After quickly arranging preparations for the exercise, Wu Chaoyue extended an invitation to Kralonon the next day when he met with Kralon, asking Kralon and the envoys of Britain, France, Russia, and the United States to visit Wu's joint military exercise on land and water in Baishazhou the next day. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Info Kralondon agreed, but afterwards he sneered to the British minister to China, Pruss: "It is stupid and ridiculous that the Oriental clown, who is not self-sufficient, dares to show off his force in front of the officials of our empire on which the sun never sets." ”

"Dear Mr. Clarlon, I don't think Wu's decision is in any way a show of force to you, he is not such an arrogant and ignorant person." Pruce said a good word for Wu Chaoyue, and said: "I think his real purpose should be to prove to you that his army is a military force in Asia that cannot be ignored, and it deserves the attention and reliance of our British Empire." ”

"If his army is really so powerful, why hasn't he been able to wipe out the primitive people in the Qing court until now?" Kra London continued to sneer.

"That's because Wu is currently putting his main forces in the southwest of the Qing State and pacifying the separatist forces there." Prussian defended Wu Chaoyue again: "Even so, Wu only sent a small army to the north, and still beat the army of the Qing court to the ground, and successfully captured Luoyang City, the famous city of the Central Plains of the Qing Kingdom, as well as the most important salt-producing area in the Central Plains of the Qing Dynasty, Xie Zhou Yanchi. ”

Clarlondon was not an arrogant person, and after listening to Prus's introduction, he also somewhat put away some of his contempt for Wu's army, and asked, "So, Wu's army is really strong?" ”

"The naval division and cavalry may still be relatively weak, but Wu's several main infantry can definitely be on land with the infantry of our British Empire." Pruce said respectfully: "In the military exercises to be held tomorrow by Wu, there is such a main army involved, I can guarantee that you will be surprised, Mr. Clarlon." ”

Seeing that Pruth was serious, Clardon also had a lot of interest, nodded and said, "Okay, I hope it is the same as what you introduced." If Wu can really build such a powerful infantry team, then it is not bad to use him to curb the development momentum of the Russian bear in the Far East. ”

Said Cao Cao, Cao Cao arrived, Clardon had just mentioned Russia, and the news came from outside the door that the Russian minister Ignatiev asked to meet, and after Clardon agreed to receive him, Ignatiev was very angry as soon as he entered the door and shouted at Claronon: "Mr. Clardon, this is a damn provocation!" Savage demonstrations! Your envoys are negotiating the establishment of diplomatic relations with that bastard Wu Chaoyue, who deliberately held military exercises, obviously telling your government that if you don't accept his terms, he will expel you British from the Qing country by force! ”

Ignatiev has found the wrong person for sowing discord, and if the outstanding diplomat Kralondon could not even distinguish his deliberate misdirection, British diplomacy would not be the best in the world. So Kralondon was not polite, and immediately smiled and said: "Dear Mr. Ignatiev, thank you for your kind reminder. However, it is a pity that since the establishment of Wu's Hubei Provisional Government, it has been constantly showing goodwill towards our Britain, and paying special attention to protecting our British interests in the Far East, so I don't think Wu can do anything stupid to threaten us with force. ”

"Then why did he hold a military exercise at this time?" Ignatiev refused to give up and continued to sow discord: "Isn't this a barbaric demonstration? Show off his power to you British government? ”

Kralondon didn't answer Ignatiev's words, but just asked rhetorically: "Dear Mr. Ignatiev, do you think Wu's army is very strong?" ”

"Those yellow-skinned monkey soldiers of his also deserve to be called powerful?" Ignatiev fell into the trap and said contemptuously: "We Russians only need to send a thousand troops to easily destroy all his main forces!" ”

"Mr. Ignatiev, then why do you insist that he is holding military exercises to show off his strength to our British government?" Clarklonin smiled and said, "Also, since you Russians can wipe out Wu's army so easily, and are so enthusiastic about supporting the Qing court to eliminate Wu's provisional government, then why do you still do it directly?" ”

Ignatiev, who was told the truth, was speechless, and only after a while did he say stubbornly: "We did not make a move, first, because we have not yet received domestic orders, and second, because we respect your country's interests in the Yangtze River valley and do not want your government to misunderstand China's intention to send troops to Hubei." ”

"Then, as the British government's envoy plenipotentiary for China, I can now promise to let your Far East Fleet march into Hubei, use force to eliminate Wu's provisional government, and promise to remain neutral." Kralonon stared at Ignatiev and said, "How? Is your country willing to send troops? ”

"It's ......." Ignatiev had nothing to say again, and hesitated for a long time before replying: "I must first consult the domestic opinion and ask Mr. Governor Muravyov what he wants." ”

Clallon smiled and said nothing, but said in his heart: "I can't imagine that even the Russian bears in the Far East dare not say that they are sure to destroy Wu's army, it seems that Prussian really didn't accept Wu's bribes to brag for him, tomorrow I have to carefully observe Wu's army to see if it is of military value to us Britain." ”

Naturally, after becoming interested in the military strength of the Wu army, Kralon, who was very familiar with the tactics of balancing the mainland, in addition to the idea of using the Wu army to balance the Tsarist Russia, inevitably had such worries -- if the strength of the Wu army was really much stronger than it had estimated in advance, would Britain choose to support the Manchu court in destroying the Wu army, would it pay too heavy a price? Will it be a loss-making deal?

…………

At 10 o'clock in the morning, under the curious eyes of the British envoys and countless Hubei people, the exercise of the Wu army began on time, and the first to appear was the main force of the Wu army's naval division, a large river flotilla composed of seven small and medium-sized steam gunboats, two sail battleships, and hundreds of military sampans.

At the beginning, Clarlon, who had observed the military exercises of many European powers, still despised Wu Jun's naval division a little, feeling that such a nondescript mixed fleet was completely vulnerable, and at the same time, because Wu Jun's naval division first practiced shallow water operations, and the first to dispatch was a light sampan, and the shallow water performance of the officers and men of Wu's naval division really made Kralondo yawn a little, and he could not arouse the slightest interest -- there are not many places in Europe where the water network is dense, and of course they do not care about shallow water operations.

However, when the steam gunboats and sail warships of the Wu Army Naval Division began to conduct actual combat exercises, Clarlondo began to be a little surprised, and although the Wu Army Naval Division, which completely adopted the British Navy's tactical exercises, was obviously still a little inexperienced, the queue changes and tactical coordination were clear-eyed, and they had begun to take shape as the British Navy. In particular, during the live-fire drill of the target ships, the pendulum method adopted by the officers and men of the Wu Army's naval division and the hit rate of the artillery fire surprised Kralondo even more -- at the same distance, the artillery hit rate of the Wu warships was as high as 6 percent, which was not far from the 10 percent hit rate of the British Navy in the exercise.

"Who is the sailor who trained for Wu?" Clarklonon asked Pruss in a low voice.

"We British." Pruss replied in a low voice: "Wu takes great care to recruit our British Navy veterans, offering three times their salaries during their service, and giving them all kinds of special privileges in terms of food and housing, so our Navy veterans are more than happy to help Wu train sailors." ”

"Damn bastards, you really know how to learn from us British." Kralondon directly cursed a dirty word, and said in a low voice: "No wonder Ignatiev that bastard didn't dare to instigate his domestic troops, this fleet has the strength to fight a decisive battle with the Russian Far East Fleet." With a bit of luck, maybe there's hope of winning. ”

"If we Britain give Wu's fleet a little more help, then Wu doesn't need luck to directly cut off the bear claws that the Russians have reached into the waters of the Far East." Pruss said another kind word to Wu Chaoyue.

Clarklondon snorted, and did not say anything, but turned his eyes to the Wu infantry who were preparing to carry out exercises on the shore with a complicated expression, hoping that the Wu infantry would perform better than he had expected, but also a little worried - if the Wu army also surprised itself on land, then the British government would definitely pay too much if it wanted to support the Manchu court to take down the Hubei Provisional Government.

Finally, in the complicated eyes of Clarlondon, the corps directly under the Wu army was launched under the command of Qian Wei, the deputy corps commander, although in the opinion of the well-informed Clarlon, the Wu army still has the problem that the firepower is not as scientific as that of the Western powers, but the exquisite artillery shooting skills of the Wu army and the skillful linear tactical transformation of the Wu army have made Clarlondon come to another conclusion - 3,000 Wu army infantry is enough to match 2,000 British infantry.

Out of the need for secrecy, Wu Chaoyue did not let the officers and men of the Wu army practice sniper tactics that have not yet appeared in the West, nor did he practice the lying position shooting tactics developed by the officers and men of the Wu army in view of the characteristics of the firing pin gun, and also deliberately slowed down the rate of fire of the firing pin gun, and at the same time, even the grenadier canisters that had been used many times on the battlefield, Wu Chaoyue also made reservations and deliberately did not use them in the exercise -- Daye's industrial capacity was far from catching up with the British, and if the British copied and sold them to the Manchu army in large quantities, Wu Chaoyue would be bad.

However, Wu Chaoyue's tricks could not be concealed from Clarlondon, under the secret reminder of Pruss, Clarlondon directly proposed to Wu Chaoyue to watch Wu Jun's grenadier shooting drill, Wu Chaoyue had to reply helplessly: "Mr. Clarlon, please forgive me for being stingy, this is an issue that must be discussed at the negotiating table." ”

"Wu, you cunning fellow." Clarklondo said with some dissatisfaction: "Is it too selfish for you to desperately learn our advanced British technology while blocking your unique technology?" ”

"Dear Mr. Clarlon, if you can make a slight concession at the negotiating table, then I will not be selfish." Wu Chaoyue, who was already working on the development of the mortar, replied: "I will give you a grenadier and matching shells." ”

Clarion London snorted again to express his dissatisfaction, and then after thinking for a moment, Clarion London suddenly asked Wu Chaoyue: "Wu, if you unify the Qing Kingdom, what kind of relationship do you plan to maintain with our Britain?" ”

"I want China to become a supplier of raw materials and a seller of industrial products to the UK first." Wu Chaoyue replied very frankly and said: "Then I hope to become a low-end industrial transfer country in the United Kingdom, and undertake the task of producing heavy, cheap and low-profit industrial products for the United Kingdom, so that your country can free up your hands to produce high-end and lucrative industrial products, and at the same time, let us China achieve political and economic development, and also become a better and richer sales market for industrial products in the United Kingdom." ”

Clarlondon stared at Wu Chaoyue, and Wu Chaoyue said: "Dear Mr. Clarlon, I know that you Anglo-Saxons are very clever and never dare to kill a chicken just to take the eggs from the chicken's belly, so you can defeat Spain and Portugal and establish an empire on which the sun never sets." ”

"So, please don't kill Qingguo, this chicken that poses no threat to you, it can lay you golden eggs, lots and lots of golden eggs. Please don't help the Russians cut off the meat of this chicken, the chicken will lose weight, the golden eggs will become smaller, or even not be able to lay golden eggs, and the Russian bear will not lay you golden eggs. ”

Clarklonin smiled and said, "Wu, you are really a smart person, see you at the negotiation table tomorrow." ”

…………

In the evening of the same day, the envoys of Britain, France, Russia, and the United States and Kralon gathered again at the British Legation to discuss the issue of joining forces to put pressure on Wu Chaoyue, among which Ignatiev naturally strongly advocated forcing Wu Chaoyue to cede a large area of territory in exchange for the establishment of diplomatic relations, and France was also quite interested in the island of Taiwan, but Kralon would never allow Russia to occupy the northeast, let alone see France obtain Taiwan, an unsinkable aircraft carrier, so he naturally categorically refused and opposed it.

In the dispute, the US minister Hua Ruohan, who has neither the strength nor the interest in seizing Chinese territory, was the first to dismantle the Taiwan and said that he would launch an alliance to negotiate with Wu Chaoyue to establish diplomatic relations, Ignatiev hurriedly stopped it, and Hua Ruohan replied rudely: "If you really like the land of the Qing Kingdom so much, you can go to Wu Chaoyue or the Qing court to talk to yourself, but we Americans are not interested in the land of the Qing Kingdom, we just need trade interests!" So far, the Qing Dynasty has only built a mere 20-mile railroad built by Wu, and our current steel industry in the United States is completely in trouble, and if I give up this market, it will be a crime against the United States of America! ”

Ignatiev had no choice but to say that the Manchu court could also give the United States a market, and at the same time desperately looked at Kralondon and Burblon and asked them to help persuade them. It's a pity that Bourblon and Clarlondon have their own calculations, and they all pretend not to see it.

When the quarrel was about to start, the staff of the British Legation suddenly sent an urgent letter to the British Minister Prus, who was shocked when he saw the content, and quickly handed it to his current boss, Clarklon, who was also slightly startled when he saw it, and then said with a wry smile: "Sure enough, someone is more anxious than us." ”

"What do you mean, Mr. Clarlon? Who is more anxious than us? Bourblon asked curiously.

"Your friendly neighbor of France." Carat London didn't hide it either.

"Our friendly neighbors of France?" Bourblon was stunned for a moment, then immediately came to his senses, gritted his teeth and said, "Prussia?!" The Teutonic barbarians have already done it? ”

"Let's do it." Clarklonin sneered and said: "Directly appoint Ah Huawei as Minister Plenipotentiary to negotiate the establishment of diplomatic relations with Wu Chaoyue, and Ah Huawei has also brought the arms sent to Wu Chaoyue by the regent of Prussia on the way to Hubei." ”

When Bourblon gritted his teeth, Warrenham had already gotten up and left, leaving without even saying a word of farewell. Kralondon didn't blame Hua Ruohan for his faux pas, but just said to Ignatiev: "Mr. Ignatiev, I have decided not to join the four-nation alliance you proposed, and for the benefit of the British Empire, I will negotiate with Wu Chaoyue alone to establish diplomatic relations." Also, we in the UK oppose your further territorial claims to the Qing Kingdom, and I hope you will know about the restraint. ”

Ignatiev's face turned pale, and he said after a while: "We, Russia, will never recognize Wu Chaoyue's provisional government, and if we have an armed conflict with the Qing rebels led by Wu Chaoyue, I hope you can remain neutral." ”

"Mr. Ignatiev, I can't give you an exact answer to this right now." Clarklonin smiled and said, "If Wu Chaoyue makes a concession that satisfies our British and establishes a military alliance with our British, I will have to oppose you doing so." ”

Ignatiev, who knew that his country could not do anything to Britain, turned even more pale, and when he turned his gaze to Bourbulon, Bourblon ignored him at all, and at the same time Bourbulon quietly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that even if it was difficult to cut too much meat on Wu Chaoyue this time, he could also have an explanation for the country - Britain, the United States and Prussia all decided to support Wu Chaoyue, and if France was stupid enough to stand on the side of the Manchu court, it would naturally be too unwise.

By the way, Wu Chaoyue's accomplice once saved Burbulon's life in the capital, although Burbulon had to draw Wu Chaoyue's tendons and peel Wu Chaoyue's skin in the negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations. But out of personal feelings, Burblon still didn't want to push his old friend Wu Chaoyue into a corner.