After sending Hu Weizhong to the Zhili Corps stationed in Shenyang, the preparations for the "Yellow Sparrow" plan gradually entered the final stage, and Foreign Minister Ouyang Geng also arrived in Europe and proposed that Britain should serve as the coordinating country to hold peace talks on the war in the Far East.

Considering the impact of the Far East on the world economy, the international community has responded more positively, and China has just won a big victory in the Ryukyus, and it is a very opportune time to hold peace talks at this time.

France was very interested in this, and after negotiations with Russia, they proposed that China pay 47 million pounds sterling as a total indemnity, while recognizing the exaggerated conditions of the Yarkand Khanate, Korea, the Ryukyu Islands, and Vietnam.

On this basis, Ouyang Geng made a compromise and proposed that Xinjiang Province and the Ryukyu Islands must be China's sovereign territory, and that there is no possibility of negotiations, but the Korean and Vietnamese issues can be discussed, and if Russia withdraws its troops, China is willing to pay a total compensation of 47 million pounds, and the two sides can also negotiate on the Far Eastern Railway issue.

…… Everything is a phantom.

On April 17, 1901, the Jiangnan Steamship Bureau and various private steamship companies received requisition orders one after another, and about 55 merchant ships of more than 2,000 tons were requisitioned and transferred to Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo and Taiwan.

The "Scythe" plan has reached the point where it can be implemented.

On the surface, the Prime Minister's Office still announced that there were no plans for large-scale military operations for the time being, but this statement made the Prime Minister more nervous, and he delayed sending troops north, but concentrated his troops on the mainland, and constantly strengthened the fortifications in the coastal port area of the mainland.

April 25, 1901.

On this day, Hu Chuyuan went to Yingtai to work very rarely, instead of staying in the Zizheng Garden as usual.

Since the morning, various classified documents of the military have been continuously delivered to his office, and all aspects have been ready, and the Fujian, Zhejiang, and Liangguang Corps, which were originally scattered in Taiwan and the southeast coast, have now arrived in the Nansha waters on more than 200 transport ships, large and small.

After nightfall, the Nanyang Combined Fleet, which had been scattered and assembled at Taiping Island, Shaluo Island, Zhanjiang, Ha Long, and Manila, began to set off one after another, assembling at different speeds to the sea area 60 nautical miles east of Cam Ranh Bay.

The general headquarters of the front line was set up on the modified cruiser Xiangyang, and in combination with the various problems that arose during the landing battle at Jinwu Bay, the navy converted the Xiangyang into a radio command center ship, which has the largest radio receiving device in the country.

Through this command center, the data of each battlefield will be quickly collected and fed back to the Yanjing Yingtai National Military Commission as soon as possible. Thanks to this device, the detachments were able to synchronize their operations in different areas, and the assembly would eventually be completed at 3:20 a.m.

In fact, 15 minutes earlier than expected, at 3:05 a.m., the Nanyang Combined Fleet successfully assembled in the predetermined sea area, and a total of 78 warships were reorganized and divided into two ship groups.

Then.

Hu Chuyuan signed a public statement declaring war on France, demanding that France cease all countermeasures against China and that France completely abandon its protectorate status in Vietnam and Cambodia.

The industrial power of France is still very formidable, much stronger than that of Russia and the Zoben combined.

China has poked a hornet's nest.

Hu Chuyuan finally signed it, and he felt more and more that his fate was too similar to Hitler's, and he just didn't know what the final result would be.

Reporters from major media outlets in Beijing have been notified in advance, and many are waiting for news at the press reception center in Yingtai.

Things are too important.

Hu Chuyuan decided to attend this press conference in person, and he has been preparing in Yingtai, changing into a set of specially made Chinese clothes, using the fabric of the suit and the three-dimensional cutting method, and the cuffs and neckline are embroidered with a large number of traditional ornaments.

At 3:30, Hu Chuyuan, accompanied by Sun Zongyuan and others, personally attended the press conference.

Journalists from all over the world were particularly excited, and for many, it was the first time they had come into such close contact with Hu Chuyuan, the world's most powerful politician and capitalist, a mythical figure.

Hu Chuyuan sat calmly in the central seat, opened the data report handed to him by Sun Zongyuan, and roughly re-read it, slowly waiting for the conference hall to calm down.

When the venue gradually calmed down, Hu Chuyuan raised his head and looked ahead, swept away, and looked at the more than 100 reporters and some foreign legation staff sitting in front of him.

One person in the crowd who deserves special attention is the consul general in China, O Ohnoshima, a former major in the intelligence department of the army and who was sent to China as the supreme consul general in China just last year.

Hu Chuyuan didn't care too much about the existence of this person, he pulled the microphone of the megaphone towards him slightly, and said, "First of all, everyone is very welcome...... I'm not a good speaker and don't like to speak at length. To put it simply, today I am going to come out and say two things in person, the first thing; According to the report of the General Audit Administration, in the first quarter of this year, China's total foreign trade imports and exports did not decline, and the gross national product increased by 13.7% compared with the same period last year...... I can vouch for this with my personal credit. In addition, even if the war continues, the political axe will continue to allocate 200 million yuan of special funds for agricultural construction in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Sichuan this year. ”

The audience exclaimed.

At the moment when Hu Chuyuan stopped speaking, a reporter rushed to the front desperately and asked loudly: "Don't you think your country is too careless...... Isn't that data fake? ”

"The data is definitely true, and there will be no falsehood."

Hu Chuyuan replied coldly and continued: "Now for the second thing, since the peace talks between our foreign ministers in Europe and France and Russia have failed, our country hereby formally declares war on France, demanding that France stop all countermeasures and embargo policies against China, and that China reserve the right to take the initiative to attack France before France withdraws from the Entente organization. ”

As soon as these words came out, the entire venue was silent.

No one can believe that China, a country that has just embarked on the road to rejuvenation, dares to challenge Russia and France at the same time, plus a script, which is simply self-defeating!

In the corner of the venue, the Consul General in Yenching, Onoshima, couldn't help but smile smugly, for him, this was simply the best news he could ever hear.

Hu Chuyuan didn't like to appear in public, especially in this noisy environment, after announcing a bombshell news, he coldly got up and left immediately.

There will be no more explanations from the Prime Minister's Office, let people guess slowly!

…… China's existing 10,000-ton battleships have increased to 37, the main battleship Liangzhou-class has increased by one, reaching seven, the Ningyuan-class has six, the second-class battleship Jinzhou-class has eight, and the Weiyuan-class battlecruiser has increased by two to 16.

Since the Beiyang, Nanyang, and Pacific fleets were all about to intervene in the war, Hu Chuyuan used the "sickle" plan as an introduction to reorganize the main domestic fleet, and transferred four Liangzhou-class battleships, six Ningyuan-class battleships, eight Weiyuan-class battlecruisers, eight Xiangyang-class light and medium-sized protective cruisers, 14 Shower-class destroyers, and 37 auxiliary ships to form a new headquarters fleet.

The Beiyang Fleet was reorganized from a number of cruisers, destroyers, and defense ships around four Jinju-class battleships, and carried out naval defensive operations in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Seas, and no longer pursued suppressing Russia through naval superiority.

The Pacific Fleet was reorganized and had 3 Liangzhou-class, 4 Jinzhou-class, and 4 Weiyuan-class, as well as a large number of destroyers and 32 auxiliary ships, which were used for suppression operations.

The Nanyang Combined Fleet was formed by merging the original foundation of the Nanyang Fleet with the fleets of the allies and protectorates in Southeast Asia, and the main battleships were seven Zhiyuan-class ironclad ships, including the Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Jingyuan, Fengyuan, etc., which had been modernized and refitted.

The number of this combined fleet is very large, with 44 ironclad ships, 57 cruisers, 49 destroyers, 103 defense ships, and more than 300 other small ships, with a total naval displacement of 774,000 tons, divided into four sub-fleets, which are stationed in Manila, Kuching, Yingzhou, Hainan (Tongqi Port, Lingshui County), and the Strait of Malacca.

The combined tonnage of the headquarters fleet, the Beiyang Fleet, and the Pacific Fleet is roughly the same as that of the Nanyang Combined Fleet, and China also has a Yangtze River Fleet, which is dominated by small and medium-sized warships, and a submarine formation that has not been able to show up for a long time.

After two decades of gradual development, apart from the United Kingdom, there is no country in the world that can compete with China in naval strength.

At 6:17 a.m., the headquarters of the South Sea Combined Mixed Fleet arrived outside the waters of Cam Ranh Bay, only 2.5 nautical miles from the port of Cam Ranh Bay.

The light of dawn had already illuminated the eastern sky, and the dark red morning glow spread out for thousands of miles, obscuring the boundary between the sea and the air, the blurred boundary at the end of the sea.

The figure of Cam Ranh Bay shows a graceful silhouette in the misty light.

Cam Ranh Bay, the best military port in Southeast Asia.

Its geographical structure and advantages are very obvious, divided into three parts: the inner bay, the inner bay, and the outer bay, and there is an Epba mountain island at the mouth of the outer bay, which blocks the waves rushing directly into the bay, and there is only a passage less than a mile long from the outer bay to the inner bay.

The inner bay is in the west, the outer bay is in the east, and there is a bay from the inner bay to the north, which is slender like a strait, and the narrowest part of the seaway is less than 300 meters, and there are two small closed harbors in it, called Beili Bay and Nanli Bay, and they also have enough water depth to station 10,000-ton battleships.

Because there is only an extremely narrow Cam Ranh Peninsula between the bay and the sea, especially in the north and south bay area, the average width of the peninsula is less than 1.3 kilometers, and the battleships can attack the interior of the port with their main guns even if they do not cross the peninsula, so the French Far East Fleet is mainly stationed in the inner bay, and the main port base is located on the side of the Cam Ranh Peninsula, and a large-scale military port has been built using a natural deep water bay.

At the Cam Ranh Peninsula naval base, France has 21,000 army troops and about 17,000 naval forces, while the Far East Fleet has a total displacement of 147,000 tons, with three Toulouse-class battleships, 14 ironclads, 11 destroyers, five cruisers and 13 defense ships, as well as a total of 34 small ships.

However, the French were not well prepared and did not even think that China would take the initiative to declare war on them.

The commander-in-chief of the Nanyang Combined Mixed Fleet of the Headquarters is Ye Fu, and the commander of the War Department is Zhang Shiying, and Ye Bojun has been awarded the commander-in-chief of the front line and the rank of lieutenant general.

Ye Bojun's Xiangyang command ship stayed in the rear, mixed in the amphibious landing fleet, and the battleship commanded by Ye Fu happened to be the first of the Liangzhou class - Liangzhou, which was also the first time that Liangzhou officially appeared in a naval battle.

Cheng Biguang's submarine V5-012B, which continues to serve as the vanguard, has already dived into the inner bay of Cam Ranh Bay, and then, through the results observed through the periscope, the conclusions obtained through underwater acoustic wave detection...... All surprised Cheng Biguang.

Two hours after China had declared war on France, Cam Ranh Bay was still quiet, there were no mines or mines at the mouth of the bay, and there should be no submarines cruising in the harbor - in fact, France has not developed submarines as a conventional weapon until now, and the situation of both Ben and China is very unique in terms of the development of the entire international navy.

More than 60 warships were peacefully moored in the East Harbor of Cam Ranh Bay, including the three Toulouse-class battleships with a displacement of 14,330 tons, which were developed in response to the British Sovereign-class battleships, which were officially commissioned in 1894 and built a total of six.

At the end of 1898, France began building new Montpellier-class battleships, and the displacement tonnage was further increased to 15,720 tons.

Seeing the three Toulouse-class battleships that the French were proud of quietly stopping in the harbor like live targets, Cheng Biguang really wanted to sink them in a fit of anger.

He did not do this, because his task was only to observe the dynamics of the French army.

Although the war had not yet begun, Cheng Biguang was already convinced that the battle of Cam Ranh Bay would be won very easily, beyond imagination, the French had no room for resistance at all, and the large number of fortifications built with heavy investment was just a decoration.

After he forwarded this information to the command ship Xiangyang, the main fleet officially began to increase its speed and sailed at full speed to Cam Ranh Bay, a large number of fleets crossed the outer bay in the shortest possible time, and the landing fleet landed from the east Bund of the peninsula, and the 19th Division of the Fujian and Zhejiang Corps continued to be responsible for serving as a sharp knife force, preemptively occupying the coastal batteries and high ground.

Since the French side was not prepared at all, and did not even enter a state of alert, Ye Bojun temporarily canceled the plan of artillery cover, allowing the 19th Division to land quickly and silently.

It was not until a small number of French garrisons began to counterattack that the landing fleet used artillery cover, and by this time, the 19th Division had already occupied six close positions along the way, laying the foundation for a subsequent large-scale landing force.

On the sea surface of the East Bund, thousands of kayaks and small diesel engine boats swarmed towards the tidal flats, and soldiers climbed down the transport boats along the rope nets, and then rushed to the coastline in small boats.

More than 40,000 troops rushed forward within half an hour and quickly occupied the entire peninsula, a part of the landing fleet landed on the southern beach of Cam Ranh Bay, and the strength of two regiments quickly occupied the hilly heights of Tensayla in the southern part of Cam Ranh Bay.

The fortifications built by the French in this area were very tight, but they were almost useless, and many small French garrisons scattered in various places surrendered at the sight of a large-scale attack.

In the inner bay of Cam Ranh Bay, the headquarters fleet directly entered the port, aimed its guns at the Cam Ranh East Port of the Far East Fleet to carry out continuous artillery bombardment, and sent a large number of small multi-purpose patrol boats to rush over under the protection of destroyers and carry out torpedo attacks on the main warships of the Far East Fleet.

Of the six submarines hidden underwater, only two received an attack order to covertly sink the flagship.

In this closed and safe port, the French were so flustered that they could not organize any meaningful counterattack, or even organize their defenses.

The battle lasted only a few dozen minutes, and the army units stationed on the Cam Ranh Peninsula almost completely collapsed, and more than half of the French soldiers surrendered.

The Battle of Cam Ranh Bay may have begun, but it can also be said to be over.

There is no suspense.

After the sinking of two Toulouse-class battleships, the French army seemed to have lost all resistance ability, and more battleships directly announced their surrender, many battleships were not even occupied, and the sailors fled one after another.

At 7:14, the Battle of Cam Ranh Bay had come to an end, the main heights and fortifications had been mastered by the landing force, and the ships of the French Navy of all levels had surrendered, put up white chess, and gave up resistance.

Sitting in the command center of the Xiangyang, Ye Bojun almost couldn't believe it, he couldn't tell if it was his luck was too good, or the French were too bad, he actually gave him most of the French Far East Fleet that was still very intact so quickly, and the large number of fortifications built around the port were even cheaper for him.

He couldn't even believe why France claimed to be the second most powerful country in the world...... Is it just that combat power?

When the news reached Hu Chuyuan's hands, Hu Chuyuan was not too surprised.

In fact, in the current years, China's war strength should be the greatest, and when other countries have also developed submarine and armored vehicle systems, and like China, they have used a large number of radio devices, sonar systems, light and heavy machine guns, and mortars in warfare, and the gap between China and other countries in war strength will gradually narrow.

That is why he decided to start this large-scale war in the Far East in advance at this stage.

If all goes well, the whole world will tremble once the general counteroffensive starts next year.

Yes, China has already stood up.

When the Far Eastern War carefully designed by Hu Chuyuan is over, China will undoubtedly become a world power again, and no country will dare to easily become an enemy of China.

After half a century of humiliation, it's time to draw an end.

(To be continued)