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86_86661At this moment, cruising in the South China Sea near 13.2 degrees north latitude, the main fleet of the British Far East received a distress signal from the Silang. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Admiral Philmantle, commander-in-chief of the British Navy's Far East Fleet, received the report and quickly reported this information to the British Naval Command. The Navy War Department received this information and felt very troubled!

King Edward of England was furious and ordered the British Far East Fleet to carry out a plan of revenge against the Hainan Fleet.

Prime Minister Arthur Balfour said: "Your Majesty, please take this matter calmly. The Silang violated international law and illegally entered the sea area where the Qing Dynasty was fighting, and the Hainan Fleet still did not evacuate under the warning of the cannons, which is not a sufficient reason for us. In addition, the Russian envoys have repeatedly reiterated that they ask our military not to get involved in the war in the South China Sea. I think it's better for us to keep a low profile on this matter, because we don't have to get caught up in this South China Sea war that has no interest in our British Empire. ”

"But, in this case, where is the face of my British Empire?" Edward VII calmed down a little.

"Your Majesty, the interests of the British Empire are always the aim of my British Empire. As for the face of the empire, I think, you can analyze him from all angles. Sometimes, a little generosity can better reflect the strength and tolerance of the British Empire. Foreign Secretary Lansdowne said.

"Mr. Lance, do you mean to run away from the war when you say this? You can't take a middle-of-the-road approach because you're afraid of war. I have always believed that the essence of war, as stated by Lord Marshal Sir John Abbasat Fisher, is violence, and that the meanness in war is imbecile! Churchill looked at Foreign Secretary Landhorn with disdain.

In the royal palace of Great Britain in Europe, the British princes and ministers were arguing fiercely, and they could not make a final decision for a while.

Fifteen warships of the British Navy's Far East Fleet have sailed to the edge of the operational area demarcated in Hainan. Admiral Filimantle ordered to halt the advance and await the order of the Admiralty.

The Sillang had gradually lost its ability to resist, and Williams hysterically sent constant signals for help to the main fleet.

Phimantle anxiously awaited the order from the naval headquarters, but the King and the ministers of England were still in heated discussions, and could not reach a final unanimous opinion.

The Admiral Sir John Abbasnot Fisher was furious, and he exclaimed in a furious voice: "Why is the mighty navy of our British Empire standing still in the South Seas?" ”

So, when they disagreed, the fiery First Admiralty Minister of Defense had no choice but to issue a more vague order:

Admiral Philmantel, commander of the Chinese fleet of the Far East Fleet, has learned that the USS Silang had a misunderstanding with the Hainan Fleet in the South China Sea while transporting supplies to Hong Kong, and that your fleet can try to approach the disputed waters and handle the situation as appropriate.

Admiral Philmantle knew that although the fleet of the British Empire had been the world's first-class fleet for nearly a hundred years, the Chinese fleet, which was responsible for the defense of the Far East, was now nothing more than carrying the reputation of the so-called maritime hegemon of the Far East under the halo of the past.

As early as 1864, the British Empire's "Chinese fleet" in the Far East was officially separated from the East India Fleet and formed a separate army.

Until about 1869, the Chinese fleet of the Far Eastern Fleet had a total of 21 ships, the largest of which was the flagship "Otissa", with a displacement of 3,774 tons, which was an ironclad battleship.

This was followed by the "Telia" with 1459 tons as a cruiser. The others belonged to gunboats and sailboats. Its names are "Cayards", "Moldister", "Juno", "Igisha", "Lily", "Lundaf", "Gruul", "Lopvan", "Gnome", "Helknight", "Miggy", "Sisr", "Fly", "Ghisrael", "Watch", "Mosquito", "Svengee", etc. Among them, the "Swenji" is the smallest, with a displacement of only 295 tons.

Although the ships of the British Far East Fleet, the "Chinese Fleet", were changed from time to time, their equipment never changed with the development of industrial science. By 1888, the obsolescence of its ships was not only inferior to the French and Russian Far East Fleets, that is, the new ironclad purchased by China and Japan from Europe, but also the superiority of its performance made the British better. Greatly embarrassed.

In the "China Times" in Tianjin, some people wrote an article accusing the "Chinese fleet" of not only being most outdated and failing, but also still using the former guns of the 1860s and 1870s, which is a real shame for the British Navy. In order to catch up with the navies of France, Russia, and other countries, he thought that Britain should adopt an active policy, replace the old fleet of the "Chinese fleet" with new ones, and eliminate all the old ships of the Fly class and the Jewel class.

However, these bills for the defense of the Far East of the British Empire have been debated in the British royal family.

In 1904, John Abbasat Fisher was promoted to First Admiralty of Great Britain, and the development of the Far East Fleet became even more distant.

Fisher himself took full advantage of his promotion and continued to promote his ideas on naval construction. Although the First Sea Lord had little control over military operations, he exercised considerable authority over management, planning, and policy.

Fisher, bent on modernizing the Royal Navy, worked tirelessly and actively, implementing a series of drastic reforms.

He supported the education of officers, modernized equipment by actively eliminating the scrapped ships he called "Scrooge's garbage dumps," endorsed a core crew system that would allow spare warships to be quickly put into a state of readiness for war, and strengthened the fleet around the homeland by reducing the number of troops stationed overseas. Fisher's argument was endorsed by the majority.

The commander of the Far Eastern Fleet, Admiral Philmantel, did not know the strength of the Hainan Fleet at this moment.

However, the news transmitted by the Silang said that this mysterious Hainan fleet has several 7,800-tonnage ironclad ships and cruisers* of 4,000 tonnage and above. Judging from this data alone, the Chinese fleet of the British Far East Fleet and the Hainan Fleet are far from being fleets of the same class.

However, the situation in the South China Sea is extremely difficult at the moment, and judging from the current situation, it is impossible for the British naval headquarters to dispatch a more powerful main fleet to support it in a short period of time.

Moreover, the order that Philmantle received was extremely vague and "discretionary", and the current situation put the battle-hardened sea general in a dilemma.

At this moment, Chen Zhong on the Zhennan ship also received a message from the "Hurricane": The British Far East Fleet is intermittently approaching Hainan. The Sillang had been wounded by me, but the Sillang was still trying to resist. What to do with the Silang, please instruct!

Lieutenant Chen took this information to Chen Fangzheng and said, "General Chen, please give the order to shoot down the Silang!" Let the arrogant British fleet and all the ill-intentioned fleets always remember that those who dare to infringe on the maritime defense zone demarcated by our Hainan Fleet can only do so! ”。

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