"Your Highness, Lord Qianjiang asks to see you." Tang Erniu's voice came from outside the tent, it was obvious that Tang Erniu had followed Xiao Yungui for many years, and he had always been the captain of the guard, he had a lot of opportunities to go out, but Xiao Yungui had been reluctant, a very important reason was that Tang Erniu understood Xiao Yungui's mind very well.

Whenever Zhou Xiuying or other women who have an affair with the King of the West are alone with the King of the West, Tang Erniu will consciously report it in advance no matter who asks to see him, or this is a tacit understanding between the superiors and subordinates.

Hearing the voice, Zhou Xiuying broke free from the arms of Xiao Yungui, the big bad wolf, like a frightened rabbit, hurriedly tidied up her military uniform, and then picked up the dishes and chopsticks and said, "Your Highness, I'll go out first." ”

Xiao Yungui smiled and hummed, and then whispered in her ear: "I'll come to see you at night." Zhou Xiuying's ears turned red when she heard this, and she ran away in a panic with her head down.

After Zhou Xiuying left, Xiao Yungui returned to the case in makeup and looked at the official documents, Qian Jiang walked in quickly and hurriedly saluted and said: "Your Highness, my subordinates have talked with the Manchu envoys for a day, and they basically have eyebrows. ”

Xiao Yungui put down the official document in his hand and said, "The Qing court is negotiating to delay time, what will it be?" ”

Qian Jiang stepped forward with a slight smile and said: "The peace talks of the Qing court are insincere, and we will not agree to any nonsense about dividing the river and ruling the country." After a pause at this, Qian Jiang continued: "It's just that after the negotiation, Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang, who came to negotiate, had asked their subordinates to talk alone. ”

Xiao Yungui straightened up when he heard this, and said, "Oh? It's kind of interesting, are these two people here to find a way back? ”

Qian Jiang nodded and said, "That's pretty much what it means, the two of them paid off Ai Ai at the beginning." The subordinates slightly revealed the intention of soliciting, and the two of them hurriedly asked how their official positions would be after they came over. ”

Xiao Yungui stood up and took a few steps back and forth. He said to himself: "Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang are also capable people, how can they be willing to belong so lightly?" Is there a deception in it? ”

Qian Jiang shook his head and said, "Your Highness." The subordinates don't seem to be like it, the subordinates and the two only said some obscure words, the two mean that some want to belong, but they seem to have some concerns, if they come to deceive the surrender, they are afraid that they will be busy scolding the Qing court and showing their loyalty. ”

Xiao Yungui nodded and said, "I know what you mean, so let's let people find the two of them, don't alarm the other Qing court negotiators." This king and you will meet him both alone. ”

After receiving the order, Qian Jiang turned around and went out to order someone to invite Yuan Jiasan and Li Hongzhang to come, and then turned back to the tent, only to see that the king of the west was looking at the map blankly again, so he stepped forward and whispered: "Is Your Highness worried about the war in Shandong?" ”

Xiao Yungui shook his head and said, "No, Shi Cai is worried about the matter of the Southern Wing King, and now he is worried about our navy." ”

Qian Jiang sighed and said: "According to the previous deduction of the General Staff Headquarters, it will take a year and a half for Britain and France to mobilize a new army for an expedition, although we have annihilated the main force of the British and French coalition forces on land, but their naval fleet has suffered little losses. In the past year and a half, it is unlikely that we will be attacked by Britain and France on land, and the most headache is the attack from the sea. ”

Xiao Yungui frowned and said, "According to the worst consideration of the General Staff Headquarters, the naval fleet of the British and French forces will take the initiative to find our main naval force within this year. It is hoped that the main force of our navy can be annihilated, and the worst result will be the total annihilation of our navy. Navy, Navy, Ten Years Army. A century-old navy, this king doesn't want to see the little naval foundation that has been built up for ten years is gone. ”

Qian Jiang said: "Since His Royal Highness feels a little reluctant. Then let the navy take the construction of the staff department and avoid the war and protect the ship. ”

Xiao Yungui hesitated for a moment and said, "Forget it." First, it is too late to give orders now, and secondly, the navy is all fighting, and there is no point in avoiding war and protecting ships. Speaking of this, he paused and said meaningfully: "When a great power rises, you must dare to fight, sometimes the more you dodge, the more you will lose, it is better to have a sea guerrilla war......

At the same time, thousands of miles away, within the seaport of Dalian Bay, it has become the most important port in the north of the Taiping Army after many years of operation by the Taiping Army. Since the Taiping occupation in 1854, the seaport has been under construction. As the first military port of the Taiping Army, it took several years to build, and there were granite breakwaters, large wharves and docks, and military camps, training grounds, lighthouses, warehouses and other facilities on the shore. There are dozens of large and small forts and positions built on the mountains on both sides of the waterway, and the terrain here is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the Dalian Bay Military Port can be said to be easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In the Taiping Navy barracks in Dalian Bay, the bright conference room was full of Taiping Navy generals, and today was the last meeting of the Taiping Navy fleet before it left the port, and the meeting was presided over by Luo Xuan, the commander of the Taiping Army.

Luo Xuan sat in the center, looking at his cadres, beside him was the deputy admiral of the navy Tang Zhengcai, and then the admirals of each detachment, including Lai Zhenhai, the admiral of the Yellow Sea Fleet, the admiral Tongbao monk of the East China Sea Fleet, Lu Shunde, the admiral of the Bohai Fleet, Zeng Tianhao, the admiral of the South China Sea Fleet, and the captains of the main warships of each fleet all sat on both sides.

After seeing that the people had arrived, Luo Xuan cleared his throat and said: "Today is the last meeting before the battle, and the deployment and tactics of each fleet have been explained clearly, I will remind you again here that the strength of the British and French fleets is far above us, and we have no chance of winning in a head-to-head showdown, so it is strictly forbidden for the fleets to fight to the death with the main force of the British and French fleets, and we can only achieve some small victories by adopting the combat methods of pirates, and then accumulate small victories into big victories, or drag the British and French fleets, In this way, we can effectively support the land battles of the Kingdom of Heaven. Remember to make good use of your informants in the various foreign houses, docks, and businesses in the south, and once you know the whereabouts of the enemy's ships, you will attack separately and take the initiative to annihilate the enemy......"

Previously, the operational strategy formulated by the Navy General Staff was that the various fleets should disperse back to their respective sea areas, adopt the tactics of naval warfare that pirates are accustomed to, take the initiative to avoid superior enemies, take the initiative to attack and get a vote when encountering a weak enemy, and make full use of the information provided by the informants of the Taiping Army in foreign banks, docks, and businesses in Hong Kong and other places to know the whereabouts of the British and French fleets in advance, so as to adopt effective means to attack, harass, contain, and strike at the enemy.

Speaking of pirates' tactics has always been a headache for Britain and France, there were a lot of pirates off the coast of China before, they were familiar with this sea area, and there were many hiding places in the three caves of the cunning rabbit, often when the main force of the British fleet could not find the pirates, and the British ship would be attacked by pirates once it was alone.

For a long time after the Opium War and the Second Opium War, the foreigners fought against pirates in Chinese waters. Jackie Chan has a movie of "Plan A" that reflects the story of the British Marine Police and the Navy in Hong Kong at that time to clean up the pirates, the pirates bribed many people in Hong Kong to provide them with intelligence, and even they also bribed the officials of the British government in Hong Kong.

Although it was a movie, it also provided inspiration for Xiao Yungui when he made a battle plan from the side. The Taiping Navy is very weak, but for the huge British and French fleets, the flexible and fragmented pirate combat method is more of a headache for them, and the Taiping Army Bai Zetang, the Intelligence Department and the Naval Intelligence Bureau and other departments have been more successful in infiltrating Hong Kong, the base of the British and French fleets. The informants bribed by the Taiping Army even included many Europeans and foreign staff, and knowing the whereabouts of the fleet in advance would be of greater help to the Taiping Navy's naval guerrilla warfare.

The Anglo-French Navy had sent ships to Dalian Bay to reconnoitre, but there were no warships in the port, facing the ironclad military port, and the British and French forces were eager to return to the south at that time, so there was no fierce battle in Dalian Bay. Now, according to intelligence, after returning to Hong Kong for a short rest, the British and French fleets were preparing to go north to find the main force of the Taiping Navy for a decisive battle, so Luo Xuan ordered all fleets to return to their respective waters to disperse the British and French fleets and seek opportunities to strike at the enemy.

Today, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Navy has a total of 11 large warships, including the five warships obtained from the British after participating in the war against Russia at the earliest, namely the Gaohuali, the Warrior, the Hamils, the Rattlesnake, and the Albatross, which have now been renamed Chijin, Aoki, Lanshui, Zihuo, and Heitu. The six warships purchased afterwards included the British first-class battleship Gothenburg, the second-class battleships Independence Horn and Flying; France's 2,700-ton first-class battleships Ocean, Marseille Trade, and the 1,500-ton second-class battleship Orion. The Gothenburg, the Independence Horn, and the Flying have been renamed Dingyuan, Zhiyuan, and Jingyuan respectively. The Ocean, Marseille Trade, and Orion were renamed Jingyuan, Weiyuan, and Laiyuan.

Lai Zhenhai, the commander of the Yellow Sea Fleet, commanded the three warships Dingyuan, Chijin, and Aoki as the main force, and there were eight fast sailing ships and 20 large red single ships, and the rest of the more than 50 ships such as fortune ships and sand ships. Monk Tongbao, the commander of the East China Sea Fleet, is in charge of two sister ships, Jingyuan and Weiyuan, and has nine fast sailing ships and more than 70 red single boats, fortune ships, and sand ships. Admiral Lu Shunde, Admiral of the Bohai Fleet, Zhiyuan, Lanshui, and Zihuo, as well as nine fast sailing ships and more than 50 red single boats, fortune ships, and sand ships. Admiral Zeng Tianhao of the South China Sea Fleet supervised the Weiyuan, Laiyuan, and Heitu, and had nine fast sailing ships and more than 50 red single boats, fortune ships, and sand ships.

After the explanation, Luo Xuan went to war with the East China Sea Fleet, and Tang Zhengcai stayed at the Dalian Bay Military Port, officially starting a protracted sea cat-and-mouse war between the Taiping Navy and the British and French fleets, but sometimes mice can also bite...... (To be continued......)