In Panama Port, after a week's stay, Vice Admiral Chen Ming, commander of the Second Detachment of the Pacific Fleet, signed a friendly cooperation agreement with Guerrero, the governor of Panama, and the fleet left the port with black smoke under the cheers of nearly 5,000 local people in the port......

After weighing the pros and cons, Xu Shoushan issued an order to the second squadron to immediately assemble in the port of Lima, and at the same time, prepare to deliver the battleship Esmeralda to the Chilean Navy.

Two days later, at dawn, Chen Ming's second squadron finally joined the huge Pacific main fleet in Lima, the capital of Peru.

On the same day, Xu Shoushan called on Peruvian President Carlos, who brought Qin Kai's invitation to Peru to join the Pacific Cooperation Countries, and held brief talks on strengthening cooperation in trade, armaments, and military training, and soon signed a Sino-Peruvian joint communiqué of friendship.

The news was soon released through the official Peruvian newspapers and developed domestic media, and on the same day, Bauer, the British minister to China, could not wait to meet Qin Kai, but was told that Premier Qin was in Shanghai. But this one is clearly too impatient to wait. So I quickly turned to meet with Chen Jitong, senior counselor of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. As a veteran diplomat, I have long smelled the smell of war in the tense diplomatic atmosphere between the United States and Spain.

Bauer obviously had a very direct purpose, and he made his intention very straightforward without a few words of greeting, "Counselor Chen, I have sent a telegram to Prime Minister Salisbury again, supporting the mediation of the tense situation in Central America between China and Britain, and I am here. I want to know what your country's interests in Cuba needs! ”

Chen Jitong had in fact been waiting for the British side to say something, and although Bauer did not explicitly state the message from London, he was so anxious to know the interests of the Chinese side that he immediately realized that the British were very willing to intervene in this white conflict on the west coast of America...... This was clearly an opportunity to demonstrate the influence of the British Empire.

"Minister Power, Premier Qin must be very happy to hear your proposal for mediation, which is what we would like to see, but, as far as I know, China has no real interests on the west coast of the Americas. If anything, for now. It could just be a peace agreement with the Republic of Colombia...... We don't want our friendly countries to be threatened by diplomatic power! Speaking of this, Chen Jitong smiled slightly, "As far as I know, your country has the same friendship agreements with Brazil and Argentina!" ”

After thinking for a moment, he also realized another problem, the smaller the interest, the smaller the responsibility, he has learned about the friction between China and the United States in the port of Panama, and it is obvious that the Chinese seem to be very concerned about the United States extending its influence to Central America, and the biggest interest in Central America is undoubtedly the Panama Canal, which is currently half-hung.

As a British Empire that is well versed in the interests of sea power, how can it not understand the value of the Panama Canal, however, although Chinese has obtained the right to operate the Panama Canal, Britain actually does not have any too eager expression, the Suez Canal is the lifeblood of the empire and the whole of Europe, the Panama Canal...... That is only the concern of the Americas, and it is probably far better for the British Empire to be in the hands of China than to be in the hands of the French!

"Counselor Chen, I have a plan that is beneficial to the two countries, the British Empire will support your country's control of the Panama Canal, but your country will support the interests of the British Empire in South and Central America, and at the same time, the British Empire will demand the right to peaceful navigation of the Panama Canal in the future!" Bauer immediately threw out his true purpose for coming.

After habitually giving the British a middle finger, Chen Jitong still smiled and rejected the other party very neatly, "Minister Power, according to the information we have, I am afraid it will not be easy to mediate the conflict between the United States and Spain this time...... Now public opinion in the United States is generally calling for war, and the US Navy has already moved into action! ”

After the outbreak of the crisis in the United States and the West, Prime Minister Salisbury was obviously surprised by Power's vision and strategy from the Far East, and the cabinet did not have a better plan at all, and the British Empire obviously had scruples about the United States, a newly rising economic power!

Therefore, Bauer was authorized by the cabinet to mediate the US-West crisis with China at the first time, of course, the ultimate purpose of this is to obtain the most direct interests for the British Empire in the Americas, which is why Bauer's lion opened his mouth to claim the future interests of the Panama Canal and the practical interests of South America...... To this end, the Salisbury Cabinet has ordered the Royal Navy to send a luxurious lineup of the Dreadnought-class battleship Refusal as the flagship and two Majestic-class battleships to the Americas.

"Counsellor Chen, if your country agrees to the interests of our country, London will be able to propose our joint construction to the American Minister no later than the middle of the month, and the Royal Navy will be dispatched to the Caribbean to ensure that the situation on the ground does not take a worse turn...... Your navy is also on the coastline of the Americas, but it seems that it will be difficult to play a role in this crisis. ”

Bauer smiled and expressed his opinion, the Royal Navy is dangling at sea all day anyway, and the South American countries that were independent from Portugal and Spain on the American coastline have always been the interests of the British Empire, and the British Empire has also established a long maritime supply line with the help of these countries...... Although the Chinese Navy is a new upstart at sea, it is obviously impossible to do so from this point of view.

Today I just saw that the Chinese Navy is engaged in a week-long naval joint exercise with the Peruvians, at this rate, not considering the time consumed by complex sea supplies, the Chinese will have to rush to the Caribbean Sea for at least nearly two months, according to his view of the conflict between the United States and the West, the pace of war will not wait for the Chinese fleet at all.

"Minister Power, don't forget jì, who reminded you that there is a ...... of war between the United States and Spain" Chen Jitong heard Bauer's assertion, just smiled, and threw out this sentence, which immediately made Bauer frown, which really hit his life, and before he could interject, Chen Jitong immediately came up with his own conditions, "The affairs of the Panama Canal and Colombia, Britain must not interfere, of course, the peacetime navigation rights requested by your country, I think Premier Qin will carefully consider it!" ”――

"Willow River Diagram...... In addition to being sometimes reckless, this guy is a new talent among the young officers of the Navy! Lu Han happily sat in the General Staff Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs, holding the secret telegram from the Pacific Fleet that had just been sent back.

"General Xu's soldiers are divided into two ways, he seems to be very sure!" On the side, Zhou Ruidong stood at the window with a coffee cup, looking at the clear blue sky outside, and then turned his head sideways and asked, he is an army general, although he is familiar with tactics, but the affairs of the navy, now the authority has to ask Lu Han.

"Xu Yushan, when has this guy done it, how can there be no adventure in a war, the 13th Fleet is not sure, but must surprise the troops, our fleet must appear in the Florida Strait as soon as possible, so that we can have the right to speak! I think Yushan should think the same way! At the same time, we must not fall into the trap, and he is obviously not willing to give up the opportunity to show the navy of our great power in the countries of South America! Lu Han patted the telegram and looked up at the flag of the 13th Squadron, which had been placed under the Chilean island of Fernández.

And the 13th fleet is really desperate enough, for four days, almost at the highest cruising of 18 knots in the running of life, four days to run more than 3,800 kilometers, through the sea off Santiago, Chile, Liu Hetu contacted the destroyer Anqing of the South Pacific Detachment that was carrying out a mission here, and only then sent back this vital telegram.

However, at this moment, thousands of miles away, in the harsh climate of the South Pacific, the 13th Squadron under the jurisdiction of Liu Hetu is encountering the first major problem since the rapid voyage, as a naval staff officer to the position of battleship commander, he naturally understands the urgency of his mission, and the Sirius-class battlecruiser is undoubtedly born for this kind of task!

With a displacement of 17,000 tons and a full load of 18,100 tons, 18 Jiangnan Type 96 vertical boilers are installed, and 2 are driven by the five-stage reactionary steam turbine produced by Beihai Precision Heavy Machinery, with an astonishing output of 67,000 horsepower driving 4 shafts and 4 propellers, which can push this behemoth with 6 13.5-inch guns to an astonishing speed of 26 knots.

For 4 and a half days, this fast fleet ran an average speed of 22.5, and in fact, including the Xuanyuan-class battlecruisers had a cruising speed of 18 knots, and for the rest of the nearly a quarter of the time, all three battleships were propelled at full power, Xu Shoushan gave him the order to arrive at the port of Havana in Brazil in 18 days, which was only the minimum requirement for a complete tactical maneuver for him!

"Report!"

"Come in!"

"General, a storm cloud has been observed directly ahead, predicted to be a large sea storm! Monitor the current wind force 7 northwest side! Waves! The adjutant nervously walked in and reported loudly.

Standing next to the chart, staring at the chart and contemplating Liu Hetu I, he naturally heard it clearly, but he never looked up, but continued to look at the chart in front of him! (To be continued......)