Was the message leaked unintentionally? This is not necessarily, Wu Sidao glanced at Shi Shibiu, secretly thinking that this guy was slippery, and he had said in front of Yinzhen that he would rather return in vain, but in fact, he had been thinking about how to yin the British and the Dutch, it seems that he deliberately let Yinzhen come forward to meet the Portuguese, and he also had other plans, is there any intention to use Yinzhen as bait? Prince Yinzhen's identity still carries a lot of weight in the eyes of Europeans.

After a little hesitation, Wu Sidao spoke: "The situation of European countries at this time is like the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, all countries are doing everything in order to compete for hegemony or self-protection, General Shi must not despise them, these prisoners are important to Spain, but it cannot be determined that Spain does not dare to leak the news."

It has been more than two years since the Qing Dynasty fought the Spanish Far East Fleet for the first time, and European countries have a detailed understanding of the combat strength of the Qing Navy, and they must not leave anything to chance. ”

After a slight pause, he continued: "Carlos, the deputy commander of the Spanish Far East Fleet, is quite clear about the intention of the Qing Dynasty's overseas expansion and the purpose of the alliance between France and Spain.

If Spain is unwilling to cede its territory in the Americas, it will inevitably create an opportunity to weaken the strength of the South Sea Fleet, and the best way is to provoke Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal and other countries to attack us.

France and Spain can wait for us to be in a desperate situation before giving a helping hand, so that they can not only show us goodwill, but also rescue the Spanish prisoners in our hands, and in this case, how can we have the face to ask for conditions? ”

Listening to Wu Sidao's eloquent words, Shi Shibiao couldn't help but secretly praise. No wonder Yinzhen attaches so much importance to this lame master, this person is really a rare talent, he immediately arched his hand and said: "Mr. Wu, this opinion really makes us wait." ”

Fu Anding was also impressed by what he heard. The Qing Dynasty did not know much about Europe, but European countries knew a lot about the situation of the Qing Dynasty because of commerce and trade. He then spoke: "The Nanyang Fleet is a lone expedition, not worried about victory, first thinking about defeat, if it is really unfortunate by Mr. Wu's words, wouldn't the Nanyang Fleet be in danger?" ”

"Not really." Wu Sidao said a word, and drank tea slowly.

Shi Shibiao and Fu Anding didn't know that Wu Sidao liked to hang his appetite's strange temper, seeing this situation. I didn't know how to ask, they all waited patiently, Shi Shibiao frowned and thought about how to deal with this situation, Portugal is very clear about the actual combat strength of the Nanyang Fleet, if it knows the size of the Nanyang Fleet and the purpose of coming to Europe. Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal are very likely to organize a large-scale fleet to attack with all their might.

Alone against the fleets of the three countries, the chance of victory can be described as very small, even if it can be won by luck, it is a miserable victory, which is unbearable for the Nanyang Fleet, what about avoiding war? Shi Shibiao couldn't help but tighten his brows. The expedition across the sea for 40,000 miles, and the retreat without a fight in the first battle, the blow to the morale of the army is self-evident. If the army is unstable and morale is low, it will undoubtedly bring disastrous consequences.

There can be no war, no retreat, this is actually a dilemma. How to choose the lesser of two evils? Shi Shibi couldn't help frowning and thinking hard.

Wu Sidao leisurely drank two cups of tea in a row. I didn't see the two of them asking, and he was secretly bored, but even if he whetted his appetite, he would not take the initiative to speak, and immediately continued to drink tea, a cup of tea had already been brewed as light as white water.

Fu Anding is the youngest, and his qualitative nature is naturally not as good as the two of them, and after waiting for a long time, he finally couldn't help but say: "We can't continue to supply, we are at a disadvantage, we should avoid fighting with Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, how about transferring first?" ”

Without allowing Wu Sidao to speak, Shi Shibiao took it in one bite, "It is really the best policy to transfer and avoid war, but once transferred, how will France and Spain find us?" Besides, it took half a year to sail to this place, and before the enemy was encountered, they moved first, which could easily lead to unstable morale and low morale of the army, so I would like to fight first, which can not only take the opportunity to understand the combat strength of the European maritime powers, but also boost morale. ”

"What General Shi said is very true, we can't avoid war, we must fight a fight, and only by fighting a war can the Nanyang Fleet gain a firm foothold in Europe and open up the situation." Wu Sidao took over the conversation and said eloquently: "What about the Three Kingdoms Alliance? Britain and the Netherlands were at war and peaceful, not with one heart and one mind, it should be an opportunity, and furthermore, there are many examples of defeating the strong with the weak, and winning more with less. As the saying goes, it is better to cut off one of its ten fingers than to hurt it, and in order to boost the morale of the army and boost morale, it is necessary to annihilate one of them. ”

Shi Shibiao nodded, Wu Sidao thought of it with him, avoiding war is not a way, once avoiding war, it will be passive everywhere, not only leading to unstable morale and morale of the army, but also the reputation of the South Ocean Fleet will be greatly damaged, and if you want to open up the European situation in the future, you will inevitably pay a greater price.

Looking for fighters, taking the initiative to attack, cutting off one of their fingers, and destroying one of them is naturally the most ideal, however, the sea vision is broad, and it is not easy to ambush, besides, they are fighting in different places, and their understanding of this sea area is not as good as that of the Europeans, and furthermore, European countries have been fighting for many years, and the actual combat experience is not comparable to that of the Qing Navy, in addition to the advantages of artillery, the Nanyang Fleet is at a disadvantage, and this battle is really not easy to fight.

In less than two hours, Yinzhen and Lin Wei ended their meeting with the Portuguese and returned to the command cabin of Shi Shibi's flagship second-class battleship 'Zhenxi'. Ronalkode, who he said was representing King João V of Portugal, had come to invite us to the port of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, to thank the Qing Dynasty for its care and assistance to Portugal in the Far East. ”

Shi Shibi was not interested in these nonsense at all, and asked directly: "The prince has inquired about the war situation in Europe?" ”

"Yes." Yin Zhen said in a deep voice: "The war is basically over, in April last year, Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal signed the alliance with France and Spain - the "Peace of Utrecht", and a month ago, Austria, the Holy Roman Empire and France signed the "Rastatt Peace Treaty". France ceded part of its territory in North America to Britain and part of Europe to the Netherlands and Austria. ”

The war is almost over? Shi Shibiao and the others couldn't help but be stunned, they worked hard and sailed 40,000 miles away, and the war was over? Now that the war is over, how can they fish in troubled waters? How to upset Europe? How to buy time for the Qing Dynasty's overseas expansion? Will France still ally with them? And where should the South Sea Fleet go?

The atmosphere in the cabin suddenly became extremely dull, and after a long silence, Lin Weicai said cautiously: "Now that the war is over, we can't run this trip in vain, it is better to go to Lisbon at the invitation of Portugal, if we can form an alliance with Portugal, we will have a foothold in Europe, we can't mess up Europe, we can understand Europe, and strengthen trade with Europe, which is also worth the trip." ”

This proposal is just a retreat, nothing new, Shi Shibiao glanced at him, he had already calmed down, and secretly wondered, since this is the case in the European war situation, why is there no news from the envoy group led by Lin Haitao? Now that France has been defeated, it stands to reason that it will not receive Lin Haitao and his party again, could it be that Spain detained them? There's no reason for that, Spain can't be so brainless.

After thinking for a while, Wu Sidao opened his mouth and asked, "The two treaties that the prince just mentioned were signed with France, but what about Spain?" Why didn't Britain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria and other countries sign treaties with Spain? Spain also has territories in the Americas, and far more than France, and they have no reason to let Spain go! ”

Hearing this, several people present were in high spirits, and Shi Shibiao said in a deep voice: "The war is not over!" We still have a chance. ”

Yin Zhen shook his head and said: "In July last year, Britain signed the Anglo-Spanish Treaty and the Spanish-Savoy Treaty with Spain, and in addition to Gibraltar, there is also a part of Menorca.

"Spain ceded the Strait of Gibraltar?" Shi Shibiao asked silently.

"No, it's a small island in the Strait of Gibraltar." Yinzhen explained: "However, controlling this Gibraltar Island is equivalent to controlling the Strait of Gibraltar. ”

"My lord, what treaty did Portugal and the Netherlands sign with Spain?" Wu Sidao asked.

"At the moment only Britain has a treaty with Spain."

After a little silence, Wu Sidao said in a deep voice: "Lord, the war is still not over, but it is not far from the end. Portugal bordered Spain, and the Netherlands was also a maritime power, and it was impossible for the two countries not to sign a treaty with Spain for benefits. ”

"Even if there is no treaty, so what?" Yin Zhen stared at Wu Sidao, and said puzzledly: "The war has ended, France and Spain have been defeated, this is an indisputable fact, and it is only a matter of time before the contract is signed." ”

"Not really." Shi Shibiao said categorically: "As long as the war is not completely over, we still have the opportunity to stir up the situation, and the delay in the return of the envoys we sent to Spain is enough to show that Spain and France are tempted, and the binding force of the treaty must rely on strong strength to maintain, without strength, the treaty is just a blank piece of paper, which can be torn up at any time." ”

"What General Shi said is a wise saying that is universally applicable." Wu Sidao smiled and said: "Compared with national interests, everything is nothing, and throughout the ages, it is not surprising that it is not uncommon to break contracts.

In order to break this situation, the navy must fight a war to completely make France and Spain determined to break the treaty, but in this way, the pressure on the navy will be even greater, and Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal will certainly go all out against us in order to protect their vested interests, while France and Spain may be at the end of their strength and will not be able to vigorously support us. General Shi, will the Nanyang Fleet be able to turn the tide? ”