After last night's sneak attack, thick smoke billowed over the port of Singapore the next morning, covering the sky.

On the water in the harbor, one after another the battleships that had been attacked sank to the bottom of the harbor, only part of the island and mast were exposed. There were corpses floating on the surrounding water, stumps and severed arms were everywhere, and blood stained a large area of water.

The docks were crowded with people, the British fire brigade was constantly spraying taps at the burning battleship, and the ambulance team carried the wounded British sailors to the nearest hospital.

In the headquarters of the British Asian Fleet, the commander of the fleet, Field Marshal Lyons, stood in front of the window with a blue face, looking at the ruined scene outside through the window, and his heart was dripping with blood.

The intelligence staff officer walked in at this time, holding the latest statistical results in his hand and reported: "Report to the marshal, the preliminary results have been counted. ”

Lyons didn't look back, just said "read".

"Yes!" The intelligence staff officer paused and read out the results.

"In last night's attack, the Asian Fleet of our Royal Navy lost 37 warships of all kinds. Among them, the fleet lost 22 capital ships, 15 auxiliary ships, casualties are being verified, preliminary statistics show that 803 people were killed, 912 people were wounded, and 37 people were missing. ”

Lyons turned around and asked, "Which capital ships have you lost?" ”

The intelligence staff officer then said: "Eight battleships including the Royal Oak, the Hood, the Prince George, the Victory, the Jupiter, the Solemn, the Edward VII, and the Agamemnon were lost; four cruisers of the first class, including Achilles, Essex, Suffolk and Lancaster; In addition, 7 second-class cruisers of the Bright God class and 3 third-class cruisers of the Goddess of Justice class were sunk. ”

With a thud, Lyons slammed the table, startling the intelligence staff.

"Damn it! What about enemy losses? ”

The intelligence staff officer continued: "The capture of 103 prisoners of war of the Imperial Chinese Navy can confirm that the 30 submarines of the 6th Detachment of the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy attacked our Singapore naval base, 19 of which were sunk by our defense forces, and the remaining 11 were seriously wounded and fled. ”

Lyons smiled sadly and said, "19 submarines for our 37 warships, including our 22 capital ships, is really cost-effective!" ”

The intelligence staff officer asked: "Your Excellency Marshal, when our torpedo boat destroyers were pursuing the fleeing enemy submarines, they found the enemy cruiser fleet and the hunting fleet outside the harbor, and preliminarily judged that there should be the enemy's main fleet in the distance outside the harbor. ”

"I know them so well! Their main fleet is definitely coming! This is a long-planned operation! Lyons then asked, "Send reconnaissance planes to search for the main force of the enemy fleet immediately!" ”

The intelligence staff officer replied: "The chief of staff has sent a reconnaissance plane, but it has not been able to detect the enemy fleet target!" ”

"How is that possible?" Lyons said in disbelief: "They can run up to 50 nautical miles in one night, and the reconnaissance plane will definitely be able to spot them!"

The intelligence staff officer said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency Marshal, our reconnaissance plane can only fly 15 nautical miles, and 50 nautical miles is far beyond the reconnaissance radius of our reconnaissance aircraft!" ”

"What? Only 15 nautical miles? Leonston was dumbfounded, and then said: "When I tested the Jian-1B reconnaissance plane in Yanjing, it was obvious that it could fly more than 50 nautical miles!" ”

The intelligence staff officer smiled bitterly and said, "Then I don't know, the 20 reconnaissance planes allocated to us by the Admiralty clearly state in the instructions that the maximum reconnaissance radius is 15 nautical miles. ”

"Damn it! Admiralty bunch of rice buckets! Lyons gritted his teeth in anger and said: "This is a conspiracy of the Chinese, they have been calculating us from the beginning!" ”

The intelligence staff officer asked: "Your Excellency, what should we do?" ”

Lyons said, "Go, call me back the chief of staff!" In addition, the situation will be reported to London immediately. ”

"Yes!" The intelligence staff officer asked again: "Your Excellency, the chief of staff wants to postpone the report!" ”

"Why?" Lyons asked.

"The chief of staff thinks that it is difficult to escape the blame for reporting to His Excellency the Marshal like this, and I am afraid that Shangfeng will blame it. The Chief of Staff hopes that we can take the initiative to fight the Pacific Fleet, and then report back when we win. ”

Lyons sighed and said, "I understand the kindness of the chief of staff, but if we really attack now, we will fall for the Chinese, I bet that the Pacific Fleet is waiting for us to take revenge?" ”

"But?"

"Don't! Do as I say, report it truthfully, and it's time for the rice buckets in London to sober up. ”

"Yes!"

The intelligence staff could not persuade Marshal Lyons, so he had to act as he was told.

The Imperial Chinese Navy's attack on the British naval base in Singapore and the heavy damage to the British Asian fleet were quickly reported to London.

On November 1, the British political axe officially declared war on the Chinese Empire. On the same day, the Chinese Empire also declared war on Britain at the same time. The Sino-British War officially broke out.

When the news of the war between China and Britain broke, the world was shocked.

Although the European and American powers had long guessed that war would break out sooner or later if the Chinese Empire and Britain collided so fiercely, they did not expect that the fight would start so soon, and what shocked them even more was that the Imperial Chinese Navy dared to take the initiative to attack the British Navy, and used the Russian Far East Fleet that attacked the port of Ulsan on the British Navy again, and it was even successful, which really shocked the naval circles of various countries, and the British Navy's defense capability was so poor that it was really worthy of the praise of the world's first naval power.

However, facts are facts and cannot be changed. The success of the Chinese Imperial Navy's sneak attack on Singapore severely damaged the main force of the British Navy's Asian Fleet, which undoubtedly amounted to a great weakening of Britain's naval power in Asia, and the Chinese Imperial Navy occupied absolute maritime superiority in a short period of time.

The international community's attitude towards the outbreak of war between China and Britain was basically on the side of the Chinese Empire, mainly because Britain had been the big brother in the hegemony for many years, and pursued a policy of glorious isolation, so that Britain had no allies. Moreover, after the Boer War, after the exposure of the bloody concentration camp enslavement of the Boers, Britain was completely isolated politically in Europe.

On the other hand, the Chinese Empire has risen to become a world power after the Sino-Spanish War and the Sino-Russian War, which has not been recognized by the European and American powers. At the same time, the Chinese Empire was flexible in its foreign policy, forming a three-year alliance with the German Empire, and co-opting the European Allied bloc to side with the Chinese Empire. A military buffer zone was properly established with Russia, and a non-aggression pact and understanding were signed with France, which pacified the Entente bloc.

At the same time, before the start of the war, the Chinese Empire wantonly created a public opinion advantage, criticized Britain as the aggressor, and provided the moral high ground of "forced resistance to the aggressor" for the Chinese Empire to launch a war against Britain, which was supported by international public opinion.

In this way, before the war between China and Britain began, Britain had already lost a move diplomatically.

After China and Britain declared war on each other, the British political axe urgently issued war warnings to British colonies around the world and issued a general mobilization order for war.

In view of the heavy losses suffered by the British Navy's Asian Fleet after the surprise attack on Singapore, the British Admiralty sent a telegram to Field Marshal Lyons, ordering him to gather the remaining main fleet and find the Imperial Chinese Navy to fight, and asked him to recover the field and save the face of the British Imperial Navy.

The Admiralty's order reached the command of the Asian Fleet in Singapore on 3 November, and Lyons and Vice Admiral Beale, the chief of staff, studied and were compelled to take some action to stabilize the morale of the army under the intense pressure of the vengeance cries of all the officers and men of the British Asian Fleet.

At this time, the port of Singapore had been blockaded by the main force of the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, and the British Asian Fleet was trapped in the port.

In order to avoid being blocked in the port by the Chinese Imperial Navy, Leons lost sea supremacy, resulting in a passive defense situation, so he gathered the main warships of the Asian Fleet to actively look for fighters and try to break through.

Despite the heavy losses suffered by the British Asian Fleet, the large British Asian Fleet remained strong.

After Lyons reorganized the detachments, the main force of the new Asian Fleet was organized as follows:

Battleship detachment:

First Detachment: Counterattack, Determination, Vitality, NobleSecond Detachment: Hannidial, Mars, Caesar, BulwarkThird Detachment: Republic, New Zealand, Indian, NelsonFourth Detachment: Fast, Triumph, Pavrel, Captain Centurion Cruiser Detachment:

Fifth Detachment: Warrior, Cochrane, Natal, Minotaur, Defense, Shannon Sixth Detachment: Monmouth, Bedford, Donegal, Berwick, Kent Seventh Detachment: Blake, Blenheim, Cumberland, Cornwall The first three detachments of the British Asian Fleet were veritable battleship detachments, all composed of 305 main guns and thickly armored battleships. The four battleships of the fourth detachment had only 254 mm of main guns and belonged to the second-class battleships, of which the armor of the fast class was only 217 mm.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh cruiser detachments were basically composed of first-class cruisers, and Lyons believed that the British second- and third-class cruisers were outdated and were no match for the Imperial Chinese Navy, so he separated 14 Goddess of Justice-class second-class cruisers, 5 Goddess of Light-class second-class cruisers, and 7 Marathon-class third-class cruisers from the main fleet and organized them into a port defense fleet responsible for defending the port.

Despite this, Lyons deeply understood that the British fleet in his hands could certainly fight a battle with the Chinese Imperial Navy, but the chance of victory was not great, so his breakthrough plan was to wait for the Indian Ocean Fleet to arrive for reinforcements, and then cooperate with the Chinese Imperial Navy to have a decisive battle.

The core conflict of interests between the Chinese Empire and Britain was on Hong Kong Island, so in the event of a war between China and Britain, the battle for Hong Kong Island would be the focus.

The history of Hong Kong can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, 5,000 years ago. After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he successively established three counties in the south: Nanhai, Guilin and Xiangjun, and Hong Kong was subordinate to Panyu County, Nanhai County, and from then on, Hong Kong was placed under the jurisdiction of the central government.

Hong Kong is an excellent deep-water port, once known as one of the world's three natural harbors, the British in the early years of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour has the potential to become an excellent port in East Asia, did not hesitate to use the Opium War to seize this place from the Manchu government axe in order to develop their Far East maritime trade business, thus starting the history of Hong Kong as a colony.

The two parts of Hong Kong (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon) are derived from two unequal treaties at different times. After the First Opium War in 1840, the British forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Nanking (formerly known as the Treaty of Jiangning) in 1842, ceding only Hong Kong Island. In 1856, the British and French forces launched the Second Opium War, forcing the Qing Dynasty to sign the Treaty of Yanjing in 1860, ceding the Kowloon Peninsula, the area south of present-day Boundary Street.

While the Chinese Empire was fully implementing the ban on smoking and drugs, the Chinese in Hong Kong were still suffering from opium poisoning. The Encyclopædia Britannica, published in 1900, described Hong Kong as follows: "Hong Kong or Victoria Harbour often gives the impression of being alive with as many as 240 gun salutes fired in a single day, and the capital city of Victoria has a population of more than 166,000, of whom 6,000 are European or American." Opium is still the economic lifeblood of this small town in Hong Kong, as there is no manufacturing industry in Hong Kong. ”

Although the Chinese Empire and Britain repeatedly negotiated issues such as Hong Kong's sovereignty and opium, and although most of the unequal treaties between China and Britain were abolished, the British side always refused to hand over Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, and even refused to ban smoking and anti-narcotics in Hong Kong.

As early as two years ago, when Sino-British tensions began, the British Governor-General's Office of Hong Kong, in accordance with the provisions of the 1903 "Hong Kong Island Defence Outline", began to launch its defense plan with a budget of up to 5 million pounds from February 1903. At the end of 1904, the newly appointed Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Sir Sirbeilbyf Alston, thought that Hong Kong was difficult to defend, and suggested that Hong Kong be listed as an international public concession area, as an undefended city, relying on international forces to prevent the invasion of the Chinese Emperor [***], and stop all defense plans, but was opposed by the British Parliament's face-saving faction, believing that Hong Kong must be defended.

So, Hong Kong's defense plan continues. In July 1905, growing tensions between China and Britain led to the passage of the Emergency Ordinance by the British government in Hong Kong, ostensibly maintaining ties with the Chinese Empire, but in fact actively preparing for war.

The British government began to stipulate that British adults must enlist in the security corps, and passed an ordinance that the governor of Hong Kong could requisition public property at any time, mainly buildings and cars. At the end of October, a shipload of reinforcements arrived from Canada, which was not well trained and did little to defend Hong Kong. However, despite the intensification of preparations for war, the scope was still very limited, and when Sir Eiston became Governor of Hong Kong, Hong Kong had only about 11,000 British and Indian British soldiers, plus 1,387 members of the local security corps. In addition, before he took office, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Far East had asked the British Prime Minister for instructions to increase the number of troops in Hong Kong, but the British Prime Minister refused because he believed that Hong Kong was in no danger to defend, which shows that Hong Kong's defense was still very fragile on the eve of the outbreak of the Sino-British war. Sir Eston did not make any further troop build-up after that.

Hong Kong's defense plan includes many places on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, as well as the east and west entrances of Victoria Harbour, and has built a number of heavy artillery and 16-inch guns, more than 70 machine gun forts have been built along the coast of Hong Kong Island, and Hong Kong Island is covered with barbed wire along the north shore of Victoria Harbour, and the sea is also full of iron chains, leaving only the Ilha Verde Channel for ships to enter and exit. A number of pillboxes and shelters were also erected on the hills of Hong Kong Island, such as two machine gun forts on Jardine's Hill, which played a great role in hindering the advance of the Chinese Emperor.

At 8 a.m. Hong Kong time on November 1, 1905, a few hours after the Imperial Chinese Navy attacked the port of Singapore, the 23rd Army of the Chinese Emperor [***] under the command of Duan Zhigui attacked Hong Kong from Shenzhen with a total of 50,000 troops with engineers and infantry as the advance force. The defence of Hong Kong consisted of British, Canadian, Indian soldiers and the Hong Kong Chinese Security Corps, totalling about 15,000 men.

However, the British army was in a very disadvantageous position from the beginning. The Chinese Emperor [***] not only had a numerical superiority on land, but also had airships and fighter planes to participate in the war, and the British army's air power was extremely weak, and only five reconnaissance planes imported from the Chinese Empire could use it. The Navy also has only one cruiser detachment stationed.

As soon as the war began, the Chinese [***] squadron dispatched air force airships to bomb Kai Tak Airport, destroying all the British reconnaissance planes and balloon teams on the ground, and gaining air supremacy in Hong Kong, making the British army blind and unable to detect the military deployment and troop movement of the Chinese Emperor.

Of the only five cruisers and six torpedo destroyers of the British Navy, three of them were sunk by four battleships, the Nanhai Fleet, the home fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy, the Ningxuan, Yinglan, Min Zhu, and Shu Meng, while the remaining British ships were responsible for evacuating the British family and fleeing to Hong Kong Island.

Since the Imperial Chinese Navy had already blockaded the area around Hong Kong Island, the Navy, considering that there were too many international people in Hong Kong and were worried about international public opinion, did not attack the British [***] ship carrying their families, and allowed it to sail into Victoria Harbour before implementing the blockade.

The defense of Kowloon was carried out by a British and Indian army of about 5,000 men called the Continental Corps, which was headquartered in Kowloon Tong and included the 2nd Royal Scotsman Battalion, the 2nd Battalion of the 14th Ponsop Regiment, the 5th Battalion of the 7th Regiment, the 1st Company and 1st Artillery and a Small Squad of the Hong Kong Security Regiment, and the reinforced Canadian grenade battalion. According to the predetermined plan, the Anglo-Indian forces abandoned the Shenzhen River, which was difficult to defend, and placed the main force on the mountainous ground north of Kowloon, known as the Drunken Bay Line.

The three regiments of the 38th Division of the Chinese Emperor [***]: the 228th, 229th and 230th Regiments, crossed the Shenzhen River from the front on the morning of November 1 and marched southward, the 228th Regiment passed through Lam Village, the 229th Regiment passed through Shaluo Cave and Chi Nai Ping and then crossed Ma On Shan and exited Buffalo Hill, and the 230th Regiment first went to Kam Tin, Yuen Long and Castle Peak Bay, and then along the Castle Peak Highway out of Tsuen Wan. British engineers and a company of Ponsupu destroyed the Tai Po Highway and the Canton-Kowloon Railway, but failed to slow the advance of the 228th Regiment.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, the 228th Regiment of the Emperor of China [***] arrived in front of the fortress at the gate of the Drunken Bay Defense Line.

In the evening of the same day, the 228th Regiment of the Central [***] launched a surprise attack on the 201st Fortress, and the sentries of the 201st Fortress, who found that the Chinese Emperor [***] had launched an attack, immediately resisted with Makqin heavy machine guns.

Emperor China [***] used the sniper squadron of the special operations brigade directly under the 23rd Army to carry out accurate shooting on the British heavy machine gunners on the 201st Fortress from a long distance, and at the same time, the mortar squad of the 228th Regiment suppressed the British army, and the second platoon of the second company of the third battalion of the 228th Regiment climbed up from the west side of the pipeline as a sharp knife platoon, attacked the flank of the British army in the 201st fort in a roundabout way, and surrounded and annihilated the British A Company in one fell swoop.

B and C companies of the Scottish battalion defending the fort were forced to retreat to the vicinity of Gold Hill to join D Company. Brigadier General Wallis, the commander of the Continental Corps, once asked the commander of the Scottish battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Batte, to counterattack, but was refused, and ordered the other Scottish battalions to retreat to the Golden Hill.

On the morning of the 3rd, the Chinese Emperor [***] launched another attack on Jinshan, and at the same time, the artillery of the Security Regiment in Stonecutters Island fired artillery at the fortress to try to make support, but the Security Regiment was basically Chinese soldiers and did not want to attack the Zu [***] team, so as a result, it deliberately hit the British defenders on Jinshan, causing a large number of casualties to the British B Company and C Company, the commander of D Company was killed, and Jinshan was lost. On the second day, they occupied Tsing Yi and went straight to Lai Chi Kok.

The British headquarters felt that the mainland corps was in danger of being surrounded at any time, and the chief superintendent of Kowloon announced that the police would abandon Kowloon, and the Chinese rebelled on the streets, planting dragon flags all over the city to welcome the Chinese emperor [***] into the city. As a result, the British army was forced to abandon the Kowloon Peninsula.

By the evening of the 4th, except for the Devil's Hill on the north shore of Lei Yue Mun, Kowloon had been completely recovered by the Chinese Emperor [***].

On 6 November, the last Rajep Battalion to stay in Kowloon was evacuated to Hong Kong Island by destroyer, and Kowloon was recovered.

Subsequently, the Chinese Emperor [***] sent a representative to demand the surrender of the British army, but was rejected by the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Eston.

In the days that followed, the Chinese Emperor [***] continued to bombard and air strikes the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, including the erection of artillery at Ho Man Tin and the bombardment of British batteries and communications and power generation facilities by airships flying from Guangzhou. Hong Kong Island was defended by troops withdrawn from Kowloon, two Canadian battalions, the 1st Middlesas Battalion, and the 1st to 7th Companies of the Security Regiment. The Commander-in-Chief, Major General Ligan divided Hong Kong Island into two brigades, the East Brigade, which mainly defended the coastline east of Causeway Bay and Deep Water Bay, including North Point to Chai Wan, Tai Tam to Stanley and Repulse Bay, and was headquartered on the high ground at the junction of Tai Tam Road and Shek O Road. The Western Brigade guards the western coasts of the Western and Central Naval Dockyards, Pok Fu Lam and Aberdeen Shouson Hill, and is headquartered in the vicinity of Wong Nai Chung Gorge. Forts such as Victoria were defended by the 4th and 7th Companies of the Scottish Battalion and Security Regiment, and both the Fortress Command and the Combined Command were located in the Naval Fort.

On the 14th, the Chinese Empire repeatedly attacked oil refineries, rubber factories, and many British power plants, waterworks, and other facilities on Hong Kong Island, causing many fires, destroying the main water pipes, leaving some areas without fresh water supply, food shortages, and the beginning of sieges.

Late at night on the 15th, the Chinese Emperor [***] attempted to forcibly land on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, but was stubbornly resisted by the British defenders and was forced to give up.

On the 16th, the Chinese Emperor [***] used Ho Man Tin Shan artillery to bombard the north shore of Hong Kong Island, and two companies of death squads stormed the coast near the North Point Power Plant, but the defenders resisted stubbornly and almost completely annihilated.

On the evening of the 18th, the 228th Regiment of the Emperor of China [***] first dispatched special forces in the dark area of To Kwa Wan and Cha Kwo Ling to use rafts to quietly cross Victoria Harbour, destroy the underwater barrage of Victoria Harbour, and send a signal to direct the 228th Regiment landing craft to land on Hong Kong Island on a large scale and quickly.

The Royal Navy sent several gunboats to intercept them, but they failed. The 228th Regiment landed in the eastern area of the North Point Zhiai Order Bay garrisoned by the Indian Army's Rajp Battalion, although it was fiercely counterattacked by the Rajp Battalion, but the soldiers of the 228th Regiment advanced bravely, fearless of life and death, and after a few charges, they broke down the defensive positions of the Indian soldiers and successfully landed on the beach.

At the same time, the 229th Regiment landed on the other side detoured to the rear of A and C Companies of the Rajep Battalion from the flank, quickly occupied the Lei Yue Mun Fortress, and after attacking the Sai Wan Fort where the 5th Artillery Company of the Security Regiment was stationed, the Security Regiment had to revolt and help the 229th Regiment advance to Nam Tai Tam and Repulse Bay.

The British Eastern Brigade once sent the C Company of the Canadian rifle team out of Sai Wan to relieve the siege, but after discovering that the 5th Artillery Company of the Security Regiment had revolted, it was forced to retreat.

At dawn on the 19th, the Chinese Emperor [***] had occupied Mount Baijia, which was originally garrisoned by the C Company of the Canadian Army's Rifle Rifles, and Bona Mountain and Jardine's Hill of the 3rd Company of the Security Regiment, and marched towards the headquarters of the Western Brigade Huang Niyong.

The commander of the British Eastern Brigade wanted to fight a protracted war, so he ordered the Eastern Brigade in the eastern part of Hong Kong Island to retreat to Stanley, resulting in a defensive gap in the area of Yangmingshan Villa east of the Western Brigade.

The 3rd Squadron of the Special Operations Brigade of the 23rd Army of the Chinese Emperor [***] suddenly attacked the Huangniyong Gorge from Yangmingshan, and raided the headquarters of the Western Brigade on the evening of the 20th. The British Ponsup Battalion and the Scottish Battalion counterattacked Wong Nai Chung Gap but were blocked by the 228th Regiment, and as a result, the 3rd Company of the Security Regiment rebelled and attacked the British in the battle, inflicting heavy losses on the British army. The British army was forced to retreat to the area around the Middle Gorge and Mount Cameron with the remaining Canadian grenadiers and the Scottish battalion.

On the 21st, the Chinese Emperor [***] besieged Repulse Bay and Stanley, and the B Company of the British Middlesex Battalion and the B Company of the Canadian Rifles continued to resist in the vicinity of the Repulse Bay Hotel.

From the 22nd to the 24th, the Chinese Emperor [***] successively broke through the defense lines of Cameron Gorge and Majixian Gorge jointly defended by the Scottish Battalion of the Western Brigade and the Canadian grenadiers in the mountainous area, and the stronghold of Leighton Hill in the urban area was lost, and the remaining two battalions of the defenders, the Indian Army, the Middlesex Battalion, Z Company and artillery, took Luab Road and Ship Street in Wan Chai as the last line of defense, and the Eastern Brigade and the Canadian Army rifle team once disobeyed, and at the same time the defense line retreated to the south of Stanley Village, and the Governor's Palace in the urban area was bombarded by the naval guns of the Imperial Chinese Navy and caused a fire. The Governor, Sir Eston, was so frightened that he hid under the table and shouted surrender.

On the evening of the 25th, Sir Aiston, the Governor of Hong Kong, negotiated the surrender with the Emperor of China at the Peninsula Hotel, where the power was cut off. At this time, the gas and electricity in Victoria City were cut off, and the British Chinese, who accounted for the majority, continued to make trouble and demanded to return to the embrace of the motherland. The British Singapore fortress was surrounded by the Chinese Imperial Navy, and the British army could not rush to Hong Kong to reinforce it, and Hong Kong's defense was hopeless.

After two hours of negotiations, Duan Zhigui, the commander of the Chinese Emperor [***], together with Sir Eston, the governor of Hong Kong, and the commander-in-chief of the defending army, Major General Ligon, signed the surrender under the candlelight of the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon, and the British surrendered unconditionally.

At this point, Hong Kong, which had been occupied by the British for more than half a century, was recovered.

(To be continued)