A sea area in the East China Sea.

It was already far away from the mouth of the Yangtze River, and after discovering that Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet was not following the pursuit, the British Asian Fleet temporarily stopped here for rest.

Clausto came to the deck with his tired body, and entered the scarred British ships, and he could see that the iron armor wrapped in the opposite battleship was shattered, and the holes in the black holes were full of bullet marks. Some are even emitting black smoke and still burning.

The battle was lost, and the British troops on all ships were discouraged and listless.

At the behest of their respective commanders, they were working hard to extinguish fires and repair warships.

At the same time, the small boats were lowered, and the wounded British soldiers were to be sent back to Naha first, their bodies were wrapped in snow-white bandages, and the blood seeped out from them, which was particularly eye-catching, and people could not forget the tragic battle just now.

At this time, the British commanders of each ship quickly sent the battle damage report to the new fleet flagship, the Crécy ironclad, for the commander Vice Admiral Claus to see.

In this battle, the British Royal Navy's Asian Fleet lost six warships, including his Claus's flagship ironclad ship Nelson, plus the losses in the Battle of Chuansha a few days ago, a total of eight battleships were sunk, with a total tonnage of more than 30,000 tons, which was the largest loss of the British Royal Navy in nearly half a century, not including the damaged British ships, accounting for as much as half of the entire fleet, and the number of officers and men killed was as high as 8,000, nearly 10,000 wounded, and more than two-thirds of the wounded were crippled and could no longer serve in the navy.

This has led to huge combat attrition, and although the Royal Navy has a strong source of reservists to replenish, it has to be transferred from Singapore, and now it can only be replenished by the British Marine Corps.

"Damn it, ahem......"

Klaus angrily tore up the report and coughed violently, coughing up blood.

Marin was startled and hurriedly called a doctor.

I only heard the doctor say: "Your Excellency Commander, you should have pneumonia." Presumably, the lungs poured into a large amount of sea after falling into the sea, and at that time, the toxic substances produced after the explosion of the shells in the sea accidentally entered the lungs, causing comprehensive pneumonia, which needed to be transferred to the rear for treatment in time, otherwise it would be very serious. ”

In this era, the treatment of inflammation is almost fateful, because there are no specific anti-inflammatory drugs, even a big man like Klaus is not immune.

Death is the only fair treatment between the upper class and the lower class.

Of course, if Klaus is safely transferred to the rear for healing and recuperation. Pneumonia is not a terminal illness either, but it is a pity that Klaus is a haughty man who does not allow himself to leave with the title of failure and guilt.

"Inform Guba to come to the meeting immediately!"

Marin said worriedly: "Your Excellency, Commander, but your body is ......"

Klaus waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's not too late to heal after defeating Li Weiguo!" ”

Marin smiled bitterly: "However, we have just suffered two defeats!" ”

Klaus sneered: "We lost two games in a row, if I am not wrong, Li Weiguo should be happily going home to his women by now." His subordinates must be arrogantly celebrating, and at this time, their defense must be the most lax. ”

Marin was an excellent young general after all, and immediately understood Klaus's intentions.

"Are you going to attack Li Weiguo tomorrow?"

"Nope! I'm going to attack him tonight! ”

It's a bold plan. There are risks and opportunities, and high risk means high reward.

Marin was excited at first, and then showed concern again, and said, "But. Your Excellency, Commander, after this great battle, most of our battleships were wounded. The enemy's rapid-fire artillery fire was fierce, and although their flowering shells could not penetrate the armor protection of our warships, they were obviously lethal to the personnel of our fleet, causing a large number of wounded in our fleet and causing mental trauma and fatigue to the officers and men, which would affect the next operations of our fleet. In addition, after the high-intensity engagement, we basically ran out of ammunition. In addition, even if we attack the East China Sea Fleet tonight, I am afraid that it will not be able to play a role without the support of ground forces. ”

Klaus looked at Marin, nodded with satisfaction, and said: "You can have such an analysis and insight, which means that you have the qualifications to be promoted to vice admiral, after this battle, I will retire, and I hope you can take my place at that time." ”

"Thank you, Your Excellency, Commander, I will definitely work hard!" Marin was overjoyed.

Klaus smiled slightly, and then said, "Your worries, Commander Ben has already thought of them. I have sent people back to Naha as fast as possible, and ordered Guba to lead the fleet and supply ships to come for reinforcements, and at the same time, the original landing operation plan was implemented ahead of schedule, and this time I will launch a landing operation at the same time as the sneak attack. ”

Marin suddenly admired Klaus's foresight, but he was still puzzled, and asked: "Didn't we not serve as gunmen for the Qing government?" Didn't you keep saying that you would wait until the Qing government and Li Weiguo were both defeated before launching a landing operation? ”

Klaus said with a wry smile: "The plan can't catch up with the changes, I also want to see the Qing government and Li Weiguo lose both, but after this naval defeat, I found that I made a big mistake, that is, I overestimated Li Weiguo's overall military strength, and even we suffered a big loss, relying on the waste army of the Qing government alone, it is not Li Weiguo's opponent at all, if we wait for Li Weiguo to eliminate the Qing government's army, it will be even more unfavorable to us." Therefore, the commander decided to launch a beach-grabbing landing operation ahead of schedule. ”

Ma Lin also agreed, he also underestimated Li Weiguo before, and when he saw that Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet suddenly had ten ironclad ships with murderous firepower, he knew that the other party was not a soft persimmon.

"Li Weiguo's ten heavy artillery ironclad ships are really in trouble, and the thing that suddenly attacked us from the rear today, although it is not clear what it is, but it is like a sea monster, it has gone around the rear of our fleet and even approached the flagship without being found, it is really terrifying."

Klaus was also suddenly gloomy, and he recalled that last thrilling moment, when the Nelson was sunk by one of the opposing weapons, which made him very annoyed and frightened.

"If I'm not misjudged, the kind of monster in Li Weiguo's hands is just that, otherwise with such a powerful weapon, Li Weiguo has no reason not to send it all out to annihilate our fleet in one fell swoop. However, that monster is small and fragile, and it should have been sunk by the Nelson's final desperate counterattack, and it should not reappear in a short time, which is why I immediately launched a surprise attack and an early landing operation. I'm really worried about long nights and dreams! ”

Klaus was a well-known naval expert, and his analysis and judgment were completely correct, and although he did not yet know the specific performance and power of the two weapons, the submarine and the Fish Radium, it was certainly more dangerous if it was delayed, and he was not wrong at all.

Before dark, a large fleet appeared on the sea, and it was the French fleet and the British and French landing forces that led by Lone Ba to join Claus.

The reason why Lone came so quickly was also because he learned that the British fleet had been defeated, and the news was so shocking to him. He knew that the British Royal Navy was powerful, even if it was just the British Asian fleet, and the strong lineup of dozens of ironclad ships was enough to crush the whole of Asia.

This powerful fleet was defeated by Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet, which lost eight warships successively, but did not sink a single battleship of the opponent, which illustrates the problem, that is, Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet is very strong.

Out of the Anglo-French alliance and the division of interests in Asia, Guba originally planned to weaken the power of Britain, but he did not expect things to become complicated. Guba is a famous general. He knew when to do what to do, now was not the time to weaken the British fleet, but to cheer up and deal with Li Weiguo together.

One strong enemy is enough to make two rivals with evil intentions abandon each other's prejudices and unite, and this is the solitary mentality.

The more it is converging. The more shocked he was when he saw the embarrassment of the British fleet, how could a mere Li Weiguo become so powerful in such a short period of time. I remember that five years ago, Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet did not dare to go to war at all, and now just five years have passed. It was shocking to have the power to defeat the British Asian fleet.

After meeting Klaus, I expressed my condolences. I got the whole news.

"In this way, Li Weiguo has always hidden his strength, ten heavy artillery ironclad ships plus an unknown warship, the intelligence officers of our two countries should be sent to the gallows to strangle them, it's really annoying, there is no news at all, even if we give us a little news, it won't be such a heavy loss!"

Is this Nima comforting or sarcastic?

Klaus darkened his face and said, "It's come to this, what do you think?" ”

Seeing that Klaus was deflated, Guba was still very comfortable, so he said, "I agree with your raid plan, otherwise I would not have brought the fleet and marines here." ”

This makes Klaus admire very much, this lonely man likes to be clever on weekdays, but he is not confused at all in big things.

The combined fleet of Britain and France was quickly reorganized, and all the battleships participating in the battle totaled a terrifying fifty-eight, all of which were ironclad ships with external ironclads.

Despite the two defeats of the British Asian Fleet, the number of warships was still the largest, and it was still the dominant force in the combined fleet of Britain and France.

The 200,000 British and French troops were not all engaged in tonight's landing operation, because the scale was too large, Klaus temporarily advanced the plan of action, and had to raid overnight, so only 50,000 British and French troops boarded troop carriers to converge, and the remaining 150,000 British and French troops will complete the assembly and arrive at the battlefield tomorrow.

Haimen Hall Yamen, after Li Hongzhang received a large amount of arms assistance from Yixin, he seemed to be resurrected with full blood.

Most of the 200,000 Yan troops assembled on the front line of Haimen were replaced with new weapons and equipment from Britain, France, and Prussia and other Western countries.

Li Hongzhang was in a good mood, and he thought that with this batch of Western weapons, he could defeat Li Weiguo on the other side of the river.

"Lord Wang, there's news in the East China Sea!"

Xu Ting and others walked in and reported to Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang hurriedly asked: "What's the matter, did Li Weiguo's East China Sea Fleet wipe out the British and French fleets?" ”

Xu Ting looked at the others, they all smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said to Li Hongzhang: "Back to the prince, the East China Sea Fleet has won again!" ”

"What?"

"W-how is this possible?"

Li Hongzhang was suddenly surprised, in his eyes, the strength of the British and French powers is beyond doubt, how could the British and French navies, which had been reequipped with ironclad ships, be defeated, you must know that it was an iron-hulled warship!

Qian Dingming and the others came in with Xu Ting, so they naturally knew it for a long time, and said at this moment: "That's true, I can't imagine that Li Weiguo has hidden his strength, the East China Sea Fleet has secretly built ten ironclad ships, and each ironclad ship is equipped with large-caliber naval guns, which are said to be incomparably powerful." A single shot could sink a British battleship. ”

Soon, Li Weiguo calmed down and learned from the intelligence about the ironclad ships of the East China Sea Fleet.

"How many secret weapons is this Li Weiguo hiding?"

Although this was asked to everyone, Xu Ting was in charge of the intelligence, and he was clearly blaming him.

Xu Ting immediately confessed and said: "It's all the incompetence of the ministers, please ask the prince to surrender!" ”

Li Hongzhang wanted to scold Xu Ting, but finally held back and said: "In the future, we must strengthen the investigation and collection of intelligence on Li Weiguo, and there must be no mistakes." ”

"Huh!" Xu Ting took the order and stepped aside.

Qian Dingming stood up. He proposed: "Now that the British and French fleets have suffered defeat, they will not give up, before they harbored evil intentions and refused to use all their strength, and now they have suffered a great loss, and revenge will definitely follow." Li Weiguo's side must be celebrating, and the prince's army has been equipped with advanced foreign guns and artillery, and the minister thinks that the time has come to launch a battle to cross the river! ”

Li Hongzhang hesitated, the higher his status, the more afraid of failure. If he was still the commander of the Huai army, the former governor of Anhui, he would definitely send troops immediately. But now he is the king of Yan and the minister of Beiyang, and his family is big, but he is timid. Especially not long ago, more than 200,000 elites were all folded in Jiangnan, which hit him a huge blow, and his ambition was instantly suppressed.

"This soldier has just gotten foreign guns and cannons, and he has not been proficient. How is it the opponent of the Tiger and Wolf Division of the Nanyang Army? It's better to wait a few more days, and when the drill is over, it's not too late to have a showdown with Li Weiguo. Let the British and French forces fight Li Weiguo first. ”

A group of staff members then discussed, although most of them were in the main battle, but Li Hongzhang was afraid of being beaten, and finally did not agree.

However, after dark, the British commissioner Hoss suddenly came, and Li Hongzhang hurriedly invited him in.

Hoss came to convey the battle plan of the British commander Klaus, and asked Li Hongzhang to send troops to cooperate with the operation.

Knowing that the Anglo-French combined fleet had counterattacked and that the British and French forces would launch a beach-grabbing landing operation tonight, Li Hongzhang suddenly came to his senses, and he knew that this time the Anglo-French forces were in a frenzy and were going to move in earnest, and if the operation was done well, he might be able to hit Li Weiguo hard in one fell swoop.

So Li Hongzhang convened a meeting of his staff again, immediately deployed military operations, and prepared to cooperate with the British and French forces.

Xu Ting suddenly frowned and said: "Lord Wang, the minister does not recommend that the army press, because my soldiers are not familiar with foreign guns and artillery, and combat power is a problem." Didn't you also say that the Anglo-French forces and Li Weiguo should be consumed first, and then attacked? ”

Without waiting for Li Hongzhang to answer, Qian Dingming suddenly smiled and said: "At this time and that time, the prince did have to consider these issues before, but now he has made a detailed return, Li Weiguo returned to Shanghai, the ministers celebrated, and the East China Sea Fleet was also lively. Before, it was only the British fleet that came alone to defeat the battle, but it did not hurt the muscles and bones, the main force was still there, plus the French fleet, and now the British and French combined fleets are pouring out, and they can definitely catch Li Weiguo off guard, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the prince must not hesitate. ”

Li Hongzhang also smiled: "That's right, this king misestimated Li Weiguo's strength before, and if he doesn't send troops now, he won't be able to explain to Britain and France in the future." Since Britain and France have poured out of their nests, it is natural that this king must fully cooperate. ”

Soon, Li Hongzhang and a cadre of staff members finished discussing and began to dispatch troops.

When the meeting was about to end, Qian Dingming suddenly said: "Prince, this time the matter is very important, and I also ask the prince to order the participants not to leave the palace for half a step to prevent information leakage." ”

"It's good!" Li Hongzhang was stunned for a moment, this Qian Dingming was just the general manager of logistics, why did he suddenly care about the intelligence, but he felt that it made sense, and immediately approved it.

Xu Ting said: "Lord Wang, this matter is indeed very important, so the minister will personally mobilize people." ”

Li Hongzhang was just about to nod, when he heard Qian Dingming suddenly say: "Wait, Lord Xu had better not leave!" ”

Xu Ting suddenly said angrily: "What do you mean by the surname Qian, this official is the chief intelligence officer, what do you want to do with the official?" ”

Qian Dingming sneered: "Why is Lord Xu so nervous, Qian didn't mean that, this time the stakes are very high, it's better to be careful, don't be noticed by Li Weiguo in advance." ”

Li Hongzhang was also stunned, and immediately thought that Li Weiguo, the all-pervasive agent of the China S.H.I.E.L.D., was also a spirit, but he still trusted Xu Ting, so he said: "Xu Ting is the intelligence chief after all, or he personally supervises this king, rest assured." ”

Qian Dingming frowned suddenly, so he said, "The minister hopes to take care of each other with Lord Xu." ”

Xu Ting said angrily: "What do you mean, don't you doubt me?" ”

Qian Dingming said with a smile: "Lord Xu is too worried, the two of them monitor each other, in case something happens, they can prove their innocence." Since Lord Xu is loyal, why bother, just think that Qian Mou spends the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain. ”

Seeing that the two pinched each other, Li Hongzhang was also drunk, so he had to say: "You two are both confidants of this king, and this king can be trusted, since Qian Dingming insists on it, then you can follow if you want, but you must not interfere with Xu Ting's business." ”

Li Hongzhang made a decision, Qian Dingming looked proud, and looked at Xu Ting with deep meaning.

Xu Ting was helpless, and there was no other way than to stare at Qian Dingming. (To be continued.) )