In 1894, only nine Majestic-class battleships were planned to be built in history, but at the end of 1893, it was decided to start construction of seven, and by 1894, the original plan of two more was changed and four more ships were started.

That is, in 1893 and 1894, the British began to build a total of eleven Majestic-class battleships.

More protected cruisers of the first rank, protected cruisers of the second rank, and protected cruisers of the third rank are almost full of slipways!

Such a big reaction from the British also frightened other countries in Europe, whether these countries want to or not, they must follow up in time, otherwise, let alone compete with the British for hegemony, their own coastal ports will not be able to defend.

As a result, the naval race between the French and the Germans, the Russians, Italy, Austria-Hungary and other countries quickly followed was officially started seven or eight years earlier than in history.

Unlike the historical naval competition, which was mainly based on the idea that the situation in Europe was unstable, the flashpoint of this naval competition was the Spanish colonies in the Americas and Asia.

To be precise, this is an arms race between China and the United States in order to snatch colonies, industrial raw materials, and markets from the traditional colonial powers.

As the world boss and the biggest beneficiary of the traditional colonial system, the British will naturally not be indifferent and watch the empire and the United States break the traditional colonial system, whether it is China, the United States, or Germany, if they want to challenge this colonial system, then it is equivalent to a war with the British.

So although the Empire and the United States were only interested in fighting the Spaniards, from the beginning to the end, the enemy of the Empire and the United States was not Spain, but England.

It's just that Lin Zhe didn't know that the arms race he took the initiative to set off had completely changed the course of the history of the original space-time world!

An arms race will not only bring about the construction of a few more battleships, but also a large-scale arms race, which will bear a very large burden on the country, and the rapid rise in military spending every year will cause serious damage to the domestic economy and people's livelihood.

In 1893, the empire greatly increased its naval military expenditure, and the proportion of military expenditure in that year had already reached 10 percent of the fiscal expenditure budget.

By 1894, it was 13 percent, and by 1895, it was 18 percent.

This is already a very dangerous figure for a rapidly developing capitalist industrial country.

In the past two years, with the support of a large amount of military spending, not only the Imperial Royal Navy has carried out large-scale expansion, but the army has also accelerated the replacement of new equipment.

The new gun, which used smokeless gunpowder and a hydraulic spring-loaded tube, began to enter service in new batches, and the Maxim machine gun was also in full service.

All this shows that the empire has begun to make the final preparations for war!

Now, all the empire needs is a tipping point!

In 1894 and 1895, the empire was waiting for an opportunity, but God didn't seem to like war, so the empire waited for two years, but it didn't find a good opportunity!

Last time, Lin Zhe naturally wouldn't be stupid and continue to wait!

Now that the empire is ready to fly, it has to be sent, no matter what the follow-up, this war must be launched, and the sooner the better, if it waits, the more unfavorable it will be for the empire.

Since God doesn't give himself an excuse to go to war, then make one for himself!

On December 22, 1895, a serious conflict broke out between indigenous and local Chinese in Manila, Philippines, in which dozens of Chinese were killed or wounded.

As soon as the conflict broke out, the Imperial Protection Cruiser Jinhua, which "coincidentally" was off the coast of the Philippines, quickly arrived in Manila, saying that it would enter the port to protect the expatriates, and said that in order to avoid conflict, the Spaniards were required to withdraw from the batteries, and the warships in the port were not allowed to light fire, and gave an ultimatum for a time-limited reply.

This kind of demand is basically a direct demand for the Spaniards in the port to surrender, and no country with a little self-esteem will agree to such an arrogant and unreasonable demand.

Looking at the Chinese cruiser outside the harbor, Patricio . Rear Admiral Montoho's face was grim, and the Chinese cruiser arrived at eleven o'clock in the morning and sent an ultimatum to the Spanish authorities in the harbor, demanding that the Spanish fleet in the harbor not light fire, remove the gun clothing, and evacuate the soldiers of the harbor battery, and the reason turned out to be ridiculous to let them enter the harbor to protect the expatriates.

What kind of joke is this, the Philippines is the territory of Spain, and the Chinese warships came running over and shouted that they wanted Spain to drop their force and then let them protect the diaspora!

What is the difference between this and unconditional surrender?

What made him even more depressed was that several other powerful people in Manila, especially the Philippine governor, were seriously considering whether to agree to this condition.

What are you kidding, if you give orders from above, Patricio. Rear Admiral Montoho was sure that within three hours he would command his fleet and the shore batteries to join forces and completely sink the Chinese cruiser opposite.

While Patricio. Rear Admiral Montoho's fleet is not strong, it can even be called weak, there are more than ten ships with relatively large tonnage, the total tonnage of the entire fleet is only more than 13,000 tons, and the largest flagship is Rena, which was commissioned eight years ago and has a displacement of 3,000 tons? The Christina.

This weak fleet is naturally not strong in combat effectiveness, and if the empire sends a detachment at random, it can completely annihilate this Spanish fleet.

But I don't know what the Chinese think, but they only sent a lone one, and it was an old ship with nearly twenty years of age.

Although I can't see the specific name of the ship, just looking at this appearance, it is also Patricio, who is familiar with the warships of Asian countries. Rear Admiral Montoho knew that this should be the Shaoguan-class protective cruiser of the Chinese, with a displacement of about 2,500 tons, and it was one of the cruisers built by the Chinese in large numbers in the seventies, although the firepower and protection performance were average, but because of the low price and large endurance, seaworthiness and other reasons, in the seventies, the Chinese built as many as eight in one go, and in the seventies and eighties, this class of cruisers was often seen in the western Pacific waters.

While Patricio. Rear Admiral Montoho's fleet was weak, but he still had a lot of confidence in dealing with such an old ship.

But he also understood that the reason why the officials above hesitated, and even really considered whether to agree to the Chinese's conditions, was not because of the lone old cruiser outside Manila, but because behind this old cruiser, there was a country second largest in the world.

The Chinese Empire has the world's largest army and the world's third-largest navy!

Such a huge country could not be resisted by the now weakened Spain.

It was very simple to sink the Jinhua, but it would not be long before more Chinese warships would appear outside Manila, and if the Chinese paid enough attention to it, maybe a few more battleships would be sent over.

When the time comes, even if Patricio. Rear Admiral Montojo led the fleet to resist desperately, but it was not enough to stuff people's teeth.

So anger is anger, but the Spaniards can still endure it, isn't it just a shame, it's a big deal to be shameless.

Therefore, after thinking about it, the Spaniards did not refuse the Jinhua to enter the port to protect overseas Chinese as many conspirators in the empire wanted, but agreed to it.

After learning the reply of the Spaniards, Colonel Li Ziping, the captain of the Jinhua, was a little depressed, unlike many other officers and men on the ship who did not know the mission of this trip, he was very clear about his mission.

A few days earlier, when he was on a standing mission from Cam Ranh Bay, he was called over by his superiors for a secret conversation, and this time he came to the coast of the Philippines, but he was on a secret mission.

This secret task was to be very short, and that was to provoke Spain, preferably outright to provoke the Spaniards.

According to his own plan, Spain did not have much chance of agreeing to these demands, and once the Spaniards refused, then he would lead the Jinhua to try to force its way into Manila Bay, and when the Spaniards sent warships to intercept or directly use shore defense batteries to open fire on interception, then it would be the best.

When the time comes, he will not hesitate to withdraw from Manila Bay, and then use wireless telegraphy to call for help, and a detachment of Imperial cruisers not far away will be quickly reinforced, and then the war will break out completely.

But now the Spaniards have actually succumbed!

For a moment, he didn't know what to do!

The only way to report is by wireless telegraph, waiting for instructions on the next step.

Lin Zhe, who was in Nanjing, couldn't help but be stunned when he learned that Spain had agreed to the empire's unreasonable demands!

However, if the empire wants to go to war, how can you avoid it if the Spaniards give in, and immediately he said to the official of the palace intelligence department: "In this case, it is to implement the second plan!" ”

On the morning of the 24th, the Jinhua, which had been waiting at the mouth of Manila Bay for a day, finally got a reply from above, and they asked Colonel Li Ziping to carry out the second plan.

After learning of this reply, Li Ziping hesitated, looking at his Jinhua with a reluctant face.

However, he also knew very well that for the sake of the great cause of the empire, the sacrifice of the Jinhua was inevitable, and what he could do at that time was to try to take away the brothers on the ship.

At noon on the 24th, the Jinhua entered Manila Bay, and then docked at the port of Manila, and then Colonel Li Ziping landed with a large number of crew members to carry out the so-called escort of overseas Chinese.

But a few hours later, that same night, the Jinhua suddenly exploded violently on the dock in Manila, and the explosion was so violent that the aging cruiser Jinhua sank in the harbor on the spot, revealing only a small part of the superstructure.

The Jinhua exploded and sank in the port of Manila, and the news instantly spread all over the world through telegrams.

After the conspiracy, it was natural that two other words appeared, and that was 'war'.

By the end of 1895, it was no secret that the Chinese Empire and the United States had ambitions for the Spanish colonies, and even the Spaniards themselves knew very well that sooner or later the Chinese would have to attack the Philippines.

This can be seen from the fact that a large number of Chinese in the Philippines have continued to rebel against the local aborigines and Spaniards since the beginning of the past few years.

In order to eliminate the possible invasion of the Chinese Empire as much as possible and not give the Chinese an excuse, the Spaniards have always supported the indigenous people against the Chinese, and even acquiesced in the indigenous massacre of the Chinese.

However, the confrontation between the indigenous and Chinese a few days ago, it should be that the Chinese jumped up, and the local Chinese, with the support of some well-intentioned people, swept several indigenous villages, which inspired the indigenous resistance against the Chinese, and finally caused dozens of Chinese casualties.

When this happened, the first reaction of the Spaniards was to favor the Chinese and completely suppress the natives.

But before the Spaniards had time to act, the Jinhua appeared off the coast of Manila, and then proposed the so-called protection of overseas Chinese!

Is this time really inevitable?

On the night of the Jinhua explosion, the Philippine authorities, on the one hand, urgently reported to China, and on the other hand, they also urgently contacted diplomats from Britain, France, and other countries to try to get them to help control the situation.

But they are fast, the empire moves faster!

The next morning, the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a circular to the major newspapers in a timely manner.

According to the notice, the cruiser Jinhua of the Imperial Royal Navy was attacked by the Spaniards and sank while on a mission to protect overseas Chinese, which was a war provocation to the Empire, and the Empire would respond to the actions of the Spaniards.

Finally, the Empire will send relevant personnel to the Philippines to investigate the truth of the matter, and hopes that the Spanish Filipino authorities will not do anything to resist, especially to avoid doing things that the Royal Navy may consider a threat of war.

In fact, at the time of the announcement of the Imperial Foreign Ministry, a detachment of the Imperial Royal Navy was already on its way to Manila!

Don't look at the diplomats who are still talking, but for the Empire, the war broke out last night! (To be continued.) )