On July 7, 1861, although the British did not have the habit of the Nordic Midsummer Festival, for the British upper class, the arrival of summer meant that they could hold balls all night, almost every day, in the manor palaces around London, there would be balls held by the upper class. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Amid the cheerful music, people in gowns danced to the music, and in the bright lights, the tall Admiral Rome was waltzing with a duchess in his arms.

"Madame, you are so beautiful, I don't know what words to use to praise God for giving you this countenance."

Romene complimented the duchess in her arms with some reluctance, although his wife was talking with other ladies not far away, enjoying the compliments of other men, but Romein, who favored beauty, still flattered other women with some unscrupulousness.

Even as a naval minister, Romene still did not change some of his hobbies, such as his love of beauty. The ball was held by a wealthy man who had business dealings with the Royal Navy, so most of the guests here were admirals.

As a widow who had lost her husband, the Duchess was a well-known courtesan in London's high society, and she was already familiar with the situation, and she had come here today to win the Admiralty's heart.

"Thank you for the compliment."

The Duchess's smiling appearance made Romene inhale secretly, and the music played by the band rose and fell, and the rhythm became more and more cheerful.

Romene's gaze was fixed on the Duchess in front of her, her gaze moving down her face from her white pink neck, through the half-exposed peaks, extending downward, as if she wanted to strip her gorgeous dress with her gaze. He had heard of the duchess's fame for a long time, but he had never had a chance to get close to her.

And now taking advantage of this ball in front of him, he naturally won't give up the opportunity to get to know her. Taking advantage of the dim lighting, Romene took the dance in her arms to the dance music, and turned to the balcony door to face the window, and turned her back to the hall, at an angle that others could not see.

All of this had already been taken into Romene's eyes, and as a noble child, she naturally knew her husband very well, and from the moment he followed him into the hall, he found that his husband's eyes had grown on the Duchess.

Seeing Fang Cai's scene, I couldn't help but feel a little jealous in my heart. But good cultivation Yes, he didn't want to make a noise, which made everyone ugly. As a noble child, she naturally knew how to deal with the scene in front of her, so she stood up and walked to the orchestra pit and whispered to the bandmaster.

"Sir, can you change the tune, if it's convenient for you."

The band leader naturally would not disobey the orders of this graceful and noble lady, and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

And Romein, who was intoxicated by the gentleness of the country, saw that the music stopped abruptly and did not know what had happened, so she quickly let go of her hand and left with the others, but her hand still held the duchess's hand, as if she was afraid that she would leave, and he would continue to dance with the duchess.

His lady walked over, walked up to him, and said with a smile at the glamorous duchess.

"Honey, can you introduce me?"

The Duchess could sense the hostility of the Admiralty's wife, and only smiled disapprovingly, and just as Romene had a headache from Madamein's arrival, a naval officer hurried in, walked to Romein's side, and whispered.

"Your Excellency, we have just received a telegram from Panama that at 10:27 this morning, the task force led by Vice Admiral Heber was attacked by the Chinese fleet off the coast of Cologne, and soon after the start of the battle, the Chinese fleet sank eleven of our warships......"

What the!

If a minute ago Romene was still lustful, now he was stunned by the news he had just learned.

What the!

How is this possible?

Panicked, he immediately asked urgently.

"Where did this information come from, is the information reliable?"

It is almost unthinkable that the Royal Navy was defeated!

The telegram, not an official telegram, but a patriotic telegram from a British merchant doing business in Panama, addressed to the Admiralty, was a plain text telegram, as you can imagine, and soon the news spread throughout the London Reading Society.

The Royal Navy is defeated!

The Royal Navy, which claims to be the most powerful in the world, was defeated by the Chinese fleet in the Caribbean Sea, and even completely annihilated.

“…… Two hours later, our fleet was devastated, and after a large explosion on one ironclad, another ironclad that was still floating on the surface quickly raised the white flag, and we don't know exactly what happened there, but ......"

When reporting the matter to the Prime Minister, Romene still felt a little dizzy,

"Is this true?"

Again, Palmerston, the British prime minister, who has been tough on foreign policy for many years, asked with some consternation.

"Is this true? Is the Royal Navy really there, defeated? ”

He couldn't believe that the Royal Navy would fail.

Of course, he couldn't believe that there were people in this world who dared to attack like the Royal Navy.

It all seems so absurd.

Now not only did someone dare to challenge the Royal Navy, but even bombarded one of the most powerful fleets of the Royal Navy to the ground, leaving no scum behind.

"It's war!"

Without any hesitation!

John as Foreign Secretary? Russell said directly.

"If we are not able to give the most direct and strongest response to this matter, Your Excellency, the whole world will see the weakness of Britain, and then the whole of Europe will rebel against us."

For John? Russell's judgment, Palmerston otherwise had no doubts, he knew very well that Europe was not as calm as it seemed on the surface.

The French, under the leadership of the so-called "Third Emperor", were ambitiously trying to establish their French Empire, and Russia, although it was licking its wounds after the defeat in Crimea, its hostility towards Britain did not decrease, but increased.

Britain's most traditional opponent is one who will not give Britain a chance to make mistakes, and any mistake could lead to a resurgence of traditional opponents. Even Prussia is changing the balance of power in Europe.

What has Britain relied on for the past few decades to dominate the world?

The first British industry, the second is the undefeated name of the British Royal Navy.

But now, the latter's undefeated reputation has been broken in the Caribbean!

A fleet that seemed weaker had defeated the more powerful Royal Navy in a naval battle. After this news, there is no guarantee that France and Russia will not be eager to try, especially the latter.

"Is the message confirmed?"

Palmerston asked again if there was a glimmer of hope, and he preferred that it was a rumor, but it was just a rumor used by the Chinese to confuse public opinion.

But if all this is true, how should Britain respond?

There is no other option but war!

"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, now, although there is no direct information about it, one thing is for sure, war has definitely broken out! Soon our ambassador in San Bogotá will send back a telegram that maybe he will have something there......"

The Admiralty's answer made Palmerston fall into deep thought, his brow furrowed.

In fact, as far as his intentions are concerned, he is not willing to fight a war with the Chinese now. According to his thinking, when he sent a fleet to Panama, the Chinese would naturally make concessions, as long as Britain showed its tough side, and even, if necessary, a conflict broke out there, which was acceptable.

Of course, this is acceptable, it is the Royal Navy that has hit the Chinese Navy hard. And in his opinion, the Chinese simply did not dare to face Britain.

But now, now the reaction of the Chinese completely subverted his understanding, and in his memory, except for Napoleon, no country in the world dared to challenge Britain as much as the Chinese.

It completely disrupted his whole plan!

After all, according to his original idea, it should be through constant constraints, forcing the Chinese to make concessions constantly, as for war, it is the last option, just like for the Russians, in the past few decades, it is through diplomatic constraints that Russia is limited, as for Crimea, it is an unstoppable choice.

And now this rule of the game is obviously ineffective for the Chinese, compared to the Russians once again and again back down, the Chinese answer is more direct, when the British put pressure, they choose to send a fleet to Africa, when the British send a fleet, they choose to fight.

Could it be that the Chinese have not considered the difference in power between them and Britain?

Apparently they did not consider this possibility at all, if they really took into account the difference in power between the two countries, otherwise they would definitely not be as rampant as they are now.

If it were possible, Palmerston, of course, would very much like to ask the emperor of China face to face, and ask him what kind of bear-hearted leopard gall he had eaten, and how dare he dare to challenge Bu Li, is he not afraid that his empire will become another India?

Do they believe that they will win the war?

But it is precisely because of this that Palmerston will seem a little nervous, even a little hesitant, after all, the result of this naval battle is completely beyond everyone's expectations, and the victory of the Chinese in the naval battle can be said to be subversive to a certain extent, completely subverting everyone's cognition.

Royal Navy fiasco!

Not only was it a crushing defeat, but it also lost two of its most powerful ironclad ships, and now what is left of the Royal Navy? Only a few wooden-hulled boats remained.

But despite this, as the prime minister of the United Kingdom, he has to consider another problem, that is, if Britain chooses a diplomatic solution, then the outside world will undoubtedly show silence, or even a concession, for the current situation, this "concession" is likely to be a disaster, for the British world strategy, will be a disaster.

But if England is to take on it, what will Britain do to meet the challenge?

"Your Excellency! Tomorrow the naval battle in Panama will be discussed in the whole of Europe, and the same will be true in London, and the position of Britain is unchallenged, and any slow attack will be fatal. ”

In John? When Russell again emphasized his point, Palmerston, still in a certain consternation, nodded, and although he knew that the strength of the Royal Navy had now been taken a heavy beating, British pride gave him approval.

"More than twenty years ago, when the Chinese confiscated the opium of our merchants, I once said that the only way to deal with China was to "beat it up first, and then explain it", and I think the same is true now! ……”

When he raised his head again, anyone could see the will to fight in his eyes.

"It's war!"

Yes, for Britain, this is a war, a war that can no longer be avoided, just as more than twenty years ago, Palmerston stubbornly insisted on teaching the Chinese a lesson with the fleet, and now in his opinion, it is necessary to teach the Chinese a good lesson, only in this way can they respect the world under British rule and let them accept the order of this world.

"This is war, there is no doubt about it, and we have to see that China will not only challenge our power in the Caribbean, but they will continue to challenge us in Asia, in Hong Kong, and they will continue to challenge us, and they will challenge Britain, and at this time, we have no choice but war, gentlemen!"

Palmerston took a deep breath, his gaze became more and more determined, then he lit a cigar and silently glanced ahead, he looked at the map of the world marked pink, it was the map of Britain, Britain controlled almost the whole world, but now, Britain was challenged again!

And unlike every challenge in the past, this time the challenge faced by Britain can even be said to be somewhat sudden, at least before that, for Palmerston and for Britain, neither Palmerston nor Britain could have imagined that the challenge of the Chinese would come so quickly and so suddenly. Despite the suddenness of the arrival, Palmerston, as the Prime Minister of the Empire, quickly adapted to the suddenness, his tone was firm and his expression was resolute.

"This war may have come very suddenly, but we have a responsibility to tell the Chinese that Britain will meet the challenge from them, anywhere in the world!"

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