Previously, the empire had taken full control of Sakhalin Island and established military and settlement bases in the southern part of Sakhalin Island, which was adjacent to Ezo, and some Chinese later crossed the Soya Strait into the northern part of Ezo to trade with the locals, and established rudimentary trading posts.

If there is more contact, there will naturally be contradictions, and some Chinese businessmen and the local Japanese people themselves have also had a lot of contradictions in the past two years, resulting in some conflicts.

This agreement was intended to resolve a number of conflicts and disputes between the empire and the shogunate over Sakhalin Island and Ezo (Hokkaido).

However, the agreement does not explicitly demarcate the border between the two countries, but focuses on resolving conflicts and differences, as well as cooperation.

The shogunate allowed Chinese merchants to lease land in the northern part of the Ezo area, and to live and do business, and in order to ensure the supply of coal to ships, the Chinese merchants were allowed to set up their own ancillary facilities in the area, and in order to ensure the safety of the Chinese merchants and their property, and to prevent attacks by the Russians and the local Ezo natives, the empire was allowed to send a certain number of soldiers for protection.

This agreement was in effect a supplement to the 1859 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, which added the port of Wakkanai and legally confirmed that the empire could station soldiers in the concession for protection.

And it was precisely because of this treaty that later generations of Hitoshi himself thought that this meeting between Tokugawa Ieshige and Li Bocang was a humiliating meeting, and a concession was sold in less than an hour.

The Tokugawa shogunate received support from the Chinese Empire, especially after the weapons support, and soon prepared for the establishment of a new army, but the new army in this year could not be built in a day or two, and the shogunate was originally a typical conservative strength in Japan, and the army they recruited was still dominated by the traditional samurai class. They did not directly recruit peasants as soldiers as they did with the new armies of the Nagasu Domain and the Satsuma Domain.

But then again, if the Tokugawa shogunate had abandoned the samurai class and reformed the social system, it would have been impossible for him to gain the support of the Chinese Empire.

The goal of the empire's support for Japan's own domestic forces was not to be strong or not, advanced or not. None of this is what the empire needs.

As a result, reformers such as the Emperor's Shogunate, which had more potential, did not gain the support of the empire and became targets of the empire, while the Tokugawa shogunate, which had hindered the reform process of Japan and promoted the industrial revolution, received strong support from the empire.

At the same time that the imperial diplomats in Japan intervened in the domestic situation in Japan by various means, and supported the Tokugawa shogunate to suppress the Japanese reformist forces such as the Emperor and the Emperor.

In the office building of the Shanghai shipyard, several officers dressed in the uniforms of the U.S. Confederate Navy are talking to several Imperial Navy officers.

On the other side, there was a blonde man in a tuxedo and a dark-haired man in a Chinese suit, and they were seen leaning over the table and each signing their names on a document, and then the black-haired man said, "Now." This ship is yours! ”

As he spoke, he put the papers in his hand and a cashier's check from a Bank of England into his bag!

The blonde man did not express the joy of accepting the new warship, because everyone knew that the U.S. Navy of the Northern Government would do everything in its power to prevent the ironclad from sailing back to the United States, because that would cause them terrible trouble.

The USS Washington, named by the Confederate Navy, is no small feat, with thick armor, flexible and powerful rear-loading gun firepower, and its vapor power will provide it with flexible maneuverability. The sails are able to maintain an excellent endurance.

If such an ironclad ship returns to the United States, it will pose a serious challenge to the US Northern Navy.

The last two years of the American Civil War. The U.S. Northern Navy and the Southern Federal Navy have had many cases of ironclad battles, and these examples fully prove the strength of ironclad ships.

For this reason, the northern government of the United States has built many ironclad ships on its own, most of which are river gunboats, but some of them are ocean-going ironclads. In addition to self-construction, the northern government of the United States has also ordered a number of ironclad ships from the United Kingdom, but due to time constraints, these ironclads have not yet been delivered.

The ironclad ship ordered by the Southern Federation of the United States has become one of the many warships purchased by the North and the South of the United States. At present, it was the first to be built and put into service.

When the ship was first launched, the U.S. Confederate Navy was used by the founding leader of the United States, George Brown. Washington's name for the ship, and then it couldn't wait to send more than 300 sailors to accept the ship.

Now that the USS Washington has been outfitted and the initial sea trials have been completed, the US Confederate Navy has officially accepted the ship, but how this huge warship is sailed back to the United States is a big trouble for the Confederate Navy of the United States.

Now everyone on earth knows that the USS Wyoming of the US Northern Navy is off the coast of Shanghai, and a large number of Americans loyal to the US government in the north have been watching the movements of the USS Washington from beginning to end.

The odds of evading the surveillance of the Northern Navy and sneaking the USS Washington back are very debatable.

But no matter how difficult the road ahead is, they have to drive this battleship back!

After the night of September 26, the Washington was busy, and the coal-fired boilers on the battleship began to be loaded with coal, and began to heat up the boilers, and if the steam engine was used, it was generally necessary to start several hours in advance, and then it was able to obtain high-pressure steam to propel the battleship, not that the battleship could drive away immediately after putting in coal.

At twenty o'clock that night, with the help of two steam tugboats, the Washington began to leave the outfitting dock of the Shanghai shipyard, then hoisted its sails and sailed at a slow pace.

At twenty-one that night, the main steam engine on the Washington began to officially operate, providing the battleship with surging power, and then the Washington sailed out of the Yangtze River, and then went straight to the depths of the sea.

At the same time, several Americans on the shore who had been monitoring the Washington were also busy, and almost at the same time that the Washington left Shanghai, information about the Washington was transmitted by telegram.

But to the embarrassment of the Navy of the Northern Government of the United States, they only knew that the USS Washington had left Shanghai. But once you go there, it's not clear what sea route you are going to take back to the United States, and if you can't even know the route of the Washington, then you can't talk about intercepting it halfway.

Now, the U.S. government in the north can only hope that the small number of warships in Asia will be able to find the USS Washington and provide intelligence.

High hopes were placed on the sail-fast battleship USS Wyoming!

Since arriving in Shanghai's open sea, China has refused to allow any country's military warships to dock. Using Chinese ports, the Wyoming could only anchor on the high seas and send crew ashore to procure supplies and replenish supplies.

After drifting at sea for so many days, they always kept a close eye on every warship entering and leaving the Yangtze River.

When the Washington left the Yangtze River and entered the sea, although it was night, it still did not escape the eyes of the crew of the Wyoming.

The lookout on board the Wyoming had only one glance and was sure that it was their target, the USS Washington.

Because the USS Washington is an ironclad ship, it is very different from other warships. In particular, the open-air rotating turret above, which in the Far Eastern Seas was found on only two warships that had been built and served, one was the Imperial Chinese Navy's Nusnail and the other was Washington.

As a modern ironclad ship, the Female Snail has very obvious characteristics, that is, the Female Snail has no sails and relies solely on steam power to propulsion. And it's not fast.

The lookout on the USS Wyoming saw the ironclad with an open-air rotating turret with a tall, intricate sail system.

In this way, the detailed identity of the ship is already clear at a glance.

After learning about the appearance of the USS Washington. The captain of the Wyoming did not hesitate to give the order to set sail and then chased after it.

The USS Wyoming, a very typical high-speed sailing battleship, although the number of guns is a little smaller, only six front-loading guns, but the speed is almost at the limit of modern sail ships. In a smooth wind, you can even run a terrifying speed of twelve knots.

It was because of the confidence in speed that the Wyoming had the confidence to catch up and keep an eye on the master, of course. They don't have the guts to go up and hit them.

Although the Washington only has six main guns, it is a large-caliber rear-loading gun, and it is also an ironclad ship, which is very thickly armored, and ordinary wooden-hulled and wood-armored warships meet it, unless the difference between tonnage and the number of guns is too large, otherwise they can only kneel.

The two chased and fled, and it didn't take long for them to run into the Taiwan Strait.

However, at this time, the Washington, which had been fleeing in front, unexpectedly began to turn, and then lowered its sails, and drove up against the wind with full steam engine power, directly facing the Wyoming that was being pursued.

Although the Wyoming in the back also changed its voyage in time, it could only change according to the direction of the wind, but at this time, the Washington, which had completely relied on steam power, could ignore the wind direction and maintain a high speed of more than eight knots to approach the Wyoming.

When the Wyoming loses the maneuverability and even speed on which it depends, the fate that awaits it is doomed.

After two hours of pursuit, the Washington sank the Wyoming in the Taiwan Strait with 150 mm and 120 mm breech-loading guns.

Although this battle was a heads-up between two warships, the Taiwan Strait is the busiest strait off the coast of China, and it is natural that many ships will pass through.

The battle was recorded in detail by several passing merchant ships, and the ship of a British merchant ship was so brave that he even got close to observe, and recorded in detail every turn of the two ships and the timing of the firing, this record affirms God's perspective, and is more detailed than the combat records of the parties.

For this reason, the British epaulettes also received a large bonus when they handed over this engagement record to the British Royal Navy.

Because this is not only a civil war of the Americans, but also the first actual combat of Chinese-made ironclad ships, if you can get some detailed data, such as the range, power, rate of fire, and speed of the warship, etc., this can better understand the shipbuilding level and naval strength of the Chinese Empire.

The sailors of the U.S. Northern Government, who had fallen overboard and were rescued by passing merchant ships, quickly sent a message to those who were paying attention to the Washington, that is, the Washington's maneuverability and firepower were extremely powerful, and when they chased the Washington, they even found that they had run at a high speed of 14 knots, and the four 150 mm guns and four 120 mm guns on it far exceeded the front-loading smoothbore run in terms of rate of fire, range and accuracy.

Lin Zhe, who was in Nanjing, was not too surprised to learn that the Americans had fought a small naval battle in the Taiwan Strait, and that the USS Washington, which he had built for the US Confederate Navy, had sunk the Wyoming.

This ironclad ship with a standard displacement of more than 1,800 tons can bully a sail warship with less than 1,000 tons and only six front-mounted smoothbore guns, and anyone can do it, not to mention that the naval officers and sailors who are now controlling the Washington are still the elites carefully selected by the Southern Federal Navy.

This battle is not an accident for Lin Zhe, but the impact on the Chinese Navy is a bit big, and many people doubt the strength of the ironclad ship, the cost of the ironclad ship is so high, if the combat effectiveness is not as powerful as expected, then it will be a big loss.

And now, the USS Washington is a direct proof to them of the actual combat performance of ironclads!

Even, in a short period of time, the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire set off another climax of ironclads, and more naval officers were looking forward to it, waiting for the second ironclad ship of the Imperial Navy, which was also the first ocean-going ironclad ship of the Empire, to be completed and put into service.

So far, the empire has built and commissioned an offshore ironclad ship, which is the female snail, and placed an order for an offshore ironclad ship last year, but the female snail-class ironclad ship is a typical offshore defense ironclad ship, and its combat effectiveness is too simple.

Although its armor and firepower are strong, its endurance is quite tragic due to the lack of a sail system, and its speed is not high because the space and weight allocated to the power system are not too large.

This Female Snail-class ironclad ship is used to protect the port, or to fight in the coastal waters close to the supply port.

In fact, to put it bluntly, this female snail-class ironclad ship is a large gunboat.

The Pangu-class ironclad ship with a displacement of more than 2,000 tons is balanced and excellent in all aspects, with a speed of 12 knots under pure steam power, a maximum speed of 16 knots under the hybrid power of sails and steam, and a total of 10 rear-mounted open-air rotating gun guns.

The standard displacement reaches 2,400 tons, which is several hundred tons larger than the female snail class.

Although this battleship is not as good as the Female Snail class in terms of firepower and armor, its actual combat effectiveness is definitely far superior to that of the Female Snail class.

At the beginning, although the Imperial Navy valued the Pangu-class ironclad ships, it only placed orders for the Pangu and Zhurong.

But when the news of the naval battle in the Taiwan Strait between the North and South navies of the United States came, the Imperial Navy reacted quite quickly, and only half a month later, they had already placed an order for a third ocean-going ironclad ship with the Shanghai Shipyard.

At the same time, the order for this ironclad ship is not the original Pangu-class, but the shipbuilding department within the Navy has expanded the hull of the Pangu-class ironclad ship and improved many details.

The expansion of the hull and the increase in armament have also caused a rapid increase in the displacement of the ship, and according to the design, the standard displacement of this type of ironclad ship will reach 4,000 tons.

And this tonnage will bring an extremely severe test to the shipbuilding industry of the empire, at least for the time being, the Shanghai shipyard has no experience in manufacturing ships of more than 4,000 tons, let alone warships. (To be continued.) )

PS: 2-in-1 chapter!

Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, on this rainy day, I wish you all happiness and good health!