The dinner after the parade turned out to be a ceremony to declare war! Lord Michelle was shocked, and Duraviev was even more stunned! And von. The Count of Dwys hurried back to Prussia. The emaciation of the Earl of Dewys is understandable, and it would be a nightmare for anyone to wander at sea for ten months a year and only see the hell when he is fat, especially for a Prussian aristocrat who attaches great importance to the quality of life.

But for the sake of his homeland, von. The Earl of Dwys was willing.

In Lin Haijiang's plan, the Sino-French battle of Indochina was originally supposed to be an undeclared surprise attack, but now it has become a big war between countries, Lin Haijiang's consideration is how to get more things that cannot be obtained in peacetime through war, such as international status, etc., declaring war with France is undoubtedly a good opportunity to increase the international influence of the Chinese Empire, and it is not to attack India, where the main force of the British army is stationed, but to deal with the French in Indochina.

According to previous information, the losses of the French army in the Second Opium War have not yet recovered, which shows that Indochina is only playing a supporting role in the French strategy.

In the war room of the headquarters of the Hainan Provincial Garrison Force, Zhang Yunji, Hu Weimin, Li Anmin, Zhang Wei, Jia Wuji, Lu Wei, Zheng Zhipeng, Xu Dawei, Liu Quansi, and the brigade commanders of the eight brigades of the Marine Corps, together with the captains of ships and above, except for the executive officers of various provinces, the commanders of the garrison units, and the commanders of the army corps, all attended the meeting.

Lin Haijiang planned to first abolish the French Concession in Guangzhou, expel all French merchants and residents, and confiscate and freeze all French assets, and then the eight Marine Brigades participating in the operation would first be on standby in Haikou, and then the seven ships of Zhenyuan, Dingyuan, Weiyuan, Laiyuan, Jiyuan, Pingyuan, and Jingyuan would be the first formation, and the seven ships of Blitzkrieg 010, 011, 013, 014, 015, 016, and 017 would be used as the rapid strike formation, and the four ships of Zhiyuan, Fuyuan, Fujia, and Fuyi would be the guerrilla formation.

According to the intelligence department, three third-class battleships and fifteen fourth-, fifth, and sixth-class cruisers of the French army were anchored nearby to supply Nanqi, and the French troops stationed in Nanqi were two infantry regiments and another artillery battalion, totaling about 5,200 people, and the commander was Kashgar. Rear Admiral Duras, who also commanded the French Far East fleet, was commanded by El Fernandes. Admiral Raffarin.

Lin Haijiang compared the military strength of the French army in Annam after the Second Opium War, it is obvious that the French not only did not increase their troops, but also reduced the number of garrisons, but their territory was much expanded, the French in Annam wantonly forced Ruan to sign a treaty, but did not send troops to fulfill the reception, such a strange behavior made Ruan despise the heart, and Ruan has always regarded the Qing country as the orthodoxy of the mother country, so there is still an unrealistic fantasy that let the Qing country fight with France, and he can sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight.

Annam Nguyen or the Qing court did not understand the behavior of the French, but Lin Haijiang knew too well, this was just a trick that the British and French did not like to play in Africa in the early years, when they had no energy or no time, they would use word games to deceive those short-sighted and ignorant local rulers, and when they obtained the rights but did not collect, after repeating it several times, the local indigenous regime gradually relaxed its vigilance under their small favors, and that was when the French took action. And the terms signed before were not used to blackmail those local regimes, but to remind strong competitors like Britain, which means that I have made up my mind, you don't move!

The declaration of war against France can be said to have made the entire Chinese empire boiling, and Lin Haijiang has thoroughly demonized the French and their country through the propaganda department, and for the first time the common people who have been obedient to the people of the Qing Dynasty have truly felt that the government is in charge of them, don't look at the rampant foreigners, and those who violate the law in the territory of the Chinese Empire will also be punished.

The Reich launched one public opinion offensive after another from top to bottom, even inviting the families of the sacrificial gendarmes and the abused and murdered maids to the newspaper office for interviews, organizing anti-French demonstrations, and a total boycott of all French goods.

Lin Haijiang had to admit that he had a very good way of inciting the people, and the whole empire had a sense of crisis, as if the French were about to cross the ocean to grab their jobs, and Lin Haijiang was a little helpless about the intensity of propaganda, but he could only grit his teeth and encourage, he knew very well that it was not suitable to forcibly control the degree of public opinion guidance at this stage, after all, the people had been suppressed for too long, and they had just learned how to be patriotic, and it was worth understanding and forgiving to burst out of patriotic passion, so Lin Haijiang only paid attention to the guidance of the direction, Without paying attention to the change in magnitude, a monstrous national condemnation campaign against France erupted.

It can be said that the democracy movement is the least favorite thing of all those who read the political axe and read the talents, and Lin Haijiang was naturally no exception, and he ordered the intelligence department to pay close attention to the development of the situation and resolutely suppress all radicals and unfavorable signs.

The generals attending the meeting on the Zhiyuan ship all looked very relaxed, and the brigade commanders of the Marine Corps all looked at the Führer to announce the battle sequence, because the French were only a few thousand in total, and the troops in front could still be left behind them? The Marines are all accustomed to eating alone, so those at the back of the queue are destined to not even be able to pick up a single hair.

The 6,000 French troops in Nanqi are really a piece of cake for the now well-equipped marines, who are now equipped with Imperial II rifles, each squad has two Dai's Type 1 light machine guns, the main and deputy squad leaders are also equipped with Mauser pistols, and each soldier carries six grenades, including two of the heavier blasting type.

The 60-mm mortars were reinforced to the battalion level in platoon units, while the general-purpose machine guns were strengthened to the company level, and the artillery available at the battalion level also included 80-mm mortars for two platoons, and the 75-mm field artillery battalion was strengthened to the brigade level.

However, such a strong firepower has also brought a new trouble to Lin Haijiang, that is, the huge troops, pulling mules and horses, and carrying supplies and ammunition, etc., require a large amount of transportation capacity to maintain, and Lin Haijiang's transportation capacity can only deliver one reorganized and strengthened marine brigade at a time, or two lightly armed marine brigades, so that Lin Haijiang's previous strategic concept is completely frustrated.

In the end, Lin Haijiang had no choice but to give up his unbridled strategic concept, but instead adopted the operational plan of the General Staff, which was to first fight a decisive naval battle at sea and completely destroy the French fleet in a step-by-step manner, and then use naval guns to cover the 1st Marine Brigade to forcibly land on the beach in Nanqi, and then repeatedly send troops, and when the landing force exceeded six Marine Brigades, he used the tactics of besieging the net on three sides and opening one side with artillery fire as the forerunner to drive the French to flee to the depths of Annam.

Subsequently, a large force was used to carry out strangulation operations, implement the policy of group tribes and peripheral clearance, and wantonly wipe out and occupy the major coastal cities of the Indochina Peninsula in the name of clearing the remnants of the French army.

The Chinese Empire, like a behemoth in motion, began to implement the behemoth of the Second French Empire with one heart, and transitioned from the stage of strategic preparation to the stage of tactical and campaign implementation.

Lord Michel, who returned to Guangzhou, immediately reported to the Consul General of Hong Kong the details of the Chinese Empire's declaration of war against France, but a second secretary of the Consulate General threw this report, which Lord Michiel considered extremely important, into the waste paper heap, because according to the research and judgment of the Consulate General, Lin Haijiang was just pretending to be in order to obtain some French compensation or disguised accommodation. Bao Ling, who was about to leave his post, believed that what Lin Haijiang had done was not in line with the actual interests of the Chinese Empire at this stage, and that such an approach would only anger the French, especially the revocation of the French Concession in Guangzhou, since Napoleon III was not a good guy to get along with.

Vice Admiral Duravyev, who returned to Tianjin, also reported to Duke Gomocherov, but all of them, without exception, thought that this was Lin Haijiang's momentum, because the original intention of the war was to attack the enemy unprepared, to attack suddenly, and the attacking side did not have any moral position to warn its enemy in advance, you have to be careful, I am ready to attack, to be moral and merciful in war is to treat one's own officers and soldiers cruelly, and it is extremely irresponsible to the military family. Often the more this is the case, the more it shows that war is impossible to break out, and Lin Haijiang's declaration of war is just a gesture!

But Bao Ling had not yet left office, so he drafted a letter from a moral standpoint and handed it to the French, and two weeks later, Kashgar in the headquarters of the French army in Nanqi. After Rear Admiral Duras received this letter, he simply read it and just smiled, he was not an opponent of a level at all, did he think that with a few ironclad ships, he could run rampant in the world? Kashi. Major General Duras thought that Lin Haijiang, the head of the Chinese Empire in Southeast Asia, was a very interesting guy.

Kashi. After Major-General Duras drank his afternoon tea, he waited for El? Colonel Raffarin came to the main wharf of Huiwan Port together, and today the two men had to wear sweltering military dress in the hot weather. The seven slashes on the cuffs of Major General Duras and El? Colonel Raffarin's five slashes indicate that they were the highest military governor in the region, and that, according to the regulations of the French Overseas Colonies, until the establishment of the Overseas Governorate, the highest military rank in the region should be the highest military rank and the highest magistrate in charge of all affairs in the colonies, except for those appointed by the French Emperor Napoleon III.

Kashgar today. Major General Duras vs. El? Colonel Raffarin was the one who received a secret dignitary, El? Colonel Raffarin looked anxiously at his pocket watch, obviously the other party was already late, but there was still no movement on the sea. Major General Duras was very comfortable with El? Colonel Raffarin said: "My dear Colonel, love can be fascinating, restless, and even mad! The Marina ironclad ship from the mainland is the latest warship of the Empire, it has been launched for less than three months, with a full load displacement of 7,300 tons and a cannon of 210 mm caliber, and the Empire approved the construction of an ironclad ship of this class in order to defend the interests of Africa and the Far East, but our Emperor His Majesty has no intention of competing with the British for the sea, and only approved the construction of seven, with such a huge ship, what else can you worry about? Unless they encounter the main fleet of that madman in the Chinese Empire's Lin Haijiang. ”

El? Colonel Raffarin glanced at Kashgar. Major General Duras, he heard the mockery hidden in it, and he clearly knew that Kashgar. Major General Duras was joking with him, as long as anyone with some diplomatic common sense knew that Lin Haijiang, the head of state on the Chinese Empire, was clamoring for war, and his greatest skill was to expel the French expatriates in Guangzhou and all parts of Southeast Asia, and to freeze and confiscate all French assets, all of which could only further provoke the Second French Empire.

El? Raffarin was an accountant in France, and his interest and accomplishments in economics were far greater than his military attainments as a naval colonel.

El? Raffarin thinks that the scholar in the Far East is likely to take advantage of the opportunity to make trouble, aiming at French assets and investments, otherwise according to normal diplomatic procedures, effective diplomatic representations should be made first, then the issue of compensation, and if diplomatic negotiations cannot be resolved, then war.

Now it is very clear that the Chinese Empire has no intention of talking at all, that the French consul in Canton was driven out along with the expatriate, that Hong Kong has become their only place to stay, and now that the news has reached the Empire, El? Raffarin is looking forward to what will happen to the reader who seems to have been under-conceived.

In El? Raffarin seemed to him to be a complete farce, and for the expatriates and businessmen who suffered as a result, El? Raffarin could only offer sympathy.

After waiting for more than three hours, Kashgar. Major General Duras vs. El? Colonel Raffarin finally looked forward to the Marina armored protection cruiser, and if Lin Haijiang saw the streamlined appearance of the Marina armored protection cruiser, he would definitely be so angry that he would scold the Prussians for not paying attention to the secrecy of the drawings of the overall design, and then scold the French for shameless plagiarism.

Because it is impossible to build and imitate it from the appearance alone, because the streamlined appearance is directly related to a series of problems such as the laying of the keel of the hull, the overall layout of the hull sealing cabin, etc., and it is not a simple appearance.

Napoleon. Victor. Prince Athena, accompanied by his maids, slowly walked off the battleship. Major General Duras and El? Colonel Raffarin kissed Napoleon before and after. Victor. Prince Athena's hand with a long white gauze glove on the back, the heart is extremely excited? Colonel Raffarin looked at Napoleon. Victor. Prince Ashina's back turned out to be stunned, Kashgar. Major General Duras had no choice but to gently tug him.

From El? Colonel Raffarin's expression as well as Napoleon. Victor. Prince Ashina's attitude, Kashgar. Rear Admiral Duras understood that this was an ordinary unrequited love, a forty-year-old naval colonel with a wife and two children pursuing a royal prince who had reached the age of twenty? In particular, Napoleon, whom His Majesty Napoleon III loved and had high hopes for. Victor. Prince Ashina?

The Praetorian Guard officer standing beside Prince Athena stared at the admiral with an eagle-like wariness.

Kashi. Major General Duras El ? Colonel Raffarin pulled aside and said very seriously: "My Colonel, I hope you can sober up, His Royal Highness is His Majesty's most beloved daughter, do you think His Majesty will allow her to marry a forty-year-old Colonel?" I can guarantee that the handsome and dashing generals of their twenties in Paris will be lined up, and I remind you now to put away your unrealistic dreams! Don't get yourself in trouble, I don't want to be bothered by you, and if you insist on going on, I won't mind shooting you with my pistol myself!" ”

Still obsessed? Colonel Raffarin was slightly stunned. Major General Duras touched the pistol on his waist and said, "I'm serious, El?" Colonel Raffarin! Napoleon. Victor. Prince Athena is the goddess in the hearts of all French men, but it's not yours, it's not mine, you've been out of shape before, and that's the end of your jokes with me! ”

El? Colonel Raffarin followed Kashgar dejectedly. Behind Major General Duras, Napoleon. Victor. Prince Athena boarded the carriage and soon disappeared at the end of the harbor under the escort of light cavalry.

Kashi. Major General Duras did not let El? Colonel Raffarin accompanied him back to his provisional governor's palace, and instead arranged for El? What did Colonel Raffarin ask for to go and see the Marina?

Kashi. Major General Duras is not clear about the specific purpose of Prince Ashina's visit to Indochina, but since His Royal Highness Prince Athena has come down, he has the responsibility to protect His Royal Highness Prince Ashina's safety and let His Royal Highness the Prince see his ability. Major General Duras was going to present his collection of some fine gold, silver and ivory works of art from the XIV World as gifts to His Royal Highness Prince Ashina, in order that she would say a few kind words before Napoleon III, and that he would most likely become the first governor of the new colony.

You must know that becoming the first governor of the colony can be said to be the richest errand, compared to the later governor, he does not have to have a headache for the taxes paid by the colony, just clean up the rebels, through encroachment, massacre quickly accumulate wealth, as long as he likes, he can get it all, as a general, he left the villa on the outskirts of Paris and the beautiful young wife, in order not to be the inexhaustible wealth of the mysterious East?

However, for the arrival of Prince Ashina, Kashgar. Major General Duras still has a hint of doubt? Is it really a simple distraction?

(To be continued)