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Victoria Harbour at night is not as bright as later generations, although Hong Kong has changed a little at the moment, it is not the small fishing village of the year, but the British are most energetic on how to use Hong Kong as a transit place for goods to collect more taxes, rather than to build Hong Kong. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Lin Haijiang thinks that the British have a very good saying, there are no eternal friends, no eternal enemies, only eternal interests, Britain has always wanted to be the boss of the whole Europe, but this boss is not so easy to be, whoever wants to be the boss will have to face the challenges of the subsequent rising countries, such as the current war between Prussia and France.

In the Crimean War, Britain pulled its enemies to fight its friends the Russians, and as a result, Napoleon III made France seize this opportunity, and France became the boss of Europe in one fell swoop, and the rise of France can be said to have threatened the interests of Britain, so the British maintained the so-called neutrality in the Franco-Prussian War.

You must know that Queen Victoria is known as the old grandmother of Europe, she married British princesses all over the world, which is also part of the British grand strategy in Lin Haijiang's view, and now the biggest threat facing the Chinese Empire is from the United Kingdom, and the stronger this sense of threat, the more Lin Haijiang grasps the armament and strives to prepare for war, the more the Chinese Empire works hard to prepare for war, the greater the sense of crisis in Britain will naturally be, and this clock cycle seems to have fallen into a strange circle.

Lin Haijiang's biggest reliance now is the fleet of the Imperial Navy, but what worries him the most is the Imperial Navy fleet, the empire has the most advanced warships and guns in the world, and uses advanced tactics to teach and train, but cultivating an experienced captain is not an overnight thing, tactics are dead, but people are alive, in the intricate naval battles, the command of warships and even fleets is related to the final battle results.

Just when Lin Haijiang was about to rest, the translator sent an important piece of information on law popularization through the chief of the guard, Lin Haijiang put on his clothes and took the telegram from the head of the guard, and after reading it, he gently put it on the table.

For example, Prussia, which had accumulated a lot of money from the rapid rise of trade with China, advanced the Franco-Prussian War by almost ten years, but the general process of the Franco-Prussian War did not change much, which was also very surprising to Lin Haijiang.

Lin Haijiang looked at the telegram on the table, on the European side, the Prussian army and the French army fought a decisive battle in Sedan to determine the surname, recalling the results of the Battle of Sedan in history, the Prussian army has occupied the advantage, Lin Haijiang has no doubt that Prussia will finally win.

After all, strategically, the Prussian army had already occupied Vrizi, Dongsheri and other places, successfully cut off the road for the French army to retreat westward, and blocked the French army from behind, so it can be said that the Prussian army also completed the strategic division and encirclement of the French army, and began to bombard the French army's blocking positions with powerful artillery.

According to intelligence, after several failed attempts by the French army to break out, Napoleon III was not forced to send a letter to William I after the failure of the breakout after the French army failed to break through the siege, as in history, expressing his willingness to "hand over his sword into the hands of His Majesty".

Napoleon III led more than 80,000 officers and soldiers to start digging trenches in Sedan with the intention of stubbornly resisting to wait for the rescue of the right wing army, although the French army had lost more than 120,000 people in the battle, and the Prussian army only lost less than 9,000 people, but the Prussian army's attempt to swallow the main force of the French army to end the war quickly was also shattered, Lin Haijiang knew that the Prussian combat reserve at this moment was probably also depleted, and I am afraid that it would be difficult to completely rely on the will to completely destroy the French army's resistance with artillery fire!

In history, because of the defection of Napoleon III, the whole country was in an uproar, and the bourgeoisie took the opportunity to launch a coup d'état in France, overthrow the imperial system and establish a national defense political axe, if the Prussian army could not quickly defeat the French army, that is, it could not completely defeat the capture of Napoleon III, then the capitalist forces in France may not be able to successfully launch a coup d'état, and the results of the Franco-Prussian War will become confusing!

However, what Lin Haijiang is most concerned about in front of him is not the result of the Franco-Prussian War, nor is it the United Kingdom that shows its arms and sleeves in Europe and threatens to make itself look good, because the war between Prussia and France is out of reach for Lin Haijiang, and it is difficult to make substantial support for Prussia at this stage with the strength of the Chinese Empire, and Lin Haijiang on the British side can only deal with the preparations, and there will be a big war sooner or later, but when will this big war come? When he was forced on his head, Lin Haijiang is not clear, but he knows one thing, that is, the British have no obligation to inform you, we are going to beat you!

Past historical experience has proved that whenever a fierce cry is made, most of them are often not prepared to resort to force to solve the problem, and now Lin Haijiang is bent on waiting for the implementation of an extremely important military operation for the Chinese Empire, including the plan to visit Hong Kong and Singapore this time, which is codenamed "Dawn" The operation is in the smoke, otherwise once the main fleet of the Chinese Empire is fully assembled, it will be too obvious in China's coastal waters and Southeast Asian waters. There must be a sufficient reason and excuse for Lin Haijiang to assemble all the main forces of the imperial fleet in an open and honest manner, and this assembly must not have the slightest hint of targeting the surname.

Operation Dawn can be said to be an extremely secret operation deployed by the Imperial Intelligence Headquarters for more than three years, about this operation is directly responsible for Wang Faren, and only Lin Haijiang is aware of the existence of the plan for this operation in the entire Chinese Empire, for the purpose of secrecy, even Lin Haijiang, who is the head of the empire, does not know the general details of Operation Dawn.

However, Lin Haijiang still trusts the intelligence headquarters' ability to work, and the fixed large amount of funds every year are based on its achievements, although most of these achievements are destined to be obscure, but the achievements of the intelligence headquarters are absolutely indelible.

On the turbulent Pacific Ocean, the twenty-three-year-old Li Weiguo, who was wearing a three-grade top, stood on the bridge of the armored cruiser Zhefeng, and a saber sailor behind him said a thousand words: "Master Li Guan, Inspector Xu has summoned you to the conference room!" ”

Li Weiguo was very unhappy and said: "What is Xu Changshou going to do?" The duties of this pipe belt can only be performed on the bridge, and the others please come to the bridge and tell me in person! ”

After the sailor chirped a thousand times, he looked around, took a few small steps forward and said to Li Weiguo with a flattering smile: "Master Guan, why are you so troubled?" Lord Xi Xun of the Baturu had a lot of trouble with the Hardron on the ship before, and he also tied up Lord Hara when he passed the Cape of Good Hope, and I heard that this time when I went back to Dagukou, I wanted to directly take off the top and escort it to the Beiyang Yamen, let's be tactful! ”

Li Weiguo turned around and glanced back at the Baturu that sailed 22 degrees on the flank, and said expressionlessly: "As a Beiyang soldier who learned naval technology from England, he is not in charge of an infantry battalion, but an ironclad battleship galloping on the sea, how is the ironclad battleship the same as a land division?" A ship is a mobile land, and the pipe belt is the length of a ship, how can it be called and drunk at will? ”

As soon as Li Weiguo's words fell, a piercing and sharp voice suddenly sounded: "Hey, hey! This superintendent would like to ask Lord Li Weiguo, what is your intention to take a bite of Beiyang? Where did you place the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces? Where to place the imperial court? Can you still do this hose tape? Do you want to follow in Xi Xun's footsteps? ”

Li Weiguo glanced at Xu Changshou coldly, and said unhurriedly: "You can enter the palace directly with a sharp voice, can I do this pipe belt can you still say now, I tell you Xu Changshou, on the Zhefeng, you are a dragon coiled for me, a tiger for me to lie down, and then dare to make trouble on Lao Tzu's one-third of an acre, Lao Tzu will throw you into the sea to feed sharks, do you believe it or not?" ”

After hearing this, Xu Changshou's face changed color several times in a very short period of time, and finally his face was flushed and he raised his hands and howled: "Someone! Someone! Take down this rebellion for me, I already saw that your surname Li is a rebel of Lin Rebellion, come on? ”

The officers and soldiers in the bridge were busy guarding the work, and the two armed sailors at the door stood at the gate of the bridge without moving.

After Xu Changshou, who was alone, jumped to his feet and scolded and played the clown for a while, he felt tasteless and ashamed, so he had to withdraw from the bridge and let Li Weiguo wait and see.

After Xu Changshou left, the sailor with a flattering smile suddenly said to Li Weiguo very seriously: "We are all soldiers of the Imperial Navy, hot-blooded young people, the army is a disciplined force, I hope you will remember your military duties, don't do a battle of will, tomorrow the ship is about to arrive at the last supply station Singapore for replenishment, I don't want to see the incident on the Baturu repeated, our actions now are too dangerous and exposed, such a premature exposure will directly lead to the vigilance of the Qing court, Why did our group of five warships have to add the so-called supervision and supervision before they are allowed to return to China? The reason is self-evident, right? ”

Li Weiguo looked into the other party's eyes and took a deep breath and said, "Back, I only know your code name and don't know your name, can you tell me?" The sailor who was called the back was slightly stunned? ”

The back hesitated for a moment and smiled slightly: "Since it is the back, it means that we will live in darkness forever, after this operation is successful, you will become the heroes of the entire empire, and all our intelligence personnel will only be embodied in the Führer's sentence under the full planning of the General Intelligence Bureau!" You just need to remember that I am the third shadow who contacted you, the two comrades who were in charge of contact before have all died, their sacrifice is not accidental, Li Jiang, Gao Zhixin, Wu Naihua, these students sacrificed in the early stage of graduation are all accidents? We have been able to achieve what we are today because of sacrifice and blood, and any of your impulses today may make the whole operation undone, and the sacrifices of those who have come before you will become meaningless. ”

Li Weiguo nodded lightly: "I understand!" As we get closer to success, we need to be more careful! ”

The back nodded and left the bridge, he also had to take on the task of monitoring Xu Changshou, because it was to carry the ship back to China, Zeng Guofan was afraid of accidents, so he reduced the full number of combatants by one-third, which was only able to ensure the basic combat effectiveness of the Zhefeng, and the so-called supervisors were carried on the ship, which were used to monitor the words and deeds of officers and soldiers, and the British allowed the five armored protection cruisers to return to China to stay in Singapore, and hang the British flag along the way, which was actually equivalent to a great favor to Zeng Guofan, Otherwise, Zeng Guofan's biggest concern was how these five warships would return to China? Will it be intercepted and attacked by the Chinese Imperial Navy, after all, this group of students and warships who poured almost all the hope and effort of the Qing Dynasty into the hope of Beiyang, only if they can first fight against the Chinese Empire on the sea, can the imperial court find a way to resist the aggressive posture of the Lin rebel army in the middle of the sea and the sea.

Wang Faren, who was keeping a close eye on Singapore in the Imperial Fortress, was also worried about the upcoming Dawn Project at this moment, when Wang Faren selected this batch of students to be mixed into the list of international students selected by the Qing court, he was already carefully selected, and everyone's background was almost perfect, because when the Qing court selected the students, it was according to the ratio of three to three to two to two for the children of the Manchurian Eight Banners, the Eight Banners of the Mongolian Army, the Eight Banners of the Han Army and the children of the Han Army, among which among the professional non-commissioned officers of the Navy, the Imperial Intelligence Department successfully joined about thirty percent.

However, the Qing court's control over these students in Britain can be described as extremely tight, even to the point of leakage, in order to continue to infiltrate and counter-infiltration, counter-strategy and counter-infiltration, the imperial intelligence forces did pay a high price, and the British political axe also tended to the Qing court, so it brought great resistance to the empire's intelligence work.

But what worries Wang Faren the most is the instability within the cadets and non-commissioned officers and their enthusiastic spirit, when they were selected, they deliberately chose politically reliable hot-blooded young people, but at that time, Wang Faren ignored a common problem of hot-blooded youth, that is, they are easy to be impulsive and unscrupulous, because of the mistake of speech, he has lost several excellent students, in order to effectively protect the students, the Imperial Intelligence Department even sacrificed dozens of agents, if it is about to harvest the moment, how can Wang Faren not be excited and worried? If the last hammer is wasted, then I am afraid that Wang Faren will not forgive himself, because this long-term latent rebellion will greatly shock the internal of the Qing court, and even make the Qing court have a huge distrust of the Beiyang system.

Wang Faren believed that all his plans had been delivered to the Führer at this moment, and he also believed that with the Führer's trust in him, he would unconditionally support his operation, and it could be said that this operation would be an operation from strategy to tactics that the Imperial Intelligence Headquarters would lay its foundation within the empire, and the plan was still being revised ten minutes before Wang Faren decided to submit the plan to Lin Haijiang.

Wang Faren knows very well that the empire can have today's situation can be said to be the result of the Führer's arbitrary decision, the Führer's unique and sharp strategic deployment makes the staff officers of the Strategic Research Office of the Intelligence Headquarters study in obsession almost every day, and the entire empire's respect for the Führer has also reached an unprecedented level, but Wang Faren knows Lin Haijiang very well, he knows that the Führer is also a mortal in the flesh, and the Führer will also be tired, and he believes that the Führer at this moment must be very hopeful that someone can share the burden for him.

As the head of the Intelligence Department, Wang Fa had hoped that this person could be himself, but his reason told him that the only person who could effectively share the burden for the Führer was a group, and definitely not a person who talked about another great person in front of one great person? Well, this talker is not a madman and will be a fool.

Wang Faren very much hopes that through this operation, the Strategic Research Office of the Intelligence Headquarters will gain greater trust from the Führer, and that he, the minister, will be able to gain more power in disguise.

It was already the afternoon of November 3, 1861, when Lin Haijiang received Wang Faren's comprehensive and detailed plan, and the First and Second Fleets of the Imperial Chinese Navy pulled anchor overnight and headed straight for Singapore.

In the war room of the Hainan, Lin Haijiang took a deep breath and read Wang Faren's entire plan, after reading it, Lin Haijiang deliberately looked at the draft of the plan that had been revised, and found that it was in the name of the Strategic Analysis Research Office of the Intelligence Headquarters, Lin Haijiang did not feel any unhappiness, on the contrary, Wang Faren's scale mastered him very happily!

In front of the chart, Lin Haijiang gently put down the triangular ruler, the five warships returned from the Qing court were Baturu, Zhefeng, Haidongqing, Nanyuan, Changfu, the five battleships are all Lance-class armored protection cruisers built by the British Princeton Shipyard, in the design process can be said to be a large number of plagiarism of Prussia's Glorious-class design built for the Chinese Imperial Navy, its standard displacement of 6570 tons, full load displacement of 6990 tons, armed with four Armstrong's latest nine-inch guns, There are two main turrets in the front, one in the second and third turrets in the rear, and two four-inch secondary guns on the left and right under the armored conning tower, with a maximum combat speed of 16 knots, 10 sails, and 639 sailors.

It can be said that the level of the shipbuilding industry of the British is indeed that of the Prussians, and the British actually sold the first batch of advanced ships they built to the Qing court, instead of immediately putting them into the naval fleet that they urgently need to equip themselves, which can be said to be sinister, and according to Wang Faren's intelligence, the pipe belts on two of the ships are hidden personnel on their own side, while the other three ships are all in the hands of Manchu students who are loyal to the Qing court, and Britain made an exception to allow its warships to fly the British flag all the way to Dagukou, This is clearly creating trouble for the possible blockade and robbery of the Chinese Empire.

(To be continued)