Chapter 66: The Provisional Government (Asking for a Monthly Pass!) )

In Hawaiian, Honolulu means "Shielded Bay" or "Shielded Land." Pen | fun | pavilion www. biquge。 Info was called Honolulu by the Chinese because of the abundance of sandalwood in the early days and because it was shipped back to China in large quantities. It is located in the southeast corner of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean, extending over a riverside plain. The climate here is mild, because of the sandalwood trade and the rise of the whaling base, and at the same time as the sandalwood is deforested and the whaling industry is declining, because of its special location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the merchant ships sailing in the Pacific Ocean often carry out supplies, such as cattle breeding and fruit industry, and become the backbone industry of Hawaii.

A hundred days ago, with the help and support of the USS Charleston, the "Four Families" of American immigrants in Hawaii successfully staged a coup d'état, overthrew the Hawaiian king and established the "Republic."

However, it seems that all is not so easy for the nascent "republic" - in this island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in addition to nearly 2,000 American immigrants, there is also a large group of immigrants - as many as 17,000 Japanese immigrants, although the fall of the Japanese Empire could not pose a real threat to the "republic".

But there is another force in Honolulu -- the Chinese immigrants, who are also outnumbered by American immigrants, who have a city on Maui compared to Japanese immigrants, in addition to ranching on the islands. Although Lahaina, the former capital of Hawaii, does not have a well-equipped port. But their presence is for American immigrants. But it's a challenge.

In the past, maybe for Sanford? Dole, the president of the "Hawaiian Provisional Government", could ignore the people of color, but since the overthrow of the Queen's rule, he can't be rude to the damned yellow monkeys who refuse to recognize the Provisional Government in order to secure their rights, and although Sanford has tried to make concessions in exchange for a temporary compromise, it is too late!

Five hours ago. Three Chinese warships "invaded" Hawaii and sailed into the Lahaina Whaling Pier, and even more than an hour earlier, their cruiser had been intercepted by the cruiser USS Charleston off the coast of Honolulu.

"Now, gentlemen, what is happening, everyone knows very well, Chinese......"

The voice paused slightly, Sanford? Dole, a member of the Dole family, the most prominent of the four major families of American immigrants in Hawaii, looked at the officials of the provisional government sitting around the conference table, and said in a rather helpless tone.

"Those Asians. Their warships are sailing off the coast of Honolulu, and thousands of Chinese soldiers have invaded Hawaiian territory. Landing ...... in Lahaina"

And the wind blew gusts of cool air in the meeting room of the Hawaiian Legislature, along with Sanford? Dore's words, almost everyone's expressions became nervous.

These officials all came from Hawaii's four missionary families, and for more than 100 years, when the "Sitis" arrived at Hawaiian port with 11 missionary couples, their descendants built large families and gradually controlled the political and economic lifeline of the Hawaiian Islands. They are well aware of the importance of this Pacific crossroads to the United States, and Hawaii's unique geographical location makes it a transit point for shipping between Asia and the United States. Its important geographical location has naturally caused the United States to spy on it for a long time.

That's why they staged a coup d'état a hundred days ago, with the support of the cruiser USS Charleston, marines, and armed sailors, and imprisoned the Queen. For every American immigrant, including Dole, the reason why they staged the coup d'état was to emulate Texas and annex the island to the United States as a state in the coming years.

But now, the sudden appearance of Chinese warships has made the seemingly peaceful coup confusing, and now he even suspects that the coup is very likely to fail because of Chinese interference, and the American sailors on the "Charleston" can help them disarm the Hawaiians, but will never fire at the Chinese.

"Now, the Chinese navy has not only occupied Lahaina, but also brought weapons to the Chinese immigrants, and our intelligence shows that their warships have brought thousands of rifles, and even more than a dozen artillery pieces and a large amount of ammunition, gentlemen, the intention of Chinese is obvious, and now, the question before us is......"

There was a pause, Antis? Judd, the foreign minister of the interim government, shrugged his shoulders helplessly and turned his gaze to Sanford? Dole, the president of this provisional government.

"How to stop the Chinese occupation of Hawaii, Mr. President!"

Yes, how to stop all this!

While the provisional government of Honolulu was there considering how to stop the Chinese, the officers and men of the 1st Marine Battalion were taking over the defense of Lahaina in the port of Lahaina, and the city had been completely protected by a spontaneous garrison of citizens for the past hundred days.

"Company commander, how is it, do you have the confidence to hold the battery?"

Holding the simple map he had just drawn, Li Ziyuan looked at the company commander Dink beside him, the first company will be responsible for the defense of the battery, the old battery will soon be equipped with two 8-inch rapid-fire guns and four 6-inch rapid-fire guns, operated by the ship's gunners, and the first company is responsible for protecting the battery that is directly related to the safety of Lahaina, although they have now entered the city, but no one knows how the Americans will react next.

"Battalion commander, if they come from the front, it's no problem to hold the battery, the key is ......"

Dink's gaze looked towards the towering volcano, and then said in a rather helpless tone.

"Such a big island, just rely on a few hundred of us to defend it, the Americans may not necessarily touch our forts, how can we defend so many loopholes?"

This is the most realistic military problem, the place is too big, the troops are too small. The subordinate question made Li Ziyuan's mind sink, he glanced towards the hinterland of the island, and then threw the city line to the urban area. Said softly.

"This ...... This question. Leave it to the Provisional Government to have a headache. We just need to do what we do in front of us! ”

Provisional Government!

This would have turned the Provisional Government into a complete joke played by the great powers, and for the people of Lahaina and Maui, they witnessed it all - nearly half a century later, the old palace of the Hawaiian Kingdom in Lahaina had a new owner, the regent Juliet, and the palace was guarded by a group of yellow-skinned "volunteers".

"She doesn't seem to be very willing!"

When he walked out of the palace, Huang Zhongying said to Zheng Guolin beside him, originally in his opinion. Juliet - this princess from the royal family, as the concubine of the Chinese, should be very happy to have the opportunity to contribute to the country, but Juliet is all unwilling.

"After all, her mother is an American, Chief Huang, but it doesn't matter!"

Qian Wenkui, the newly appointed Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, shrugged his shoulders and said in a seemingly calm, but rather excited tone.

"Whether she wants to be the regent of the Hawaiian Kingdom or not, she's just a signboard. If necessary, we can even have Mayor Chen as regent. After all, according to the inheritance law, he is also one of the heirs of the Kamehameha family, and now all we need is a name! ”

As a diplomat, Qian Wenkui was sent to Hawaii this time, in addition to negotiating with the Americans, one of the more important tasks was to establish a provisional government "under our control" according to the requirements of the commander.

"What can the Americans use to say things about the so-called provisional government, the so-called popular choice, we can also answer them in the same way, Sir Huang, as for the other ......"

The cool sea breeze only made people feel refreshed, Qian Wenkui took a deep breath, the fresh coolness slowly entered his heart and lungs, and his mind was suddenly refreshed.

"As long as our provisional government exists, the Americans will not be able to complete the annexation of Hawaii, since it is a second place, we can also share Hawaii with the Americans, of course, this is just a strategy!"

When the words fell, Qian Wenkui, who had already walked out of the palace, looked at the marines who were on guard outside the palace, of course, they were not wearing the uniforms of the Chinese Marines, but American-style uniforms, but the badges showed that they were the army of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and they were stationed here as volunteers.

Breathing in the cool sea breeze and feeling the exotic customs of Lahaina, Qian Wenkui's heart couldn't help but sigh with emotion, he was born as a child in the United States, how could he never have thought that one day China would challenge the United States, let alone believe that the marshal would challenge the United States' annexation of Hawaii with the strength of one place, although it is the behavior of American expatriates on the surface, but in fact, even the most ignorant people know that these expatriates are just a fig leaf.

"Minister Liang, what should we do now?"

Zheng Guolin, the former consul in Hawaii, just interjected, for him who has been relieved of his responsibilities, the matter is far from over, after all, the largest overseas Chinese group in Hawaii is the company, not to mention that he is now the Minister of the Interior of the provisional government of the kingdom.

"Of course, in the name of the Provisional Government, we can send officials to Molokai, Lanai, the island of Hawaii, Kauai, and, if possible, Oahu, and Sanford can do that, so why don't we take an oath of sovereignty?"

Qian Wenkui, who studied law at Yale University, knows better than anyone what to do now.

"Don't we have a garrison now? In addition to sending officials, send a garrison to the island! ”

The garrison in Qian Wenkui's mouth refers to the garrison of less than 1,000 people organized by Zheng Guolin after the coup d'état was launched by the Americans.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, there were more immigrants to Hawaii, and we Chinese be of the same language as the Japanese, and we were also discriminated against by Westerners, so we should pay attention to using them, colluding with them, and if possible, we should pull them into our camp, and the garrison can be appropriately expanded, overseas Chinese, Japanese overseas Chinese, and even indigenous people can be recruited, and the funds can be paid in advance by the legation......

In addition to the three warships, the more advantageous weapon is probably the amount of up to $2 million that comes with the ships, which will be used to establish a provisional government, maintain a garrison, and even bribe the Americans.

Although Qian Wenkui is well aware of the importance of Hawaii, he cannot understand the importance that the commander attaches to Hawaii, let alone its significance to China.

"Okay, we're each in charge of our own affairs, and whether your work here can be carried out smoothly or not will be directly related to my negotiations in Honolulu......"

With a smile on his face, Qian Wenkui said in a seemingly calm tone.

"It's time to surprise the world!"

It's time to surprise the world -- standing on the deck of the armored cruiser "Jiyuan", Qian Wenkui's expression seemed rather calm as the warship headed towards Honolulu. He just smoked a cigarette silently, while repeatedly thinking about the sentence in his mind - "The public law of nations is not as good as a few cannons, and a few treaties are not as good as a basket of bombs." ”

This is a faint phrase that every diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must take to heart, and the meaning of this sentence is very simple, in the words of the marshal, "to do business with a sword, and to negotiate with a sword." How to conduct business with a sword and how to negotiate with a knife is extremely unfamiliar to the diplomats of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Governor's Office, but this does not prevent them from learning and clumsily imitating Westerners.

Just like now, who would have thought that China would use "gunboat diplomacy" to maintain its interests thousands of miles away? And he is still challenging a Western power.

"As long as we hold the bottom line of not going to war, and the rest, let's talk to them well, they talk about the people and the Lord, let's talk to them about the people and the Lord, they talk about freedom, we talk about freedom with them, in a word, either the Americans withdraw their troops and the provisional government is dissolved, or we all set up a provisional government to play ...... in the Pacific."

Thinking of the commander's advice before leaving, Qian Wenkui's eyebrows still flashed with a trace of worry, although in his opinion, it is the government's function to safeguard China's interests in Hawaii, but this is too risky, and the commander has not considered what kind of turmoil this will cause in the United States.

Knowing calmly, the warship is getting closer and closer to Honolulu, looking at Honolulu Although he stepped on this land to solve the problem through negotiation, Qian Wenkui knew that in fact, it was not Honolulu that decided the fate of Hawaii now, but Washington, and of course, Shenyang!

I hope the big handsome side ......

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