News of the Port of Panama belatedly reached Washington two days later, when the Secretary of War of the United States, Russell Brown, arrived at the time of the Secretary of War of the United States. When Alger angrily came to the White House with a telegram, he unexpectedly ran into Deputy Secretary of the Navy Theodore, who was about to meet President McKinley. Roosevelt and his party.

The tall, one-sided Undersecretary of the Admiralty, Roosevelt, had almost a word of authority in the naval affairs of the United States of America, and the Admiralty John was on sick leave for almost a long time because of a severe lung disease, and the entire operation of the Admiralty was presided over by this energetic Deputy Secretary.

So, Russell? Alger immediately called out to the Deputy Admiralty, "Theodore, did you also receive a telegram from Captain Michelle from Panama when you came in such a hurry?" ”

Obviously, Alger's guess was wrong, the deputy secretary of the Navy was stunned, looked back at the accompanying officials who also looked suspicious, and then turned his head and asked: "Your Excellency Alger, the Admiralty has not received a telegram from Colonel Michel, he was sent to Colombia two weeks ago to negotiate the affairs of the Panama Railway, is there something special about it?" ”

Alger, the Secretary of War of the United States of America, immediately handed over the telegram with an excited expression on his face, "Not a special circumstance, but a state of emergency, the Chinese fleet suddenly appeared in the port of Panama and joined forces with the Colombian government to interfere with our investigation of the Panama Railway!" I think it is necessary to immediately note to the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Huang Zunxian, and lodge a solemn protest with them! ...... if necessary"

Speaking of which, Theodore after reading the telegram? Roosevelt had already intercepted him, and Colonel Michel in the telegram described the unexpected trip of the American fleet in Panama Harbor with great accuracy. One of the unexpected episodes is: The Chinese General Chen who directly intimidated the American fleet with his main guns. On the second day after entering the port, he invited Colonel Michel to board the opponent's huge battleship, which was four times the size of the Amphitlit coastal defense ship.

Moreover, the other party is simply undisguised to show its strong strength, 3 twin 308mm main guns, as many as 8 120mm secondary guns, and the excellent professionalism of the Chinese Navy, all of which made the senior naval officer Colonel Michel express serious concerns,......

He immediately expressed his opinion, "Your Excellency Alger, Michel said that China dispatched two 15,000-ton battleships, two armored cruisers, and at least six destroyers. Such a sea power, our fleet on the west coast simply could not cope with it, and they could even come again to the San Francisco shelling...... We should avoid this immediately, especially now that we are facing negotiations with the Spaniards! ”

These words immediately came out of the mouth of the chief officer in charge of the US Navy Department, obviously with extremely strict meaning, Secretary of War Alger is a high-ranking official with 15 years of experience in the army, naturally understands the seriousness of Roosevelt's exposition of the problem, it is obvious that this person believes that there should be no dispute with the Chinese on the East Coast at all! However, he apparently did not understand Roosevelt's real concerns!

"Theodore. Our West Coast Fleet, although temporarily unable to compete with the Chinese fleet at sea, is under the escort of fortresses and ports. It is enough for the Chinese to stop, if necessary, we can completely transfer part of the Indiana-class battleships to the west coast for reinforcements, as for the Spaniards, they have already shed their blood in the war in Cuba, and in the face of our pressure, I think their only option is to gradually restore peace in Cuba according to our construction! ”

Theodore? Roosevelt obviously did not agree with the good sense of self of the Secretary of War, and the purpose of his coming here today coincided with Alger's, that is, the Cuban problem that had plagued the United States, and in the entire Caribbean, Cuba had long become the most serious problem affecting regional stability, and the Cuban War of Independence, which had intensified three years earlier, had not been extinguished under the suppression of the superior armaments of the Spaniards.

In view of the growing strength of the Cuban rebels, and also in the interest of the United States Government, the Spanish Government finally began negotiations with the Cuban rebels at the end of 1897 and yesterday finally reached preliminary results in which Spain would partially recognize the independence of the Cuban rebels and begin further negotiations on the spheres of influence of the two sides.

This is obviously what the current US President McKinley wants to see, and it is also the result of the current US administration's implementation of influence diplomacy, and it is precisely with news from Cuba that Roosevelt came to meet with President McKinley.

After a brief exchange of views with Alger, he soon met President McKinley in the presidential office in the White House, who had just returned from Congress, the new president who had just been in office for less than a year and was currently lobbying Congress for the new tariff bill that he had promised to voters.

President McKinley was obviously very enthusiastic about the two capable subordinates, pointing to the sofa next to him and smiling: "Russell and Theodore, you two must be in the White House for Cuba's business!" ”

Russell? Alger immediately handed the telegram in his hand to the bearded president of the Republican Party, and after reading the telegram, President McKinley was obviously surprised, and he looked sideways at Theodore, who was sipping coffee? Roosevelt, "Theodore, it seems that all the naval proposals you have submitted in the past year have been put into action, why is our West Coast Fleet completely unable to compete with the sea forces from across the ocean?" ”

The United States of America has indeed greatly increased its naval military spending since McKinley took office, but it will take enough time to change from military spending to warships, not to mention that there is no factory for building large battleships on the entire West Coast, but there is a naval shipyard in San Francisco that can repair large battleships of more than 10,000 tons, but it is said that it has been closed for a long time because there are no orders.

"Your Excellency, according to the information brought by Colonel Michel's visit to the Chinese battleship, I think this battleship should be China's latest capital warship, and the most powerful battleship on our west coast, the Olympic ironclad, is an old battleship launched 10 years ago, and it is only an ironclad ship, with a tonnage of only 5,500 tons. The Amphitrite coastal defense ship led by Colonel Michel is also the main battleship. The tonnage is also less than 4,000 tons. In addition, although we have more than 40 torpedo boats, as I understand it, it may not be possible to deal a fatal blow to the Chinese fleet! ”

At this point, Roosevelt suddenly stopped and looked at Secretary of War Russell? Alger, a Cabinet official from the Army, was not opposed to the Admiralty's shipbuilding program. However, there has always been a lot of criticism for the maintenance of warships that take up a lot of military spending, but he still did not hesitate to propose his own construction......

"Your Excellency, I believe that in the next ten years, we will face a more severe situation on the west coast, and the maritime threat from China in the Far East is already a reality that we have to face...... So. I propose to increase the Navy's military spending by 30% during your current term of office. Avoid another West Coast situation that we can't handle! ”

30% Navy fee...... This proposal was immediately vetoed by President McKinley, "Theodore, the United States' navy needs to be further expanded, but only in an orderly manner, and it does not seem to be a threat to the United States in Chinese at the moment, so Congress is unlikely to agree to your proposal to increase the naval fee...... In my opinion, let Russell negotiate with the Chinese ambassador on the Panama incident, our bottom line is that the Panama Railway must maintain the status quo, and as for the secret deal between the Chinese and the Colombians, we don't need to speculate! ”

"Your Excellency the President, will the Navy continue to intervene in Colombia's affairs...... Roosevelt naturally knows the diplomatic position of President McKinley, anyway, he can resolutely negotiate without fighting, can he not intervene, and resolutely only manage the country! However, he received information from Brigadier General Sampson at the front that the Spaniards were doing their best to increase the Cuban garrison, so the United States had to choose between Spain and Colombia at once.

"We can send a note to the Chinese minister and the Colombian minister to make representations on the diplomatic dispute over the Panama Railway...... Theodore, what is your opinion on the situation in Panama? ”

"The Panama Canal, Your Excellency the President, this is something that we must pay attention to, if Colombia refuses to allow us the right to open the canal, but we must make sure that the right of passage of the canal is obtained! I was warning the Spaniards in the port of Havana that the West Coast Fleet immediately turned to Colombia and declared to them what we demanded, until they gave a definite answer! "Theodore? Roosevelt made his point almost without hesitation.

At this moment, Qin Kai, who was thousands of miles away, naturally didn't know about the future US President Theodore? Roosevelt was calculating Panama, which he was also concerned about, but he was very satisfied with the news that Chen Ming had brought back from Panama, and the vice admiral, who had experience in the British naval school and had grown up in the Nanyang naval division, had clearly fully displayed his military and political talents.

After quickly letting the American fleet retreat, Chen Ming immediately engaged in negotiations with the interests of the Colombians, and Governor Guerrero naturally understood the truth that it is easy to ask God to send God, in addition to the conditions of the garrison, he was full of promises to a series of previously negotiated Chinese immigration policies, and he also very wisely added favorable measures such as expanding the scope of Chinese capital investment.

Chen Ming didn't mind Guerrero's delay on the garrison issue at all, but took advantage of this opportunity to quickly communicate secretly with Wei Heng of the Intelligence Department, Cai Sheng of the Mutual Masonic Association and other important local personnel, and secretly transported hundreds of rifles and more than 100,000 ammunition into the Chinese-controlled area.

A few days later, after the telegram from Beijing was confirmed, Cai Sheng and Wei Heng secretly visited Governor Guerrero again, and Wei Heng persuaded the other party with the huge benefits of building and investing in 2 large coal mines and holding 40% of Guerrero's Kuomintang!

On January 26, another piece of good news spread from Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, under the diplomatic cross-cutting of Shen Shouchang, the Chinese minister to the four South American countries, Colombian President Tania signed the "China-Colombia Defense Reciprocal Treaty" with China, stimulated by the visible sovereignty crisis, in which China promised to provide military assistance to Colombia, and at the same time, in addition to ensuring the right to open the Panama Canal to the Chinese government, it also opened an undeveloped lot on the west side of Panama close to the port to the Chinese government. As an anchorage for the entry of the Chinese fleet - this is clearly already a semi-open land lease!

Qin Kai's reply was very concise, the local Freemasons and the Intelligence Department must quickly expand their forces, and at the same time quickly unite the local natives and accumulate strength, and the other letter was sent to Xu Shoushan, the commander of the Pacific Fleet in the vast Pacific Ocean, asking the entire fleet to go directly to Hawaii and Chile, complete the final supply at the port of Iquique, Chile, and then carry out locomotive assembly. (To be continued......)