Since ancient times, China has been known as "China", and regarded the surrounding ethnic groups as "Yidi", and has always had a contemptuous heart, therefore, China's diplomacy has been regarded as a great man since ancient times, so that foreign countries pay tribute, and abide by the courtesy of vassals, and there is no reciprocal diplomacy, and this self-esteem is great, after the death of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu Qing Dynasty has become "arrogant and arrogant" and does not want to forge ahead.

In 1840, Britain provoked the Opium War by force to achieve the goal of opening the Manchu Qing Dynasty by force, and the Treaty of Jiangning in 1842 stipulated that the Qing government should open five coastal ports for foreign trade and curb taxes on imported goods, thus paving the way for political, economic, and military aggression. Since then, France, the United States, Russia and other countries have invaded China one after another.

In the following twenty or thirty years, the most powerful fleet in the Far East, the flower frame of the Westernization Movement and the Beiyang Naval Division, was the last layer of paper armor used by the Qing Empire to cover up the shame, and the Qing Kingdom relied on this set of things to temporarily suppress the tiger and wolf hearts of the great powers, and the fiasco of the First Sino-Japanese War finally pierced this layer of paper armor. The Great Powers saw through its extremely corrupt and weak nature, dispelled all concerns about China's ability to resist, and thus triggered the frenzy of carving up China in the last five years of the 19th century.

The Boxer Rebellion ended in 1901 with the humiliating Peace of Xincho, and after this turmoil, China was completely reduced to a third-class country at the mercy of others, and its international status was even inferior to that of the banana republics in the Americas, and the limited sovereignty that still existed was completely lost.

As a symbol of the exhaustion of national power, in addition to the frantic grabbing of rights and interests such as the right of way, leased land, and exemption from levy, the great powers can prove that the national power has been exhausted, and the gunboats of various countries cruising in the Yangtze River, the lifeblood of Central China, are the best proof of the loss of national power.

At the beginning of the great uprising three months ago, the rivers and mountains in the south of the Yangtze River were recovered, and at the beginning of the recovery, the most fearful thing for the ruling axe was the threat of gunboats from various countries, so they even had to choose the way of sinking ships to block the shipping lanes, and when they were preparing for the worst, they were ostensibly aimed at the Daqingshui Division, but in fact they were gunboats from various countries located in Shanghai.

Gunboat diplomacy has always been the most important diplomatic activity for the great powers to carry out their colonial aggression by virtue of the threat of force, and the arrogance of the great powers at the negotiating table has always been the quality of their gunboats; like any semi-colonial country, the fleets of various countries in China have always obeyed the orders of their own ministers, although the firing of artillery requires orders from the mainland, but the foreign envoys can order the fleets to arrive at a certain port to deter them in order to gain superiority at the negotiating table, and the threat of gunboats has always been a sharp weapon that the great powers have tried and tested repeatedly at the negotiating table.

On September 14, 4602 in the Yanhuang calendar, when the scorching sun of the autumn tiger was scorching the earth, the British, American, and Japanese Yangtze River cruising fleets gathered in Shanghai, and on the other hand, the three cruisers "Haiqi", "Hairong" and "Haichou" sailed from Yantai to Wusong Military Port to join forces with the cruisers "Haitian" and "Hai" of the training fleet. French and German warships and the British and American Asian fleets even rushed to Shanghai's aid.

For a time, the Chinese and foreign fleets were in a tense situation in Shanghai, and the situation in Shanghai immediately attracted the attention of the whole world, at least the entire Far East; during the Chinese Navy's exercises in the open sea, as many as 11 army divisions boarded ships in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and other places along the Yangtze River to reinforce Shanghai.

On the other hand, along the line of Suzhou, after the mobilization and recruitment of the ruling axe, hundreds of thousands of people began to build national defense fortifications, and factories such as the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the Pudong Machinery Factory in Shanghai also began to prepare for internal relocation.

In the early morning of September 14, as soon as the citizens of Shanghai opened the door, they were surprised to see that overnight, the whole of Shanghai had changed, the streets of Shanghai had changed, and the originally smooth street corners suddenly had sandbags, barbed wire, and trenches dug overnight.

"Extra! Extra! The ruling axe issued the "Declaration of Self-Defense and Anti-Japanese War"! ”

"The ruling government declares that China will never give up any part of its territory, will never submit to gunboat diplomacy, and will only respond to aggression by exercising its natural right of self-defense."

Accompanied by the appearance of the officers and soldiers of the Liberation Liberation who were building fortifications on the Huajie Street in Shanghai, the whole Shanghai was boiling, and there were those who were panicked and uneasy, but more of them were shouting and appealing, and countless "Chinese flags" stretched out on both sides of the street, and the business and academic circles took to the streets one after another to express their condolences to the officers and soldiers.

"Resist to the end, never compromise!"

Early in the morning, with the release of the "Declaration of Self-Defense and Anti-Japanese War" of the ruling axe, tens of thousands of students and citizens in Nanjing gathered on the streets, shouting slogans, first demonstrating in front of the consulates of various countries, and then submitting a petition to the ruling axe advisory office, writing in support of the ruling axe resolution. Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets like waves, and the most impulsive youths shouted slogans over and over again, shouting and shouting.

The voice of the whole country echoed in the sky over Nanjing, and every cry was heard from outside the ruling axe to inside the ruling axe, outside the gate of the ruling axe, dressed in military uniforms, and the unarmed soldiers stood in front of the ruling axe, while the young people sat there, shouting incessantly.

"Long live the government!"

"Restore the power of the country!"

"No compromise!"

…… The terrifying shouts continued to reach the ears of Chen Moran, who was making a plan with the officers of the General Staff, listening to the roar outside, his expression did not change at all, the release of the "Declaration of Self-Defense and War of Resistance" was not even discussed by the Advisory Office, but only in the face of the tough statement of the Beiping Legation, and the statement issued by himself in the name of the ruling axe, the purpose was to show the attitude to the countries.

“…… In short, if the War of Resistance is implemented, the line between Suzhou and Hangzhou is the line that must be defended, and the direction of Beiping is bounded by Baoding. ”

In front of the military map, Jiang Fangzhen explained the battle plan he had made in response to the intervention of various countries when he was first recovered.

"Again, the worst plan is made militarily, you don't need to consider any political factors, you only need to think about one point, how to win this war, as for the political solution, it is a matter of the ruling axe and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Baili, how many divisions can we transfer in the direction of Shanghai?"

"Five divisions!"

"Then transfer three more divisions over, these three divisions can go slower!"

Chen Moran frowned and said, from the very beginning, he was making a gamble, this is a big gamble, the bet is that the countries will never fight with China for tariffs, only Russia and Yue Ben have the ability to attack China by land, not to mention that the two countries are caught in the northeast battlefield, and Yue Ben has reached an agreement, yesterday Yu Ben quietly withdrew the marines from Shanghai, and at the same time informed the ruling axe of the chaos within the legation, indicating that Yu Ben is about to fulfill the agreement.

"Is there anything wrong with the navy?"

Turning his head to look at Ye Zugui on the side, Chen Moran asked coldly.

"Ruling government, if the war is together, the navy will go all out and sail to the South Seas, and strive to sink and capture as many merchant ships as possible!"

Ye Zugui replied that although the navy was holding exercises at the mouth of the Yangtze River, in fact the navy had no plan to fight in Shanghai, and according to the plan, the navy would go to sea to carry out a battle of breaking the engagement, with attacking the merchant ships of various countries without any protective capability as the main mode of operation, while the navy was fighting at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

"At present, the training fleet has already sailed to the ports of Guangdong, and if there is a war, the training fleet will disguise the merchant ships of other countries and sail into the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean to attack the merchant ships of Britain, the United States, Germany, France, and other countries; in addition, the navy has reserved 1,300 mines in the direction of Zhenjiang, and can complete the mine-laying operation on the Yangtze River overnight."

When Ye Zugui reported, Chen Moran just nodded, everything was going according to plan, and the worst plan for this battle was to carry out a war of resistance for at least two or three years.

Looking at the administration, Ye Zugui continued to report another thing.

"The commander of the British Asian Fleet said that if our country insists on going its own way, he will order the fleet to seize the two ships "Zhenhai" and "Dinghai" on the high seas! ”

With a sharp head up, Chen Moran stared at Ye Zugui, and at this time everyone turned their eyes to the ruling party, as we all know, the two ships that sailed out of Portsmouth Harbor fifteen days ago were not only the battleships that the navy expected, but also the same lady and lady were on board.

"Where have they been?"

"They will sail into the Gulf of Mannar, which is located between mainland India and Ceylon, tomorrow, and according to intelligence analysis, if the British Navy intends to hijack ships, they may do it in Manar Bay or Malacca!"

Silence, for a few minutes, Chen Moran couldn't speak, how good it would be if there was no wife and children on the ship! Can...... When he opened his mouth, Chen Moran found that his voice was a little astringent, and when he finally spit out a sound in his throat, Chen Moran's heart was aching.

"Soldiers are ashamed to disarm, this is the creed I once taught the officers and men of the liberation, warships are the weapons of naval officers and soldiers, only warships that have not been destroyed in battle, and warships that have not surrendered, send a telegram to Cheng Biguang, telling him to sail at full speed, strive to return to China before the British make a decision to cross Malacca, and block the news, and never let the British and German officers on board know the current situation! If you are stopped by the British...... It is necessary to know that the ship cannot be seized, and the generals of Wangcheng will be loyal to the soul of the whole Chinese navy! ”

"Ruling on the throne, Mrs. ......"

"Tell Madame that it's up to her to decide whether to leave or stay!"

When the words were spit out, Chen Moran only felt an irrepressible tingling pain in his heart, so that his hands couldn't help but tremble, and he closed his eyes in pain, his hands trembled lightly, he knew what choice his wife would make.

"Don't blame me!"

When he muttered these words in his heart, tears almost welled up from Chen Moran's eyes, and he looked up at the roof violently, and said in a slightly trembling voice.

"Good...... Well, military matters, you are in charge! ”

Leaving the military staff room in despair, and when he was about to walk towards the backyard, he happened to meet Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai, and when the two of them saw that the ruling party was still more than ten steps away from him, they knelt on the ground with a "poof".

"Xiangshuai, Weiting, you...... Why are you doing that? ”

Two steps into one step, Chen Moran stretched out his hand to help the two of them, but the two of them knelt there.

"Govern,"

Zhang Zhidong's face was full of old tears, and Yuan Shikai kowtowed beside him, he was really frightened by the courage of the government, originally he thought that the naval exercise was just a demonstration, but judging from the current situation, the ruling party is really ready to do a big job.

"For the sake of the world, please take back your life, and the disaster of Gengzi must not be repeated!"

"Ruling the country, although the great powers are too pressing, but our country's strength is weak, and we must not resume the war with the powers.

The two kowtowed, pleading, the development of the situation far beyond their expectations, the ruling while the transfer of troops in Shanghai to move the factory, this meaning can be said to be clear, and the most unexpected thing is that at the beginning of the ruling clearly said that the gesture to show their hearts, but now the ruling move is clearly to fight a war of resistance in Shanghai and Pingjin!

"Incense Master, Comfort Pavilion!"

Their behavior made Chen Moran nod with satisfaction, even they could coax their actions, not to mention those ministers who were confused, as long as they believed that they were ready to fight with them.

"Thank you for your compassion for national affairs, and if the war starts, please help you win this battle silently! Do the same thing as the whole country! ”

Chen Moran's words made Yuan Shikai tremble, these words must have been said to himself.

"The original plan remains the same...... But if the powers are too pressing, then Mo Ran can only let go and fight a beautiful patriotic war in Shanghai and Pingjin! ”

As he spoke, he glanced at the two of them again, and then the three of them walked towards the garden in the backyard, in the corridor of the garden. Looking at the calm lake in front of him, Chen Moran just spoke.

"This time, let's sing a good show to the powers, if we want to change the attitude of the powers, either we will win their respect on the battlefield, or we must use determination to win their respect!"

"Ruling ...... you mean"

Yuan Shikai was slightly surprised in his heart, could it be that the ruling government made such a big move, just to "sing"!

"It took me a month to plan this matter, and now that the people's sentiment has risen, we have to cooperate militarily again, what we want is to let the great powers know the difficulties and retreat, they understand that the Liberation Army is different from the Qing Army, if the victory or defeat in this battle is five or five, whether they can change their attitude towards us, it depends on this time!"

Chen Moran's expression suddenly froze, staring at the southern sky.

"Whether it's forcing people with momentum or really marching into battle, it's actually a gamble, but now our chips may be the determination between you and me!"

(To be continued)