"What? Discover the Russian fleet...... Is the message confirmed? ”

Fujita Higashiko is also a master of "Zhu Xue" of the Mito Domain, of course, he understands Chinese, and his face immediately became solemn. He knew that the Ming Dynasty, Britain, France, and Russia could fight at any time! Japan would also join the Ming in fighting Russia. Now the sudden appearance of the Russian fleet near Hawaii is certainly not good news for the Chinese and Japanese in Hawaii.

"The news is definite, it was discovered by a lookout post on Mount Kahala!"

Mount Kahala is the highest mountain on Oahu, just next to Honolulu, with the Hawaiian Navy's lookout post and 30 nautical miles off Oahu during the day. Now that war is on the verge of breaking out, Zhang Zegen and the British and French ministers in Honolulu have managed to bribe the native Hawaiian soldiers who manage this lookout post, and they can get the news as soon as there is any trouble.

"The Russian ship came from the north, more than forty nautical miles from the port of Honolulu. At a speed of about six knots, you can reach it in 7 hours! As he spoke, Zhang Zegen took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, shaking his head, "No, there are only 5 hours left!" ”

"What is the size of this Russian fleet?"

"It is certain that there is a third-class battleship, a fourth-class battleship, and at least eight warships of other classes! The British and French fleets in Pearl Harbor simply couldn't deal with ......"

Zhang Zegen took a deep breath, his face was very ugly. This Russian fleet is menacing, and it is sure to attack the British, French, and Chinese forces in Hawaii. The fleets, garrisons, and expatriates of the British and French may not be willing to resist with the Ming, because the Russians will certainly not do anything to massacre the British and French expatriates in Hawaii. As for the largest garrison in Hawaii. The most powerful Americans. will definitely stay out of it. It will even hinder the resistance of the Chinese in Hawaii!

Therefore, as soon as Zhang Zegen learned the news, he invited Yang Fuqing of the Mormon Church and the three bigwigs of the Hongmen Synagogue to the embassy, and asked them to immediately summon the party members to bring weapons to the embassy to report. At the same time, he also ordered the Chinese ships in Pearl Harbor to quickly lift anchor and leave the port.

"So, now all the Chinese merchant ships have lifted anchor and left the port of Honolulu?" Fujita Higashihu was stunned for a moment, revealing an unhappy expression. All the Chinese merchant ships were gone, and his 1,000 Japanese samurai were trapped in Hawaii. Is there any other option than fighting? Do you want to be a captive of a woolly bear?

Zhang Zegen nodded a little embarrassedly, in fact, he just wanted to leave the Japanese samurai under Fujita Donghu. The Chinese ships in Pearl Harbor were ordered to evacuate immediately, accompanied by only the Taipan, the guards of the Hawaii branch of the HSBC Bank, and most of the cash in the bank's vault, totaling more than 4 million silver dollars. In order to calm people's hearts, Zhang Zegen's own family members did not retreat with the ship.

"Mr. Fujita, why don't you let your 1,000 samurai prepare for battle!" Now that the situation is urgent, Zhang Zegen is no longer beating around the bush. "There are more than 30,000 overseas Chinese on Oahu, and a maximum of 13,400 can be mobilized, but most of them have not been trained, and only 1,400 can fight at most."

"That's natural! The samurai I brought with me can fight, and they all have foreign guns! Fujita Toko nodded heavily, although there was some unhappiness in his heart. But now there is only World War I.

Just as Zhang Zegen and Fujita were talking, a young man who might be an embassy official walked in with a panicked expression.

I saw him leaning into Zhang Zegen's ear. He said in a low voice: "Mr. Minister, the Minister of France and the United States and the Pastor Richards, the adviser to the King of Hawaii, have all arrived at the British Embassy, and Minister Bao Ling also invites you to go to the British Embassy for a while. ”

Zhang Zegen nodded, and asked the first secretary of the embassy to invite Yang Fuqing, who was dressed as a priest, to come over, introduce Fujita Donghu to Yang Fuqing, and then said: "The matter of preparing for war will be handed over to the two, and 2,500 militias will be organized within 5 hours no matter what!" The more than 30,000 overseas Chinese on Oahu rely on them for protection! ”

After receiving affirmative answers from the two, Zhang Zegen and his first secretary hurriedly left the embassy and rushed to the British embassy in a carriage. The British Legation was also on alert at this time, dozens of Red Shirt soldiers were hurriedly arranging defensive barricades, and some British expatriates were standing stupidly outside the Legation with protection and their families in a panic.

The guards of the British Legation all recognized Zhang Zegen, so they let him go all the way without hindrance. As soon as he walked into the embassy's living room, Zhang Zegen heard someone arguing loudly in English.

"Your Excellency, it's Pastor Richards and Minister Bao Ling arguing." Zhang Zegen does not know English, and his secretary is a graduate of Jishi Academy and can speak fluent English.

"What are they arguing about?"

The quarrel took place in the study of Minister Bao Ling, which was connected to the meeting room, and a secretary of the British Legation wanted to go in to report it, but was stopped by Zhang Zegen waving his hand, he wanted to hear what the British and Americans were.

"Mr. Minister, the Kingdom of Hawaii has nothing to do with this war, she is a neutral country, and so is the United States! So the Kingdom of Hawaii will not fight the Russians, and it does not want the British and French armies to go to war with the Russians on Hawaiian territory! ”

It was Reverend Richards, an American pastor and adviser to the King of Hawaii. Many of the Westernization reforms in the Kingdom of Hawaii were actually designed and promoted by him.

"Now it's the Russian fleet that wants to invade Hawaii! It's not that Britain wants to invade Hawaii...... Could it be that Hawaii's neutrality meant that it would allow Russian occupation? ”

Refuting the Reverend Richards was the British Minister Order, who also ordered the preparation for war at the first opportunity. However, the British garrison in Hawaii was meagrely, with less than 500 men, including the small fleet in Honolulu. Therefore, he hopes that 1,000 soldiers from China, the United States, France and Hawaiians can fight together, so that at least 5,000 people can be concentrated.

"No, Hawaii won't fight, and neither will the United States! The U.S. fleet will leave, and the U.S. Army in Honolulu will hold Yolarani Palace with the Hawaiian Army! ”

This was the statement of the U.S. minister to Hawaii, although he did not know that the Russian fleet invasion was caused by Matthew. Perry's farce, but he still has this political sense: no matter what reason the Russian fleet came to Hawaii, it was an opportunity for the United States to take full control of Hawaii! And the key to U.S. control of Hawaii is to keep Yolalani Palace and the Hawaiian royal family.

"Your Excellency, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that a powerful Russian fleet is approaching Oahu! This is not something that Britain, France, and China can stop in Hawaii. If you insist on doing so, it will mean the loss of a large number of diasporas and property, which is unnecessary. The Russians are civilized people, they will do things according to the rules of civilized countries, and they will not embarrass the peaceful inhabitants of Hawaii by Britain and France. As for the British and French soldiers in Hawaii, it would be good to get on a warship and hide at sea for a few days. I reckon...... This Russian fleet was defeated by the combined fleet of Britain, France, and China off the coast of China, and came to Hawaii in desperation. So, they won't stay long, and they'll leave soon after they're recharged. ”

There was a long silence in the study, and it was clear that the British minister was moved by what the Americans said. Zhang Zegen knew that he had to go in and speak. He knocked on the door, and without waiting for anyone inside to speak, he pushed the door open and entered.

"Gentlemen, I have mobilized 2,500 men, all heavily armed warriors, including 1,000 Japanese samurai! Unless the Russians bring a whole army, they won't be able to capture Honolulu anyway! ”

Zhang Zegen's words were translated into English through the secretary, and the four foreign devils in the room all stood up and looked at him fixedly.

"2,500 people...... Oh my God, are you crazy? Mr. Zhang, are you going to turn Honolulu into a hellish battlefield? American Pastor Richards was the first to react, "The Kingdom of Hawaii here is not your Chinese's backyard, Hawaii doesn't need war, you can't fight here!" (To be continued......)