In the Far East, the only two countries that can read -- the Qing state and the one -- are in the middle of a war of words over the situation in Korea, a small country sandwiched between the two countries. Britain, France, Germany, the United States and other countries, although for the sake of their own interests in the Far East, do not want a war between the two countries. However, multi-party mediation has lost its effect, and we can only watch the two countries finally fight.

In early March of the twentieth year of Guangxu, after many arguments among the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, and after the nod and approval of Cixi, the imperial court finally issued an order to transfer a total of 910 people under the command of Nie Shicheng to command the Lufang Horse Infantry Army. The Yufang battalions led by Ye Zhichao, the commander of Zhili, totaled 1,055 people, and the general soldier Xia Qingyun led more than 300 Ma Bu and drought and thunder soldiers to arrive at the mouth of Asan in North Korea in three batches. At the same time, in accordance with the provisions of the "Treaty of Tianjin" in China, the imperial court sent a telegram to Wang Fengzao, the minister stationed in China, asking him to send a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Inform the political axe: "I will protect the old rules of the state. Sent Zhili Admiral Ye Zhichao to lead the strong team, Xingchi North Korea, Jeolla, Chungcheong. Camera Blocking...... When the matter is completed, withdraw immediately, and no longer leave ...... defense"

At the time of the note, Komura Shotaro, the Acting Interim Minister of the People's Republic of China in Yanjing, immediately sent a note to the Prime Minister's Yamen for National Affairs, stating that, in accordance with the "Treaty of Tianjin," due to the major turmoil in Korea, the country was prepared to send troops to the DPRK to protect the embassy and its nationals......

On 21 March, not long after Ye Zhichao's troops arrived at the mouth of Asan, it was reported that Oshima Yoshimasa had already sent a mixed brigade led by Oshima Yoshimasa to land at Incheon, North Korea, and was heading for Seoul.

With the Qing Dynasty and the two [***] teams set foot in Korea one after another, the sound of war is a matter of time. The situation in the Far East is attracting the attention of the whole world, who are waiting to see the final outcome of the war between the two countries. Then you can wave your knife and fork and snatch the losing side. War between the Qing and the Qing was inevitable, and both countries were preparing for war. And Li Enfu, who is far away on the other side of the ocean, is busy with the first advance of North Korea, and the emperor swears that the war that broke out in July is now three months ahead of schedule. The sudden change turned the originally meticulous plan into a full of loopholes.

"Who's in charge on the Chilean side? What about the fleet and marines? Li Enfu's anxious voice was a little flustered.

"The Chilean side is in charge of Lord Xu Shichang, and the latest report a week ago shows that the training of the fleet and the Marine Corps is normal, and the Chilean side is also cooperating. Everything was envisioned. Cheng Cheng, the new chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet, reported.

"Who's in charge on the British side? When will the ordered four warships return? ”

"Simmons, commander of the Chilean fleet, and Wu Deren, commander of our Pacific Fleet, arrived in Britain a month ago to receive warships. The date for receiving the warships is scheduled for 25 March, which is today. Upon receipt, the warship will immediately set sail back to Chile, where it will be replenished with necessities such as coal, fresh water, and ammunition, and then return to Hawaii with the fleet remaining in Chile for training. The estimated arrival time in Hawaii is around August 10. Speaking of this, Cheng Cheng, who was still a little excited, became a little lost: "The fleet still needs to be maintained and repaired in Hawaii. The earliest time to leave Hawaii is in early September. ”

"It's going to be early September!" Hearing this point in time, Li Enfu sat down disappointed: "Hurry up, I hope Beiyang will not be as incompetent as the emperor said." ”

Cheng Cheng exited the room. He reminisced about the past and the past. He also trained in the UK with Liu Buchan and Deng Shichang. After returning to China, he was erased because of his name. But the naval fever in his heart made him secretly change his name and surname, and became an unknown first mate of the Fujian Navy Division of the Qing Kingdom. Since the sinking of the Fujian Naval Division, he went to Beiyang to become a small sailor. When his solid skills finally became the first mate again, he was recognized by someone who changed his name and surname. He began to lose his will, and eventually became a laborer selling coolies.

One night a year ago, he was kidnapped by a group of kung fu powerhouses in Shanghai and imprisoned in a secret cave near the sea. There is a lot of freedom in the cave, the food is good, you can communicate freely, but you can't get out of the cave. In this cave, he saw many colleagues of the former Fujian naval division, and also met many people who had been kidnapped by unknown circumstances like him, and these people, like him, all had experience of receiving naval training abroad, and the worst of them had served as officers on warships. None of them knew why they were kidnapped, and the kidnappers did not beat and scolded them, but treated him very well, and generally agreed to their requests. But the kidnappers didn't ask for anything, except that they couldn't get out of the cave.

He counted the days in the cave, and fifteen days later, one night they were making boats on the seashore, and were invited (really invited) to anchor an ocean-going freighter in the open sea, and then they were told the reason for their abduction. There was a Chinese who wanted to build a large fleet that really belonged to the Chinese, and in order not to let outsiders know, they were not allowed to be invited in this way. The freighter was to go to the open sea to conduct secret training for them, and then to receive the Chinese fleet. The training is cruel, so those who don't want to go will inevitably be strong, and we will send them back to the shore and give them another thirty taels of silver for those who don't want to go.

The speaker looked like a scholar, but he spoke gloomily, and Cheng Cheng was still a little scared in retrospect. When the scholar repeatedly confirmed that only three people had withdrawn, he said coldly, "Send them back." Three shots followed, and the three fell into the sea.

"Since it's a secret training, naturally it can't be revealed. Only the dead can keep secrets. ”

"My name is Zhou Qin, the top CIA officer. This trip was made by order of the emperor. ”

"Foreigners have huge ships and cannons, so they run rampant on the sea and show off their might. The emperor also hoped that our Chinese warships could also sail freely on the sea, but the Beiyang Fleet only dared to cower in the harbor. Therefore, the emperor invited you and sent you to training. I hope that one day in the future, you will be able to sail proudly on the four seas with our Chinese warships. ”

"None of you quit proves that you still have dreams of the sea. Then go for it. There are only two ways to go, one is to keep today's secret, you are going to sea to pursue your dreams. The second is to train well, and let foreigners see each other by driving a warship, which you foreigners have, and our Chinese are better than you. ”

"I will not go with you, nor will I send anyone with you. Remember, the Emperor is waiting for you to return. ”

In this way, Cheng Cheng and his entourage of 36 people came to Hawaii, met Mr. Li Enfu, and then transferred to Chile for training. By the time they arrived in Chile, they already knew that the entire Chilean fleet had been bought by Mr. Li Enfu, and that they had also ordered two 10,000-ton battleships and two armored cruisers from Britain through Chile. Those were two of the newest battleships in the world today. Modeled on the British Sovereign class, it has a standard displacement of about 12,000 tons and a maximum speed of 17 knots. A fully protected rotating turret in the front and rear, and the latest twin 40x caliber 305 mm main gun. 20 guns of the same 40x caliber 152 mm single-barreled guns. 6 twin 37-mm rapid-fire guns. The same armor as the Sovereign class, with 228 mm on the side belt, 63 mm on the deck, and 152 mm on the turret.

The armored cruiser was of the same specifications as the Qing order. The standard displacement is 6000 tons, one fully protected rotating turret in the front and rear, and a 203 mm gun of 45 times the caliber. The secondary guns were 8 152 mm single-barreled secondary guns and 76 mm single-barreled rapid-fire guns of the same 40x caliber and 4 twin 37mm rapid-fire guns. It also includes two torpedo tubes in the front and rear.

Half a year later, when they heard again that the captains of the two newest battleships would be selected from among them, they were excited and entered into a frenzied training with the newly recruited Nanyang children. If you don't fire a few guns a day, you will feel uncomfortable, change the barrel once every three months, and do a maintenance. For more than a year, Chilean shipyard workers have been receiving significant bonuses for the Pacific Fleet.

Finally, two months ago, Cheng Cheng's outstanding performance was finally nominated as the first candidate for the captain of the new battleship flagship Longyin. At this time, he chose to enter the staff. When others thought that he had made such a decision because of his name, they all persuaded him: "Our Pacific Fleet doesn't have the rules that break the rules in Beiyang, and there are more people with the surname Chen." He just smiled faintly: "Fighting a war doesn't have to be on the front line. Although I don't bring warships, I have the final say on where each warship is going out, which is more enjoyable than bringing warships. ”

When he became chief of staff of the fleet, he learned more secrets.

The emperor did not trust Beiyang, or rather, the emperor did not trust the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Fleet. Therefore, the emperor wanted to secretly build a fleet of his own overseas and engage in combat operations at a critical time. So Mr. Lee came to Hawaii, so he had the foresight to thwart the conspiracy of the Americans, so there was a steady stream of money from unknown sources coming in, so he opened a gold mine in Alaska, so there was the Pacific Fleet.

From the calm place of the country to this steaming island. Cheng Cheng really felt the changes in the world, and the Qing Dynasty, a magnificent China, was no longer the high Celestial Dynasty it once was. From his conversations with the children of Nanyang, in many South American countries he visited, Cheng Cheng saw the humiliated Chinese and the inactive Manchu court. He, like many people, had his own ideas.

Although they have something strange in their hearts, it does not mean that they are willing to see their motherland being bullied by a small island nation.

The original plan was for a war to break out in mid-July, and the Pacific Fleet would arrive in the Yellow Sea and engage in operations at the end of September. At this time, no matter how bad the Beiyang Fleet was, it could hold on. But all of a sudden, the time was three months earlier, and all the plans needed to be changed. Cheng Cheng hurried back to the staff headquarters and worked out the plan with the staff officers.

Port of Portsmouth, UK. The UK's largest naval base, home to 60% of its warships, is also home to the famous Armstrong Shipyard headquarters.

Under the farewell ceremony of the five most advanced warships sold by the British, a fleet of three battleships and two armored cruisers was slowly sailing out of the docks. At the bow of the Longyin, the British naval officer who saw off asked Simmons, the commander of the Chilean fleet standing aside: "General, are these all Chinese?" Why are there no braids? Why does Chile use so many Chinese to receive warships? ”

Simmons smiled and said, "These are all Chinese, but he belongs to the Kingdom of Hawaii." There was no way, the Chilean political axe promised to help them train sailors, and just on the way back to drive the warship back, let them train, so as to save a lot of maintenance costs for the warship. ”

Ying [***] official laughed, he thought that this Simmons would really save money for the political axe. And Wu Deren, who was standing behind Simmons, had a black line on his face. The British offer of £1,000,000 per battleship and £400,000 for the cruiser turned out to be £1,200,000 and £500,000 for the Chilean hand, and an additional £500,000 was spent on the expedited fee in order to get the five warships at this time. Combined with the purchase of the Chilean fleet and the cost of training, Mr. Lee spent all the £5 million given by the emperor at once. As a result, the Chileans bought themselves a battleship with the money they earned from the Chinese. If it weren't for the fact that there were still funds entering the country from time to time and the Alaskan gold mines were supporting, the Kingdom of Hawaii would have gone bankrupt several times.

At the same time as the Chilean fleet left the port, two cruisers of the same class as the Huwei-class armored cruisers were waiting to enter the port. These were two warships ordered by the Qing State, and Wu Deren glanced at the officer sent by the Qing State to receive the warships, which was his classmate Lin Yongsheng. Wu Deren smiled and waved his hand at Lin Yongsheng.

Lin Yongsheng also saw Wu Deren, and waved his hand in response. Then his gaze turned to the five warships that had left the harbor. Even a small country like Chile can buy so many new warships at once, and I asked the emperor to ask the Queen Mother for two of them. The feeling in Lin Yongsheng's heart at this time cannot be described in words. Wu Deren, who was taught in England at the time, said that he was a rare talent in the navy and an excellent candidate for the captain of a battleship or fleet. It's a pity that he finally left the Navy at home because of factional reasons. Lin Yongsheng thought of a question while regretting: "How could Wu Deren be on a Chilean warship?" What is he doing here? (To be continued.) )