The outbreak of a world war was unlikely, but preventing the union of Ben and Russia became the primary diplomatic task of the Chinese Empire.

Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi was instructed to meet with the British ambassador to China, Douglas, and raised concerns about the possible union of Ben, Germany, and France with Russia. Dou Nale immediately assured Tang Shaoyi that once a third country intervened in the Sino-Russian war, Britain would not sit idly by.

Subsequently, Tang Shaoyi and Dou Nale attended a press conference together, and in front of Chinese and foreign journalists, Dou Nale once again publicly reaffirmed that the Sino-British alliance is unbreakable, and any country that intervenes in the Sino-Russian war will not sit idly by. At the same time, British Foreign Secretary Marquess Lansdowne also issued a statement in London that Britain would not hesitate to enter the war as long as a third country intervened in the Sino-Russian war.

Britain's public statement, natural deterrence is not small. As the world's largest maritime power, the strength of the British Empire is almost invincible, and any country that wants to help Russia may have to consider the strong pressure from the British Empire.

However, things are not always so absolute. There is a way that barefoot people are not afraid to wear shoes, and soon a country jumped out to rebel, which made Britain very faceless, and it can be said that it was annoyed and angry.

On March 5, 1902, the day after the British political axe issued a statement, King Nicholas I of Montenegro officially declared war on the Chinese Empire, which immediately attracted strong attention from European and American countries.

The Kingdom of Montenegro is a small, mountainous country located in the north-central part of the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It covers an area of 13,800 square kilometers. It is bordered by Serbia to the northeast, the Kosovo region of Serbia to the east, Albania to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to the northwest, and the Adriatic Sea, part of the Mediterranean Sea, to the southwest.

As an ally of the Tsarist Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Montenegro did not need any excuse to declare war on the Chinese Empire, but was fulfilling its allied obligations. However, this is a sensitive time, and France, which is also an ally of Imperial Russia, has declared neutrality, because France knows that if a third country intervenes in the Sino-Russian war, it will cause a chain reaction. Both Britain and France would be drawn into the war as a result.

The British political axe was very annoyed, and the small kingdom of Montenegro was tantamount to giving the British Empire a big slap in the face. At the same time, it also pushed France into the danger of intervening in the war.

On the morning of the 7th, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the British Foreign Minister, made a strong statement, questioning whether Russia had instructed the Kingdom of Montenegro to declare war on the Chinese Empire behind his back.

Although King Nicholas I of Montenegro was very face-saving and stood up to support the Russian Empire, it put the Russian Empire in danger, because this undoubtedly gave Britain an excuse to enter the war. For the current Tsarist Russian Empire, the Chinese Empire is already difficult to deal with, and if one more Britain is added, the war will undoubtedly be lost. The Russian political axe immediately stated that it was not directing the Kingdom of Montenegro to enter the war, and asked Britain to calm down.

At the same time, the French minister to Britain Binardo urgently met with the British Foreign Secretary, the Marquis of Lansdowne, saying that Montenegro was only a small country, and neither the navy nor the army was enough to influence the course and trend of the Sino-Russian war, and asked the British political axe to remain calm.

As far as the British political axe is concerned, it is suddenly divided into two camps. A group of Conservative Party officials, led by Prime Minister Salisbury, supported Britain's entry into the war, arguing that the Chinese Empire had won a big victory in the war against Russia and that Britain should get a piece of the pie. At the same time, Britain had already won the Boer War and had the energy to launch a counteroffensive in Afghanistan and the Middle East to expand its colonial interests.

The other side believed that if Britain was involved in the war, it would lead to immeasurable ripple effects. First of all, France will not sit idly by and watch Britain enter the war, and will definitely take military action. As a result, war between Britain and France would inevitably break out. The English Channel, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and even Africa will be plunged into war, and a worldwide war will inevitably break out. At this time, although Britain won the Anglo-Boer War, it also consumed a huge military expenditure of nearly 200 million pounds. Britain has high political debts, and it is not easy to start another war in a short time.

In addition, officials opposed to Britain's entry into the war argued that the rapid rise of the German navy had gradually affected Britain's maritime supremacy in the North Sea. If both France and Russia were to move their armies to the Far East, it would inevitably lead to the dominance of the German Army in Europe. Germany will become a sea and land power in Europe, which is not in line with the balanced policy of the European continent pursued by Britain and is not in line with Britain's national interests.

However, British officials who supported the war believed that Austria-Hungary, which had long been resentful of the Kingdom of Montenegro's encroachment on Austrian territory, might take the opportunity to join the Sino-British alliance and regain the territory occupied by Montenegro. This could lead to an all-out war between the German, Italian and Austrian Triple Alliance against the Franco-Russian Entente, provoke a war between the two major military camps, and make it in the national interest of Britain to deplete the strength of several major European powers against each other.

Serious disagreements arose within the United Kingdom, causing Britain to waver on the Montenegrin issue.

Soon, the Austro-Hungarian diplomats began to make noise, offering their willingness to help the Chinese Empire and Britain respectively, in order to test the attitude of China and Britain, Russia, France, and Germany and Italy.

Among the Balkan countries, Montenegro is the only region that has not been conquered by Turkey. After 1711, Montenegro entered into an alliance with the Russian Empire. In 1851, Montenegro became a secular principality again. In 1876, taking advantage of the Russo-Turkish War, Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire and seized a large amount of land. Montenegro was officially recognized as a reading state at the Berlin Conference in 1878, doubling its territory. Due to Albania's opposition, its southern territory was not determined until 1880. Montenegro eventually gained the Podgorica plain and a 40-kilometer coast that included two small ports of Bar and Uzinia.

Austria-Hungary has always been concerned about this, but because of the ambiguous relations between Germany and Russia, the first German-Russian insurance treaty was blocked, so there was no chance to regain it. Now that Germany and Russia had no reinsurance treaty, Austria-Hungary was looking for an opportunity to take Montenegro back. And with the Kingdom of Montenegro declaring war on the Chinese Empire, Austria-Hungary seemed to see an opportunity.

The actions of Austria-Hungary were immediately detected by sensitive Russia, which feared that Austria-Hungary would take advantage of the opportunity to launch an attack on Montenegro and drag Germany and Italy into the war. If that happens, Russia and France will be plunged into a great crisis.

As a result, Russia and France immediately warned Austria-Hungary not to act rashly, and at the same time, in order to prevent Austria-Hungary from dragging Germany and Italy into the water at all costs, Russia immediately demanded that the Kingdom of Montenegro withdraw from the state of war.

The Kingdom of Montenegro faced strong pressure from Russia and France, and finally withdrew its declaration of war.

In response to this farce, the Chinese Empire stated that it was not afraid of any hostile declaration of war. said that for the small Montenegrin Kingdom, the Chinese Empire will make it pay the price in the future.

This farce made the British political axe angry, and just declared Britain's tough position in the Sino-Russian war to the world, and as a result, the challenge of the Kingdom of Montenegro emerged, which made Britain lose face in front of the world, but Britain finally said that the small role of the Kingdom of Montenegro was not worthy of Britain's participation in the war, and saved some face in front of international public opinion.

In the East, the political axe and the people are also divided into two camps. In the political axe, right-wing officials headed by Ito Hirobumi suggested that Russia should fight against China in order to wash away the huge losses and humiliation caused by the two Sino-Japanese wars. Prince Nohisa of Kita-Shirakawa Miyanomiya and the officers and men of the Navy and Army, who supported Ito Hirobumi, believed that the Combined Fleet had recovered its vitality, and although the 66th Fleet was inferior to the 99th Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, it was enough to defeat the Imperial Chinese Navy if the Russian Second Fleet in the Far East was included. However, if the Russian army's more than 1 million troops suppress China, it is said that if the 20 standing divisions and regiments of this army participate in the war and attack China from the east and west with the Russian army, the probability of victory will reach more than 70 percent. Based on these advantages, they strongly recommended a political axe alliance with Russia.

However, the Matsukata Cabinet still focuses on economic development. Masayoshi Matsukata believes that now is a good opportunity for China and Russia to fight each other, and that Ben has received economic support and assistance from the United States, France, and Germany, and that the national economy has just improved somewhat, and it cannot be dragged into the war again.

The view of the Matsukata Cabinet was that it could not rely on other countries, and that only when it was economically strong could it have the capital to confront the Chinese Empire. Masayoshi Matsukata also showed his expertise in financial management and announced a sum of economic figures, saying that if he continued to develop the economy, within five years, he would recover his vitality and make up for the huge economic catastrophe brought to him by the two Sino-Chinese wars. However, if the war lasts for half a year, the economy will fall into a heavy blow, and more than a year will lead to the collapse of the economy.

After the release of Matsukata's economic and war data, a large number of right-wing militants were silenced. Prince Nohisa tried to refute it, saying that the combined Russian army and navy would be enough to defeat the Chinese Empire in three months. But Prince Chihito, who supported Matsukata's justice, soon retorted, saying that it would take at least half a year for the Russian Far East Second Fleet to arrive, and that the war between China and Russia on land would almost be over. If he wanted to help Russia, he would have to send troops to contain the Chinese Navy and the Far East Army within three months, but it was clear that this would create a situation in which the Chinese Imperial Navy would face the Imperial Chinese Navy alone, and the results would not be optimistic. At the same time, Prince Chiren said that if the British intervened in the war, Britain would not sit idly by, and it would be enough to deal with the Japanese navy and the Russian navy with a huge British navy, and there would be no need for the Imperial Chinese Navy to intervene at all. In this case, there is no certainty of victory, but it will affect Russia, and the Russians will not agree. In the end, it will be a miserable situation for people inside and out.

Prince Chihito strongly supported Matsukata's Cabinet, eventually forcing Prince Nohisa and Hirobumi Ito to abandon the unrealistic idea of a war against China.

Soon, Matsukata's Cabinet continued to pay the 1,250,000 pounds in war reparations for the 1902 year to the Chinese Empire, and tried to appease the Chinese Empire, saying that it would maintain strict neutrality. In order to curry favor with the Chinese Empire, the Matsukata Justice Cabinet issued a public statement, saying that the war between the Chinese Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire was the largest war between the East and the West in modern history, and it would also be a war in which the yellow race rebelled against the enslavement of the white race, and the Chinese Empire, on behalf of the yellow race, would defeat the white race and restore the dignity of the yellow race.

Masayoshi Matsukata's speech ostensibly complimented the Chinese Empire, but in fact it poured salt into the wounds of white Westerners, aroused hostility towards the Chinese Empire in the white Western world, and then achieved the goal of suppressing China by the hands of Western countries. It can be said that Matsukata Justice has bad intentions, but for the Chinese Empire, it is a relief that he will not participate in the war.

However, the right-wing militant organizations led by the Black Dragon Society and the Ronin Society did not stop, propagating the threat theory of the Chinese Empire everywhere, protesting against the political axe continuing to pay reparations to the Chinese Empire, inciting the people of China everywhere, and loudly proclaiming in front of foreigners that their Caucasian people would be completely driven out of Asia by the Chinese Empire, so as to incite the hostility of European and American whites to the Chinese Empire and achieve their ulterior motives.

However, after two wars, most of the people who had suffered so much from the wars did not want another war. Almost all of their wealth was drained by the political axe of Samoto for war and post-war reparations, and their burden was heavy, so they did not want Samoto to enter the war again.

Although the political axe chose neutrality, the Emperor [***] side of the emperor has been expanding in secret, and it has never stopped.

Since Matsukata's cabinet was only concerned with economic development, the military had been trying to expand its armaments again since he came to power, but it was repeatedly refused, so the Constitutional Political Friendship Association organized by Aritomo Yama and Shigenobu Okuma targeted Matsukata at every turn. This time, it is even more used to make a big fuss about the Sino-Russian war. They claimed that the Imperial Chinese Army had occupied seven states in the Russian Far East and that the navy had eliminated the Russian Far East Fleet, leaving China and China in the political structure of Northeast Asia.

Shan Youpeng proclaimed in the parliament that after the Chinese Empire defeated Russia in the Far East, the next target was to say this. Although Ben chose neutrality, it should expand its armaments just in case.

Shigenobu Okuma then invited Ito to join the Constitutional Political Friends Association, and a large number of political leaders and national elders were recruited, and it soon became the largest party in the parliament. Matsukata was not partisan, and a number of his colleagues soon joined the Constitutional Friends Association. In this way, Matsukata's righteous policies were gradually influenced and even controlled by the Constitutional Political Friendship Association.

Soon, the plan for the expansion of armaments proposed by Aritomo and Shigenobu Okuma was approved by the Diet, and Matsukata Masayoshi could not stop the military expansion, so he resigned in anger.

At the beginning of April, Emperor Momoto issued an edict appointing Shigenobu Okuma to form a cabinet. After Shigenobu Okuma formed a cabinet, Aritomo Yamaguchi wanted to intervene in the Sino-Russian War, but Shigenobu Okuma had a disagreement with him on the choice of cabinet and the next prime minister (Mitsui and Mitsubishi), so the two parted ways, and the Constitutional Friends Association split into the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party. Both sides refused to pass the bill proposed by the other, which led to the forced abortion of Yama Youpeng's intervention in the Sino-Russian war.

However, both sides come from military backgrounds, and they both chose to pass the military expansion bill proposed by the military. As a result, the Third Naval Expansion Act, which had been stranded for three years, was passed.

The bill revolved around the Supplementary Act of the Third Third Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, which had always regarded the Imperial Chinese Navy as the number one enemy. However, the funds of the Imperial Chinese Navy were limited, and it was impossible to exceed the naval budget of the Chinese Empire, so it could only be that after each expansion of the Imperial Chinese Navy, the Imperial Chinese Navy would be expanded subsequently. Because of the lack of wealth, it could only be maintained at 90% of the total tonnage of the Chinese Imperial Navy.

At the beginning, the Imperial Chinese Navy built the 66th Fleet, and the Benben Navy also built the 66th Fleet. Three years ago, the Imperial Chinese Navy expanded the 33 Fleet, and now after the approval of the 33 Fleet, the 33 Supplementary Fleet is also planned, requiring the Imperial Chinese Navy to maintain the same number of capital ships as the ships of the Imperial Chinese Navy.

The Chinese Empire's Supplementary Bill for the 33 Fleets was three Jianwei-class battleships, three Windcatcher-class large armored cruisers, three Haiqi-class cruisers, and three Mistral-class hunting fleets.

The Navy then ordered three Katori-class battleships from Britain for the three Jianwei-class battleships of the Chinese Empire, namely Katori, Kashima, and Kashii.

Due to financial problems, the Katori-class battleships had a design displacement of only 16,000 tons, a speed of 18.5 knots, and were equipped with two twin 305 mm 45 times extended main guns, 4 254 mm single secondary guns, 12 152 mm single secondary guns, 16 76 mm single rapid-fire guns, 3 47 mm rapid-fire guns, and 5 underwater torpedo tubes.

Although the Katori-class was inferior to the Jianwei-class battleships in terms of displacement, speed, and armor, the British, in order to satisfy their own mentality, added four 254-mm 45-fold secondary guns, which were naturally much more powerful than the full 152-mm secondary guns of the Jianwei-class battleships. The navy was very satisfied with this, and thought that they had built a battleship with a very high surname and price ratio for less than the imperial navy of China. However, they did not think that the 18,000-ton displacement of the Jianwei-class battleship of the Chinese Empire enabled the ship to be fully heavily armored, and the 280-millimeter-thick Chinese special steel was difficult to destroy even 305-millimeter shells, and the 254-millimeter secondary gun of the Katori-class was simply chicken ribs, and it was not cost-effective at all in actual combat. Of course, if the Katori-class battleships were to attack large armored cruisers, the 254 mm secondary guns would indeed come in handy, but it would be even more difficult to use an 18.5 knot battleship to pursue an armored cruiser of at least 23 knots.

Of course, this situation cannot be blamed on the short-sightedness of the Navy, because their funds are limited, and it is impossible to build warships with comprehensive heavy armor protection as extravagantly as the Chinese Empire.

In fact, it was clear to the navy that their naval funds were mainly diverted to pay war reparations to the Chinese Empire. The annual war reparations of 1.25 million pounds are actually deducting the navy's shipbuilding budget. However, this money was in turn used by the Chinese Empire to subsidize the navy's shipbuilding budget, which made the officers and men of the navy gnash their teeth every time they thought about it.

(To be continued)