The news that China and Japan were going to have a naval battle at Dadonggou in the Yellow Sea soon spread, and this immediately caused a great sensation. Because this was a decisive battle between more than 20 battleships on both sides of the war, which had never happened before. The decisive battle of more than 20 battleships, which has never had such a precedent in the history of warfare in various countries, made countless military experts of various countries almost crazy, especially when all countries heard the news, they immediately ordered their diplomats in China and Japan very quickly, and then hoped to come to visit this operation, and be able to watch this battle from the ships. As a large-scale naval Armageddon, it is definitely a feast not to be missed, because this Armageddon is a precedent that has never been seen before, so if you can come and see it, you will definitely learn a lot, especially the knowledge in naval warfare is unparalleled. It is of great help to them to study the decisive battle of the huge fleet in the future, and it can completely help them formulate the next warship design and construction, and then to the next production, and the tactical changes will have a lot of enlightening effects. So they just discussed the time of the decisive battle, so that the countries immediately knew.

"Governor Wang, our British Empire wants to send a military observation mission, and then go to your warship to watch this battle, and I ask you to agree." British Minister Zhu Erdian said.

Zhu Erdian is still the British minister to China, because China and Britain have not "declared war". Although Taiwan has already started wars with other countries, it has not declared war on each other. Because war and declaration of war are not necessarily equated. Sometimes it's a declaration without war, and sometimes it's a war without a war. Just like China and the United States fought on the Korean battlefield in later generations, China and the United States had already started fighting, but both sides were wearing vests. The vest approved by China is the vest of the volunteers, which means that it was sent voluntarily. Not sent by the government. And the Americans criticize the vests of the United Nations army, so they represent the United Nations, not the United States. So although everyone on both sides knows what is going on, neither side declares war on each other. From the perspective of later legal theory, there was no war between China and the United States on the Korean battlefield, although both sides beat human brains into dog brains. However, de jure there was no war between the two sides.

There are many reasons for this, because if China and the United States officially declared war back then, it would inevitably pull Lao Maozi in. At that time, the United States was still afraid of pulling Lao Maozi in, and once the Soviet Union Lao Maozi was pulled in, it would mean that the third world war was about to break out. At that time, the socialist camp represented by the Soviet Union and the capitalist camp represented by the United States were bound to have a decisive battle. Both sides also did not want a decisive battle so soon, so naturally they did not want to. In addition, both the United States and Lao Maozi have nuclear weapons, and if the third world war really breaks out, I am afraid that mankind will be destroyed.

So because they know the consequences of once war is declared. It is a very dangerous consequence for both China and the United States, and neither side can bear such a big consequence, so that although the two sides have long been in a pot of porridge, both sides are very restrained and have not made a real declaration of war.

There are many similar examples, and although they fought with the Japanese a long time ago during the Republic of China, they were in order to obtain economic assistance from the international community, especially weapons and economic aid from Germany. Therefore, the Republic of China and Japan did not declare war, and it was not until 1941 that they really declared war on Germany, Italy and Japan. This is not that old Jiang is timid. Rather, for the sake of the overall situation, war and politics cannot be confused in many cases, and we cannot act rashly. So judging by many examples, declaring war and starting a war are not completely equated.

At present, although China is at war with the Eight-Nation Alliance, neither side has declared war. The Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China in the name of "protecting overseas Chinese." There was no declaration of war on the Qing government. And the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not have the courage to declare war with the Eight Kingdoms, as for saying that Cixi declared war with the world in history, it was just a false rumor. Neither side officially declared war, so the British minister Zhu Erdian still swaggered in front of Wang Guorui, as if the two sides that were fighting in Tianjin did not exist.

"It's really thick-skinned. We have been fighting in Tianjin for a long time, and you are here as if nothing happened. It seems that he is really a literati who does not listen to things outside the window and only reads the books of sages. The sound of firing outside every day can be transmitted to the capital, you are so calm! Wang Guorui thought.

However, Wang Guorui already knew that these guys must not be willing to be lonely, and he naturally couldn't miss this kind of situation where dozens of battleships were fighting, and this kind of grand occasion of dozens of battleships fighting, but there was no one in the past. Since the adoption of steel warships, it is impossible for everyone to fight with hundreds of warships at every turn. Because the steel warships are very high in terms of tonnage, weight, and construction costs, it is impossible to maintain hundreds of wooden warships as in the past. Wooden warships have low cost, relatively low maintenance conditions, and are driven by wind power, etc., so in the past, there were hundreds of warships in the era of wooden warships. But in the era of steel battleships, especially all-steel battleships, the cost was not low. Even if you want to build hundreds of battleships, you can't afford to pay for it. Even if you build it, you can't afford to pay for the subsequent maintenance. So the old spectacle of hundreds of battleships fighting together has almost completely disappeared, and it is already remarkable to have ten battleships fighting a decisive battle at a time.

This time, more than 20 battleships fought together, and of course it was an attraction that was hard to give up. Anyone who is familiar with the navy will be able to absorb experience from these battles and learn a lot. This is also the reason why the British wanted to send a military observer group to observe this operation, so that everyone was very keen to come and watch. Zhu Erdian's cheeks are thick enough, anyway, as if there was no war between the two sides, it seems that neither side is at war, and he came directly to ask Wang Guorui.

"Jurdian, do you British Empire want to watch this battle? Actually, it's not impossible. Wang Guorui asked.

Wang Guorui knows that this kind of watching the battle will actually be known by people all over the world sooner or later, so it is not a useful way to hide it. I will dispatch the submarine and the sword-class battleship this time, naturally I want everyone to know, anyway, sooner or later it will be exposed, but it is a matter of a few hours earlier or a few hours later. So instead of that, it's better to exchange it for some benefits.

"Lord Wang, please speak!" Zhu Erdian said.

Wang Guorui replied: "Actually, my request is very simple, that is what our Chinese mercenaries got in South Africa, and if we want to ship it back, you should turn a blind eye." ”

Wang Guorui arranged a lot of mercenaries in South Africa, and these mercenaries helped the Boers fight against the British, and reaped a lot of benefits. For example, diamonds, gold ore, etc., these are all valuable things. But these South African mercenaries were worried about how to bring these things back, they were not afraid of the British on land, but on the sea they had to worry about the British navy. Those South African trophies could not be transported back to Taiwan, so this has always been a headache for Wang Guorui. Those loot were enough to reach hundreds of thousands of pounds, so it was impossible for Wang Guorui to ignore these interests. So Wang Guorui hopes that these British people will turn a blind eye and not block the ships that carry goods. Taiwan could not send its navy to escort the convoy, so it could only rely on the British to release the water.

"This, I'm going to ask for instructions from the country!" Zhu Erdian said.

Zhu Erdian sent a telegram back home, and when the Englishmen heard the news, they immediately hated it.

"These Chinese, actually take our things, they are all a group of thieves!" British officials scolded.

The British had already regarded the gold mines and diamonds of the Boers as theirs, but now the mercenaries from Taiwan wanted to get them back, so they were stealing the things of the British? So these Britons are going to go berserk.

"Still, I think we can do it. Because these things have already reached the hands of the Chinese, then we will not be able to take them back. Our army is no match for the Chinese army at all, so instead of staring at those, we should maintain the superiority of our navy. This engagement of more than 20 battleships is such a rare opportunity, if we can take the opportunity to learn a lot. And the Chinese warships are all our Sovereign-class battleships, and our Sovereign-class battleships have not really broken out a sea battle since they were built, so we might as well take advantage of this time to test our Sovereign-class battleships, which can effectively help us measure our naval strength, isn't it good? A naval officer said.

And the British army officer looked at the naval officer viciously, this time he took the interests of the army to return the favor, but he didn't dare to say anything about this. In the British Empire, the army is raised by the stepmother, and even if it is not, it is almost the same, so they don't dare to put a fart in front of the navy.

"Well, it's settled, let the South African Navy turn a blind eye to those Chinese transport ships, we don't care." However, this time, we must select some outstanding officers from the Far Eastern army to observe, and then strive to learn a lot. (To be continued.) )