"This ......"

"Well," replied Marton, "all right, ten thousand pounds is ten thousand pounds, but we are asking for an increase of five hundred tons of drinking water, and two hundred tons of flour and salad dressing, and two hundred tons of coal!" ”

"Fuck off, I don't have salad dressing here, unless I chop you up to make a sauce......"

Guo Ye can't stand this Malton a little, what the hell, do you think you're here for a vacation?

However, in the end, Guo Ye still agreed, adding two hundred tons of coal, there is not much money, it is enough to support two thousand taels of silver, and tens of thousands of taels of silver, which is earned in vain. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

After reaching agreement on these two issues, the two sides began to wait for negotiations to begin.

The foreigners postponed the time in order to communicate with the country, after all, this time the attack failed, if it was just to ask for reparations and trade at the port, they would have done the master, but now it involves Malacca and the Philippines, on the delimitation of the scope of interests, and other compromises, they do not have this power, as for Guo Ye, Guo Ye now also needs to wait for the arrival of Guo Songtao and Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang had already set off from Wuchang as early as the Huai army, but the speed was not as fast as the Huai army's march, and now he had only passed Jinan, and he was rushing to Tianjin with Guo Songtao, presumably it would take three or four days to arrive.

Buckingham Palace, London, England.

Queen Elizabeth's face sank like water, from the dispatch of the army to the present, it has not been long, and together, there are not four months! The 100,000 troops of the Four-Nation Coalition were wiped out, not only that, but Spain also lost the Philippines, and the British Empire even lost the Malay Peninsula, which is unbearable, how many years, the British Empire has never been defeated by countries other than European powers in foreign wars!

"Bit, before, you kept saying that this is the most cost-effective deal, a good deal, is it a good deal for you? We have lost such a strategic place as the Strait of Malacca, you must not forget the importance of the Strait of Malacca, right? ”

Elizabeth asked, dissatisfied.

Duke Bit is now in a cold sweat, this time it was definitely a strategic mistake, one of the biggest setbacks in the foreign wars of the British Empire in recent years!

"Your Majesty, the minister really didn't expect this Guo Ye to really launch a fight, his Lu army only began to build a few years ago, and now it has such a powerful combat power, which is really unexpected, but, fortunately, now the Malton telegram says that Guo Ye has the intention of returning the Malay Peninsula, as long as we can keep the Malay Peninsula from losing, even if it fails, we are just injured and furried, and we will find it back when we go back......"

"But Guo Ye is conditional, let us support them to occupy the Philippines! If such conditions are agreed, we and Spain will be in flames, and there will be no room for relaxation! ”

Foreign Secretary Smith on the side was dissatisfied.

"It's up to us, we can change the conditions, or ask Guo Ye to make concessions, it is very difficult to support him, however, we can adopt a neutral attitude, as for whether Guo Ye can get the Philippine Islands, that's his business......"

Duke Bit said in a deep voice.

"Anyway, this time the House of Commons will attack the government, Duke Bit, you have to be prepared!"

Bit's heart jumped, yes, this time I am the most difficult level, the 30,000 troops sent out, the result is all wiped out, such a responsibility is not to say erase and erase, not to mention the fall of the Malay Peninsula, those parliamentarians, especially the opposition parliamentarians, are afraid that they have already held their strength to deal with themselves.

"Tell Marton that during the negotiations, in order to get back the Malay Peninsula and welcome back the captured soldiers, the empire can take some concessions, specific measures, let him grasp it himself, and call the Prime Minister's Office at any time for instructions!"

Bit is also a little helpless now, this time he really lost his wife and broke his army, this Guo Ye is too difficult to deal with.

Duke Bit is in a hurry now, and there is something more urgent than him, which is naturally the Spanish Prime Minister Duke Ramon.

After all, the British Empire is still the empire on which the sun never sets in the world, and its strength is strong, whether it is to negotiate and exert pressure, or to forcibly recapture it by force, the British Empire has enough confidence, even if Guo Ye is strong, he has to weigh the consequences of a full-scale war with the British Empire, and no country in the world can fight the British Empire alone, not even France.

But where did the Kingdom of Spain get this confidence? Spain can mobilize more than 100,000 troops, but is it safe to have more than 100,000 troops? The Four-Nation Alliance is 110,000 people, and there is a huge fleet to back it up, even if it loses to Guo Ye's Lu army, you must know that there are 30,000 French Army, which is known as the strongest army in the world, if Spain faces it by itself, there is no certainty of victory!

"Rimmons, what position do you think we will be in this negotiation?"

Duke Ramon said in a deep voice.

The corners of Rimmons' mouth twitched, what position? Of course, it's the most passive position! The British Empire is strong, and there are still a lot of hole cards in hand, there is always a way to resist the past; The French Empire? At most, it is just a few prisoners, and not a single territory in France has fallen into the hands of the Chinese, what are people worried about? It can be said that the easiest is the French, but Spain is different, Spain is the weakest, among which the Philippine Islands have also fallen into the hands of the Chinese, there is no card that can be topped, hard touch, they do not have much advantage, after all, the Philippines is adjacent to China, far from Spain, near the water, but also for people's benefit!

"Duke Ramon, I think we must entangle the British and the French, especially the French, this war was provoked by them, and now that it has failed, they must not stand idly by, we must ask them to advance and retreat together, especially on the issue of the Malay Peninsula and the Philippine Islands!"

Rimmons said abruptly.

"Well, Rimmons, I'll go to Paris, meet with the Duke of Gramont, and ask for France's help, as for the negotiation ahead, you are in charge, and I will try to hurry back, no matter what, the Philippine Islands, we have to get it back, if it really doesn't work, then send a fleet to East Asia for deterrence!"

Ramon gritted his teeth and said, "With a two-pronged approach, we must take back the Philippine Islands, we can't afford to lose, otherwise, His Majesty the King will not let us go!" ”

(To be continued.) )