() Chapter 183 Forced to Resign

On February 8, 1882, the authoritative French newspaper "Le Figaro" first published the news that the Dutch and Portuguese joint expeditionary forces had been completely wiped out in the war between the Dutch and Portuguese forces and the Chinese People's Army and navy in the East Indies! Then the British Times and the German Frankfurt News reported the news on their front pages! Newspapers from various countries that soon got the news rushed to reprint it! Immediately, the Netherlands, The news of the defeat of the expeditionary forces of the two countries of Portugal spread like a hurricane throughout Europe, and then spread throughout the world through telegraphs and submarine cables! Subsequently, the whole world was calmed by the amazing naval battle that broke out in the Far East with nearly 90 warships of both warships, comparable to the Battle of Trafalgar! They did not expect that the war that should have been one-sided in their original impression actually had a dramatic twist, and the Chinese People's Army, which no one had paid attention to, finally won the final victory in this naval battle! And also occupied the whole of the South Seas except for Luzon, Spain!

In the face of the sudden rise of this powerful new power in the Far East, the people of the Netherlands and Portugal were furious when the dignitaries of the unprepared countries were hurriedly looking at the map and discussing what attitude to take to deal with this sudden rise of the new power! Not only because of the incompetence of the state and the loss of important colonies of the kingdom, but also because of the hateful eyes of the families of those expeditionary forces! They strongly demanded the return of their husbands or sons!

Morrison sat on the throne of the prime minister, which was once the envy of everyone, but now no one was willing to inherit it, his face was pale, his eyes were blank, and he stared blankly at the snowy sky outside the window! Now his mood was like this bleak weather, gray, and gloomy! There was no glimmer of hope in sight!

"Failed!!" Morrison's mouth was inexplicably bitter! He wanted to shed tears but there was not much sadness! Because at this moment, his body and his mind had completely disappeared!

Although he had thought that he might suffer defeat before, he could never have imagined that all the 50,000 army troops would be captured without firing a single shot, and more than 50 warships would be wiped out in less than two hours! This result was too cruel for both the Netherlands and Portugal!

"Prime Minister, you better get out of here quickly! Now the outside is surrounded by angry people!" the panicked secretary of the Prime Minister's Office slammed open the door and said in a hurried tone.

"Lake, I've heard that!" Morrison said slowly, with a bitter expression.

"Prime Minister, you ......!"

"Ryke! Our expeditionary force has failed, and someone must stand up and take responsibility for it, so as to temporarily calm the anger of the people! I think the same is true of Queen Anne now! So, today is the last day I sit here!" I want to think how high-spirited I was when I walked in here, but now I have to leave here gloomily!

Thinking of the vow he made on the first day he became prime minister, he made to lead the Netherlands back to strength, Morrison couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly, the gap between reality and ideals is too far!

Just five days after the news of the failure of the expeditionary forces of the Netherlands and Portugal spread, Dutch Prime Minister Morrison and Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Pauletta both announced their resignations and were willing to take full responsibility for the failure of the expeditionary forces! Subsequently, the two countries, with the intervention of their respective kings, quickly completed the elections and elected new prime ministers and prime ministers, moreover, they both announced at the first time that they would send negotiators to the Far East to negotiate with the Chinese People's Army on the East Indies issue! Strive to bring all the captives back home within a month so that their families can be reunited!

With the assurances of the new zhèngfǔ, the people who had surrounded the Prime Minister's Office or the Prime Minister's Office for three days began to slowly disperse their doubts!

Of course, this is only a temporary calm, and if their families still can't return home on time within the month promised by Xinzhèngfǔ, there will be even more large-scale riots in the two countries!

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"Your Excellency the Governor, this is the domestic telegram I just received!" Peyton said anxiously as he hurriedly walked into the office of the Colonial Governor of Singapore in the British Straits Settlements.

"Is there any new news coming from China?" asked Walton, holding out his hand to take the telegram from his hand.

"My lord, Prime Minister Gladstone personally sent a telegram asking us to suspend the transfer of troops from the Indian colonies! And pay close attention to all the actions of the Chinese People's Army in the East Indies, and increase the collection of various military intelligence such as their warship manufacturing, weapons and equipment, and troop strength! At the same time, grasp their attitude towards the empire, the internal organizational structure of their regime, and the level of economic and industrial development! and do their best to support the Netherlands and Portugal in the next tripartite negotiations!"

Hearing his words, Walton's body was stunned, and the expression on his face became stiff! Although after the naval defeat of the Netherlands and Portugal, the empire's policy towards the Chinese People's Army may change, but he did not expect such a big change! It directly stopped the war that he had been preparing for more than a year!

"Peyton, is there any news coming from China?" Walton grabbed the telegram he had just received tightly in his hand, stood up and walked around his office a few times, then suddenly looked up and asked!

"No!" After thinking for a while, Peyton slowly shook his head and said!

Because the Huo Jiajun knew less about the new type of warship! Moreover, Britain, France, and Germany all wanted to obtain this new type of fast cruiser, so they did not publicize the information they had obtained! Moreover, as a naval power in Europe, it was too embarrassing for the admiralties of various countries to let the strength of a yellow race in the Far East surpass the design and construction of second-class cruisers! Moreover, they could not explain it to the people who supported the navy! Therefore, very few people knew about this news from both the zhèngfǔ and the military! As for the Straits Settlements, there is no one who knows these inside stories!

Walton's footsteps paused, and Peyton's words made him a little disappointed in his heart!

"What did Prime Minister Gladstone think, and why did he suddenly give up? shouldn't he?" Waltern muttered to himself as he looked out the window at the crowded and busy harbor outside, stunned!

Looking at his appearance, Peyton also understood what he was feeling at this moment, after all, this long-planned war had taken more than a year, and it seemed that it was ready, and after the Governor's Palace's finances improved, 60,000 British troops would be able to cross the strait at the narrowest point, no more than 30 kilometers, and set foot on Sumatra Island with the support of the navy, so as to open up territory for the empire again! But a telegram from China today disrupted the hard work of the two men! This kind of thing will not be easy for anyone to feel good!

"Peyton, you immediately send a telegram to the Imperial Indian Governor, Marquis George Robinson, asking about the belief in the tripartite naval battle between the Chinese People's Army and the Netherlands and Portugal! Then, notify me as soon as there is news!" Walton turned around abruptly, looked at him with a serious expression, and ordered with some anxiety in his tone.

"Yes, my lord!" hurriedly agreed! Although he understood that he should hurry up and do the task assigned by the governor at this time, the curiosity in his heart made him slowly ask after a few hesitations: "Your Excellency, are you suspicious ......!"

He glanced at him lightly, "Not bad! The reason why Prime Minister Gladstone issued such an order must be to find that the navy of the Chinese People's Army was not seriously damaged in the naval battles with the Netherlands and Portugal, and it was beyond the current strength of our Far East Fleet and the Indian Fleet, and we lost the certainty of victory in the original war before making such a decision! Therefore, we must understand the inside story before we can make a plan against Xìng!"

"I see, Governor, I'm going to send a telegram!"

Looking at Peyton's back as he disappeared at the door, Walton couldn't help but let out a long sigh of complexity, "I hope their strength doesn't surpass us too much, otherwise all the preparation for more than a year will be in vain! And the British Empire will also completely lose the opportunity to expand its colonies in the East Indies!"