The British Cabinet meeting continued, and the British Colonial Secretary George Murphy . Nathaniel. The Marquis Curzon said, "I think we should intervene in the situation in Asia, Britain needs a stable Asia, and now we can't spare any strength to influence the situation in Asia, but we can't let it go, and finally get out of our control, if we finish the European war, maybe Asia at that time has become an Asia we don't know." ”

The Cabinet members were a little divided, but at the end Prime Minister Asquith said: "We will not give up our interests in Asia, and naturally we will meddle in Asian affairs, even if it is just to show our existence, and we will show it from time to time, so I think it is necessary for us to urge them to sit down and talk." ”

"If Japan is really crippled by the other side, it will also have an impact on the interests of our British Empire, after all, we have run Japan for so many years, and I think Marquis Curzon is right when he said that stable Asia is what we want to see."

After Prime Minister Asquith finished speaking, he saw that there was no objection from the cabinet members, so he instructed the foreign minister to take charge of the matter, and together with France and the United States, contacted Guo Yu, and asked the two sides to stop and sit down for talks as a mediator.

In the end, Prime Minister Asquith also said with a smile: "The Dutch are worried this time, it seems that they are also going to send warships to participate in the battle against South China, I don't know how they will feel now." ”

The atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and everyone present laughed.

The Hague, Netherlands, the Home of the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Dutch Prime Minister Pierre. Colt. Van der Linden was anxiously asking his clerk, "Hasn't the fleet been contacted yet, what does the Ministry of Defense say, why hasn't it been contacted for so long?" ”

"Your Excellency, the Navy is already stepping up its contacts, probably due to the distance. The telegram could not be received, and the Ministry of Defense said that it had notified the embassies of the countries along the way, gave them a fleet contact code, and asked them to send the telegram at the same time, and believed that the results would be soon. The secretary replied.

Van Der Linden asked as he pulled out his pocket watch, looked at the time, and asked. "Are the cabinet members already here?"

"Yes, there are still 3 minutes until the appointed time of the meeting, and the cabinet members are already here." The secretary hurried back.

Van der Linden was the first to walk out of the room, and the secretary hurriedly followed behind with Wen Jiàn in his arms, and soon came to the conference room located in the Prime Minister's official residence.

"Gentlemen, an hour ago I received a telegram from the embassy in Japan that there had been a serious change in Japan, and that the matter also involved our Kingdom of the Netherlands. That's why we urgently convened this cabinet meeting to discuss our response. Without waiting to sit down, Prime Minister Van der Linden spoke, making everyone present nervous.

Van der Linden continued: "It has been confirmed that the Japanese fleet was annihilated by another fleet in the early hours of yesterday morning. ”

As soon as he said this, the cabinet members present let out a soft cry of disbelief, "Oh my. "Impossible."

"Ladies and gentlemen. I am also very shocked by this news, and I have confirmed it again and again with the Minister in Japan. The strength of the Japanese fleet may also be understood, with a total displacement of more than 500,000 tons, the strength of which is definitely among the top five navies in the world, is such a fleet, just yesterday, only a few hours. was wiped out by another fleet. ”

Speaking of this, Van der Linden paused, looked at the incredulous faces of the cabinet members, and continued: "Their opponent has been confirmed, and it is not Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and other great powers, but South China. Yes, you heard it right, it's the little Chinese state that was recently established in the outer colony of Borneo, the South China Kingdom. ”

"Oh my God, what about our fleet?" A cabinet minister exclaimed.

These people all know that the Netherlands has sent four warships to prepare to form a joint fleet with Japan to jointly crusade against South China, and now that the Japanese fleet has been completely annihilated, is it possible that the Dutch fleet has also been wiped out?

"Fortunately in misfortune, our fleet is still on its way to Japan, and according to the current time, our fleet should be in the Pacific Ocean." This was stated by Defense Minister Van Miedgoup.

"Then hurry up and recall our fleet, the Japanese fleet has been completely destroyed, and our warships will not be able to do anything in the past." Another said.

"Yes, the Ministry of Defense has ordered the recall of our warships, but the Pacific Ocean is too big, we can't contact them now, I have ordered that all embassies along the way send reports uninterruptedly, and they must be contacted before the fleet sails into the Sea of Japan, I want to use the four warships we sent to face the enemy's such a powerful fleet, only the fate of being sunk by you, no one will object to this order of mine." Prime Minister Van der Linden said.

Whoever will stand up against it now is irresponsible to the kingdom, and naturally no one has come forward.

"Alright, gentlemen, let's talk about how to deal with Nanhua's counterattack." Prime Minister Van der Linden threw out a headache.

"Do they dare to use troops against the kingdom, they are not afraid of becoming the enemy of the whole of Europe." Someone said.

"Gentlemen, please face up to this problem, if Nanhua really sends a fleet to the kingdom, do you think that country will come forward to save us, first of all, I am not optimistic that the kingdom's navy can defeat the naval fleet of Nanhua."

"Count on Britain and France, they are fighting in Germany and Austria-Hungary, and they can't draw troops to aid us, even if we ask them to send troops, but they must ensure the safety of the kingdom, you know, our Netherlands is too small, the mainland is only 40,000 square kilometers, and now there are only a dozen modern warships, and the combat effectiveness cannot be compared with Japan, do you think the kingdom's navy has the ability to defend the security of the kingdom."

"We are now a neutral country, Europe is not capable of participating, and we have not formed strategic alliances with other countries, this is our disadvantage, we are likely to be isolated, everyone, let's study our own problems carefully."

Van Der Linden analyzed the current problems of the Netherlands, originally they did not pay attention to the South China that established a country in Borneo, but now they suddenly found that the other party suddenly became a behemoth, and it was no longer a deposit that the Netherlands could compete with, and the Netherlands had unknowingly entered this mess, which was a headache.

"I don't think Nanhua will come to attack our kingdom itself, after all, it's too far away, and they won't get any real benefit from attacking us, and it will make all European countries hostile to him, and they will lose more than they gain by doing so." Someone asked.

"Of course, this is the best outcome, but we have to prepare for the worst, after all, our two sides are now in a state of hostility, what if Nanhua really has a hot brain and sends a fleet to fight us, as long as he carries out a round of shelling of our coastline, and then blocks all shipping routes and docks, then the Netherlands will fall directly into a collapse situation." Foreign Secretary Furhechen said.

"This can be seen in the follow-up development, I think the two sides can communicate, after all, they first established a country on our colony privately, their behavior is wrong, and our sending troops is also a righteous act." said the Minister of Education.

Many people have black lines on their heads, is there justice in war, is there justice in the contest between countries, there is only strength and power.

"Actually, I think there is some truth in what Lauren said, we must be able to sit idly by, let alone wait for the worst outcome, and it may not be a good way to contact South China, I think it is not difficult to let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs try to communicate with the other party, express our opinions and positions, and at most make some concessions on some issues, I don't think it is difficult to solve." Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Family Affairs Lofert said.

Although the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Family Affairs, Lovett, did not explain what he said, everyone present could understand the meaning of his words, and made some kind of concession, and any concession was nothing more than land and rights.

The fundamental contradiction between Nanhua and the Netherlands is that in Borneo, a Dutch colony, as long as the Netherlands recognizes the status and belonging of Nanhua, I believe that the other party will not be too entangled.

But when I think about it, I feel very uncomfortable, Borneo was originally a Dutch colony, and the Netherlands has been operating in the Dutch East Indies for a hundred years, and now it is not easy for anyone to feel uncomfortable when they are robbed of their property by a rising force.

It's hard to draw conclusions on this issue at this point, and it still needs to be seen how things develop. Colt. Van Der Linden concluded: "The war between Nanhua and Japan continues, and today Nanhua has called the Japanese government to ask the Japanese government to surrender, but it has received a strong response from the Japanese government, believing that their war will not be over for a while. ”

"However, judging from the information sent back from the embassy, Japan's fleet has been completely lost, and its ability to fight foreign wars has been lost, and at most it is trapped on the island, constantly dealing with attacks from the enemy, and I believe that in the end, it is the Japanese government that bows its head."

"What we have to do now is to keep a close eye on what's going on, and then we're going to work out what we're going to do based on how things develop."

The turmoil in Asia, the war between the small South China and Japan, has attracted a lot of attention for a while, of course, it is only for a while.

The European battlefield has now entered a turning point, the 'Battle of Verdun', the 'Battle of the Somme' on the Western Front and the 'Russian Summer Offensive' on the Eastern Front are nearing the end, after the Battle of Jutland, Britain still firmly controls the sea power, suppressing the Imperial Navy at home and doing nothing, the war is the most intense, the most test of the patience of all countries, the most dare not take it lightly, so the war between South China and Japan, the intensity of attention is really not great.

After all, he has not yet come out of the quagmire of war, how can he have the leisure to pay attention to the war that happened in the east, thousands of miles away, and had no impact on him.

They fight to the death, and who loses and who wins has nothing to do with themselves, it is nothing more than a few countries that involve vital interests, so that they will really have time to pay attention to things in the East. (To be continued......)