In the conference room of the British Embassy in Japan, diplomats from various countries sat together!

And among this group of foreigners in suits, there is also a Chinese diplomat wearing Chinese clothes, he is Li Bocang, the minister of the Chinese Empire to Japan.

"The blockade and even the shelling of merchant ships in the Maguan Strait by the Japanese themselves is a shameless provocation to the civilized world, and this behavior must be punished!" Neil, a lieutenant colonel in the British Army and acting British minister to Japan, said in a calm tone.

But although his tone was calm, everyone present could hear his anger!

"That's right, this matter must not be put down like this, I must pay the price for those days!" The Americans on the side also looked angry.

Although the United States is still experiencing a civil war, it does not mean that American diplomats will ignore Japan's own actions.

Watching this group of people talk one after another, and finally when it came to organizing a fleet to bombard Shimonoseki, Neil, the acting British minister, turned his attention to Li Bocang.

"Mr. Li, the soldiers who came over from your country before have effectively protected the safety of the embassies of various countries, and this time the shelling of Xiaguan does not know if your country will continue to stand with us and punish the Japanese himself!"

Li Bocang said: "If conditions permit, it is what we should do to assist countries in defending the concessions!" ”

"But the shelling of Shimonoseki!" Speaking of this, Li Bocang looked embarrassed: "You all know that our navy is weak, and two of the three warships that came to Japan's waters have returned to China, and now there is only one warship in Japan's waters, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to shoulder the heavy responsibility!" ”

What he said was not wrong, compared to the Chinese Army and Army, which were feared by both Britain and France. The navy of the Chinese Empire was undoubtedly much weaker, and the total tonnage of the Imperial Chinese Navy was only more than 10,000 tons. There are quite few warships capable of conducting ocean-going operations, and there are only 12 in total at present. Most of these twelve warships are still warships of more than 1,000 tons, and none of them are more than 2,000 tons.

These warships have to defend China's long borders, and at the same time have to undertake some escort missions in China's nearby waters, suppressing pirates, etc., which makes the Chinese navy's military strength actually very weak.

It was actually a trick to be able to send three warships to reinforce Edo, but two of the three warships had returned home a month earlier, and only one cruiser, the Tianjin, was still in Japan's waters.

Compared with the navies of various countries, especially with Britain and France. The sea power of the Chinese Empire was really not very strong.

Hearing what Li Bocang said, Nimi chuckled and said: "It doesn't matter, this time it's a joint operation, and we can also get together seven or eight warships, which is enough for these arrogant Japanese to see the powerful power of the civilized world!" ”

In fact, whether Li Bocang wants it or not, in fact, China has already decided to join the Anglo-American-French coalition forces, and has decided to teach those Japanese kings a lesson, even if there is only one warship in Japan's own waters, but it must also join in.

There are many factors that contribute to these factors. From Lin Zhe's point of view, any Japanese reform forces that attacked the Chōshū Domain, Satsuma Domain, and other revered kings and factions could do it.

For imperial officials, it was a simple matter of imperial face. The great country of China was actually bullied by a small Fusang country, and it was not only violated by the concession and the embassy. Even dare to shell the merchant ships of the Empire, if you don't clean up these days. What do you make the empire lose face?

So a few years ago, Li Bocang had already received a telegram from China. The telegram instructed him to take appropriate action and to make representations with him, including but not limited to the conduct of military action.

At the same time, the Navy Tianjin will remain in Japan, and the 300 marines in the concession will remain in Japan in case of any change in the situation.

Moreover, Li Bocang also learned that the navy has decided to reinforce Japan once again, and it is reported that several warships will be dispatched to Japan's waters to participate in possible military operations.

These instructions from China directly made Li Bocang agree to join forces with Britain, the United States, France and other countries, and prepare to send the Tianjin to join the multinational combined fleet, preparing to retaliate against the Shimonoseki Fort of the Japanese Nagasu Domain.

When the diplomats of the various countries in Japan discussed and made the relevant decisions, a so-called multinational joint fleet was successfully formed.

The warships in this fleet are mainly Britain, France, the United States, and China, and there are a total of eight warships of different sizes!

Among them, China sent the Tianjin naturally!

A few days later, in the Maguan Strait, dozens of nautical miles away from the Xiaguan Battery, Fu Yaou, a lieutenant commander of the Imperial Navy, stood on the lookout of the Tianjin, observing several warships in front of him with a monocular.

In front of the Tianjin, there were several warships from Britain, the United States, France, and other countries, and these warships were large and small, the large ones were two or three thousand tons, and the small ones were only four or five hundred tons, and the Tianjin was a medium-sized warship in this fleet.

Tianjin is the second ship of the Nanning-class cruiser independently built by the Imperial Navy, and the Nanning-class cruiser is the third mass-produced cruiser of the Empire, and the overall design of its ship type comes from the Shaoxing-class, but the tonnage has been expanded, which further enhances the endurance and armament of the voyage, and it is also the most powerful warship among the many warships currently in service in the Empire.

The Nanning-class cruisers, with a standard displacement of 1,450 tons, still use a wooden-hull and wood-armored hull, use a sail-steam hybrid, start the steam engine and reach a maximum speed of 16 knots in downwind conditions.

It was mainly armed with two 150 mm rear-loading guns of the 1857 model, one in front and one in the rear, and four 120 mm rear-loading guns.

The amount of coal and fresh water it carries is more than that of the previous Shaoxing class, so the endurance has been greatly improved.

The class has three ships in service, one is in outfitting trials, and one is still under construction on the slipway, its first ship, the Nanning, was launched in 1860, and in 1861 another was launched and three were in service, and if nothing else, this year, in 1862, two will be launched and put into service.

Launching in one year and commissioning with two capital ships is the main rate of expansion of the Imperial Navy at this stage!

In addition to the capital ships of ocean-going operations. At the same time, the empire built and commissioned offshore and river gunboats, ranging in tonnage from 100 tons to 4500 tons. It is mainly used for imperial inland river support operations and port and coastal defense operations.

In addition to battleships, the Imperial Navy built and commissioned a number of auxiliary ships during these two years. For example, transport supply ships, fast rescue ships, etc., of which only fast coal carriers have been built and put into service.

At present, the construction of the Imperial Navy is not actually about expanding warships, but about building the infrastructure of the port and supplementing some auxiliary warships.

This is because the Imperial Navy hopes to wait for the first ironclad ship of the Empire to be completed, and then cross the wooden-hulled and woodclad warships at one time, and then build and serve ironclad ships in large quantities, so as to directly catch up with the pace of naval powers such as Britain and France in technology.

It's a pity that more than two years have passed. The Empire's first ironclad ship still hasn't been built and put into service!

At the beginning of the previous year, that is, at the beginning of 1861, the Imperial Navy began to order ironclad ships, and after the Shanghai Shipyard received the order, it began to build the first ironclad ship for the Imperial Navy.

However, many technical problems were encountered during the construction process, and the naval guns were not a big problem, and it was enough to continue to use the 1857 rear-loading guns, but there were many problems in power and armor, resulting in a very slow construction progress.

Fortunately, the construction of the Female Snail has now come to an end. The Navy is optimistic that it will be able to conduct sea trials next month, and after the sea trials are completed, it will be able to officially enter active military service in the Navy.

However, even if the progress of the ironclad ship was delayed, this did not make the navy stop the plan to develop the ironclad, even before the female snail was completed and put into service. The Navy has already placed an order for four ironclad ships in a row.

They are a follow-up ship to the Female Snail, and the 'Bi Fang', which is also an offshore warship.

The other two were ocean-going ironclads that the Navy had always wanted, when the ironclad project was first proposed in 1861. One of the first schemes.

After nearly a year of preliminary construction, the Shanghai shipyard encountered a lot of trouble. However, it is barely enough to accumulate a lot of experience in the construction of ironclad ships, and at the same time, Linde Machinery Co., Ltd.'s imitation of the new generation of steam engines in the United Kingdom has also successfully produced the first prototype. Therefore, the navy immediately couldn't wait to place an order for ocean-going ironclad ships, and it was to order two at a time.

The names of the two ironclad ships are still based on the names of ancient mythological figures, with the first ship named 'Pangu' and the second ship named 'Zhurong'. According to the habit that the first ship is the name of the class, this type of ocean-going ironclad ship will also be called the Pangu-class ironclad ship.

This class of ships was perfected according to the previous No. 1 design scheme, and the final detailed design was a standard displacement of 2,400 tons, which was larger than the original design scheme.

In terms of protection, hybrid armor with teak wrapped in wrought iron covers most of the important compartments, including the power compartment and ammunition depot.

In terms of power, the sail steam hybrid is adopted, and the steam power is a new generation of steam engine imitated by Linde Machinery Company in the United Kingdom, which is more than 30% more powerful than the old generation of steam engine under the same weight. The ship can reach a speed of 12 knots when using pure steam propulsion, and a maximum speed of 16 knots when it is sailed downwind.

In terms of armament, four 150-mm rear-loading guns and six 120-mm rear-loading guns of the 1857 model were used. And like the modern ironclad of the Female Snail, its four 150-mm guns used an open-air rotating turret.

The technical level of protection and power is comparable to that of the British Warrior in service in previous years, and the technical level of armament is slightly superior.

However, there is no direct relationship between the technical level and combat effectiveness, and the ironclad ships such as the Warrior of the British are more than 9,000 tons or even tens of thousands of tons, while the Chinese-made ironclad ships are still hovering around 2,000 tons.

The two Pangea-class warships had already started construction in 1862, and it was expected that the initial construction would be completed by the end of this year, and the launching would be carried out at the beginning of next year, and then after outfitting and seaworthiness, it was estimated that the Pangu would be able to enter service with the Imperial Navy in the autumn of next year.

It is worth noting that an ironclad ship built by the Empire for the Southern Federation of the United States has also been launched and is currently being outfitted, but it is a pity that the coastal areas of the Southern Federation are now tightly sealed by the Northern Navy, and it is still a question whether the Southern Federation of the United States can drive this ironclad ship back.

However, it is one thing whether they can drive back or not, but now that the Navy of the United States Southern Federation has sent people to Shanghai, it is estimated that they will drive away directly after the outfitting is completed.

As for what will become of the final fate of this ironclad ship, it is impossible for Lin Zhe to predict now, it may be intercepted by the US Northern Navy on the way home, or it may fight with the Northern Navy after returning to the United States, and there may even be some accidents on the way, resulting in the US Southern Federal Navy not receiving this ship.

You must know that for the sake of this ironclad ship, the northern government of the United States has protested to the empire, and has always tried to use diplomatic channels to put pressure on the empire to avoid the empire from delivering this warship, and even for this reason, the northern government has offered to buy and accept this warship at their expense.

But Lin Zhe didn't agree!

You Americans are a fart, and you dare to interfere with the freedom of trade in the Empire!

And if you compromise on this ironclad ship, then the follow-up empire will continue to trade arms with the Southern Federation, you must know that both sides of the civil war in the United States are the majority of the empire's ordnance procurement, and the Southern Federation will purchase more of it.

Therefore, Lin Zhe has been resisting the pressure of the northern government forces of the United States, and directly stated that this is a warship ordered by the Southern Federation of the United States, unless they give up the order themselves, otherwise the empire will continue to fulfill the contract.

However, Lin Zhe also repeatedly emphasized that the ship was delivered in Shanghai, and the empire would not take the initiative to send the ironclad ship to the United States for further delivery.

After delivery, how the people of the American Southern Federation drove back, and whether they would be sunk on the road was none of the Empire's business.

Through the construction of these ironclad ships, the empire has entered the era of ironclad ships, but it is still early from large-scale mature application, and the current imperial navy is still dominated by wooden-hulled and wood-clad battleships, and the most advanced is only the Nanning-class cruisers.

In this way, the Tianjin is also one of the three most powerful warships in the Imperial Navy.

It didn't take long for the Tianjin to sail close to the Xiaguan Fort with the warships of Britain, the United States, France and other countries, and then aimed the ship's guns at the fort for a large-scale artillery bombardment! (To be continued.) )