Riddell was taken aback by hearing that Wittoma was determined to use the fleet to intimidate China. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Are you going to go to war with the Chinese? Excellency? ”

"If you need to." Wittoma sneered and turned his head to look at Ryder, "Why, Your Excellency, do you think that with the strength of the Imperial Navy in the Far East, you can't destroy the Chinese navy?" ”

"Of course the Imperial Navy can do this." "However, the strength of the Chinese navy is no longer what it used to be, and if there is a real war, I dare say, the Imperial Navy will not win easily." And it must be supported domestically. ”

"Oh? How could it be? Wittoma couldn't help but be slightly stunned when she heard that Rydel's answer was not very confident.

"Yes." Rydel seemed to dispel the idea of a war against China, saying, "We have twenty-four warships, but only two ironclads and six cruisers. The rest are gunboats, and if they fight the Chinese Navy, they will have to take a lot of risks if they want to win. ”

Wittoma heard the subtext of Reddell's words, which actually meant that he was not sure of victory, and couldn't help but change his face a little.

"If there is going to be a war, we need to seize the time to assemble our fleet and take the initiative to attack when the Chinese navy is not gathered." Redder noticed the change in the expression on Wittoma's face and simply handed over his hole cards to him, "According to our intelligence, the main ships of the Chinese Navy are scattered in some important ports, and the ironclad ship captured by the Chinese from Japan" The Longxiang has been refitted at the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, replaced with new engines and guns, and is anchored at Dagukou, which should already be capable of combat, in addition to four cruisers and two gunboats stationed there; two cruisers stationed at the Ryukyus to deter the Japanese; two cruisers are stationed in Fuzhou, four gunboats are stationed in Taiwan, and two cruisers are stationed in Shanghai. Do you want me to do that? ”

Listening to Rydel's words, Wittoma's face stretched longer.

As a diplomat, he didn't know much about the situation of the navy, but he was used to using the navy as a tool of diplomatic blackmail, but he did not expect that the strength of the Far East Fleet of the British Imperial Navy, which had once made him the strongest backing, would be such a situation.

Since the 19th century, the west's power has spread eastward, China's door has been wide open, and Chinese and foreign trade and missionary activities have become more and more frequent. In order to safeguard their own interests in China and protect the safety of their overseas Chinese, Western countries have sent their navies to China one after another, such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, Spain, Portugal, and other countries have formed the Far East Fleet to carry out activities along China's coast and in the western Pacific. or 3 or 5 ships; Or 10 or 8 ships, of which the British "Chinese fleet" in particular is the most impressive. It is often maintained at about 20 ships, and all kinds of warships such as ironclads, cruisers, clippers, motorboats, and gunboats are complete, and it is the most powerful in terms of combat effectiveness. Since its establishment after the Opium War, it has been in charge of the navies of the Far Eastern powers. Not only is it closely related to China's politics, economy, diplomacy, national defense, and military, but it also has a considerable impact on the overall situation of East Asia.

Because the British colonies spread across the five continents, and the "country on which the sun never sets", and its commercial power overrode all countries in the world, in order to ensure the safety of the colonies and shipping, its Royal Navy (The British Royal Navy) was systematically stationed in major regions of the world, forming a global strategic network. The distribution of its navy is as follows:

1. The home or the Atlantic station

2. The Mediterranean station

3. The South African station

4. The East African station

5. The Cape of Good Hope station

6. The East Indian station

7. The West Indian station

8. The North American station

9. The Pacific station

10. The China station

The formation of these fleets did not occur at the same time, but evolved gradually from the eighteenth century. The size of its troops was also mostly determined by the environment at the time, and was not customized. Among them, the Home Fleet was the largest, followed by the Mediterranean Fleet, followed by the East India Fleet and the "Chinese Fleet".

The purpose of the establishment of the "Chinese fleet" as an instrument of government policy, as an instrument of the navy, is closely related to the development of Britain in the Far East. From 1805 onwards, the British expanded from the Ganges Valley in India to all of India, conquering Nepal from 1814 to 1816; Controlled Burma from 1824 to 1826. At the same time, in 1826, it crossed the Strait of Malacca and entered the South Sea Islands, occupying Malaya and Singapore, as well as North Borneo and other places. After the Opium War, in addition to occupying Hong Kong, China was forced to open up the Five Ports of Commerce, and the scope of British trade from Singapore in the South Seas to Shanghai through Hong Kong became a "loose commercial empire" created by the British in the Far East. Under the British traditional belief that "commerce is more important than territory", it is clear that the navy is far more important to the interests of colonies and commerce than the army.

Due to the vast sea area around the South China Sea, the islands are scattered and the harbors are scattered. The political map was quite complex, divided between the local chieftains and the European colonial authorities. Therefore, piracy was rampant, and they often went out on the seas, plundering merchant ships and killing the merchants on board. From Malacca, Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra, and the island of Sulu in the Philippines, piracy has been a source of great harm to commercial dealings. From 1820 onwards, Britain continued to send its navy to assist the East India Company's merchant fleets in its conquests. However, due to the limited number of troops and the fact that the scope was too large, it was still impossible to wipe it out. In addition, piracy is often infested along China's southeast coast. In particular, Macao, Hainan Island and Hong Kong, which connect the mainland, are the abyss of pirates. China's local officials were almost helpless and helpless because of the corruption of the Green Camp Navy Division and the weakness of the navy. Some officials even implemented a policy of appeasement against them, "inducing them to hold official positions and recruiting money" in order to get nothing to do, but the results were not great. When the British occupied Hong Kong, their navy made it the main task of suppressing piracy. On the one hand, we will investigate the islands and bays between Hong Kong and Macao and off the coast of Guangdong in order to understand the hiding places of pirates. On the one hand, an agreement was reached with the local authorities in Guangdong to work together to continuously crack down on piracy. Although considerable success has been achieved, it is still necessary for the British Navy to remain here for a long time.

Moreover, the establishment of the "Chinese fleet" was also related to the tension between China and Britain after the Opium War. In 1842, although China was defeated in the war and concluded an alliance under the city, the general public did not give in, and there were continuous anti-British actions. They either took the opportunity to retaliate against the British attacks, or assassinated them to vent their anger, and sometimes even some small-scale armed conflicts. Among them, the refusal to revise the treaty and enter the city was the most serious. Despite repeated protests and representations by the British side, nothing has been achieved. As a result, Britain was determined to adopt a hard-line policy and build up its navy in order to force China into submission. The "Chinese Fleet" was organized on the same principle as the rest of the British fleet, with a mixed formation, ranging from modern ironclad to traditional sailboats. There is no limit to the size and quantity, and it depends entirely on the situation. As in the beginning of the Opium War, there were as many as 48 ships sailing the Chinese seas, and then the number of reinforcements was not counted, but after the war it was reduced to about 16. On the eve of the Anglo-French alliance, the number of warships had increased to 64, and most of them had been replaced by steam warships. In 1864, the "Chinese Fleet" officially broke away from the East India Fleet and became a separate army. Up to the beginning of 1875, it had 24 warships of various types, the largest of which was the flagship "Awakening" ironclad with a displacement of 6,710 tons, and the other capital ship was the "Otisha ironclad ship" with a displacement of 3,774 tons, and then 6 cruisers, and the rest were gunboats, with uneven combat effectiveness. If you really want to fight the Chinese Navy, the capital ships that can be counted on are 2 ironclads and 6 cruisers.

"I need to make the Chinese government understand the gravity of the situation and make the dazed officials feel that war is likely to be coming." Wittoma also revealed his true intentions to Ryddell in order to facilitate Rydel's actions.

"So, let me see, where are all our warships." Rydell said, calling a British naval officer to bring a map and spread it out in front of Wittoma.

"The cruiser 'Krufler' is now in Tianjin, the cruiser 'Ghisreal' is in Yantai, our flagships 'Awakening' and 'Odisha' are in Shanghai, and they are accompanied by the cruisers 'Tyria' and 'Harnet,' in Hankow, and the cruiser 'Hut' in Xiamen."

"If you think it's necessary, I need time to assemble the fleet." "The artillery fleet can also be assembled as a mobile force and sent to the necessary places as a force for support and deterrence. ”