The silence of the Forbidden City in the middle of the night was somewhat terrifying. Guan Xuqing in the Palace of Nourishing the Heart is still in a daze at the map of the Taiwan Strait, and now the Fujian Navy Division has been wiped out. The situation of the war in Taiwan is unknown, although the situation in Vietnam is relatively stable. But it's just a stubborn defense, and it doesn't have the ability to fight back strategically.

If history does not repeat itself, it is necessary to defeat the French fleet, which is now the second largest in the world. However, Guan Xuqing only has one Nanyang Naval Division in his hands, and the Beiyang Naval Division has not yet been formed. The task of the Nanyang Naval Division is quite arduous, guarding the 18,000-mile coastline along the southeast coast. It is bounded by Tianjin Dagu Port in the north and Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau in the south. Now that the Mawei Military Port has been hit hard, the shipbuilding industry of the Qing Dynasty has regressed by at least ten years. If something happens to the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau, then the shipbuilding industry of the Qing Dynasty will be completely collapsed.

Guan Xuqing thought about it and suddenly saw his hometown in his previous life, Shanghai. At that time, the warship port of the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau, however, a bold and even a big gamble plan gradually took shape in my mind......

In the early morning of the next day, good news came from Taiwan. Huwei Port Victory! Sun Kaihua led his troops to repel the landing French army, destroying 1,037 enemies and capturing 1,321 people. The French ** ship had no choice but to leave the Taiwan Strait and did not know where to go.

In the early dynasty, Guan Xuqing asked the ministers in the Taihe Palace: "According to the Taiwan war report, the French ** ship has left the Taiwan Strait. Ladies and gentlemen, tell me about it. Where will this terrifying fleet harass me along the coast of the Qing Dynasty? ”

Prince Alcohol was very distressed when he saw that his son had recently been injured in the Sino-French War. But when he saw him becoming more and more mature, he smiled with satisfaction when he had a generation of emperors.

Guan Xuqing saw it in his eyes and suddenly asked, "Prince Alcohol, tell me." What should we do? ”

Prince Alcohol knelt on the ground and said, "The minister thinks that the French will definitely go north to directly attack the port of Dagu in Tianjin. Follow the example of 20 years ago, landing directly from Tianjin * Palace. ”

As soon as this remark came out, there was another uproar. The ministers whispered that many of them had gone through the Second Opium War. The scene of that year is still vivid, Prince Jing said. I think it's even more likely.

Prince Alcohol continued: "As you know, the French army has traveled thousands of miles. Labor mobilized the crowd, and also wanted to solve the problem quickly. But now, the war in Vietnam is at a stalemate. The French army also wanted to occupy Taiwan and become its strategic base in the Far East. Nanke bombarded Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi; If you go north, you can harass our Jiangsu and Zhejiang generation, and threaten our Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau. But now that Taiwan is solid, foreigners must want to take Beijing directly. ”

"What should Prince Iol see? I can't let me retreat to Rehe like the first emperor! Guan Xuqing said with a frown.

"The emperor doesn't have to worry, he can immediately transfer the Nanyang Navy Division to assemble in Tianjin Port. The French fleet was bound to come, and the Dagukou Fort in Tianjin cooperated with the Nanyang Naval Division. Tianjin can be guaranteed to be worry-free! Then let Dong Liang from Dalian, Shengjing, Shandong, and Zhili speed transfer four standard people to escort the Beijing division. So it's safe to go. Prince Alcohol spoke eloquently.

"Your Majesty, no! Now that the Mawei Military Port has fallen, the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau is the only shipbuilding base in the Qing Dynasty. If all the Nanyang naval divisions are transferred to Tianjin, what will happen to the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau? My generation of the Qing Dynasty in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has always been the granary and silver warehouse of my Qing Dynasty. Now it is also the economic lifeblood of the Qing Dynasty, if the French army does not go north, but attacks our Jiangsu and Zhejiang generation. That's a good thing. Weng Tongsu said anxiously.

Guan Xuqing looked at Weng Tongsu and said nothing. swept towards Li Hongzhang again, and continued to ask, "Li Hongzhang, what do you think?" ”

Li Hongzhang hurriedly came out of the queue and said in a trembling voice: "Back to the emperor, the minister thinks that what Lord Weng said is purely imaginary, and there is no conclusive evidence. And Prince Alcohol is an old minister seeking the country, and he has lessons from the past. The minister believed that it would be appropriate to transfer the Nanyang Naval Division back to Tianjin. ”

Guan Xuqing nodded with satisfaction and said, "Okay, since Li Aiqing also said so." Let's plan to let all the Nanyang sailors return to Tianjin. ”

"Wow!" Li Hongzhang and Prince Alcohol knelt down and replied.

Weng Tongsu looked at the emperor he had single-handedly taught, and his disappointment was beyond words! Is this the wise and wise emperor from before? Blood is thicker than water. At the critical moment, I still listen to my father. In the end, he still pays attention to his own interests, and leaves the people and the Qing Dynasty behind.

The commander of the French Far East Navy, Toure, stood on the deck and looked at the sky in the distance. Thinking about something in the sea breeze, suddenly a soldier came running: "Report Lord Toure, cruiser Lisa returns." All the more than 20 gunboats and cruisers of the Qing Nanyang Fleet pulled anchor and left the port, and their whereabouts are unknown. ”

Toure was stunned for a moment, and he didn't slow down for a long time. "What? Let's go? Where did they go? Did they abandon their only remaining shipyard? Abandoned their newly developed industrial city? ”

According to Lisa, it may have gone north. They are afraid that we will attack their capital and may go back to defend it. ”

"Hahaha, stupid Qing people. Timid Qing people. Our armies are all in a bitter battle in Vietnam, where is the army going to sneak attack their capital? What a godsend, when they get away from here. Let's destroy their last remaining shipyard. Toure said happily.

The Nanyang Naval Division is much stronger than the Fujian Naval Division, in addition to the "Chaoyong" and "Yang Wei" ordered from the British, as well as the "Changsheng" and "Undefeated" two behemoths originally ordered by Turkey.

In addition, there are three brand-new warships, the "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" ordered by the Nanyang Navy Division at the Hamburg shipyard in Germany at the beginning of the year, and the "Nanfeng" cruisers produced by the Mawei shipyard at the beginning of the year.

The British had a big difference in shipbuilding philosophy from the Germans, who paid more attention to the armor protection of warships. This can be reflected in the two "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" that returned to China at the beginning of the year. Compared with the 16 knots of the "Chaoyong" and "Yang Wei", the two German cruisers had only a speed of 13 knots. However, "Nanji" and "Nanxiang" have a displacement of 2,000 tons and an all-steel structure. In terms of armored escort, it was much thicker than the two British cruisers.

Britain was the number one navy in the world at the time, and they could build ships that were suitable for a particular mission. The cruiser was the ship that was responsible for communications and escort at that time. And the Great Qingshui Division is far from reaching such a level, so the German ships may be more suitable for the Great Qing.

As for the "South Wind", it can be said that it is the culmination of domestic shipbuilding technology. The Nanfeng, which was completed at the beginning of this year, has a displacement of 2,200 tons and a speed of 15 knots, which can be said to have both the speed of "Chaoyong" and the protection of "Nanji". It can be called a masterpiece in the history of Mawei Shipyard. It is a pity that after the financial problem was resolved, when mass production was being prepared, the Mawei military port was devastated.

In addition to these seven capital ships, the Nanyang Naval Division also has more than a dozen gunboats, including small gunboats purchased by the British Armstrong shipyard such as Zhendong, Zhennan, Zhenxi, Zhenbei, Zhenzhong, and Zhenbian. Although these gunboats were not suitable for ocean-going decisive battles, they were still very effective in defending the harbor with the batteries, because the gunboats had a large muzzle diameter and a slow speed, only 9 knots.

In addition to these, the rest are wooden gunboats manufactured by the domestic Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau. It's all antiques from decades ago, and the speed is 11 knots, but since most of the hull is wooden, it will burn if you hit a shell. The ability to resist hits is quite poor.

Due to the special promotion of Guan Xuqing, the commander of the Nanyang Naval Division is now held by Deng Shichang, the hero of the First Sino-Japanese Naval War in the future.

Early in the morning, he received a telegram from the imperial court, and Deng Shichang led seven capital ships and ten small wooden gunboats north to Tianjin. Eleven small defensive gunboats were left to protect the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Bureau.

When Deng Shichang had just sailed to Yantai, a cargo ship appeared in front of him......