The most exciting, of course, is the battleship detachment, the towering battleship is a symbol of the empire's sea power on which the sun never sets, each of which represents supreme authority and is the support for the British to raise their heads all over the world. While there is now talk of all the battleships becoming antiques after the advent of the Dreadnought-class, who would despise these steel monsters that have dominated the seas for decades?

While most nations were struggling to possess a single battleship, the British already had more battleships than all the others, and Fisher easily mobilized fifteen battleships for the expedition, and the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets, which were the main forces, had not been greatly weakened.

The First Battleship Detachment consisted of the Edward VII-class Edward VII, the USS Republic, and the Fast-class Rapid and the Triumph, all four battleships were battleships launched after 1904, especially the Edward VII, which was Britain's most powerful maritime power before the advent of the Dreadnought.

The second battleship detachment consisted of the Edward VII-class Sovereign, the New Zealand, and the Duncan-class Duncan, Albemarle, and Exmouth, and the five battleships also belonged to the main warships of the current British Navy, all of which were launched after 1903.

The 3rd Battleship Detachment consisted of the Duncan-class Russell, the London-class London, the Bulwark, the Solemn, and the Dreadnought-class Defiance. The British spent a lot of money on the expedition to China, and the warships dispatched were all the latest and most effective warships.

Of course, the flagship was the first dreadnought-class battleship, the intrepid, and the warships of France, Italy, Spain and other countries followed the British, and the seven battleships and eight cruisers they sent were also not to be underestimated. Anyway, the British are the main force, and it is impossible for their own warships to suffer much loss, so it's not bad to show them off!

As for the thunderstorm brigade of forty torpedo boats. He was given an important task in this expedition. As we all know, the main guns of the two super warships of China have strong firepower and long-range range, and the armor is thick, it is difficult to say whether the main guns of the expeditionary fleet can penetrate the armor of the enemy ship, so in the alternative plan, the lightning strike team will take the opportunity to get close to the super battleship and penetrate the relatively weak waterline armor of the battleship by releasing torpedoes.

Of course. Natal did not think that the 305mm guns on the battleship would not be able to penetrate the protection of the super-battleship, and in his mind, the main concern was how much to win the war, and if the losses were too great, it would be worth the losses!

Just when the largest collision between Eastern and Western civilizations was about to take place, the city of Beijing seemed to be affected by the imminent war, and the atmosphere became strange.

First of all, Duan Qirui of the Beiyang Army led the First Army from Langfang back to the vicinity of Beijing, you must know that in the previous military transfer, Yuan Shikai still took into account the face of the Manchu court, and he would always be notified afterwards. Only this time the high-ranking officials of the imperial court did not know about the transfer of the First Army. The gathering of the army under the city always made people worry, so rumors began to circulate in Beijing that Yuan Shikai was about to take action against the imperial court, and the gossip became more and more intense.

When Tie Liang, the commander of the 1st Beiyang Division, an army controlled by the Manchus, received an order to transfer the entire army to Jinan, the upper echelons of the Manchu Qing Dynasty also confirmed Yuan Shikai's imminent move. Even if it is now at the mercy of others, even if Yuan Shikai holds the power, the upper echelons of the Manchu Qing Dynasty do not intend to let go easily.

The Empress Dowager Cixi, who was struggling to survive, was hit so hard after the stock turmoil that the people below even reported that the cost of building his mausoleum was gone! The old lady kicked her legs in early 1906 and died directly. In the last months of her life, just in bed. Can't say a word. Under such circumstances, of course, the Manchu high-level wanted to find another leader, so without Cixi's restrictions, the Guangxu Emperor, who was imprisoned in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, was once again invited to preside over the overall situation.

Emperor Guangxu, who had received the support of Zaifeng, Yixuan and other princes, found out that it was better to stay in the ghost place of Yingtai when he found out that he was in power! The power of the imperial court was lost, the finances completely collapsed, and most of the land was lost. Even the wealth in the hands of the imperial family itself was not much left, and the Manchus who had eaten, drunk and had fun in the past, from ******** to ordinary Manchus, had lost their economic resources and were waiting for relief from the imperial court. That's millions of people who are not engaged in production in the first place, but have iron rice bowls.

Seeing this situation, the ambition of the original Restoration was left after being imprisoned, and now it has disappeared, and Guangxu even hopes that Cixi will get better soon to preside over the overall situation than anyone else, and he will return to Yingtai to live a happy life. It's just that Cixi didn't let him get his wish and left for the west.

Later, Yuan Shikai took out a part of the Western loan to help the imperial court and used it to maintain the expenses of the imperial court, and Emperor Guangxu could only barely maintain the operation of the imperial court.

Now in the face of Yuan Shikai's fangs, no one in the Manchu Dynasty knows what to do, the Beiyang Group not only sent troops to be stationed near the capital, but also cut off the expenses of the imperial court, and now it is difficult to eat, what other way is there to fight against Yuan Shikai's greed?

"Lord Wang, now that the matter is now, we have to come up with a charter, the Qing Dynasty has been a country for hundreds of years, but it can't be lost in my hands, otherwise I won't have the face to see the ancestors underground!" Emperor Guangxu had a sad face, and the old man who was sitting in front of him was even more sad.

"Your Majesty, Yuan Shikai's wolf ambition has been fully supported by the British, Huaguo Luliang is eyeing the south, and the land of Longxing in the northeast has been taken away by the Japanese and Russians, we are forced to a dead end! According to the old minister, there is still a glimmer of life in the abdication, and millions of Manchus may be able to continue to survive, otherwise it will be a disaster of annihilation. ”

"Amma, isn't there another way?" Zaizhen, the son of Yixuan, said loudly: "Isn't there still a hundred thousand Eight Banners Army in Beijing, and Tieliang's first division did not obey Yuan Shikai's orders to leave the capital, we still have a lot of cards to play, I don't believe that Yuan Shikai will disregard the lives of millions of people in Beijing City and kill them alive!" ”

Yixuan laughed self-deprecatingly: "The Eight Banners Army is no longer the invincible Eight Banners Army that swept through the Central Plains hundreds of years ago, you go out and shout, just say that the Manchus need people to serve, see how many can stand up?" 100,000 Eight Banners, how many can handle knives and guns? Stop dreaming! ”

"What about the provinces? Are there any loyal ministers who are loyal to my Qing Dynasty? Aren't there governors and ministers in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Xinjiang, and whether they have troops in their hands that can let them go to Beijing to Qinwang. What about the Mongolian princes, can they send cavalry? Guangxu seemed to be infected by Zai Zhen, and asked with a strong spirit.

"Several provinces outside were controlled by Yuan Shikai's cronies, and after Li Hongzhang's death, most of the Huai people took refuge in Yuan Shikai, plus he mastered the loans of foreigners, and had countless money in his hands to buy local ministers. Moreover, there are not many troops in those provinces that can fight, and as for the Mongolian Eight Banners, there has been no army that can fight since the death of Zeng Lingqin. "Yixuan is also very helpless, now is no longer the era of riding a tall horse and wielding a saber, the battlefield is full of guns, and the ancestors' set will not work.

Besides, the Mongols have long been tortured by the Qing Dynasty, and there are not many who can fight on horseback, but there are a lot of lamas, so let those lamas come to King Qin?

Thinking about it is a dead end, Guangxu finally cried bitterly, he knew how good it was for Cixi's old lady to kill herself, and now she doesn't have to suffer this kind of crime again!

On June 3, the imperial court received a letter of state from the United Kingdom, in which the British prime minister clearly stated that he hoped that Yuan Shikai of Beiyang would replace the Manchu court and truly grasp the power to concentrate on dealing with the scars of civilization and the demon of the Far East, Lu Liang's Huaguo, which is the unshirkable responsibility and obligation of all countries in the world, and the Manchu court must conform to the general trend, otherwise it will be resisted and punished by all countries of the anti-China alliance!

Under the instruction of Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui led a total of 47 generals of the Beiyang New Army to send a joint telegram to the cabinet, the Military Advisory Office, the Ministry of War and the princes and ministers, proposing that the military and the people had agreed to the preferential treatment of the Qing Dynasty's royal family, the royal family, and the Manchu and Mongolian tribes returning to Tibet. "Request" implored the Great Trumpet of Chuan Khan, issued an edict, declared China and foreign countries, established Yuan Shikai as the new emperor, changed the name of the country to 'Chinese Empire', and the year name 'Hongxian'.

In the afternoon of the same day, under the contact of Tang Shaoyi, the number of joint names increased to 70, including not only the internal generals of the Beiyang Group, but also the ministers and governors of the Han people in various places. When the abdication of the Qing Dynasty was almost a foregone conclusion, some princes and ministers were still resolutely opposed, and in order to maintain the prestige of Yuan Shikai after succeeding to the throne, Duan Qirui and others could not take strong measures. Therefore, in order to eliminate these resistances, Duan Qirui and others sent a second telegram on the 5th demanding the abdication of the Qing Dynasty, and united Wang Zhanyuan, He Fenglin and others to call the princes of the near branches, the kings of Mongolia, and the ministers of various ministries and courts, declaring that "I would like to lead the whole army into Beijing and fight with the princes." ”

The First Army then entered the city of Beijing, surrounded the barracks of the First Division, and occupied all key places in the capital. The telegram from the provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi made Guangxu feel that everyone had rebelled and separated, and finally issued an edict agreeing to abdicate the throne on the 5th, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had lasted for hundreds of years, finally came to an end from Chinese history. (To be continued.) )

PS: Happy May Day, resume three watches from today