Lin Daxin took Ding Xueshan to sit on the bridge of the Xinghai, the flagship of the First Fleet of the Navy in the Naval Academy, eating local snacks in Weihaiwei while looking at the scenery of the sea.

After a circle on the sea, the fleet began to sail back and sail towards the port of Weihaiwei.

On the way back, Jiang Chen, the captain of the Xinghai, walked quickly to Lin Daxin's side and said, "Principal, two British * ships have been found on the sea 12,000 kilometers southwest of our fleet!" The trainees of the watchtower spotted these 2 British warships, tailing our fleet! It looks like they're going to Weihaiwei too! ”

Lin Daxin frowned and said, "What are the British warships doing in Weihaiwei?" Order the fleet to catch up! Ask the British what they are going to do? ”

Immediately, the 8 warships of the 1st Fleet turned around and sailed towards the 2 British warships.

About 8 kilometers away from the two British * ships, the lookout of the Xinghai reported that one of the two British * ships in front was a protective cruiser with a displacement of about 2,500 tons, and the other was a torpedo cruiser with a displacement of about 1,000 tons.

Immediately, the Xinghai raised the flag and asked what the two British * ships were doing in the waters of Weihaiwei? After a while, the British warships waved their flags and said that they had come to investigate the attack on a British merchant ship by the Japanese Navy!

The Takasho was not sunk by the Japanese ships because the armored cruisers Kokai and Yasukai joined the Battle of Toshima, but was only hit by a 120-mm shell in the naval battle, causing some damage to the hull and killing a British crew member.

In history, Japan sank the Gaosheng, and finally Britain didn't do it, but now it is coming to investigate, but what makes Lin Daxin suspect is that if you want to investigate, you Britain will also go to Japan to investigate, and go to our Weihaiwei to investigate what!

Lin Daxin was very wary of the British Navy, and in 1892, the British built the world's first all-steel battleship "Sovereign", which generally used steel hulls, displacement: 14,150 tons, length of 125.12 meters, width of 22.86 meters, draft of 8.38 meters. 13,000 hp, 2-shaft drive, speed 18.27 knots. It was equipped with 2 343-mm twin guns, 6 152-mm guns, 16 57-mm guns, and 12 47-mm guns. Armor: 457-356 mm thick composite armor belt on the side of the ship, 406-356 mm thick bulkhead wall, 127 mm thick upper armor belt, 432 mm to 279 mm thick gun mount armor, 76 mm to 63 mm thick deck, 356 mm armor for conning towers. Crew 712 people.

Lin Daxin also wanted this kind of all-steel battleship, which is historically called a former dreadnought, and as early as 1892, after contacting the British Navy through Guò Matheson Matheson, Lin Daxin received a reply that the British Royal Navy was not prepared to help other countries build Sovereign-class battleships.

This all-steel battleship has a reduced wooden structure on the ship than the ironclad battleship, making the all-steel battleship more powerful in defense and faster! It's a real steel castle of activity!

Britain, which was the first to build this all-steel battleship, was the first Western power to invade China, and now it also supports Japan's war against the Qing Dynasty, not only selling many warships to Japan, but also lending tens of millions of pounds to Japan from banks and large conglomerates.

Lin Daxin has no good impression of Britain at all, and he has not taught the British the idea of teaching a lesson in his heart. But Britain is currently the most powerful country in the world, claiming that the sun never sets on the empire. Britain has the largest navy in the world, and Lin Daxin still has a long way to go if he wants to be against the UK!

Lin Daxin thought for a moment and then said to Jiang Chen: "Since the British want to investigate, your Xinghai and Anhai just happened to participate in the Battle of Fengdao!" You let two British * ships come to us! Tell the British about the Battle of Toshima! Don't let them go to Weihaiwei, or if they find out about our hidden Second Fleet, they will definitely sue the Japanese! Then the Second Fleet will not be able to play the role of a surprise soldier! It will not be able to give the combined fleet of the Japanese Navy a big surprise! ”

On a British protective cruiser, the British first mate reported to the captain of the warship, British Navy Lieutenant Commander Nash: "Captain, the Qing Dynasty people have sent a flag saying that two of their warships armored cruisers participated in the Battle of Toshima, if we want to investigate the incident of the Gao Sheng, we can lean over, and the crews of the two warships will tell us about the situation at that time!" ”

After hearing this, the British captain Nash frowned and said: "Our main task is to come to Weihaiwei to explore the true strength of the entire Beiyang Naval Division, and then hand over the inspection report to the Japanese, and our mission will be completed!" ”

The first mate wondered and asked, "Isn't Japan aware of the strength of the Beiyang Naval Division?" ”

Nash said: "The Japanese are afraid that the Qing Dynasty will hide their strength, and the Qing Dynasty will have a rich man who can rival the country, and the 8 warships in front of us are the Qing Dynasty rich man, who bought them at his own expense!" The port of Weihaiwei was blocked by the Qing Dynasty again, so the Japanese hoped that we could help them and find out if the Beiyang Naval Division was still hiding its strength! ”

The first mate said puzzledly: "Captain, the war between the Qing Dynasty and Japan, why should we help the Japanese?" You see, these 8 warships in front of you are the warships purchased by the Qing Dynasty from Germany and Chile! Coupled with the original warships of the Beiyang Naval Division, Japan will definitely be defeated! Why did the empire sell 6 warships to Japan at a low price? ”

Captain Nash said: "Mr. First Mate, you must know that Britain has already lent tens of millions of pounds of loans to Japan, and if Japan loses to the Qing Dynasty, then our British loans are likely to be lost!" ”

The first mate then asked, "Can Japan defeat the Qing Dynasty?" What if Japan is still defeated? Isn't our UK loan also a waste? ”

Captain Nash continued: "As long as Japan is not completely defeated and annexed by the Qing Dynasty, we in Britain can let the Japanese use taxes, customs duties, and land to repay tens of millions of pounds of loans!" We, the United Kingdom, are also in control of the country of Japan! It is equivalent to adding a new colony to Her Majesty the Empress! ”

"And what if Japan wins?" The first mate asked again.

Captain Nash replied: "If Japan wins!" The Japanese will get huge war reparations from the Qing Dynasty, and our British loans will be well rewarded! And if the Qing Dynasty lost, we in Britain can also achieve more benefits in the Qing Dynasty! ”

The captain of the British cruiser, Nashtunguò, looked at the eight Qing Dynasty warships in the distance and couldn't help but sigh: "The fleet composed of the warships bought by the Qing Dynasty from Chile and the two German ironclad ships is much stronger than our British Chinese fleet in Hong Kong!" Now the Japanese have entrusted us to explore the Beiyang Navy Division in the Weihaiwei base of the Qing Dynasty, and it seems that it is not easy for us to get in! can only rely on the identity of the observation ship to enter Weihaiwei! ”

The British cruisers also sent flags to the fleet of the Naval Academy, saying that they wanted to enter the port of Weihaiwei and stay, not only to investigate the Gao Sheng, but also to be ordered by the British Admiralty that as an observation ship to observe the naval battle between the Qing Dynasty and Japan, it was necessary to merge with the main force of the Beiyang Naval Division, and then, during the war, they would act together with the main warships of the Beiyang Naval Division to observe the naval battle between the Beiyang Naval Division and the Japanese Navy.

At the same time, the British cruiser also sent a flag, saying that the matter had been agreed by Li Hongzhang, the governor of Beiyang, and that now the two British cruisers hoped to return to Weihaiwei port with the warships of the Naval Academy.

After Lin Daxin heard Jiang Chen tell him the content of the British flag, he was a little annoyed, but it was common for countries to send observation ships to observe naval battles, and he had no way to oppose it! Lin Daxin thought about it for a while, and felt that the small bay north of Beigou Village, where the Second Fleet docked, was quite hidden, and he was a little relieved, and then nodded helplessly, and agreed to let the two British cruisers follow his fleet back to Weihaiwei.

And Li Hongzhang agreed, Lin Daxin couldn't stop the British cruiser, Lin Daxin asked the radio on the Xinghai to contact the Second Fleet of the Navy of the Naval Academy, and learned that the Second Fleet was still staying in the bay north of Beigou Village, so he guided the two British cruisers into Weihaiwei.

When two British cruisers came to the port of Weihaiwei, they did not find any hidden strength of the Qing Dynasty, so they secretly notified the Japanese of the results of the investigation, which made the Japanese navy breathe a sigh of relief.

In fact, the Japanese Navy hid a killer feature, and it was afraid that the Qing Dynasty would also hide a killer feature, so it entrusted the British Navy to come to Weihaiwei to investigate.

A few days after the two British ships entered Weihaiwei, warships from Germany, France, the United States, Italy, Russia, Spain, and other countries came to Weihaiwei one after another as observation ships.