In the Governor's Palace in Jakarta, Dutch East Indies, Governor Van Pittu and Commander of the Dutch East India Fleet, Salson, sat opposite each other with sad faces.

Governor Van Pittu held a telegram in his hand and said: "The Northeast Navy of the Qing Dynasty has another fleet, which has appeared in the waters outside the port of Pontianak, and this new Northeast Navy includes more than 20 warships including four all-steel battleships, as well as a large number of transport ships. ”

Salson couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart, the earliest Pontianak sent a telegram, saying that the Northeast Navy only came to 12 warships, including 2 all-steel battleships, and his own East India Fleet still has some confidence, and now the Northeast Navy has another fleet, if the fight is basically no chance of victory, Salson said in a deep voice: "Your Excellency the Governor, the main force of our East India Fleet in the port of Jakarta has been prepared and is about to rush to Pontianak, but with the strength of our East India Fleet, There is no power to resist the powerful Northeast Navy of the Qing Dynasty, I don't know what the real purpose of the Qing Dynasty is this time, if they really want to attack our Dutch East Indies, although our East India Fleet will fight to the end, but the result may be powerless. It is a great pity that Your Excellency the Governor-General, the difference in strength between our East India Fleet and the Northeast Navy is too great. ”

If that Far East military strongman Lin Daxin really wants to attack the East Indies, not to mention the navy, even the hundreds of thousands of troops in the East Indies are in vain, Governor Van Pittu said with a wry smile: "Pontianak sent a telegram that Li Hongzhang, the governor of the Qing Dynasty and the minister of trade of Beiyang, wants to enter Pontianak and inspect Lanfang, a subject country of the Qing Dynasty, on behalf of the Qing Dynasty, oh! My God! Where is there anything else that Lan Fang let the Qing Dynasty Master Li inspect, the entire territory of the Lanfang Republic has been occupied by us, Lan Fang has existed in name only, there are only a few puppets pushed out by us, and the Qing Dynasty Governor Li has the Northeast Navy escort, obviously representing the Far East military strongman Lin Daxin, and now the situation is very unfavorable to us. ”

The puppets pushed out by the Dutch are all Chinese who have defected to the Dutch, these Chinese have no power, and all the land, taxes, justice, and army in Lanfang are in the hands of the Dutch, that is, the status of the local natives is higher than that of the Chinese under the intentional control of the Dutch.

Salson asked with a lonely expression, "Your Excellency, what should we do now?" ”

Governor Van Pittu was also a little confused at this time, weighed and weighed, and finally sighed and said: "In this way, this Governor is also going with the East India Fleet in Jakarta, and the telegram from Pontianak said that the Governor Li of the Qing Dynasty wants to talk to me about Lan Fang." ”

Some of them were good to talk about, and Sarson, the commander of the Dutch East India Fleet, breathed a sigh of relief.

Sarson continued: "Before we go, we must report to the country quickly, and we must also inform the British of this news, hoping that the British will prevent the Qing Dynasty from expanding into our East Indies, and by the way, send a telegram to Pontianak, not to prevent the Qing Dynasty Governor Li from entering Pontianak, and let our people in Pontianak entertain that Governor Lee, and this Governor and the East Indies Fleet will do their best to rush to Pontianak." ”

The Netherlands received a telegram from the governor van pittupu, and was immediately shocked, the importance of the Dutch East Indies to the whole Netherlands is undoubted, the previous king of the Netherlands, King William III, died of illness in 1890, and was succeeded by the 10-year-old Queen Wilhelmina, but because the queen was only 10 years old, it was regent by her mother Princess Emma, and it was not until 1898 that Queen Wilhelmina officially took over the rule of the whole Netherlands.

Queen Wilhelmina immediately convened several important ministers of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to discuss, but there was no good way, if war broke out, it would be the strength of the Netherlands and the Far East military strongman Lin Daxin to the death, and the hope of victory was extremely slim, so Queen Wilhelmina issued an edict ordering the Governor Van Pittu to represent the Netherlands with full powers, and the famous Qing Dynasty Governor and Minister of Beiyang Trade Li Hongzhang negotiated on the issue of Lan Fang, In addition, the news of Lin Daxin's interference in the Dutch East Indies was immediately reported to the British, and it was best that the British could stand up and stop Lin Daxin from extending his black hand to the Dutch East Indies.

At the British Prime Minister's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, England, the new British Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, who is the nephew of the Marquess of Salisbury, the previous British Prime Minister, has just taken office.

Prime Minister Arthur Belfort received a telegram from the Dutchman, frowned, and then ordered the new Admiral Fisher and the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Marquis of Landsdown, to be found at the Prime Minister's residence, and it was not long before Fisher and Landsdownne rushed over.

After the two entered the prime minister's office, Arthur Belfort had not yet spoken, and the Marquis of Lansdowne said urgently: "Prime Minister, our country's minister in the Qing Dynasty sent an urgent telegram, and Lin Daxin of the Qing Dynasty told us that the Qing Dynasty would negotiate with the Dutch on Lanfang, a Qing vassal country occupied by the Dutch. It will be Li Hongzhang, the Governor of the Qing Dynasty and Minister of Beiyang Commerce, who will come to our British mainland to attend the coronation ceremony of the king, to negotiate with the Dutch in Pontianak, and that Lin Daxin hopes that we British will stand on his side in the matter of Lanfang. ”

O'Gner, the last British minister to the Qing Dynasty, has returned to Britain for another important purpose, and Sadaoyi was the British minister to the Qing Dynasty who took over last year.

Arthur Belfort frowned and said: "The Dutch also sent a telegram, the fleet of the Northeast Navy has arrived outside the port of Pontianak, I hope we British can stand up to prevent Lin Daxin from interfering in the Dutch East Indies, what is your opinion?" ”

The Marquis of Lansdowne and Fisher looked at each other, and the Marquis of Lansdorne said first: "Prime Minister, Lanfang belongs to the subject country of the Qing Dynasty, Lin Daxin and Li Hongzhang interfered in Lanfang's affairs, and stood on the commanding heights morally, and in the several years of war we fought in South Africa, the Dutch have been doing everything possible to support the Boers, and it can be said that the support for the Boers is very large, otherwise the small Boers would not have been able to support it for so long, thus bringing so much loss to our British Empire." I think that in this matter, the Dutch can learn a lesson, and they can also avoid conflict with Lin Daxin, of course, Lin Daxin and Li Hongzhang can only meddle in the original Lanfang's territory. ”

Arthur Balfour's brows furrowed even deeper, "I'm worried that if that Lin Daxin is allowed to lay a nail in the Dutch East Indies, that greedy Lin Daxin will gain an inch in the future and continue to encroach on the land of the Dutch East Indies, Your Excellency Fisher, what is the strength of the Imperial Navy in Asia?" ”

Fisher said: "In Asia, in order to meet the challenge of Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy, our Royal Navy has strengthened the strength of the Singapore Far East Fleet and the Hong Kong Chinese Fleet as much as possible in recent years. At present, Singapore's Far East Fleet has 5 Majestic-class all-steel battleships and 8 Duncan-class all-steel battleships, 12 large fast armored cruisers, 6 ironclad battleships, 16 new fast protection cruisers, 4 submarines, 16 new destroyers, and 32 torpedo boats. The Chinese fleet in Hong Kong has 4 Sovereign-class all-steel battleships and 7 old-class all-steel battleships, 8 large fast armored cruisers, 4 ironclad battleships, 12 new fast protection cruisers, 12 new destroyers, and 24 torpedo boats. ”

After a pause, Fisher continued: "In addition, our British Indian Fleet also has 1 prestige-class all-steel battleship Prestige and 1 Pavler-class all-steel battleship Pavrel, as well as 2 large fast armored cruisers, 6 old ironclad ships, 6 old armored cruisers, 10 old protective cruisers, 4 new destroyers and 20 torpedo boats, and the East India Fleet is mainly based on old warships. Prime Minister, the strength of our British Navy in Asia is very strong, but I don't build yì provoke that Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy, according to intelligence, the Northeast Navy currently has 40 all-steel battleships, and the naval battle a few years ago shows that the officers and men of this Northeast Navy have undergone rigorous training and have rich combat experience, no worse than the officers and men of our British Navy. ”

For the Northeast Navy, which had defeated the British Royal Navy, the British Navy generals were very scruples, of course, the British never admitted that they had suffered defeat in the naval battle with the Japanese, and the British generally still believed that the British Royal Navy and the Northeast Navy could only be regarded as a tie in that naval battle, and the sunken warships on both sides were not much different, as for the Japanese Navy that played soy sauce, of course, they had to ignore it, anyway, the British themselves found a fig leaf for themselves.

Fisher's meaning is very clear, although the strength of the British Navy in Asia is very strong, but with these forces is not enough to shake the entire Northeast Navy, although the British Navy is the most powerful in the world, but there are many potential enemies, it is impossible to concentrate all forces in Asia. If the British knew that Lin Daxin's kid had made 7 super dreadnought battleships and 6 dreadnought battleships that were about to be commissioned, they would not have leisurely thought that their navy was still the most powerful.

Prime Minister Arthur Belfour did not mean to provoke Lin Daxin for the Dutch-occupied Lanfang, and this time Lanfang's matter, Lin Daxin and Li Hongzhang were right, and the reason stood with them, so Arthur Balfour said: "Let the Singapore Far East Fleet and the Hong Kong Chinese Fleet secretly enter a state of combat readiness just in case, and not let Lin Daxin's hand go beyond the Dutch East Indies other than Lanfang, and send our representative from Singapore to Pontianak to tell our representative that our British Empire can lean towards the Qing Dynasty in the matter of Lanfang." But we must remember that if Lin Daxin and Li Hongzhang take back Lanfang from the Dutch, our British Empire must not let the Qing Dynasty gain an inch and continue to reach out to other parts of the Dutch East Indies, which is the bottom line of our British. ”R1152