After receiving the news that the Russians had annihilated 300,000 Dingbei troops in the city of Maimaicheng, in the Xinuan Pavilion of the Forbidden City, the Empress Dowager Cixi, the Guangxu Emperor and Prince Gong Yixin, the three of them frowned at each other, worried that the Northeast and Mongolia would forever break away from the Qing Dynasty and become the land of the Russians!

Emperor Guangxu hesitated for a long time and said: "Dear father, if our court sends troops to support Lin Daxin......

Guangxu was interrupted by Cixi before he finished speaking, Cixi said: "Then we are killing ourselves and setting ourselves on fire, although the Russians declared war on our Qing Dynasty, but only against Lin Daxin's rebellion." If our court sends troops to support Lin Daxin, after the Russians defeat Lin Daxin's rebellion, there will be no excuse to continue to fight our Daqing! ”

Prince Gong Yixin hesitated for a moment and said: "The Queen Mother, the Emperor, and the ministers have received news that Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Six Towns are likely to have contact with Lin Daxin, and Li Hongzhang may send the Beiyang Six Towns over to support Lin Daxin." ”

Cixi snapped, patted the armrest on which she was sitting on the soft couch, and said angrily: "That Li Hongzhang is really getting older and more confused, isn't he sick?" If he doesn't take care of his illness, what does he want to do? Do you want to unite with Lin Daxin's rebellion and overthrow our Qing Dynasty? ”

Prince Gong Yixin immediately said: "The Queen Mother is angry, maybe Li Hongzhang also does not want Northeast China and Mongolia to fall into the hands of the Russians!" ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi paused, snorted coldly and said, "Could it be that the Mourning family is willing to let Northeast China and Mongolia fall into the hands of the Russians?" Prince Gong, if you go to Li Hongzhang's house in a while, you must dissuade Li Hongzhang, and you must not send troops to support Lin Daxin, we can't afford to provoke the Russians! ”

Li Hongzhang's Beiyang system has formed a situation in the Qing Dynasty, and even in the new army of the imperial court, Beiyang occupies half of the rivers and mountains, so even Cixi has many scruples about Li Hongzhang and will not be too tough on Li Hongzhang.

When news of Nicholas II's success in buying and selling the city reached France, French President Faure sent the Minister of the Navy, Grevy, to the presidential office in the Élysée Palace.

"The Russians have just won a great victory in the city of Trading, annihilating 300,000 troops of the Dingbei Army, and now it is time to send our mighty French fleet to join the Russian navy in Asia!" ”

After the Russo-French alliance, the Russians have been urging the French navy to send a fleet to join up with the Russian navies in Europe, go to Asia to destroy Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy, and regain sea supremacy.

However, the French have been watching the progress of the war between Russia and Lin Daxin, a few days ago, the Russian army lost a number of important towns in the Far East in a row, and the remaining forces in the Russian Far East theater were all cowered in Vladivostok, and the Russian army in Outer Mongolia was also buying and selling outside the city, and there was no progress, which made the French who had already signed an alliance with Russia hesitate.

If the Russians could not win even the battle on land, then the French would have to reconsider the question of whether to send a fleet to Asia. As for what alliance, it is only a superficial thing, and for countries like France, tearing up some alliance treaty or something like that, is like drinking boiled water, a very common thing.

However, now the Russians have made a breakthrough in the land war, annihilating 300,000 Dingbei troops, so that the French decided to abide by the treaty of the alliance, send a fleet to Asia with the Russian European navy, and destroy Lin Daxin's northeast navy.

Navy Minister Grevy nodded and said, "Mr. President, our French Navy is ready to go out at any time!" ”

President Faure asked, "How many warships are your Admiralty going to send to Asia?" ”

Grevi said excitedly: "Our French Navy will send the most powerful fleet ever to Asia, 8 Cecilia-class all-steel battleships with a displacement of 13,500 tons, 8 Charlemagne-class all-steel battleships with a displacement of 11,693 tons, 6 Emperor Charlemagne-class all-steel battleships with a displacement of 11,100 tons, all the newly built all-steel battleships of these 3 classes in France will join the expeditionary fleet, and 4 Joan of Arc-class large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of 11,092 tons. Four large fast armored cruisers of the Knight class with a displacement of 9,400 tons and four large fast armored cruisers of the 10,500 ton Diplai-class class also joined the expeditionary fleet. ”

Greevie paused for a moment and continued: "There are also 8 ironclad battleships, 20 protective cruisers, 20 destroyers, and 40 torpedo boats, which have also joined the expeditionary fleet. At present, these warships have been drawn back from various French ports and colonies, and are concentrated in the port of Marseille. ”

President Faure frowned a little when he heard this, and said: "This is almost all the essence of our French navy, and it has been sent to Asia, so isn't our French mainland and various colonies empty?" ”

Greevy shrugged his shoulders and said: "Mr. President, this is also a matter of no choice, that Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy is strong, if you don't send the main force of the French Navy to Asia, it will be difficult to win the victory." Moreover, with the full strength of our French Navy, together with the Russian Navy, we can defeat Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy with an overwhelming advantage, and we can also reduce our losses. There are still many ironclad battleships, old-fashioned ironclad ships, old-fashioned armored cruisers, protective cruisers, destroyers, and a large number of torpedo boats in our mainland and various colonies, and there are also 3 Admiral-class large armored cruisers with a displacement of 6,800 tons in the port of Marseille, which will not be a problem in a short time! ”

President Faure nodded and said: "Then follow the plan of your Admiralty, in addition, the army of our Vietnamese colony will cooperate with the navy to seize the Philippines, but you should pay attention to the fact that you should not be eager to seize the Philippines, it is best to send troops to occupy the Philippines when Russia invades the northeast hinterland of Lin Daxin, and the war of the Dingbei Army is tight, and the main force of the Philippine army will be transferred back to the northeast to resist the Russian army, and then send troops to occupy the Philippines." The army of our Vietnamese colony is not strong, there is no need to go head-to-head with the Dingbei army, the battle on land, let the Russians solve it themselves! ”

Grevi nodded and said, "Okay, Mr. President, we will do what you say, and we will not rush to seize the Philippines!" In addition, our Admiralty decided to put Admiral François as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary fleet. ”

President Faure agreed: "François is a good naval commander, and I believe he will bring us news of victory in France!" ”

On October 5, 1898, the main force of the French navy in the port of Marseille, France, almost poured out, and under the leadership of French Admiral François, began an expedition to Asia.

Eight 13,500-ton Cecilia-class all-steel battleships, namely Cecilia, Estrid, Athena, Audrey, Beatrice, Bernice, Devonne, and Michelia.

Eight Charlemat-class all-steel battleships with a displacement of 11,693 tons, namely Charlemart, Carno, Sheryl, Christine, Elvira, Francis, Gabriela and Hulda.

Six Emperor Charlemagne-class all-steel battleships with a displacement of 11,100 tons, namely the Emperor Charlemagne, the Prudence, the Penelope, the Natiavida, the Robertaton, and the Josephin.

4 Joan of Arc-class large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of 11,092 tons, namely Joan of Arc, Kama, Kelly and Madeleine.

4 large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of 9,400 tons, namely the Quidon, Tual, Montcalm and Bourgoni.

4 large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of 10,500 tons, namely the Diplai, Desai, Kleber and Bayonna.

Eight ironclad battleships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons are USS Kodman, USS Weaver, USS Martel, USS Towerburgh, USS Ares de Mars, USS Defender, USS Bouvet and USS Canyon.

Together with 20 protective cruisers of more than a dozen classes, 20 destroyers of 4 classes, and 50 torpedo boats, the entire French naval expeditionary fleet is extremely powerful, with 132 warships of all sizes, plus 30 supply transport ships, covering a large part of the sea.

The French also learned from the Italians and Americans by equipping their warships with a large number of depth charges to deal with the elusive submarines of the Northeast Navy. This kind of depth charge is imitated by the Italian country, and now the world's naval powers have been able to produce it themselves, and the purpose is now only to guard against the submarines of the Northeast Navy, as for the submarines of other countries, they have not yet reached the level of the Northeast Navy's submarines, and they are easy to be found and destroyed.

Russia's two fleets in Europe, the main warships of the Baltic Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet, had long been assembled in the naval port of Odessa on the Black Sea to form the Russian Second Pacific Fleet, and Tsar Nicholas II appointed Russian Admiral Rozhdestvinsky as commander of the Second Pacific Fleet.

After receiving the news that the French Navy had already set out, Rozhdestwinsky led the Russian Pacific Second Fleet to also leave the Odessa naval port, preparing to rendezvous near the Greek island of Crete, which was agreed with the French Navy, to open the Guò Suez Canal together, go to Asia to join the Russian Pacific Fleet, and eliminate Lin Daxin's Northeast Navy.

Except for those that have joined the Pacific Fleet in the port of Vladivostok, all the other cutting-edge warships built by the Russian Navy in recent years have been transferred to the Russian Second Pacific Fleet.

10 all-steel battleships of the Borodino class with a full load displacement of 13,500 tons, namely Astrakhan, Tukum, Balakilevo, Barnaul, Berkakit, Biske, Bikryan, Blagoveshchensk, Bratsk, Yegoryevsk.

6 Joan of Arc-class large fast armored cruisers with a displacement of 11,092 tons and the same class as the French are Sherafima, Katerina, Galina, Trofimovna, Dunyasha, and Yaroslavovna.

2 Alexander II-class ironclad battleships with a displacement of 9,900 tons, Nikolai I and Alexander II, 4 Catherine II-class ironclad battleships with a displacement of 11,500 tons, Catherine II, Chesma, Sinop, Pobedonosets.

In addition, the Russian Pacific Second Fleet has 12 protective cruisers, 18 destroyers and 20 torpedo boats, a total of 72 warships, large and small, in addition to 20 supply transport ships loaded with ammunition, food, fresh water and coal, and the Russian Pacific Second Fleet has 20 supply transport ships loaded with ammunition, food, fresh water and coal.

Russia's Baltic Fleet and Black Sea Fleet, after the transfer of warships to join the Second Pacific Fleet, the two fleets are left with only some old warships to guard Russia's Baltic and Black Seas.

The Russians also equipped their warships with a large number of depth charges, and even installed a lot of depth charges on transport ships to deal with the submarines of the Northeast Navy, which shows how much scruples the submarines of the Northeast Navy bring to these European countries.

On October 9, in the port of Herakrion on the Greek island of Crete, the French expeditionary fleet and the Russian Pacific Second Fleet almost filled the sea near the port of Herakrion.

A middle-aged Greek exclaimed, "Oh God! What a warship! Look, those are all warships with a displacement of more than 10,000 tons, and there must be at least 50 or more, even if the British Royal Navy is all concentrated, that's it! ”

Another young Greek next to him asked in surprise, "What are the French and Russians doing?" Are they going to war with the Germans? I know that the French, the Russians and the Germans are not on good terms. ”

The middle-aged Greek man shook his head and said, "Young man, don't you know yet? The French and the Russians did form an alliance to deal with the Germans together, but this time the main naval forces of both of them were concentrated, and they were going to go on an expedition to Asia! ”

The young Greek man asked suspiciously, "Asia? What powerful country is there that deserves the union of the French and Russians. ”

The middle-aged Greek man said uncertainly: "It seems to be an ancient empire, called the country of the Qing Dynasty." ”

A Frenchman who had come to Herakrion to do business next to the two of them interjected: "Our French navy and the Russian navy have joined forces to destroy the navy under the command of a governor of the Qing Dynasty, and now the army under the command of the governor of the Qing Dynasty is at war with the Russian army. ”

The young Greek man asked, "Could it be that the governor of the Qing Dynasty is Lin Daxin, who defeated the combined fleet of the Italian Navy and the United States Navy?" I think that only the fleet under his command in Asia can allow France and Russia to form such a powerful fleet to expedition to Asia! ”

The Frenchman nodded and said: "Yes, it's him, I believe that this time the combined fleet of our French Navy and the Russian Navy will definitely be able to destroy the naval fleet under his command, and the powerful Russian army will also destroy the army under his command, and this new rising power in Asia should disappear!" ”

Neither the middle-aged Greek nor the young Greek nodded without any rebuttal. R1152