Snow Wind, a very nice name. If it weren't for that, the name Yukikaze wouldn't have been used to name warships. But the problem is that the warship that has used this name in history is completely a 'broom star', and the ships that act with him rarely end well, but he himself has almost no losses.

Even if it hits a mine, it only explodes when the ship passes the mine, and this kind of thing is estimated to have only been encountered by the 'Snow Wind' ship in history.

Generally speaking, it is as if Yukikaze has absorbed the good fortune of the surrounding allies, and at the same time returned its own bad luck to the allies by a factor of ten or eight. What happened to Xue Feng can only be explained in this way.

The reason why Yan Shao got a snow wind ship out, and at the same time found a way to give this destroyer and another one to the British. On the one hand, it is to build a good relationship with the British, and on the other hand, it is also to do an experiment.

At present, Yan Shao does not need to worry about Britain, because in the case of Britain being mired in the quagmire, even if Yan Shao does something that harms Britain's interests, there is no need to worry about retaliation from the British. However, since you want to get Iraq in your hands, it is inevitable to send an expeditionary force to Europe to fight side by side with the Entente, after all, China cannot occupy a country in the Middle East with its own ability, and it is also necessary to consider the feelings of Britain and France—————— Japan is still a very serious threat at present, and pushing Britain and France to the side of Japan is not what a smart person should do.

As for the experiment, I have to send a ship anyway, so it's better to send an experiment over. Let's see if the destroyer that inherited Yukikaze's name can develop the same combat effectiveness as Yukikaze.

Recently, the Foreign Office and the British have been at a standoff on the issue of Weihaiwei. The Foreign Office demanded that the British fulfill their promises. Return Weihaiwei to China. However, the British have always pushed back, believing that the original return time signed between China and the Russians was 1922, and now although Lushun has returned to China, Weihaiwei should still use this time as the standard.

In other words, if Yan Shao wants to get Weihaiwei back, he will have to wait for at least 7 years.

Can Yan Shao wait for these seven years? Of course, he couldn't wait, so he wanted to get Britain in a little trouble—————— but the trouble had to be more secretive. Don't expose it too clearly.

After all, Yan Shao could not close himself off from the country like the former Qing Dynasty, and he had to fight and cooperate with Britain and the United States and other countries. They must not be pushed over to the side of the Japanese.

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In the presidential palace, Yan Shao was drinking afternoon tea with Elainor and several others.

Although there have been a lot of things in the recent period, Lu Ying and Otsuki Kaoru are okay, but Elano and Caterina are busy people in the real sense. But it's on a big scale. There are also many subordinates who do things. After handing over some things to his subordinates, the two of them had more free time.

Usually, I just stay at home to rest, or play mahjong with Lu Ying and them, and go out for a walk. If Yan Shao has time, he will accompany Yan Shao, and the family will be happy.

And although he is over thirty years old, Yan Shao's health has always been good. Coupled with proper maintenance, he looks no different from a young man of twenty-five or sixteen. So there won't be any special trouble when you're in the room.

Right now, Yan Shao and Elainor are chatting about joining the Entente and sending troops.

Join the Entente and send troops to Europe.

This is still a secret to many, but it has spread widely in the upper echelons of government. The key reason for sending troops is that Iraq is still firmly sealed. Song Jiaoren and the others are also smart, and they know the sensitivity of this issue very well, and they don't dare to talk nonsense.

After all, if this news is revealed, if it spreads and breaks Yan Shao's plan, then they won't be able to eat and leave, so even Song Jiaoren hesitated in his heart, and still didn't tell the truth to Wang Jingwei, the same is true for others, even the people closest to him dare not say it.

“…………… How long will it take for troops to be dispatched? Placing the teacup full of juice on the table, Eleno asked expectantly.

There has been a lot of news coming back from Europe lately, but very few are good news, and even the best one is just that the Allies have finally succeeded in repelling a German attack after paying huge casualties.

And now the French demand for the army has become very high, not only more and more French young people are leaving their homes and entering the barracks. According to information received by the Secret Service, not long ago, the French even transferred a number of colonial troops from French Indochina.

Colonial troops, the combat effectiveness of such units is not very good, but the French are still drawn.

What does this mean? This meant that the French forces had become so strained that even the colonial troops, who were not in the flow, needed to...

Moreover, Beltrand had recently sent a letter saying that he and the French troops in North Africa had also returned home. Although it is still in the rear, who knows when Lu Dao will be on the front line.

As long as he thought of this, Elaline's heart became a little worried, and this emotion was faintly revealed on his face.

Kaoru Otsuki, Lu Ying, and Caterina are a little helpless about this, Kaoru Otsuki can't even go back to his country now, where is he still in charge of European affairs, Lu Ying has only figured out where France is in recent years, as for Katarina.

Perhaps she knew the most about this kind of thing, but Spain was not involved in the war, so her position was probably the clearest.

"We have to talk about it first..."Holding Elaino's hand, Yan Shao said with a light smile. After all, sending troops is a big deal, even I need to persuade the following people to do it, the most important point is to send troops, there must be some gains, now we are talking to the British and the French, I don't have high requirements, just Britain and France on Weihaiwei, tariffs and some other issues, and give Iraq to me, then Iraq is the territory of Ottoman Turkey. It's a barren place, and I believe that Britain and France should be able to make some decisions..."

Hearing Yan Shao say this, Elaline glanced at him. He gently nodded his head.

She understood Yan Shao's words very well, that's right, since it is a military force, there must be some benefits, if there is no benefit at all, and if there is no benefit at all, Yan Shao will also have a lot of pressure. Although he was worried about his country's problems, it was impossible for Elano not to consider Yan Shao's problems. After all, he was her husband.

And in her opinion, Yan Shao's requirements are not very high. Because Yan Shao had already told her about the plan to send troops, if the matter of sending troops was really negotiated. Then this time China will send at least 300,000 troops to Europe. This is mainly due to financial problems, if the Entente can afford most of the supplies, Yan Shao can even expand the size of the army to the point of 500,000—————— in that part of Europe, only the number of troops. in order to stand firm.

As for Iraq? It's just a wasteland. Elaline does not think that sacrificing one Iraq and, incidentally, Kuwait, would be a high demand. It is worth exchanging these two places for China's support in this war, after all, as the wife of the president, she has not been less than reviewing some troops with Yan Shao, and she knows very well how strong the combat capability of the troops below is.

But because of this, Elano is a little puzzled. It is not clear why Britain and France are unwilling to agree to Yan Shao's conditions. After all, the conditions put forward by Yan Shao are not very high, and if these conditions can be exchanged for China's support, there is no doubt that the war in Europe can end as soon as possible. Isn't that a good thing?

————————————————————

Is Iraq really a wasteland? Of course not, at least the 'black gold' beneath the ground has made it more valuable than most of the nations of the world—————— before it is mined.

As for Yan Shaowei, what didn't he tell Elano the truth...

Since Yan Shao asked Xu Shichang to keep them secret. Then he couldn't tell his wives about it.

Of course, it is even less likely that Yan Shao will tell Elaline that he has ambitions for both Iraq and Kuwait. In any case, troops will definitely be sent to Europe. So he just patted Elanon's hand and comforted. "Rest assured, judging by the current situation, Britain may still be able to sit still, but France......... I believe that it will not be long before they will take the initiative to come to the door, and after the preparations are completed, there should be no problem in participating in the war before 1916. ”

Nodding his head, Elaline didn't say anything more, obviously believing Yan Shao's words.

At present, Europe is still in a stalemate stage, and it is unlikely that the war will end anytime soon. In 1916, I am afraid that it was the most intense stage on the European side, but China joined in, which happened to play the role of the last straw, and the losses were much less.

The next few people shifted the conversation to small talk, chatting about some interesting things that had happened in recent times. It can be seen that Lu Ying and Kaoru Otsuki are obviously more interested in this kind of thing, after all, unlike Elano and Katarina, the two are just ordinary women.

But just as the pick-up was still chatting there, a maid suddenly came in outside.

"Master, Minister Zhu Erdian has arrived..."

"It's already there?" Smiling, Yan Shao got up from the sofa and said to Eleno. "Let's continue talking here, I'll go meet the minister..."

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In the living room, Zhu Erdian was sitting there tasting the black tea that the next person had just served.

The taste of black tea is very good, but unfortunately Yan Shao doesn't like it, and the black tea in the presidential palace is basically used to deal with Zhu Erdian's gang.

Recently, Zhu Erdian has been very annoyed, mainly because of the mission he came to this time...

How to say it, some time ago, Yan Shao handed over two 'Shanfeng'-class destroyers to the British government for use, one of which was the 'Snow Wind' and the other was the 'Ice Wind', both of which were new ships that had just been put into service.

During this time, the British government was troubled by the underwater threat of the Germans, and the continuous sinking of transport ships also made the British government in urgent need of escort ships. Therefore, Yan Shao's goodwill, the British government is still happy to see.

It happened that at this time, a group of ships only had to leave Shanghai and return to the British mainland.

The British Navy then ordered some of the officers and men of the Chinese Navy to board the two ships, go with the others to India to pick up the other ships, and then escort the transports back to England—————— before the Germans handed over the Tsingtao fortress to China. At one time, all the warships in the fortress were sailed to the open sea to strike at the British transport ships, plus some agreements signed in the past. So Britain has a group of warships in China.

After boarding the ship, those British officers and men spoke highly of the two destroyers. It is believed that these two destroyers are not only good in all respects, but also have a high level of comfort, even more comfortable than many battleships. Others are also envious of this group of people.

And then...

On their way back to their homeland, they met with bad luck.

Perhaps inspired by the Chinese Navy in Shandong, they were in the Mediterranean Sea on their way back to their homeland. The Germans tried to concentrate the submarine and use it once.

In the past, the Germans usually used submarines alone, and the results were very good, but against some larger targets. For example, some fleets or something, there is nothing to be done.

But inspired by the Battle of Shandong, the Chinese Navy concentrated the use of submarines. The Germans tried to concentrate all their submarines in the Mediterranean, and the Yukikaze and some other ships. That's what they're aiming for this time.

Faced with a surprise attack by more than a dozen submarines. The end result can be imagined. There are very few ships in the entire fleet that have survived, and the 'Snow Wind' is one of them, and the 'Ice Wind'...

A torpedo was fired at the bow of the ship, and repair work is now underway in a port city in Italy, and I am afraid that there will be nothing to be done in the short term...

However, the British did not suspect the problem on the Yukikaze, because according to the Navy's report, the Yukikaze played well in this encounter. Especially after driving at a speed of more than 30 knots, those submarines were almost helpless against it. to the old escort ships of the past. It didn't play any special role in this battle.

"So the purpose of my visit this time is not anything else, but I hope that the scale can provide more destroyers to our country...", a little helpless, Zhu Erdian said.

————————————————————

"More destroyers?" Touching his chin, Yan Shao's expression looked a little strange.

The fleet had suffered heavy losses, and he really didn't know what to do, because the fleet was still at sea, and it had only happened recently. In addition, the strength of the Special Affairs Bureau in Europe is still very weak, so it would be strange if he could know the Dao.

As for what he was doing, his expression would look a little strange...

"Could it be the curse of the snow wind, it worked?"

Yan Shao was very suspicious that it was Xuefeng who worked, but this was the first time after all, and Yan Shao didn't dare to be too sure.

"What do you mean, Mr. President?"

Yan Shao's expression was so strange, and Zhu Erdian showed a helpless expression. He also thought that Yan Shao was reluctant to those destroyers, and it was not surprising, after all, the Chinese Navy was in a state of revival at the moment, and the number of ships in his hands was very small. But he also had no choice, because in this incident, in addition to the transport ship, a number of escort ships were also sunk.

Britain is naturally a legendary superpower, and the number of surface ships under its command is terrifying. However, the British colonies are all over the world, and the transport fleets that need to be escorted are also too frightening, and the ships used to escort them have begun to be overstretched.

What's more...

With the first time, who can guarantee that there will not be a second time? The British had to think something ahead.

This kind of thing was nothing to the Germans, because there were not many German ships at sea, but the British had to be cautious. That's why he's here, because according to the Navy, China's Shanfeng-class destroyers have very good performance and are very suitable for escort operations.

"Please rest assured, we will make some compensation..."Seeing Yan Shao's strange expression, Zhu Erdian hurriedly said. The price of each destroyer will be 20% higher than the original purchase price of your government, and after the war is over, we will return it to your country at half the price if you wish..."

This is good news, and Yan Shao also showed a more interested expression.

"Then I don't know how many ships your country needs?"

"Five." Zhu Erdian hurriedly said.

Now there are fleets departing from the Far East and India every day, and they really need a lot of ships to escort them. In the eyes of the British, in a decisive battle with the German High Seas Fleet, destroyers probably did not play a role, and it was undoubtedly the most suitable to escort them.

"Five, that's a lot..."Yan Shao thought for a while. Why don't you wait for a while, I'll help you persuade Minister Sa, and his opinion must be taken into account in this matter, of course, if Mr. Minister can persuade Minister Sa himself, it will be even better..."

Zhu Erdian made it clear to people why it was troublesome to say that Sa Zhenbing was troublesome, so he didn't say anything more.

It was at this time that Zhu Erdian didn't know, just when he was talking to Yan Shao. In the Strait of Gibraltar, the remaining convoy led by the Yukikaze was attacked again, this time on a much smaller scale than the previous one, but still causing great damage to the fleet.

The strange thing is that in this attack, the Yukikaze was still unscathed.

To be more precise, the Yukikaze was not only unscathed in this attack, but made a great contribution—————— when it was sailing at high speed of more than 30 knots, it sank at least one German submarine with its main guns, and the other may have been wounded or sunk...

It is very high in the evaluation of the British Navy, not only is there no fault, but it is meritorious...

The problem is that when returning to London, the Yukikaze was attacked again, and this time the only remaining ships in the fleet were sunk, and only the Yukikaze returned to London by itself, and there were many crew members of the Yukikaze salvaged on the sea...

This time, the Snowwind has made a lot of achievements, but its 'teammates' are all 'dead'. (To be continued......)