On January 20, 1898, the Chinese government announced in a high-profile manner that at the invitation of the German Navy, the Chinese Pacific Fleet would launch a "peace mission?" At the same time, the Chinese government also released information on the warships of the Chinese fleet participating in the round-the-world voyage, as the navy's cutting-edge "Sky Wolf" class battle cruisers once again detonated the enthusiasm of the naval construction of various countries, and countries have speculated about the firepower and protection capabilities of the Sky Wolf class battle cruisers, after all, with the strongest caliber heavy guns in this era, this can be completely included in the category of capital ships.

Of course, the Chinese government and military have not disclosed more information about the Sirius-class battle cruiser, but the avant-garde design of the six 13.5-inch main guns has made the navies of various countries full of interest in the firepower projection of this new type of warship.

On January 21, in view of the inability to complete the established naval strategy to suppress Colombia in the direction of the port of Colón, the shallow-water gunboat Amphitlet, which was part of the West Coast Fleet, suddenly sailed into the port of Panama with the coordination of two gunboats, and blocked the channel of the port of Panama on the same day, demanding an explanation from the Panamanian state government for the Panama Railroad incident.

For the port of Panama, which has only a few steamships converted into patrol boats, it is obviously powerless to fight back against the 3,900-ton Amphitlet gunboat, which is a representative of the maritime power of the American armored ship era, at least in the number of warships, which completely deprives the Colombians of the confidence in confrontation.

2. Make a duplex 10-inch 30-diameter main gun and 6 6-pounder guns. This is enough to kill all of Colombia's maritime power in seconds. What's more, the other side still has 4-8 inch armor belts...... Although the Americans did not threaten to shell the city. But for Panama's governor, Guerrero, negotiations under the barrel of the other side are at the mercy of others.

Fortunately, Guerrero was a sensible man, and while he sent officials aboard the American warship to express his willingness to negotiate further with the American side to ensure that the Panamanian railroad was compensated for the damage, he also immediately secretly summoned Cai Sheng, the leader of the Panamanian Liberal Party. Naturally, he would not think that Cai Sheng was capable of dealing with 3 warships with 10-inch cannons...... However, he clearly knows how to make the most of the interests of the Chinese in Panama today.

Cai Sheng is not a fuel-efficient lamp, and he even knew about the arrival of the Americans before Guerrero, but this is nominally Colombian land, and no matter how strong he is, he doesn't need to be strong...... In fact, he knows better that there has been an almost uninterrupted flow of immigration to Panama for several years in a row. The influence of Chinese Freemasons in Panama is increasing, and the Chinese industry accounts for more than 40% of the share of Panama Province. And it's expanding rapidly.

What he needs is naturally not to make Guerrero give in to the Americans, but he can't let Guerrero use the Chinese industry as a shield, so after listening to Guerrero's idea of asking the Chinese side to mediate, he refused very neatly, "Governor Guerrero, the American warship is only here for the Panama railway dispute, and this is not too much to do with the interests of our Chinese businessmen...... We want you to restore Panama's stable business environment so that we can continue to support you in the next elections! ”

As for the mess on the Panama Railway, Guerrero actually understood a little bit for a long time, it was not the United States itself, it was mostly the French who did it, and Chinese seemed to be unable to escape suspicion...... However, these people are not able to be dealt with by his own little governor, not to mention that many investigations into the Panama railway bombing case have been in vain, which makes him even more convinced of the cats.

In order to keep his position as governor, he must make it impossible for the railway incident to continue to ferment and expand its influence, considering the consequences of this, he was also very reluctant to tell Cai Sheng that he would propose the possibility of diplomatic mediation to Bogotá, and at the same time, he hoped to obtain diplomatic support from the Chinese government, and he obviously did not have these channels, so he hoped that Cai Sheng would help from it.

Guerrero didn't expect China thousands of miles away to send a word to make the Yankees get out, but he, who had seen the Chinese South American detachment for a long time, naturally knew the means of taking advantage of the fire, whether to choose the Americans or the more distant Chinese, he could make a decision almost without thinking, not to mention, Cai Sheng could also bring him rich political funds here.

After some haggling, Cai Sheng finally got the most needed assurance from the Panamanian governor that the state government would pass the Guò State Immigration Act as quickly as possible, reducing the number of years of residency required for Chinese workers from the original 20 years to five years and five years...... This meant that the first immigrants would be granted the right to vote in Panama in 1899, and in the years that followed, the entire province of Panama would form a large political community of more than 200,000 Chinese.

Of course, Guerrero also wished, Cai Sheng said that the Panamanian Liberal Party, which is dominated by Chinese businessmen and Chinese workers, will fully support his re-election in the next gubernatorial election, and will raise funds through Chinese businessmen to provide 25,000 pounds of campaign funds for Guerrero's People's Party.

That night, Guerrero was once again secretly glad for his wise choice, and the officials who went to negotiate with the Americans brought back the request of the American fleet, and the captain of the USS Amphitlett, Colonel Michelle, once again emphasized the requirements of the United States Government, and ordered the Panamanian state government to submit its intention to dispose of and compensate the Panama Railroad within three days, and Colonel Michel again threatened that if a satisfactory answer could not be obtained, the American Navy would land and dispose of the Panama Railroad on its own.

Greer obviously could not and could not meet the demands of the Americans, and he sent officials to consult with the Americans again, trying to delay a little time, after all, he did not know if Cai Sheng could find the assistance he needed. It is also not clear when the Chinese warships will appear in Panama?

However, Yiqiē's worries came to an end the day after reaching an agreement with Cai Sheng and signing the paperwork......

After Colonel Michel took full control of the channel of the port of Panama, he did not immediately cut off the passage of the channel, after all, the port of Panama is the only hub on the road that can connect the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, although the passage of the Panama railway is not smooth, but it does not affect the ships of various countries to come here for cargo transshipment, after all, taking the land passage from here is too convenient compared to the long distance of circumambulating the Strait of Magellan.

Therefore, after Colonel Michel sent the marines to take over the port, he only sent two gunboats to monitor the ships leaving the port, and did not inspect the merchant ships of Britain, France and other European countries, and all the merchant ships mainly aimed at Colombia were detained and prohibited from leaving the port...... To Colonel Michel's surprise, Chinese merchant ships appeared here more often than he had imagined, and he was a little surprised, but he had no intention of provoking the Pacific maritime power, and only let them all go after a brief greeting.

However, just after 7 o'clock in the morning on January 22, when Colonel Michel was exercising early at the observation deck on the top of the covered bridge, as is customary, suddenly black smoke billowed from the far bay gave him a hint of foreboding......

Soon, his foreboding was confirmed! The gunboat Blank, which had scurried back from outside the harbor with billowing black smoke as if it were desperate, was rushing back at full speed as it sent a flag signal to the flagship...... It's just that the sun that had just risen in the morning played a big joke on Colonel Michel again, and the Blanco was in a backlit position, directly directing the flagship Amphitlett to see the flag signal on the opposite side at all.

When the gunboat Blank ran into the harbor with its fate, just in Colonel Michelle's field of vision, a huge battleship had appeared on the sea level at the end of the bay, and the red flag fluttering high above immediately made the naval colonel, who had experienced the San Francisco artillery battle more than ten years ago, understand his situation.

At this time, the second mate ran to report with a red grin, "Colonel, the Blanco reported that 4 Chinese battleships were found, as well as a few small armored ships, how should we deal with it!" ”

Battleship...... This news made Colonel Michel shudder, Chinese has become the most powerful maritime power in the Pacific, this is obviously an undoubted fact, even on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, it can be so coincidentally run into the opponent's battleship group, how much strength does it have to do...... On the other hand, the maritime power of the United States of America, the USS Amphitlett coastal defense ship is already the most powerful on the West Coast, but compared to the other side, it is simply too small to be ashamed.

"Report" The lookout officer rushed into the command room like crazy, waking Colonel Michelle from his contemplation, "Captain, the Chinese fleet is approaching the port!" We observed that the main turrets of the two battleships in front of us were already turning to point at us! A total of 6 twin guns! How do we get our newsletter out! ”

This news immediately made Michel realize that his cup, obviously, the Chinese are here to help the Colombians, not to happen to pass by, now this situation, let alone a counterattack, their flagship Amphitlit only maintains the minimum power, to leave the anchorage for half a day, is completely sitting and waiting for the rhythm.

"Order, immediately issue a signal and salute the Chinese Navy!" Colonel Michelle suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and after a moment, he immediately added, "Salute!" (To be continued......)