which could be shelled out for millions of pounds casually.

If you win, you have everything, and if you lose, the situation will not be worse, so the Japanese dare to bet.

In the case of the decision of both sides to buy, in order to avoid long nights, Jochen asked the German side to sign an agreement with both sides at once, so as to prevent the situation from changing.

On August 16, an agreement was signed with Gong Zhaoyu, and on August 17, an agreement was signed with Aoki Shuzo, but by this time the situation had changed dramatically, and the attitude of the British had changed.

Previously, on August 9, during the British Navy's maritime trial in Shanghai, the commander of the Chinese fleet, Philimantle, gave proper testimony that Heihachiro Togo had commanded the Naniwa to sink the Gaosheng.

Subsequently, two professors, Westreck of Cambridge University and Holland of Oxford University, also published articles that Heihachiro Togo's order did not violate international law.

The trio's argument is that the captain is the owner of the supreme authority on the ship, and therefore the captain's judgment is irreversible. After the captain of the Gao Sheng, Thomas Ledar, Gao Huiyi, agreed to the Japanese army's request to accompany him, the Qing army's act of threatening the captain with weapons to resist can be regarded as a pirate act of kidnapping the ship, and the attack of the Naniwa was aimed at the pirates, regardless of the nationality of the attacked ship.

The emergence of this view quickly quelled anti-Japanese sentiment in Britain, and it became clear that the victors would not be blamed. Recognizing that Japan might emerge as the ultimate winner of the war, the British began to change their diplomatic attitudes.

Subsequently, on the grounds that it could not deliver warships to the belligerents, the British government forcibly detained the destroyer Thunder, which was preparing to return home, on the 20th.

"Losers are abandoned, and since the British have set an example, let us do the same." Jochen made only one faint comment on the behavior of the British.

Since the agreement had been signed at this time, at least the money in hand would not run away, and the Germans began to follow the example of the British, putting on the rogue face of the great powers. Four warships were also seized by the government and could not be delivered until the end of the war between the two sides. RS