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Text Chapter 453: The Adventure of Wetoma

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    Redel was startled when he heard that Vetomar was determined to use the fleet to intimidate China.  "Are you planning to go to war with the Chinese? Your Excellency?" "If necessary." Witoma sneered and turned to look at Redel, "Why, General, do you think that with the strength of the Imperial Navy in the Far East?  Isn¡¯t it possible to destroy the Chinese navy with strength? ¡°Of course the Imperial Navy can do this,¡± Ryder said cautiously, ¡°But the strength of the Chinese navy is no longer what it used to be. If a war really breaks out, I dare say.  , The Imperial Navy will not win easily. And it must have domestic support. "Oh? Is that so?" Witoma was not very confident when he heard Redel's answer.  "Yes." Rydell seemed to want to dispel the idea of ??watema's war against China, "We have twenty-four battleships, but only two ironclads and six cruisers. The rest are gunboats. If and  If the Chinese Navy wants to win, it will take a lot of risks." Wetoma heard the subtext in Redel's words, which actually meant that there was no guarantee of victory, and he couldn't help but change his expression.  "If we are going to start a war, we need to seize the time to assemble our fleet and take the initiative to attack when the Chinese navy has not assembled." Ryder noticed the change in the expression on Weitoma's face and simply handed him his trump card.  , "According to our intelligence, the Chinese navy's capital ships are scattered in some important ports. The ironclad ship 'Longxiang' captured by the Chinese from Japan has been refitted at the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau and replaced with new turbines and artillery.  , is anchored at Dagukou, and should already have combat effectiveness. In addition, there are four cruisers and two gunboats stationed there; another two cruisers are stationed in Ryukyu, to deter the Japanese, and two cruisers are stationed in Ryukyu.  Four gunboats are stationed in Fuzhou and two cruisers are stationed in Shanghai. If we want to take action, the first target to attack should be the Chinese fleet in Dagukou. ¡°Do you want me to do this?¡±  If so, Weitoma's face stretched even longer.  As a diplomat, he did not know much about the navy and was accustomed to using the navy as a tool for diplomatic blackmail. However, he did not expect that the strength of the British Empire's Far East Fleet, which he once relied on as his strongest backing, would  It turned out to be such a situation.  Since the 19th century, Western power has spread eastward.  China's door is wide open, and Sino-foreign trade and missionary activities are becoming increasingly frequent.  In order to safeguard their own interests in China and protect the safety of their expatriates, Western countries have sent their navies to China. Countries such as Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, Spain, and Portugal have all formed Far East fleets along the coast of China and in various parts of the Western Pacific.  Expand activities.  Or 3 or 5 ships; or 10 or 8 ships. Among them, the British "Chinese Fleet" is the most impressive in scale.  It usually maintains around 20 ships, and is equipped with all types of warships such as armored ships, cruisers, clippers, motorboats, and gunboats, making it the most powerful in terms of combat effectiveness.  Since its establishment after the Opium War, it has been the leader in commanding the navies of the great powers in the Far East.  Not only is it closely related to China's politics, economy, diplomacy, national defense and military, but it also has a considerable impact on the overall situation in East Asia.  Because British colonies spread across five continents.  It is known as the "country on which the sun never sets" and its commercial power is superior to other countries in the world. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of colonies and shipping, its Royal Navy (the tishroyal navy) is stationed in major regions of the world in a planned manner.  .  Formed into a global strategic network.  Its naval distribution overview is: 1. Atlantic Fleet (thehometheatlanticstation) 2. Mediterranean Fleet (themediterraneanstation) 3. South African Fleet (thesouthaf canstation) 4. East African Fleet (theeastaf canstation) 5. Cape Fleet (thecapegoodhopestation) 6. East India  Fleet (theeastindianstation) 7. West Indian Fleet (thewestindianstation) 8. North American Fleet (thenorthame canstation) 9. Pacific Fleet (thepacificstation) 10. Chinese Fleet (thechinastation) These fleets were not established within the same period, but from the 18th century  evolved gradually over the centuries.  The size of its troops is mostly determined by the environment at that time and is not customized.  Among them, the domestic fleet is the largest.  The Mediterranean Fleet followed, followed by the East India Fleet and the "Chinese Fleet".  The navy is a tool for executing government policies, discussing the purpose of the establishment of the "Chinese Fleet".  It is closely related to Britain's development in the Far East.  The British expanded from the Ganges River Basin in India to all of India in 1805, conquered Nepal from 1814 to 1816, and controlled Burma from 1824 to 1826.  At the same time, it crossed the Strait of Malacca and entered the Nanyang Islands in 1826, occupying Malaya and Singapore, and North Borneo and other places also entered its sphere of influence.  upAfter the Opium War, in addition to occupying Hong Kong and forcing China to open five ports to trade, the British trade scope expanded from Singapore in Southeast Asia, through Hong Kong to Shanghai, and continued to become a "loose commercial empire" created by the British in the Far East.  .  Under the traditional British concept that commerce is more important than territory, the navy is obviously far more important than the army in safeguarding colonial and commercial interests.  Due to the vast sea area in Nanyang, there are many islands and many harbors.  The political landscape is quite complex and is governed by local chiefs and European colonial authorities.  As a result, pirates were rampant and frequently appeared on the sea, plundering merchant ships and killing merchants on board.  From Malacca, Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra, and even Sulu Island in the Philippines, there are pirate activities, causing great harm to commercial exchanges.  Since 1820, Britain has continuously sent its navy to assist the East India Company's merchant fleet in conquering it.  However, the force is limited and the area is too large, so it is still impossible to eliminate them.  In addition, pirates are often infested along China's southeastern coast.  In particular, Macau, Hainan Island, Hong Kong and other places connected to the mainland are hotbeds of pirates.  Because of the corruption of the Green Camp Navy and the weak navy, local officials in China were almost helpless and had no choice but to do anything.  Some officials even implement appeasement policies towards them, "inducing them with official positions and recruiting money" in order to have nothing to do, but the results are not great.  When the British occupied Hong Kong, their navy's main task was to suppress pirates.  On the one hand, we investigate the islands and harbors between Hong Kong and Macao and along the coast of Guangdong in order to understand where pirates hide.  On the one hand, it has reached an agreement with the local authorities in Guangdong to work together to continuously combat pirates.  Although considerable achievements have been achieved, the British navy still needs to stay here for a long time.  Furthermore, the establishment of the "Chinese Fleet" is also related to the tense relations between China and Britain after the Opium War.  In 1842, although China formed a city alliance due to its defeat, the general public sentiment did not yield and anti-British actions continued.  They may take the opportunity to retaliate against the British, or assassinate them to vent their anger, and sometimes even small-scale armed conflicts may occur.  Among them, the refusal to amend the contract and enter the city are the most serious.  Despite repeated protests and negotiations by the British side, there was no result.  Therefore, Britain was determined to adopt a tough policy and increase its naval strength to force China to surrender.  The organization of the "Chinese Fleet" is the same as other British fleets, using the same principles and adopting a mixed organization, ranging from modern ironclads to traditional sailing gunboats.  There are no limits on sizes or quantities, it all depends on the needs of the situation.  Just like at the beginning of the Opium War, there were as many as 48 ships sailing in China's waters. Later reinforcements were not counted, but after the war, the number dropped to about 16 ships.  On the eve of the British and French coalition forces, the number increased to 64 warships, and most of them had been replaced by steam warships.  In 1864, the "China Fleet" and the East India Fleet formally broke away from each other and formed a separate army.  As of the beginning of 1875, it had 24 warships of various types. The largest was the flagship ironclad "Vigilance" with a displacement of 6,710 tons. The other capital ship was the ironclad "Odisha" with a displacement of 6,710 tons.  3774 tons, then 6 cruisers, and the rest are gunboats, with varying combat effectiveness.  If we really want to fight the Chinese Navy, the main ships we can count on are 2 ironclads and 6 cruisers.  "I need to make the Chinese government understand the seriousness of the situation, and let those groggy officials feel the atmosphere that war is likely to come soon." Witoma also revealed his true intentions to Redel for convenience  Ryder takes action.  "Then, let me see where our warships are." Rydell said, asking a British naval officer to bring a map and spread it out in front of Weitoma.  "The cruiser 'Kruffler' is now in Tianjin, the cruiser 'Ghisriel' is in Yantai, our flagship 'Vigilance' and the ironclad 'Odisha' are in Shanghai, and with them is 'Terry'  The cruiser "Ya" and "Harnet" are in Hankou, and the cruiser "Hut" is in Xiamen. "If you think it is necessary, I need time to assemble the fleet."  He said very professionally, "The artillery fleet can also be assembled as a mobile force and sent to necessary places as a support and deterrent force." (To be continued, please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!  ps: Please collect! Please subscribe! Please click!
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