Since the participation of the four ships in Huludao cannot significantly change the battle losses of the Qing Navy, there is really no need to wait until the four ships are in service. The western Pacific Ocean outside the Ryukyus was extremely vast, and the tracked Japanese European detachment would inevitably force the Qing Dynasty to follow it by changing course. In this way, the Japanese home fleet, which was unable to communicate on the sea, could only estimate and respond, but the Qing Dynasty could guide the task force to enter the ground and accurately ambush it through radio, which was much better than a head-on battle with the reorganized Japanese combined fleet.

Guangxu did not approve the war on the spot, because Guangxu had to consider the reaction of various countries after the war and how long it would take for the Qing Dynasty to rebuild the navy in the event of the war damage in Wu Deren's mouth. What kind of reaction might have been to the Western powers during this period. Therefore, Guangxu ordered the fleet to start assembling, and turned around and went straight to the State Council. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Officials have been waiting for a long time.

It takes half an hour for a fifteen-horsepower sedan to drive from the military academy to the State Department. Li Hongzhang, who was speechless during the whole deduction process, got into the car and said: "Your Majesty, it's best not to fight this battle." Once there was a major war loss, the great powers did not care about it anymore. ”

Guangxu frowned and glanced at Li Hongzhang: "In the first Wu year, you obviously have the advantage of the second ship in Dingzhen, so you want to protect the ship and control the enemy." Now that our navy still retains its superiority, you have to defend your ships to control the enemy. Don't you know that offense is the best defense? What the hell are you thinking? ”

Li Hongzhang smiled bitterly: "How can the old minister not understand this truth." In recent years, all the troubles in the Qing Dynasty have come from the sea, and when Lao Chen first built Beiyang, he wanted to base himself on the sea. Since the completion of the Beiyang Fleet, no ship has been added for ten years, and Lao Chen just wants to expand a dock that can accommodate the two ships of Dingzhen. At the end of the day, there's still no money. Although the emperor began to build docks and purchase new ships after taking office, he still failed to start a war with Japan in time for the First Wu Year. Since the Battle of Dadonggou, although our Beiyang has maintained its undefeated position with the second ship of Dingzhen, its disadvantages have emerged. The old minister thought. Once the second ship of Dingzhen was sunk, it was no longer able to restrain the Japanese fleet, and even if the land was victorious, it would be useless. So the old minister thought that as long as the land battle could be won. Coupled with the naval divisions and ships that still remained, it was at least an undefeated situation for Japan. But who knows......" Speaking of which. Li Hongzhang blushed and laughed embarrassedly: "And the situation we are facing now is so similar to that of the First Wu Dynasty, although our Qing fleet is stronger, but the new Japanese combined fleet is stronger than the Qing navy." Although there is the power of a war, how can everything go well in the development of the war, and the old minister also knows that he has led soldiers, and the worst situation expected before the war often happens. The war has some twists and turns, and I can't afford to be defeated. The foreigners are eyeing me in the Qing Dynasty, and the knives and forks have long been held high. If it weren't for the emperor's bloody battle against Tianzhuang Terrace in the first year of the First Wu Dynasty. There was also a secret purchase of the Pacific Fleet to annihilate the Japanese Combined Fleet. This made the foreigners hide the knives and forks they raised, and the old ministers didn't dare to think about how the foreigners would bully me in the Qing Dynasty once they were defeated in the First Wu Year. The Qing Dynasty is weak and can't afford a failure, the foreigners just hide the knives and forks behind them, as long as the Qing Dynasty has the image of defeat, the foreigners will make a comeback. You must know that these are all the emperor's sales of electricity, medicine, mines and roads over the years, including the emperor snatched back more than 300 million taels of silver from Japan, and the emperor tried his best to get the silver money to build a navy. Even if it is a disastrous victory, it is not enough, and now the Qing Dynasty has nothing to sell. Once there is a situation as Wu Deren assessed, then our Qing Navy will lose seventy percent of its strength in World War I, and then if we want to reorganize the fleet, where will there be money. After all, it's still money—"

Li Hongzhang is right about one thing: the Qing Dynasty after the defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War in history. First, there was the Eight-Nation Alliance, then there was the unified policy towards China, mutual protection in the southeast, and the division of spheres of influence between Britain and Russia along the Yangtze River...... At this time, Qing Guo was like a girl who stripped off the last pair of underwear, and was pressed and bullied by foreigners for a hundred years. Guangxu knew that at present, the Qing Dynasty, as Li Hongzhang said, not only could not be defeated, but could not even win a miserable victory. So Guangxu smiled, although his heart was also a little empty, but his face was very confident, and the emperor's career for many years made Guangxu really change his face: "You haven't said that you are renting a port to foreigners, this can be regarded as a betrayal." But if we really want to lose, we are afraid that we can only betray the country, so we can't be defeated. The reason why I let Germany, France, Italy, the United States and other countries come in is to take the opportunity of foreigners to pour into each other to leave a ray of life for the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Your Majesty. The lease of the port and the foreigners are the old ministers' own opinions, and they have nothing to do with the emperor. But the old minister asked the emperor to think twice. It's better not to fight or not to fight—"

"I understand your concerns, and you don't need to give me a black cauldron. You want to be stable. Giving priority to economic development, I want to wait until the Qing Dynasty is rich. But my thinking is more radical, wealth needs to be guaranteed by force, otherwise I will not be able to escape the day when I will be robbed. Although you disagree with me, you are also thinking about this country. If you don't advance against the current, you will retreat, and now the Qing Dynasty is like a big ship, I stand on the bow of the boat to face the wind and waves, and you help me stabilize the rudder at the stern. The ship of the Qing Dynasty can't be overturned in our hands. ”

After speaking, Guangxu let out a long sigh, but he didn't expect Li Hongzhang to sigh together at the same time. The two emperors glanced at each other, but they both smiled. Guangxu saw doubts in Li Hongzhang's eyes, and thought that he just didn't understand his own policy, and Guangxu didn't think much else. As far as Li Hongzhang is concerned, his question is why the emperor has to divide the military and the government so obviously. If civilian officials participated in today's war deduction at the General Staff Headquarters, there would be no need to run back and forth, but Li Hongzhang would not ask and did not dare to ask about this kind of thing, which was taboo for the emperor. How did he know that, in Guangxu's view, the supervision of the military and the government in various places had a great impact on the central court, and the description of him Li Hongzhang as "sitting in Beiyang and leading the court from afar" is a good example. It is necessary to separate the military and the government, so that the military and the government can become independent and become the two pillars of support for the emperor, and as for the law of the third pillar, it is not possible yet. Now that the place is in turmoil, the court of his own team has to hold it firm.

In the State Council, as soon as Guangxu told the results of the war deduction of the General Staff Headquarters, Lin Qizhao lowered his head and began to calculate as soon as he heard that the Qing Navy would suffer seventy percent of the battle losses in the war against Japan. After a long time, he raised his head and said: "Today's Qing Navy, without counting the original Beiyang Fleet, took four years and cost nearly a billion taels of silver to form. In the event of 70% of the war losses, it will take at least six years and nearly 5 billion Singapore dollars to restore the actual deterrent power of the Qing navy based on the current increase in Qing revenue. Note that I am talking about the equivalent of the current naval deterrent. After all, warships are getting bigger and more expensive, and this is based on the premise that the annual income of the dynasty will not change. Once foreigners carry out political blackmail against our Qing Dynasty, the income will decrease. The time required will not be estimated. ”

Lin Qizhao said that it was as calm as water, but it shocked everyone. Sun Jianai exclaimed: "That means that you can't even win a miserable victory-"

"If there is really a seventy percent war loss, the foreigners will definitely carry out political blackmail against the Qing Dynasty." As Foreign Minister, Tang Shaoyi slowly explained the current bad situation in East Asia.

Within the countries surrounding the land of the Qing Dynasty. Except for the immediate threat from Russia in the future, which will not manifest itself until at least three years later. As for other countries, as long as it is the same number of army wars, I really don't pay attention to it. This includes the British Army. Therefore, as far as the army is concerned, the current war needs are not urgent, which is also the reason why the sea is more important than the land in recent years. However, the maritime situation around the Qing Dynasty deteriorated sharply.

Not to mention the Japanese Fleet of Returnees, the Dutch Far East Fleet was not destroyed by China last year and has not been reconstituted so far. The Spanish Far East Fleet, like the French Far East Fleet, has only old-fashioned ships, and there is nothing to be afraid of at the moment in terms of displacement, firepower, and speed. However, the Qing navy, which had lost seventy percent of its combat strength, had to consider the influence from France and Spain.

The strongest was still the British Far East Fleet stationed in Hong Kong, and the flagship was the third British Sovereign-class battleship, the Determination. After the results of the Qing-Japanese War, Britain will decide whether to send additional ships to the Far East Fleet; This was all because of Russia, which, although Russia's intention to send additional battleships to the Far East was rejected by the British, allowed two Russian heavy cruisers and four destroyers to enter the Far East, which had now entered the Indian Ocean.

At the same time, Germany has also sent two new heavy cruisers to the Far East, and is currently sailing eastward in the Mediterranean, with the target station being Dapeng Bay. Originally, there were two other battleships of the same class as Haichen, which also failed to make the trip due to British reasons.

There has been no movement on the part of the French, who have already changed their naval strategic thinking to near-shore defense since a decade ago. There was no idea of sending additional troops to the Far East. Although Italy did not accept our invitation to send a fleet, it sought to consult our country through diplomatic channels about the lease or use of the port. There is currently no response.

The same is being demanded by the United States, noting that a U.S. fleet headed by two heavy cruisers on the west coast of Chile is heading for San Diego, and according to U.S. port lease requests and other intelligence, this fleet will be the lead ship of the new U.S. Pacific Squadron, and the target will also be Japan. Nominally a visit, but a CIA report said that the United States is now making public opinion about foreign expansion, and the primary target is the Spanish colony of Cuba on the doorstep of the United States. And the real destination of the new American Pacific squadron is the Philippines.

"It can be said that in the East Asian Sea half a year later, the warships of the world's naval powers are gathered here. The Qing Dynasty still had some say at that time. It depends on the outcome of this Qing-Japanese naval battle. Tang Shaoyi sat down after speaking, leaving the others with a look of restraint.

In order to compete for the right to speak in East Asia. The Qing-Japanese War was inevitable. Since there will be a war, be ready to go to war at any time from now on. The administrative efficiency of the Guangxu Dynasty was still relatively high, and the places strung together by the telephone and telegraph networks began to act as soon as they received the telegrams from the imperial court. Under the planning of the Propaganda Department, the major newspapers in the Qing Dynasty began to report on the upcoming battle between the Qing and Japan, and the domestic mood suddenly became tense. After that, the orders of the military headquarters were sent down one by one, and the coastline departments began to strengthen their vigilance, warehouses were opened, and truckloads of ammunition were transported to the port to begin to equip the ships. The Ministry of Household Affairs accelerated the transportation of materials, civilian ships were requisitioned, and the entire Yellow Sea was full of cargo ships carrying military supplies between Lushun, Weihaiwei, Naha and Keelung. The General Staff Headquarters also ordered the Navy ships to begin to assemble, and even the North Korean Liu Shengxiu unit marched from Pyongyang to Pusan, where it was stationed, along with three North Korean divisions......

The Qing began pre-war mobilization and troop build-up. As soon as Lang Weili, who was far away in Guangzhou Bay, received the order from the Haiqi and Huahai ships, he reported the information that the Qing State intended to start a war to the British Far East Fleet, and originally as the commander of the Qing Nanyang Fleet, he should go north with the ship but was refused, and he had to stay in Guangzhou Bay to continue the daily tasks of the Nanyang Fleet, and the deputy commander Lin Yongsheng led the team.

In fact, there is no need for Lang Weili's report, in the same day, all the cruisers and above of the Qing State went to sea, the Korean Army opened its station, and the cargo ships began to load military supplies, and the fool also knew that the Qing State was about to move. However, what happened in the Qing Kingdom was quickly reported to Singapore, and the Japanese European Fleet, which was about to leave the port and return home, received an order to stay because the commander Yamamoto Gonbei hesitated.

Don't look at the current Japanese European squadron with large tonnage and strong firepower, but when the news of the Qing State began to assemble, there was a rumor from all over the fleet that the Qing State was going to ambush them halfway. Although Yamamoto Gonbei also believed that the Qing Dynasty would do this, it would be much better to defeat each of them than to face the assembled Japanese Combined Fleet. Yamamoto Gonbei is not worried about the ambush of the Qing Kingdom, after all, the sea is vast, as long as he is willing to go around a few more times. But the expressions of the whole fleet made Yamamoto Gonbei's heart fall into the Nine Shadows Abyss, afraid, frightened, and confused...... All the negative situations appeared on the faces of the crew, such morale and such an atmosphere, how did the fleet face the blow of the Qing State. The sorrow of Rongcheng Bay, the crying of Etajima, no one. It was the two destroyers that appeared at the mouth of the strait, equipped with two twin L4O/1O2 mm guns, that worried the Japanese naval officers living in the huge fleet for a whole night, which reminded him of the incident when he took Toyama and Yashima back to China. The lack of qualified naval soldiers is Gonbei Yamamoto's biggest concern. So he could only order three cargo ships to set off and return to Japan with the British merchant ships, while the fleet continued to stay.

Gonbei Yamamoto sent a telegram back to China and personally negotiated with the British consul in Singapore. Two days later, the British government received a telegram from the Governor of Singapore and the Minister to Japan, which expressed Japan's obedience and respect to the British Empire in different words.

The British Parliament held urgent consultations on this. The British Cabinet was not discussing whether to support Japan, but how to allow Japan's European fleet to return home without hurting the already precarious relationship between Britain and China.

After two days of consultations, the British Prime Minister Salisbury decided to refer this difficult issue to the Minister to China, Ogne, who had a good personal relationship with the Qing Emperor and the Qing Foreign Minister. But the telegram had not yet been sent, and Eugna's telegram had arrived.

"The Qing State agreed to open the Guangzhou Bay Military Port, and agreed to the Italian, German, French, and American ships to carry out replenishment, maintenance, and maintenance in the Guangzhou Bay Military Port; The Qing state agreed in principle to lease Xiamen or Lianyungang to Italy or the United States; The Qing State agreed in principle to provide all necessary supplies, including ammunition, to the above four ** ships in the port of Daqing...... The above four countries are holding consultations with the Qing diplomatic department. ”

"Oh! What do the Qing people want to do? "Salisbury has not yet reacted from the great shock before he receives another report. The Italian government informed the British government that a new Italian cruiser would be on a visit to the Far East. Then came the news that a new destroyer ordered by the Netherlands from France also needed to pass through the Suez Canal to the Far East. Chile, a distant South American country, needed to come to the Far East to watch the decisive battle of the world's largest ironclad ships, and Argentina also believed that they also needed to learn advanced naval warfare knowledge, and they all received invitations from the Qing Kingdom. The fastest cruisers of the two countries, which had already had contradictions, were sprinting towards the Far East at full speed.

At this time, the British Far East Fleet sent a telegram that, in view of the increasingly complex situation in the Far East and the need to further increase the strength of the Far East Fleet to protect the British leadership, it was proposed to immediately send an additional Sovereign-class battleship and at least one new cruiser, and it was proposed that the Indian fleet be moved to Singapore in case of contingencies.

Salisbury was stunned by a series of events, the United States, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Hawaii, Chile, Argentina, including the most powerful British Far East Fleet and the Qing and Japanese fleets in the Far East, the twelve naval powers of the world today will all assemble in the small Far East seas. The Far East will concentrate all the most advanced warships in the world, and the Far East will break out in the largest naval battle in the history of the world, and the Far East will ......

Salisbury muttered to himself, "Far East, it's too crowded. (To be continued)