Seizure of the German East Asian fleet? As soon as this sentence came out of Cai Yi's mouth, several other people were shocked one after another, and the seizure of a fleet was definitely not a joke, if it was just a ship, it would be easy to seize it, but this could be a fleet, and there were a total of twenty or thirty large and small ships! It's okay if people cooperate, but if they don't cooperate, what if they really fight?

Everyone was puzzled, didn't they decide that it would be at least half a year before they announced that they would join their camp? How do you start now?

In the confusion of everyone, Xiao Zhenlei said: "Now we are a neutral country, the German East Asian Fleet is so powerful, and there are British ships nearby, in case they encounter a fight, this is in our waters, they are fighting in our waters, this is absolutely not allowed by our country as a neutral country, in order to prevent them from fighting in our waters, we have every reason to detain this fleet, just right, aren't they going to dock in Qingdao?" Then we will block this fleet in the port of Qingdao. ~Top Novel, x. Create established facts first, and then talk about diplomatic negotiations, what do you think? ”

After listening to Xiao Zhenlei's words, everyone thought about it, this matter is not a trivial matter, these people are either government leaders, senior military generals, or presidential staff, so naturally they all have to think about the country and the president.

The office was quiet for a while, and several people were swallowing clouds and mist, and Yang Du asked at this time: "Is the president's final idea to swallow this fleet?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei smiled: "I think so, but if we are forced to join the Allies, of course this fleet will be returned to the Germans in the end, it's as simple as that!" ”

Yang Du nodded and said, "If that's the case." The reason for our seizure of the German fleet as a neutral country is that it is a good idea if we do not want to go to war now. It can only be in the name of 'seizure and protection', first of all, to prevent it from clashing with the Allied fleet in our waters. At the same time, in the name of protecting it, it was placed under house arrest in Qingdao Port! ”

Xiao Zhenlei applauded and smiled: "Not bad, this reason is really lofty!" General Sa, is there a problem on the naval side? ”

Sa Zhenbing stood up and said: "As long as the president gives an order, the navy will act immediately!" ”

"General Sa, remember, we are only seizing and protecting, not starting a war with the German East Asian Fleet, so we must be in a good sense of proportion!"

"Yes, President!"

Xiao Zhenlei said to Song Shijie again: "Diplomacy." I estimate that after the incident, both Germany and Japan will react greatly, and the diplomatic departments must be stable, not anxious, not afraid, and must not be afraid of German and Japanese questions, and must pay attention to their attitudes and not intensify contradictions."

Song Shijie nodded and said, "Understood!" ”

After the adjournment of the meeting, they dispersed. Sa Zhenbing returned to the naval command and immediately called a meeting at the highest level. In order to make this plan successful, the navy used all the warships of the main fleet, and handed over the task of coastal defense to some coastal defense patrol ships of smaller tonnage.

October 7th. The battleships Yingzheng and Yingsi, the main fleet of the Chinese Navy, and the battlecruisers Liu Che and Liu Xiu, all appeared.

In the early morning, a huge fleet appeared in the waters near Qingdao through the vast white fog on the sea, and soon came to the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay and lined up in a naval battle formation. This fleet blocked the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay.

All the large and small ships of the German East Asian Fleet were blocked in Jiaozhou Bay, and the German fleet did not realize that it was in deep trouble. It wasn't until two hours later that a gunboat was ordered to patrol the sea and arrived at the mouth of the sea. After discovering that the entrance to the sea was blocked by the Chinese naval fleet, the gunboat quickly turned around and returned, which was still because the gunboat was small in tonnage and small in size, and it was easy to turn, and if it was a battleship, it was not easy to turn around.

The German East Asian Fleet is the only German naval formation in its home port, and its current commander is Vice Admiral Maximilian? Feng? Spee.

In 1896, Germany's offer to the Qing court to purchase Jiaozhou Bay as a naval base for the East Asian Fleet was rejected, but in 1897 the murder of two German missionaries provided a pretext for the landing of German officer Dietrix with his troops. Initially the German Navy's occupation of Jiaozhou Bay was very weak, but it was strengthened with the arrival of the protective cruiser Empress Augusta. In January 1898, the naval barracks were established and became the defense force of Qingdao. On March 6, 1898, Germany and the Qing government signed the Treaty of Concession between Jiaozhou and Macao, leasing Jiaozhou Bay for 99 years. The Reich Navy's East Asia base and associated support and ancillary facilities (including the Tsingtao Brewery) were subsequently established.

Fleet Commander Maximilian? Feng? Specter, 53, joined the Navy at the age of 17 and has served in the Navy for 36 years, having held many positions on warships, which has given him familiarity with any position on the ship.

Maximilian with a short gray beard? Feng? Shi Pei had just gotten up and was rinsing his mouth, when the staff officer ran over panting, saluted with some panic and said, "Your Excellency General, something has happened, something has happened!" ”

"Don't panic!" Shi Pei said, then wiped the foam on his lips with a towel, and then asked, "Okay, you can say, what happened?" Did the Entente fleet come over? ”

When he said the last sentence, Shi Pei still had a smile on the corner of his mouth, obviously joking, but the staff officer couldn't laugh, he hurriedly said: "Your Excellency General, Jiaozhou Bay is blocked, it is the Chinese naval fleet, a gunboat ordered to go out to sea to patrol met them, but it was not attacked, the gunboat captain came back and reported that all the large warships of Huaguo had come!" ”

Shi Pei couldn't calm down when he heard these words, he quickly put down the towel and mouthwash cup and walked out of his cabin, he asked as he walked, "When did you find this?" ”

The staff officer quickly followed behind and said: "It was an hour and a half ago, I was worried that the news would cause panic among the ships, so I did not report to the ships, and now only a few people know."

Soon the two came to the command cabin, and there were only a few people in the command cabin, namely the chief of staff of the fleet, the intelligence officer, the communications officer, and several others. These people stood up and saluted when Shi Pei came.

Spee returned the salute and looked at several people, noticing that there was another person who was not from his side. Immediately asked: "Is it the Chinese Navy fleet that you found blocking Jiaozhou Bay?" ”

The gunboat captain stood up and said, "Yes, General! ”

Shi Pei asked again: "Are you sure it's the Chinese Navy fleet?" ”

The gunboat captain immediately said, "General." My eyes are still very good, there is nothing wrong, even if those warships are not flying the Chinese flag, I can recognize the Yingzheng and Ying-4 among them! Of course I'm sure! ”

Shi Pei's brows furrowed, and he asked, "How many ships are there?" ”

"General, all the ships that can be sent by the Chinese Navy are here, thirty or forty ships large and small, almost all of them are dispatched!"

Shi Pei's face changed several times in a few seconds after hearing this, and then he took a deep breath and said, "Sound the first-level combat readiness alarm." Order all ships to be combat-ready! ”

"Yes, General!"

The order was quickly issued, the piercing sirens echoed throughout Jiaozhou Bay, all the ships of the German East Asian Fleet began to make intense preparations for battle, the guns of the ships were lifted, the officers and men of the navy were inspecting the guns and turrets, every ship began to make fires, smoke began to rise from the huge chimneys on the ships, and shells were carried onto the deck one by one.

"Communications Officer!"

"Here!"

Spee ordered: "Inform the Minister of the situation here and the Minister in China." Please reply to the domestic kuài, I need authorization! ”

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

"In addition, send another patrol boat over to investigate the situation, find out the situation of the other party and come back quickly to report!"

"Yes!"

Spee removed the large-brimmed hat and tucked it under his armpit. In his mind, the gunboat had gone out to sea an hour and a half earlier to patrol and found that the Chinese fleet was blocked at the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay, which meant that the other party had been there at least two hours ago. Maybe it came late last night, but there was no attack. With the size of the opponent's fleet, his East Asia is not much less in terms of the number of ships. However, the performance and firepower of the battleships are too far behind, and if the other side suddenly attacks, the East Asian Fleet will probably be wiped out long ago, and maybe the other side has no malicious intent at all, and I don't know why it appeared here.

After breakfast, the patrol boat that went to reconnoiter came back, according to the report of the people on the patrol boat that the Chinese naval fleet was still not moving at the mouth of Jiaozhou Bay, and the gun jackets of the naval guns on each battleship were not taken off, and some of the Chinese naval soldiers on the ship were training, some were resting, and there was no preparation for war at all. What do you mean? Why are you blocking the estuary without going to war?

After thinking about it for a long time, Shi Pei figured out that the Chinese naval fleet was not going to war, but purely to block all his East Asian fleets in Jiaozhou Bay and prevent him from leaving.

Spee also ordered the communications officer: "Report the situation of the Chinese naval fleet to the country and the minister in China, and in the face of this situation, please give instructions to the country, how should we deal with it!" ”

"Yes, General!"

Spee ordered the staff officer again: "Give an order to all ships to be lowered from the first level of combat readiness to the third level of alert!" ”

"Yes, General!"

Since the Chinese fleet is not here to fight with the German East Asian Fleet, Shi Pei thinks that his East Asian Fleet no longer needs to maintain a state of first-class combat readiness, it is very tiring to maintain this state for a long time, not only the commander can't stand it, but the soldiers can't stand it either, but just in case, he still keeps the fleet on alert, if the Chinese naval fleet really goes to war, then his East Asian fleet can enter the combat state as quickly as possible.

"Protest, on behalf of the German Empire, I strongly protest, why is your naval fleet blocking Jiaozhou Bay? Does your country want to go to war with our country? Hudson, the German minister to China, shouted to Lu Zhengxiang in the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lu Zhengxiang smiled and said: "Mr. Hudson, don't worry, I already know the matter, I can assure His Excellency the Minister that my country has absolutely no malicious intentions, and there is a reason why I did this!" ”

Hudson didn't believe it at all, waved his hand and said: "Don't fool me, I won't believe you, I ask your fleet to immediately withdraw from the sea area of Jiaozhou Bay!" ”

Lu Zhengxiang said patiently: "Your Excellency the minister, can you listen to my explanation?" ”

"I don't listen to any explanation, what else is there to explain this? Your fleet has blocked our East Asian fleet, do you want to go to war or do something? ”

Kumataro Honda, the Japanese minister to China, who was sitting next to him, also said: "Yes, Your Excellency Minister Lu, your country's behavior is a serious provocation of our allies, you must know that the combined fleet of our Japanese Empire is not vegetarian, and your country must immediately withdraw the fleet to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings!" ”

Lu Zhengxiang was just about to explain, a staff member came over and whispered a few words in his ear, Lu Zhengxiang listened and waved the staff to leave, and then said to Hudson: "Mr. Minister, our president is invited!" ”

"Oh?" Hudson was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly said: "It's just right, since you can't solve it here, then I'll go to your president!" ”

Kumataro Honda also stood up and said, "Mr. Hudson, I'll go with you!" ”

Lu Zhengxiang stopped: "I'm sorry Mr. Hondaxiong, our president only invited Mr. Hudson!" ”

Honda Kumataro couldn't go if he wanted to, so he had to communicate with Hudson in time, and if he needed help, just talk, Hudson thanked him and followed Lu Zhengxiang.

The two came to the presidential palace and soon saw Xiao Zhenlei, who saw Hudson and hurriedly greeted: "Mr. Hudson, how are you?" It's been a long time since we met, and today I'm going to invite you to dinner, what do you think? ”

Despite his anger and rage, Hudson even had this top hat, and he hurriedly bowed and said, "Oh, thank you for your generosity, Your Excellency! I'd love to try your chef's delicious food, but I don't have an appetite right now, and I'm sure you know why! ”

Xiao Zhenlei made a gesture to sit down, Hudson bowed and thanked him and sat down, Xiao Zhenlei and other staff members said after serving tea: "Mr. Hudson is here for my navy fleet to block Jiaozhou Bay?" ”

Hudson said: "Of course, I know that you have a lot of opportunities, and I will not disturb your work lightly unless there is something particularly important!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei took a sip of tea and said with a smile: "Sir, I thought you were here to thank me, but I didn't expect you to come to me to ask for guilt, you did this to make my daring hurt greatly, do you know?" ”

"Huh?" Hudson was dumbfounded, and then reacted: "Your Excellency, what do you mean by this?" Could it be that you sent a fleet to block our East Asian fleet, and I in turn have to thank you? What is the rationale for this? (To be continued......)

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